People today have grown increasingly dependent on data storage. Computers, handhelds, or CD's, they all contain data that needs to be safeguarded. Unfortunately, no matter how careful that you are, accidents, bad luck, and media failure do happen. This is why planning ahead for disaster recovery is so important as any form of data loss can be crippling.

I can't stress enough that the best way to avoid data loss is to have a comprehensive backup plan in place, and actually follow it. However, no backup plan is perfect, and something always slips through the cracks.

In a previous article we talked about using freeware data recovery software. You can find software of this type by using your favorite search engine and carefully evaluating the features of each package. However, you should be aware that freeware doesn't offer the same feature set as premium software packages. Freeware offers no warranty, no guarantee, and no options if the software actually causes your problems to become worse.

What happens if you determine that freeware just won't work for your situation? Perhaps you have some form of proprietary software that encrypts your data, or you need something that will help you recover data that you have inadvertently overwritten or that has been deleted. In that case you will have to look to a more expensive software package. These packages generally offer some form of guarantee, however, if the software destroys your data, the developer still isn't liable.

If you hard drive or media has become physically damaged, a software solution is not the answer. Your only solution will be to utilize a data recovery service. These companies employ trained technicians with the proper equipment to transfer your data from a crashed hard drive or defective media to either a new hard drive or media of your choice. Most services of this type can recover data from hard disks, tapes, flash, cd-rom, and most other types of removable media. However, you should be aware that a service of this type can cost quite a bit, and it also might take some time to get your data back. Services such as this are often quite effective at recovering your information from bad storage media.

If you do decide that you need to select a data recovery service, make sure you carefully evaluate what the service offers. Make sure that you get a quote and the company explains everything that they are going to do. Also be sure that you are comfortable with the warranty and guarantee that they offer. Most companies of this type have developed close relationships with hard drive manufacturers, and sometimes can work on the drives without voiding the warranty. They also have a very strong success rate with media failures, sometimes advertising over 80%. Some of the more reputable companies even state that they won't charge if they fail to recover any data.

Planning ahead means checking out both solutions now, before you actually experience a crash and need to resort to data recovery.