The following procedures can be tried in the event of you having an unsuccessfully finalized DVD, a damaged DVD or a DVD that has not been burned correctly by the video camcorder or recorder and has some corrupt data.
It is a good idea for you to first consider other possible causes of what appears to be errors such as a dirty disc surface, a dirty lens in the DVD reader or other software and hardware related problems. Prior to embarking on any of the following you need to eliminate all possible causes for having trouble with a DVD. Check to see your DVD burner has the latest firmware by going to the manufacturers website. Check to see if the media (brand and type) are compatible with your DVD burner/reader. Once you are certain that you have an unsuccessfully finalized DVD or a corrupt DVD you can get started.
Scratched DVD Disks
A simple visual inspection of the surface of the disc will tell you straight away whether your first problem is physical damage to the disc. If you can see a scratch or scratches on the surface then this may need to be addressed first. I say "may" because personally I use DVDFab to check to see if the disc will copy before I embark on any other course of action. DVDFab can read through a lot of surface errors because of its superior algorithms so I always take the lazy route and see if I can simply make a new copy. Now failing that you could go online and buy some expensive DVD scratch repair kit. Or you could do as I do and go to your local hardware store or even your own garage! All you will need is a bottle of any neutral colored (clear) car polishing product. Turtlewax happens to be the one I use. Take a VERY soft cloth (NOT paper towel), apply a little polish to the surface of the disc and GENTLY (remember, it's not a car!) rub the disc. Use straight strokes from the centre of the disc to the outer edge and continue to do this until you can see the scratch either disappear or reduce noticeably. Then using the same motion and fresh cloth buff the disc back to its original shine. Now try it with DVDFab. If you are still unsuccessful repeat the process until you can be certain, again by visual inspection, that the problem is now not coming from a damaged disc surface.
DVD data Repair/Recovery
The software you can use for this are DVDFab, Nero 8 (trial) and Isobuster. In the case of Isobuster you can try the free features first but failing that the full featured version needs to be purchased. A straight search of Yahoo or Google will find you the relevant sites.
Put the problem disc in the DVD drive of your computer then:
1. DVDFab. Try to use DVDFab first, as it has the best algorithms for reading anything on a DVD including how it integrates with the DVD drive, honestly sometimes I think it would read a bagel if you put it in there!
Select "DVD to DVD." DVDFab will now try to read the contents of the disc and, if it can, write the contents to a folder on your hard drive. It is as simple as that. It is either going to work or not! If it does do it then the copy you now have on your hard drive will be fully repaired and you can then burn a new copy.
Failing that:
2. Isobuster. Using the free functions try to make a disc image file and burn to another DVD. Isobuster has three alternate methods of dealing with data corruption. It can replace the corrupted area with nothing, with fake data or with a series of zeros. It will give you the choice and just select them in order to try each until one works. Isobuster will not create the disc image file unless it knows it will be successful. If Isobuster has created the file (note where it was going to put it first!) you will have to re-name the extension to .iso. Use the disc image file to burn a new DVD disc. At this point, if you now have a new disc, you need to check that new one carefully. There is always the possibility that Isobuster has just made a perfect copy of your faulty disc! So now you have a brand new faulty disc!
Failing that: You will need to pay for the full version of Isobuster but ONLY buy it if you got this far. If Isobuster free couldn't even read the disc then don't bother.
From this point forward the best you can hope for is the extraction of the MPEG video files or data files on the disc. You ARE going to lose the video menus and you may lose some of the video or data.
a. Start Isobuster then load the disc.
b. When Isobuster has detected the files on the disc run the "Find Missing Files and Folders" option under the "File" menu.
c. You will now have an entry on the left hand column of "files and folders found by their signature."
d. Select that, then go to "File," "Files found via their signature" then "Extract files found via their signature." Choose a location and let it run.
Now you will have all the files where you selected them to go. The ones with the extension .VOB are the MPEG files from your disc wrapped in the VOB container. They can then be imported into a video editing program using the "Import DVD/VR" function or can be read by most DVD burning software.
Unfinalized discs.
If at all possible try to get the original device used to create the disc to finalize it. If this is not possible or the original device is failing to successfully finalize the disc you may have to resort to the Isobuster routing above.
If you have been left with an otherwise perfectly good disc, but unfinalized do the following.
The requires Nero 8 (Trial version) and is suited to unfinalized discs only. Go to the Nero link above, download and install Nero 8. Yes, it's big...sorry!
Place the unfinalized disc into the computer DVD tray. Open Nero 8 StartSmart. Click "create and edit" at the top of the screen. Click "author, edit and capture video." NeroVision 5 will start. Click on the disk tools drop down menu then click "finalize disk." In the option box appears choose "no menus" and let it run. Hopefully you now have a fully finalized disc that is readable.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
How To Configure Hardrive For Copying-Cloning (IDE)
Hard Drive configurations
1) Old hardrive to new hardrive- primary master to secondary slave (connect both drives to the same IDE ribbon cable)
Ensure jumpers are physically set right. Old hardrive jumpers are suppose to set to master and new hardrive is set jumpers set to slave. Refer to manufacters manual if any. Again this assumes that your connecting both drives to the same ide ribbon cable. This does not apply for sata drives
2) Old hardrive to new hardrive- primary master to secondary master (old drive is connected to the primary controller and new drive is connected to the secondary controller)
If however you are using the secondary controller then you should set the new hardrive jumper to master. This does not apply to SATA. SATA drives are configured from the systems bios. Use your system bios to configure drives. This configuration (IDE) assumes that there is no other device connected if however there is a cdrom connected to the secondary controller set the jumper to slave thus making it a secondary slave.
Note the red stripes on the IDE ribbon must lay flush with power plug to each drive. If you connect the ribbon opposite the hardrive will not power up. This is on for IDE Drives
If you are planning to backup your computer without a second drive. You are going to need a program to partition your hardrive and split it into sections. Most programs that I have used require the hardrive split size this is called partitioning. Kinda makes sense why would you backup you system up on a faulty part of your drive. Best rule of thumb is to use one section for your regular everyday things and the other for backup purposes. So if your system encounter problems you can recover your system with ease.
So how do you really make an identical copy of your hard drive? You can't just drag and drop files in Windows to the new drive. You must do a bit-for-bit copy of your drive, including all the hidden files, files in use, and other junk that doesn't show up in Windows Explorer.
Power users have long relied on Symantec's Norton Ghost to make bit-for-bit copies, or clones, of their hard drives. But at $70 a copy, that can be a little pricey for something many people may use only once. (In fairness to Ghost, the software does include lots of additional features that make it suitable for general backup use too.)
You know what I'm going to say next: How about a free alternative? Enter Clonezilla, an open source cloning application that works well and... hey, did I mention it's free?
As with Ghost, Clonezilla isn't exactly for computer novices. You burn the program to a bootable CD, and DOS-like prompts guide you through the cloning process. The amount of information displayed can be daunting, but most of it can be ignored. To copy a disk, just select the disk-to-disk option at the menu, and let it do its thing.
1) Old hardrive to new hardrive- primary master to secondary slave (connect both drives to the same IDE ribbon cable)
Ensure jumpers are physically set right. Old hardrive jumpers are suppose to set to master and new hardrive is set jumpers set to slave. Refer to manufacters manual if any. Again this assumes that your connecting both drives to the same ide ribbon cable. This does not apply for sata drives
2) Old hardrive to new hardrive- primary master to secondary master (old drive is connected to the primary controller and new drive is connected to the secondary controller)
If however you are using the secondary controller then you should set the new hardrive jumper to master. This does not apply to SATA. SATA drives are configured from the systems bios. Use your system bios to configure drives. This configuration (IDE) assumes that there is no other device connected if however there is a cdrom connected to the secondary controller set the jumper to slave thus making it a secondary slave.
Note the red stripes on the IDE ribbon must lay flush with power plug to each drive. If you connect the ribbon opposite the hardrive will not power up. This is on for IDE Drives
If you are planning to backup your computer without a second drive. You are going to need a program to partition your hardrive and split it into sections. Most programs that I have used require the hardrive split size this is called partitioning. Kinda makes sense why would you backup you system up on a faulty part of your drive. Best rule of thumb is to use one section for your regular everyday things and the other for backup purposes. So if your system encounter problems you can recover your system with ease.
So how do you really make an identical copy of your hard drive? You can't just drag and drop files in Windows to the new drive. You must do a bit-for-bit copy of your drive, including all the hidden files, files in use, and other junk that doesn't show up in Windows Explorer.
Power users have long relied on Symantec's Norton Ghost to make bit-for-bit copies, or clones, of their hard drives. But at $70 a copy, that can be a little pricey for something many people may use only once. (In fairness to Ghost, the software does include lots of additional features that make it suitable for general backup use too.)
You know what I'm going to say next: How about a free alternative? Enter Clonezilla, an open source cloning application that works well and... hey, did I mention it's free?
As with Ghost, Clonezilla isn't exactly for computer novices. You burn the program to a bootable CD, and DOS-like prompts guide you through the cloning process. The amount of information displayed can be daunting, but most of it can be ignored. To copy a disk, just select the disk-to-disk option at the menu, and let it do its thing.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Cheap Data Recovery Softwares - What Are Your Options
There are time where cheap data recovery methods may be useful, but it also can make thing worst than in the beginning. According to the NCSA, this problem will continue to as programmers become more sophisticated and creative when writing viruses. Data recovery is something that will usually require the fixing and rebooting of your computer. Data backup involves the storing of files from your computer in another location.
You can try to use various computer hardware as a cheap alternative source to recover your date. They are usually between ten to twenty dollars. There are a couple of local supermarkets that have hardware for PCs.
What idea is good in recovering data?
It is always good to create an image of your hard drive with a imaging program. Perform this act before you start to do your work and save it on a back hard drive. In fact, there are possibilities that you may not able to read the file on the computer due to data corruption. I am sharing a procedure that will assist you to prevent losing your important data even without you knowing it.
How can this program or software help me?
In today's information age, every piece of software does has it purpose. There are also lots of people that are so poor that they could not afford a simple data recovery software, then this alternative of a low cost recovering program may come in handy. With lots of experiences that people are not able to launch their hard drive since the data had been lost, the only advice is not to run the drive. There will be damage if more people are using certain kind of software to recover the data as it may take a long and tedious process.
When the drive becomes more damaged, it can make the recovery process almost impossible. The recovery software does serve its' purposes when you can afford to bring your drive to a professional recovery service. It can also make a situation that was already bad even worst. Sometimes the situation can become impossible. However, when you are short on the cash flow, and you need to have the information, cheap data recovery can be the answer.
In conclusion
If the data you are trying to retrieve is vital and important, the best way to engage a professional help. He will make sure that extensive damage will not be created wile trying to recover your data. You can use cheap data recovery software or program if you think the data is not important. Some simple hardware can easily do the job and you for sure will see further damage to your hard drive when you use cheap data recovery methods.
There are all kinds of risk in everything we do, not to mention recovering your beloved data.
Therefore, Eddy has started a information guide on how to help any level of computer users to manage their data recovery process with ease and also recommend some tips and techniques in data recovery.
You can try to use various computer hardware as a cheap alternative source to recover your date. They are usually between ten to twenty dollars. There are a couple of local supermarkets that have hardware for PCs.
What idea is good in recovering data?
It is always good to create an image of your hard drive with a imaging program. Perform this act before you start to do your work and save it on a back hard drive. In fact, there are possibilities that you may not able to read the file on the computer due to data corruption. I am sharing a procedure that will assist you to prevent losing your important data even without you knowing it.
How can this program or software help me?
In today's information age, every piece of software does has it purpose. There are also lots of people that are so poor that they could not afford a simple data recovery software, then this alternative of a low cost recovering program may come in handy. With lots of experiences that people are not able to launch their hard drive since the data had been lost, the only advice is not to run the drive. There will be damage if more people are using certain kind of software to recover the data as it may take a long and tedious process.
When the drive becomes more damaged, it can make the recovery process almost impossible. The recovery software does serve its' purposes when you can afford to bring your drive to a professional recovery service. It can also make a situation that was already bad even worst. Sometimes the situation can become impossible. However, when you are short on the cash flow, and you need to have the information, cheap data recovery can be the answer.
