Digital Data Rescue

Sometimes, data recovery issues arise because of something we did or some mechanical failure. It's bad enough when these situations occur, but it may seem a total disaster if fire, flood or other disasters are the culprit.

Even if you're backing up your hard drive on a daily (or even hourly) basis, a fire that melts the plastic parts of your machine may seem to eliminate the possibility of recovering any information from your computer. After all, even the backup hard drive is encased in that puddle of melted plastic. Before you give up, take a word of advice from some pros. It might not be as hopeless as it looks.

Start by preserving whatever you have left as soon as possible. That doesn't mean that you should try to put the computer (or even the hard drive) back in working order, but simply that you should keep the condition from deteriorating further.

Especially if your computer's hard drive got wet, it's vital that you keep it in the current condition. The first instinct may be to place the parts you can salvage somewhere to dry, but many of the professionals say that's not the best idea. Water has minerals that don't evaporate with the water. If you doubt that, take a drop of water and place it in a spoon, then allow that water to evaporate. You'll likely see a "dirty" spot on the spoon that's actually the residual minerals.

When the data recovery professionals get their hands on your hard drive (or your entire CPU), they'll be facing a serious challenge with the retrieval process. Mineral deposits will make their job even more difficult. The best way to preserve the hard drive is to place it in an airtight bag as soon as possible after the event. If you can remove the hard drive, that's acceptable. If the hard drive is melted into the casing of the computer or there's some other problem, just seal the entire remains in a bag and prepare it for shipping as soon as possible.

Even if it looks like your computer might boot up, don't try it. The professionals seem to agree that booting up could be the fatal blow, even eliminating the possibility of successful data recovery.

Whenever you're dealing with fire or water damage, remember that the best solution is to immediately preserve the computer or hard drive in its current condition and find someone who'll perform the data recovery as soon as possible.