Since you may have not used a file recovery tool before, you need to know that are a lot of them. At times it can be overwhelming because there are so many. However, before you begin searching for the best file recovery tool, let's address the actions you need to avoid in order to reach the desired results.

Always consider the safety of your data

Stop rebooting your computer. It's not going to recover your data. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make when attempting to recover their files. Many mistakenly believe that by restarting the computer, the missing files will magically reappear. This is not the way to recover your important files and folders.Understand that even though your computer has marked your file as empty space, it could still exist. Just keep in mind, each time you restart your computer you reduce your chances of being able to successfully use a file recovery tool to recover your data. This means that the file system could potentially over-write some of the files you are trying to recover once the computer restarts. This brings up a another concern...

Don't shut down your computer when data is lost. Usually shutting down your computer is okay, but when you are dealing with data recovery and running a file recovery tool, don't do it. Instead, simply unplug it. "What's the difference?" you might ask. The difference is that you are letting the computer interact with the file system whenever you shut it off. However, if you unplug the computer, you will instantly cut all power sources, connections and interaction inside the operating system which increases the chances of getting your files back.

Believe it or not, an idling computer can also over-write data you are trying to recover. Unplug your computer from the power supply to cut communication, instead of shutting your computer down. If you are using a laptop, you will also need to shut off the battery supply at bottom of the computer. Performing any of the "don'ts" that were previously mentioned reduces the chances recovering your data with a file recovery tool.

Finally, if you are reading this information from a computer that you plan to use a file recovery tool on, you should immediately print the information to read later, close any open files and immediately cut the power source - unplug it!

Beware and be forewarned

Avoid using the computer's recovery CD as a file recovery tool. This is the restore system CD that came with your computer when you purchased it. Sure, it can get your system up and running in no time, but the bad news is that you will lose your important data in the process. Your computer will be okay, but if you don't have another drive containing your missing data as a backup, you will be in deep trouble. In fact, the chances of being able to restore your data after using a system recovery disk is next to impossible.

More important data recovery advice

You should also avoid installing or running a utility on your computer. Not even on a separate partition. Doing this can also cause your computer to write on top of the data you are trying to restore. You absolutely must download a data recovery tool, run it and then recover the data to another working drive. Remember, it is very important too download, run and recover data onto a second hard drive in order to protect your data. Some file recovery tools will allow you to run the program from the CD or diskette without using a second hard drive. Still, you need to recover your files somewhere, so it's always a good idea to have a second hard drive.

Consult with a recovery expert

If you don't really know what has caused your missing data, you should contact a professional data recovery service that has experience in using a file recovery tool. Just make sure they offer file recovery tools. Otherwise they advise you to never use one. That's bunk. Just remember, you can always send your drive to a data recovery company to have your files manually extracted if the file recovery tool doesn't work out.

When you realize that you have lost important data, you need to immediately stop using your computer and start searching for a file recovery tool to do the data recovery for you. You might even find some free solutions. But if you just want to fix the problem now without taking chances with a file recovery tool, use in-lab services to take care of your data recovery needs.