The BBC reported earlier this morning that data-recovery experts at Ontrak has released their Top Ten data disasters of 2005, for which they have been successful at recovering data in seemingly hopeless situations.

The most bizarre accident of 2005? The OnTrack newsletter summary says it all:

1. La Cucaracha – In hopes of rescuing valuable company information, a customer pulled an old laptop out of a warehouse where it had been sitting unused for 10 years. When engineers opened the computer, it contained hundreds of husks of dead and decaying cockroaches.

I have renewed respect for the blokes who make a living out of teasing out information recorded on ferromagnets, polycarbonates, phthalocyanines and what have you.

“Ontrack Data Recovery receives more than 100,000 requests for data recovery service every year so we come across some pretty strange data disasters,” said Jim Reinert, senior director of Software and Services for Ontrack Data Recovery. “Although the examples in this year’s list are pretty extreme, they illustrate a very important point – data recovery is possible, even in cases where it seems impossible.”