Loss of data on your hard drive, flash drive or phone is a very serious problem that everyone has probably encountered. Therefore, data recovery after formatting a disk is a very urgent task, which, fortunately, there are many ways to solve it.
Why can data be lost?
Data disappears for the following main reasons:
- Accidental deletion by the user or any program that he runs.
- Due to the effects of malware or, more simply, a virus.
- Physical malfunction of the drive itself.
- Incorrect shutdown, which also leads to damage to the file system on the disk.
The first two cases are the usual data deletion, and there will be one solution to the problem. If the disk itself is faulty, for example, its physical structure or logical table is violated, then data recovery will be more difficult.
Physical malfunction of a disk is very easy to recognize. Usually it is expressed in the disappearance of a whole section. The flash drive may not be detected by the computer at all, and if the disk with the system is damaged, then the machine will not boot, showing on the black screen the absence of a partition from which it could boot. In this case, the restoration of lost data will require the use of special programs and utilities, and even professional equipment.
What is forbidden to do if your data is lost
It may take some time before you start recovering lost data. During this time, to avoid the complete loss of data, do not:
- Write something to the hard drive or external media, or even use it somehow.
- If the disk with the system turned out to be damaged, it is better not to restart the computer once again or not to try to turn it on at all.
- Any suggestions on formatting, fixing errors, or defragmenting disks should be rejected.
- It is best to connect a disk or flash drive to the computer where it will not be used as the main storage medium.
Where is the deleted data stored on the computer?
Even after deleting and formatting, the data on the computer does not disappear completely. In fact, they are still physically present on the disk for a long time, they simply receive the status 0 in the file table. They remain there even after the recycle bin is empty, exactly until something needs to be written to this place. That is why it is very important not to upload anything to the hard drive if you have lost some information. Only then recovery of lost data will be possible. Otherwise, they will disappear forever.
When recovering lost or deleted data is not possible
There are also such unpleasant situations when recovering lost data is no longer possible. These include:
- Reinstalling the system on a computer with formatting hard drives. Here formatting is done in full.
- Filling the hard drive with other data after the information has been deleted.
- Serious physical damage that cannot be fixed by either software or hardware. For example, this may be a breakdown of the head of the hard drive.
Unfortunately, in this case, it is most likely impossible to recover your lost data even in the service center.
Program for recovering lost data
The easiest way to recover deleted or lost data is to use special programs at home. They are different, but mainly work in two directions - they eliminate physical and logical errors of disks or restore data that was accidentally deleted or formatted. Programs vary in functionality, and it happens that in different cases you should use different software.
"Victoria"
This free program perfectly evaluates the performance of the hard drive, tests it, and also performs minor repairs. Its main feature is disk verification directly, directly through the ports. Due to this, with the help of this program, it is possible to bring to life even absolutely seemingly hopeless HDDs. It has many advantages:
- Free of charge.
- Effectively restores lost or deleted data.
- It works very fast.
- It starts without installation.
- It has a small size.
- It starts in AHCI mode, so BIOS settings do not need to be changed.
- Supports many different tests.
Wd
This utility from the company Western Digital initially served only to restore the hard drives of this company. Now it can be used to diagnose HDD from other companies. The utility allows you to back up data, restore hard drives and even store information on a separate cloud server. Unless with large volumes of hard drives it works somewhat slowly.
Regenerator
This small simple utility is very easy to use. It allows you to eliminate even a large number of bad sectors, that is, physical damage. Such a serious recovery is possible because the program uses a new magnetization reversal algorithm and serial signals. What is nice, when working with a hard drive, this utility recovers lost data very carefully, without affecting other information on the computer.
HDD Master
This small free utility does not need to be specifically installed. It allows you to recover lost data from your hard drive, eliminate most hard drive problems and conduct many tests. Despite its small size, the program has many functions - for example, it can stop or start the HDD spindle.
Acronis
Acronis is a very large range of programs that allow you to carry out various actions with your hard drives. There are also programs for partitioning disks and backup tools , but we are interested in a utility that allows you to scan and restore hard drives. Acronis is easy to learn and affordable, so many users use it today.
Seagate Program
If you use a Seagate hard drive, you can test and restore it using special programs. There are a lot of them, but the best is Seagate File Recovey. It has a simple interface and support for many different memory tests. By the way, it works with hard drives of other media, although with Seagate drives it is still more efficient.
Using the program Seagate File Recovey, you can scan the hard drive, eliminate errors and even restore information. In addition, the program supports working with memory cards and flash drives, and data for recovery can be previewed. A significant plus is the ability to read and recover even encrypted information.
