The Biggest Mistakes in Data Recovery and How to Avoid Them

We live in a world of technology and are so used to our PCs, smartphones, laptops, external hard drives, and digital cameras that we get nervous when the battery runs low or when we forget any of them at home. Also, when our devices fail, we panic and try to fix them as quickly as possible. However, hasty action can lead to dire consequences.

Many users turn to data recovery specialists after failing to recover their lost data. In such cases, it is often impossible to recover data because the drive has been severely damaged due to improper repair. To avoid losing your important data, read our most dangerous mistakes in DIY Data Recovery:

Open the drive yourself

Some people think that nothing will happen if you open the hard drive for a couple of seconds. Hard drives are very sensitive. When you open the drive, dust and moisture can damage it. Also, do not forcefully open the disc, as you may scratch the disc platter and other sensitive components, resulting in data loss. Moreover, opening the hard drive will not bring you any positive results because it will be impossible to repair the hard drive components without special equipment. Therefore, in case of physical damage to the hard drive, you should contact a certified data recovery specialist who has a clean room and special equipment.

Format the drive to get rid of error messages

Imagine: you need to access data on a USB drive, but it’s not possible because you see an error message “You need to format the drive on the drive before using it.” What will you do? Format? If you format it, you will most likely be able to use it, but you won’t be able to access the previously saved data. Before formatting a flash drive, first, use a data recovery program to restore the files. There are free (eg Recuva) and paid solutions such as ReclaiMe Data Recovery Software.

Fix a physically damaged hard drive using the software

There are two types of hard drive failures: logical failure and physical damage. Any data recovery program can correct a logical failure. As for the physical problem, it will be impossible to recover data using the software. This is a waste of time, it’s also dangerous and will kill your drive. If you are sure that you are dealing with physical damage, you should stop using the storage device and contact a data recovery service.

Save the data on the failed drive

Perhaps this is the most important rule of data recovery. Never write anything to a hard drive that you need to recover data from. This action will overwrite your data and it will be impossible to restore anything.

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