Here's what I do;
Logical Failure
- I remove the drive from the PC, insert a new one that's much bigger.
- If it's the OS partition I begin re-installation while I recover the lost drive.
- I place the drive into an external drive enclosure (newegg.com $10-$20 SATA/IDE=>USB2/FIREWIRE) and do a 'create image' (using
r-studio) of the lost hard-drive a one time read of everything it can read. Once the image is created I can then open it, scan it, recover all files, etc. Depending on what the issue is you might get a complete image of the harddrive back, a bunch of files with directories with made up folder names $$$FOLDER0001, with the original files still in it, etc.
- If their is no damage to the drive and it's large capacity I will reuse it as a network storage drive, if it's smaller I will try and sell it in the external enclosure as an external HD storage solution, if it's small I will run military grade wiping software and ask if anyone at work wants it, or recycle it (but, everyone always grabs it)
Mechanical Failure
http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/ - best in the business if they can't recover it no one can
Backups
I use a system of
SyncBackSE installations to make backups to multiple physical computers within my home, as well as off-site storage via FTP. I only backup data files not programs(for instance I don't backup photoshop, I backup photos). I store license information and electronic delivery software in a separate folder that is backed up. SyncBackSE runs scheduled daily to run at night.
