Data Recovery Freeware - Take Advantage of the Freeware Available to You

Everyone can benefit from data recovery freeware from those who use their computer at home for fun to large corporations who use computers to run million dollar operations. It makes sense to protect your personal files as well as those of your customers. You don't want hackers to get your financial information, copies of your contracts, or passwords for your online accounts. This can happen if your hard drive crashes or the server fails for one reason or another.

There are some great places online to find quality software programs. Take your time and choose the right one for your computer security needs. By entering keywords into your favorite internet browser you can find pages of freeware programs to use. Try typing in a variation of keywords to get the most results. For example you should try both "recovery freeware" and "free data recovery".

Compile a list of websites you want to look at for their freeware program. You should have a good idea of the features you want the data recovery software to offer. You can find information about the pros and cons of a particular software program just by reading the reviews posted by other users. This way you avoid accessing one that isn't going to live up to the standards you are looking for.

In most cases you will be asked to register with the site before you are allowed to download the installation package. The time it will take to download the material depends on the size of the package and how fast your internet connection is. The installation process should be simple and you can easily get started using it. Most of the data recovery programs offer you step by step instructions to help you zip right through the set up process.

Don't underestimate the importance of protecting your data. It is very easy to do so just by downloading a data recovery program that you can find online. The process doesn't take very long and it is the responsible way to protect all of your personal information for your home or business.

Do You Know Where Your Data Is?

The spinning disk is bound to fail - they all do eventually. Safeguarding your personal data from the electronic abyss is now as easy as sending an email. Thanks to broadband and encryption technology, online backup has become a viable alternative to the old tape backups.

One online vendor in particular has developed a rock-solid solution. Mozy.com allows any computer to achieve the lofty status of being properly backed up. The Mozy solution works for PC's, MAC's and Servers.

Getting started is very simple. If you are interested in backing up your personal computer, they have a free option for the first 2gb. This is a fairly generous amount of storage if you don't need to backup music or movie files. If you need more storage, you can buy 1gb for .50/mo. after the initial $5/mo. license fee. So you can get about 10gb of storage for about $10 per month. For a personal computer, that should cover a lot of ground.

If you are small business, you can get multiple PC and server licenses for a reasonable monthly fee.

So how does it work? After you sign up and select your plan, you can download the "client" software. This small piece of software will ask you a few question during the install about what kinds of files you would like to backup. If you are not sure, the wizard will choose the typical types of files. Then, you set the time that Mozy should do it's thing. It's probably best to set a time like 11pm every night. This will insure there is enough time get a good batch of files before you need to start work in the morning.

If you are backing up over 10gb, the process might go for a couple of days. Don't worry, the Mozy backup process knows when you are working on the computer and will pause itself, not to suck up computer resources.

Every morning you can get an email notification showing the success of the backup from the night before. You can also logon to you account on Mozy.com and check everything about your data that was backed up.

And here is the greatest feature about Mozy. File restores actually work! If you've ever tried to restore from a tape, then you know the nightmare that can ensue. If you have accidentally deleted a file or directory, simply open the Mozy client and click "restore files" and it will walk you through the rest.

How to Recover Photos Deleted From SD Disk Or XD Card

Digital cameras have become an integral part of our lives; we use them on regular occasions in order to store our precious memories. The days of taking photos on film and then having them developed are a thing of the past and these days all our photos are stored on a memory card such as an SD Card, XD Card, MMC Card etc. Digital Cameras have many advantages over normal cameras, however the one major problem with them, is what do you do if you accidentally delete a picture from your memory card? Is there any way to recover deleted photos from a SD Disk or XD Card?

Well if you somehow managed to delete a picture off your SD card that you really needed, I think you will be pleased to know that in most cases your file hasn't been permanently erased and it can still be retrieved and restored. Even if the memory card has been damaged, corrupted or formatted, it is still possible to restore the photos; with the aid of a good photo recovery tool you can get your photos back very easily. However you must act fast!!

The reason you must act quickly is because, when you delete a photo from your memory card it isn't actually permanently erased, all that has happened is that the space occupied by that photo is now available for re-use space. So until that space is re-used and overwritten by new data (new photos) your pictures are still there and can be easily restored. Hence you must act quickly and not take many new photos, because the new pictures you take may overwrite the old space occupied by your deleted photos.

Here are some common situations that occur to most digital camera users who wish to recover deleted photos from their SD Card-

They see the message:

1."Media is not formatted would you like to format now?" or "Memory Card Not Formatted"

This a common error amongst many users and if you have a lot of pictures on your storage device which you would like to recover then don't panic! All your pictures can be restored, all you need to do is grab a hold of a good photo recovery program and you will be home and hosed.

2."They wish to recover photos after they format SD Card or accidentally hit the Delete- All Button"

If you have accidentally used the Delete-All option on your camera or formatted the memory card, you can still recover your deleted photos from the SD Card if you act quickly. The reason the files are still recoverable is due to the fact that the Memory device won't overwrite the data immediately, so until you take any new pictures or download new data all of your old pictures will still be there.

Therefore if you wish to recover deleted photos from SD Disks or XD Cards then you must obtain a good picture recovery software, and you should have all your favorite photos back within minutes. The good news is that most recovery programs offer a free download, so you can try and see if your photos are recoverable at absolutely no cost.

Why "I'm Sure the Data Will Be Fine" is Not an Actual Data Retention Policy

What would be your guess about the kind of email and data retention policies Apple has in place? It's a company that carries a lot of secrets, so you might expect that they would have a lot of very comprehensive and strict rules in place. Well, guess what? They don't.

A new twist to the Apple vs. Psystar antitrust case shines a harsh light on Apple's policies - or really, lack of policies. A federal Judge recently tossed out Psystar's countersuit, which brought to surface notable facts about some of Apple's internal policies. In a recent article, "Psystar case reveals Apple's questionable policy on email retention," The Standard goes into detail about a recent legal filing in which Apple discloses their e-mail and data retention policies.

If you look to page seven of their filings (embedded below), you will notice that Apple's policy limited the courts ability to accurately discover data relevant to this case:

"At Apple, individual employees are tasked with maintenance of their own files including hard copy documents, emails, voicemails and other electronically recorded materials. Apple has not implemented any programs that result in the automatic deletion of emails."

See? No real policy. Now, I'm sure Apple employees are basically a trustworthy bunch, but I'd be willing to bet that properly retaining their email and data is not topmost on their list of things to worry about. In fact, I'd be willing to bet a new Mac that data retention is bottommost on their list. Even if it isn't, everyone probably does it differently, so there's no unification of methodology.

The newly amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure make this lack of a cohesive internal policy a corporate liability, because sanctions can be imposed for improper reporting of Electronically Stored Information (ESI). While Apple has an army of lawyers on hand to help them with the legal side of being possibly non-compliant, I am surprised that a company as secretive as Apple isn't on the forefront of the new compliance rules. Actually, I wonder if Apple's lawyers even have a data retention policy of their own. The reason for my surprise is that the tools required for compliance would help them maintain their secrets at an internal and external level. Those tools are available today, and they can automate and unify data retention policies even for a widely geographically dispersed organization.

Evidently, Apple does have a policy for placing legal holds on ESI. It also surfaced as a result of this case, furthering their possible compliance nightmare.

"Apple identified a group of employees who could potentially have documents relevant to the issues reasonably evident in this action. Apple then provided those individuals with a document retention notice which included a request for the retention of any relevant documents, including but not limited to emails, voicemails and other electronically-recorded materials relating to the issues in this lawsuit."

Backing Up Your Data Frequently Can Save You Money

Information Technology Companies and Internet Business rely on their data being safe and available. Hard drives that hold your valued data can break at any time and might be a great loss to your operations. Here is some things you might want to consider for you backups.

Why Backup ?

The problem with backups is that sometimes we are too busy with our work and tend to forget to backup our digital data every once in a while, which can lead to some serious consequences. Most people never think a hard drive crash will happen to them. This mentality can be devastating. It generally starts with something like, 'My hard drive failed.' And end with, 'How can I get back the files of the project I was working on for the last month?' To avoid this nightmare again, you must sit down and ask yourself 'what are you going to do to prevent something like this in the future?'

Computer viruses are everywhere and they are spreading from computer to computer through the internet or through removable media with great speeds. The viruses are always ahead of the Antivirus programs and thus you can't always trust when they say your hard drive is clean from viruses.

Hard Drives contain tiny mechanical parts and this makes them vulnerable to mechanical errors and failures. Hard drives fail without warning us of a disaster coming. That kind of disaster happens more often than you might think. Information gets lost all the time on the Internet and on the Desktop hard drives. Statistically its almost impossible for two of your hard drives to fail at the same time.

What to do ?

If you have only one drive, go buy one. Hard drives are pretty cheap nowadays which allows you to backup another copy of your data. Another form of backup that is becoming very popular is the use of what are called key or removable drives. Key drives are tiny drives which can fit on your key chain but can still hold a few gigabytes of data. CD or DVD backup is another option that you might want to consider.