The programs listed below do not cope with the physical problems of disks - they simply help to recover data that you deleted by accident or on purpose.
Recuva
This application performs data recovery after deletion, and it is very popular among users. You can download Recuva for free, but it weighs quite a bit. The program easily works not only with the HDD, but also with flash cards, as well as memory cards. This program restores data almost completely automatically, but the user is given the opportunity to choose which files to recover. For example, if you lost photos, then you can mark them, and other files deleted earlier will not be restored.
Recuva recovers data very quickly, however, it also has several disadvantages. Usually it copes well with the task if, after the loss of the files, the medium has not been used. That is, if there after that new data was recorded, then there is a chance that you will lose your files forever. Also, Recuva does not recover data from formatted media.
UndeletePlus
UndeletePlus is a simple program that quickly and efficiently recovers lost data. It works with both HDD and external drives. For the convenience of users, the program has a special wizard that will allow you not to miss anything. It can also recover certain types of data, and even copes with information lost due to formatting.
R-studio
R-studio is a very effective program that allows you to quickly and efficiently recover lost data. The disadvantage is its payment, however, the functionality of the program is very wide. She can:
- Fully recover data from HDD, flash drives and even DVDs and floppy disks.
- Return to work RAID arrays, including RAID-6.
- To bring to life disks with damage and logical errors.
- Restore partitions after formatting.
- Work with Mac OS, Linux, and Windows partitions, both with FAT and NTFS.
R-studio is a program for true professionals, and it even copes with cases when the system displays a message “Disk is not formatted”. Also, it is not a problem for her to recover formatted data. What is good, it can be started from a disk or a bootable USB flash drive if you suddenly do not start the system itself. True, an inexperienced user in such a complex program can get confused.
Which program is better
Experts recommend trying to use different programs for data recovery - if one of them doesn’t help you, then the second one can handle it. The choice of software in general depends on your situation:
- For mild cases of data loss due to deletion, Recuva is suitable.
- If any errors are found in the hard disk and the disk cannot be read at all, then Victoria is a good option.
- If you need professional data recovery and disk partitioning, then you should stop at Acronis.
- If you regularly restore data and work a lot with disks or have lost some very important information, then you should resort to the help of R-studio.
Other programs in general are also very good and can help you out of seemingly hopeless situations.
Data Recovery Using Bootable Disks
If you have any problems, and the system does not boot, and there is data on the system disk, then it is likely that they are not damaged. However, you can only remove them if you insert the disc into another device. What if you do not know how to do this or do not want to fuss too much? You can try using boot disks or flash drives.
Bootable media is the one from which you can install the operating system. For some operating systems, for example, Linux Ubuntu, this media also allows you to boot the OS with limited functions, but with access to the hard drive. In the end, it will be enough for you to simply copy all the important data to another disk or USB flash drive.
Data Recovery on Android Devices
If you have lost data on the device running the Android operating system (and it is in the device’s memory, and not on the USB flash drive), then special programs will be required for recovery. The best of them:
- Wondershare Dr. Fone, which also allows you to return your notes and contacts;
- 7-Data Android Recovery, similar in interface to the Recuva program.
Both of them are intuitive - just install them on a computer and connect the phone via USB.
Physical recovery at home
Sometimes recovering lost flash drive data can be done at home, even if the recovery program did not help you.
Sometimes it happens that a computer or phone does not see a flash drive simply because its contacts are dirty. In this case, it will be enough to gently wipe them with alcohol or vodka. Sometimes this method is quite effective. The main thing is not to use alcohol tinctures, perfumes and other liquids with impurities for these purposes. Even cologne would not be the best option.
Visit to a professional
If all of the above programs and methods did not help you, then the only option is professional data recovery.
In special data recovery laboratories, they will help you recover lost files even from badly damaged media. Moreover, this is done not using any special programs, but by physical means. For flash cards, for example, a memory chip is evaporated, and data is taken directly from it. And hard drives try to replace damaged parts, for example, reading heads, or also to extract information directly from magnetic tape.
Almost all of these methods involve a complete breakdown of the flash card or hard drive, but the data will be guaranteed to be returned to you, and sometimes it is much more important than any storage media.
How to avoid data loss
Instead of performing data recovery on a computer, it is much easier to try to avoid losing it. To do this, you can implement several activities:
- Try not to turn off the power of the computer abruptly - always shut down through the "Start", by completing the work.
- Be careful with your computer’s hard drive or USB flash drive. They must not be subjected to physical activity or shock, as this can easily lead to a malfunction.
- On a computer connected to the Internet, be sure to use an antivirus.
- Keep backups of the most important data on several media and in cloud storage - then even a hard drive crash will not be too scary for you.