What is non-destructive data recovery?

With non-destructive software, no changes are made to data on the drive. No data is ever written, changed, erased or rearranged. Data is only read. This is important in data recovery. Some recovery software actually alters data, which can potentially cause data loss. The basic Windows function of error checking a hard drive might seem harmless, but it too alters data, and in some situations (such as when a hard drive is failing) error checking should be avoided. Destructive recovery methods may lead to recovery of data, but they should only be attempted on a copy of the failing drive or as a last resort on the failing drive when expensive lab recovery is not an option.