Make it a habit to hold all your important information and all the data you produce with your computer in an easy navigable way. Keeping things scattered all over your computers folder system makes so much harder to backup all of them. Make a folder in your C drive and name it projects and keep in there every project in its own folder. Remember to copy the projects folder to your backup drive at the end of day or week depending on how sensitive your data is.

There are programs that can assist you with your backup and synchronization. There are professional solutions for this but they are quite costly. For individual or small companies shareware or even freeware backup utilities might be enough. Spending a little time getting to know them and use them properly might save you lots of money when time comes and you are in need of a previous day's backup.

If your hard drive fails and you have not made proper backups of your projects "data recovery software" might come in for the rescue. Depending on the severity of the damage data might not be able to be recovered with software solutions. Professional data recovery services are available online for the worst case scenarios that all else fails.

IT Disaster Recovery - A Finance Perspective

Many financial directors think of IT Disaster Recovery as something that never really happens to them and even if it did the business would be able to get back to business as usual inside a day or so. Assets are safeguarded , backups taken (usually), and unless you are forced to, having a plan and some good intentions are equally as good as having DR equipment sitting around doing nothing utilising the earth's resources at great expense. This philosophy is green too!!!

There are of course tangible business reasons for disaster recovery, namely compliance with customer and supplier requirements , reductions in Insurance premiums (if you can get any) and badges of accreditation such as ISO27001 and BS25999 or industry regulations. Still it all costs money so doing this as slowly as possible using the least amount of resource and cash (any old equipment will do won't it?) means we can achieve almost what we want but without wasting money. No impact on results, job done!

As a former CFO for a small technology sector PLC in the UK I admit that these are some of the thoughts I have had when it comes to disaster recovery and I am not alone (a BT Global Services survey in May 2008 found that 73% of organisations rely on the ad-hoc dedication of their staff rather than their business continuity plans to get them through a disaster). The thing is that unless I wanted to spend more than double my IT budget by having an all singing all dancing duplicate site I may as well be resigned to the fact that if we have a freak tornado come down the Thames Valley or have a jumbo jet fall out of the sky then so be it. I'll take my chances with the insurance company.

Up until a couple of years ago I would still have sympathy with this rather jaded approach to IT DR. If I wanted anything good that would work I could not afford it and if I made compromises on budget and do with less, in all probability it would not work (as we could not afford to test it regularly and risk impacting the business) so why spend anything except on writing the Business Continuity plan wrapped around some best intentions and still be able to tick the compliance box.

The world has however moved on and when we have a 'Disaster' in IT everybody knows about it as we have become more and more dependent on it always being there. Most of our systems are now considered critical (Up from 36% in 2007 to 56% in 2008 in a Symantec survey Aug'08). However IT Disasters which effect the end user are not confined to being a flood or an earthquake, these are quite rare. Most IT Disasters are caused by IT itself, namely hardware failure, software glitches, infrastructure issues and human error. Becoming more frequent with no lesser effect on our businesses in the same Symantec survey above it discovered that one third of companies had executed their DR plan, at least in part, during the past year.

My ignorance has been however how much of a risk to the business an IT disaster can be. Sure it would have a massive impact for a short while but that is based on my assurances by my IT team that all would be well. Perhaps I may have asked the wrong question? The facts however may be a little different. For example if we lost a number of our computer systems by way of a fire, theft, power surge etc . In our plan we would need to source some new kit via the supplier names listed. There is every likelihood that most of this would be delivered next day (unless its Dell) but more probably the day after (because the delivery address has changed), however key peripherals such as Cisco firewalls and routers or tape drives are often not standing on the shelves and in some cases depending on how far up the enterprise IT food chain you are could have a 4 -8 week delivery time. This is indeed worth checking this as well as the estimated time for tape restoration on whatever tape drive you plan to use. Remember tape does not restore instantly and can take many days if you have a lot of data.

Getting kit on site, if one still exists, is just the beginning. This is when the work really starts because all the brand new kit you have just bought is not the same as the original lost in the fire/flood/theft so restoring trouble free from your back up tapes which will hopefully have arrived complete and uncorrupted is not going to happen in all likelihood. The thing is that Windows operating systems become attached to a particular machine specification and unless it's the same specification machine you really have to start from scratch. Let's hope all those build docs are up to date with valid licence keys and that the hardcopies are not destroyed or stored worse, stored on the machines you need to rebuild. At this point there is no known timescale to get back to normal running, it may take a day, a week, even longer if they are interdependent systems. Remember tape does not restore instantly. Again in the same Symantec survey 47% of those with plans reported that it would take a full week to achieve 100% normal operations.

Meanwhile the business has ground to a halt. Customers cannot be dealt with, invoices cannot be raised, salesmen cannot sell and nothing is getting done. The main business focus is to keep customers in the boat who, although initially sympathetic lose faith pretty quickly if you are not back to normal within a couple of days. Competitors you did not know you had will be beating a path to their door with 'new customers only' deals. Reputation of a business is a very valuable asset and takes time to create but can become worthless overnight. Are you really the best supplier for them? Perhaps their previous inertia has been a just bit too cosy.

The acid test to see if this scenario could become reality is to ask your IT team if they wouldn't mind testing their DR plans next week with their annual bonuses riding on it. Only then will the caveats and favourable assumptions be added to the 'a day or two' estimate. When shit happens timescales spiral and you really need a worst case estimate to make an objective assessment of the 'risk and reward' balance of provisioning and planning for an IT disaster.

So what is the answer? Whether you have an expensive DR solution or just sitting out with your arse showing, technology has moved on. With the introduction of virtual server technology breaking the bond between Windows Operating Systems and hardware, a business can be protected to a far higher level at a fraction of the previous cost. There are many different solutions as befits a fledgling industry. Some will be more appropriate than others but most will be better than the Lucky White Heather arrangement that many businesses have relied upon in the past. One thing is for certain though, astronomically high costs are no longer an excuse for accepting the business risk that it won't happen to you.

Ten requirements for a successful virtualised IT Disaster Recovery solution:

• Fast 'Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)# -you need to back managing the situation as soon as possible
• Recent Recovery Point objectives (RPO)* - depending on your business real time replication sounds good, but if the cause of disaster is corrupted software or data, it's now in your recovery platform too !
• Short Test Time Objective( TTO)$ - systems change all the time , if the DR solution cannot be tested easily and regularly don't be surprised if it does not work
• Geographically/Infrastructure independent of the live platform - miles not yards and different utility providers
• Independent of key staff - because if the worst does happen you cannot be sure they will be there
• Easily accessible when invoked - network issues are the most difficult resolve if not planned in advance and there is nothing more frustrating than having your machines working but not accessible to the outside world
• Performance - ensure that the DR solution can cope with the load which may be increased following a disaster
• Beware virtual production machines - being so simple to create, it is so easy to forget to back up, document and provision additional DR protection
• Automate, Automate, Automate - if you rely on a manual routine it's the easiest thing to drop when faced with other short term priorities
• Green - Virtual technology makes best use of resources and economies of scale can be gained through shared infrastructure because baring an all out Nuclear attack not everyone has a disaster at the same time

How to Retrieve Deleted Files From Your Computer

Do you want to know how to retrieve deleted files? Sure, who doesn't, right? Do you want to learn all the computer hacking skills of the elite masters of computer geekdom? Or maybe you'd like to be able to type line upon line of code, and program commands and have the full knowledge of what makes a computer tick? Me neither! I mean, come on... who wants to go through all of that? Certainly not I!

Well, not to worry. There's no need to have to learn all of that egghead stuff just to know how to retrieve deleted files. These days there are software programs that know all there is to know about how to retrieve deleted files so that you don't have to learn anything - heck, you don't even need to think! All the brain power it takes for this task is enough to muster up the power to click a mouse. So how does this software know how to retrieve deleted files? It's simple, really.

For example, if you delete a file, it hasn't really gone anywhere. If you've emptied your recycle bin, it still isn't lost - it's only that your operating system now has no way of recognizing its existence. Nonetheless, it is still right there on your hard drive right where you left it. Using data retrieval software is how to retrieve deleted files because these software programs recognize such "lost" data and is able to bring it back out of hiding. Using such software, you can regain that which was once thought to be long lost and gone forever.

Retrieving Deleted Files From Your Computer

Just the thought of retrieving deleted files can by itself be a source of a sizeable headache or two. We imagine having to learn and utilize elite computer hacking skills that are just way out of our leagues, and if the files we lost are very important we can tend to panic. Where do they all go, anyways? They can't just vanish into thin cyber air. When retrieving deleted files, is there some sort of magic to it all?

Well, no, there's no need for magic, although some of the data retrieval software programs out there that can do the job may seem nothing less than miraculous. If we utilize this kind of software for retrieving deleted files, we don't need to be an elite computer hacker - we can own one. The fact is that when we delete a file, and then empty the recycle bin, we tend to think that it is just simply gone, with no hope of retrieval, as though it just disappeared or dematerialized. However in reality, it's actually still right there on the hard drive right exactly where we left it... it's only that our operating system now has no means of recognizing it anymore, that's all.

