We've all done it. Over-written or deleted a file only to find out we really needed whatever information we just destroyed or damaged. So, what do you do? Is there a way out of this or do you just curl up in the foetal position and cry? There are options for recovering lost files. Some are easy, others are harder. let's look at some of the options.

Have you ever accidentally deleted a file, a folder or formatted an entire partition? It happens to the best of us, but all hope is not lost. There are a whole lot of free data recovery and undelete utilities available online, though it can be just as hard to tell which ones will actually work (and won't turn out to contain malware). If you're feeling a bit lost, we've rounded up the top five free data recovery tools for you, right here.

Few feelings inspire more dread than a PC that refuses to start -- especially if you never bothered to back up your data. Thankfully, there are still ways to retrieve your family photos, office documents and other precious files if you know where to look. We explain what to do.

Thanks to Acronis, we have an Apple Watch Sport (black) and a copy of Acronis True Image backup software to give away worth a combined value of $559. To win the prize, simply tell us your data loss horror story -- be it a business server catastrophe, a stolen mobile phone, or anything in-between. We also have nine copies of Acronis True Image up for grabs as runner-up prizes. Hop to it!

Dear Lifehacker, What's the best way to dispose of a used hard drive? I've knocked a hole through using a crowbar and hammer near the spindle and through the circuit board. Is that sufficient to prevent any data recovery? Is there an easier way to destroy the hard drive?

Recently I had to send my UX32VD notebook back to ASUS for repairs under warranty (which turned out to be a completely painless experience, thankfully). Before I did, I made an image of the HDD to an external USB drive using Windows 7's backup tools. In the end the precaution was unneeded, but I decided keeping the image around might prove useful in the future so, instead of deleting it, I tried copying it to a more permanent location on my server. That's when I ran into trouble.

It should be 101 stuff: before you dispose of a server, drive or mobile phone, you wipe all the information from it. But has it really disappeared? Data recovery firm Kroll Ontrack purchased three "wiped" items of hardware online, and found easily restored data on all three of them.

It's not just people who suffer in the heat. Data recovery services also report a big uptick in business. What strategies do you need to follow to minimise the risk of hard drive heatstroke?

Don't get us wrong: encryption is a sensible strategy for protecting private data and switching to a solid-state drive (SSD) provides impressive performance benefits. However, both approaches make the task of recovering data in the event of an emergency much more difficult.

We always enjoy data recovery service Kroll Ontrack's annual roundup of the most notable disasters amongst its customers. Two of the entries on this year's list have an Australian flavour.

Many businesses rely on Exchange and SharePoint, so if those services crash there's often wailing and gnashing of teeth. However, recovering from an Exchange or SharePoint outage can be a slow task.

Linux: Whether it's a troublesome hard drive or an old DVD that's spitting out I/O errors, Safecopy is a Linux utility that will keep trying to recover data until it gets to the end of the media. Where other tools give up and force you to start the recovery process again, Safecopy presses on through errors, resorting to low-level read and copy operations if necessary.

This is a featured workspace with a difference: data recovery specialist Kroll Ontrack recently opened a new cleanroom in its Brisbane facility, which is used to recover data from damaged hard drives. On the surface, it looks rather like any other server room, but it's continuously monitored and strictly sealed to minimise the risk of dust damage. Plus there are a lot more spare hard drive parts than you would normally find.

iPhones and iPads are hugely popular, but that also means they are being dropped on pavements and in toilets in record numbers. Recovering data from any kind of damaged device is tricky, but it's especially hard with iDevices as they use a unique file system that isn't easily understood (or repaired) by consumers.

Lists abound at the end of the year, but one of my favourites is the roundup of data disasters seen in the laboratories of recovery firm Kroll Ontrack. The best story? It involves a security guard, a cigarette and 44 ruined PCs.

Bushfire season has well and truly kicked off in Australia. The big technology lesson to remember? Make sure you've got a good backup strategy in place that includes both physical and offline options -- while drive recovery techniques are impressive these days, bushfires represent one of the most challenging scenarios, since they can literally melt your hard drive.

Data recovery specialists can do a remarkable job of getting data back from failed or damaged hard drives, but you'll often pay a hefty price for the privilege. As such, the newly introduced data recovery insurance option from Kroll Ontrack and Covertec sounds like a sensible investment.

Windows only: If you've managed to delete important photos, crush a partition, or otherwise go wiping out data where you weren't supposed to, add MiniTool's free data recovery app to your list of last resorts. It's a powerful tool for finding data on Windows systems, working or otherwise.

Dear Lifehacker, I dropped my external hard-drive which has all my photos from the past seven years and music collection on it. I took it to a professional but he said it would cost $2,500 to repair it. I'm a uni student so I don't have that kind of money.