The first thing you should do when you are doing windows data recovery is to shut down the computer you need to perform the data recovery process on. The best thing you can do is find another computer that is running windows 2000 or windows XP. You would then download your computer recovery software onto the second computer, and go back to the computer you were on and remove the hard drive from it. Take the removed hard drive and install it on the second computer as a data drive. In case you are using a laptop, a laptop computer hard drive can easily be connected to your desktop computer with an adapter that is available at most computer stores you go to. You will then want to make sure that your windows program does not use the "Check Disk" utility to repair the drive. Use your data recovery program to do your windows data recovery on the second computer you are using.

What If You Do Not Have a Second Computer?

The above process describes the most efficient way to carry out a data recovery operation. But many a times, we do not have the luxury of a second computer.

If you do not have a second computer, make sure you shut down your computer right away. With the second step of your windows data recovery, you are still going to have to remove the hard drive of this computer. You will then need to install a new drive, reinstall windows and use your recovery software on it. Once you have done this, you can install a new drive on your computer. Then you will reinstall the drive back in the computer as a data drive. You have to make sure that the windows "Check Disk" utility program does not try to repair the drive when it is booted. Then you use your recovery software to recover the data to your new hard drive. This is how you do your windows data recovery.