What data retrieval software does as it begins retrieving deleted files is it simply searches, finds and recognizes these files without requiring the operating system to be able to wrap its brain around it. Further, if that file has even been partially overwritten by other files newly created in its space on your hard drive, these software programs actually mend the corrupted parts of the file so that it will complete the task of retrieving deleted files in one piece. Now isn't that pretty darned cool? This is why data retrieval software is the best, most efficient and fuss-free way to go about retrieving deleted files.

How to Retrieve Deleted Data From Your Computer

Are you looking to find out how to retrieve deleted data? It's quite simple, once you realize a few fundamental facts. See, when we delete a file, whether we mean to or accidentally, and then we empty the recycle bin, we tend to think it's lost and gone forever. The actual fact is that it's simply irretrievable by our operating system, yet nonetheless it is still there on our hard drive, right where we left it. This is why we need to utilize certain software programs to fish it out of hiding.

Now, in learning how to retrieve deleted data, we also need to understand that while our deleted file still resides somewhere on our hard drive, it can get partially overwritten by other files we write, programs we download, or images that we may wish to store on our computers. This is usually no problem for data retrieval software, as most of these types of software programs can rebuild the small parts and areas that can get overwritten.

Using these software programs is how to retrieve deleted data in the best way because you no longer need to have the hacking skills of those brilliant computer geeks out there - these software programs are like having your very own computer hacker, only without the geeky part. There's no need to keep it fed with Twinkies and Jolt cola, you just make a few clicks with your mouse, and sit back with a cup of coffee while it works it's magic to bring back that which was lost. This is how to retrieve deleted data in the easiest way.

Fully Utilize the Full Benefit of a SAN With Automatic Defragmentation

"Out of sight, out of mind" can be an interesting phenomenon. An example of this is a large piece of furniture, such as an armoire, that's been standing in a hallway for years and causing people to curse and move around it, or bumps their toes or their heads as they rushed by. Finally someone in the household gets fed up and has the armoire moved out of the hallway and into the garage. Problem solved!

Or is it? Just because that bulky armoire has been moved doesn't mean it isn't taking up the exact same amount of space; it's just doing it somewhere else. Someday in the not-too-distant future somebody's going to get mad because they've been having trouble getting the car into the garage and probably yell at the person who moved the armoire there. It's still causing the same problem!

In the computer world, file fragmentation has always been a serious problem needing to be constantly addressed. When it comes to servers, fragmentation becomes much more of a problem simply due to the high number of files being created, modified and deleted by multiple users. Fragmentation not only increases dramatically but it also impacts a wider number of people and their production.

In information technology, a storage area network (SAN) is an architecture to attach remote computer storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries and optical jukeboxes) to servers in such a way that, to the operating system, the devices appear as locally attached. Although cost and complexity are dropping, as of 2007, SANs are still uncommon outside larger enterprises. Operating systems still view a SAN as a collection of LUNs, and usually maintain their own file systems on them. These local file systems, which cannot be shared among multiple operating systems/hosts, are the most reliable and most widely used. Thus, sharing data between computers through a SAN requires advanced solutions, such as SAN file systems or clustered computing. Despite such issues, SANs help to increase storage capacity utilization, since multiple servers share the storage space on the disk arrays.

SAN was seen as a brilliant way to move much of this traffic off of servers, which it was and is. Because stored data does not reside directly on any of those servers, server power is now used strictly for business applications and network capacity is freed up for other purposes.

But a SAN still consists of disk drives. Fragmentation is still very much a performance-crippling problem on those drives, and (in a similar way to that armoire) just because it got moved off the network does not mean that it isn't there. In fact, because there are additional steps to requesting and accessing files from a SAN, fragmentation can even have more of an impact from the SAN than from a local or server drive.

Utilizing otherwise-idle resources, defragmentation occurs whenever and wherever possible so that performance is constantly maintained, and there is never a negative performance impact from a system defrag.

With some Disk Defragmenters, fragmentation can be removed as a problem, and the SAN solution truly works as it intended. Unlike the armoire in the garage, it is completely gone.

Data Recovery Help - A Complete Data Recovery Solution

No matter what kind of computer you use data recovery is a main concern for everyone. Laptop data recovery, PC data recovery, notebook data recovery all fall in under one roof when it come to data recovery. So what can you do about it?

Data Recovery Situations

Most data recovery situations are common to most users like file deletion or damages, virus attacks, lost files due to emptying recycle bin… So the best solution for these kinds of situations is the use of data recovery software. These software products are cheaper and can recover most of files and easy to use. These sophisticated software products can restore deleted files, restore graphic files, restore music & video files, and restore zip files…

What can you do to physical damages to disk data like damages to expose to rain, power failure damages or even boot failures due to disk issues? It’s much advisable to consult a data recovery company who hire professional data recovery experts for your data recovery.

What if you or your friend just passing by the turned on laptop accidentally spilled with water the laptop in damage? In these kind of situation you should call a data recovery expert in aid in data recovery.

How to avoid data loss and data recovery

So far the best method is to back up data regularly and use of good well known anti virus software while it’s highly recommended to cool down your hard disk as much as possible when it’s working. Do not remove your hard disk from casing very often and in case of a data loss or boot failure do not panic because data is still there in the disk it will remain as it is as long as that particular particle get replaced by new data. So when you know that data is being loss, do not work on the PC that might cause data loss permanent. Yes of cause you can use data recovery software.

David Cohen,
Visit WebSite:Laptop Data Recovery
Provides all types of Laptop, Notebook, PC data recovery Help

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ashly_David

Recover Deleted Files - Vista

When using today's state of the art data retrieval software to recover deleted files, vista is not a requirement. Even the most recent data retrieval software can work with computers using very old operating systems like Windows XP or Windows 2000. Some people today still have computers that use the old Windows 98! These people as well, can rest assured that they can recover deleted files, vista or not.

But really, whatever version of whatever operating system you use is of very little consequence, as data is all "lost" and restored the same way. It all has to do with how your hard drive crunches up bits of data to store and even hide it all away in its little hiding places. The fact of the matter is that data never really leaves your system - it always stays on your hard drive in one form or another, and is thusly always retrievable. Software tools used for data retrieval can recover deleted files vista or not, it generally makes no difference.

There do exist some data retrieval tools that when used to recover deleted files, vista or other operating systems may not work, but these are usually of the type made years ago, and are often freeware. Today's data retrieval software can recover deleted files, vista or Windows 98, no problem at all. It's all in where you find it, and how old the software you find may be. Use today's data retrieval software, and you'll simply have no need for any worries at all.

Restore Deleted Files - Vista

In the task to restore deleted files, vista users may feel that there can be no problems... and usually, they are correct. But really, it doesn't matter what operating system your computer happens to be using, as today's data retrieval software can restore deleted files, vista or not. The fact of the matter is that lost data doesn't hide out in your operating system - it hides out inside your hard drive.

Even if your machine was ransacked by a horrendous virus you might've contracted from somewhere online, and you totally reformatted your hard drive an then reinstalled Windows, it's all good... the data is all still there, believe it or not. Data never really leaves your system after all, and this is why people from the FBI or CIA can nab anything they want to get their greedy little hands on, even if the computer in question has been completely purged of all data - it's all still there somewhere, and only needs to be coaxed out of hiding. It's all in the software. You can restore deleted files - vista or 98 - it makes no difference.

This can be a reason for many to relax and have no fear, as even those with the more antique types of computers, such as those that just aren't capable of handling anything newer than Windows 98, can still restore deleted files, vista not being a prerequisite. Today's data retrieval software is more than capable of handling the task, and it makes no difference what operating system your computer is using, plain and simple.

Can I Recover Deleted Files? How to Retrieve Deleted Files

Many have asked, "Can I recover deleted files?" - and the answer of course, is a resounding "Yes!". Ah, but you might be asking "How can I recover deleted files?"... well it's really quite simple, actually. It's all in the software. But many worry as to how far gone is gone, as far as lost data is concerned. For example, picture this; I surf the internet for a bit, and then I come across a virus that just eats the heck out of my computer. My PC just freezes there, unable to do anything. What have I got left to do? Nothing - I have to completely reformat my hard drive, and reinstall Windows. So... now all my data is lost and gone forever, right? Or is it still possible - can I recover deleted files even after all this has been done? Believe it or not, yes I can!

You see, data never truly leaves your hard drive. It's always hiding out somewhere on it, even if you've completely purged the system. Knowing this, you never again need to ask "can I recover deleted files... " because you know that it's still hiding out somewhere on your hard drive. Now the only trick to figure out is how precisely to coax it all out of hiding.

This is where today's data retrieval software comes in. Using such software, can I recover deleted files from even the tightest clutches of the greediest of hard drives? You bet! It's all just a matter of a few mouse clicks, and I've gotten back that which was once lost and gone - and you can do the same.

