4 Common Data Recovery Mistakes Data recovery is a tricky business and one that you should really only attempt if you know what you’re doing. The stress of losing data can cause people to panic, but it’s important to remain calm so that you don’t make any hasty decisions that could make things worse. There are a lot of mistakes to be made when attempting to recover data, so bear the following tips in mind and you could just save yourself a whole load of extra trouble.

	Stop using a drive at the first sign of trouble Do you hear that clicking coming from inside your drive? Did you get a data corrupted error message? If there are signs that your hard drive is coming to its end then do not ignore the issue. It is not going to get better and if you keep using the drive it is only going to get worse. Be aware of the issue and power down the drive immediately. Do not write any further data to the drive by installing programs or saving files. The longer you keep it running, especially after a physical failure (if the platter has been damaged, for example), the less chance you have of successfully getting your data back.
				Never open up the drive This is an absolute no-no. You should never open up your hard drive case to see inside it. Hard drives should only be opened in clean rooms – and this doesn’t just mean somewhere tidy. Professional hard drive recovery companies use specially constructed environments which have less than 100 airborne particles present. This approach may seem overly cautious, but something like a single speck of dust can have catastrophic effects on the hard drive due to the delicate nature of the devices, so imagine what would happen if you opened it up in a normal room. If the drive needs to be opened up then send it to the professionals.
	Do your research and don’t skimp on quality You might have found a wonderful bit of software online or a cheap data recovery company, but you need to make sure that you are getting a quality service. Your data is of utmost importance and although you may think you’ve found the solution, you need to do thorough research. Read online reviews and talk to other’s who’ve been in the same situation. If you’re shelling out money for the solution then you want to be making sure you’re paying for something that is going to work.
				Do not format the disk Sometimes when your hard drive fails your operating system will tell you that you need to format it. This often happens with removable devices such as USB sticks or external hard drives. However, doing so will reduce the chances you have of getting your data back as the system will overwrite file systems that could potentially have led to recovery. You want to make sure that you have every chance of getting your data back, so do not format the drive until necessary.
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