Important Causes of Data Loss
What you hoped will not occur, perhaps because of no reason, could always hit you hardest unless you are safeguarded against them. Computer running slowly could be because of spyware scrupulously installed could be working behind screens to destroy or transmit data to their masters eventually causing hard disk to crash. Others like electric storms, power surges, mechanical failures, fires & floods and user errors (sometimes in disregard of warnings) could affect your computer without any or sufficient warning.

You could also loose data because of sudden but unintended deleting of files or programs. Accidental disk format, virus attack, partition loss are some more causes for data loss.

Data Protection
Data protection is the best policy than ruing over the loss. You can make use of trusted data backup software which automatically backup your data regularly, if you can’t do it yourself manually. Keeping backup of backups will safeguard you against the worst eventualities, too. Turn off your computer immediately as you hear strange noises like creaking run of hard disk. It is also wise to unplug power cords, modem and telephone cables when you are going out of home or office for a long time.

Data Recovery
The first thing you need to understand when dealing with data recovery is not loosing cool. Never act in haste and don’t attempt data recovery yourself unless you are an old hat at that. Call for professional help from your area and who you know.

Data recovery software does a neat job in most of the cases. There are quite a few reliable softwares available, no matter what platform your computer operates on. Data recovery softwares are available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and so on. Don’t attempt to use the software yourself out of gut feeling. If you must, check for user friendly personal packages.

An average company in US alone spends anywhere between $100,000 and $1 million in total for desktop-oriented disasters. This should more than emphasize the need for data safety and disk recovery.

Whether the data on the hard drive can be recovered or not depends on the extent of the problem. A hard drive can be damaged due to firmware corruption, electronic failure, mechanical failure or a logical failure. Many times your hard drive may lose data due to the combination of the above mentioned factors. A hard drive may also develop bad sectors due to which the data on those sectors is lost or becomes unreadable.

Firmware refers to the information used by the computer to interact correctly with the hard drive. If the firmware fails or becomes corrupted, then important data on the hard drive is lost. In case of an electronic failure there maybe occur an electrical surge that can knock out the controller board on the hard drive and make it unusable. However data can be recovered by data recovery experts who use special data recovery software. Swapping the controller board with another one can prove to be dangerous as the information on the controller board is unique to the hard drive on which it is fitted. In comparison to electronic failure a mechanical failure can turn out to be worst as data recovery can almost become impossible. Mechanical failure includes head crash and also read/write head failure. Head crash can occur due to physical shock, power surges and movement of the computer. Next come the logical errors. Logical errors have nothing to do with the hardware part. Logical errors can occur due to corruption of the file system on the hard drive or improper entries in the file allocation table.

In case of hard drive failure it is vital to call the data recovery experts. In most cases, the information on the hard drive is important and you cannot bear to lose it. The experts enhance the possibilities of hard drive recovery in the case of failure of hard drive due to software malfunction, virus attacks and other reasons mentioned above. Data can be recovered on any type of operating system including all versions of Windows as well as Apple Macintosh, Novell, Linux, Unix and also on all types of file systems like FAT, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5, HFS, HFS+, NWFS, EXT2 and EXT3. The experts may take the hard drive to their workshop in order to recover the lost data and then return it to you in a few days. Most of the data recovery experts have their own laboratories that are involved in testing the hard drives and repairing them.

Loss of data is the last thing that you as the customer would ever want. This is where the data recovery experts come into the picture. They cannot extract only data from hard drives, but recover data also from tape drives, cds, dvds and other important storage media. You as the consumer can take up some preventive measures like backing up all your important data at least once a week. Windows has its own feature rich backup program. There are other backup software programs available in the market that can avert a possible disaster.

Besides the concern of recovering your data, another problem is the time it may take for an expert to help. This can be a slow and tedious process. I recommend having a second complete computer source such as a laptop (for portability) that you can continue your work. This way you are never completely down and you can share important data between the two.

The salvaging of lost data or making available the previously damaged data stored on various damaged media such as hard disk drives, magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, zip disks, CD-Rom, flash cards and other storage media is known as Data recovery. For example the data of a file which has been deleted by some accident can be recovered again.

· Data Recovery Service Providers

There are various Data Recovery Service Providers who are working for 24/7 in order to provide their customers with the best available data recovery services. These service providers have highly trained staff and they are continuously improving the process technology and their quality systems. These providers allow their customers to recover every important piece of data from all the popular file systems in case of accidental file deletion, malfunctioning of software, formatted hard drives, damaged or deleted partitions and erased or corrupted by a virus.

These data recovery service providers offer a complete range of solutions for the restoration of lost data. The different softwares used by these providers are compatible for all the Microsoft Windows Editions, Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, AIX, Linux and Unix operating system. They also provide data recovery from different file systems such as FAT, NTFS, HFS, HFS+, NWFS, EXT2 and EXT3 file systems. They prevent the various important data of our computer by different data safety and data security softwares from unwanted accessing of data, corruption, modification or deletion by another user or from various harmful programs such as viruses, spy ware, Trojan horses, etc.

· Some common Software used in Data Recovery

There are different data safety and data recovery softwares for hard drive data recovery. Some common software used in Data recovery are mentioned bellow.

