A person, who has gone through a similar situation or probably something worse, would know how frustrating data loss could be. Thanks to the technology! We have data recovery methods that could help us out of these annoying situations.
Data Recovery Methods
There are two ways of getting back your lost data. The first method is simple and cheap. It involves purchasing off-the-shelf data recovery software that could be downloaded from the internet and used instantaneously. The second method involves hiring a professional data recovery expert for recovering the data. Naturally, having an expert to specially handle your data recovery problem would be costlier and might take longer than any instant data recovery software.
Although, data recovery software is more popular than the data recovery services, there are a lot of people who opt for the latter. So, why do people want to choose something that is more costly and slower when they have a cheaper option? This is obviously due to a lot of disadvantages posed by this off-the-shelf software sold online.
Disadvantage of DIY Recovery Software
Following are some of the disadvantages of DIY recovery software:
1. Risk of Permanent Data Loss: Whenever you are unable to access your data on the computer, you say that your data is lost. Although the data is still present on the storage device, it becomes inaccessible. This is because the address on which the data is stored is lost and the computer is unable to locate the data among hundreds of other files on the media. This data can retrieved as long as it is not overwritten by any fresh data.
Some of the low quality recovery software available in the market copy themselves on the media from which you wish to recover your data. During the process, they might get overwritten on your invaluable information causing a permanent loss of data. Once it is overwritten, it becomes nearly impossible to get the data back.
2. Inflexibility of Approach: Data recovery software is developed using a standard algorithm for recovery. Whether you lost the data due to a virus or a power failure, the software runs this algorithm in an effort to retrieve your data. Even though this might help in a few cases, it is not possible for a single algorithm to work in all the instances. As a result, the recovery software can prove to be absolutely useless if your particular case requires a creative data recovery method.
3. OS Issues: Data recovery software cannot be used for all types of data loss especially those involving complicated OS issues. When recovery algorithm is written, it is developed based on a few basic assumptions pertaining to OS file structure. When the file structure is disturbed due to OS corruption, your algorithm would get confused. As a result, recovery software cannot be used in these cases.
4. Hardware Issues: Data recovery software can be used only in case of simple software issues. In cases where the data is lost due to the physical damage of the storage media, data recovery experts would be the right people to help you. Also, when your hard drive has failed and it is unable to boot, recovery software cannot be used.
5. Credibility of the Software: While a good recovery software can be used when data is lost due to simple OS issues, there are low quality software sold on the internet that cannot recover any data and are absolutely useless. Any person who is interested in internet marketing can sell a product online and it is impossible to check their credibility. Hence, it is practically impossible to know if you are choosing a good or worthless software, unless you purchase it and use it.
So, even if DIY recovery software appears to be cheap, they might not serve the purpose. As a result, you might be wasting your money on worthless software. You also stand the risk of permanent data loss. Considering all these disadvantages, a lot of people do not mind spending a little extra money towards the professional data recovery services. After all, certain data are too priceless to be risked in the hands of unsafe software.
Making a Choice
There are both advantages and disadvantages of using DIY recovery software. So, the next time you wish to purchase recovery software, consider the pros as well as the cons and make a right decision depending upon your requirement and value of the lost data. All the best!
