Data Loss and Recovery Tips and Advice

Preventive Actions:

Avoid extreme hot temperatures:
Do not expose your hard drive to extremely hot or cold temperatures. Excessive heat can shorten the lifetime of a drive, defrayed the performance of the system, and ultimately damage its electronic components.

Stable, Clean, and Safe environment:
Do not place a computer on unstable or moveable objects. During operation computer hard drives can be damaged by any abrupt or sudden movement. It's important to find a stable area where there is not a lot of activity. This is good insurance against any sudden jolts.

Vanishing of Deleted Data:
If you accidentally delete data or unexplainably vanishes into the air, do not create new files, move files around, or save any old files. By doing so, you could make the recovery of lost data impossible. Although we recommend that you don't, if you should decide to use a file utility program please do not install it on the same hard drive where you lost the data.

When You Experience Media Failure:

Clicking, Grinding, or Metal Scraping Noises:
If your hard drive is making a clicking, buzzing, or any type of strange sounds immediately power off your system. By powering off, you avoid causing more damage to the drive or data. Call SalvageData immediately so we can assess the problem for you and walk you through your options.

Remain Calm and Cool:
Do not panic, this can only cloud your judgment. It is a good idea to walk away, count to 10 and then try to regroup your thoughts. Carefully review your options for recovering data.

Write it Down and Review:
Make a list of all the irreplaceable and critical files you need recovered and check if other restorable backups exist.

It's Time to Contact the Experienced Pros:
A professional technician can quickly identify a failed component that may be the cause of your hard drive failure or computer outage. An experienced professional will never hinder your chances for data recovery by opening up the hard drive.