If your electronic device has been damaged or corrupted and you’re unable to access your files, there’s still hope. You can take your device to a computer store for data recovery. While this process isn’t guaranteed to work every time, it can often restore data which would otherwise be gone forever.

What Causes Data Loss?

Every phone or computer stores information in the form of long strings of electrical impulses. There are three ways this data is lost—physical damage to the drive it’s stored on, an operating system failure which makes it impossible to navigate the device, and changes or overwriting performed by programs on the device.

Physical damage can mean anything from a dropped phone to a computer destroyed in a fire; in many cases, a surprising amount of data is still recoverable. Operating system failures only require that the existing files are copied to another location to make them accessible. Overwritten data is due to drive formatting, viruses, manual deletion, or operating system failure and can be more difficult to recover.

How Does Data Recovery Work?

Often, when data is lost or inaccessible, it isn’t entirely gone. Your computer, Apple^® device, or external hard drive might still contain your files but with errors in the filing system which make it impossible for your standard programs to access them. In these cases, data recovery programs can be used to repair the directory and make it usable again. At other times, part of the data exists, but it’s fragmented into different storage locations or missing sections which make the rest difficult to decrypt. This is a more difficult repair, but an expert at a computer store can salvage the data that remains to restore parts of your pictures and other files.

If you want to prevent data loss, create a backup of your files in a separate location and update it regularly. If you’ve already experienced data loss and need recovery services, visit the computer store at Experimac Valdosta in Valdosta, GA at 3009 N. Ashley Street. Our highly trained experts provide both physical repairs and data recovery for damaged and defective Apple phones, computers, and other devices. For questions about your device and their services, call the computer store today at (229) 474-3299 or send a message online.