Backing up your logical drives and partitions can be somewhat of a daunting task. It is much easier to have software do it for you. Just a few clicks of the mouse and your data is backed up all in one neat tidy little space on your hard drive. From there it can be passed on to a CD, USB storage device, or other form of data backup storage.
If you need plenty of storage space available for your data, you may opt to go with some less traditional means of data backup. This may include DVDs or an offsite server. Both provide large amounts of storage when compared to a CD which only holds around 800 mb. Of course USB sticks are coming down in price and available in large capacity form for very little money.
Tape drives were at one point the de facto standard in data backup devices, however now they are more for servers than home computer users. Because tape drives offer more space and can be erased and rewritten many times gives the person that is backing up the data peace of mind that he does not need change the disc or worry about if it will fit.
Of course when backing up your data, its important to know, what is actually a necessity to backup and what is basically garbage. For most users, photos and critical system files top the list. However every user is not the same. Lets say you are a videographer, some of your video files need to be saved or you could risk losing them. Or for a photographer, images or pictures can be lost. And for writers, Losing that masterpiece novel you’ve been working on for two years can’t be a good thing.
But what about critical system files? Do you know which ones you’ll actually need and which ones you do not? Most users don’t know. My recommendation would be to use a disk image manager that will record the entire hard disk in case something goes wrong. Be sure to read the documentation on how to recover from such an event. Because if something were to happen, you’ll need to know how to get what you’ve got backed up back onto your new hard drive.
Backup your data and keep it in a safe place. Once you’ve backed up all your data. Or the most critical files at least, you may need software to install everything back onto the new hard drive. That’s why it’s very important to keep this information handy and out of harms way.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Recover From Computer Failure With Windows XP Restore Point
Have you ever done something to make an improvement and later regretted it?It would be awesome to be able to go back in time and undo the the thing that were supposed to make an improvement.
While life in general will not allow us to return to an earlier time to make changes, we computer users do have such an option should we experience problems with our Windows XP operating systems.
If you update or install the wrong device driver for your video card, and you delete accidentally delete a critical Windows file, so what. You can simply use Windows XP's Restore Point feature and, Tada, you're back on track and recovered that deleted file.
Restore Points are snapshots of the state your operating system was in during that time.Windows XP automatically creates a restore point when it senses a major change in your operating system.And Restore Points are created every 24 hours as a safety measure.But you can create a Restore Point manually any time you feel there is a need.
If you have a change of some sort that causes problems with the operating system, you can tell Windows XP to revert to any Restore Point established before the problem occurred.After the rollback, every change in the operating system that happened after that Restore Point is eliminated.
Restore Points are generally used when you experience such pc problems as extremely slow performance of the system. Your computer responds far more slowly that it did before you installed or updated something.
Other times to run Restore Point is when your system stops responding after an update or installation. Be sure to create a Restore Point before making any significant change to your computer's software or configuration.
To set a Restore Point, click on Start, point to All Programs, click on Accessories, System Tools, and then click on System Restore.When the System Restore windows appears, click on the button labeled "Create A Restore Point" and click Next.
Enter a description of the restore point, something like "Before scanner device driver install" and click the Create button.A notification will inform you that a Restore Point was made.Now click the Close button and you're all set.
Reverting to a Restore Point is as easy as create one.Click on Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, System Tools, and System Restore.When the System Restore window appears, click on the "Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time" and then click on the Next button.
Choose the date on which you set the Restore Point and click the Next button.Review the information presented and save any open files.Shut down any other programs that may be running.
Click on the Next button and now your computer will restart. As it restarts, it will present a message informing you of the restore point. Click OK and you're done.
After reading all about setting and reverting to restore points, you should make a known restore point if you have not done so already.Whatever you do after reading this article, don't say I'll get to it soon.Familarize yourself with this feature and create a restore point one.
While life in general will not allow us to return to an earlier time to make changes, we computer users do have such an option should we experience problems with our Windows XP operating systems.
If you update or install the wrong device driver for your video card, and you delete accidentally delete a critical Windows file, so what. You can simply use Windows XP's Restore Point feature and, Tada, you're back on track and recovered that deleted file.
