Introduction
We all have been through a point where we have accidentally deleted a file we were working on. Some can relate this to office presentation the next day, some can relate to the project you are currently working on, and some can simply relate to the photos and videos you have taken on your recent trip.
Fortunately, data can be recovered if you take immediate action. Depending on what action you take, right after a data loss scenario, your success rate of data recovery depends. What should you do and what shouldn’t? Check the post!
What to Do If You Know Your Data Is Lost?
Before we head-on with the things you need to do after data loss, there are certain things you need to do before losing your data.
- Data backups.
- Data Security.
- Data Recovery.
If you feel that your data is worth enough to invest in software for recovery, take action beforehand so that data loss never happens. Even if data loss happens with all the security and backups in place, you can use backups to get back your data or data recovery software to recover lost data.
1. Don’t Panic
Yes, I know data is important, and losing data means losing money. But there is no point in panicking after what has been done. Panicking will restrict you from making the same decision.
When a data loss scenario happens, keep calm, read the situation, evaluate the losses, and think about solutions to cope with data loss. This will ensure that you are taking action that is meaningful and help stop further data loss.
2. Stop Using the Drive
For your data’s sake, stop using that drive of yours. When data is deleted, it is not lost permanently; it just leaves the location for new data to be encrypted. It remains in the form of RAW data somewhere in the drive.
Using the drive will overwrite the lost data and make it impossible for your recovery. Hence, the moment you detect signs of data loss, restrict yourself from using the drive and initiate a data recovery procedure.
3. Notify the Specialist
Now that you have taken the situation under control and have secured all the loose terminals, inform your IT specialist about what happened. Prepare a team to find the source of data loss and see what can be done to recover the data.
Taking help from a specialist will ensure that you are taking the right steps with your data recovery procedure and tracking the exact reason for the cause.
4. Check for Backups
Now that everything has settled down a bit, no more data loss is happening; all the cracks have been sealed, the IT team is working to rebuild the infrastructure; meantime, you can look for lost data in the backups.
Backups are the best and easy solution to recover lost data. However, if you don’t have any backup strategy for the data, the only option you are left with is data recovery software.
5. Check for Infection Residue
Even after you have recovered your lost data and have taken all the preventive measures, your work is not completed. There might be malware residue in the drive that can corrupt your data. Look thoroughly for the files and folders that you do not recognize. Filter them out and see whether they are good for you or not.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! Now you know what exactly you need to do after a data loss event. If you can restrict your action to meaningful action, you will be able to cope with the data loss. If not, you may need the help of special-designed data recovery software. Got any questions related to the data loss situation? We are here to answer them all.