Hard Drive Disaster File Recovery

Did you know it is actually possible to recover data from a hard drive that has been severely damaged such as might happen during a fire? Or that you can even have your files recovered from a hard drive that has suffered water damage?

Recovery of accidentally deleted or lost files from a computer hard drive may be critical after a disaster, such as fire, flood or explosion. However, most of the techniques employed in disaster file recovery are similar to the file recovery procedures used from failed hard drives under less severe conditions. Whatever the case may be, this article will deal mainly on disaster file recovery of your hard drive.

Companies and other entities that experience a disaster are commonly faced with a double failure or even more. This is even true for those companies who managed backups of their data on a regular basis. If the backups are in the location of the disaster, they too will be damaged. This is why it is often advised to keep your backup data in a remote location.

Much unfortunate is the fact that a number of companies and other entities go out of business when experiencing data loss due to flood, fire or explosion. During this situation, rebuilding customer files, financial records, inventory records and other necessary records can be impossible. Thanks to some advancements in technology, recovering lost data after a disaster can now be possible with the use of disaster recovery procedures.

File Recovery: Water Damage

If the hard drive has been under water for only a short time, the possibility is that the head assembly has not been penetrated by the water. So, while the recovery remains difficult, it can still be done.

On the other hand, if water has penetrated the head assembly, it is important that the drive be kept wet. In requesting recovery, it is necessary for you to seal the drive in a container with a minimum of damp sponge. Many companies have successfully recovered lost files through this technique.

File Recovery: Fire Damage

The good news is: with the fire damage file recovery hard drive procedures, data can be recovered from many drives even if all plastic components are melted, or otherwise the hard drive looks like a blackened mess. However, there is a risk in recovery hard drive procedures after a fire, that is, the water used by fire fighters which unfortunately enters a small hole in the drive. In this case, speed is of the essence in order for the file recovery hard drive procedure to work. If the platters within the drive are accessed before the water dries, then there is still a chance for the file recovery to work. But, if the water does dry, it leaves behind minerals, dirt and other foreign material throughout the drive, making the chances of file recovery less possible.

In case of undamaged head assemblies of the hard drive, the challenge in recovering data is certainly to rebuild the electronics to access the data. This is what most of the disaster recovery experts do when they find out that the head assemblies of the drive are not totally damaged.

If you are ever unfortunate enough to have a disaster strike your home or business and damage your computer, don't think your computer is a total loss without having it evaluated by a professional disaster recovery specialist. You may be surprised to discover that even with what appears to be extensive fire and water damage, your data can be saved.