1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,840 Data loss. No matter what you do, it can still happen sometimes as it did to us 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:11,840 when our main SSD server spectacularly went down, which you can check out in 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:15,480 this video up here. But, we were able to get back up and running thanks to our 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:19,760 friends at We Recover Data who worked with us on this episode, which is 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:23,200 sponsored by them. So, data loss is a little like the sword of Damocles, 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:28,360 constantly hanging over the head of anyone who stores anything important 7 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:30,320 electronically. But, after it happens, 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:34,760 is it really gone for good? Often, the answer isn't clear. What if you delete a 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:39,400 file by mistake, suffer corruption due to power loss, or have physical damage 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:43,080 like a head crash where the read-write head of your hard drive crashes into the 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:46,120 platters that store your data? Fortunately, there's a number of 12 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:50,960 techniques that have been developed over the years to rescue inaccessible data 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:54,360 before it becomes permanently lost. Let's say that you've been the victim of 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:59,720 the all too common accident where someone empties your recycling bin, and 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:05,080 it turns out that you had a mission critical selfie inside of it. Since 16 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:09,240 deleting a file in Windows is only actually marking the data as free space, 17 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:13,800 it just sits on your drive until something overwrites it. So, sooner is 18 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:17,600 better if you're using simple recovery software, lest your selfie get 19 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:21,960 overwritten by something completely irrelevant like a tax return. But, what 20 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:26,240 if you can't even access your drive due to some type of serious corruption with 21 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:30,160 the file system itself? In that case, certain utilities like open source 22 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,720 TestDisk can attempt to repair the underlying problem with the drive. But, 23 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:39,800 if that works, you could attempt a file technique called file carving, which 24 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:44,840 despite its name is the process of reassembling files from fragments by 25 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:49,320 looking at their headers to try and figure out what kinds of files they 26 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:52,760 were, whether they were MP3s, JPEGs, or whatever else. But, if you have a hard 27 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:57,320 drive with a platter that just won't spin, or maybe bad sectors, or a bad 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:02:00,840 PCB, or an SSD module that somehow came loose, you'll probably want to send it 29 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:04,680 off to a data recovery specialist as they have the correct hardware to 30 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:08,000 physically examine the disk. If you don't have that, you're putting your 31 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:11,720 hardware at risk, which is putting your files at risk, which is probably not a 32 00:02:09,640 --> 00:02:14,920 great idea. In the case of a hard drive, it'll need to go to a clean room that 33 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:19,440 might look like something out of a movie about a killer virus since any type of 34 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:23,680 dust or particulate can potentially wreck that part of the data on the hard 35 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:27,760 drive or platter beyond recovery. Some drives can be rebuilt with new 36 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:33,560 components, while other drives have to be examined by special machines that can 37 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:38,080 read data directly off of platters. Pretty cool. Of course, however, even 38 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:42,600 with the most advanced recovery methods, you can't get all of your stuff back in 39 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:46,640 every case. This can be for reasons ranging from physical damage that's too 40 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:50,640 extensive to having proprietary storage medium that needs to be reverse 41 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:55,480 engineered to the target data being overwritten before you can recover it. 42 00:02:53,120 --> 00:03:00,040 It's virtually impossible to recover overwritten data using current methods, 43 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:04,840 which is why it's a great idea to intentionally overwrite your hard drive 44 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:09,680 with something like DBAN, also known as Darik's Boot and Nuke, before you sell 45 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:15,840 your PC. After all, who knows what the next owner might find hiding inside. 46 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:20,080 lynda.com. With a lynda.com membership, you can watch and learn from top experts 47 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:23,080 who are passionate about what they're talking about, what they're teaching. 48 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:28,600 You can stream thousands of video courses on demand and learn on your own 49 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:30,440 schedule at your own pace. You can 50 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:34,440 browse each course transcript to follow along. So, if you missed the part, you 51 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:37,720 can find it in the text-based script and then go to that part of the video, which 52 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:41,800 is pretty cool. You can take notes and refer them later on for specific videos. 53 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:45,360 You can download tutorials, watch them on the go, whether you're waiting in 54 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:49,680 line somewhere, or it's sitting in traffic. Maybe not a great If you're the 55 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:53,520 passenger sitting in traffic, you can watch it on your mobile devices, and you 56 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:57,520 can even customize your learning path and share it with friends, colleagues, 57 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:02,200 team members, whatever. Your lynda.com membership will give you unlimited 58 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:06,400 access to training on hundreds of topics, all for a flat rate just 59 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:11,560 starting at $25 a month. Whether you're looking to become an industry expert, 60 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:14,840 you're passionate about some random hobby, or you just want to learn 61 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:19,160 something new, check out lynda.com/techquickie 62 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:22,040 and sign up for your free 10-day trial. All right, guys. Hopefully, that was 63 00:04:20,359 --> 00:04:25,360 great. Like the video if you liked it. You can also dislike it if you disliked 64 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:29,240 it. If you disliked it, though, I want you to go down into the comments. Tell 65 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:32,560 me what you'd prefer me to cover. That would be cool. I would want to know what 66 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:37,600 you want to see. Check our channel Techquickie if that's what you want to see. And if you liked it, and if you 67 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,840 liked that, get subscribed above. Why not?