data recovery process | DataRecoveryUnion.com

1. A method for recovering data from a flash data storage system, the method comprising the steps of: loading flash data storage media into a device using a flash data storage system, said device being connected to a technical workstation; loading all physical sectors of the flash data media into memory of the technical workstation or remotely controlling the flash data storage system through hardware/software; whereupon data storage on the flash data storage media can be diagnosed and rectified through operation of the data recovery computer portion of the technical workstation.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, further including the step of querying a flash data storage system for information through operation of a data recovery program by the technical workstation prior to loading sectors onto the data recovery computer portion of the technical workstation.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein said step of querying said flash data storage system includes determining at least one of: the PC card type, the memory size, PC card geometry, chip type, firmware revision, and type of card.

4. The method as defined in claim 2, further including the step of querying the flash data storage system for identifying information through operation of a data recovery program by the technical workstation prior to loading all physical sectors of the flash data media into memory of the technical workstation.

5. The method as defined in claim 4 wherein the step of querying the flash data storage system for identifying information further includes the step of checking socket status for write protection and the status of the backup battery on the flash data storage system.

6. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the step of identifying the flash data storage system includes monitoring the flash data storage medium containing the data recovery application programs.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 further including the step of executing a data recovery application program on the flash data storage system.

8. The method as defined in claim 7 wherein the step of executing a data recovery application program further includes the step of computing a CRC checksum over an entire PC card or section thereof.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, further including the step of executing a data recovery diagnostic program on the flash data storage system.

10. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein the step of executing a data recovery diagnostic program includes the step of generating DOS-Formats for SRAM and ATA cards.

11. The method as defined in claim 1, further including the step of downloading data to be recovered from the flash data storage system to said technical workstation.

12. The method as defined in claim 1, further including the step of logging all write activity, to be performed on a sector of the flash data storage media to a file on said technical workstation.

13. The method as defined in claim 12, further including the step of providing each entry within the file with an identifier which identifies the sector and the local storage device, as well as the latest data which was written to that sector.

14. A data recovery system for recovering inaccessible data from a flash data storage system, comprising: a flash data storage system selected from a group including: CompactFlash, ATA Type I, II, III or IV, digital film card, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, Multimedia Card (MMC), Secure Digital Card (SD) or other similar flash device; a data recovery system including a computer which computer accesses or controls the flash data storage system so that data on the flash data storage media of the flash data storage system can be diagnosed and rectified.

15. A data recovery system as defined in claim 14, further including a technical workstation which includes a second data storage media for storing data recovery application program means.

16. A data recovery system as defined in claim 14, further comprising a communications channel over which communications are established between the flash data storage system and the technical workstation, said communications channel using one of the group including a PCMCIA Adapter, Floppy type adapter, local area network, wide area network, Internet and proprietary adapter suited to the flash storage device.

17. A data recovery system as defined in claim 14, wherein the flash data storage system is operable from said data recovery computer so as to recover data from the flash data storage media.

18. A data recovery system as defined in claim 14, wherein a flash data storage device is operable from the data recovery computer so as to diagnose a data recovery situation on the flash data storage media.

19. A data recovery system for recovering inaccessible data from a flash data storage system to another flash data storage system, said data recovery system comprising: a flash data storage system selected from a group including: CompactFlash, ATA Type I, II, III or IV, digital film card, Smart Media, Memory Stick, Multimedia Card (MMC), Secure Digital Card (SD) or other similar flash device; a computer which accesses or controls the flash data storage system so that data on the flash data storage media can be diagnosed and rectified.

20. The data recovery system as defined in claim 19 further including: a communication channel over which communications are established between the flash data storage system and another flash data storage system, said communications channel using one of the group including an PCMCIA Adapter, a Floppy type adapter, local area network, wide area network, Internet, and proprietary adapter suited to the flash storage system.

21. A method for recovering data from a flash data storage system, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a data link between a technical workstation and a flash data storage media through operation of a data recovery application program by a technical workstation; and controlling flash data storage by a technical workstation; whereupon data on the storage media of the flash data storage system can be diagnosed and rectified through operation of said technical workstation.

