Recovering lost data

Imagine the scenario, your computer will not boot and all your data (which you haven’t backed up) is still on the hard drive but you can’t access it.  What do you do now?  Today we will discuss three ways to retrieve your data.

Boot the system with a Linux live CD

These can easily be downloaded off the internet and burned to a disk.  The data recovery procedure is as follows

1. Load a live CD and wait until the desktop environment is visible.

2. Open up a terminal and type sudo fdisk -l.  Write down where your partition is installed e.g /dev/sda1.

3. Next type sudo mkdir realroot.  This will make a directory on the desktop.

4. Next type sudo mount /dev/sda1 realroot (replace /dev/sda1 with the ID of your device obtained in No 1 above).  You should now be able to see your hard drive on the desktop.

5. Browse your hard drive and save all relevant data to an external hard drive.

Remove the hard drive from the system and install into an external housing

As the title says open up the computer and remove the hard drive.  Buy an external housing (use the internet) and insert the hard drive into it.  You can then plug the housing into another computer and access all your files.  Word of warning here though, check the interface on your hard drive.  Older hard drives will use the ATA interface (connected by a ribbon cable) while newer hard drives use the SATA interface.  You can buy housings for either just make sure you buy the right one.

Use Data Recovery Software

If neither of the above methods work then you will have to try using data recovery software.  There are loads on the market but here at ComTech we use Digital Rescue.  The choice is yours so pick one that satisfies your needs.

So there you have it.  You can now access your files when the computer won’t start.  However one thought for you.  If you had backed up your files in the first place you would never have needed this tutorial.

About the Author

Hi I am Chris the owner of ComTech. I provide IT Support and Computer repairs to both personal and business clients in and around Stirling. For a list of what I can offer you why not visit my website www.comtech247.net where you will find my blog, testimonials, services and much more.  Start supporting a local business today so I can start supporting you.

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