In conclusion
If the data you are trying to retrieve is vital and important, the best way to engage a professional help. He will make sure that extensive damage will not be created wile trying to recover your data. You can use cheap data recovery software or program if you think the data is not important. Some simple hardware can easily do the job and you for sure will see further damage to your hard drive when you use cheap data recovery methods.
There are all kinds of risk in everything we do, not to mention recovering your beloved data.
Therefore, Eddy has started a information guide on how to help any level of computer users to manage their data recovery process with ease and also recommend some tips and techniques in data recovery.
Recovery Tips for Errored, Damaged or Unfinalized DVDs
The following procedures can be tried in the event of you having an unsuccessfully finalized DVD, a damaged DVD or a DVD that has not been burned correctly by the video camcorder or recorder and has some corrupt data.
It is a good idea for you to first consider other possible causes of what appears to be errors such as a dirty disc surface, a dirty lens in the DVD reader or other software and hardware related problems. Prior to embarking on any of the following you need to eliminate all possible causes for having trouble with a DVD. Check to see your DVD burner has the latest firmware by going to the manufacturers website. Check to see if the media (brand and type) are compatible with your DVD burner/reader. Once you are certain that you have an unsuccessfully finalized DVD or a corrupt DVD you can get started.
Scratched DVD Disks
A simple visual inspection of the surface of the disc will tell you straight away whether your first problem is physical damage to the disc. If you can see a scratch or scratches on the surface then this may need to be addressed first. I say "may" because personally I use DVDFab to check to see if the disc will copy before I embark on any other course of action. DVDFab can read through a lot of surface errors because of its superior algorithms so I always take the lazy route and see if I can simply make a new copy. Now failing that you could go online and buy some expensive DVD scratch repair kit. Or you could do as I do and go to your local hardware store or even your own garage! All you will need is a bottle of any neutral colored (clear) car polishing product. Turtlewax happens to be the one I use. Take a VERY soft cloth (NOT paper towel), apply a little polish to the surface of the disc and GENTLY (remember, it's not a car!) rub the disc. Use straight strokes from the centre of the disc to the outer edge and continue to do this until you can see the scratch either disappear or reduce noticeably. Then using the same motion and fresh cloth buff the disc back to its original shine. Now try it with DVDFab. If you are still unsuccessful repeat the process until you can be certain, again by visual inspection, that the problem is now not coming from a damaged disc surface.
DVD data Repair/Recovery
The software you can use for this are DVDFab, Nero 8 (trial) and Isobuster. In the case of Isobuster you can try the free features first but failing that the full featured version needs to be purchased. A straight search of Yahoo or Google will find you the relevant sites.
Put the problem disc in the DVD drive of your computer then:
1. DVDFab. Try to use DVDFab first, as it has the best algorithms for reading anything on a DVD including how it integrates with the DVD drive, honestly sometimes I think it would read a bagel if you put it in there!
Select "DVD to DVD." DVDFab will now try to read the contents of the disc and, if it can, write the contents to a folder on your hard drive. It is as simple as that. It is either going to work or not! If it does do it then the copy you now have on your hard drive will be fully repaired and you can then burn a new copy.
Failing that:
2. Isobuster. Using the free functions try to make a disc image file and burn to another DVD. Isobuster has three alternate methods of dealing with data corruption. It can replace the corrupted area with nothing, with fake data or with a series of zeros. It will give you the choice and just select them in order to try each until one works. Isobuster will not create the disc image file unless it knows it will be successful. If Isobuster has created the file (note where it was going to put it first!) you will have to re-name the extension to .iso. Use the disc image file to burn a new DVD disc. At this point, if you now have a new disc, you need to check that new one carefully. There is always the possibility that Isobuster has just made a perfect copy of your faulty disc! So now you have a brand new faulty disc!
Failing that: You will need to pay for the full version of Isobuster but ONLY buy it if you got this far. If Isobuster free couldn't even read the disc then don't bother.
From this point forward the best you can hope for is the extraction of the MPEG video files or data files on the disc. You ARE going to lose the video menus and you may lose some of the video or data.
a. Start Isobuster then load the disc.
b. When Isobuster has detected the files on the disc run the "Find Missing Files and Folders" option under the "File" menu.
c. You will now have an entry on the left hand column of "files and folders found by their signature."
d. Select that, then go to "File," "Files found via their signature" then "Extract files found via their signature." Choose a location and let it run.
Now you will have all the files where you selected them to go. The ones with the extension .VOB are the MPEG files from your disc wrapped in the VOB container. They can then be imported into a video editing program using the "Import DVD/VR" function or can be read by most DVD burning software.
Unfinalized discs.
If at all possible try to get the original device used to create the disc to finalize it. If this is not possible or the original device is failing to successfully finalize the disc you may have to resort to the Isobuster routing above.
If you have been left with an otherwise perfectly good disc, but unfinalized do the following.
The requires Nero 8 (Trial version) and is suited to unfinalized discs only. Go to the Nero link above, download and install Nero 8. Yes, it's big...sorry!
Place the unfinalized disc into the computer DVD tray. Open Nero 8 StartSmart. Click "create and edit" at the top of the screen. Click "author, edit and capture video." NeroVision 5 will start. Click on the disk tools drop down menu then click "finalize disk." In the option box appears choose "no menus" and let it run. Hopefully you now have a fully finalized disc that is readable.
It is a good idea for you to first consider other possible causes of what appears to be errors such as a dirty disc surface, a dirty lens in the DVD reader or other software and hardware related problems. Prior to embarking on any of the following you need to eliminate all possible causes for having trouble with a DVD. Check to see your DVD burner has the latest firmware by going to the manufacturers website. Check to see if the media (brand and type) are compatible with your DVD burner/reader. Once you are certain that you have an unsuccessfully finalized DVD or a corrupt DVD you can get started.
Scratched DVD Disks
A simple visual inspection of the surface of the disc will tell you straight away whether your first problem is physical damage to the disc. If you can see a scratch or scratches on the surface then this may need to be addressed first. I say "may" because personally I use DVDFab to check to see if the disc will copy before I embark on any other course of action. DVDFab can read through a lot of surface errors because of its superior algorithms so I always take the lazy route and see if I can simply make a new copy. Now failing that you could go online and buy some expensive DVD scratch repair kit. Or you could do as I do and go to your local hardware store or even your own garage! All you will need is a bottle of any neutral colored (clear) car polishing product. Turtlewax happens to be the one I use. Take a VERY soft cloth (NOT paper towel), apply a little polish to the surface of the disc and GENTLY (remember, it's not a car!) rub the disc. Use straight strokes from the centre of the disc to the outer edge and continue to do this until you can see the scratch either disappear or reduce noticeably. Then using the same motion and fresh cloth buff the disc back to its original shine. Now try it with DVDFab. If you are still unsuccessful repeat the process until you can be certain, again by visual inspection, that the problem is now not coming from a damaged disc surface.
DVD data Repair/Recovery
The software you can use for this are DVDFab, Nero 8 (trial) and Isobuster. In the case of Isobuster you can try the free features first but failing that the full featured version needs to be purchased. A straight search of Yahoo or Google will find you the relevant sites.
Put the problem disc in the DVD drive of your computer then:
1. DVDFab. Try to use DVDFab first, as it has the best algorithms for reading anything on a DVD including how it integrates with the DVD drive, honestly sometimes I think it would read a bagel if you put it in there!
Select "DVD to DVD." DVDFab will now try to read the contents of the disc and, if it can, write the contents to a folder on your hard drive. It is as simple as that. It is either going to work or not! If it does do it then the copy you now have on your hard drive will be fully repaired and you can then burn a new copy.
Failing that:
2. Isobuster. Using the free functions try to make a disc image file and burn to another DVD. Isobuster has three alternate methods of dealing with data corruption. It can replace the corrupted area with nothing, with fake data or with a series of zeros. It will give you the choice and just select them in order to try each until one works. Isobuster will not create the disc image file unless it knows it will be successful. If Isobuster has created the file (note where it was going to put it first!) you will have to re-name the extension to .iso. Use the disc image file to burn a new DVD disc. At this point, if you now have a new disc, you need to check that new one carefully. There is always the possibility that Isobuster has just made a perfect copy of your faulty disc! So now you have a brand new faulty disc!
Failing that: You will need to pay for the full version of Isobuster but ONLY buy it if you got this far. If Isobuster free couldn't even read the disc then don't bother.
From this point forward the best you can hope for is the extraction of the MPEG video files or data files on the disc. You ARE going to lose the video menus and you may lose some of the video or data.
a. Start Isobuster then load the disc.
b. When Isobuster has detected the files on the disc run the "Find Missing Files and Folders" option under the "File" menu.
c. You will now have an entry on the left hand column of "files and folders found by their signature."
d. Select that, then go to "File," "Files found via their signature" then "Extract files found via their signature." Choose a location and let it run.
Now you will have all the files where you selected them to go. The ones with the extension .VOB are the MPEG files from your disc wrapped in the VOB container. They can then be imported into a video editing program using the "Import DVD/VR" function or can be read by most DVD burning software.
Unfinalized discs.
If at all possible try to get the original device used to create the disc to finalize it. If this is not possible or the original device is failing to successfully finalize the disc you may have to resort to the Isobuster routing above.
If you have been left with an otherwise perfectly good disc, but unfinalized do the following.
The requires Nero 8 (Trial version) and is suited to unfinalized discs only. Go to the Nero link above, download and install Nero 8. Yes, it's big...sorry!
Place the unfinalized disc into the computer DVD tray. Open Nero 8 StartSmart. Click "create and edit" at the top of the screen. Click "author, edit and capture video." NeroVision 5 will start. Click on the disk tools drop down menu then click "finalize disk." In the option box appears choose "no menus" and let it run. Hopefully you now have a fully finalized disc that is readable.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Backup and Recovery
Considering the importance of backups for small to medium businesses in Hampshire;
...Imagine that you own an incredibly successful business, you are swamped with orders everyday and you receive many testimonials a week which are immediately placed onto your website.
You don't need to advertise because most of your customers are sold on the praise they hear regarding your product and services from other ecstatically happy customers. When you do advertise it doubles your client base and also your annual profit. All of your customers' details and invoices are stored on your computer systems.
One day, there is a huge electrical storm. Luckily you miss it because you are on holiday, but on your return you discover that all of the data stored on your computer system has been wiped. This could potentially be the downfall of the business that you worked so hard to develop.
Hopefully everyone reading this will be chorusing "but what about the backups?" If so then this article will read as a lesson in common sense. It will be of more benefit to those out there who think that backing up their data and system state is too time-consuming, too expensive or simply not applicable to their circumstances. Sure, they could argue that the chance of a severe enough storm near their premises to corrupt the computer's storage device is unlikely, but there are other events that could jeopardise the future of a business by eradicating data;
• Fire
• Water damage
• Malicious damage
• Accidental deletion of data
• Computer viruses
• Corruption of files due to age of hardware
• Power surges
I'm sure that you can name more. Having a disaster recovery program in place should be on the essentials list for any company that uses computers. If a computer network is central to the everyday running of your business then you must ensure that you backup your data in such a way that your business could recover from a disaster such as those mentioned above.
But backing up data is not only important in minimising the effects of a disaster on your company's valuable database; it also makes routine network administration less stressful by creating a safety net. Suppose registry entries were incorrectly changed, or an important file or piece of software was accidentally deleted, if regular backups were scheduled these errors could be easily fixed. So how do you backup your system, and how often should you do so? Well, there are three main forms of backup, each with their advantages and disadvantages;
• Full Backup - As you can probably guess, this involves backing up all of your data. This method is the most time-consuming, but provides the easiest method of disaster recovery. If you don't have the time to perform full backups three times a week, there are some alternatives which will help reduce the number of full backups you need to do to ensure that your data is safe.
• Incremental Backup - This is the fastest form of backing up data. It backs up only the changes made since the last incremental or full backup. The downside is that to restore your data you will need the last full backup along with all of the subsequent incremental backups that have been done. This makes the incremental method the longest method to restore, although hopefully you will be backing up more that restoring.
• Differential Backup - These are similar to incremental backups in that you will need to perform full backups. Each differential backup stores the changes made since the last full backup, so to restore the data you need only have the last full backup and the most recent differential backup. With this you get the best of both worlds, while not as easy a disaster recovery method as explicitly using full backups, it is far less time consuming than using full backups and requires less to recover than incremental backups.
