Problems of DIY Software

Our primary instinct is, of course, to retrieve the lost data by any means. This is only natural, and one cannot rest easy till everything is back in the accustomed place again. In our hurry to get back the data, we take recourse to the fastest, easiest and cheapest means – the downloadable DIY software. But is that really a solution or does it push us into yet more trouble? This is what is being discussed below:

Why DIY

What is DIY software and why do we use it? Do It Yourself (DIY) – the term is self explanatory in this case. There was a time when computers were huge and complicated machines. But now, most of us are aware of at least the software section of the machine that sits on the top of the table at home. General awareness on the working of digital media has increased literally by leaps and bounds in the past few years. With this, our dependence on the computer has also increased manifold. Therefore, we need a ready solution if there is any kind problem with the data which we take for granted as part of our daily lifestyle. DIY software is readily downloadable, quite inexpensive, easy to handle, time saving, and keeps the recovery process under our control. Therefore, there are some very solid arguments in favour of DIY software.

Why Not DIY

In a case reported by a leading data recovery firm earlier this year, a serious problem of DIY software was aptly illustrated. A business house based in London suffered from a major loss of data when its server came under virus attack. The CEO (who must have been good at his job, but not the most technically savvy person around), asked the in house computer maintenance personnel to use a DIY package from the net. The idea was to solve the issue at minimum cost, least hullabaloo, and at the soonest possible. However, the problem was much more complicated than it had seemed, and after some time the server crashed. The data recovery firm rightfully pointed out that if they had been called in to diagnose the problem in the first place, more than 91% of the data could have been retrieved than the 72% achieved after the DIY disaster.

DIY – Penny Wise, Pound Foolish?

Some of the disadvantages of using DIY have been given below.

• Most home users download DIY data recovery software straight on the hard disk that has undergone data loss or corruption. In the bargain, the may fragment already sliced files farther by downloading the software on them. In the case of CD, DVD, USB drives, the matter can be worse, since the files may be deleted while being overwritten due to lack of space. It is not possible to understand what is happening, and by the time you realise that you have effectively deleted your own data by writing the rescue software on it, you have already paid for it. If the data is that important, you would have to make a dash for a recovery company now, who may or may not be able to rectify matters.
• Data recovery software, as you may notice, has a limited number of options given. This is because the software is built around prefixed algorithms that work automatically on the chosen option. But what will happen if it is a combination of problems rather than just one option? Maybe the data was already badly fragmented when a virus struck, or a power surge killed files that were corrupt due to completely other reasons. The rigidity of the software is no match for the troubleshooting skills of the human brain.
• Needless to say, data recovery software is useless if the problem is a hardware issue, or a very complicated case with multiple software errors. If a software issue is coupled with a hardware fault, then trying out DIY on it may have very bad results indeed.
• Not all software is equipped to work on all OS, tackle all types of digital mass storage media, or even all kinds of file format.
• Last but not the least, how would you know whether the company offering you the magic solution in such a small sum is a good one? It may be non existent, or even a worse, a virus itself.

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