Restore Points are snapshots of the state your operating system was in during that time.Windows XP automatically creates a restore point when it senses a major change in your operating system.And Restore Points are created every 24 hours as a safety measure.But you can create a Restore Point manually any time you feel there is a need.
If you have a change of some sort that causes problems with the operating system, you can tell Windows XP to revert to any Restore Point established before the problem occurred.After the rollback, every change in the operating system that happened after that Restore Point is eliminated.
Restore Points are generally used when you experience such pc problems as extremely slow performance of the system. Your computer responds far more slowly that it did before you installed or updated something.
Other times to run Restore Point is when your system stops responding after an update or installation. Be sure to create a Restore Point before making any significant change to your computer's software or configuration.
To set a Restore Point, click on Start, point to All Programs, click on Accessories, System Tools, and then click on System Restore.When the System Restore windows appears, click on the button labeled "Create A Restore Point" and click Next.
Enter a description of the restore point, something like "Before scanner device driver install" and click the Create button.A notification will inform you that a Restore Point was made.Now click the Close button and you're all set.
Reverting to a Restore Point is as easy as create one.Click on Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, System Tools, and System Restore.When the System Restore window appears, click on the "Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time" and then click on the Next button.
Choose the date on which you set the Restore Point and click the Next button.Review the information presented and save any open files.Shut down any other programs that may be running.
Click on the Next button and now your computer will restart. As it restarts, it will present a message informing you of the restore point. Click OK and you're done.
After reading all about setting and reverting to restore points, you should make a known restore point if you have not done so already.Whatever you do after reading this article, don't say I'll get to it soon.Familarize yourself with this feature and create a restore point one.
Time to Abandon the "Point-in-Time" Backups
In today’s world, data and electronic communications are critical to small business success. If your data was to disappear, what would that do to your business? What would a series of data losses cost your business? What great ideas would be gone, never to come back?
The most common solution for many small businesses is to use tape devices, hard drives and some companies even used CD/DVD disks to back up their sales databases, accounting information, client information and any other data that is important to their business.
The issue with tape and disk-based backup systems is that they are a point-in-time backup. What does this mean? Sometime in the middle of the night, a process is started on your computer or network servers to take all of your data, emails, and system configuration and put a copy onto a tape or disk. This is great to have a copy of your data store on some removable device.
At the very least, you will at least have a backup that is 24 hours old. Is this suitable for your business? Maybe not! What happens if your server crashes and you have a data loss at 5 PM in the evening? OK, now your IT consultant has a tape from last night…great start. What about all the work that happened throughout the day? How about all the intellectual property that was created that day, that big sales proposal that can take your business to the next level or that important annual report that your executive assistant worked on all day?
Now you have the loss of all that intellectual property and a cost factor associated with it. Let’s just look at the numbers relating to one day of data loss in a company. Your company is 25 employees and all of them work on your computer network throughout the day. To be reasonable we will say they work 6 hours on files, correspondence and other important business data. We will assume that the average rate of pay is $20.00 per hour to be on the conservative side.
In this example, your single day loss of productivity just from a salary perspective is $3,000.00 in lost wages. This number does not account for the lost Intellectual Property, revenues relating to the not getting the proposals out in time and any other expenses relating to not meeting your targets. Also this number does not account for what your IT Company will charge you to recover your data from last night’s tape.
There are great solutions to protect small business today from the loss of data, time, salaries and other expenses associated with data loss. The SonicWALL Continuous Data Protection appliance is a great solution for today’s small business. The CDP backup unit will take all of your corporate data and store it on a device that sits on your network and in real time backs up all of your data as changes are made. So now in the example where your server fails and you suffer a data loss, all of your sales information, accounting data, correspondence and other company data is safely stored on the backup appliance.
This is all great; however, many IT people will question the ability to take the data off-site. At least with a tape we can store that data off-site at a secure vault or other storage facility. Fair enough, however the SonicWALL CDP appliance will also back up your data off-site (after the data is backed up on the appliance) at one of their electronic storage facilities. Now you take away the human factor of someone having to handle your tape and risk losing your corporate data because of a lost or stolen tape.
The most common solution for many small businesses is to use tape devices, hard drives and some companies even used CD/DVD disks to back up their sales databases, accounting information, client information and any other data that is important to their business.