How often you backup is important. It is recommended that backups be made for every four to ten hours of data entry. For some businesses this could be everyday. An IT company that provides a backup service would be able to give you some idea of the schedule that best suits your business.
An IT company should also give you advice about where to keep your backups. It is possible for example to back your system data onto another partition of the drive it is usually stored, but for disaster recovery purposes this is not very sensible because should anything corrupt or damage that hard drive then you would lose your backups along with your data. The next step up would be to backup to a separate drive within the same server using mirroring. The data on the original drive would be safely stored on a different drive, but what about that burst water pipe or fire? This is still not an ideal disaster recovery plan.
Tape drives and other mass storage devices (such as external hard drives) are perfect because they can be removed from the original location of the data. It is wise to store your backed up data in a separate room or preferably building as the same fire, flood, theft etc that is destroying your server could also permanently damage your backups.
So, now that you know why you should develop a disaster recovery plan, how different methods of backing up data can reduce the time it takes to successfully do so and where you should be storing your backed up data, you should be in a position to relax. As long as your data is backed up (and in some regards your business too) you can know that should an unexpected disaster occur, your customers will be none the wiser, and your business will remain undamaged.
...Imagine that you own an incredibly successful business, you are swamped with orders everyday and you receive many testimonials a week which are immediately placed onto your website.
You don't need to advertise because most of your customers are sold on the praise they hear regarding your product and services from other ecstatically happy customers. When you do advertise it doubles your client base and also your annual profit. All of your customers' details and invoices are stored on your computer systems.
One day, there is a huge electrical storm. Luckily you miss it because you are on holiday, but on your return you discover that all of the data stored on your computer system has been wiped. This could potentially be the downfall of the business that you worked so hard to develop.
Hopefully everyone reading this will be chorusing "but what about the backups?" If so then this article will read as a lesson in common sense. It will be of more benefit to those out there who think that backing up their data and system state is too time-consuming, too expensive or simply not applicable to their circumstances. Sure, they could argue that the chance of a severe enough storm near their premises to corrupt the computer's storage device is unlikely, but there are other events that could jeopardise the future of a business by eradicating data;
• Fire
• Water damage
• Malicious damage
• Accidental deletion of data
• Computer viruses
• Corruption of files due to age of hardware
• Power surges
I'm sure that you can name more. Having a disaster recovery program in place should be on the essentials list for any company that uses computers. If a computer network is central to the everyday running of your business then you must ensure that you backup your data in such a way that your business could recover from a disaster such as those mentioned above.
But backing up data is not only important in minimising the effects of a disaster on your company's valuable database; it also makes routine network administration less stressful by creating a safety net. Suppose registry entries were incorrectly changed, or an important file or piece of software was accidentally deleted, if regular backups were scheduled these errors could be easily fixed. So how do you backup your system, and how often should you do so? Well, there are three main forms of backup, each with their advantages and disadvantages;
• Full Backup - As you can probably guess, this involves backing up all of your data. This method is the most time-consuming, but provides the easiest method of disaster recovery. If you don't have the time to perform full backups three times a week, there are some alternatives which will help reduce the number of full backups you need to do to ensure that your data is safe.
• Incremental Backup - This is the fastest form of backing up data. It backs up only the changes made since the last incremental or full backup. The downside is that to restore your data you will need the last full backup along with all of the subsequent incremental backups that have been done. This makes the incremental method the longest method to restore, although hopefully you will be backing up more that restoring.
• Differential Backup - These are similar to incremental backups in that you will need to perform full backups. Each differential backup stores the changes made since the last full backup, so to restore the data you need only have the last full backup and the most recent differential backup. With this you get the best of both worlds, while not as easy a disaster recovery method as explicitly using full backups, it is far less time consuming than using full backups and requires less to recover than incremental backups.
How often you backup is important. It is recommended that backups be made for every four to ten hours of data entry. For some businesses this could be everyday. An IT company that provides a backup service would be able to give you some idea of the schedule that best suits your business.
An IT company should also give you advice about where to keep your backups. It is possible for example to back your system data onto another partition of the drive it is usually stored, but for disaster recovery purposes this is not very sensible because should anything corrupt or damage that hard drive then you would lose your backups along with your data. The next step up would be to backup to a separate drive within the same server using mirroring. The data on the original drive would be safely stored on a different drive, but what about that burst water pipe or fire? This is still not an ideal disaster recovery plan.
Tape drives and other mass storage devices (such as external hard drives) are perfect because they can be removed from the original location of the data. It is wise to store your backed up data in a separate room or preferably building as the same fire, flood, theft etc that is destroying your server could also permanently damage your backups.
So, now that you know why you should develop a disaster recovery plan, how different methods of backing up data can reduce the time it takes to successfully do so and where you should be storing your backed up data, you should be in a position to relax. As long as your data is backed up (and in some regards your business too) you can know that should an unexpected disaster occur, your customers will be none the wiser, and your business will remain undamaged.
Avoid Losing Data In Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is an email client (Mail User Agent to some) which I'm sure you know what it does. If not, let me try to explain it as simply as possible. Email clients are programs or application's which retrieves emails from the web server and downloads it onto your desktop.
Now with that out of the way, did you know that you can lose your mails because of your email client? This is a big deal as email is now a large part of communication both in the corporate world and the private/home user.
How can you lose your emails?
When you use email clients, you risk losing your email just like any other data on your desktop. Here is a list:
* - Virus attack
* - Corrupted partitions/volumes
* - Deletion/Format
* - Hard Disk Crash
* - Theft/natural disaster
In Microsoft Outlook versions 2003, 2002, 98 and 97, once Outlook's PST file size goes above 2gb, your emails, or rather, the PST file, gets corrupted.
* - PST corruption
Installation of anti-virus/anti-spyware
Prevention of viruses, spyware and basically all malware is important as they cause your system and programs to become sluggish, unstable and perform undesirable operations.
And since when you use Microsoft outlook, your emails will get affected as the mails on the server gets downloaded onto your computer.
* - Install anti-virus/anti-spyware and update frequently
Anti-virus/anti-spyware is available widely and should often be updated for the latest updates and patches.
Use it to scan you computer, and to scan ALL emails if they contain attachments.
Never download anything directly to your computer unless you are certain of the reliability and credibility of its source.
For a detailed view of how to remove viruses, refer to this article on removing viruses
Backup
The most reliable way to prevent the loss of your Outlook emails is to backup your PST file. To do this, simply copy your PST to another storage media (such as your thumb drive) or another drive on the same computer.
The PST file can be found by simply opening the search function (go to start menu and you can find the search function there) and copy and paste this term into the search box " .pst " without the double quotes.
Wait for the search finish. The default .pst file name is outlook.pst. Then just copy and paste the .pst file onto your backup media. Backup frequently, as you may never know when the outlook files (or any other important files for that matter) gets accidentally deleted, formatted or corrupted.
Computer Maintenance
Although this should already part of your routine, it bears reminding again. You should maintain your system by defragmenting, running scandsk and so on. This is basic maintenance for your computer as it can help prevent file system problems. It also enables your system to run smoothly and prevent system slowdown.
Here is a slew of other maintenance tips for you to look into
Outlook housekeeping
Yes, even in outlook, you need to do some basic maintenance. This is done to prevent your .PST file from getting corrupted.
Before outlook 2003 (and in earlier versions of outlook 2003), the .PST file limit was set at 2GB. If the .PST file size exceeded this limit, it would be very difficult, if at all possible, to retrieve any data from the .PST file as it would get corrupted.
When you are doing housekeeping, you are trying to keep this limit down and at the same time, helps in organising you mails so that they are easier to retrieve when you need to read them again.
How do you do that? Simple.
Delete all the old mails that you do not need, and remember to empty the trash. Categorise all your mails accordingly. For example, all your work folders should be in a separate folder from you personal emails and so on.
Create a NEW pst file
Another way to keep control of your PST file size is to create another .PST file. Of course, don't create a new .PST file for the sake of creating one.
Have separate .PST files for business and personal mails. To create this a new .PST file, simply open outlook and follow these steps:
* 1.Go to File menu, to New, and then click Outlook Data File
* 2. In the next window, you should see two options. Simply choose Office Outlook Personal Folders file. In Outlook 2003, there is an option to increase compatibility with older outlook versions, choose the Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File option. Click Ok
* 3. Then choose an appropriate location to save your new .PST in. Choose a location, and the type in the filename of your new .PST file.
And there you have it. A new .PST file, all ready for use.
In actual fact, prevention of lost Outlook mails is not hard. However, you need to be constantly maintaining your system and backing up your mails which take up precious time. It is a necessary step to take to prevent you from losing all your precious emails.
Now with that out of the way, did you know that you can lose your mails because of your email client? This is a big deal as email is now a large part of communication both in the corporate world and the private/home user.
How can you lose your emails?
When you use email clients, you risk losing your email just like any other data on your desktop. Here is a list:
* - Virus attack
* - Corrupted partitions/volumes
* - Deletion/Format
* - Hard Disk Crash
* - Theft/natural disaster
In Microsoft Outlook versions 2003, 2002, 98 and 97, once Outlook's PST file size goes above 2gb, your emails, or rather, the PST file, gets corrupted.
* - PST corruption
Installation of anti-virus/anti-spyware
Prevention of viruses, spyware and basically all malware is important as they cause your system and programs to become sluggish, unstable and perform undesirable operations.
And since when you use Microsoft outlook, your emails will get affected as the mails on the server gets downloaded onto your computer.
* - Install anti-virus/anti-spyware and update frequently
Anti-virus/anti-spyware is available widely and should often be updated for the latest updates and patches.
Use it to scan you computer, and to scan ALL emails if they contain attachments.
Never download anything directly to your computer unless you are certain of the reliability and credibility of its source.
For a detailed view of how to remove viruses, refer to this article on removing viruses
Backup
The most reliable way to prevent the loss of your Outlook emails is to backup your PST file. To do this, simply copy your PST to another storage media (such as your thumb drive) or another drive on the same computer.
The PST file can be found by simply opening the search function (go to start menu and you can find the search function there) and copy and paste this term into the search box " .pst " without the double quotes.
Wait for the search finish. The default .pst file name is outlook.pst. Then just copy and paste the .pst file onto your backup media. Backup frequently, as you may never know when the outlook files (or any other important files for that matter) gets accidentally deleted, formatted or corrupted.
Computer Maintenance
Although this should already part of your routine, it bears reminding again. You should maintain your system by defragmenting, running scandsk and so on. This is basic maintenance for your computer as it can help prevent file system problems. It also enables your system to run smoothly and prevent system slowdown.
Here is a slew of other maintenance tips for you to look into
Outlook housekeeping
Yes, even in outlook, you need to do some basic maintenance. This is done to prevent your .PST file from getting corrupted.
Before outlook 2003 (and in earlier versions of outlook 2003), the .PST file limit was set at 2GB. If the .PST file size exceeded this limit, it would be very difficult, if at all possible, to retrieve any data from the .PST file as it would get corrupted.
When you are doing housekeeping, you are trying to keep this limit down and at the same time, helps in organising you mails so that they are easier to retrieve when you need to read them again.
How do you do that? Simple.
Delete all the old mails that you do not need, and remember to empty the trash. Categorise all your mails accordingly. For example, all your work folders should be in a separate folder from you personal emails and so on.
Create a NEW pst file
Another way to keep control of your PST file size is to create another .PST file. Of course, don't create a new .PST file for the sake of creating one.
Have separate .PST files for business and personal mails. To create this a new .PST file, simply open outlook and follow these steps:
* 1.Go to File menu, to New, and then click Outlook Data File
* 2. In the next window, you should see two options. Simply choose Office Outlook Personal Folders file. In Outlook 2003, there is an option to increase compatibility with older outlook versions, choose the Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File option. Click Ok
* 3. Then choose an appropriate location to save your new .PST in. Choose a location, and the type in the filename of your new .PST file.
And there you have it. A new .PST file, all ready for use.
In actual fact, prevention of lost Outlook mails is not hard. However, you need to be constantly maintaining your system and backing up your mails which take up precious time. It is a necessary step to take to prevent you from losing all your precious emails.
Monday, February 18, 2008
What Do You Need To Backup Online?