Hard Disk Data Recovery - How to Restore Deleted Data

Hard disk data recovery can be a completely simple operation. It used to be that in order to perform any hard disk data recovery, we either had to be an elite computer hacker ourselves, or we at least had to know one. These days that has all changed, and happily for the better. The main fact to know about hard disk data recovery is plain and simple. You can perform it in one of two ways; hack it out on your own, or use software tools created specifically for data retrieval.

The brilliance of the latter of these two choices is obvious - we don't have to be a member of the computer geek squad, or some programming genius with all of our thoughts written in binary code. We can just sit back, perform a small few mouse clicks, and then go make a cup of coffee while the software chugs away at the task of hard disk data recovery. A few minutes later and there we have it - all of the data that we had lost track of, and indeed, even some that we forgot we had in the first place.

The best part of this whole venture is that data never leaves your hard drive. Even if you went mad with frustration because a virus forced you to reformat the hard drive and reinstall your OS, leaving you to think that you lost an entire computer full of records, the truth is that you really didn't. It's all still there on your hard drive, believe it or not, and data retrieval software can attack the problem of hard disk data recovery even in such a dire situation.

Recover Hard Disk Files - How to Recover Deleted Files

If you've ever needed to recover hard disk files years ago, you were probably either a member of the elite, computer savvy, programmer type nerds in school who could hack anything including the computer servers at the Pentagon, or you knew someone who was. Back in the day, it was just a completely frustrating task for some of us who weren't the type to think and dream in binary code, but just utterly impossible for most of us. Just thinking about such attempts to recover hard disk files back then just hurts my head something fierce.

Luckily, that has all changed these days, as there is no longer any need to know the ins and outs of your computer so extremely. Now when we need to recover hard disk files, we have software tools specifically created for retrieving lost data, no matter how it all came to be lost. Even if a virus caused you to totally erase everything there ever was on your hard drive, and reinstall Windows all over again, the fact is that all that data is still on your hard drive somewhere. Truth be told, data never leaves your hard drive, but instead is embedded in little hiding places just waiting to be coaxed out.

With the use of today's data retrieval software, the need to recover hard disk files is easily met with just a small few clicks of your mouse and then you just sit back with a coffee and watch the magic happen. Really, it's just that simple. In fact, it's just like having your own computer nerd at your beck and call whenever you need him. Using data retrieval software to recover hard disk files is the way to go.

Do You Back Up Your Website-Ecommerce Site Files?

Do you have a backup of your website files? If your website goes down and the hosting company cannot bring it back up, will you be in deep trouble? While most hosting companies back up their servers regularly, it's still a good idea to back up your files. If you own an e-commerce site, you especially should back up often, since your hosting company's backup may be several days old, and you risk losing all of your more recent transactions.

I'd recommend taking it upon yourself to do the backups rather than putting all of your faith in someone else. With a proper backup, in the event of natural disaster, server trouble, disgruntled employee, or any other problem, you can have your site back up in minutes instead of waiting precious days or weeks, or worse - losing data without ever recovering it.

In order to backup your website files, you will need an FTP program (FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol). You can find a good FTP program online, usually with a free trial period, and not expensive to purchase.

As with regular computer backups, you should keep a copy off-site as well. If your site doesn't change often, then I'd back it up monthly, and then again every time you update any of your pages. If it is updated regularly, then daily or weekly updates are in order. It's also a good idea to keep multiple backups done on different dates - this way if something goes wrong with a back-up, you can revert to the next most recent backup and likely find the files you need there. Remember to check and test your backups and make sure everything is actually there!

E-commerce sites or other sites that use a database: E-commerce sites that receive orders daily should be backed up daily. Also, if you have an e-commerce or other site that uses a database, you need to back up the database as well. Ask your hosting company for the url to access the database, as well as the username and passcode. You will need to export the database. Here too, I recommend having several versions saved by date, not just one backup. If the most recent one fails for some reason, you can revert to the next most recent. I've seen firsthand how people have lost their entire website, and thousands of dollars in business, due to some natural disaster or server/computer failure. Perform a backup regularly and save yourself the grief, and your site will be back up in minutes.

Amir Watynski owns Watt Media, Inc., which helps businesses promote their services and enhance their image with Telephone On-Hold Messages & Website Design services. Enhance Your Image Blog: http://blog.watt-media.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amir_Watynski

SQL Server Snapshot - How it Works

SQL Servers have been growing in business exponentially since they were created in the 1970's. First created by IBM in San Jose, California, SQL did not become a standard computer language until the mid-1980s. Since that time, during its growth, there have been many upgrades and changes to the SQL relational database management systems, one such upgrade is the SQL server snapshot.

A SQL server snapshot is essentially what it sounds like, it is a snapshot of the system that is stored and used as a primary system. When a snapshot occurs, the information is stored in the main drive and then further information created after the snapshot occurs is stored in a new data is stored in what is called a sparse file. A snapshot creates a backup of the system at that time, and uses 90% less drive space than backing up the system does. This information is stored for as long as the user requires it, and can be dropped when no longer needed.

The purposes of a SQL server snapshot vary depending on the needs of the user. In some cases, it is used simply to back up the system without having to use so much drive space during the working day. In other situations, it is created when data is perceived as "ideal" and any new data needs to be compared to the data that was previously acquired. This information can be stored indefinitely and new snapshots can be created at any point to continue tracking specific data. When saving the user should simply take the name of the data and add a time stamp to it. This will ensure that there is no confusion when accessing the information as to what its purpose is.

When a SQL server snapshot is dropped, the new information and the previous information join to form a completely new set of information. The information from the snapshot is no longer available and cannot be referenced for projects or projections. When the decision is made to drop it, it is vital that the project manager or user understands that it will become irretrievable.

While some business may never drop a SQL server snapshot, others may find that they simply want to test their data against studies that may have been conducted or to simply experiment with different ways of looking at their data. Once the information is retrieved the SQL snapshot is dropped in favor of new testing, or they return to their regular data consumption. Companies that track long-term data may never drop a snapshot, and the SQL servers are designed to function either way.

Source: Certdatabaseadministrator dot com, Louis Zhang

Get information about database administrator jobs, description, salary, certifications for SQL, Oracle and Microsoft at http://www.certdatabaseadministrator.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Louis_Zhang

Formatted Data Recovery - What to Do When Everything is Lost

So you accidentally formatted your hard drive or storage device. Do not panic, or if you have already; please stop and read on. Whether you realize it or not, usually when you delete files on your computer, they are not removed immediately, they are merely removed from the computer's "sight" and by extension, yours. This even applies to drives that have been recently reformatted. What you need is to perform a formatted data recovery, which can be done by a number of file recovery software solutions. Below are a few you should consider.

"Recover My Files" is a Vista compatible program developed by GetData Software. The program also works for versions of Windows from Win 98 and up. Although the software is shareware and costs $60 for the full version, you can download a free trial which will allow you to easily recover your files. Naturally, if you only plan to use this as a one-time occurrence you can use the trial for formatted data recovery and not pay anything. However, if you work in IT or frequently lose data on your home computer, then the purchase price is well worth it.

Next in the list is VirtualLab Data Recovery by BinaryBiz. This program also works for all versions of Windows since 98 including Server and Vista.

Ease the Headache of Saving Files Through Differential Backup

In a lot of multimillion companies today, data is one of the most prized assets. This is definitely true to conglomerates with substantial amounts of dollars of payables and receivables. If multiple will be lost, then you can expect for everything to be duly affected. The Chief Finance Officer would not even wish to imagine how to remedy the situation since it is a complete headache. It would definitely require loads of work in order to restore the files that were missed out. To avoid such incident, differential backup is required.

The differential type of backup pertains to the backing up of all files that have been created and modified since the previous full backup. Using such has its very own advantages, like it will lessen the period of saving entries in comparison to other types. But like anything else, this method also has its share of downsides. When you store a lot of files over and over again, the memory will be full, necessitating you to delete some files in the long run. However, data is significantly important so scrap these thoughts. In such case, you will then have to buy another backup to support other entries you will create in the near future.

Putting that the company you are working with only has a few data, you can then choose to do the overnight full backup. With that, only two tapes would do. The first tape is where you will initially store the entries while the second tape will serve as an alternative, especially in times of technical malfunctions. You have to greatly consider the advice because it would be highly complex to retrieve a certain file. Once done, make sure that the two tapes are kept in a secure location to ensure that nothing will turn out to be defective.

Remember that when you are targeting a full backup, each of the data being "cooked" contains the library attribute in its settings at zero. The archive described here is a flag saved for entries that have been developed or changed. Such will tell the user that the file has to be stored. This is now where the differential type of backup is more reliable than a full backup. The said type, even if the memory will be consumed in the long run, will only keep data that have been altered from the recent performance. Once the entries are secured, the library attribute is now one.

