Microsoft Windows 7 is the latest release of Microsoft Windows, a series of GUI (Graphical User Interface)-based operating systems by Microsoft Corporation. It is used for both home and business computers. It is the successor of Microsoft Windows Vista. It is compatible with all the applications and hardware, which runs on Microsoft Windows Vista.

It includes advanced security features and improved system performance. Windows 7 is considered as more stable and reliable than its predecessor Windows Vista. However, under some situations, you may face serious problems with your Windows 7, which leads to critical data loss situations. At this point of time, you need to go for windows data recovery software to get your valuable data back, if a valid backup is not in place.

You may lose your business critical data from your Windows 7 hard drive due to any of the below reasons:

Accidental Deletion- If you accidentally remove some critical files from your Windows hard drive and then realize their importance, data loss occurs. Deletion can be either intentional or unintentional.

Hard Drive Formatting- Hard drive stores all your valuable data, applications, and operating system. When it is formatted, all the data stored on it is removed and serious problems take place.

File System Corruption- File system is a critical data structure of your Windows 7 hard drive, which organizes all the data. When file system gets damaged, operating system can not locate files on the hard drive and they become inaccessible.

Virus Infection- Viruses are malicious programs, which enter your system through Internet or removable storage media and damage data on your hard drive.

System Metadata Structure Corruption- Windows 7 operating system comprises of various data structures, such as MFT (Master File Table), boot loader, and MBR (Master Boot Record). When they gets damaged, system can not start and you face data loss.

In grave situations of data loss, Windows recovery is required if updated backup is not in place. Recovery is best possible using Windows data recovery software.

The applications recover windows data in all possible data loss scenarios, using advanced and powerful scanning techniques. They are incorporated with simple and interactive graphical user interface to offer easy recovery. Such tools do not alter original data on your Windows hard drive.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is the best data recovery software ever made to recover lost Windows data. The software has read-only and non-destructive conduct, and is usable with Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000 operating systems. It supports recovery from NTFS5, NTFS, FAT32, VFAT, FAT16, and FAT12 file system partitions.

Selecting data recovery product is as agonizing as data loss. You are not sure about the kind of result you can expect from the product, and added to that is the fact that some of the products could even damage lost data further. So, it is a complicated situation that you need to tread very carefully. This article will prepare you to deal with data loss without much stress and in an informed manner.

Data loss can happen to any device irrespective of the operating system or the application. The causes of data loss varies widely from that of human errors such as accidental deletion or formatting of drives and partitions, corruption of the file system, hard disk failure, hard ware errors and natural calamities.

Data loss due to any of the above reasons, except hard ware error can be recovered using data recovery software. In the case of natural calamities if there is no damage to the hard drive, then data can be recovered with the help of data recovery software.

Types of data recovery software

There are different types of data recovery software-products that can recover data from specific operating systems such as windows, Mac and Linux- products that can recover data from different file types and- from various data loss scenarios.

Data Recovery from Windows: To recover data from Windows operating system, you need to select a software that is capable of supporting data recovery from windows operating system (including operating system version). Other factor you need to consider is the file system used by the hard drive – FAT or NTFS. The third aspect is the type of data loss- for example, if the lost data include videos, photos and music, the product should be capable of recovering data from different file extensions such as AVI, MP4,MOV, MPEG, MPG (videos), BNP, PNG, JPG, JPEG, TIFF, GIFF (photos) and MP3,  MP4, WOV, MIDI (music) using photo recovery.

Data Recovery from Mac: You need to select the product based on the operating system version,  the type of Pc- intel or power PC, and the file system- HFSX or HFSX+ in your Mac machine. To recover photos the product should be capable of recovering files with extensions BMP, PNG, TIF, TIFF, JPEG, JPG, GIF, or PSD.  If you are a professional photographer and use raw photos, the product should support recovery from file extensions (CR2, ORF, MRW, 3FR etc) depending on your camera. To recover videos, the product should support recovery from AVI, MP4, MOV, MPEG, MPG, M4V, 3G2, 3GP, RM and MP3, MP4, WAV, MIDI, M4B, M4A, AIFF, AIF, AIFC, RA, or AMR extensions to recover music files.

Data Recovery from Linux: To recover data from Linux operating system, you need to ensure the file system (Ext2 or Ext 3)from which the product can recover data and Linux distribution it supports such as Redhat Linux, Suse Linux, Mandriva Linux, Ubuntu Linux, Caldera Linux, Slackware Linux, Gentoo Linux, Kubuntu Linux or any other.

In addition to the operating system and the type of file, equally important is the capability of the product in recovering data from different data loss scenarios.

Data recovery software is available as freeware and shareware. Freeware, as the name indicates is free of cost and shareware is the purchase version.

Freeware for recovering data

You can download freeware from the internet for free. Some of the freeware are good and help you recover data efficiently. However, if the freeware you have selected is not efficient in recovering data, then it could lead to permanent loss of your data. So, if the data is very valuable and you do not want to risk data, then it is better not to select freeware. Freeware is mostly available for file recovery and may not support recovery of data from complicated scenarios.

Shareware for recovering data

There are various shareware for recovering data based on the operating systems, file type and to address various data loss scenarios. One of the best way to select a shareware is by evaluating the demo version before buying it. This will give you an idea about the efficiency of the software in recovering data. While evaluating you can see the files restored, but to save the recovered data you will need to buy the version. In addition to the efficiency of the software ensure that the product comes with good customer support either through telephone or live chat. Another aspect that you should consider is the payment processing channel used by the software publisher (eg regnow, Avangate).