10 Common Causes of Data Loss and How Data Recovery Services Can Help?

Madhuri Kumari
4 min readJul 6, 2023

If you are a computer user or your work is based on a computer system and you are unaware of the causes of data loss, you may face data loss problems in the future. In this article, we will tell you what the common causes of data loss are, the importance of data recovery, and how it helps.

There are 10 Common Causes of Data Loss that any individual can face

1. Accidental Deletion

Hastily deleting files is the main cause of accidental deletion. When we delete a whole bunch of files together without rechecking, several files that are useful to us can also be deleted. Most operating systems have a two-step process to delete data from a system. Recycle Bin provides user safeguards from accidental deletion of files. But if you use the command shift+delete, the file will be deleted permanently.

2. Malware Attack

Malware is a program file that is created for malicious purposes. They are present in various forms on the internet. While working online, downloading unauthorized software can cause a virus or malware attack on your system. It can make your system slow down. This type of software can steal your data, and you can face data loss problems.

3. Drive Damages

The drives are used to store the data and different software. There are many types of storage devices, like hard drives, solid-state drives, pen drives, etc. If it falls, is pressed by something heavy, or comes near the source of extreme heat, it can be damaged. In this situation, your first step should be to observe whether it is working or not. Just connect it to a system and check your saved data.

4. Drive formatted

You can format your device yourself when you want, but sometimes hastily formatting storage devices can cause data loss. There is another situation where most people lose data while formatting the device. When you connect your storage drive to the system, it asks you to format the drive. If you format your drive hastily, some important data that was stored in the drive can also be lost. If your system asks to format your drive while connected, the reason may be that the function of the device has malfunctioned or the space is full.

5. Water Damage

Keeping liquid items near the system is prohibited in many working places because you are surrounded by electronic items, and any small mishap can be the cause of a big disaster. Individually, it is very common to take a sip of tea while working on the system, but if, by mistake, your tea spills on your storage devices after wiping delicately and drying it properly with a cotton cloth, you have to connect it to the system to verify if it is working properly or not.

6. Power Outage

A power outage is an incident when the power goes out unexpectedly. It can affect your system if it is on at that time and not connected to a UPS. Sometimes sudden power outages can cause data loss as well, which happens when you don’t save your data while working on the system. When your system is on and faces a power outage, without any preventive power outage system, it will shut down automatically. When you reopen your system, you should first check whether your working page still shows or not, on which you worked before the power outage.

7. Partition Delete

While uploading an operating system like Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS, etc., there are options to divide your Hard disc space into multiple partitions. You can store your data in a different partition on your hard disc or SSD. This is the location where you have chosen to keep your specific data. After a while, when the space of a particular partition is full, you cannot put more files in it. Then, at the time of window updation, there is an option to remove the real partition. Before doing this, make sure there is no important data in that partition.

8. File corruption

When you want to open a certain file but it is not open, it does not accept the command, or your file shows as corrupt, these are some common signs of file corruption. The cause of file corruption is mostly hardware problems, software issues, or human mistakes. Due to file corruption, your data can be lost.

9. System Crash

While working in an operating system, your system suddenly stops working, the screen is unresponsive, or the system freezes completely. These are some common signs of a system crash. Overheating, too little data storage space, and malicious software are common causes of system crashes. Your data can be lost if the system crashes.

10. Natural disasters

Natural disasters are dangerous for mankind, similar to computer devices and data storage devices as well, which are breakable, fragile, heat-resistant, and dust-resistant. Computer devices will be affected if they are directly in contact with a natural disaster. If your data storage device is not stored in a cool, dry, moist, dust-free place during a natural disaster, then your storage device and the data within it can also be affected.

Some common causes of data loss can be easily resolved by the system itself or by taking some preventive measures to protect your data, like using registered and secure anti-malware software and keeping your device updated. But sometimes, multiple attempts to resolve issues of data loss can cause your data loss permanently, like using free software or unauthorized software for data backup. data recovery services are very helpful when you are on the brink of permanent data loss. At that time, you just have to Consult a registered, trustworthy, and experienced data recovery service provider.

For Further inquiries about data recovery visit us at Techchef Data Recovery.

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Madhuri Kumari

Head of Corporate Communications @ Techchef Data Recovery. ( https://www.techchef.in/ ) India’s Leading Data Recovery and Data Sanitization Company.