If you’ve ever booted up your computer and gotten a cryptic “drive not found” message, you’re not alone. In fact, about one third of all data loss occurs because of this very error message. Drives simply failing to appear on your directory structure at all. Of course, when that happens, all the data they once contained is lost to you.

This basic error occurs most commonly with USB flash drives and external hard drives, although security experts warn that it can certainly happen to any type of drive.

There are a number of reasons why a device might suddenly just stop appearing on your pick list: It could be that there’s a problem with the USB connection, and it’s not getting power. Water damage is another big possibility, so if the drive or the connecting cable got wet, it could be the culprit. It’s also possible that the drive has become corrupted, rendering the device unreadable and inaccessible.

Whatever the ultimate cause though, the end result is the same. Your data is temporarily inaccessible to you. Now, it’s true that in many (but not all) cases, a data recovery expert can get at least some of the data back, so all hope is not lost, but this reality underscores the importance of taking regular backups, especially if you rely on external storage media to store critical business files.
Ultimately your business should have a robust backup solution in place that includes regular backups, redundancy, periodic testing, and reporting.

If you find yourself in need of a data recovery expert or are in need of a backup solution, no matter if it is for your business systems or personal notebooks or computers, contact us today. A member of our team will be in touch to discuss how we might be able to assist you and provide the right solution for your needs.