Before you recover lost data, you must keep in mind a very important rule:

DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE DISK ON WHICH THE LOST DATA IS LOCATED (the Bad Device).

The success of your data recovery depends largely on your adherence to this crucial rule. When we say to make no change to the damaged disk, we mean that you basically should leave the disk alone. This includes the following:

• Do not try to delete folders or files from the Bad Device, even if you are able to see them and think that they are not damaged.
• Do not try to save anything to the Bad Device.
• Do not attempt to format or re-partition the Bad Device, not even with a program like fdisk or format. If the support people for these or any other applications tell you it's OK to format or re-partition the Bad Device, do not listen to them.

You will risk permanent data loss if you do not heed these warnings. If you already have made one of these mistakes, don't worry. Just don't make any more changes to the Bad Device. You can use Data Recovery Wizard Professional demo version free to see if your data is still recoverable. And even if Data Recovery Wizard can't detect your Bad Device, all is not lost. If your Bad Device is HDD, which is not detectable by computer's BIOS. It's URGENT for you to turn off the power of the device immediately! You will not be able to recover the device with any commercially available utilities, and you should consult a professional data recovery service provider.

When performing a data recovery we recommend that you proceed as follows:

• Install Data Recovery Wizard on a healthy Windows machine without the drive attached you want to recover from. Make sure you have sufficient space on the "good drive" for storing the recovered data. The machine you are running Data Recovery Wizard on can have any of the following operating systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista.
• Shut down the computer and attach the drive you want to recover from ("bad drive") as a 2nd drive (Please see: How to install a hard drive?). You might need to jumper it differently. Make sure it is recognized correctly by the BIOS when starting up the computer. If you're not sure how to create a master/slave setup on your computer, there is an excellent article with detailed instructions on how to do so here.

  You can contact the drive manufacturer for assistance with installing their drive as a slave (secondary) device. Be sure that the primary drive is loading Windows.

• Start Data Recovery Wizard. Please select data recovery mode: "Deleted File Recovery", or "Complete Recovery", or "Partition Recovery".

  Choose "Deleted File Recovery" if you want to recover files that were intentionally (or accidentally) deleted.

  Choose "Complete Recovery", if you've lost data after computer crash, virus activity or formatting Bad Drive.

  Choose "Partition Recovery", if you've not found the partition from which you want to recover data by "Deleted File Recovery" and "Complete Recovery".

• When Data Recovery has completed and you are ready to copy the recovered files over to the "good drive", never copy the recovered files to the bad drive.
• After copying all desired files shut down the computer and remove the "bad drive". Store the "bad drive" at a safe location.

We also recommend that you build a brand new system now if your bad drive has been severely corrupted. Use another device other than the bad one. Install the operating system, then install the programs from their installation CD-ROMS. Finally you can import the recovered data to the new drive.

Verify that you have got back all the data you need. Do not recycle the bad drive unless you are absolutely sure about all wanted data is in place. It is a good idea to wait for 4 weeks before re-using the bad drive. If the bad drive has any mechanical problem you definitely must not use it again.

If you notice that there is any mechanical problem on the drive such as bad sectors and unusual noises, you need immediately stop the recovery and make a drive image first (You can use our Free Sector by Sector Backup software - EASEUS Disk Copy). When it is successfully created, you can recover from this drive image as the same as recover from the original drive. A mechanically damaged drive can fail entirely at any moment. It must be your primary goal to fetch all the raw data from such a drive as soon as possible. Making an image also reduces the drive load because each sector is read only once. Professional Data Recovery companies always make an image of the drive before trying to retrieve any file.

Occasionally, if you could not get data back by Data Recovery Wizard, our lab will provide you with the service within 24 hours.

If you divert from the process described above, make always sure you

• Never install Data Recovery Wizard Professional on the "bad drive",
• Never use the "bad drive" as the boot-up system drive (C:),
• Do not have temporary files and folders use the "bad drive",
• Never copy the recovered files to the "bad drive",
• Make an image first if the "bad drive" has mechanical problems.