Recovering Deleted Data - Recommendations
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All of the programs performed very similarly in the different tests. The best of the best had to be Recover My Files. If I had to choose one, that would be it. It was able to recover files that others couldn't.
For the best freeware, I would give the nod to PC Inspector Recovery. All of the programs gave similar results, but this program was easiest to use and offers more features than other freeware programs. These programs are well worth trying. It could save you lots of money if there are files on the hard drive that you need to have.
There are companies that can take data recovery a step further; for around $250, you can have them attempt to recover data. These companies go beyond running programs. They maintain dust-free rooms in which they can physically take apart a hard drive and rebuild it. They use special programs which can force the drive to read everything on it, whether the hard drive thinks there's data there or not.
A lot of these places don't charge you anything if they can't recover any data. If you really need the data, the $250 fee isn't terrible; I know local people that will charge you a lot more and put less effort into recovering your data. The places I found online boast state-of-the-art buildings with trained employees in data recovery.
Conclusion
Losing data is a horrible thing. If you absolutely need the data and don't have backups, you're in trouble. Luckily, due to the way data is stored on hard drives and the fact that deleting the files doesn't really delete them, you might be able to recover your data. There are programs out there that can recover deleted files depending on their condition.
I found that if the files have been overwritten, you probably won't be able to get them back. If you have simply deleted them, however, you have a really good chance to get them back. I was one of those people that accidentally deleted a file that I needed later that week, and luckily, I only deleted it and was able to quickly recover it and get it back. I hope that you have the same success I did. I hope this has helped you understand how data recovery works and what to do when you realize you need data that you have already deleted.
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