Will Data Recovery Work for That?

If something goes wrong with your computer’s hard drive, chances are you know that you can use data recovery software – or in a pinch, a data recovery service – to get your files back. Hard drive data recovery works for PC drives, as well as server drives and RAID drives that power multiple networks. But what if the data loss isn’t on your computer? Would you know how to recover data if you, say… dropped your digital camera off a ledge and damaged it? How about if you accidentally washed your favorite jeans – with your pen drive still latched to the belt loop?

The good news is that there’s a good chance your files can be recovered no matter the media they’re stored on. The bad news is that you might have to resort to a professional data recovery company like Fields Data Recovery to get the job done. A great deal depends on the file system and whether or not you can actually access the drive at all. If you’re unsure about whether a data recovery program or Fields Associates data recovery services can get your files back, here are some more specifics about various types of file storage media and devices.

Data Recovery from a Laptop Hard Drive

As long as the hard drive is a standard SATA drive, recovering data is no more complicated than it is to recover files from a desktop PC. Solid state drives, on the other hand, are becoming more popular. Recovering files from a solid state drive is more difficult and should be left to professionals.

If you choose to attempt to restore the files yourself, be sure that you copy the entire drive first, then work from the copy instead of the original drive. That way, if your attempts are unsuccessful, you can still ship the original drive to a service that specializes in data recovery.

Recovering Data from a Memory Card

If you can access the card with a card reader, it may be possible to recover the lost files yourself. It’s simply a matter of using data recovery software to pull the files from the damaged card and restore them to your hard drive. But just because you can’t access the files, that doesn’t mean they’re completely lost. Often, a professional will still be able to access and restore your files.

The same applies for digital camera hard drives, your iPod or other MP3 player – even damaged CDs and DVDs. In fact, if you happen upon an old 5.25-inch floppy – the old cardboard and film ones – there’s an excellent chance that a professional data recovery service can pull the data from it.

If you’ve lost data from any type of storage media, you can attempt to restore it using a third-party data recovery utility. If all else fails, though, a data recovery professional is your best hope to get your files back.