Flash Data Recovery

There are two cases in which you can't get data back from your flash drive. The first is when you lose it, plain and simple; unless you have a recent backup there is just no way to get your data back. The second is when it's so heavily damaged that the memory chip inside is no longer operable, not even by data specialists. For example burning the flash card to ashes or smashing it into tiny pieces would fall in this category. Surprisingly having it sit for a week in the fish bowl is not one of the irreparable cases. Extracting the chip from the damaged logic board and putting it into a special device is one of the flash data recovery methods better companies use.

In all other situations your data is somewhere on the flash memory device, and can be retrieved one way or another.

Let's assume your files are available on the device and are accessible without any particular effort. Do yourself a favor and make a backup. Since camera memory cards, thumb drives, and mobile phone flash cards are rarely larger in capacity than 8-16GBs, chances are you'll have that sort of space on your hard disk drive. Most experts suggest against using your main HDD as the only place you keep your files at. In case of a virus or trojan attack your entire file system can end up in a tidy pile of digital junk.

Use at least the hard drive and one additional location, which is not physically connected to your computer. It may include an online backup service, a DVD-R disk or a NAS. The point is to choose a storage media hard enough to lose but cheap enough to store duplicate data on (and one that you can use in crash data recovery situations).

If you, however, have failed to make secure copies before your flash device goes on its last journey, you're in for some trouble.

Where to Look for Flash Data Recovery Services?

Some great places to look for a specialist in flash memory data recovery include the Classifieds, Craigslist, and the ever so popular Google search. Don't make the mistake of jumping at the first possible solution you happen to find as by the laws of nature there are bound to be better ones on the net. Flash cards are small enough to send via mail or cheap couriers, so don't be afraid to choose someone on the other end of the country. If the credentials are adequate, the price is right and the estimated time frame is similar to what you had in mind, it may be worth it to try hiring people from out of town for the job.

The price of the flash disk data recovery service will depend on your choice. If you choose to do it the easy way, $100-$200 will usually cover it. For those who always like to do it in the hard way, the sky is the limit. What's the difference between the easy and the hard way? The hard way is when you tinker with the drive and try to fix it on your own using a series of free flash data recovery solutions before finally giving up and looking for someone who can do it for you properly. The easy way is to skip the first step and talk to experts right away.

As you can see from the costs mentioned above, it is almost always better to have good data backup strategies in place. Yes backing up can be annoying, but it will save you a lot of money and grief in the long run.

Free Recovery Software

If you're feeling adventurous or are aware of the risks but don't know what piece of software to try, here are some of the more commonly used compact flash data recovery software options.

CGSecurity PhotoRec comes with no graphical user interface, but that’s not usually a problem. Step-by-step guides are available online for those who take a minute or two to look for them. Don't be terrified by the puritan look, the program can restore several file types, if that's all you want, this free recovery software is just for you.

Restoration 2.5 is old but good. The name doesn't imply a plethora of functions, and it doesn't contain them. This is an honest and simple solution for the problem of lost files. If it doesn't do what you need to get done, you should start worrying. That or start looking for data retrieval services around your area.

Immediately After Losing Files

When you lose data from your storage media, your first priority is to avoid getting a heart attack. In most cases the files are not completely gone, they're just corrupted or made unavailable due to a software glitch. If you don't see smoke coming out of the device or an erroneously blinking LED, you may try reading it in a different machine to see if it's really an issue with the USB or storage device itself, or if it’s the operating system that is acting up on your PC.

If the device is indeed faulty, don't experiment any longer to avoid losing more data than what's already gone. If the experts determine that the recovery failed because you had been tampering with the unit, they might charge you extra. Data recovery is rarely a cheap process, so do anything you can to avoid the headache.