If your computer's hard drive decides to take a nosedive, it could mean rivers of tears if you didn't make any backups of your files. Fortunately there are ways to get at least some of your information back.

There are a number of professional services around that can help you with this, but they tend to be rather expensive.

So before you go the paid route, first try TOKIWA DataRecovery, which is a free utility that you can use to try and get your files back from your hard drive. Download the file on a second computer and then plug your crashed hard drive into this second computer and run the application.

However, this will only work if your crashed hard drive is due to software failure. If the hard drive crash is because of hardware failure, then you'll need to call in the professionals to see what they can do with it.

Give one of these a buzz and see if they can help you out:

• Data Detect
• Intratec

And in future, make sure you make those backups!

Know of a better solution? Please share it with us by leaving a comment below.

Disclaimer: The services suggested in this article did not pay to be mentioned, but is the result of investigation and a search on the internet for suitable services. Use them at your own discretion.