How to Recover Lost Files or Data on a Hard Drive?

We regularly lose data as a result of false manipulations, and sometimes not realize it immediately. Going through the recycle bin and after emptying it, it is logical to think that your files are irretrievably lost.

However, this is not really the case, only specific software allows the destruction of data without the possibility of recovering them. But a simple accident leading to the loss of these still leaves the possibility of recovering them.

Let’s see how, using the dedicated software: FonePaw Data Recovery

Computer data

Whether photos, videos, music files or documents in Word or PDF format, computer data is all represented in the same way. It is a succession of bits and/or binary codes filling boxes.

To image, these are “0” and “1” which represent all the files stored on your computer (hard disk). So when you place a file in the recycle bin and empty it, the location occupied by this erased file is not yet replaced by another, and at this stage, it is possible to restore it.

Tips to avoid data loss

To enable you to recover data effectively in the event of accidental loss, it is necessary to follow a few rules which will also be beneficial to the health of your computer.

1. Not Immediately Emptying Your Computer’s Trash

First simple advice to follow: Before proceeding with the permanent deletion of the files contained in your trash, take a look at it to see if data has not slipped into it accidentally. It often happens this way!

2. Do not install anything before recovering lost data

If you are aware of having deleted one or more files, avoid installing programs or exchanging data. You will be able to start data recovery with a better success rate.

As said before, the data occupies empty blocks, but if these contained lost files and are replaced as part of a new installation, you will not be able to recover them completely. If these are images, for example, you will lose some but not necessarily all of them!

3. Never fill your hard drive with data

Never fill a hard drive with more than 90% of its storage capacity. When Windows shows you a red storage bar, it means that you are entering the remaining 10%. By doing so you will slow down the data exchanges on the hard disks and you will wear them out faster. Your computer needs a buffer zone to facilitate data exchanges, so you must preserve a space equivalent to 10% of your storage.How to recover lost files on a hard drive

In addition, the blocks will be more and more restricted and will make it more difficult to recover your lost data. Recovery will not be impossible but it will take much longer depending on the storage capacity of your hard drive.

To improve the data exchanges of your disks, do regular defragmentation to gather the data of the same software for a file together. Access times will thus be improved. This operation should be more limited for SSDs, as it reduces their lifespan.

Finally, if your main hard drive where Windows is installed, macOS starts to slow down, it may be a sign of an overflow of data or necessary defragmentation. Beyond that, it is recommended to use software to clean your hard drive.

4. Provide a mirror hard drive

To avoid inconvenience in terms of data loss, it is strongly recommended to use a mirror hard disk. That is to say, a disk on which you will duplicate all your important and/or sensitive content.

It is possible to mount RAID within your PC, but this is not the subject of the post. Do a Google search for RAID hard drive mounts to duplicate your files and data.

5. Online storage: Cloud

An online storage space will guarantee you a backup solution in case of frequent and bulk data manipulation. Online or cloud storage spaces, such as Dropbox, One Drive, Google Drive and iCloud for Apple, will allow you to protect all your data, depending on the storage space allocated.

The advantage is to offer you access to your data from anywhere, but the disadvantage is its cost when handling several TB of data. A data recovery solution will then always be useful or even essential.

These 5 tips are simple to follow and will prevent more frequent incidents. Now let’s move on to the data recovery solution offered by FonePaw: FonePaw Data Recovery.

FonePaw Software: Data Recovery

FonePaw Data Recovery software, available on Windows and macOS, can recover your lost data through different situations:

  • Recovery of deleted data
  • hard drive recovery
  • partition recovery
  • Memory card recovery (SD card, micro SD, etc.)
  • Recovery from virus infection
  • Trash recovery
  • Raw data recovery

With the Fonepaw data recovery solution, you will also be able to restore different types of data:

  • Documents from your office
  • Archives
  • Emails
  • audio files
  • Videos
  • Images
  • Files from your web browsing etc…FonePaw data recovery review

How to recover your data with FonePaw Data Recovery?

Data recovery happens in 3 steps:

1. Choose the types of data to recover and the storage medium

If you know what you accidentally deleted or lost, like audio files, word documents etc…

Then select the medium on which this data was stored; hard drive, memory card, recycle bin…

2. Preview Recovery Results

FonePaw Data Recovery allows you to view recovered files as it scans. If among the files recovered during this scan you see yours, you can stop the search and recover your file.

If you have selected only the recovery of Word documents, for example, you will be able to view them all in the right window.

3. Select files to restore

While scanning your storage media, FonePaw: Data Recovery will notify you of the completed process. Then, click on “Open Folder” and you will see all the files recovered according to your previously validated choice.

All you have to do is recover them and store them safe from a new incident.

Conclusion: Benefits of FonePaw Data Recovery

In conclusion, you can quickly see how easy it is to get started with the software. Only 3 steps during which you choose the files to recover and the storage unit to scan. A big advantage for people new to the subject.

In addition, Fonepaw allows you to recover your lost data from any medium connected to your computer or internally; disc, memory card, USB key or another storage device. It recovers any type of file, whether documents, photos, videos or audio files.

FonePaw offers recovery through the selection of data to scan if you have identified your lost or deleted files. This will make the process much faster, especially if your storage space has several TB of data and is almost full.

If you spot your lost data during the real-time scan, you can stop the process and immediately recover the identified files.

FonePaw Data Recovery is available on Windows and Mac, it will definitely help you find your lost files.

Take a free trial to convince yourself.

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