If you’ve had some data loss, and you’re worried that either you don’t know how to recover it yourself or the data is too sensitive to give to anyone other than a professional, then the only thing left to do is go to a professional data recovery service.

These businesses specialize in recovering lost files, getting back your accidentally deleted files, computer setup and installation, computer software and hardware configuration to prevent corrupted files and data loss, and the removal of sensitive data before you sell or repurpose your old computer or phone.

They are experts for a reason – some of these services are very intensive, and require a lot of training and expertise. Here you can learn what a data recovery service is, when you should attempt data recovery yourself, and when you should hire a professional for your data recovery needs.

What Is a Professional Data Recovery Service

A professional data recovery service serves two purposes. Firstly, it serves to prevent data loss, and secondly, to recover data if and when it is lost.

In order to prevent data loss, data recovery services do several things: Data Loss Prevention (DLP), firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs), and antivirus software. Additionally, data recovery services can transfer data for clients to prevent any mistakes being made and any data loss that may accompany that.

Data Loss Prevention [link to PDM’s DLP blog post] is a strategy which controls the sharing of sensitive information among a computer network. Certain users can gain access to sensitive files, while others can’t, and sharing rules are enforced by computer programs.

Intrusion Detection Systems are systems which can identify attempts to enter the network by an outside source, and a firewall prevents these intrusion attempts. Anti-virus software detects unauthorized malware on your computer or in the network, allowing the IT department to react and protect its data.

The best medicine is prevention, as the old saying goes, and data recovery services can provide these services to prevent data loss before it happens.

If data loss does occur, however, data recovery services can help there too. If you accidentally deleted photos, or your hard drive had a logical failure, or was physically damaged in any way, then asking a professional for help is the next step.

Professionals can manage and scrape content from internal or external hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), USB flash drives, magnetic tapes, CDs, DVDs, RAID subsystems, and other electronic devices in an attempt to salvage your data. They offer a range of data recovery and computer repair services.

When to Hire a Professional Data Recovery Service

So you know what a professional data recovery service does now, but when should you attempt to recover your data on your own, and when should you call the expert?

It all depends on how comfortable you are with technology, and how sensitive your data is. For a camera memory card with your personal photos on it, you might want to attempt to buy some file recovery software before you take it to a professional, simply because it is one of the simpler data recoveries you can attempt, and there are tons of tutorials online to walk you through the process.

For computer files and network problems, especially data which is sensitive and which you do not want lost forever or open to the public, a professional data recovery expert might be in order.


While data loss and recovery can be very stressful and very confusing, there is no need to worry. Data recovery services are professionals, and can walk you through any data loss situation you find yourself in.

Submit your case with ProData Management today!