Precautions for data recovery process
No doubt, data loss itself is a pity and data recovery process requires a lot of nerves and efforts to be put. And the most painful (as well as the most common) situation is when the data is lost forever during the recovery process out of user’s ignorance. The user’s behavior before the exact recovery process has a significant impact on the recovery chances. To avoid possible troubles, it is important to know at least basic precautions of the recovery process. For this reason, before recovering files with the Recovery Explorer software, and with any other recovery software as well, go through this “dos and don’ts” checklist to make sure that you are doing everything properly.
Dos and don'ts
Do not download anything to the storage with lost data
First and foremost, never download or install the recovery software to the same storage you have lost your data from. The peculiarities of data recovery process imply that data can be recovered, until it is overwritten with some other data. Therefore, copying or creating any new files to the corrupted storage will erase the data with no chances for recovery. It is noteworthy that file writing can be also caused by launching and using any existing software. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that you stop using the storage to avoid writing data to it.
Do not apply force to the hard drive
Opening your hard drive, as well as putting it to the freezer or heating it is strongly not recommended. The circuits must also remain intact, not replaced. Physical manipulation with the storage can hardly improve the situation but is quite likely to make it much worse. Therefore, it is better to turn to data recovery professionals. If you have already opened the hard drive, carefully put the cover back on, do not touch the disks and rush to the data recovery service.
Do not reinstall the operating system
Another myth of data recovery is that having reinstalled the operating system the user gets his files back. Reinstallation of the operating system leads to partial or complete overwriting of the files that are to be restored. Reinstallation also damages the directory structure. Therefore, what happens is that files are overwritten and even the information about their location is lost, which obviously leaves no chances for recovery.
Do read the information about the software
Carefully read the technical specifications of the software you are going to recover your files with. Check the file formats it can recover and possible trial limitations in the recovery process. Be sure to download it from a trusted source to prevent your PC from viruses etc. Do not use any kind of “cleaner” software or software that promises you to recover files after overwriting them – none of this will help, moreover, such utilities can even be harmful to you PC.
Do prepare your hardware
Thoroughly check the connection of the attached storages needed for the recovery process, make sure that all the cables are in operative conditions. Having noticed any physical damage to the storage, turn to the professionals in the nearest data recovery service and do not try to manipulate the storage on your own. In case of recovering RAID, mark the drives with stickers denoting the ordinal number of a drive in the common structure, otherwise, all data might be lost forever before being recovered.
Do not save deleted files to file system they were deleted from
During the recovery process the application prompts you to choose the directory where the recovered files should be saved. Keep in mind that saving your data to the same file system which you have lost the data from can lead to irreversible data loss. It is advised to save the files to an attached external storage – an external hard drive, a flash USB-stick or a memory card.