Data recovery refers to the process of restoring access to information stored on secondary storage devices such as mobile phones, computers, and notebooks when the data becomes inaccessible for any reason — in other words, bringing lost information back.

Another way to define it: data recovery is the set of processes that enable us to regain access to data stored on any media device when it becomes unreadable. Today, the term data storage media generally refers to hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), SD cards, USB flash drives, and similar devices.

As the importance of data continues to grow, proper data storage, protection, processing, and restoration after unexpected loss have become vital. Since the 1980s, software companies have been developing recovery solutions, while hardware manufacturers have focused on preventing data loss or making recovery easier after loss occurs.

What to Do After Data Loss

It’s important to summarize a commonly misunderstood issue:
After data loss occurs, trying every suggested “fix” or random method can cause permanent data loss rather than recovery.

Therefore, it’s strongly recommended to seek assistance from specialized data recovery professionals. Data recovery can often involve significant costs depending on the extent of damage.

If the data loss is due to logical damage, an image of the damaged drive is taken first, and no direct hardware intervention should be performed.
Unless there is physical damage, the drive should never be disassembled.
If physical damage does exist, an image of the repaired drive should be taken and the recovery process should be performed from that image, not from the original drive.

Online data recovery software, both paid and free, can help recover deleted files, but it’s essential to remember that no software guarantees 100% recovery.
These programs are typically used when data is lost due to virus attacks, accidental deletions, or SHIFT + DELETE errors.

Data Loss Caused by Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware, also known as a ransom virus, is a malicious software type that has affected many individuals, private companies, and public institutions for years. These attacks negatively impact financial systems, healthcare services, and social life — and are increasing rapidly because attackers can easily hide their traces and profit illegally.

Common causes include visiting websites containing malicious or cracked software, open RDP ports, phishing emails, and security vulnerabilities in operating systems.
After such an attack, identifying how and through which channel the virus infiltrated your system is essential to prevent further damage.

Ransomware encrypts user files — including Word, Excel, images, videos, and especially database (SQL) files essential for business and automation systems — rendering systems completely unusable.

The amount of ransom demanded varies based on the importance of the system: home users usually face smaller amounts, while corporations or public institutions (municipalities, hospitals, etc.) may face demands starting from thousands of dollars.
Many organizations, believing this is the quickest solution, have paid the ransom — yet in many documented cases, they still failed to recover their data.

Data Recovery Solutions for Valuable Digitally Stored Information

Despite advancements in modern storage technologies, data failure can still occur. Data recovery remains the best method to retrieve or salvage stored information — partially or completely. Data failures are typically categorized as:

• Logical Damage – recovery handled through software-level solutions.

• Physical Damage – recovery requiring specialized forensic or hardware-level tools.

The Science of Data Recovery

The process of recovering digital information is highly systematic and deeply rooted in computer science. Broadly speaking, data recovery involves extracting useful digital information from physical storage systems such as HDDs or SSDs.

As SSDs increasingly replace HDDs, developers are focusing on new techniques and software tailored for these modern storage devices.

Processes Involved in Data Recovery

Most data failures result from issues within the operating system (OS).
When the file system suffers logical damage, the OS can no longer access it — making repair at the OS level impossible.
Technicians then use a bootable operating system (running entirely from memory) that allows access to the damaged drive without relying on it.

Once accessed, recoverable files are migrated to backup media, such as writable CDs, flash drives, or external hard drives for larger data sets. After recovery, the damaged drive may be reformatted if only logical errors occurred, restoring it to usable condition.

Popular Data Recovery Methods

For damaged drives inaccessible by the operating system, solutions typically involve using bootable OS tools delivered via Live CDs or USB drives.
For external storage media (SD cards, USB flash drives, etc.), file recovery applications running within the system’s OS are employed to recover deleted or corrupted files.