The issue with tape and disk-based backup systems is that they are a point-in-time backup. What does this mean? Sometime in the middle of the night, a process is started on your computer or network servers to take all of your data, emails, and system configuration and put a copy onto a tape or disk. This is great to have a copy of your data store on some removable device.
At the very least, you will at least have a backup that is 24 hours old. Is this suitable for your business? Maybe not! What happens if your server crashes and you have a data loss at 5 PM in the evening? OK, now your IT consultant has a tape from last night…great start. What about all the work that happened throughout the day? How about all the intellectual property that was created that day, that big sales proposal that can take your business to the next level or that important annual report that your executive assistant worked on all day?
Now you have the loss of all that intellectual property and a cost factor associated with it. Let’s just look at the numbers relating to one day of data loss in a company. Your company is 25 employees and all of them work on your computer network throughout the day. To be reasonable we will say they work 6 hours on files, correspondence and other important business data. We will assume that the average rate of pay is $20.00 per hour to be on the conservative side.
In this example, your single day loss of productivity just from a salary perspective is $3,000.00 in lost wages. This number does not account for the lost Intellectual Property, revenues relating to the not getting the proposals out in time and any other expenses relating to not meeting your targets. Also this number does not account for what your IT Company will charge you to recover your data from last night’s tape.
There are great solutions to protect small business today from the loss of data, time, salaries and other expenses associated with data loss. The SonicWALL Continuous Data Protection appliance is a great solution for today’s small business. The CDP backup unit will take all of your corporate data and store it on a device that sits on your network and in real time backs up all of your data as changes are made. So now in the example where your server fails and you suffer a data loss, all of your sales information, accounting data, correspondence and other company data is safely stored on the backup appliance.
This is all great; however, many IT people will question the ability to take the data off-site. At least with a tape we can store that data off-site at a secure vault or other storage facility. Fair enough, however the SonicWALL CDP appliance will also back up your data off-site (after the data is backed up on the appliance) at one of their electronic storage facilities. Now you take away the human factor of someone having to handle your tape and risk losing your corporate data because of a lost or stolen tape.
Reasons For Data Loss From Computer Hard Disks
Introduction
The last 20 years has brought about a proliferation of computer use in society. Technology is in a constant state of evolution and computer based activities are becoming increasingly integrated with their users’ lives. A number of years ago, it was unthought-of to conduct activities such as banking and shopping online. In addition to this, the vast communication possibilities that are now in existence are making the world a smaller place as people are using a multitude of messaging services such as MSN to stay in contact. The benefits of these highly sophisticated technologies are however, faced by numerous threats. Computers are, more than ever susceptible to malicious use in the forms of hackers, viruses and fraudulent activity. One of the reasons for this is that computers are responsible for storing large amounts of information. Aside from threats posed by malicious use, computers also face a number of issues from an architectural perspective. The vast majority of data stored on a computer is saved on the hard drive and although improvements are continuously being made in terms of their size and capacity, hard drives are always vulnerable to a great deal of stress. In turn, hard drives inevitably have a shelf life of approximately three years. A study conducted by the accounting firm McGladrey and Pullen estimates that one out of every 500 data centres will experience a severe computer disaster this year. As a result, almost of half those companies will go out of business (Peddle 2006).
The objective of this essay is to summarise the main ways in which hard drives can fail, thus incurring a loss of data or difficulty in accessibility. The essay is structured as follows; the first section provides a description of the main ways in which hard drives can fail, along with the effect that this has on the stored data. This is followed by a description of the methods that can be conducted in attempt to try and prevent failure as much as possible and culminating with a brief conclusion and summary of the essay.
Causes of failure A hard disk drive is a digitally encoded non-volatile storage device which stores data on rapidly rotating disks with magnetic surfaces called hard disk platters (Wikipedia 2006). The read-write heads of the hard disk are used to recode and retrieve the data stored on the hard disk as the disk platter rotates at a very high speed. Hard disks operate under extreme stress and will eventually fail due to general wear and tear accrued through age or some form of malfunction or failure. The chances of failure of a hard drive therefore increase greatly over time and ironically the chances are greatly increased as hard disks improve and develop. The phenomenon of hard disk failure is raising higher and higher; as to increase the read and write speed, today we have the latest hard disk rotating amazingly faster and this immense revolving speed generates massive centrifugal force, a single adverse cause in the course of normal operation can cause severe hard disk failure (Bista 2006).