Data Recovery with Fire: The FIRE is a portable bootable cdrom based software which can provide an immediate environment to perform data recovery which includes different forensic analysis, virus scanning, incident response and vulnerability assessment.

Data Recovery with LDE: The LDE or the Linux Disc Editor was originally made to recover the deleted files in Linux. The simple curses interface of the LDE resembles very much to the old version of Norton Disk Editor for DOS.

NT Data Recovery: The NT Data Recovery software provides read access to the NTFS drives in the MS DOS environment. The functionality of this software includes support for files with long names and as well as compressed and fragmented files. The NTFS Reader for DOS allows the files to copy them from NTFS to FAT volumes in network drives.

Data Recovery with PC Inspector: The PC Inspector File Recovery software is compatible for NTFS and FAT file systems. It has the capability to recover files with the original date and time stamp and can also restore them to the network drive. They can also recover many lost files even when the header entry is not available. The software can find partitions automatically on FAT systems even if the boot area/sector has been damaged or erased. The PC Inspector File Recovery software offers a user friendly interface that scans the hard drives and automatically recovers the files from the deleted folders.

Antivirus Protection

New viruses are invented every day, and system security is a concern for every business. Malicious software can damage your system to the point where it will not even boot up. The latest versions of Windows are the favorite targets of malicious programs such as spyware and viruses, and it is helpful to use 2 or more antivirus/anti-spyware programs to prevent destruction or theft of your data.

Spyware Scanner

The clues that spyware is on a computer include a barrage of pop-up ads, a hijacked browser,a sudden or even repeated change of your computer’s Internet home page, the appearance of a new toolbar or new screen icons, malfunctioning keys, random error messages, and most of all, sluggish computer performance. Any sytem with access to the internet is prone to this problem, but there is software to block spyware installation. In addition, make sure all employees using the office network do not download from unknown sites, and set your internet browser security at “Medium” or higher. Install individual firewalls to prevent uninvited users from accessing your network. A firewall blocks unauthorized access to your computer and will alert you if spyware already on your computer is sending information out. Purchase an anti-spyware program from a vendor you know and trust. Set it to read on a regular basis, at least weekly and if possible each time you run your computer. Delete any programs the anti-spyware program detects on your computer.

Computer Maintenance

The best way to avoid having to use file recovery software is to be sure that no corrupt data is stored on your computer. Companies like Norton sell disk optimization programs keep your network running at top speed, correct problem files and maximize the available space on your hard disk. Run disk optimization and anti-virus programs at least once a week.

Hard Disk Recovery

There are disk recovery applications specifically geared to recovering files of a certain format, like graphics files as opposed to word document files, and there are general-purpose programs to hunt for any type of misplaced file regardless of the format. There is no program on the market that can guarantee recovery of every lost file, but you are able to increase your chances for recovery by selecting the appropriate program for the file you are trying to save.

Do-it-yourself programs are a lot less expensive than hiring a data retrieval company that specializes in information recovery, and to save money you should at least attempt to utilize of this type of program before calling a professional.

In addition to recovering deleted files, there exists information recovery programs that can restore files after you have formatted the drive, after a power failure, natural disaster, or even files damaged by a computer virus.

RAID

RAID is short for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks, a category of disk drives that employ 2 or even several drives in combination to improve data storage fault tolerance and performance. RAID disk drives are frequently installed on servers but can also run on individual computers. Because of the duplication of data, it is possible to recover files from one or another disk when the need arises.

As you might expect, RAID disk repair is quite a complicated process. However it is one of the most foolproof methods of data storage because the RAID architecture strategically distributes information randomly across the array. However, this sort of architecture demands the services of a recovery professional.

Hard drives aren’t perfect, although they’re amazing examples of mechanical engineering. Physical damage can easily occur since these disks are spinning at such high speeds. The smallest interference while in use can cause damage in certain areas. Various features have been put into place to reduce the likelihood of a critical hard drive failure, but these are not 100% effective. Sadly, physical damage isn’t the only reason why you may need to attempt hard drive data recovery. Many people accidentally wipe out their hard drives because they’re not sure what they’re doing.

If you do know a good deal about computers, and are not the one who messed up the hard drive in the first place, it may be possible for you to do your own hard drive data recovery. Keep in mind that to do this, you may need to fix your master boot record, or retrieve data from a physically damaged disk. If you can’t do this, then you’ll need to employ the services of a hard drive data recovery expert. Actually, if your system crashes and you don’t actually recover data for a living, I’d suggest you go straight to a hard drive data recovery expert. One thing though…they’re expensive. Come on, these guys are specialized in what they do. You didn’t really expect that any hard drive data recovery expert would do it for free, did you?

