How to recover destroyed or damaged data?

Users of both home and office computers constantly face problem of recovery of the files, which have been accidentally deleted or have been destroyed because of the problems with the operating system, PC hardware or even detachable drives. In this case, a master seems to help you cope with this problem, but why should you pay money, if there is more available and “cheap” solutions for this purpose?

In such situations users usually ask the same questions like “How to recover destroyed or damaged data?” If the files have been damaged or have already been deleted from the recycle bin, or simply have disappeared one should resort to such applications as, for example, Recover My Files, R-Studio or already considered above instrument with a fairly user-friendly interface Recuva. Each of these products has its advantages and they are quite often updated, therefore the stability is provided. The question is, how high the percentage of probability of returning the files to their original place is?


Recovery of deleted files


Nowadays on the market newcomers are showing up and one of the most successful in some respects is the already mentioned - Starus File Recovery which costs up to 1000 rubles. This program is able to perform standard operations, which are included in the overwhelming number of competitors, but, in this case, its recovery wizard is very convenient , although Recuva “looks” good in this sphere. But the development of Starus allows you to examine the whole process of file recovery in greater detail without missing important points. Generally, the best way to find a good file recovery program is to examine the detailed reviews of all solutions.

Data recovery from RAID with File Scavenger program

File Scavenger program (http://www.quctek.com) is made for data recovery from RAID, although it works with any single carriers : winchester, flash-disks, laser disks. Although its interface looks rather simple, the program has rather flexible possibilities and settings. The program relates to Portable Software category - the only executable file ( FileScav.exe) of 1,38 Mb size, which could be reordered on any carrier of information and run right from it. The second file is the file of reference. We don't need it exactly for work, but it's useful to read the reference of the program. It includes a lot of important information not exactly only about the work with program, but also about RAID data recovery in general.

It's concerned by default that operating system and program are run from one physical disk, and the two or three physical disks are included into RAID array. Then after ruining the program will try to define the possible configuration of array and will orientate on it.

But File Scaveger works successfully works with disks' images, which are made with the help of other utilities, and with physical disks, which are plugged in usual controllers.

Run the program. There are two insets in File Scavenger window:

Step 1: Search - here you make the settings of file search and found files are depicted;

Step 2: Recover - after the files are found during scanning on the disk, on this inset you may define the recovery settings of the found objects (while the files are not found, this inset is not active).

File of disk image may be created with the help of different programs and its spread-out doesn't play any role.

As a usual, according to the inside format it's a usual binary file. Some programs apply ZIP shrinking algorithm to it, as there is no scene in recording all the chains of empty blocks-zeros in the image.

File Scavenger creates images itself as files with disk spread-out' but it can open such files no matter what the spread-out is.

1. In the opened list Look in choose one of the physical disks or segments.

2. Find in menu File|Disk Image|Create. Creating a disk image file window will open. Here you'll find a restriction that it's forbidden to save disk image on the same disk. Tick the flag, which agrees that you understand this and show the name of file and folder, where you'll create the image.

You are offered to create binary file by default, but the program is able to save information as Text. The last may be useful for looking the contents not with the help of binary, but usual text redactor like Notepad. If you want to save only a part of disk in the image, define the numbers of the first and the last segments.

3. After you defined the name and type of the file, press Create. The image will be saved in this folder. In our case the images from RAID disks are already put off and are in the folder on the first and the only system disk. You only have to open them with the help of File Scavenger , create virtual array and extract the information.

1. Find in the menu File|Disk image|Load. Standard dialogue window of file opening will open. Choose there images and press Open. The loaded images are added to the opening list Look in.

2. Press Advanced in the window of the program or choose File|Advanced in the menu. Window Reconstruct a broken RAID or spanned volume will open. Flags and buttons in this window define the type of array, which must be created.

3. Choose the appropriate type (level) of RAID:

- Spanned volume - it combines the volume on several disks or JBOD array.

- Striped volume - it means RAID 0 or RAID 5.

4. With the help of RAID Implementation define the original realization of the array:

- Hardware-based (using RAID controller) - disks belonged to a hardware-based array;

- Software-based - firstly disks belonged to software-based array.

5. In RAID 5 Parity Rotation the order of volume (disk) rotation for 5-level array is also defined. If you don't know, what was the first order, agree with one that the program offered. File Scavenger usually defines the order of volumes correctly.

6. After defining initial settings of the array press OK. The next window will open, which helps for creating virtual array from physical disks or their images.

7. In the list Physical disk choose the first disk which you need to include into the array. Press Add and this disk will appear in the field Disk Extents or component disks. Add the rest disks in the same way.

- Buttons Move Up and Move Down allow changing the order of disks inside the array. When you define the order of disks, you define their order of rotating to the program.

- In Size you define the volume of the disk, which will be scanned by the program. It can be less or equal, but not more than the size of array. After creating the array in such a way press OK.

8. The 3d, last window Stripping Block Size will open. Specify here the volume of the block (by default it'll be 64 Kb; also here you can specify the number of blocks, for which partity will be counted at the same time. Most controllers count by default one block at one time. Some controllers, for example HP/Compaq, handle groups of 16 blocks, but modern controllers don't support such algorithms.After you specify settings or left them by default, press OK. The new virtual array will be added to the list of disks Look in.

9. Choose the created array in the list Look in – choose Mode in one of the positions:

- Quick – quick search

- Long

10. Press Search. Window Determining the Boot Sector opens, where you can specify the number of loaded sector. The search begins from this sector , and if the number if unknown, place the number by default (0). Press OK.

11. In one more window the program will offer to ignore deleted files (Yes, skip deleted files) or show them (No, display deleted files). Press OK and wait till program will be scanning virtual RAID-array, looking for lost files.

