How to Recover a Hard Drive Fast

Rocover a hard drive quickly.

Hard drive data can be misplaced for several reasons. Data may have accidentally been erased, the drive accidentally formatted, or the drive may have a physical problem. If there is not a good backup of the data, you need to know how to recover the drive fast. You can recover a hard drive fast in just a few steps with the use of data recovery software.

Instructions

1. Right-click on the "Recycle Bin" and see if the files are there. Right-click on any files you want back and click "Restore."

2. Download a third-party program to search for missing data if the drive can be read but the data is not visible. Data recovery is not built-in to Windows. Some popular programs are Restoration, PC Inspector File Recovery and FreeUndelete (see Resources).

3. Download "pci_filerecovery4.exe" and click on it to install PC Inspector File Recovery. Open the program and choose "Recover Deleted Files," "Find Lost Data" or "Find Lost Drive" to begin the recovery process.

4. Download "freeundelete.exe" and click on it to install FreeUndelete. Open FreeUndelete and select the drive with the missing files. Click on the files you would like to recover and click "Undelete."

5. Download "rest2514.exe" and click on it to install Restoration. Open the program and select the drive with the missing files. Choose the files you would like to restore and click "Restore by Copying."

Tips & Warnings

• If you still cannot find the missing files, contact a professional data recovery company such as Drive Savers Data Recovery, On Track or Total Recall.

References

• "PC World;" How to Recover (Almost) Anything; Kirk Steers; September 2007

Resources

• FreeUndelete: Product Information
• Snap Files: Restoration File Recovery Software
• PC Inspector: PC Inspector File Recovery