Hard disk failures can be generally classified in two categories, namely physical and logical failures. Physical hard disk failures are the type of failures in which something is physically wrong with the hard drive itself and symptoms may include a grinding or clicking sound (Posey 2006). A logical failure is the type of failure in which there is nothing physically wrong with the drive itself however, the information stored on the hard disk is in bad shape. Normally this type of failure can be repaired by using a tool such as Scan Disk (Posey 2006).
The following section outlines the main cause of hard drive failure which are as follows:
• Firmware corruption
• Electronic failure
• Mechanical failure i.e. head crash
• Circuit board malfunction
• Logical errors
• Human error
Types of hard disk failure Firmware corruption Firmware is the software code that controls and is embedded in the physical hard drive hardware (Data clinic 2006). It is responsible for the operations of the hard drive and its activities include configuration, management of the interaction that takes place between the other components and the safe powering on/off of the system. At start-up, a hard disk loads the service data from its firmware zone into RAM and then allows the drive to report on readiness. If there is damage to these modules, then the drive will report either it’s family identity or will not detect it at all (Disklabs 2006).
In the event of such an occurrence, the computer will be prevented from accessing any data on the hard disk. The benefit to this is that it is merely an accessibility problem and a firmware failure does not automatically incur a data loss. Once the drive has been repaired, it is possible to recover the data.
Electronic failure Data clinic (2006) describes how electronic failure usually relates to problems on the controller board of the actual hard disk. This may be due to the computer actually suffering a power spike or electrical surge that knocks out the controller board on the hard disk making it undetectable to the BIOS. This means that whilst there is an electronic failure, any data stored on the hard drive will be inaccessible until the problem is fixed. The nature of this type of problem however, is advantageous as it is a mere hindrance and data will not be lost or corrupted and is therefore fully recoverable. Mechanical failure Mechanical failure is generally considered to be more serious than electronic failure or firmware corruption as it often leads to data loss and even complete data loss if prompt action is not taken. There are numerous types of mechanical failure; these can range from motor problems to one of the most common types of known failures is a head crash. A head crash, as it’s name implies, occurs when the read-write heads of the hard disk collide with the disk’s rotating platter surface (Data clinic 2006). Often, this can cause damage to both the heads and even the hard disk itself.
The head normally rides on a thin film of moving air which is entrapped at the surface of the platter (Wikipedia 2006). The platter is coated with a magnetic layer and a crash can occur if a small amount of dust, a sudden movement of the computer or power surge causes the head to bounce against the disk and damaging the magnetic coating. Modern A head crash, as its name implies, occurs when the read-write heads of the hard disk collide with the disks rotating platter surface (Data clinic 2006). Often, this can cause damage to both the heads and even the hard disk itself.
The head normally rides on a thin film of moving air which is entrapped at the surface of the platter (Wikipedia 2006) The platter is coated with a magnetic layer and a crash can occur if a small amount of dust, a sudden movement of the computer or power surge causes the head to bounce against the disk and damaging its magnetic coating. Modern drives spin at extremely high speeds (between 5, 00 and 15,000 rpm, (Wikipedia 2006)) which means that when such a collision occurs, the damage incurred can be quite serious.
Obviously, data corruption will occur at the onset of a head crash as it will then become unreadable when the read-write head attempts to access it. Furthermore, once a head crash has occurred, this increases the probability of future head crashes, especially if there is dust in the system, for instance which means the user needs to take prompt action to rectify this in order to prevent further head crashes and risk losing all data stored on the hard disk.
Circuit Board Malfunction The circuit board is responsible for powering and controlling the mechanical unit. It is exposed to variations in temperature and as a result, the chips that comprise the circuit board surface can develop small breaks internally which can cause circuit interruption and electrical failure. Furthermore, the failure of any of the other electrical components of the computer can result in a defective circuit board, thus causing the hard drive to fail and data access is then prevented.