12. At the end of the search the list of found objects will appear. If you want to see this list as tree of files and folders, press Tree View on the tool bar.

13. Opposite each file in column Status the forecast for recovery is shown, Good or Poor.

14. Go to Step 2: Recover. Specify catalog in the field Destination folder, where the recovered files should be saved. For saving all the logical structure of files and folders, install a flag Use Folder Names.

15. Install flags near those files, which should be extracted. Press big button Recover. Chosen files will be extracted from virtual array into the folder, mentioned in Destination folder.

As scanning of big arrays takes much time, there are saving of middle results. Command File/Session/Load loads saved session in order to continue the handling from previous condition. This utility is rather portable and universal, that's why it takes small place, but serious place on the flash-disk with “emergency kit” of programs. It can hardly substitute R-Studio set, but it's rather convenient for extra data recovery, but not only from RAID-arrays.

How To Restore Data From a Damaged Hard Disc Drive

How To Restore Data From a Damaged Hard Disc Drive

You shouldn’t give way to despair if your hard drive has been damaged as all the data can be restored. Even in case when your HDD has been broken, your files can be brought to life as they can still remain on the disc, but cannot be viewed through “Explorer”.
Has the article helped you?

You’ll need:

•a damaged hard disk drive;
•a personal computer;
•special utilities;
•access to the Internet;
•computer skills.

Instruction

1. First of all, remove your HDD from the system unit. Don’t throw it away into the bin if any physical damage has occurred, as lost data can be restored even in this state of your HDD. Connect a removed HDD to another computer or insert it into an external USB hard drive enclosure.
2. What you should do next is to use special programs which can be a piece of either freeware or shareware. The following programs have shown themselves to good advantage: О&О UnErasc, PC Inspector File Recovery 4.1 and Zero Assumption Recovery (or simply ZAR). Use O&O UnErasc and PC Inspector File Recovery 4.1 for scanning the disc and then choose necessary files from the list of lost data. If you use these utilities, files can be restored only if no information was written to the HDD after files had been deleted. You can restore files even from a formatted hard drive by using Zero Assumption Recovery utility.
3. Errors in the Master Boot Record partition table are often responsible for file loss. To restore data download from the Internet free simple programs which efficiently reconstruct the MBR with the help of file structures. Such programs as Active Partition Recovery or MBRlool 2.3.1 will easily restore damaged sectors.
4. Create an exact copy of your hard drive to avoid irretrievable data loss. Buy a special program, for example, HDClone 3.2., which will make a sector-by-sector copy of the HDD.
Notice:
Be careful when buying any programs, especially in the Internet, as some of them can represent a real danger to your computer.
Useful tips:
Some pieces of shareware restore files in several passes. Thus, for quick data recovery purchase a license key for some amount of money.
Additional sources:
Active Partition Recovery

Several myths about Hard Disk Drive (or simply HDD)

Some myths of HDD

1. There is a vacuum inside of the Winchester HDA. Certainly it's one of the most frequent mistakes. It's incomprehensible that people think so, but this can't be real as a matter of principle, because the magnetic heads soar about the disk surface at the expense of air stream, which is produced by rotating “pancakes”. So, if there is no air, the Winchester won't work due to the laws of physics. Actually there is simple air inside the HDA which is purified at the expense of air filters with the same pressure such as outside the HDA.

2. If the Winchester's magnetic heads has failed and the disk thrums, you'll need to replace the magnetic platters into another serviceable Winchester for removing data. It's the second common mistake. It's not clear, why people think, that it's necessary to replace the platters, though only magnetic heads has broken down? In practice the replacing of the platters into another HDA is a very hard work an sometimes it even can't be done. Even professionals use this method only in case if bearing box is jamming. It is so difficult because after replacing the “pancakes” they need to be centered relative to the axle shaft, preserving the disks’ displacement angle relative to each other. In most cases it's much simpler to replace magnetic heads from the serviceable HDD into unserviced, because magnetic heads of most HDD models are fastened on their axis and they don't need to be centered.

3. There are special stands, where you can right from the magnetic platters read the information from the damaged disk. Right, such stands really exist, but you may find them only somewhere abroad, the cost of hard disk recovery at such like stands will be somewhere about tens of thousands of dollars, it's possible only for several HDD models, data recovery will be only partial. That's why it'll be more correctly to think, that there is no such a universal in general comprehension stand. It is connected with several moments. First, all modern storage have different systems of technological orders and also there is such a thing as compiler, so if you'll read all disk sectors logically, it'll be necessary to get somehow the logical data structure from the physical sectors. Second, the concentration of data recording of modern HDD is so, that reading information from the HDD surface is possible only by staff heads, but this will have no sense if the platter will have a scratch, in this case the heads fail immediately.

4. The data, which is rewritten must be recovered by the remanent magnetization method. The method of recording data in modern HDD means full magnetic reversal of part of the surface while the information is recordered. That's why the remanent magnetization simply doesn't exist.

5. Government secret services as FBI have on hand super equipment, which simply commercial companies don't have. In reality there are also no magicians in FBI, and certainly they don't have some marvel devices for HDD data recovery in any cases. Moreover, people from secret services very often appeal to hard disk data recovery commercial companies for help.

6.There are cases, that people, when at service center, tell that they don't need the hard drive repairment , but they need just to rewrite the data from it. That's a pity, but it's impossible to copy the data from the damaged hard disk. Nobody still can't do this very work. So, first of all you need to fix your hard drive and only then you may copy all the necessary data from it.

So, when you have so problems with your HDD, don't do anything with your own hands. If after reading this article you have some questions - better consult a specialist to avoid more huge problems.