There is no doubt that you need to protect your data from loss as it contains your important documents and files which were prepared with months and sometimes years of efforts. Data protection is of two types:

• Data backup and restore: In this option, we need to back up the data as per our schedule. Whenever needed, we can restore the data from the backup. The data which was created or modified after the backup was taken is lost when we restore the backup.
• Data recovery. In this option, there are data recovery utilities which can help you recover your data even if you have not previously backed up your data. 

Thus data recovery is also very useful part of data protection. Let us see how data recovery works. On your computer, whenever you delete a file, it is never completely erased from the hard disk. The file’s entry is merely removed from the File Allocation Table (FAT). The FAT contains the name and location of each and every file on the hard disk. This FAT is checked by the Operating System every time it boots.
So, even after you delete a file from your computer, it still exists in the raw form on the computer hard disk. At this point, if you immediately realize that you deleted the file by mistake and want to recover it, the chances of recovery are very good. This is because recovery software generally don’t rely upon the FAT – they, instead scan the disk for its raw data content. As time passes, the odds of recovering data get slimmer.
Also, if you try to recover an old file after adding some new data, the file may not be recoverable at all, as the newer files may have been written into the space once occupied by the older one.
Thus there is no guarantee that recovery will be successful. It is therefore clear that data recovery is not as reliable as the data backup and restore option. However, you may encounter situations when data recovery is needed. You should hence keep some data recovery software with you. Some of the popular data recovery software include the following:

1. ONtrack EasyRecovery Professional
2. R-Studio FAT
3. Stellar Phoenix FAT & NTFS 

You should note that the data recovery software should be installed prior to crash or should be run from a removable disk or another hard disk. This is because installing these software after the data has been lost may result in the writing of these software in the space once occupied by your data.
The data recovery software are available with a variety of features. You should select the software that best suits your needs. The main features to look out for include the following:

• Ease of use
• General interface
• Ability to create
• A boot up disk
• Recovery over network
• Fast scanning speed
• Simple wizards
• Partition recovery 

For the normal user, it is generally recommend that data backup should be taken at regular intervals and data recovery software should be used only in an emergency.