Today, we give you a concise data recovery guide, emphasising its importance and application.
It's general knowledge that every device hosts a database (storage), and every database or storage is liable to compromise and data loss. Hence, data recovery is paramount to every smartphone or computer user.
However, it's pretty surprising that not enough attention is given to this issue, given that people lose tons of data worth millions of dollars daily.
Therefore, this piece seeks to enlighten you on what data recovery is about, how data recovery works, and how to apply it, should the need arise.
READ ALSO: Data Recovery Guide: Strategies, Tools, and Best Practices
Table of Contents
What Is Data Recovery?
Data recovery simply refers to restoring lost, encrypted, or inaccessible data. A data or file could easily be lost or rendered inaccessible by system corruption, file damage, cyberattack, or even accidental deletion. When this happens, such data needs to be restored as soon as possible.
Recovery of data could be from internal storage hubs like HDDs and SSDs, or it could be from external (removable) storage media like USB drives, CDs/DVDs, tapes, and SD cards, among others.
However, the recovery technique in either category differs for several reasons, including device OS, storage partition, and the cause of data loss.
READ ALSO: How to secure your digital devices
Furthermore, most data loss incidences are caused by human error rather than external attacks. Hence, a typical PC owner is bound to encounter data loss at one point or another.
How To Recover Lost Data
The tool(s) and technique(s) to employ wholly depend on the storage media and the data loss scenario. Nonetheless, most standard recovery tools are widely applicable to several scenarios – ranging from data lost to accidental deletion to those lost to file corruption or damage.
However, it should be noted that data lost to corruption/damage requires initial repair before recovery. Data repair or file repair refers to data that has been severely damaged or corrupted and cannot be opened by any subsequent program.
Here, a data repair tool comes into the scenario to rebuild the structure of targeted files and make them reusable and accessible again.
You might need to recover data from any hardware storage system or application software you use on your PC.
After successful data repair, encrypted and inaccessible data requires decryption before recovery. For instance, I struggled to recover data from my corrupt Outlook file. I discovered a standard recovery tool, Stellar Repair for Outlook, and got my corrupted PST file fixed.
Ultimately, your best bet is to back up all relevant data to the cloud to facilitate data recovery. So, recovery is made easy if you lose data on your primary storage.
Data Recovery: Frequently Asked Questions
Why is data recovery important?
Data recovery is crucial because it allows you to regain access to important files that may have been accidentally deleted, corrupted, or lost due to various reasons like hard drive failures, software malfunctions, or even physical damage. This data could include personal documents, photos, videos, work projects, financial records, or anything else you store digitally.
What is the most important part of data recovery?
The most crucial part of data recovery often lies in stopping further damage. Once you suspect data loss, avoid using the affected storage device. The more you use it, the higher the chance of permanently overwriting lost data and hindering recovery efforts.
What is the most important function of a recovery disk?
A traditional recovery disk might not be the standard anymore. In the past, they were bootable discs containing software used to diagnose and potentially recover data from the primary drive without loading the operating system that might be compromised. Today, data recovery software can often be downloaded from a healthy secondary drive or even a different computer.
Why is recovery management important?
Data recovery management refers to practices that help prevent data loss in the first place. This includes regularly backing up your data to a separate storage device, using strong passwords and antivirus software, and following safe data handling practices. By having a good backup strategy, you might be able to avoid the need for data recovery altogether.
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Note: This was initially published in August 2020, but has been updated for freshness and accuracy.
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About the Author:
Daniel Segun is the Founder and CEO of SecureBlitz Cybersecurity Media, with a background in Computer Science and Digital Marketing. When not writing, he's probably busy designing graphics or developing websites.
