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Following a Computer Crash or Infection with a Virus, What can be Saved?

What is the reason that computers have become so popular in just two or three decades? After all, it was only in early ‘80s that the personal computer was introduced. The answer is the phenomenal processing power they host that runs a variety of software tailor-made to execute various tasks. Computers process a lot of data in their routine operations and store everything – operating system and data – on hard disks.

In spite of all the speed and power of computers, they are still machines. And like all machines, there are many things that can go wrong with them. The worst nightmare of computer users includes two things – computer “crash” and virus attack. Both have the potential to destroy the data that resides on the hard disk, thus causing a loss of critical files needed by the user. Many companies have been known to go bankrupt after losing all their data due to some such disaster.

A computer crash means the computer is unable to carry out the commands of the user. A computer can develop many problems in its hardware like power supply, RAM and mother board, any of which can cripple it and make it unusable. However, these faults are easy to set right by replacing the components. The real danger arises when the hard disk – that carries all the data – crashes (becomes unusable). This threatens the safety of all data that resides on it.

The hard disk may crash due to various software or hardware-related reasons. The latter includes the read / write head crashing on the platters, the spindle motor that spins the platters developing a fault and the controller card or circuit board burning some components. Among the software problems are cases of operating system errors, deletion of disk partitions by mistake, corruption of system files and so on. When a disk crashes, it is no longer accessible by the user and all the data that it contained is lost.

A virus is a malicious software program that enters a computer without the user’s knowledge and then creates havoc. Who writes and unleashes viruses, Trojans and worms on the unsuspecting digital community? No one knows for sure, as virus makers are rarely caught, but these seem to be ‘evil geniuses,” – computer programmers who use their skills for sadistic purposes or to get a sense of power.

A virus may corrupt files on your computer or cause the operating system to crash. Some of them are quite threatening and may even reformat your hard disk in an instant, wiping it clean of all data! Quite a few of them are irritants, like telling you to press a key every five minutes before you can proceed further or keep throwing absurd messages on the screen. Viruses can corrupt data files and change their code, thus making them inaccessible to the user.

When the data on your hard disk cannot be accessed due to software errors or a virus attack, you can download many “Do-It-Yourself” data recovery software packages from websites. You have to pay online and download the software to your hard disk. Then you can carry out simple instructions to try to recover your data. The only danger in this is that the recovery software may by chance get downloaded on the exact spot on the disk on which the missing files exist. If this happens, the files may be lost for ever as overwriting is the only sure way of destroying all digital data. If the files are something that you just cannot live without, it is better to call the professionals.

In the last couple of decades, dozens of professional data recovery companies have sprung up that specialise in extracting data from all kinds of damaged storage devices. They can process crashed hard drives of computers and laptops as well as faulty memory cards or cracked optical disks. The most important facility they have is a clean room that replicates the same dust-free environment in which the hard disk was assembled by the manufacturer. In this room, the disk is taken apart, diagnosed and repairs to its components carried out. The companies use special tools and tailor-made software to extract data that seems lost to the user.

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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on computer crime and Computer Forensics see www.fieldsassociates.co.uk

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