When you are using Windows application, you have the luxury of peeping through the library attribute for any data by simply putting the cursor on the name and clicking the right portion of the mouse. A box will then pop out and proceed to "Properties" then "Advanced." With the uncomplicated steps, you cannot help but be thankful to Bill Gates by sharing his brilliance to the world.

Like what was mentioned earlier, the above is only true to companies having few data. But if you are connected to a firm with countless entries to be saved, you will come to appreciate the differential type more than the full type. This is because you will be entitled to lesser hassles in waiting for all the files to be secured.

So, if you have numerous data for keeping, settle for differential backup immediately.

If you are interested in Differential Backup, check this web-site to learn more about changed backup.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Miller

Identity Theft by Selling a Used Computer

Selling a Used Computer and Identity Theft

Identity Theft is the fastest growing crime over the last few years. The amount of data stored on computer systems is an ideal repository for criminals to attempt identity theft. When someone either discards or sells a used computer system, hard drive, or external storage device most people do not appropriately sanitize the media, but rather delete or format a disk falsely believing all the data is gone.

A friend of mine recently bought a new fancy rig costing $2,000 or so. When I asked him what he did with his old system, he said he sold it on craigslist for $550 to help fund the new purchase. "Did you put in a new hard drive?" "No, but I reformatted it."

There is a misconception among those unfamiliar with the inner workings of computers that deleting files and formatting hard drives removes data completely. Think back and try to remember all the files you deleted over the past 10 years. Did you ever delete financial data, such as accounting spreadsheets, bank numbers, credit card data, or personal information? How about scanned documents, such as mortgage paperwork, driver's licenses, birth certificates, or pay stubs? What happened to those computers or hard drives with which you think you deleted those files from? Did you sell the PC like my friend, donate it to an organization, or just throw it away? Who has used that computer since, and what may they have found? These are all important and scary questions.

I recall a thesis paper written by some graduate students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that outlined this very threat. They had purchased 150 or so used hard drives from eBay to study how much personal data was left on old systems. They reportedly found medical records, email correspondence, corporate financial data, illicit personal photographs, thousands of credit card numbers, and even an ATM drive with numerous bank accounts. This is a very real concern for every computer owner, especially my friend now that the system is out of his possession.

What Deleting and Formatting Really Does

I proceeded to give my friend a little education on how computers store information and what deleting and formatting actually does. Basically, the hard drive is broken down into sectors in which the data is stored. In the figure below, suppose File A is a Tax return for 2007. 2008 comes around and you delete 2007's record and the file appears gone. All that has happened is the Operating System (OS) has marked those sectors as available and removed it from the user's view. It is still easily recoverable through a variety of software. The file still exists and is in just as good of shape as before you deleted it.

Online Backup and the Consequences of Data Loss For Business

Online backup, why is it so crucial?

Most companies, business corporations and organisations nowadays are totally dependent on their computer data; and the value of that data is not easy to cost. However, the cost of a data loss to any business is very significant, not only in the man hours that it would take to recover it, if recovery were possible; but also financially.

What price can be put on lost invoices for goods and services, records of monies owed to the company and lost details of every customer and supplier. Add to that the records stored of every product a company may stock, the quantities on stock, the amount on order, the supplier of that product and the cost and selling prices. How much would it cost your company to manually reinstate that lot if your data was lost? Online backup is the most cost effective way to prevent against data loss.

Just to emphasise how vulnerable your data is, how many times recently have you read in local newspapers about businesses being broken into and computers stolen. Apparently there were over 20,000 computers stolen last year. What happened to the companies who were affected by that? How many closed their doors forever, how many gave up shortly after; total data loss is as disastrous as that. If only they had chosen online backup.

Then there was the even bigger list of companies who suffered total hard disc failure, had viruses, fires on the premises and flood damage.

So how do you back up your records, disc, tape; and how often do you back them up; religiously every night, or when you remember? The beauty of online backup is it saves your data as you write it. If you backed up your data the night before, how much information has been input if your hard drive fails at 4.00 pm? How much crucial information and how many total man hours of work will have been lost during that period?

Data loss can happen to organisations even with good backup protection; but will all items be on the tape or disc, such as contacts, email messages and other important items perhaps stored in folders in Exchange, Outlook, Domino and GroupWise. They would if you were using remote backup and elected to back them up as part of your online data backup.

Who do you call if you back data up yourself to tapes etc and you can not restore your data; a very expensive IT expert? Customer service and assistance with data restoration, comes free with all good online data backup companies.

On line backup companies offer the most reliable and cost-effective solution for bringing your business back online, in the event of any data loss or disaster scenario.

So, I hope that I have managed to emphasise the importance of online back up; and how critical it is in this computer age, to every business and organisation, from large conglomerates down to the one man business. You will be very fortunate if one day disaster does not strike your data system and if you are not fully protected by online backup, why not look into it now before it is too late.

How to Backup Your Computer Hard Drive

In life, you always need to have a backup plan, in case your initial idea wouldn't work out exactly as expected. The same principle applies when you work on your computer. Because a huge number of people today depend highly on their computers to get their work and business up and running, you can only imagine how vital maintaining files can be. Back then, humans depended on floppy disks and hard copy print outs to store their documents, but today, there are easier options of keeping files for you. Note this: It is very important to keep reminding yourself to backup your computer hard drive.

First of all, why is there a need to backup your computer hard drive? Computer experts cannot stress enough how valuable it is to regularly do this. If you have tons of very important files on your PC, such as documents, photos, web pages, spread sheets, presentations, and others, you wouldn't want to lose them, right? Creating a back up of the contents of your hard drive will save you the woes of finding for ways to recover them, especially after a disaster like a computer crash or a nasty virus.

So how do you go about it? If you are running on Microsoft Windows as your operating system, it has a built in wizard that automatically does the backup for your. This backup can be restored by you at a later time, or whenever you need to retrieve your files. You can invoke this option from Microsoft Windows by going to the Accessories menu from your Program Files. Select System Tools and click on Backup. Follow the instructions on the wizard and you're ready to go.

However, that is only one option, and not too many people look to it as their main choice for backup. The best thing you can do is to purchase an external hard drive for your computer. Typically, you can get an extra 300 GB or more to save your stuff when you use an external hard drive, which conveniently connects to your PC via USB. In some stores, you can purchase external hard drives that can hold as much as 1 terabyte, or 1,000 GB.

When you backup your files, ensure that they are sorted out into appropriately labeled folders, so it can be easy for you to find them later on. Some people zip their folders first before doing so, while protecting with a password is a must for specific files. Creating a backup is just a matter of making a copy of all your files, and saving them onto your external hard drive. It's simple, but a very necessary chore.

Backing Up Data on CD's and DVD's

Most people have some or many documents on their computer that they just cannot afford to lose. That is why backing up your important files on a CD or DVD disc may be a good idea.
Today, our computers are very high tech, and a lot of them have some sort of data recovery tool installed. However, in some cases our computers do not work as they are supposed to and something goes wrong. This is why backing up data on CD or DVD discs could be a smart move. If your primary backup fails, or something happens to your computer, you have an external copy of the files.

CD's are very cheap and they can store up to 700 MB of data. This should be enough for regular files. If you need to backup lots of music and/or video files, you may want to consider using DVD's which regulary stores about 4.7 GB of data.
Both CD's and DVD's come in two formats CD-R and CD-RW (or DVD-R and DVD-RW). CD-R discs are cheaper, but they can only be used once. CD-RW (the RW stands for re-writable) discs can be used as many times as you wish.
Do some research before you buy your discs. Some computers may not be able to burn DVD's.

All you need to do now is to burn your selected files to the disc you have chosen and voila, your files are backed up, ready to be restored if anything goes wrong with your computer.

Restore Deleted Data

Right now, you could be reading this this article because you or someone in your family has deleted a file on your computer system that you want to restore. Deleting files by mistake is a common problem, but it does not necessarily mean that your file, or files, are gone forever. Based on how much you have used the computer since the file was deleted, there is a chance that you might be able to retrieve it.

When someone decides to delete a file, the hard drive doesn't actually delete it in that sense. Once you decide to delete a file and you even empty your recycling bin the computer doesn't delete the file, it just makes the computer aware that the file can now be overwritten if that is needed. If the computer has not been used much since the file was deleted and therefore has not overwritten the file yet, you should be able to restore it.

The software you need to perform an operation like this can be found on the internet for free, although most of these software programs costs a few dollars. Upon downloading a file recovery program there should also be a guide to that specific program that will guide you through the actual process. Keep in mind though, that the file may have been overwritten during installation of other programs after you deleted it.

In some cases the hard drive itself has been damaged physically. In that case, you should contact a professional service online, or in your local area to help you or to guide you through the process. In general, it is safer to let an expert retrieve lost files, than trying to retrieve it yourself.

Data Recovery - 4 Things You Should Know About Hard Drive Crashes

As I talk to people about data recovery, I find that they certainly do not have all the facts. Most people are only aware of a few options for something as important as their data. If you are anything like me you store photo memories, work information, personal emails -- All those things that are hard to replace.

