The head of the IRS confirmed Wednesday that investigators looking into missing emails from ex-agency official Lois Lerner have found and are reviewing "backup tapes" -- despite earlier IRS claims that the tapes had been recycled.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/23/tale-tapes-irs-head-confirms-investigators-have-found-backup-tapes-in-lerner/
Here is how we know it can be recovered.
Data, however, can be easily retrieved from scratched drives, according to Webster. “This happens all the time,” he told FoxNews.com. “There are little storefront companies in just about every major city that can do this and there are forensic companies that can restore files and even do higher end recovery of data.”
Webster explained that, even when a drive’s file directory is damaged or destroyed, information still can be recovered from the magnetic disk where data is stored, known as a drive platter.
Hard drives can become scratched when a read-write head that is meant to operate just above the platter touches down on the magnetic disk. Webster, who has served as a consulting and IT expert in more than 80 civil lawsuits, told FoxNews.com that this can be caused by a physical jolt, or, in some case, a mechanical failure.
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/07/23/irs-has-no-excuses-for-latest-twist-in-email-saga-says-it-expert/
To use an alleegory, it's like blowing a head gasket or rod. You may not be able to drive the car, but everything is still there for the most part.
