Have you ever accidentally deleted some data files? Ever pull out your memory card from your camera, only to find that the pictures somehow got corrupted once inserted into your computer? Maybe you deleted a partition?
Most of the time, your data is still there. Unless you have already written over it, the table of contents has been corrupted or the location to your deleted file is gone. There are several data recovery tools to help you in such a case. Best of all, they're free
- Recuva - Windows
- TestDisk - Windows, Mac, Linux
- PhotoRec - Windows, Mac, Linux
- Undelete Plus - Windows
If your data loss is due to something a bit more complicated like a bad or missing sector, then you may want to try Spinrite from GRC. It's not free ($89.00). However, short of real physical damage, this tool can sometimes bring hard drives back from death. Well worth its price.