Recovering damaged files

Accidents usually have no schedule to happen. The hard drive may collapse. A memory card can be formatted accidentally. CDs or DVDs carrying important files stored on them can be scratched and become illegible. But there are steps you can take to try to recover corrupted data.

Recovering data from damaged files

The resources you can use depend on the type of media in which those data are stored and the severity of the damage. Suppose you have recorded audio CDs on your PC and that has been scratched. Are there any way to repair them?

If the scratches are not very deep, it is possible to improve reproduction of these discs simply by cleaning them. This would be the first step. Mix a solution of water and cleaning liquid for crystals or other mild detergent, such as baby shampoo. Moisten with this solution a soft cloth and wipe the data side of the CD. Sometimes what appeared to be scratches can be simple spots, and these can be eliminated in this way.

For more stubborn stains and surface scratches, there is another home remedy that can work wonders. First, locate the scratches on the disc looking at the side of the data at an angle under bright light. Put then a bit of toothpaste, which contains a gently abrasive substance, in a weed cotton. Use the weed cotton for cleaning carefully in the scratched area. After doing it for a few seconds, rinse the disc with water and then dry with a soft cloth. Perform this operation preferably in the bathroom, where you have everything you need, besides the most important thing: light.

In a computer store you will find many cleaners for CDs and DVDs. Some can be very effective for tenacious scratches. In general, these cleaners usually consist of one or more solutions, besides, they come with a microfiber cloth. But do not expect miracles: a disc can be scratched beyond any possibility of redress.

Hard Drives. How do you know when your hard drive is going to crash? Hard drives often break down without further notice, and the computer simply refuses to boot. Other times, however, there are warning signs. If the hard drive begins to emit audible clicks or you begin to notice randomly loss of data, or sees that the hard drive works very slowly, these are signs of an imminent collapse.

It is best to start copying all important data immediately. Sometimes, the problem is solved by turning off the computer for a while or restart. Do not think that it will not happen again. Take every opportunity to safeguard your data as an opportunity and begin to prepare to replace the hard disk.

Most manufacturers of hard drives have software-diagnostic tools that can be downloaded for free from the manufacturer’s Web site. These programs perform exhaustive diagnostic tests to determine the health of a hard drive.

You can also try the free tool HDD Health, able to work with even the newest hard drives, regardless of manufacturer. HDD Health uses technology and self report (SMART) built into all newly manufactured hard drives - made in recent years - to predict a possible collapse of the hard disk.

Accident. A reader tells us that accidentally formatted a memory card full of digital images, and we wondered if there is no way to undo a formatting. Yes, it can be done, but for that you need a tool to help you.

The good news is that there are many of these tools in the market, the only bad thing is that they are not free. However, you can try out some of the best to determine if they can help you recover your files. If you can demonstrate that, then you can buy a full version of this tool to perform the rescue of their data.

PhotoRescue already exists long and has a good reputation. You can retrieve photos damaged in flash cards and even photographs can be recovered from a flash card that has been formatted. There are versions available for Windows and Mac, and they can try before buying. A reasonable license costs 29 dollars (about 19 euros).

Two other candidates are worth try: ImageRecall and MediaRECOVER. You can transfer test versions of each product to determine what best meets the task of recovering their photographs.