Logical errors Logical errors also differ from the other failures mentioned as it usually means that there is nothing actually physically wrong with the disk in terms of architectural faults, instead there is a problem with the information stored on it. There could be an invalid entry in a file allocation table for instance (Data clinic 2006). Logical errors are not too serious, unlike mechanical failures and can be tackled with various software tools. Caution should however be extended because if a fix utility is run inappropriately on the hard disk, the stored data can often become unrecoverable. Human error
In a sense it is rare that a hard disk failure could be caused by a human alone. That is, of course providing that users take caution in how they handle a computer. Combined with mechanical failure, human error accounts for almost 75% of all incidents of data loss (Peddle 2006). All of the previously mentioned hard disk failures could be caused by computer misuse on the user’s part. Computers are very sensitive to changes in temperature, dust and dirt etc entering the hard drive, electrical power surges and knocks and bumps which may occur. Users should therefore take extreme caution to prevent any of these circumstances from occurring as much as they possibly can.
Other problems not caused by the hard disk Aside from problems that may occur within the hard drive itself or damage that may be incurred on the users’ part, other failures can occur in other parts of the computer which can have a knock on effect to the performance of the hard disk. These problems include IDE cable malfunction, power connector problems and inappropriate BIOS configuration. Each of these problems is explained below.
• IDE cable malfunction IDE flat ribbon cables are notoriously known to cause trouble. Often these cables can turn defective without any necessary poor treatment from the user. It is therefore a good idea to check the IDE cable if any problems seem apparent with the hard drive.
• Power connector problems If the power connector is of a poor quality, this could mean that the hard disk is not powered properly or interruptions occur. Again, this can be easily rectified when problems seem apparent in the hard disk by trying out a different power connector of a higher quality.
• Inappropriate BIOS configuration
The last 20 years has brought about a proliferation of computer use in society. Technology is in a constant state of evolution and computer based activities are becoming increasingly integrated with their users’ lives. A number of years ago, it was unthought-of to conduct activities such as banking and shopping online. In addition to this, the vast communication possibilities that are now in existence are making the world a smaller place as people are using a multitude of messaging services such as MSN to stay in contact. The benefits of these highly sophisticated technologies are however, faced by numerous threats. Computers are, more than ever susceptible to malicious use in the forms of hackers, viruses and fraudulent activity. One of the reasons for this is that computers are responsible for storing large amounts of information. Aside from threats posed by malicious use, computers also face a number of issues from an architectural perspective. The vast majority of data stored on a computer is saved on the hard drive and although improvements are continuously being made in terms of their size and capacity, hard drives are always vulnerable to a great deal of stress. In turn, hard drives inevitably have a shelf life of approximately three years. A study conducted by the accounting firm McGladrey and Pullen estimates that one out of every 500 data centres will experience a severe computer disaster this year. As a result, almost of half those companies will go out of business (Peddle 2006).
The objective of this essay is to summarise the main ways in which hard drives can fail, thus incurring a loss of data or difficulty in accessibility. The essay is structured as follows; the first section provides a description of the main ways in which hard drives can fail, along with the effect that this has on the stored data. This is followed by a description of the methods that can be conducted in attempt to try and prevent failure as much as possible and culminating with a brief conclusion and summary of the essay.
Causes of failure A hard disk drive is a digitally encoded non-volatile storage device which stores data on rapidly rotating disks with magnetic surfaces called hard disk platters (Wikipedia 2006). The read-write heads of the hard disk are used to recode and retrieve the data stored on the hard disk as the disk platter rotates at a very high speed. Hard disks operate under extreme stress and will eventually fail due to general wear and tear accrued through age or some form of malfunction or failure. The chances of failure of a hard drive therefore increase greatly over time and ironically the chances are greatly increased as hard disks improve and develop. The phenomenon of hard disk failure is raising higher and higher; as to increase the read and write speed, today we have the latest hard disk rotating amazingly faster and this immense revolving speed generates massive centrifugal force, a single adverse cause in the course of normal operation can cause severe hard disk failure (Bista 2006).
Hard disk failures can be generally classified in two categories, namely physical and logical failures. Physical hard disk failures are the type of failures in which something is physically wrong with the hard drive itself and symptoms may include a grinding or clicking sound (Posey 2006). A logical failure is the type of failure in which there is nothing physically wrong with the drive itself however, the information stored on the hard disk is in bad shape. Normally this type of failure can be repaired by using a tool such as Scan Disk (Posey 2006).
