To avoid permanent data loss, follow these important guidelines:

If your drive is making clicking, grinding or whirring sounds. Shut down your computer immediately. These sounds could be the read/write heads hitting or scraping the platters. Severe or complete data loss could result.

Unplug the power to the computer then remove the hard drive. Handle the drive carefully. Hard drives are extremely sensitive to static electricity and physical jarring or jolts.

If your data is critical, make sure you choose a reputable recovery firm that can properly recover data from physically damaged drives. Even the simplest recovery attempts on a physically damaged drive could render your data unrecoverable.

The first recovery attempt is always the best recovery attempt. Our engineers use the safest methods available to insure your data is not lost from repeated recovery attempts.

When disaster strikes:

If possible, back up the data immediately Do not use utility software if the drive makes scraping, tapping, clicking or humming sounds

Do not power up a device that has obvious physical damage or is making unusual sounds. Shut down Turn off the drive and its data. Do not attempt recovery yourself on severely traumatized drives (i.e., turning the computer off and on, using over-the-counter diagnostic tools). This may cause further damage or permanent data loss.

If you've lost critical data, our recovery service is your best and safest option for you. Never assume data is unrecoverable. We have successfully recovered data from hundreds of thousands of drives with extreme physical and logical damage. Preventing data loss

Everyone should adopt strategies to ensure critical information is protected from corruption and loss.

Best practices: Never upgrade any system without a verified backup.

Use up-to-date hardware and software utilities for data security, such as firewalls and virus protection. Make sure you scan all incoming data for viruses, including packaged software. Use ventilation, fans and/or air conditioning to keep servers at the proper operating temperature.

Connect systems to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to protect against power surges.

Power down and take extreme caution when moving computers. Avoid static discharge when touching or handling the media, especially in excessively dry environments.

Backup strategies:

Invest in redundant backup systems:

Establish a structured backup procedure to make copies of all critical data files, using software compatible with the operating system and applications.

Periodically test the backups to verify that data, especially databases and other critical files, are being backed up properly. Keep at least one copy of critical data offsite.