Deciding what information and data files you need to backup online can depend on a few things. The first thing to consider is that most online backup services give you a certain amount of storage either free as a trial, or a limited "starter" account for a small fee. The second thing to consider in choosing what to back up is to ask yourself "what data could you afford to lose if the inevitable actually happened?"
While there are many online backup service options to choose from, each level, or plan, usually has a free trial period. Plans can start out on the low end of about 100 megabytes. If you want additional storage, the subscription amounts will vary up from there, depending on the amount of storage space you'll require.
Regarding the amount of data you have, you might have to make a few choices about what vital data you really need to back up in order to stay under the storage limit if you're going with a smaller plan.
Something to consider: the type of data backup choices you make may also depend on the speed of your internet connection. If you have DSL or Cable high speed access, you'll be able to upload large amounts of data in a very short time. If you have a dial-up connection, however, uploading data will could be a slow and tedious process.
Most word processing documents and such are pretty small files, and you can back them up rather quickly no matter what your internet connection speed. If you're planning to back up entire databases, graphic files or large applications though, you may need to be much more selective if you're choosing a limited plan.
What you back up finally depends on whether or not an online service is your main method for backing up your data. If you already back up your data on company-owned or redundant servers, or just external hard drives at home and simply use the online service to access files when you travel, it's a relatively easy decision. You will just back up those few vital files that you think you'll need when you are on the road.
Ultimately, your decision on what data you need to back up will be determined by the cost of possibly losing any or all of it. If you own your own business, it may be wise to have someone take inventory of what you have stored on your machines, then ask the most pessimistic techie-types what would be the worst possible scenario that you would need to be prepared for, and which data is most vital.
In the event of a catastrophe, an online service makes a good primary backup option, and you should make sure that you back up all of your vital data no matter how long it takes. It's just safer that way. A remote service will be well away from any disasters in your local - along with your vital data.
While there are many online backup service options to choose from, each level, or plan, usually has a free trial period. Plans can start out on the low end of about 100 megabytes. If you want additional storage, the subscription amounts will vary up from there, depending on the amount of storage space you'll require.
Regarding the amount of data you have, you might have to make a few choices about what vital data you really need to back up in order to stay under the storage limit if you're going with a smaller plan.
Something to consider: the type of data backup choices you make may also depend on the speed of your internet connection. If you have DSL or Cable high speed access, you'll be able to upload large amounts of data in a very short time. If you have a dial-up connection, however, uploading data will could be a slow and tedious process.
Most word processing documents and such are pretty small files, and you can back them up rather quickly no matter what your internet connection speed. If you're planning to back up entire databases, graphic files or large applications though, you may need to be much more selective if you're choosing a limited plan.
What you back up finally depends on whether or not an online service is your main method for backing up your data. If you already back up your data on company-owned or redundant servers, or just external hard drives at home and simply use the online service to access files when you travel, it's a relatively easy decision. You will just back up those few vital files that you think you'll need when you are on the road.
Ultimately, your decision on what data you need to back up will be determined by the cost of possibly losing any or all of it. If you own your own business, it may be wise to have someone take inventory of what you have stored on your machines, then ask the most pessimistic techie-types what would be the worst possible scenario that you would need to be prepared for, and which data is most vital.
In the event of a catastrophe, an online service makes a good primary backup option, and you should make sure that you back up all of your vital data no matter how long it takes. It's just safer that way. A remote service will be well away from any disasters in your local - along with your vital data.
When Data Recovery Becomes Impossible
Data Recovery Can Sometimes Becomes Unfeasible And Unable To Realize:
If you have a hard drive that has crashed, the most important thing you can do is contact a data recovery professional immediately. Make sure you aren't being charged evaluation fees if you have a standard IDE hard drive. Most companies only charge evaluation fees for complex RAID and network server drives.
It is important to do your homework, call and talk with the companies. When you find one that you feel comfortable with, give them a chance. Your hardest job, may be finding data recovery firms that actually have someone available to answer the phones. Ask questions and be sure to have the following information available: Size of the drive, Operating system (i.e. Windows 98, Windows XP, etc.), Situation of failure (what happened just before the drive stopped working), is the drive recognized by the computer or not.
Lost Data can be recovered:
Whether you own your own business or work for someone that does you'll find that data protection is one of the smartest and safest approaches you can take to ensure the profitability and livelihood of your business. When dealing with data recovery and protection it is vital you remain calm and assess whether you are dealing with a hard drive or other issue. Fortunately no matter how dire the situation you can usually follow some easy steps to ensure maximum data recovery in the event of a computer crash.
Specialist data recovery services have many methods of recovering your data depending on your specific problem. However, all service providers do not have the most advanced knowledge or technology and can do more harm than good. Therefore, if your data is critical always seek a professional who will provide an evaluation before proceeding with the recovery. This will give you a listing of all recoverable files and summaries the reasons for the loss, together with a quote to fully recover your data.
Seek For Consultant Help:
But how do you go about finding a data recovery consultant? Firms' services can be expensive and the risk of data loss can still be high if you do not research a firm beforehand. Contact a service provider and find a convenient, but reputable company to turn to. A consultant may cost a lot more than sending your drive out to a firm, but at least repair can be on your own turf. Weigh the costs and benefits and decide what is best - either way, your data is probably safer in an experts hand and not your own.
The Internet is also a great way to find out about a firms personnel and services. Often you can even read recommendations by other clients. But don't just research a firm from afar; go ahead and make time to have a chat with employees so you can be assured of their qualifications.
The actual recovery may be conducted in a number of ways. If the media is physically damaged, or there are internal mechanical or electrical problems, the recovery may be completed in a laboratory or clean room. Depending on the fault, there are occasions when the recovery can be conducted direct from your location via modem or internet on a secure data link. Alternatively engineers can visit your site if security is an issue, or your data is critical. Regardless, reputable data recovery specialists should be able to work on any operating system or storage medium and be able to recover your data in as little as 24 hours if necessary. With all these means at their disposal, the specialist should be able to recover lost data in 80% of situations.
If you have a hard drive that has crashed, the most important thing you can do is contact a data recovery professional immediately. Make sure you aren't being charged evaluation fees if you have a standard IDE hard drive. Most companies only charge evaluation fees for complex RAID and network server drives.
It is important to do your homework, call and talk with the companies. When you find one that you feel comfortable with, give them a chance. Your hardest job, may be finding data recovery firms that actually have someone available to answer the phones. Ask questions and be sure to have the following information available: Size of the drive, Operating system (i.e. Windows 98, Windows XP, etc.), Situation of failure (what happened just before the drive stopped working), is the drive recognized by the computer or not.
Lost Data can be recovered:
Whether you own your own business or work for someone that does you'll find that data protection is one of the smartest and safest approaches you can take to ensure the profitability and livelihood of your business. When dealing with data recovery and protection it is vital you remain calm and assess whether you are dealing with a hard drive or other issue. Fortunately no matter how dire the situation you can usually follow some easy steps to ensure maximum data recovery in the event of a computer crash.
Specialist data recovery services have many methods of recovering your data depending on your specific problem. However, all service providers do not have the most advanced knowledge or technology and can do more harm than good. Therefore, if your data is critical always seek a professional who will provide an evaluation before proceeding with the recovery. This will give you a listing of all recoverable files and summaries the reasons for the loss, together with a quote to fully recover your data.
Seek For Consultant Help:
But how do you go about finding a data recovery consultant? Firms' services can be expensive and the risk of data loss can still be high if you do not research a firm beforehand. Contact a service provider and find a convenient, but reputable company to turn to. A consultant may cost a lot more than sending your drive out to a firm, but at least repair can be on your own turf. Weigh the costs and benefits and decide what is best - either way, your data is probably safer in an experts hand and not your own.
The Internet is also a great way to find out about a firms personnel and services. Often you can even read recommendations by other clients. But don't just research a firm from afar; go ahead and make time to have a chat with employees so you can be assured of their qualifications.
The actual recovery may be conducted in a number of ways. If the media is physically damaged, or there are internal mechanical or electrical problems, the recovery may be completed in a laboratory or clean room. Depending on the fault, there are occasions when the recovery can be conducted direct from your location via modem or internet on a secure data link. Alternatively engineers can visit your site if security is an issue, or your data is critical. Regardless, reputable data recovery specialists should be able to work on any operating system or storage medium and be able to recover your data in as little as 24 hours if necessary. With all these means at their disposal, the specialist should be able to recover lost data in 80% of situations.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Can You Undelete Internet Explorer History
Internet Explorer builds up a history of the websites you've visited. Every so often, it can pay to clear it out. But what if you do this and didn't mean to? Can you undelete Internet Explorer history?
As always with Windows, there's more than one answer to this question.
The simple one is to use Windows built-in Restore feature.
At intervals, modern versions of Windows take a snapshot of your computer. These snapshots are called "restore points". If you regularly install software, it can be worth manually setting a restore point before going ahead with the software setup routine. That way, if something nasty happens you can get your system back to how it was.
The chances are that you'll have a reasonably recent restore point set by your system. It's then just a matter of running Windows Restore and you should get all your Internet Explorer history back.
But sometimes there are reasons that restore points don't exist.
Maybe you've changed your system settings so that they aren't automatically taken. Or maybe some malicious software has changed the setting for you. Or it may not even be safe to restore your system - maybe you've recently cleaned out a virus and the nearest restore point is actually before you got rid of the thing. You probably don't want to go to the hassle of re-ridding yourself of a virus. Or the latest system restore was taken before you installed a complicated piece of software.
What can you do in these instances to undelete your Internet Explorer history?
Depending on what other software you are running, there's a chance that there are some other files used by Internet Explorer to track your browsing history. These files are called index.dat and they may be hidden by the system and will almost certainly be littered across your hard drive in a variety of folders.
You can see why people use software to remove their tracks now, can't you?
So how do you go about finding these files?
Go to your Start menu and select Search.
Choose the "For files and folders..." option from the menu that appears.
Then select the "All files and folders" option.
Several options will be given to you. The file name box needs to have "index.dat" in it (don't type in the quote marks).
Then click the "More advanced options" link and tick the "Search hidden files and folders" option as well as the options that are already pre-selected for you.
If Windows thinks you've got more than one hard drive, just select "Local Disk (C:) from the drop down list.
Then click the Search button and let Windows go off and present you with a list of files. You may want to go off and grab a coffee while it does this.
Whilst you could open these files in a word processor, they won't make much sense when you view them. So you're going to need a specialist piece of software to read them - just use your favorite search engine and search for "index.dat reader". Use the software you find to open these index.dat files and get your browsing history back.
As always with Windows, there's more than one answer to this question.
The simple one is to use Windows built-in Restore feature.
At intervals, modern versions of Windows take a snapshot of your computer. These snapshots are called "restore points". If you regularly install software, it can be worth manually setting a restore point before going ahead with the software setup routine. That way, if something nasty happens you can get your system back to how it was.
The chances are that you'll have a reasonably recent restore point set by your system. It's then just a matter of running Windows Restore and you should get all your Internet Explorer history back.
But sometimes there are reasons that restore points don't exist.
Maybe you've changed your system settings so that they aren't automatically taken. Or maybe some malicious software has changed the setting for you. Or it may not even be safe to restore your system - maybe you've recently cleaned out a virus and the nearest restore point is actually before you got rid of the thing. You probably don't want to go to the hassle of re-ridding yourself of a virus. Or the latest system restore was taken before you installed a complicated piece of software.
What can you do in these instances to undelete your Internet Explorer history?
Depending on what other software you are running, there's a chance that there are some other files used by Internet Explorer to track your browsing history. These files are called index.dat and they may be hidden by the system and will almost certainly be littered across your hard drive in a variety of folders.
You can see why people use software to remove their tracks now, can't you?
So how do you go about finding these files?
Go to your Start menu and select Search.
Choose the "For files and folders..." option from the menu that appears.
Then select the "All files and folders" option.
Several options will be given to you. The file name box needs to have "index.dat" in it (don't type in the quote marks).
Then click the "More advanced options" link and tick the "Search hidden files and folders" option as well as the options that are already pre-selected for you.
If Windows thinks you've got more than one hard drive, just select "Local Disk (C:) from the drop down list.
Then click the Search button and let Windows go off and present you with a list of files. You may want to go off and grab a coffee while it does this.