The following section outlines the main cause of hard drive failure which are as follows:
• Firmware corruption
• Electronic failure
• Mechanical failure i.e. head crash
• Circuit board malfunction
• Logical errors
• Human error
Types of hard disk failure Firmware corruption Firmware is the software code that controls and is embedded in the physical hard drive hardware (Data clinic 2006). It is responsible for the operations of the hard drive and its activities include configuration, management of the interaction that takes place between the other components and the safe powering on/off of the system. At start-up, a hard disk loads the service data from its firmware zone into RAM and then allows the drive to report on readiness. If there is damage to these modules, then the drive will report either it’s family identity or will not detect it at all (Disklabs 2006).
In the event of such an occurrence, the computer will be prevented from accessing any data on the hard disk. The benefit to this is that it is merely an accessibility problem and a firmware failure does not automatically incur a data loss. Once the drive has been repaired, it is possible to recover the data.
Electronic failure Data clinic (2006) describes how electronic failure usually relates to problems on the controller board of the actual hard disk. This may be due to the computer actually suffering a power spike or electrical surge that knocks out the controller board on the hard disk making it undetectable to the BIOS. This means that whilst there is an electronic failure, any data stored on the hard drive will be inaccessible until the problem is fixed. The nature of this type of problem however, is advantageous as it is a mere hindrance and data will not be lost or corrupted and is therefore fully recoverable. Mechanical failure Mechanical failure is generally considered to be more serious than electronic failure or firmware corruption as it often leads to data loss and even complete data loss if prompt action is not taken. There are numerous types of mechanical failure; these can range from motor problems to one of the most common types of known failures is a head crash. A head crash, as it’s name implies, occurs when the read-write heads of the hard disk collide with the disk’s rotating platter surface (Data clinic 2006). Often, this can cause damage to both the heads and even the hard disk itself.
The head normally rides on a thin film of moving air which is entrapped at the surface of the platter (Wikipedia 2006). The platter is coated with a magnetic layer and a crash can occur if a small amount of dust, a sudden movement of the computer or power surge causes the head to bounce against the disk and damaging the magnetic coating. Modern A head crash, as its name implies, occurs when the read-write heads of the hard disk collide with the disks rotating platter surface (Data clinic 2006). Often, this can cause damage to both the heads and even the hard disk itself.
The head normally rides on a thin film of moving air which is entrapped at the surface of the platter (Wikipedia 2006) The platter is coated with a magnetic layer and a crash can occur if a small amount of dust, a sudden movement of the computer or power surge causes the head to bounce against the disk and damaging its magnetic coating. Modern drives spin at extremely high speeds (between 5, 00 and 15,000 rpm, (Wikipedia 2006)) which means that when such a collision occurs, the damage incurred can be quite serious.
Obviously, data corruption will occur at the onset of a head crash as it will then become unreadable when the read-write head attempts to access it. Furthermore, once a head crash has occurred, this increases the probability of future head crashes, especially if there is dust in the system, for instance which means the user needs to take prompt action to rectify this in order to prevent further head crashes and risk losing all data stored on the hard disk.
Circuit Board Malfunction The circuit board is responsible for powering and controlling the mechanical unit. It is exposed to variations in temperature and as a result, the chips that comprise the circuit board surface can develop small breaks internally which can cause circuit interruption and electrical failure. Furthermore, the failure of any of the other electrical components of the computer can result in a defective circuit board, thus causing the hard drive to fail and data access is then prevented.
Logical errors Logical errors also differ from the other failures mentioned as it usually means that there is nothing actually physically wrong with the disk in terms of architectural faults, instead there is a problem with the information stored on it. There could be an invalid entry in a file allocation table for instance (Data clinic 2006). Logical errors are not too serious, unlike mechanical failures and can be tackled with various software tools. Caution should however be extended because if a fix utility is run inappropriately on the hard disk, the stored data can often become unrecoverable. Human error
In a sense it is rare that a hard disk failure could be caused by a human alone. That is, of course providing that users take caution in how they handle a computer. Combined with mechanical failure, human error accounts for almost 75% of all incidents of data loss (Peddle 2006). All of the previously mentioned hard disk failures could be caused by computer misuse on the user’s part. Computers are very sensitive to changes in temperature, dust and dirt etc entering the hard drive, electrical power surges and knocks and bumps which may occur. Users should therefore take extreme caution to prevent any of these circumstances from occurring as much as they possibly can.
