We all make mistakes when it comes to accidentally deleting or damaging files and, rest assured, sometimes your PC will make that mistake for you. Luckily, a situation like this doesn’t have to result in you pulling out your hair. These simple tips should help to make sure that you’re always able to restore computer data under any and all circumstances.
Prevention
One of the best offenses is a good defense. This fact applies to computer restoration as well, and a little bit of preventative action on your part can save you plenty of headaches in the future. While your computer is still working, go to your control panel and find “system and security”. Here you’ll find the option to backup or restore your files. Backing up files is easy and painless and then you can come back here when a problem arises and quickly restore your files. On newer versions of Windows you can back up your data to another drive or a DVD.
Free Software
Not all of us are proactive enough to back up our data until it is too late. But even for these unlucky souls, there is hope. Many companies have seen the headache that lost data can cause and have created software that can fix the problem. Some of them are free, like Recuva. Simply use the program on your damaged computer and allow it to scan for any files. In some cases the program will only pick up a few files, while other times it will only be able to recover some of the data it finds. Still, for free, it’s worth a shot.
You can also try the Windows recovery console that comes with Windows. In many cases, if you know what you’re doing, you can restore data but if you aren’t experienced with this kind of troubleshooting it is recommended that you avoid it. The Windows recovery console is a limited version of Windows that lets you have selective access to a couple programs that might let you copy or repair a few things. Like Recuva, it isn’t foolproof and can sometimes make things worse.
Third Party Software
In many cases the only option left will be to purchase third party software. Luckily, there are some very efficient programs on the market that will allow you to retrieve all your lost files and then store them in a backup file all with the click of a mouse. File Restore, for instance, allows you to recover data and partitions and even repairs corrupt drives. Acronis True Image is another great piece of software that not only restores data, but fully protects it against further damage or loss.
