Data recovery: "Gone forever?



We’ve all done it – deleted files when we didn’t mean to. Whether it’s accidentally dropping them in the Recycle Bin, hitting Delete instead of Save or deleting something in DOS without thinking things through first, we’ve experienced that jaw-dropping realisation that we’ve lost work. And you may have experienced even more horror at a hard-drive crash.

However, it’s very rare that those files are completely deleted for good. Even when something really catastrophic does happen – that is, your hard drive seizes – there are professionals that can work digital miracles on your equipment to resurrect the data.

Over the next few pages we’re going to look at everything you can do to access your lost data, whether you’ve deleted it, Windows has crashed, or even when you can’t access your hard drive at all. We also point you in the direction of the companies that can help when all seems lost.

Of course, this sort of nightmare can be avoided altogether if you make regular backups.
Recovering lost data in Windows


You’ve accidentally deleted or lost a file. Here’s how you can recover it…

This can be the most annoying kind of data loss, simply because the file has usually been deleted because of user error. The important thing here, as with any kind of data recovery, is to keep calm, and think about what you’re doing. Act rashly and you make it harder to recover that file.

The first place you should look after deleting a file is the Recycle Bin. It may seem a little obvious, but this back-up facility can be overlooked. If your file is in there, right-click it and select Restore from the menu. Of course, the Recycle Bin doesn’t catch every file deletion, with files that have been deleted in DOS being a particular oversight. There are utilities that will cover this inadequacy, but if you’re in DOS, then merely knowing that a deletion could be permanent should have you in the right frame of mind.

The Restoration

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