So, I've put together a list of 4 things EVERYBODY ought to know about data recovery.

1. Just because it was deleted does not mean it is gone forever.

When you lose important data, it is still possible to recover it. In fact, even if something has been written over, it may still be possible to recover that data. The US Department of Justice has said that a purposefully deleted piece of information, in many cases, has to be written over 7 or more times before it is completely gone. The bottom line here is that just because it may seem that it is gone, doesn't mean that it cannot be recovered.

2. Your Drive Will Wear Out.

Physical damage can occur to a hard drive because of mechanical failures such as motors going bad, or head crashes. Physical damage to the hard drive will almost always lead to data loss. In addition to the data loss, it is likely that damage to the logical structure of the hard drive will also occur. Most of the physical damage on a hard drive cannot be repaired by the end user. The mere opening of the hard drive in the normal environment can result in dust settling on the surface which results in further damage to the platters.

3. Data Loss Can Be Difficult in Many Ways.

Losing data from your hard drive can be devastating for many reasons. If you use the computer for business, perhaps all your client files, accounting files, etc. are there. For personal users, you may have your entire family photo album there, in addition to all family contact information. Perhaps there are important emails from family members stored on the computer. In any case, this information is extremely important to you. In addition to regular backup sessions a good data recovery software can be helpful. This software can be useful to a personal user, and it can help you to recover important data, and save you hundreds of dollars along the way. There are many to choose from, but you'll want to make sure what you buy can do what it says it will do.

4. Data Recovery Services are an Option.

When taking your hard drive to a specialist for data recovery, they will evaluate the drive and inform you of the problem, as well as the cost for recovery. Once you have this quote, you may think the price is too high. The real question you need to ask yourself then, is how important the data is. As I mentioned previously, there are data recovery software programs available, but if your data is very critical, you should consider the price quoted to you by the data recovery service. When you attempt to do it yourself, it will almost always lead to permanent loss of your data. A professional can recover most, if not all of the data in question. If your data is that important, then it is well worth the cost involved. Always remember too, that much of the headache can be avoided simply by backing up your data regularly. I can't tell you how many times this has saved my butt!

There you have it! 4 Things that everyone should know about data recovery. There are many more but I just wanted to touch on the most important.

SQL Data Recovery - The Role of This Software Tool

Even with the intrinsic data protection available in an SQL server database system the requirement of SQL data recovery cannot be entirely avoided. Even with the provision of other data security measures such as RAID (redundant array of disks), hard disk crashes, power-related and other inadvertent failures can result in corruption of the master data file and even the backup file of an SQL database.

During such occasions, the job of a database administrator becomes even more critical. He must ensure that the database must be up and running again as early as possible. The database administrator of a company knows that the occurrence of a database crash with partial data loss cannot be tolerated by the company. This is especially so when that data especially affects its business bottom-line and its relation with its customers.

Most database administrators are aware of the havoc that even partial corruption of the master data file of a database can cause. The database management system (DBMS) has enough safeguards as backup strategies to protect the company's critical data stored in the database. However, it still is possible that even the transaction logs and the backups become corrupted.

So, intelligent database administrators always consider the role of commercial SQL data recovery software. They already have in place the software that helps recover almost all data from corrupted .mdf files and .bak files of the database.

Such software is available in the market in the form of an on-the-shelf or customizable package from data recovery consulting companies. It is also available from some companies in the form of software as a service. The latter form is hosted on a Web site of the company that develops it. The Web-based software is especially useful for businesses that have large databases and work in the distributed environment.

With the use of such specialized software it is possible to recover data from the following.

It can help recover data from damaged RAID hard drives, deleted or corrupted indexes, deleted or damaged tables, table data or partially corrupted schema. It can help in recovery from deleted or damaged primary or foreign keys or a locked database or .mdf (master data file) file. It can help do so from missing triggers or deleted stored procedures. It can also help recover data from lost or dropped tables, accidental deletion of tables or volumes.

Further, the software can help to recover lost data from almost all versions of SQL server. The normal data recovery time taken for data recovery is usually from 1 to 4 days. This depends on the severity of the data corruption and the cause of the database crash. The SQL data recovery software tool therefore serves as an effective bulwark against the incidence of power failures, inadvertent operations and database crashes.

How to Create an Offsite Data Backup and Restore Plan

Once a business accepts the need for regular remote backups, the IT department requires a written backup and restore procedure. Creating such a plan doesn't have to be difficult and will reduce confusion so that your data storage system is protected.

Creating a Backup Plan

When creating a backup plan, decide what data should be included in the backup. Backup space costs money. Nightly backups of files that haven't changed in over a year may not be the most cost effective solution. Isolating particular directories or file types can reduce the size of the backup while still protecting important data.

Any backup plan should include multiple copies in case the backup file happens to be damaged at the same time the main server is corrupted. It is even possible for the system to crash during the backup operation, losing both your server and the backup. If you are overwriting your lone backup at the time, you just lost everything.

The simplest redundancy plan is to have two backups and alternate between them, however many companies have more. A common practice is to have one backup for every weekday so there are five backup files, one for Monday, one for Tuesday, and so on.

Finally, your offsite data backup plan should include a schedule of test restores. It is always possible you are backing up to a corrupt destination and none of your backups are intact. Ideally you should restore a few files every backup so you know the operation went through successfully.

Don't Forget the Restore Plan

It's easy to remember to create the backup plan since it is a procedure that affects your company every day. However what happens after disaster strikes? After major equipment failure, the department is likely to be in confusion.

There is pressure to get the data restored as quickly as possible as company operations can't continue until the system is running again. Imagine how much worse if the failure is due to a disaster like a fire. A detailed step-by-step restore plan is an integral part of a comprehensive offsite data backup procedure.

A solid restore plan makes it that much easier to get your business running smoothly again after disaster. You may need multiple plans for different contingencies. Bad sectors on a hard drive might require restoring just a few files, while a catastrophic incident could involve fully reformatting and restoring your entire server.

For best results, all offsite data backup and restore procedures should be fully tested by the personnel who will be performing the operation. This may reveal missing steps or inaccurate instructions. Tests will have to be conducted during a time the files involved aren't in use, which usually means IT staff coming in after hours.

When testing, make local backups of the files to be tested in case the restore procedure goes wrong. Though it may require a bit of time to create an offsite data backup and restore plan, once you have a systematic, documented system in place offsite data backups will become a simple part of the regular routine. If and when disaster strikes, it will be well worth the effort!

A Guide to Backing Up Your Business Data Online With a Bare Metal Server

Traditional offsite data backup involves storing discrete files that can be restored as needed. This is fine when replacing a few files because the originals were corrupted. However in the event of a major disaster that requires a complete system rebuild, restoration is a tedious process of installing the operating system, installing each application, then restoring the data files.

Luckily for IT managers, there is another way: bare metal recovery.

What Is Bare Metal Backup and Recovery?

Bare metal recovery allows an IT administrator to easily restore a system from scratch, even if a catastrophe has reduced the system to "bare metal." Rather than restoring individual files, the entire system drive is restored in one operation. Not even the operating system needs to be installed.

In the early days of PCs an application called Ghost was the first consumer-oriented disk cloning software produced. For a long time it was the only option and to this day the idea of "ghosting a hard drive" means making an exact duplicate that can be restored easily.

Since those days, other options have appeared and there are now several ways to perform a total system restore and backup. Many online backup services now offer dedicated servers to be used for disk cloning, a technique now called bare metal recovery.

Does Your Organization Need Bare Metal Online Server Backup?

The short answer is "Probably." Traditional online server backup is an important tool and is certainly a valid component of an overall disaster recovery plan. It is more likely that a disaster will destroy a few files or even a data drive rather than the entire system.

However, major disasters happen. A fire, flood, or other incident can physically destroy an entire computer system. Every minute your system is down is a minute your organization is losing money because no one can work. Today's businesses are dependent on their computer systems and can't function without them. The faster a system can be restored, the faster the company is running at full speed.

How Do Bare Metal Operations Work Online?

Server backup to an online provider can't be done by direct ghosting. However online providers are still an important step in the system recovery plan. Perform your bare metal backup using the software of your choice, which will create a disk image file. This image can then be saved through your online server backup provider just like any other file, thus backing up the backup.

Your organization has the protection of a complete disk image, allowing data restoration in the event of complete system destruction, combined with the protection of a redundant, offsite copy of your data. This operation will require a computer separate from your server.

After a disaster, the second computer can quickly be brought up with a bare bones operating system and your online restoration software. It pulls the disk image from the online server backup, which is used to restore the main server.

