Be it a slip of the finger or an accidental move of a mouse, almost everyone has experienced that dreaded feeling of deleting something that we should not have. Perhaps even more astonishing, however, is the fact that such things need never happen. There is a whole class of data protection software out there which will undelete many of our most egregious and painful mistakes. The big question then, is why doesn’t everyone have such software on their systems?
It is generally acknowledged that there are several classes of software that you should never be without if you own a computer. Defrag and anti-virus software are obvious necessities. Anti-spyware software is now becoming just as important.
Certainly, data protection software has been around for a long time now, but a casual survey of almost any group of computer users will show that virtually no one has such software installed on their systems. And, this is even the case with big networks, where the value of a lost document could mean serious dollars lost.
The usual reason seems to be a misguided confidence in the recycle bin which is standard on most computers. However, the recycle bin is actually no protection at all when compared to the available undelete software on the market today, and large networked systems can be especially vulnerable if there is no recovery resources installed on the system.
The recovery capability of some rescue-ware can appear to be miraculous at times. There is software, such as Undelete by Diskeeper Corporation, which has the capability of recovering virtually any file that has been deleted from the home or networked computer.
The reason for this is that higher end undelete software creates a number of defenses — not unlike the walls of a castle — which makes it very difficult to “accidentally” delete any type of data permanently.
How does it do this?
“It’s extremely risky to wait until you delete a file before you decide to invest in file recovery software. Every read/write action increases the chances of overwriting the file you need to recover,” says one industry expert. “Even browsing the internet for file recovery software or procedures increases your chances of permanently deleting the file you lost. With the increase in storage capacity more people are storing irreplaceable photos, video, music, financial and tax information on their computers. Without any protection, human error or even computer viruses can destroy these files forever.”
For those of use wanting some piece of mind when it comes to protecting our data, it would be wise to obtain some kind of data protection type software as soon as possible. After all, with so much money spent to create documents and data, why take chances?