22. A data recovery system as defined in claim 21, further including means for transferring all data, which is marked for being changed to an archival facility before making the changes to the flash card data storage media.

23. A data recovery system as defined in claim 21, further including means for logging all write activity, to be performed on a sector of a local storage device, or to a file on the flash card data storage media.

24. A data recovery system as defined in claim 21, wherein each entry within the file contains an identifier, said identifier identifying the sector and the local storage device, as well as the latest data which was written to that sector.

25. A data recovery system as defined in claim 21, further including means to select data recovery events during a data recovery process.

26. A method of data recovery comprising the steps of: establishing a communications link between a flash data storage system requiring recovery of data and a data recovery computer; enabling interaction between said flash storage system and said data recovery computer; diagnosing said flash data storage system; downloading a data recovery application program from said data recovery computer to said flash data storage system; and recovering data on the flash storage system.

Data Recovery

3D Data Recovery process

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago12 years ago06 mins

Data recovery firms are missing out on data they could retrieve with the complete 3D Data Recovery process. Proper data recovery involves three phases: drive restoration, disk imaging, and data retrieval. But data recovery professionals can face frustrating problems when imaging a damaged disk. The drive may repeatedly stop responding in the middle of copying data. The drive may fail completely because of the stress caused by intensive read processes. Significant portions of data may be left behind in bad sectors.

These issues plague firms that use traditional disk imaging methods. Read instability makes it difficult to obtain consistent data quickly, and system software is not equipped to read bad sectors. However, these problems can be solved with imaging tools that address disk-level issues.

Imaging software bypasses system software and ignores error correction code (ECC), processing each byte of data in bad sectors. Inconsistent data is evaluated statistically to determine the most likely correct value. Faster transfer methods speed up the process, and customizable algorithms allow the data recovery professional to fine-tune each pass. Imaging software provides feedback on the data recovered while imaging is still underway.

Imaging hardware can reset the drive when it stops responding, which minimizes damage from head-clicks and allows the process to run safely without supervision.

1.Drive Restoration: Damage to the hard disk drive (also referred to as HDD) is diagnosed and repaired as necessary. There are three main types of damage:

Physical/mechanical damage: Failed heads and other physical problems are often repaired by replacing the damaged hardware with a donor part.
Electronic problems: Failed printed circuit boards (PCBs) are replaced with donor PCBs, and the contents of the failed PCB read-only memory (ROM) are copied to the donor.
Firmware failure: Firmware failures are diagnosed and fixed at the drive level.2.Disk Imaging: The contents of the repaired drive are read and copied to another disk, Disk imaging prevents further data loss caused by working with an unstable drive during the subsequent data retrieval phase.Drives presented for recovery often have relatively minor physical degradation due to wear from normal use. The wear is severe enough for the drive to stop working in its native system. However, imaging software can work with slightly degraded drives, so part replacement is often not required. In these cases, the data recovery process can skip drive restoration and start with disk imaging.3. Data Retrieval: The original files that were copied onto the image drive are retrieved. Data retrieval can involve these tasks:
File system recovery: The recreation of a corrupted file system structure such as a corrupted directory structure or boot sector, due to data loss.
File verification: Recovered files are tested for potential corruption.
File repair: If necessary, corrupted files are repaired. Files might be corrupt because data could not be fully restored in previous phases, in which case disk imaging is repeated to retrieve more sectors. File repair is completed, where possible, using vendor-specific tools.Drive restoration and data retrieval, the first and last phases, are well-serviced by the data recovery industry. Many data recovery companies have the necessary software, hardware, knowledge, and skilled labor to complete these phases. However, the technology for effective disk imaging has been relatively neglected because of its challenges, making it a weak link in the data recovery process. Data recovery firms that skim the surface with traditional imaging methods often miss out on potential revenue.

Stored data recovery system

3D Data Recovery process