You know what can really help you save money if your hard drive does crash? Backing up your data. It seems like such a sensible thing to do, doesn’t it? Some users partition their hard drive. This makes it easy for you to do your hard drive data recovery because chances are only one partition will fail. If you’ve backed up your files, you can continue working or, better yet, you can save them to an external source and get a new hard drive. You should definitely invest in an external back up. Yes, it’s an inconvenience to remember to back up important files, but at least you won’t have to pay for a

There are some companies that specialize in repairing damaged USB memory devices. In the process of retrieving your data, companies can also repair your device. Types of the problems they can repair broken solders, loose plugs, and broken internal connections. Some of the devices that they can fix are USB ports, USB sticks, USB drives, USB thumb drive, and Flash memory devices. These companies use a type of recovery called a jump drive recovery. They can recover any files from any type of USB drive or memory stick. Sometimes the chips inside the devices will be damaged, but don’t fret; there are some companies that can fix that problem too.

So the conclusion on USB data recovery is that just because information seems to have disappeared, doesn’t mean that it is lost forever. There are companies that can find and retrieve lost data on a damaged or removed USB device. In the process of finding data, the problems that caused the data to go missing in the first place will be fixed. This is helpful because it insures that it won’t happen again. There are programs out there that can help you retrieve your data by yourself, but the problem might be bigger than you know, so you should always seek professional help. There could be problems inside your device that prevent your device from working properly.

Flash memory is a form of non-volatile memory that can be electrically erased and rewrite, which means that it does not need power to maintain the data stored in the chip. In addition, flash memory offers fast read access times and better shock resistance than hard disks. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory for applications such as storage on battery-powered devices.

Flash memory is advance from of EEPROM (Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) that allows multiple memory locations to be erased or written in one programming operation. Unlike an EPROM (Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory) an EEPROM can be programmed and erased multiple times electrically. Normal EEPROM only allows one location at a time to be erased or written, meaning that flash can operate at higher effective speeds when the systems using; it read and write to different locations at the same time.

Referring to the type of logic gate used in each storage cell, Flash memory is built in two varieties and named as, NOR flash and NAND flash.
Flash memory stores one bit of information in an array of transistors, called “cells”, however recent flash memory devices referred as multi-level cell devices, can store more than 1 bit per cell depending on amount of electrons placed on the Floating Gate of a cell. NOR flash cell looks similar to semiconductor device like transistors, but it has two gates. First one is the control gate (CG) and the second one is a floating gate (FG) that is shield or insulated all around by an oxide layer. Because the FG is secluded by its shield oxide layer, electrons placed on it get trapped and data is stored within. On the other hand NAND Flash uses tunnel injection for writing and tunnel release for erasing.

NOR flash that was developed by Intel in 1988 with unique feature of long erase and write times and its endurance of erase cycles ranges from 10,000 to 100,000 makes it suitable for storage of program code that needs to be infrequently updated, like in digital camera and PDAs. Though, later cards demand moved towards the cheaper NAND flash; NOR-based flash is hitherto the source of all the removable media.

Followed in 1989 Samsung and Toshiba form NAND flash with higher density, lower cost per bit then NOR Flash with faster erase and write times, but it only allows sequence data access, not random like NOR Flash, which makes NAND Flash suitable for mass storage device such as memory cards. SmartMedia was first NAND-based removable media and numerous others are behind like MMC, Secure Digital, xD-Picture Cards and Memory Stick. Flash memory is frequently used to hold control code such as the basic input/output system (BIOS) in a computer. When BIOS needs to be changed (rewritten), the flash memory can be written to in block rather than byte sizes, making it simple to update.
On the other hand, flash memory is not practical to random access memory (RAM) as RAM needs to be addressable at the byte (not the block) level. Thus, it is used more as a hard drive than as a RAM. Because of this particular uniqueness, it is utilized with specifically-designed file systems which extend writes over the media and deal with the long erase times of NOR flash blocks. JFFS was the first file systems, outdated by JFFS2. Then YAFFS was released in 2003, dealing specifically with NAND flash, and JFFS2 was updated to support NAND flash too. Still, in practice most follows old FAT file system for compatibility purposes.

Although it can be read or write a byte at a time in a random access fashion, limitation of flash memory is, it must be erased a “block” at a time. Starting with a freshly erased block, any byte within that block can be programmed. However, once a byte has been programmed, it cannot be changed again until the entire block is erased. In other words, flash memory (specifically NOR flash) offers random-access read and programming operations, but cannot offer random-access rewrite or erase operations.

This effect is partially offset by some chip firmware or file system drivers by counting the writes and dynamically remapping the blocks in order to spread the write operations between the sectors, or by write verification and remapping to spare sectors in case of write failure.
Due to wear and tear on the insulating oxide layer around the charge storage mechanism, all types of flash memory erode after a certain number of erase functions ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000, but it can be read an unlimited number of times. Flash Card is easily rewritable memory and overwrites without warning with a high probability of data being overwritten and hence lost.

In spite of all these clear advantages, worse may occur due to system failure, battery failure, accidental erasure, re-format, power surges, faulty electronics and corruption caused by hardware breakdown or software malfunctions; as a result your data could be lost and damaged.

Flash Memory Data Recovery is the process of restoring data from primary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Flash memory data recovery is a flash memory file recovery service that restores all corrupted and deleted photographs even if a memory card was re-formatted. This can be due to physical damage or logical damage to the storage device. Data even from damage flash memory can be recovered, and more than 90% of lost data can be restored.