44 LXF257 December 2019 http://www.linuxformat.comou don’t have to be
inexperienced to accidentally
lose data. From what we have
seen here at LXF Towers, the
more experienced users make the most
severe mistakes. So while amateurs
curse themselves for accidentally
zapping the wrong files, the pros usually
mess up their partition tables, wipe the
MBR and even format the wrong
partition (haha, never <cough> – Ed).
If that makes you feel bad about data
loss, then get this: there’s a good chance
that your data loss is reversible. There are
lots of tools that’ll help you out of a sticky
situation and help carve data out of failingor dead disks. There are tools that will not
only help restore deleted files but also
entire partitions. Remember, however,
that the success of the tools depends
on a variety of factors. If your data loss
is the result of a failing drive, it’s best
to minimise further interactions, as a
failing drive’s condition worsens over
time. If however the data loss is because
of a clumsy operator, the construction of
the disk plays a big factor in the recovery
of the file.
Traditional hard drives use rotating
magnetic platters in which data is read and
written by physically repositioning a read/
write head. In contrast, the relativelynewer solid state drives (SSDs) have no
moving parts. SSDs are silicon-based
chips that use electrons for storage, pretty
much like USB drives and flash memory
cards. On a traditional drive, files remain
in place even after being deleted: the
underlying data will only be overwritten
when the space it occupies is required.
SSDs also work on this principal.
However, since they can only store data in
write-ready blocks that are cleared of all
data, these disks run the garbage-
collection TRIM command to wipe data.
In addition, an SSD will start the
background garbage collection process
and erase trimmed blocks automatically.Y
He’s no cryptkeeper, but Mayank Sharma knows
a thing or two about bringing deleted files back to life.
LOST AND FOUND
44 LXF257December 2019 444Decmbr 2019HD’21oudon’thavetobe
inexperiencedtoaccidentally
losedata.Fromwhatwehave
seenhereatLXFTowers,the
moreexperiencedusersmakethemost
severemistakes.Sowhileamateurs
curse themselves for accidentally
zapping the wrong files, the pros usually
mess up their partition tables, wipe the
MBR and even format the wrong
partition (haha, never <cough> – Ed).
If that makes you feel bad about data
loss, then get this: there’s a good chance
that your data loss is reversible. There are
lots of tools that’ll help you out of a sticky
situation and help carve data out of failingordeaddisks.Therearetoolsthatwillnot
onlyhelprestoredeletedfilesbutalso
entirepartitions.Remember,however,
thatthesuccessofthetoolsdepends
onavarietyoffactors.Ifyourdataloss
istheresultofafailingdrive,it’sbest
to minimise further interactions, as a
failing drive’s condition worsens over
time. If however the data loss is because
of a clumsy operator, the construction of
the disk plays a big factor in the recovery
of the file.
Traditional hard drives use rotating
magnetic platters in which data is read and
written by physically repositioning a read/
write head. In contrast, the relativelynewersolidstatedrives(SSDs)haveno
movingparts.SSDsaresilicon-based
chipsthatuseelectronsforstorage,pretty
muchlikeUSBdrivesandflashmemory
cards.Onatraditionaldrive,filesremain
inplaceevenafterbeingdeleted:the
underlying data will only be overwritten
when the space it occupies is required.
SSDs also work on this principal.
However, since they can only store data in
write-ready blocks that are cleared of all
data, these disks run the garbage-
collection TRIM command to wipe data.
In addition, an SSD will start the
background garbage collection process
and erase trimmed blocks automatically.Y
He’s no cryptkeeper, but Mayank Sharma knows
a thing or two about bringing deleted files back to life.
LOST AND FOUND