Whilst you could open these files in a word processor, they won't make much sense when you view them. So you're going to need a specialist piece of software to read them - just use your favorite search engine and search for "index.dat reader". Use the software you find to open these index.dat files and get your browsing history back.
What Do You Need To Backup Online?
Deciding what information and data files you need to backup online can depend on a few things. The first thing to consider is that most online backup services give you a certain amount of storage either free as a trial, or a limited "starter" account for a small fee. The second thing to consider in choosing what to back up is to ask yourself "what data could you afford to lose if the inevitable actually happened?"
While there are many online backup service options to choose from, each level, or plan, usually has a free trial period. Plans can start out on the low end of about 100 megabytes. If you want additional storage, the subscription amounts will vary up from there, depending on the amount of storage space you'll require.
Regarding the amount of data you have, you might have to make a few choices about what vital data you really need to back up in order to stay under the storage limit if you're going with a smaller plan.
Something to consider: the type of data backup choices you make may also depend on the speed of your internet connection. If you have DSL or Cable high speed access, you'll be able to upload large amounts of data in a very short time. If you have a dial-up connection, however, uploading data will could be a slow and tedious process.
Most word processing documents and such are pretty small files, and you can back them up rather quickly no matter what your internet connection speed. If you're planning to back up entire databases, graphic files or large applications though, you may need to be much more selective if you're choosing a limited plan.
What you back up finally depends on whether or not an online service is your main method for backing up your data. If you already back up your data on company-owned or redundant servers, or just external hard drives at home and simply use the online service to access files when you travel, it's a relatively easy decision. You will just back up those few vital files that you think you'll need when you are on the road.
Ultimately, your decision on what data you need to back up will be determined by the cost of possibly losing any or all of it. If you own your own business, it may be wise to have someone take inventory of what you have stored on your machines, then ask the most pessimistic techie-types what would be the worst possible scenario that you would need to be prepared for, and which data is most vital.
In the event of a catastrophe, an online service makes a good primary backup option, and you should make sure that you back up all of your vital data no matter how long it takes. It's just safer that way. A remote service will be well away from any disasters in your local - along with your vital data.
So, what data can you afford to lose? For the little bit of time involved, and the small overall expense, (like the cost of a good cup of coffee per day) you can't afford not backing up your vital files. Especially if the life of your business may depend on it.
While there are many online backup service options to choose from, each level, or plan, usually has a free trial period. Plans can start out on the low end of about 100 megabytes. If you want additional storage, the subscription amounts will vary up from there, depending on the amount of storage space you'll require.
Regarding the amount of data you have, you might have to make a few choices about what vital data you really need to back up in order to stay under the storage limit if you're going with a smaller plan.
Something to consider: the type of data backup choices you make may also depend on the speed of your internet connection. If you have DSL or Cable high speed access, you'll be able to upload large amounts of data in a very short time. If you have a dial-up connection, however, uploading data will could be a slow and tedious process.
Most word processing documents and such are pretty small files, and you can back them up rather quickly no matter what your internet connection speed. If you're planning to back up entire databases, graphic files or large applications though, you may need to be much more selective if you're choosing a limited plan.
What you back up finally depends on whether or not an online service is your main method for backing up your data. If you already back up your data on company-owned or redundant servers, or just external hard drives at home and simply use the online service to access files when you travel, it's a relatively easy decision. You will just back up those few vital files that you think you'll need when you are on the road.
Ultimately, your decision on what data you need to back up will be determined by the cost of possibly losing any or all of it. If you own your own business, it may be wise to have someone take inventory of what you have stored on your machines, then ask the most pessimistic techie-types what would be the worst possible scenario that you would need to be prepared for, and which data is most vital.
In the event of a catastrophe, an online service makes a good primary backup option, and you should make sure that you back up all of your vital data no matter how long it takes. It's just safer that way. A remote service will be well away from any disasters in your local - along with your vital data.
So, what data can you afford to lose? For the little bit of time involved, and the small overall expense, (like the cost of a good cup of coffee per day) you can't afford not backing up your vital files. Especially if the life of your business may depend on it.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Battle For A Healthy Operating System - Paid Vs. Free Registry Cleaner
In the past years there has always been a continually huge demand for a free registry cleaner. The entire world is combined by the internet, after all, we are living in the digital age. The World Wide Web has become a must for lots of people. Therefore, many businesses and many homes have invested on computers. 92% of these computers are running under the Windows operating system.
Windows OS maintains a directory wherein the options and settings for a variety of processes of the platform are stored. This directory is called the registry. Every function, every program, and every hardware detail are represented in the registry. And the registry is the section most flat to risk.
While solutions needed to fix registry problems one wants it to be cost-friendly. And this is why a free registry cleaner is highly desired.
But how does a free registry cleaner load up up against commercial releases?
If they are compared against each other, which will win the battle for a healthy operating system: the free registry cleaner or the paid registry fix?
Round 1: Changing With The Changing Times
One of the major obstacles encountered by a publisher of a free registry cleaner is, without a doubt, funding. Revenues, of course, are needed to make the product even better. Revenues are used for further research and development, to fix bugs that are discovered, and to upgrade the solution so that it may cope up with the changing times.
Funding is one of the main problems, a publisher of a free registry cleaner have. Money is needed to make the product even better. The publisher needs the revenues for research and development, to fix bugs and to upgrade the software to manage with the changing time.
Commercial reg cleaners don't have this problem. A percentage of the profit they earn is allotted to R&D. And they can also offer free support and updates for the customer.
Round 2: Show Me The Money
From where does a free registry cleaner get its revenues then? Most free registry cleaners sell advertising spots. A free registry cleaner can display advertisements on the download page. Or a free registry cleaner can display advertisements on the interface of the program itself. Some user might not like this but this is necessary for the registry cleaner to stay free.
Round 3: Free Vs. Pseudo Free
Surely, most commercial reg cleaners offer trial versions of their products, but often, such trial versions have unfinished features. Also, because the need to clean the registry may occur at any time, there is no guarantee that the trial version will be usable when such a time comes. Free is free.
Windows OS maintains a directory wherein the options and settings for a variety of processes of the platform are stored. This directory is called the registry. Every function, every program, and every hardware detail are represented in the registry. And the registry is the section most flat to risk.
While solutions needed to fix registry problems one wants it to be cost-friendly. And this is why a free registry cleaner is highly desired.
But how does a free registry cleaner load up up against commercial releases?
If they are compared against each other, which will win the battle for a healthy operating system: the free registry cleaner or the paid registry fix?
Round 1: Changing With The Changing Times
One of the major obstacles encountered by a publisher of a free registry cleaner is, without a doubt, funding. Revenues, of course, are needed to make the product even better. Revenues are used for further research and development, to fix bugs that are discovered, and to upgrade the solution so that it may cope up with the changing times.
Funding is one of the main problems, a publisher of a free registry cleaner have. Money is needed to make the product even better. The publisher needs the revenues for research and development, to fix bugs and to upgrade the software to manage with the changing time.
Commercial reg cleaners don't have this problem. A percentage of the profit they earn is allotted to R&D. And they can also offer free support and updates for the customer.
Round 2: Show Me The Money
From where does a free registry cleaner get its revenues then? Most free registry cleaners sell advertising spots. A free registry cleaner can display advertisements on the download page. Or a free registry cleaner can display advertisements on the interface of the program itself. Some user might not like this but this is necessary for the registry cleaner to stay free.
Round 3: Free Vs. Pseudo Free
Surely, most commercial reg cleaners offer trial versions of their products, but often, such trial versions have unfinished features. Also, because the need to clean the registry may occur at any time, there is no guarantee that the trial version will be usable when such a time comes. Free is free.
Data Disaster Recovery Plan for Total Disaster
(A) Scope
This DR Plan is designed for the worst case scenario. i.e. complete loss of the site - fire, water damage (flood), earthquake.
Here are the key areas that you need to focus:
* Crisis Management Procedures
* Security Procedures held by Building Security
* List of emergency contact names held by Senior Management.
* Backup/ Recovery Procedures
* Inventory List(s) (what required / can be savaged)
* Business Continuity Plans
* DR Test, BCP Test (These can be provided by DR Managed Service)
(B) Invocation Procedures
This is an important and often ignored section of the plan that should be given great attention. It is also imperative that the procedures defined here are included in the testing schedule as plans invariably flounder at this early stage due to lack of familiarity with how to set the recovery process in motion. It should contain details of who is authorized to invoke the plan, and how this is to be done.
Purpose
In a disaster situation people will need to take on special responsibilities to effect the data recovery.
Such responsibilities need to be defined clearly, and the assignments can then be made from the pool of staff available at the time. Provisional allocations have been made but will be confirmed at the time with the personnel available.
Records should be kept of personnel assigned to specific teams in order that the recovery process is controlled in an orderly manner and that a record of staff not actively involved on-site is maintained (this can then be used if required to call on extra resource as/when necessary).
Telephone Numbers are one of the important contributing factor to the success of data disaster recovery. Imagine during emergency, you cannot contact a technical personal responsible for a specific system as you do not his/her number!
At Disaster Recovery site, ensure the following are available:
* Server Room Filing Cabinet
* Standard Build Documentation
* Application Restore Procedures
* Technical Manuals
* Disaster Recovery Plan copy
* Contact Numbers of your own Personnel
* Contact Numbers of Disaster Recovery Service (Your appointed DR Vendor)
Remote backup will assist in backup process in the offsite backup centre. The remote backup can be done via communication lines such as Wide Area Network or Private Lease Line (encrypted line is recommended).
Inventory
Following loss of HW and SW, it will be necessary to set insurance claims processing in motion. To assist in this process inventories of hardware and software should be maintained.
Hardware and Software Inventory (This encompasses IT e.g. PCs, Servers and also non IT asset e.g. furniture and fixtures, phones, important documents etc.
Plan Testing
Purpose
It is imperative that detailed testing plans are produced to support the Disaster Recovery document. The plan is not a working document until it has been fully tested and proven using the Disaster Recovery Software.
Here is an example of a Data Disaster Recovery form that you can use:
Please enter details of all attempts made whether successful or unsuccessful.
Recovery of Country Data Centre
In the event of Disaster (e.g. fire, water damage - flood) in the company with a total loss of servers and networks, we will bring up the critical servers in this location.
(C) In-House Recovery
* Action: Retrieve backup tapes from offsite centre
* Action: 2 hours - can recovery a month old data. Offsite backup tape is 1 month old data.
DISASTER DATA RECOVERY SITE TEAM
Once decision taken to invoke this Plan Data Disaster Recovery Plan, the following checklists are recommended:
* Locate /Install DR Server(s) - server disaster recovery
* Contact third party suppliers for additional equipment (if required)
* Equipment available at DR site Install and test Disaster Recovery equipment and connectivity
* Connect up Switches and Server
* Test all network points
* Install/Test workstations
* DR site established Restore application(s)
* Recover latest copies of system and data backups
* Restore operating system environment
* Restore applications
* Restore data files
* Notify user management of availability and status
* Restoration complete Hand over
* Obtain user acceptance
* Leave contact details for support.
This DR Plan is designed for the worst case scenario. i.e. complete loss of the site - fire, water damage (flood), earthquake.
Here are the key areas that you need to focus:
* Crisis Management Procedures
* Security Procedures held by Building Security
* List of emergency contact names held by Senior Management.
* Backup/ Recovery Procedures
* Inventory List(s) (what required / can be savaged)
* Business Continuity Plans
* DR Test, BCP Test (These can be provided by DR Managed Service)
(B) Invocation Procedures
This is an important and often ignored section of the plan that should be given great attention. It is also imperative that the procedures defined here are included in the testing schedule as plans invariably flounder at this early stage due to lack of familiarity with how to set the recovery process in motion. It should contain details of who is authorized to invoke the plan, and how this is to be done.
Purpose
In a disaster situation people will need to take on special responsibilities to effect the data recovery.
Such responsibilities need to be defined clearly, and the assignments can then be made from the pool of staff available at the time. Provisional allocations have been made but will be confirmed at the time with the personnel available.
Records should be kept of personnel assigned to specific teams in order that the recovery process is controlled in an orderly manner and that a record of staff not actively involved on-site is maintained (this can then be used if required to call on extra resource as/when necessary).
Telephone Numbers are one of the important contributing factor to the success of data disaster recovery. Imagine during emergency, you cannot contact a technical personal responsible for a specific system as you do not his/her number!