Why to Buy Online Data Back Up Services

Whether you use your computer for personal or business use, your data loss can be extremely disastrous in whatever way. Your information is something that you need to keep secure! This is the reason why you should avail regular data backup! There are several data backup plans available on the Internet for you to select from. Whichever plan you buy, you must back up your computer system for a minimum one time in a week. In spite of making use of traditional methods like storing data on an alternate hard drive, USB drive, zip drive or DVD/CD writer, simple leverage the benefits of online data back-up services.
Online data back-up is preferred by a lot of computer users and has emerged as one of the most excellent alternatives for data backup. Given below are a few of the causes why data back-ups are the best for safety of your data:

Data protection

If you make use of an online data back-up service, you do not have to bother yourself thinking about losing your data or your data being damaged. You can keep it safe at all times and be certain that your every important piece of information is secure and safe.

24x7 Accessibility

If you make use of online data back-up services, you can access your data round the clock, no matter where you are located. You can be seated in your house or at business place, and access your data all time!

Ease of Quick Sharing

Online data back-up services allow you to share your data with business clients or also with your friends and family without undergoing any trouble. You can share whatever info you might have stored, whether it is important papers, or your precious photographs!
It is advisable to take care while choosing your password when availing online data back-up services. Never make use of something like your birth date, the state or city you stay in, your family name or also your social security number. As such, online tech support resources respect your confidentiality and never misuse it or pass it to anyone else.

Diagnostic Tips For Hard Drive Data Recovery

You will be able to decide on recovery options only if you know what exactly is wrong with the disk. There are a few things you can do which would give you a reasonable idea about the nature of the hard disk problem.

Logical problem - if there is something wrong with the boot sector of the hard drive rendering it un-bootable. Boot from a floppy and do a read only scan of the disk. You will be able to decide on an appropriate strategy for fixing the master boot record. If the boot sector is lost then you should be able to decide how to go about recovering the data. If there are bad sectors in the master boot record, then attach the hard drive to another working computer as a secondary hard drive and try to recover data using software hard drive recovery.

Electrical problem - where the circuit board on the hard disk has been damaged due to a higher than allowed electrical current passing through it. Open up your system's ATX cabinet box, take out your hard drive, and closely examine the circuit board under the hard drive. Do not touch the board as static discharge can damage the disk's head. If there are telltale signs of a burnt circuit board or burnt components, then you can decide for sure that it is a board problem.

Mechanical problem - where the head that reads the data stored on the different platters arranged inside hard drive damage or the alignment of the platters themselves affected. The sure sign of a mechanical problem is the clicking sound that you will hear from the hard drive when it is trying to spin up or spin down. If this click sound is coming, then the problem related to mechanical trouble inside the hard disk platter assembly.

Data recovery protection with reasonable degree of success is perfectly possible from a damaged hard disk or other kind of storage media. As long as you have access to internet, so the best policy is to backup the important data on your hard drive so that, you are not left with the costly and time consuming option of data recovery in case of damage to storage media.

PleaseHelpMe.com - Online Computer Help and Computer Support services for Data recovery protection, hard drive data recovery and software hard drive recovery that perform necessary tasks remotely.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheryl_Estorgio

Understanding Data Loss and Data Recovery

Losing data is the worst thing that can happen to someone who is too attached to computers. It is not a question on "how attached" a person is, it is a question on how much a person earns out of his data. In other words, for beginner computer users, losing files is like losing common documents, but for developers, it means losing source files. Source files are projects developed with the use of certain complex application. Losing them is close to losing a career!

Data recovery is the solution to lost files. Data do not just disappear in one click but some of them are stored and could be recovered. The means of data recovery depends on the diagnostic and troubleshooting on how the functioning of the computer started.

It is not easy to determine problems in the computer for a novice, but for experts, events with PC sounds, speed change, temperature and booting problems are just some signs and symptoms of a lingering problems which could lead to data loss. Corrupt files occur when there is direct disturbance changing the data properties. When a project file can't be opened, it is possibly corrupt. Latest softwares have the capability to recover files in one execution.

Simple documents have high potential possibility of destruction. Complex applications involving vectors with larger project files, when corrupted, have the least chance of recovery. Examples of which are computer aided design applications, graphic arts editor, video editors and programming applications.

What are the kinds of flaws that trigger data loss?

Physical Defect Of Peripherals - hard disk damages show signs of file corruption before affecting the raw data. Upon knowing the sign of hard disk failure, it is important to make back-ups to avoid losing current and past data. Accidents and unavoidable circumstances can also cause peripheral damages in a PC, which can lead to data loss.

Overheating of the CPU can lead to chain reaction and shut of the computer. Constant crashing without proper shutting down procedure is one of the harshest of data destroyer. Usually the current file being worked on before the big crash happened is the one rendered useless afterwards.

Virus Attack - computer intruders will not give computers any benefit. Virus is always created to destroy data. By installing an effective anti-virus, this problem can be avoided or can be resolved easier than not having one. Careless downloading of any freebies in the Internet is harmful. It is important to understand how adwares can harm your local file in just one click. Virus propagators in the net are using advertising tools to gain access remotely to any private data.

On the onset of viral attack, do not do anything in the computer or leave it on any further. The more it is left functioning, the more the virus will spread and destroy the system. If you suspect your PC has been attacked, give it an instant cold boot. Do not use it unless the purpose is data recovery and diagnostics.

Accidental Format - A person could be too drunk booting the PC and accidentally executing the format command! Formatting is the greatest mortal sin one can execute to a disk rich with important data. It is the last resort when a disk has too many garbage needing a good overhaul. Formatting a disk is erasing the entire disk for good. Some good utilities have means to UNFORMAT and regain back the lost data in a formatted hard disk.

Bob is the owner of All Electronics which is an up-to-date, informative electronics website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Janeway

File Recovery - 3 Ways I Prevent Hard Drive Crashes

I say it time and again. It cannot be stressed enough really. BACKUP YOUR DATA. Data backup is the number one prevention measure that you can take to safeguard your data. Most home users think that it isn't necessary that they perform regular backups. The truth of the matter is that backups are necessary, unless the data is just not that important to you. It's best not to decide that it is important, however, after the system has crashed.

At any rate, you are here to read about the 3 tips I have on file recovery. Just the basics are what you will find here. It's the basics that will prevent you from having to recover the data to begin with.

1. Backup Your Data Regularly (see, there it is again).

This is the single, most important step you can take. There is software available that will perform automatic backups for you. If backing up your data is too much of a hassle, then get this software. It can even backup your files to a remote location (the best option). That way, you don't have to worry so much over it. It makes no sense to backup your data, and save it to the very drive you are backing up though. It takes away from the automation. Now you have to burn a disk daily, or at least however often you have scheduled your backup.

2. Listen for Weird Noises

If the hard drive is making strange clicking and clunking noises when you start up the PC, then turn it off immediately. This is an indication that your drive is about to take a serious nosedive. It's best to get the drive to a professional for checking. It will make file recovery easier in the long run. Trust me when I tell you that if your hard drive is making these noises, it is indeed about to die.

3. Consider Data Recovery Service Companies

Although there are a number of software programs available out there for data recovery, it really is not in your best interest to try to recover data from a drive on your own. Ultimately, you can and most likely will destroy critical data by trying to do this on your own. You are far ahead, when you hire a professional to do this for you. It can be quite costly to the average person, but as I have said time and again, if you need to recover data from the drive, then the cost is worth it.

Finally, The cost of data recovery can be avoided when you regularly do as I have mentioned in tip number one, backup your data regularly. You will not believe how many headaches become non-issues when you complete this one simple task on a regular basis.

Visit us to get more free information regarding File Recovery. You'll find this and much more at http://www.harddrivedatarecoveryexperts.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sydney_Johnson

Recovery of Data - Tips

The hard disks today are designed from primary components, as the base (foundation), around which other components are built. For example, improvements in research and development in magnetic data storage require improvements in research and development in design heads. These designs require electronics are "made to measure" for the device. The hard drives were "adjusted" to the properties of storage media heads and read / write - in a way similar to how a radio conforms to a specific radio frequency; hard drives are in line to complement the signals read data from the dishes.

Manufacturers of hard drives are lots of very many devices so that there are similarities between models of devices. However, the Code Review (software disk read-only property of the manufacturer that is used by the electronics to manage and operate the hard disk) changes frequently within the same model and lot. Innovation in the hard disks requires that the devices are updated constantly. All this requires extensive training in electronics and computer to work with these storage devices, not to mention the challenge of finding adequate mechanical components.
Hard Drives

Despite the obvious importance so that these devices have in their systems, many users neglect to maintain their hard drives. Its hard drive is very likely to be damaged by many causes. Therefore:

* Protect your unit and rattling blows. Too often, when someone installs, moves or reconfiguring hard drives, so inadvertent hits them thus damaging equipment that can cause data loss. Damage to the internal hard drives are not always immediately perceptible

* Beware of electrostatic energy. Static electricity, an invisible enemy, can wreak havoc on the wiring of chips and transistors Inside Your Computer. Since it is so easy to cause a discharge of static electricity by touching a hard disk.

* Acclimation of the room in which the equipment is stored. Check the temperature, humidity, altitude and vibration. All these variables can lead to permanent or intermittent failure of hard drives.

