Whether you own your own business or work for someone that does you'll find that data protection is one of the smartest and safest approaches you can take to ensure the profitability and livelihood of your business. When dealing with data recovery and protection it is vital you remain calm and assess whether you are dealing with a hard drive or other issue. Fortunately no matter how dire the situation you can usually follow some easy steps to ensure maximum data recovery in the event of a computer crash. Here are some tips to follow to prevent a complete disaster from occurring:

If you suspect something is wrong with your computers hard drive turn your computer off and take it to a specialist before you lose your data.

Back up our data routinely. If you can set up an automatic program to do so.

When you here strange noises from your computer, such as a clunking noise when you power up your computer immediately turn your computer off.

Never assume the worst. In most cases data is recoverable even under the worst conditions (like if your computer was swallowed from a flood and fully saturated).

Do not attempt any form of data recovery on your own unless you are a specialist. Messing with the hard drive or other parameters of your computer can exacerbate any data losses you may have already experienced.

Don't panic. Remember to think optimistically and get your computer to a repair tech as soon as possible, and chances are your data will be salvageable and safe.

Article by Frank Owen, visit his web site on data recovery for more information on data recovery http://www.datarecoveryinsiders.com