Other problems not caused by the hard disk Aside from problems that may occur within the hard drive itself or damage that may be incurred on the users’ part, other failures can occur in other parts of the computer which can have a knock on effect to the performance of the hard disk. These problems include IDE cable malfunction, power connector problems and inappropriate BIOS configuration. Each of these problems is explained below.
• IDE cable malfunction IDE flat ribbon cables are notoriously known to cause trouble. Often these cables can turn defective without any necessary poor treatment from the user. It is therefore a good idea to check the IDE cable if any problems seem apparent with the hard drive.
• Power connector problems If the power connector is of a poor quality, this could mean that the hard disk is not powered properly or interruptions occur. Again, this can be easily rectified when problems seem apparent in the hard disk by trying out a different power connector of a higher quality.
• Inappropriate BIOS configuration
External Data Backup
Backup depends both on the software and the hardware used. Backups are frequently made from hard disk based production systems. Before deciding on a backup system, the way in which the system is used and the connections required must be thought of. This will help to identify the most suitable match. There are several types of external data backup devices. Auxiliary hard drives are available in both internal and external versions. Prices have come down over the years as storage capacity has considerably increased.
There are different removable media drives. They include a variety of products that use some type of removable disk or cartridge. Zip drives, offered in desktop and compact versions for use with portables, are the more universal. Zip drives are starting to appear in scanners and printers. Super Disk can read both high capacity disks and floppies you have been using for years.
CD-RW is a drive that writes to a high capacity CD-R (recordable disc) or CD-RW (rewritable disc). It has a lot of storage capacity. DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) is the newest optical recording technology, and it is popular because of the large amount of data that can be stored on each disc. The main problem is its price. Tape backup systems for offices and networks offer a combination of attractive prices, high capacity per tape cartridge, and automated data backup functions. They provide real time hard disk backup and disk imaging. Magnetic tapes and floppy drives are also used for data backup. Floppy drives are a traditional method.
Drive backup creates a backup image of the whole hard disk with operating system, with all user preferences and settings, applications and data files. With the latest drive backup you can create the complete hard drive image without interrupting current activity. It serves to restore data at any time, set up a new hard drive or clone hard drive, schedule the backup process, make differential backups, and use disk image verification and password protection.
Flash drives are used for backup of a small amount of data. Flash drives are also known as thumb drives or memory sticks. Flash drives are small, offer infinite rewrite capabilities, and are easy to plug into any computer with USB port. Data durability is expected to be approximately ten years. They are not subject to damage by magnets.
There are different removable media drives. They include a variety of products that use some type of removable disk or cartridge. Zip drives, offered in desktop and compact versions for use with portables, are the more universal. Zip drives are starting to appear in scanners and printers. Super Disk can read both high capacity disks and floppies you have been using for years.
CD-RW is a drive that writes to a high capacity CD-R (recordable disc) or CD-RW (rewritable disc). It has a lot of storage capacity. DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) is the newest optical recording technology, and it is popular because of the large amount of data that can be stored on each disc. The main problem is its price. Tape backup systems for offices and networks offer a combination of attractive prices, high capacity per tape cartridge, and automated data backup functions. They provide real time hard disk backup and disk imaging. Magnetic tapes and floppy drives are also used for data backup. Floppy drives are a traditional method.
Drive backup creates a backup image of the whole hard disk with operating system, with all user preferences and settings, applications and data files. With the latest drive backup you can create the complete hard drive image without interrupting current activity. It serves to restore data at any time, set up a new hard drive or clone hard drive, schedule the backup process, make differential backups, and use disk image verification and password protection.
Flash drives are used for backup of a small amount of data. Flash drives are also known as thumb drives or memory sticks. Flash drives are small, offer infinite rewrite capabilities, and are easy to plug into any computer with USB port. Data durability is expected to be approximately ten years. They are not subject to damage by magnets.
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