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If your computer has lost all its data, check out this article by Mytour to find out how to recover and retrieve your data.
What to do when your computer loses all its data?
In the event of a computer data loss incident, where your important data seems to have vanished into thin air, try applying the following solutions below to recover and retrieve your data.
Method 1: Verify if the files, data are truly deleted
If unsure whether the files, data are permanently deleted, first try searching for files in File Explorer to see if they still exist.
On Windows, try opening the Recycle Bin and search to see if the files, data are there.
You can also right-click on the Recycle Bin window, select Sort By =>Date Deleted to view details of recently deleted files.
Note: By default, running programs like CCleaner will clean up the Recycle Bin, meaning files, data in the Recycle Bin will be completely deleted.
If your files, data are stored on cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive, log in to your account and check if the deleted files, data are still there.
Method 2: Check for backups
Mytour recommends regularly backing up important files and data on your computer to avoid potential mishaps. If you already have a backup, try checking if it includes the files, data deleted from your computer.
Windows comes with some useful built-in backup tools, including File History, which allows users to restore deleted files and older files. However, this tool is not activated by default.
Method 3: Use data recovery software
If the above methods are not feasible, the next solution is to use data recovery software. However, this solution may not be available on some computers.
Traditional hard drives and SSDs operate differently. Suppose you accidentally delete a file, any data on a traditional hard drive will not be immediately erased from the drive. Instead, the pointer to that data will be deleted, allowing the data to be overwritten. We can scan the hard drive to find remaining data and recover deleted files and data.
If files and data on an SSD are deleted, they will be immediately erased using the TRIM command to free up space and ensure the SSD is quickly overwritten in the future.
This means we cannot recover deleted data on SSDs. Older SSDs and versions of Windows like Windows Vista do not support TRIM.
Method 4: Safely Restore Deleted Files and Data
When using a traditional hard drive and accidentally deleting data, the safest solution is to immediately shut down the computer. Continuing to use the computer, even with recovery software installed, risks overwriting deleted data on the hard drive.
If the computer is completely shut down, you can boot the computer from a CD or USB drive to recover files and data, or remove the hard drive and install it in another computer. An important note is to avoid completely overwriting the drive.
Use data recovery software to scan the hard drive and search for deleted files and data. If the data loss occurred recently and the hard drive has not been overwritten much, the chances of recovering the data will be higher.
To recover data from a USB drive or Ubuntu live CD after data loss, you can choose to use tools such as ntfsundelete and photorec.
Method 5: Quick Data Recovery after Computer Data Loss
If you need to quickly recover deleted files and data, you can use file recovery tools like Recuva from the popular CCleaner application manufacturer. The app allows you to scan the hard drive to search for and recover deleted files and data.
Download Recuva to your computer and install it here.
However, this solution carries a higher risk as it involves hard drive overwriting. During the tool installation process, you may overwrite deleted files with Recuva data, or other background programs running may also overwrite hard drive data.
Method 6: Seeking Help from Experts
Finally, if there are no backups and the above methods are not feasible, your last resort is to seek help from reputable data recovery experts, centers, or services. First and foremost, ensure to immediately power off the computer, as the longer the computer runs, the more data is overwritten on the hard drive, reducing the chances of data recovery.
Professional data recovery centers and services will assist you in addressing all issues, including recovering deleted data, overwrites, and even dealing with dead or corrupted hard drives. However, the cost of these services is extremely high, ranging from a few hundred to even several thousand USD, but in return, you may retrieve important data that has been deleted from your computer.
Here, Mytour has introduced some solutions for you to overcome the issue of computer data loss. The best solution to ensure your data remains safe in case of any mishaps is to regularly back up your computer. Additionally, data rescue solutions such as activating File History or Windows Backup features will also be useful. Restoring files and rescuing data in the event of computer data loss is straightforward and cost-effective.
