While professional data recovery companies can handle virtually anything, the Sony PlayStation presents several significant challenges. Generally, if you’ve lost data from a PlayStation, you’ll need to use Sony’s utilities. Below, we’ll explain why, then provide some general tips for...

In the 1990s, many of us sat for hours in front of a screen with big, colored rectangles that slowly morphed into big, identical rectangles. Something like this:Defragmenting (or defragging) a hard drive was once part of standard computer...

If you need to sanitize (or, in less technical terms, wipe all data from) a hard drive, you can’t just delete it: You need to overwrite the file on a block level.  And if the file is especially sensitive, the...

If you’re determined to destroy your data, we’ve got good news: Contrary to popular misconception, it is possible to securely sanitize storage media in a way that prevents even the most advanced data recovery techniques from restoring your files.  To...

Astronauts need to store a lot of data. Do they use hard drives, solid-state drives (SSD), or some other technology?  The answer: Hard drives can function in outer space, although solid-state storage may be a more appropriate choice for modern...

An I/O Device Error is a potentially serious symptom that occurs when a computer cannot interface (trade data) with a storage device. It’s commonly associated with Windows, though input/output errors can occur on any operating system. You might encounter an...

In our industry, “data recovery” refers to the process of restoring data that has been corrupted, deleted, or made inaccessible for another reason (such as a media failure).  “Computer forensics” is related, but different: Forensics attempts to determine what happened...

Smoke can damage a hard drive, but only in extreme circumstances.  Hard drives have pouch filters that prevent most contaminants from reaching the platters (discs coated in a thin layer of magnetic material, which store the user’s data).  Nearly all...

Data recovery software providers often make unsubstantiated claims about their products — and for some consumers, those claims lead to permanent data loss.  In other articles, we’ve discussed the potential dangers of using software to treat file corruption, restore...

The infamous “blue screen of death” (or BSOD) occurs when the Microsoft Windows operating system (OS) must shut down or restart unexpectedly.  Contrary to its name, a BSOD doesn’t mean the “death” of your computer (or your data). It simply...