- The function of hard drive recovery is to reinstate lost of corrupted data that cannot be accessed by a crashed, compromised or damaged computer. The most common cause of data loss is a system crash, and generally data backed up by a hard drive recovery program will be reinstated. However, occasionally an intensive hard drive recovery will need to be used if there is extensive damage to the computer. If this is the case, a trained specialist will have to extract the physical drive and remove the data on the hard drive using a special machine.
- There are two types of hard drive recovery: software and manual. Software based recovery involves the replacement of lost data via an automatic software recovery program. This program takes new data and saves a truncated copy on a dedicated hard drive. This way, if a system does crash, it can automatically be reinstated by the software program. Manual hard drive recovery involves physically removing a corrupted hard drive and running it through a machine to extract the data. Manual hard drive recovery is something that requires professional training, and generally costs about $60 to $150, depending the extent of damage or corruption.
- Software-based hard drive recovery time generally depends upon the amount of data being recovered. A standard recovery of 30 to 50 GB of data will be relatively short and only take about two or three hours, depending on processor speed and recovery rate. However, if you have a large amount of data, software recovery can take anywhere from five to 10 hours, especially if the software must reinstate complex programs. Manual recovery times will vary by company. Most places will give you a 72 hour turnaround, but it is important to call ahead if you have a specific time frame in mind.
- There are several ways to prevent the need for hard drive recovery. Most system crashes are caused by poor computer maintenance. Simply having a good antiviral program and defragmenting your computer regularly can prevent a very high percentage of computer crashes. However, it is a good idea to have a hard drive recovery software program, as well as an external hard drive for backup purposes, just in case the worst should happen.
- It is very important to thoroughly check into any manual recovery businesses before requesting services. Many fraud and identity theft scams have been reported by people who had their personal information stolen off of a hard disk that they simply wanted recovered. Make sure you check references, and do your research before letting anyone touch your hard drive.
