| Data Recovery - Is the process of recovering or | | | | very severe damage and will not respond to the |
| restoring data or information that has for one reason | | | | typical recovery processes such as using 'Safe Mode' |
| or another been erased, deleted, formatted or | | | | or the 'Recovery Console' can be accessed using the |
| somehow removed from a computer storage medium | | | | 'Live CD'. |
| such as an internal or external hard drive, flash drive, or | | | | This is possible because the 'Live CD' completely |
| CD/DVD. | | | | bypasses the Operating System that is installed on the |
| Many factors will affect how successful a data | | | | System hard drive and is actually a fully functional |
| recovery will be; these include but are not limited to: | | | | version of an Operating System in and of itself. The |
| -How the Data Loss Occurred. | | | | 'Live CD' does not require any physical storage space |
| -The Amount of Time that has Lapsed between the | | | | to execute other than system RAM. As the 'Live CD' |
| Data Loss and the Attempt to Recover. | | | | initially boots, it takes a portion of available RAM and |
| -The Amount of Additional Storage Activity that has | | | | creates a 'virtual drive' or 'RAM Disk' in that storage |
| Occurred between the Time of the Data Loss and the | | | | space. The virtual drive is then assigned a drive letter |
| Time the Attempt to Recover the Data is Made. | | | | and is mounted in exactly the same way an actual |
| -The Physical State of the Storage Medium. | | | | physical hard drive would be. |
| In every case of data loss the sooner the attempt to | | | | The Operating System that is most widely used on |
| recovery the lost data is made the more likely the | | | | 'Live CD's' is Linux in one form or another, although |
| chances are to make a full recovery. | | | | there are versions of 'Live CD's' using Windows, Mac, |
| Knowing precisely how the data was lost will help | | | | and other operating systems as well. There are many, |
| focus the recovery efforts on the techniques that are | | | | many 'Live' versions of Linux available that have been |
| best suited to the specific way in which the data was | | | | designed specifically to facilitate file & data recovery |
| deleted or removed. | | | | and system restoration and several of them have |
| Typical examples of ways in which data loss can | | | | excellent tools included for this very purpose. |
| occur: | | | | Additionally most of the newest versions of Linux are |
| -Accidental Deletion, Erasure or Format. | | | | much more 'Windows' like, with GUI interfaces that will |
| -Malicious or Intentional Deletion, Removal or Format. | | | | seem familiar to most users making them much easier |
| -Operating System Failure or Software Crash. | | | | for the neophyte to navigate and use. |
| -Storage Medium Physically Damaged i.e. Scratched | | | | It really comes down to personal preference when |
| CD/DVD. | | | | choosing one of these operating systems as they |
| -Physical Hard Drive Failure or Crash. Catastrophic | | | | have many common features. Knoppix is one that I |
| Hard Drive Failure. | | | | can personally vouch for as I use it fairly regularly |
| In the case of an Operating System crash or | | | | myself. |
| Software crash, many times the actual data itself is still | | | | After choosing a 'Live CD" and downloading one of |
| intact but remains inaccessible. In this particular type of | | | | the image files you will need to burn it onto a disk. Also |
| situation there are several relatively easy methods | | | | be sure that the System you are working with is set |
| available to gain access to the data making it possible | | | | to boot from the CD/DVD first in the Bios. |
| to transfer the data to an external drive or storage | | | | Another possible way to recover data after a System |
| medium. | | | | Crash is to remove the actual Hard Drive from the |
| Perhaps the easiest method, and the one that I | | | | afflicted system and then connecting it to a functioning |
| personally favor, is to use what is referred to as a | | | | computer system thereby allowing the transfer of |
| Live CD. A 'Live CD' is a self mounting boot-able | | | | data and files to a safe destination. |
| version of an operating system that is contained on a | | | | When attempting to recover original data even when |
| CD/DVD or in some cases a boot-able flash drive. By | | | | the directory entries and file pointers have been |
| making use of a 'Live CD', even a system that has | | | | deleted requires a process referred to as File Carving. |