At Disaster Recovery site, ensure the following are available:
* Server Room Filing Cabinet
* Standard Build Documentation
* Application Restore Procedures
* Technical Manuals
* Disaster Recovery Plan copy
* Contact Numbers of your own Personnel
* Contact Numbers of Disaster Recovery Service (Your appointed DR Vendor)
Remote backup will assist in backup process in the offsite backup centre. The remote backup can be done via communication lines such as Wide Area Network or Private Lease Line (encrypted line is recommended).
Inventory
Following loss of HW and SW, it will be necessary to set insurance claims processing in motion. To assist in this process inventories of hardware and software should be maintained.
Hardware and Software Inventory (This encompasses IT e.g. PCs, Servers and also non IT asset e.g. furniture and fixtures, phones, important documents etc.
Plan Testing
Purpose
It is imperative that detailed testing plans are produced to support the Disaster Recovery document. The plan is not a working document until it has been fully tested and proven using the Disaster Recovery Software.
Here is an example of a Data Disaster Recovery form that you can use:
Please enter details of all attempts made whether successful or unsuccessful.
Recovery of Country Data Centre
In the event of Disaster (e.g. fire, water damage - flood) in the company with a total loss of servers and networks, we will bring up the critical servers in this location.
(C) In-House Recovery
* Action: Retrieve backup tapes from offsite centre
* Action: 2 hours - can recovery a month old data. Offsite backup tape is 1 month old data.
DISASTER DATA RECOVERY SITE TEAM
Once decision taken to invoke this Plan Data Disaster Recovery Plan, the following checklists are recommended:
* Locate /Install DR Server(s) - server disaster recovery
* Contact third party suppliers for additional equipment (if required)
* Equipment available at DR site Install and test Disaster Recovery equipment and connectivity
* Connect up Switches and Server
* Test all network points
* Install/Test workstations
* DR site established Restore application(s)
* Recover latest copies of system and data backups
* Restore operating system environment
* Restore applications
* Restore data files
* Notify user management of availability and status
* Restoration complete Hand over
* Obtain user acceptance
* Leave contact details for support.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Protect Data In A Macintosh Environment
Messaging
OS X Server 10.4 and beyond is equipped with embedded iChat Server. Developed on the jabber protocol, Mac OS X Server has the ability to farm jabber services to any jabber-able client; this includes iChat, Adium X on Mac OS X, and Trillian for Windows. Your employees are able to communicate with each other on the network, or with remote access, to exchange files, text, and audiovisual chat. It's all able to be administrated from Mac OS X's Open Directory. Enabling the service on the X Admin application is a simple process. Sysadmins are able to encrypt by making a self-signed certificate or by simply going with a vendor such as GoDaddy or Verisign - to encrypt all IM communications. The best thing is that there aren't any client access license limitations. You may even already use an Active Directory system; if so, no problem. Just merge OS X to Active Directory, and use the AD credentials to IM with the iChat.
Content
A profile or group is able to be managed locally or on the OS X Server. This lets sysadmins block users from particular websites, even allowing the creation of an all-inclusive list of sites which employees are allowed to visit. If you already have Web Filtering by Postini in use, consider using it in tandem with the OS X policy to restrict undesirable content away from your employees' web browsers.
Security
You really should be proactive about the security of your small business, and that's exactly why OS X is complete with secure encryption of nearly all aspects of the user's experience. Three top ways to maintain safe and secure data include:
1) File Vault can encrypt the whole profile or folder into a disk image which is kept on the local system, protected by password.
2) Applemail and Entourage are both able to be modified for certificates which are self-signed or commercial-verified. Thawte provides free certificates by email, and other companies supply the same at low cost. This can allow workers to transmit encrypted email amongst each other as clients.
3) Keychain assistant, built into OS X, provides easy ways to store credentials in a high-security encrypted area, automatically.
The keychain created by OS X is pre-set to unlock after logging in, and lock again upon logging out. This allows users to keep passwords and other credentials secure. Apple's password assistant shows you the encryption strength of a password live as it is being selected. The user can develop the benefit of Keychain assistant by creating secure keychain notes manually, even adding several keychains devoted to storing certain kinds of passwords, software serial numbers, personal info, etc.
Archives
As you probably have an incredible number of emails or locally-stored files, it may be difficult for the newbie user to search for a particular file or email. Fortunately, OS X 10.4 comes with Spotlight, which PC-users can really only be prepared for using with prerequisite knowledge of Google Desktop or Windows Vista search tools. Spotlight is able to locate files by name, content, or file type. It's even able to do a boolean query, like 'apple .xls' to find Excel spreadsheets with 'apple' in the name. Spotlight can also be extended by the use of valuable plugins.
OS X Server 10.4 and beyond is equipped with embedded iChat Server. Developed on the jabber protocol, Mac OS X Server has the ability to farm jabber services to any jabber-able client; this includes iChat, Adium X on Mac OS X, and Trillian for Windows. Your employees are able to communicate with each other on the network, or with remote access, to exchange files, text, and audiovisual chat. It's all able to be administrated from Mac OS X's Open Directory. Enabling the service on the X Admin application is a simple process. Sysadmins are able to encrypt by making a self-signed certificate or by simply going with a vendor such as GoDaddy or Verisign - to encrypt all IM communications. The best thing is that there aren't any client access license limitations. You may even already use an Active Directory system; if so, no problem. Just merge OS X to Active Directory, and use the AD credentials to IM with the iChat.
Content
A profile or group is able to be managed locally or on the OS X Server. This lets sysadmins block users from particular websites, even allowing the creation of an all-inclusive list of sites which employees are allowed to visit. If you already have Web Filtering by Postini in use, consider using it in tandem with the OS X policy to restrict undesirable content away from your employees' web browsers.
Security
You really should be proactive about the security of your small business, and that's exactly why OS X is complete with secure encryption of nearly all aspects of the user's experience. Three top ways to maintain safe and secure data include:
1) File Vault can encrypt the whole profile or folder into a disk image which is kept on the local system, protected by password.
2) Applemail and Entourage are both able to be modified for certificates which are self-signed or commercial-verified. Thawte provides free certificates by email, and other companies supply the same at low cost. This can allow workers to transmit encrypted email amongst each other as clients.
3) Keychain assistant, built into OS X, provides easy ways to store credentials in a high-security encrypted area, automatically.
The keychain created by OS X is pre-set to unlock after logging in, and lock again upon logging out. This allows users to keep passwords and other credentials secure. Apple's password assistant shows you the encryption strength of a password live as it is being selected. The user can develop the benefit of Keychain assistant by creating secure keychain notes manually, even adding several keychains devoted to storing certain kinds of passwords, software serial numbers, personal info, etc.
Archives
As you probably have an incredible number of emails or locally-stored files, it may be difficult for the newbie user to search for a particular file or email. Fortunately, OS X 10.4 comes with Spotlight, which PC-users can really only be prepared for using with prerequisite knowledge of Google Desktop or Windows Vista search tools. Spotlight is able to locate files by name, content, or file type. It's even able to do a boolean query, like 'apple .xls' to find Excel spreadsheets with 'apple' in the name. Spotlight can also be extended by the use of valuable plugins.
Data Recovery Can't Guarantee To Recover Lost Files But It Sure Does Offer Some Hope
Most of us know how it feels like to lose a cherished file or a very important one. Many things can happen to bring about such a tragedy. You can blame it on programming errors, system failures, viral infections, hardware damage and many more mishaps. Whatever the cause, data loss can be emotionally difficult to manage. It is important to remember though that there may be some things that you can do to recover your files. Although there is no guarantee of absolute data recovery, there is at least some chance.
Sometimes though, people shy away from data recovery because they think they may not be able to afford it. It is true that in some specific cases, the recovery of lost data may cost a lot. There are however, certain alternative avenues to recovery that may not require prohibitive expenses. You may have to spend only minimal amounts to get your precious data back. You should first assess the value of your lost files though. Before picking an option for data recovery, decide how much and how far you should go just to restore your files. Once you have made this clear, you can pick the appropriate recovery option to retrieve lost files.
One good option for data recovery is to purchase software intended for your specific use. You shouldn't forget though that there are many different kinds of software programs available for recovery. Some have been specifically designed for specific systems only. Not every available software will work wonders on your system. There are also some programs that will work best only for certain data loss causes. As you already know, you may lose your files for a variety of reasons. Before settling for any data recovery software or freeware, you should be certain that a specific product will fit your conditions and needs. Read product specifications and make sure to ask questions if there is something you aren't sure about.
Sometimes, the recovery of lost files may be more than your software can handle. When affordable programs do not work then you may have to contact data recovery services. You can pay an expert to take a look at your problem and find the best way to recover your files. Expert services naturally have some edge over software. You would benefit from the wider expert assessment and careful judgment of an expert. You should especially consider hiring an expert if the files that have to be recovered have a high value and cannot be reconstructed. It might be too risky to use a program in this situation since you might actually end up permanently destroying your files. Experts though may typically cost more than software.
One type of expert for specific circumstances is the forensic expert. You would need his help if the files that need to be retrieved are legal in nature and can assist in the resolution of cases.
You need not weep over lost data because you have options for data recovery. Carefully consider your circumstances and your options. There is a big chance that you might still be able to get back what you have temporarily lost with proper data recovery procedures.
Sometimes though, people shy away from data recovery because they think they may not be able to afford it. It is true that in some specific cases, the recovery of lost data may cost a lot. There are however, certain alternative avenues to recovery that may not require prohibitive expenses. You may have to spend only minimal amounts to get your precious data back. You should first assess the value of your lost files though. Before picking an option for data recovery, decide how much and how far you should go just to restore your files. Once you have made this clear, you can pick the appropriate recovery option to retrieve lost files.
One good option for data recovery is to purchase software intended for your specific use. You shouldn't forget though that there are many different kinds of software programs available for recovery. Some have been specifically designed for specific systems only. Not every available software will work wonders on your system. There are also some programs that will work best only for certain data loss causes. As you already know, you may lose your files for a variety of reasons. Before settling for any data recovery software or freeware, you should be certain that a specific product will fit your conditions and needs. Read product specifications and make sure to ask questions if there is something you aren't sure about.
Sometimes, the recovery of lost files may be more than your software can handle. When affordable programs do not work then you may have to contact data recovery services. You can pay an expert to take a look at your problem and find the best way to recover your files. Expert services naturally have some edge over software. You would benefit from the wider expert assessment and careful judgment of an expert. You should especially consider hiring an expert if the files that have to be recovered have a high value and cannot be reconstructed. It might be too risky to use a program in this situation since you might actually end up permanently destroying your files. Experts though may typically cost more than software.
One type of expert for specific circumstances is the forensic expert. You would need his help if the files that need to be retrieved are legal in nature and can assist in the resolution of cases.
You need not weep over lost data because you have options for data recovery. Carefully consider your circumstances and your options. There is a big chance that you might still be able to get back what you have temporarily lost with proper data recovery procedures.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Protect Data In A Macintosh Environment
Messaging
OS X Server 10.4 and beyond is equipped with embedded iChat Server. Developed on the jabber protocol, Mac OS X Server has the ability to farm jabber services to any jabber-able client; this includes iChat, Adium X on Mac OS X, and Trillian for Windows. Your employees are able to communicate with each other on the network, or with remote access, to exchange files, text, and audiovisual chat. It's all able to be administrated from Mac OS X's Open Directory. Enabling the service on the X Admin application is a simple process. Sysadmins are able to encrypt by making a self-signed certificate or by simply going with a vendor such as GoDaddy or Verisign - to encrypt all IM communications. The best thing is that there aren't any client access license limitations. You may even already use an Active Directory system; if so, no problem. Just merge OS X to Active Directory, and use the AD credentials to IM with the iChat.
Content
A profile or group is able to be managed locally or on the OS X Server. This lets sysadmins block users from particular websites, even allowing the creation of an all-inclusive list of sites which employees are allowed to visit. If you already have Web Filtering by Postini in use, consider using it in tandem with the OS X policy to restrict undesirable content away from your employees' web browsers.
Security
You really should be proactive about the security of your small business, and that's exactly why OS X is complete with secure encryption of nearly all aspects of the user's experience. Three top ways to maintain safe and secure data include:
1) File Vault can encrypt the whole profile or folder into a disk image which is kept on the local system, protected by password.
