Hard Drive Recovery Help – It’s Not Over Yet

May 1, 2011 by VegasKev

Hard Drive Recovery

Are you in need of Hard Drive Recovery?  Recovering lost data on your computer can be a real bear if you don’t know whom to contact for assistance.  Recently I had a laptop that was an important tool in operating my consulting business, which had failed me at a frustrating time.  I used it to stay mobile with my clients, as well as to manage several aspects of my personal internet projects on the go.  I had purchased my HP laptop at the end of 2008 as a Christmas gift to myself.  It was the best laptop I had ever owned.  It served every purpose that I had hoped it would.  It ran strong for a couple of years, however, as with all computers, things will eventually happen.  I was prepared for untimely events with computers, as I backed up my files and data on a thumb drive every week.  Personally, I never felt the need for a full back-up, as settings and such aren’t that important to me.  The issue that had happened in my case, was severe, as it happened mid-week, and I had lost 3 documents, which included some statistics for a client – which took nearly 10 hours to prepare.  Obviously, they weren’t in my most recent file backup.

Hard Drive Recovery Help

Let me start off by saying that not everyone in the “Hard Drive Recovery” industry is the same.  This I found out after making several phone calls.  In order to determine whom you should contact for your hard drive. in this article, I will go over what I learned to ask when determining which Hard Drive Recovery Solution is best for your situation.  If you are not yet in need of this solution, and are simply looking for information on how to prevent the need of hard drive recovery, I recommend checking out my article on Hard Drive Back Up.

Let me briefly cover some of the reasons for needing hard drive recovery:

• Deletions
• Virus Infection
• Corruption
• Lost Password
• Damaged / Overwritten MFT
• Lost Partition Structure
• Formatted Partitions
• File Deletion
• Head Crash
• Media Damage
• Electrical Damage
• Controller Error
• Actuator Failure
• Damaged Motor
• Bad Sectors
• Heat Related Failure
• Dropped/Cracked Casing
• Fire / Flood / Hurricane / Tornado / Earthquake
• Power Spike / Power Shortage
• Sabotage / Terrorist Attacks
• Viruses / Malware

These are not all of the reasons behind the need for hard drive recovery, though they are the most common.  Regardless of the reason for your need to recover your hard drive, you need to know which questions to ask a Hard Drive Recovery Specialist, before deciding to do business with them.

Steps To Recovering Your Hard Drive Properly

First and foremost, before you even begin contacting specialists that deal in Hard Drive Recovery, you need to write down all of the pertinent information regarding your computer.  Make, model number, operating systems, software license numbers, etc.  You’ll also need to take write down any information that you have involving upgraded internal equipment that you’ve added to your computer, in case you are asked by the hard drive recovery specialist that you speak with.

The next step is a little more difficult for some.  You will need to write down and account for all actions involving your computer for the last several days before the issue occurred.  This will help your hard drive recovery tech determine the root of the problem, which is important for them to determine which route is best for them to attain a solution for your issue.

Once you have all of your notes, you need to do a search online for “Hard Drive Recovery Companies”.  Google will give you a relatively adequate list of companies that can do this for you.  Most people prefer a local company in their area (which is why I didn’t write an article on any specific company – though I will admit that the credentials on Salvage Data at salvagedata.com do look very promising).

Contacting Hard Drive Recovery Companies

When contacting Hard Drive Recovery companies, be sure to check their local Better Business Bureau reputations and ask them for their credentials before agreeing to do business with them.  Most of these computer tech companies will have their credentials listed on their website.  You’ll want to make sure that they are certified with Microsoft, and the computer manufacturer that made your specific computer.  If you own an HP, as I do, you’ll want to make sure that they are accredited with HP.  If it’s a Dell, you’ll want to make sure they are accredited to service Dell computers.  If you ask them and they tell you “it doesn’t matter, we are really good with your brand”, move on to the next company.  I can’t stress enough how important it is that they have taken the training program and become certified with your brand of computer (I’ve read a lot of Stephen King books, but it doesn’t mean that I can write a horror novel – know what I mean?).

Back to my hard drive recovery issue.  I didn’t have time to worry about recovering my data.  This created a huge headache for me, and I ended up having to redo all of the work I lost to meet my deadline.  Once I turned in the work, I simply restored my computer back to the original manufacturer specifications using the installation disks that came with the computer and went ahead and uploaded my most recent backup files.  Hopefully, this article will help you in finding your Hard Drive Recovery Solution.