Data Recovery - What are your options?
05/12/06 15:27 Filed in: Hints 'n' Tips
It can happen in an instant - the wrong file or folder is accidentally dragged to Trash, or the wrong keystroke combination is evoked - and your hard work is blown to byte oblivion. Or is it?
Simplistically put, your data (files, folders etc.) is stored on your hard drive in sectors that are flagged as 'occupied' when you've written/saved/copied your data. When you delete, essentially what you are doing is changing the sector flag from 'occupied' to 'available', telling the System that it can now overwrite that sector. So basically your data is still there, just not listed in the file directory, and has the potential to be recovered as long as it hasn't been overwritten.
There's a couple of things you can do yourself that involve using data recovery software. Ideally (to prevent your deleted files from being overwritten) they should be installed on another system-enabled drive (like a FireWire drive or another Mac) and the Mac with the lost files either booted up off of the FireWire drive or in FireWire Target Disk mode if connected to another Mac by FireWire cable.
The software: the two most respected data recovery products on the market for Mac OS X are Prosoft Engineering's Data Rescue II and BinaryBiz's VirtualLab. Both products have a downloadable demo that'll scan your HD for your files and present what they find (and be warned this process may take hours to scan a whole drive!). Then their approach is different - if Data Rescue II has found your missing files, you can purchase it online for around US$100 for the unlock code that'll let you recover all your files. If it's VirtualLab you're using, you determine the volume of files you want to recover (1GB minimum charge, then cost per GB thereafter) and pay accordingly.
Depending on how how much of the deleted files were overwritten before the recovery process started determines how intact and how useful the recovered data might be - hence you should try the demos first before investing in the recovery. There's no absolute guarantee the data will be returned to you in pristine condition, but you might just be lucky, or get back enough to save the day.
Alternatively, if you don't have the inclination or wherewithalls to do it yourself, I recommend you talk to the experts at Xyber Computer Service Centre, 28 Chandos Street, St Leonards 2065 - phone 02 99067976. They're the best in town at data recovery, plus they understand Macs, too. I've used them a number of times for data recovery and they've come good in even the most trying of circumstances.
Finally, the best way to recover your accidently lost data - is from your backup! We've covered this topic before, but If you don't have a backup strategy in place now, then you should get one happening before you need to rely on it. Not only that, but once you've got your backup up and running, check it periodically to see that it's working and that it's capturing all your precious data and that it can be restored in the event of an oops!
Simplistically put, your data (files, folders etc.) is stored on your hard drive in sectors that are flagged as 'occupied' when you've written/saved/copied your data. When you delete, essentially what you are doing is changing the sector flag from 'occupied' to 'available', telling the System that it can now overwrite that sector. So basically your data is still there, just not listed in the file directory, and has the potential to be recovered as long as it hasn't been overwritten.
There's a couple of things you can do yourself that involve using data recovery software. Ideally (to prevent your deleted files from being overwritten) they should be installed on another system-enabled drive (like a FireWire drive or another Mac) and the Mac with the lost files either booted up off of the FireWire drive or in FireWire Target Disk mode if connected to another Mac by FireWire cable.
Depending on how how much of the deleted files were overwritten before the recovery process started determines how intact and how useful the recovered data might be - hence you should try the demos first before investing in the recovery. There's no absolute guarantee the data will be returned to you in pristine condition, but you might just be lucky, or get back enough to save the day.
Finally, the best way to recover your accidently lost data - is from your backup! We've covered this topic before, but If you don't have a backup strategy in place now, then you should get one happening before you need to rely on it. Not only that, but once you've got your backup up and running, check it periodically to see that it's working and that it's capturing all your precious data and that it can be restored in the event of an oops!