Maximise data recovery success

Even the most experienced people panic when a hard drive fails. “It is a known fact that every hard drive is going to fail at some point. It is what the user does after the drive fails that can hinder the recovery,” said Adrian Briscoe, general manager, Kroll Ontrack.

“With more valuable information being stored on hard drives than ever before, it is critical that individuals understand what not to do when they experience a data loss situation.”

The company has compiled the following list of common mistakes end users commit following hard drive failures, which are worth noting.

The user decides they need to completely wipe their drive and restore their data using their backup because they’ve experienced a data loss situation. A complete reformat and reinstall is performed, only for the user to realise their backup a) does not work, or b) is not current. Because the original drive data was wiped, there is little hope of getting back the lost data the user was trying to locate in the first place.

To avoid this error, individuals should test their backups by restoring their data to an alternative location before assuming the backup is sound.

When a non-working drive no longer spins, the user’s attempts to buy a like drive and swap out what s/he believes to be the non-working part with a part from the newly purchased drive. Because current hard drive parts contain drive-specific information, this act does not fix the drive malfunction since the new part is not programmed to ‘talk’ to the drive’s original parts. In this situation, call for help from a reputable data recovery provider.

Don’t get physical. Similar to the situation listed above, the user believes the head of the drive is stuck because s/he doesn’t hear the drive spinning. In an attempt to perform a ‘quick fix’, the user removes the drive and bangs it against his/her desk, creating physical damage to the drive and potentially rendering some data unrecoverable because the head of the drive can actually scratch the platters when it is shaken or tapped. While there are many reasons (electronic failure, power outage, etc) why a hard drive head stops working, it is certain that shaking the drive won’t address any of these issues.

A hard drive is water logged in either a flood situation or because a glass of liquid was spilled on it. Referencing a common data recovery myth, the user attempts to remedy the situation by using a hair dryer, further damaging the drive. In water damage scenarios, it is recommended that the individual keep the drive in its wet state and send it in for recovery. This will maximise the chances of recovery success, as drying a drive adheres the liquid to the drive.

The user opts to utilise an operating system failure program such as CHKDSK, Mac Disk Utility or FSCK in order to remedy what s/he believes to be an operating error. If the drive is physically damaged and the user runs the program, it will further damage the drive making recovery more difficult than if the user simply turned off the computer and called an expert at the onset of the issue. In this case, the user should run the system failure program in ‘safe mode’. Running the program in safe mode will allow the program to report on the condition of the system without actually attempting to fix it, thus enabling the user to determine how to proceed.

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