Computer forensics is the generic name that we use for the analysis and reporting on our findings from the forensic analysis of all computer or digital-related media. This not only includes PC/Laptop or Server hard drives but also other storage devices such as USB drives, MP3 players, memory cards, SIMS and data gathered via network analysis. All types of operating systems can be analysed, from DOS and Microsoft Windows-based, through to MAC, UNIX variants, and those utilising more obscure systems.
Data loss is a plague that can hit anyone and anytime, regardless of technical prowess, handling care, operating system or hardware configuration. In many cases, data loss is caused by factors that are out of our reach and unfortunately, in some of these cases data recovery is impossible. A burnt out hard disk is the clearest example that comes to mind
According to Murphy's Law of Data Loss, “The probabilities of a hard-disk crash increase with the number of days since the drive was last backed up.” No hard disk drive is ever completely safe from crashing, and losing all the important data on it. A disk drive can be damaged due to a number of causes such as virus attack, voltage glitches, software malfunction, hard disk format, accidental file/directory deletion, human error or even sabotage. Such events cause corruption or damage to the disk drive, and make the data completely inaccessible to the user.
