File Recovery Guide

But what is the difference between data recovery and file recovery? Is there any difference? This page will give you a brief definition of data and file recovery and explain the major differences of each one to clear up any confusion.

Simply put, data recovery refers to a total recovery after major data loss from severe disk failure.

File recovery refers to individual file loss where typically the computer and storage devices are still functional and the use of data recovery software, when used properly, is usually the easiest solution.

Major Differences between File and Data Recovery:

1. Data runs your entire system and files are part of a program. Your data is stored on your hard drive which holds all the information you feed it. The files are pieces of each program. When you save a file, it becomes part of the program. For example, Word or Excel documents.

2. Data recovery is harder to retrieve than file recovery. When you lose your data, your whole system is down and is not functional. When you lose files, they are still on your computer but the computer cannot find them. So the file recovery screens your hard drive (since the system is still functional) until it finds all the pieces of the file to put it back together in order to open it.

In either case, it is recommended to get the help of a professional if you do not know what you are doing.

3. The loss of data and files are the result of different problems (although they do share a couple in common). Data loss is the result of power surge, software failure, or hardware or system failure. File loss is the result of human error, computer crash, or a computer virus.

Also see hard drive recovery.