• Check your recycle bin for the file. If it is still there, simply double click the item and click restore to restore the file to its original location, or drag and drop the file onto your desktop or another folder.
• The longer that a file has been deleted the less of a chance you have of recovering it, so it is not always possible to recover a deleted file.
• Some data recovery programs are free, while others cost money, so be sure to find one that works best for you.
• Always backup your personal data to an External Hard Drive, CD/DVD or other kind of media in the event of an accident.

• Never physically open up your drive. Exposure to unfiltered air, and the contaminants that it carries, can permanently ruin the platters.
• Treat your drive with care. Do not drop it or toss it around after you have removed it from your computer, as it is very delicate.
• Be especially careful with laptop drives. Although these drives are designed to be jostled and moved around, they are thinner and smaller than desktop drives. If their cases are bent or broken, it may become impossible to remount the drive.
• Do not format a disk unless you are absolutely sure that the drive works and contains no data that you want or need. Formatting will completely wipe the drive of all its contents.
• If you back up data to CDs or DVDs during the recovery process, check that the burning process was successful or you may lose the files forever when you reformat your drive.

The first and most reliable way to avoid accidental deletion or other forms of data loss is to make regular backups of your important files

User error isn’t the only way you can loose important data, photos, schoolwork or projects. You can experience a sudden power outage or power surge or even a dead hard drive. In case of hard drive failure, don’t keep your backups on the same drive you are backing up. Use another drive or burn them to a CD.

There are also free and paid online storage sites. A few offer up to 5GB of free space and include sharing. With any free storage site read the fine print. Some sites allow larger amounts of space but they limit uploads per month (1GB or less). In other words you can’t get large files uploaded all at once