2) Applemail and Entourage are both able to be modified for certificates which are self-signed or commercial-verified. Thawte provides free certificates by email, and other companies supply the same at low cost. This can allow workers to transmit encrypted email amongst each other as clients.
3) Keychain assistant, built into OS X, provides easy ways to store credentials in a high-security encrypted area, automatically.
The keychain created by OS X is pre-set to unlock after logging in, and lock again upon logging out. This allows users to keep passwords and other credentials secure. Apple's password assistant shows you the encryption strength of a password live as it is being selected. The user can develop the benefit of Keychain assistant by creating secure keychain notes manually, even adding several keychains devoted to storing certain kinds of passwords, software serial numbers, personal info, etc.
Archives
As you probably have an incredible number of emails or locally-stored files, it may be difficult for the newbie user to search for a particular file or email. Fortunately, OS X 10.4 comes with Spotlight, which PC-users can really only be prepared for using with prerequisite knowledge of Google Desktop or Windows Vista search tools. Spotlight is able to locate files by name, content, or file type. It's even able to do a boolean query, like 'apple .xls' to find Excel spreadsheets with 'apple' in the name. Spotlight can also be extended by the use of valuable plugins.
OS X Server 10.4 and beyond is equipped with embedded iChat Server. Developed on the jabber protocol, Mac OS X Server has the ability to farm jabber services to any jabber-able client; this includes iChat, Adium X on Mac OS X, and Trillian for Windows. Your employees are able to communicate with each other on the network, or with remote access, to exchange files, text, and audiovisual chat. It's all able to be administrated from Mac OS X's Open Directory. Enabling the service on the X Admin application is a simple process. Sysadmins are able to encrypt by making a self-signed certificate or by simply going with a vendor such as GoDaddy or Verisign - to encrypt all IM communications. The best thing is that there aren't any client access license limitations. You may even already use an Active Directory system; if so, no problem. Just merge OS X to Active Directory, and use the AD credentials to IM with the iChat.
Content
A profile or group is able to be managed locally or on the OS X Server. This lets sysadmins block users from particular websites, even allowing the creation of an all-inclusive list of sites which employees are allowed to visit. If you already have Web Filtering by Postini in use, consider using it in tandem with the OS X policy to restrict undesirable content away from your employees' web browsers.
Security
You really should be proactive about the security of your small business, and that's exactly why OS X is complete with secure encryption of nearly all aspects of the user's experience. Three top ways to maintain safe and secure data include:
1) File Vault can encrypt the whole profile or folder into a disk image which is kept on the local system, protected by password.
2) Applemail and Entourage are both able to be modified for certificates which are self-signed or commercial-verified. Thawte provides free certificates by email, and other companies supply the same at low cost. This can allow workers to transmit encrypted email amongst each other as clients.
3) Keychain assistant, built into OS X, provides easy ways to store credentials in a high-security encrypted area, automatically.
The keychain created by OS X is pre-set to unlock after logging in, and lock again upon logging out. This allows users to keep passwords and other credentials secure. Apple's password assistant shows you the encryption strength of a password live as it is being selected. The user can develop the benefit of Keychain assistant by creating secure keychain notes manually, even adding several keychains devoted to storing certain kinds of passwords, software serial numbers, personal info, etc.
Archives
As you probably have an incredible number of emails or locally-stored files, it may be difficult for the newbie user to search for a particular file or email. Fortunately, OS X 10.4 comes with Spotlight, which PC-users can really only be prepared for using with prerequisite knowledge of Google Desktop or Windows Vista search tools. Spotlight is able to locate files by name, content, or file type. It's even able to do a boolean query, like 'apple .xls' to find Excel spreadsheets with 'apple' in the name. Spotlight can also be extended by the use of valuable plugins.
Data Recovery Can't Guarantee To Recover Lost Files But It Sure Does Offer Some Hope
Most of us know how it feels like to lose a cherished file or a very important one. Many things can happen to bring about such a tragedy. You can blame it on programming errors, system failures, viral infections, hardware damage and many more mishaps. Whatever the cause, data loss can be emotionally difficult to manage. It is important to remember though that there may be some things that you can do to recover your files. Although there is no guarantee of absolute data recovery, there is at least some chance.
Sometimes though, people shy away from data recovery because they think they may not be able to afford it. It is true that in some specific cases, the recovery of lost data may cost a lot. There are however, certain alternative avenues to recovery that may not require prohibitive expenses. You may have to spend only minimal amounts to get your precious data back. You should first assess the value of your lost files though. Before picking an option for data recovery, decide how much and how far you should go just to restore your files. Once you have made this clear, you can pick the appropriate recovery option to retrieve lost files.
One good option for data recovery is to purchase software intended for your specific use. You shouldn't forget though that there are many different kinds of software programs available for recovery. Some have been specifically designed for specific systems only. Not every available software will work wonders on your system. There are also some programs that will work best only for certain data loss causes. As you already know, you may lose your files for a variety of reasons. Before settling for any data recovery software or freeware, you should be certain that a specific product will fit your conditions and needs. Read product specifications and make sure to ask questions if there is something you aren't sure about.
Sometimes, the recovery of lost files may be more than your software can handle. When affordable programs do not work then you may have to contact data recovery services. You can pay an expert to take a look at your problem and find the best way to recover your files. Expert services naturally have some edge over software. You would benefit from the wider expert assessment and careful judgment of an expert. You should especially consider hiring an expert if the files that have to be recovered have a high value and cannot be reconstructed. It might be too risky to use a program in this situation since you might actually end up permanently destroying your files. Experts though may typically cost more than software.
Sometimes though, people shy away from data recovery because they think they may not be able to afford it. It is true that in some specific cases, the recovery of lost data may cost a lot. There are however, certain alternative avenues to recovery that may not require prohibitive expenses. You may have to spend only minimal amounts to get your precious data back. You should first assess the value of your lost files though. Before picking an option for data recovery, decide how much and how far you should go just to restore your files. Once you have made this clear, you can pick the appropriate recovery option to retrieve lost files.
One good option for data recovery is to purchase software intended for your specific use. You shouldn't forget though that there are many different kinds of software programs available for recovery. Some have been specifically designed for specific systems only. Not every available software will work wonders on your system. There are also some programs that will work best only for certain data loss causes. As you already know, you may lose your files for a variety of reasons. Before settling for any data recovery software or freeware, you should be certain that a specific product will fit your conditions and needs. Read product specifications and make sure to ask questions if there is something you aren't sure about.
Sometimes, the recovery of lost files may be more than your software can handle. When affordable programs do not work then you may have to contact data recovery services. You can pay an expert to take a look at your problem and find the best way to recover your files. Expert services naturally have some edge over software. You would benefit from the wider expert assessment and careful judgment of an expert. You should especially consider hiring an expert if the files that have to be recovered have a high value and cannot be reconstructed. It might be too risky to use a program in this situation since you might actually end up permanently destroying your files. Experts though may typically cost more than software.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Simple Ways to Prevent Data Loss
Sunday night, tomorrow you have an important presentation to deliver or assignment, then without any warning of any kind your screen freezes, you reboot the system after no response from the keyboard or mouse.
No problem the file will be auto saved, hang, what's this message hard disk drive (HDD) not detected ?! gulp, I'll try a reboot, same error!
This kind of scenario can make any IT battle hardened user fold on the spot, but it need not be this way.
The bad news
All hard drives have finite lives and MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) as many other products, however HDD will fail when you least expect it or when it hurts most.
Magnetic storage media aka HDD are electro, mechanical devices which operate at the envelope of mechanical tolerances. What do we mean by this? Well modern hard drives spin platters at speeds from 4200 to 15K which are either metal or glass and covered by a process called spluttering a magnetic sensitive material, now the part which decodes and encodes data directly to the platters are part of the head stack assembly, now the tolerance bit, these heads have to repeat ably go to specific locations on the media quickly (less than 10MS), here is where issues can really happen. The heads "fly" above the platters and contrary to popular belief the disk enclosure is not a vacuum, or how could the heads "fly" above the surface?
Now, due to heat, vibration, shock or system malfunction the head stack assembly may place the heads directly on the surface in a inappropriate place and way, thus damaging the surface; you have what most people would call a head crash.
The heat is on
Ok, so heat really can cause issues for your hard drive and here is why. Excessive heat to the media can cause the thermal expansion to the head stack assembly, thus "shifting" the precise alignment. Magnetic properties also change with thermal variations, and finally the PCB (printed circuit board) can enter a thermal runaway scenario; The motor control chip gets warm, the ambient and working temperature of the drive increases, this affects the resistance to failure which is often the main failure type of PCB failure.
UPS, UPS and away
Finally power cycling of hard drive media can cause catastrophic failure along with excess power and brownouts. Typically this type of failure causes clicking or noisy media.
The good news
Most of the above issues can very easily be avoided with such items as hard drive cooling kits, these supply cool air directly to the hard drive enclosure and PCB.
No problem the file will be auto saved, hang, what's this message hard disk drive (HDD) not detected ?! gulp, I'll try a reboot, same error!
This kind of scenario can make any IT battle hardened user fold on the spot, but it need not be this way.
The bad news
All hard drives have finite lives and MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) as many other products, however HDD will fail when you least expect it or when it hurts most.
Magnetic storage media aka HDD are electro, mechanical devices which operate at the envelope of mechanical tolerances. What do we mean by this? Well modern hard drives spin platters at speeds from 4200 to 15K which are either metal or glass and covered by a process called spluttering a magnetic sensitive material, now the part which decodes and encodes data directly to the platters are part of the head stack assembly, now the tolerance bit, these heads have to repeat ably go to specific locations on the media quickly (less than 10MS), here is where issues can really happen. The heads "fly" above the platters and contrary to popular belief the disk enclosure is not a vacuum, or how could the heads "fly" above the surface?
Now, due to heat, vibration, shock or system malfunction the head stack assembly may place the heads directly on the surface in a inappropriate place and way, thus damaging the surface; you have what most people would call a head crash.
The heat is on
Ok, so heat really can cause issues for your hard drive and here is why. Excessive heat to the media can cause the thermal expansion to the head stack assembly, thus "shifting" the precise alignment. Magnetic properties also change with thermal variations, and finally the PCB (printed circuit board) can enter a thermal runaway scenario; The motor control chip gets warm, the ambient and working temperature of the drive increases, this affects the resistance to failure which is often the main failure type of PCB failure.
UPS, UPS and away
Finally power cycling of hard drive media can cause catastrophic failure along with excess power and brownouts. Typically this type of failure causes clicking or noisy media.
The good news
Most of the above issues can very easily be avoided with such items as hard drive cooling kits, these supply cool air directly to the hard drive enclosure and PCB.
R&D Companies and Data Loss
R&D Companies and Information Technology (IT)
R&D companies, as the acronym suggests, have to engage in a lot of research. A very high level of research is required to come up with a new invention. Therefore, researchers tend to use a lot of data to test the various outcomes and hypothesis. Due to limitations posed by the traditional way of storing data, R&D companies are increasingly storing their valuable data electronically.
R&D companies in the field of medicine tend to painstakingly undertake several experiments. The results of these experiments have to be recorded, evaluated, and maybe even published. While computers can help the researchers to record their findings, Internet can allow the researchers to publish their results with minimal effort.
Since the laptops offer the required mobility while performing research and analysis, most of the researchers in the defence, agriculture, pharmaceutical, defence, aerospace, and biotechnology industries tend to use laptops. Therefore, most of these companies tend to have a dedicated IT department. If the data is mobile, as is the case with laptops, the chances of losing the data are also higher.
If R&D companies are exchanging the research data across the Internet, they also need to be sure that the server is secure because any malicious user can easily misuse the data. More often than not, the data related with R&D is extremely confidential. Therefore, most companies tend to use the latest IT to help them keep their data secure.
Why is R&D Data Important and Valuable?
R&D is a field that requires large amount of investment because of the sheer nature of the industry. In addition, it is not a field that reaps immediate results. Research can take months or years before an appropriate product, equipment, or idea can be developed. Therefore, while the investment is huge, the results may not be apparent. Any data loss or leakage can ruin the entire capital and infrastructure investment.
