Forbid it that you have to experience a major hard disk crash containing a lifetime of work before considering the importance of your companys data. Since todays economy is becoming increasingly technology driven, the loss of sensitive data without backups is tantamount having your business burn down to the ground.

However, if this has already happened to you, then this must be a terrible time for you. If the hard disk that contains all the important data of your company which costs a fortune has totally crashed, then you will need to employ the services of a professional data recovery expert.

Most data recovery services will tend to be pricey; no matter how much you may wince at the price they may quote you, the fact remains that in most cases, the data you may lose could very well be worth ten time more than that anyway.

But still it remains that you have to know how to choose and deal with a data recovery service provider to make sure you dont get the raw end of the deal.

1. Assess You Loss First of all, you will have to assess the data loss you are experiencing. If the data is dispensable, then you may want to just suck down the loss. If the data is valuable but ultimately not invaluable you may try some data recovery techniques that you can perform yourself software recovery and other like methods.

If the data is invaluable then you might want to hold your horses and employ a professional software recovery company to do the work itself. It would also be advisable that you refrain from doing anything to your hard disk as you could very well exacerbate the damage to the drive. All you should do is secure the offending drive and set it aside properly.

2. Choose the Right Company - When considering a data recovery company, always consider whether they have the right equipment and facilities to deal with your data recovery needs. You will want to choose the right company to deal with the kind of media you need recovered hard disks, CD-ROMS, tape media, etc.

Many hard disk failures due to motor head crashes or other physical malfunctions in the media will require that the disk be opened and possibly disassembled in the data recovery companys laboratories. Hard disks are sensitive, precision instruments and cannot be opened and exposed to our normal environment.

The data recovery company you will deal with should have Class 100 clean room facilities to deal with such instruments. Class 100 facilities means that the area has only 100 airborne particles larger than .05 microns per square foot. This ensures that further damage to the drives is avoided when they are disassembled.

Also, just because a data recovery company charges much for its services does not mean that they are better than the rest. Since the data recovery business is becoming increasingly saturated, it would do good to shop around for the best service at the right price.

Beware of bait and switch schemes some data recovery companies perform. They will quote you a price saying that they are willing to perform the job for lets say $600 - $2800. You will be attracted to the lower end quotation of the job - $600. Unfortunately, more often than not, they will charge you the higher end price - $2800.