* Carry out regular reviews of their hard drives. The software from Ontrack Data Advisor conducts periodic reviews of its system, notice of potential problems. It is recommended that run Data Advisor once a month. (Get a free version).

* Place your hardware in a safe place. When changing the location of your computer (a table to the ground, or a vertical to a horizontal position) should always make a backup of your hard drive. An accidental blow in that unit could make the heads operate differently with the result of failures read or write on the disc.

RAID Systems

The RAID controllers add a new level of complexity and potential loss of data through its automated tools to rebuild. All RAID controllers have their proprietary software contains functions to perform different types of RAID reconstruction if a device fails or parity becomes incoherent. These reconstructions can be very dangerous and can cause data become irrecoverable once they are implemented.

A faulty driver sometimes can be replaced with another of exactly the same type without causing damage, but any subsequent reconstruction regardless of make or model of the controller may cause a severe loss of data, as described above.

By far the worst tool RAID is a scrub or low-level formatting. Some centres RAID manufacturer's technical support suggested to be used by default this kind of reconstruction to create a new 'array', but once it has implemented the tool normally there is no possibility of recovery, because each bit of each device will been reorganized. Generally there is an alternative to low-level formatting or scrub equally good at running a RAID reconfiguration, in which case it will still be option for recovering data if they later need exists to obtain data originating.

The best advice is to be very careful when a fault occurs RAID and not go beyond a single reconstruction of a device failed. Bug reconstruction initial attempts to carry out additional reconstruction or reconfiguration, or forcing the devices on-line. generally only contribute to a higher loss of data.

Remote Backup Service, A Cure To Never-Ending Cases of Permanent Data Loss

Remote data backup is more important nowadays. If you fear another incident of data loss on your PC or server, it is time to consider a remote online backup. Traditional methods of backup are becoming stale, and gradually replaced by automatic nature of remote backup solutions. This article reveals why you should get an online solution and how you can benefit from using a remote data protection system.

A remote backup service has a lot of advantages over old methods. One of the solid reasons is cost effectiveness. Manual backup and recovery require you to invest a lot of capital in purchasing equipments for data storage. These include hardware, backup software and labor work in executing the backup work. Much time, which can otherwise be spent in more resourceful area, is taken on the routine backup work. Thus, a remote storage service is your reliable partner to protect your precious data. Indeed, with an online system, you can access your files anywhere with internet connection, whereas traditionally, the backup data is restricted to one place and stored offline. In addition, you can benefit from more secure backup services which cannot be replicated with an offline backup service. Moreover, online services allow automatic backup schedule. You have full control and monitoring over the system. There is no need of worries about data loss again.

To avoid your files from being mismanaged by an inferior service, you should look for a service that satisfies following criteria. Security is the first thing that requires your attention. You should look for the measures taken by firm to ensure your files being accessible by authorized parties, such as data encryption method. Next, the server for storing your data must be stable. It has to be powerful to maintain your data intact. Your files should be online around the clock.

Backing Up Business Files Online

As computers are now used by virtually everyone, backup services have sprung up everywhere. Businesses, as well as individuals, have their crucial documents protected from computer disaster by services which back up data remotely.

These services are now established solutions to the problem of storing valuable computer files safely. As computers are at risk of all sorts of incidents, people who use computers for business or private use count on these services for the protection they are capable of providing. The backing up of data remotely has been found to be superior to traditional methods of storing software. Everyone from small businesses and corporations to individuals use remote backup in order to be sure that there is safe storage of their files.

When a virus infects a computer, or the computer is put at risk by natural disasters like earthquakes or fires, recovering the files stored on a computer may prove impossible. Remote storage facilitated online is, in this case, a huge benefit, because the files remain in existence even if the hard drive does not.

Of late, some people are backing up their files remotely. Benefits of this method include the fact that it is simple to implement, and can be billed, at the user's preference, annually or monthly. The fact that one is spared of dealing with the details of storage and manipulation means that it often proves to be well worth the price.

People who use such services can download software that enables them to use it easily. Such software is installed quickly, and with it users can find and download important stored files. Backing up files can be done automatically, according to a pre-set schedule. Storage, then, can be done speedily and unobtrusively, so that you can focus on other things.

Key benefits of backing up one's files online includes convenient and easy access, and simple distribution of files to many users. It also allows large amounts of workers to have access to their files regardless of where they are physically, and this can increase their efficiency dramatically.

When computers experience crashes, or acquire viruses, key data can be lost permanently from the hard drive. This can be avoided through remote data backup; more students, companies, and other individuals are gaining peace of mind by having these copies available.

Effectively Utilizing Novell Backup Software

Novell backup software is created by Novell who is one of the biggest names in the field of open source software; and for that matter, the entire IT world. This company is the manufacturer of the popular Suse operating system, as well as Novell NetWare. Novell backup software is among the best choice out there for the IT professional and the less skilled person who needs to maintain storage backups for a few servers on a small office network alike.

Novell NetWare is one of the best known tools which offers backup solutions to the system administrator. One thing to keep in mind is that NetWare is designed to work with the Novell NetWare file system drivers, so your servers will need to be running this system in order to use this solution. There are also third party vendors offering high quality Novell backup software which can be used to preserve the data integrity of your network in the event of disaster. Having proper backups is essential, as anyone who has ever suffered a server crash without a copy or backup in place could tell you.

Another option, if you already run Linux on your servers is to use Novell's Linux-based operating system on your servers. Suse also has robust backup capabilities, including backups to other servers, veritas hard drives, even old-style magnetic tape if needed. There is, however a bit of a learning curve involved for your IT department, particularly if they are migrating from a Windows-based system.

Regardless of which software you choose for your Novell systems (i.e. shareware or not), you do have the security and peace of mind that comes from knowing that Novell is one of the most respected names in the business and that thousands of IT and network security professionals swear by their products. In the world of data security, that means a lot. Your servers and workstations are critical to the continued operation of your business and in most cases contain information which would mean nothing less than disaster should they be lost.

A well planned, regular schedule of maintenance and backups for all of your important data is key to any business that relies on their IT infrastructure - and in this increasingly wired age, that's all of us. Having Novell backup software to keep your important files safe can make all the difference between a crash being a mere annoyance and a near-total catastrophe.

Backup Reporting Relieves Executive Anxiety

Backup reporting serves to reduce executive anxiety about business continuity. With this function, businesses can back up all of their crucial data on various computer systems. The best way to ensure proper backup security is to use a third party or independent entity to test, validate and optimize your backup files.

Reports are useful for monitoring media usage, device status, errors, vault coordination and other information about the backup process. The more paperless this society becomes the more need you will have to back up your data files in a safe place that is easily accessible, yet independent from your computer system.

You will begin your backup storage solution with advanced software. This solution can store your files online. Some popular web backup storage solutions include VERITAS NetBackup, VERITAS Backup Exec, Tivoli Storage Manager, EMC Legato NetWorker and HP Data Protector.

Regardless of the storage solution software that you choose, you will need an independent backup manager to perform your backup reporting. Once you know that your computer data is safely stored away, you can rest assured that will not be losing data that is crucial to running your business.

When you decide which software to use and what backup managing service to use, all that will remain for you to do is to decide which data is crucial enough to back up and to decide how you want to arrange and organize the files.

Aptare provides web-based enterprise software that makes it easy for storage administrators to achieve maximum data protection.

Should I Back Up My Current Registry Before I Clean My PC

Anyone who has a computer has with time saved information that they may consider important; and if it is lost then they would have a hard time getting it back and would not know where to begin to look. So if you are asking the question "should I back up my current registry before I clean my PC" well the answer is yes. You never want to take the chance of losing anything of value that you will never be able to retrieve again. This article is going to discuss some important steps that you want to take when you clean your system.

First of all if you decide to use a reputable registry company; they will do a lot of the things for you. You should not have to worry about almost anything; the type of service you can expect to receive from a reputable company is:

1. They will ensure that they back up your current registry.

2. The registry cleaner will remove any remaining uninstalled software from your system.

3. It will correct and allow you to manage which programs are run when the operating system begins.

4. Checks to make sure that all the i.e. paths to the programs are valid and working.

5. Will walk you through the entire process step by step so that you feel comfortable with what you are doing.

You should not have to worry or be wondering should I back up my current registry before I clean my PC because most of the reputable companies will automatically do this for you. However if you are using a free registry cleaner that you find online then you must understand that you are using it at your own risk.

Yes you can find several free registry cleaners online; however I would not recommend using one. Any time that you are dealing with something as sensitive as your PC's registry; you want to ensure that you are dealing with a reputable company. As you know the registry holds all the information to your computer and is the backbone to the system. Without it you may as well get a new computer because it will be useless.

We are not in anyway telling you that you should not use a free service if that is what you want to do; however you must first know that most of the free services that are available to use will not provide any type of customer support. You can expect to have to do everything on you own without being able to ask for help if you should need it. It may be less expensive in the long run to stick with a reputable company that will be there for you when you need them.

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