To recover data from hard drive you will either need some professional help or some pieces of software you can trust. I personally don’t recommend taking data recovery in your own hand as the causes to data loss are often hidden or hardware related, and you can’t really do much with any piece of software on a dead hard disk.

Here are some tips to make sure you get some bang for your buck and choose the best data recovery specialist possible.

1. Conduct some research. Looking around the net is one of the best ways to get information, and there is nothing better than free information working for you and saving you money.

2. Don’t choose the first data recovery service that pops up in your search results. Take a look at that hit of course and other 5 totally unrelated companies too to have a wider perspective. There are thousands, even tens of thousands of companies working at dead hard drives and lost data and it’s all up to your decision, which one you trust.

3. Always ask for a quote. Don’t ever agree to the company to start work before you know how much you will pay. This is extremely important to avoid unpleasant surprises and makes you able to decide between companies. These entrepreneurs often give estimation according to the problem you have, but they also tell you and exact fee after examination.

4. Prepare to see some fat figures. Yes, data recovery is one of the most expensive services you will have on your computer, but it’s worth every cent if you use it when you really need it. Lost corporate data is much more important, sometimes by magnitudes, than a few hundred dollars one-off payment to a data recovery specialist.

5. Always back up your important data. This of course won’t help you much if you’ve already lost files, but will make your future expenses shrink gradually. I recommend having vital and crucial information backed up to at least 2 types of storage media. Have them on your hard disk and at least a DVD stored in a dry dark place too. It doesn’t hurt much to you use a pen drive or an external hard drive as addition to the methods described above.

6. Don’t tamper with the disk at home. Hard disk drives work in a semi-vacuum dust free environment and if you open them they’ll suffer damage. Data recovery specialists have certified clean rooms where flying dust is regulated by standards and it’s safe for your hard drive to be opened in them.

Hard disk recovery might not be the cheapest service you’ll have but the most important at times of need. Make sure you know what you’re up to and you won’t receive shocking surprises.