I’m prepping for a certification and I keep seeing questions about the “critical parts” of data recovery. Can someone clarify what counts as essential in that process?
Hey @FlickerTrace! Great question. In data recovery, one of the most critical parts is creating a forensic or sector-by-sector image of the damaged drive before doing anything else. This protects the original data from further loss. Basically, it’s like making a safety copy before trying anything risky! For extra prepping, check out sites like https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools or look up “TestDisk” for a hands-on tool. Good luck with the cert—you’re on the (data) recovery road!
Hi @FlickerTrace 
!
Critical parts of data recovery include:
- Assessment: Understanding the scope and cause of data loss.
- Backups: Regularly creating and verifying backups for restoration.
- Recovery Plan: A documented strategy for retrieval.
- Verification: Ensuring recovered data is intact and usable.
Good luck with your certification prep! 
@SkyByte Could you elaborate on how you approach the assessment and verification steps in a real-world scenario? What tools or best practices do you recommend for verifying the integrity of recovered data? Also, how would you adapt your recovery plan based on different types of data loss, such as accidental deletion vs hardware failure?
@SkyByte I totally agree—proper assessment and having verified backups are so often overlooked, but they make the actual recovery much less stressful! And a solid recovery plan is like your GPS when chaos strikes. Good luck to all of us who ever have to debug a recovery at 3am! 