Companies invest in R&D to stay ahead in the market competition whereas governments invest in R&D to ensure that the country is ahead in technological advancements or for national security. While most companies have to be extremely cautious about their R&D data so as to avoid data or idea leakage lest the competitor steal the idea, the government has to protect the R&D data to ensure that there is no threat to national security.
Protecting the Valuable R&D data
It is imperative to protect the R&D data because of the nature of the data. Most companies create centralised reporting systems so that data can be gathered comprehensively in one place. This minimises the chances of losing your data because the flow of data is restricted.
Some R&D companies do not wish to risk exchanging their data on public networks. Having personalised servers that allow you to exchange data within company in the most secure manner is a very good idea. You can always test the security of these measures and upgrade the security when the need arises.
Data encryption is the most important measure that R&D companies should make use of. Data encryption allows your valuable data to be encrypted before it leaves the secure premises of your office via a network server. Only authorised users with the requisite passwords can gain access to this data. Encrypting the data is the best way to minimise your risk against hackers, data theft, and malicious users.
R&D data is not the kind of data that can be created again once its lost. Therefore, the R&D companies will have to ensure that their valuable data is always backed up appropriately. Using manual backups may not be a good idea because it leaves room for error. Your best bet would be to either use Continuous Data Protection (CDP) or Automated Remote Backups.
CDP technique mirrors the data on two disks. Therefore, even if something happens to one disk, the other disk remains protected. Automated remote backups ensure that your data is automatically backed up and stored in a location that is geographically distant from the primary office site. This ensures that the data remains protected even if a natural or man-made disaster such as terrorist attack occurs at the primary office site.
What to do in the Event of Data Loss?
If all your data protection measures fail, you will need to hire the services of a professional data recovery company. Since the nature of the lost data may be confidential, it would be best if you sign a confidentiality agreement with the company. In addition, make sure that you hire the services of the best company because the cost of recreating your lost data can be much higher than the cost of recovering your data.
R&D companies, as the acronym suggests, have to engage in a lot of research. A very high level of research is required to come up with a new invention. Therefore, researchers tend to use a lot of data to test the various outcomes and hypothesis. Due to limitations posed by the traditional way of storing data, R&D companies are increasingly storing their valuable data electronically.
R&D companies in the field of medicine tend to painstakingly undertake several experiments. The results of these experiments have to be recorded, evaluated, and maybe even published. While computers can help the researchers to record their findings, Internet can allow the researchers to publish their results with minimal effort.
Since the laptops offer the required mobility while performing research and analysis, most of the researchers in the defence, agriculture, pharmaceutical, defence, aerospace, and biotechnology industries tend to use laptops. Therefore, most of these companies tend to have a dedicated IT department. If the data is mobile, as is the case with laptops, the chances of losing the data are also higher.
If R&D companies are exchanging the research data across the Internet, they also need to be sure that the server is secure because any malicious user can easily misuse the data. More often than not, the data related with R&D is extremely confidential. Therefore, most companies tend to use the latest IT to help them keep their data secure.
Why is R&D Data Important and Valuable?
R&D is a field that requires large amount of investment because of the sheer nature of the industry. In addition, it is not a field that reaps immediate results. Research can take months or years before an appropriate product, equipment, or idea can be developed. Therefore, while the investment is huge, the results may not be apparent. Any data loss or leakage can ruin the entire capital and infrastructure investment.
Companies invest in R&D to stay ahead in the market competition whereas governments invest in R&D to ensure that the country is ahead in technological advancements or for national security. While most companies have to be extremely cautious about their R&D data so as to avoid data or idea leakage lest the competitor steal the idea, the government has to protect the R&D data to ensure that there is no threat to national security.
Protecting the Valuable R&D data
It is imperative to protect the R&D data because of the nature of the data. Most companies create centralised reporting systems so that data can be gathered comprehensively in one place. This minimises the chances of losing your data because the flow of data is restricted.
Some R&D companies do not wish to risk exchanging their data on public networks. Having personalised servers that allow you to exchange data within company in the most secure manner is a very good idea. You can always test the security of these measures and upgrade the security when the need arises.
Data encryption is the most important measure that R&D companies should make use of. Data encryption allows your valuable data to be encrypted before it leaves the secure premises of your office via a network server. Only authorised users with the requisite passwords can gain access to this data. Encrypting the data is the best way to minimise your risk against hackers, data theft, and malicious users.
R&D data is not the kind of data that can be created again once its lost. Therefore, the R&D companies will have to ensure that their valuable data is always backed up appropriately. Using manual backups may not be a good idea because it leaves room for error. Your best bet would be to either use Continuous Data Protection (CDP) or Automated Remote Backups.
CDP technique mirrors the data on two disks. Therefore, even if something happens to one disk, the other disk remains protected. Automated remote backups ensure that your data is automatically backed up and stored in a location that is geographically distant from the primary office site. This ensures that the data remains protected even if a natural or man-made disaster such as terrorist attack occurs at the primary office site.
What to do in the Event of Data Loss?
If all your data protection measures fail, you will need to hire the services of a professional data recovery company. Since the nature of the lost data may be confidential, it would be best if you sign a confidentiality agreement with the company. In addition, make sure that you hire the services of the best company because the cost of recreating your lost data can be much higher than the cost of recovering your data.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Reverse Yahoo Email Search Exposed
If you are receiving an e-mail from a Yahoo e-mail account, it is essentila to know that you can do a reverse email search to find out where they originated from. If you are receiving unwanted e-mails, doing a reverse email trace allows you to learn more about the person sending these to you.
With a reverse Yahoo e-mail address search you will access public records to see if there is any information about a person's name, address, and for the e-mail address that they are using.
The information that you will receive will contain everything that is associated with that yahoo e-mail address when the reverse email trace is done. Should there be any information that can be retrieved, a reverse e-mail search may be able to find it.
When you come on line you leave a trail which can be used to trace your online activities. Another way to view this is whenever you enter information online that includes your website address it points back to the IP address showing where your location is though the header. Learning the components of an email address can help decipher the IP and location of the email address sender.
Sometimes, given the plethora free web services sprinkled all over the internet, doing a reverse email search can be easy. Yahoo is one of the main free services along with RapLeaf, BigFoot, SmartPages and Switchboard. However, performing a successful, comprehensive and accurate reverse e-mail search can be quite challenging since most of these worlwide public databases are outdated. In that case, you may need to actually hire a professional depending on the results you cant to achieve.
So why would you want to perform a yahoo reverse email search?
1 Your computer is full of malicious threats that you may have received from someone.
2. Your ex lover is sending you emails from an anonymous computer.
3. You want to know who sends you these chain letters you get everyday.
These are just a few reasons why you may want to a reverse Yahoo email search. Again if you can not find the identity of the person sending these to you consider hiring a professional to do it.
With a reverse Yahoo e-mail address search you will access public records to see if there is any information about a person's name, address, and for the e-mail address that they are using.
The information that you will receive will contain everything that is associated with that yahoo e-mail address when the reverse email trace is done. Should there be any information that can be retrieved, a reverse e-mail search may be able to find it.
When you come on line you leave a trail which can be used to trace your online activities. Another way to view this is whenever you enter information online that includes your website address it points back to the IP address showing where your location is though the header. Learning the components of an email address can help decipher the IP and location of the email address sender.
Sometimes, given the plethora free web services sprinkled all over the internet, doing a reverse email search can be easy. Yahoo is one of the main free services along with RapLeaf, BigFoot, SmartPages and Switchboard. However, performing a successful, comprehensive and accurate reverse e-mail search can be quite challenging since most of these worlwide public databases are outdated. In that case, you may need to actually hire a professional depending on the results you cant to achieve.
So why would you want to perform a yahoo reverse email search?
1 Your computer is full of malicious threats that you may have received from someone.
2. Your ex lover is sending you emails from an anonymous computer.
3. You want to know who sends you these chain letters you get everyday.
These are just a few reasons why you may want to a reverse Yahoo email search. Again if you can not find the identity of the person sending these to you consider hiring a professional to do it.
Understanding Linux Data Backup And Recovery
Linux Data Backup And Recovery: Sympathetic And Thoughtful Subject
Material blemish Of Peripherals and hard disk damages show cryptogram 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 inescapable conditions can also cause tangential 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 on 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 ad wares 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.
What to Glance For When Shopping For Data Recovery and Backup:
There's an old saying, "you get what you pay for." In most cases this is true. However, just because a company with a fancy website quotes you $3,500 for data recovery, does not mean that they are any better than a company that quotes you $1,500. Also, try to stay away from companies that want to charge $50-$300 for evaluating your drive. There has been a movement in the data recovery industry over the last couple of years to offer a number of free services. Most reputable data recovery companies will evaluate standard IDE drives free of charge; so don't let the word "free" this or "free" that stop you. The data recovery market is quickly becoming saturated, and a company does not necessarily cheapen itself or lack expertise by offering free evaluations.
Material blemish Of Peripherals and hard disk damages show cryptogram 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 inescapable conditions can also cause tangential 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 on 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 ad wares 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.
What to Glance For When Shopping For Data Recovery and Backup:
There's an old saying, "you get what you pay for." In most cases this is true. However, just because a company with a fancy website quotes you $3,500 for data recovery, does not mean that they are any better than a company that quotes you $1,500. Also, try to stay away from companies that want to charge $50-$300 for evaluating your drive. There has been a movement in the data recovery industry over the last couple of years to offer a number of free services. Most reputable data recovery companies will evaluate standard IDE drives free of charge; so don't let the word "free" this or "free" that stop you. The data recovery market is quickly becoming saturated, and a company does not necessarily cheapen itself or lack expertise by offering free evaluations.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Online Backup - A Necessity for Every Computer Owner
Why is online backup important?
Most people have important (if not priceless) documents and files on their computer. The hard drive of your personal computer may be filled to the brim with years and years of personal photographs, MP3 music, financial records. Business PCs can contain documents with valuable intellectual information, finances, client records, and so on. In a society where we are continually evolving to adapt to an electronic business market, much of our most valuable data is no longer in paper form.
Regrettably (as many of us have experienced) computers are susceptible to crashing, online viruses, theft, and damage from natural disasters, all of which can completely wipe away everything instantaneously. Most businesses that experience such a loss do not survive the subsequent year and imagine losing all your personal photographs. Such a loss is often heartbreaking, difficult, and very frustrating. Not to mention expensive; utilizing services to recover a failed hard drive can cost thousands of dollars.
Why online backup over other methods?
Other methods of backup typically include compact discs and external hard drives. The problem with such methods is not only is it time consuming to backup all your data to these, but such tangible methods are typically in the near vicinity of the original copies, so they are still not protected. For example, if your home is ruined by fire and you did not keep backups in another location, then you have lost both copies and your backup efforts were fruitless.
Most people have important (if not priceless) documents and files on their computer. The hard drive of your personal computer may be filled to the brim with years and years of personal photographs, MP3 music, financial records. Business PCs can contain documents with valuable intellectual information, finances, client records, and so on. In a society where we are continually evolving to adapt to an electronic business market, much of our most valuable data is no longer in paper form.
Regrettably (as many of us have experienced) computers are susceptible to crashing, online viruses, theft, and damage from natural disasters, all of which can completely wipe away everything instantaneously. Most businesses that experience such a loss do not survive the subsequent year and imagine losing all your personal photographs. Such a loss is often heartbreaking, difficult, and very frustrating. Not to mention expensive; utilizing services to recover a failed hard drive can cost thousands of dollars.
Why online backup over other methods?
Other methods of backup typically include compact discs and external hard drives. The problem with such methods is not only is it time consuming to backup all your data to these, but such tangible methods are typically in the near vicinity of the original copies, so they are still not protected. For example, if your home is ruined by fire and you did not keep backups in another location, then you have lost both copies and your backup efforts were fruitless.
Vista And Me
Three days ago I was playing with a fresh installed Vista service pack 1 RC1, wanted to make a bright finish I launch a check disk, but it was taking too much time, then after a long period I decide to interrupt, I then reset my computer so at the boot it try to start again the check disk, I cancel it by using the option and suddenly it restart itself and then began the troubles.
First boot :
Recovery console with the message Winload.exe is missing or corrupt
Second boot : trying the recovery with the DVD, 2 attempts fail. Then I jump on my Bart-PE CD, launch it and I can access to my windows partition.
Launching an another check disk(yes stupid) to verify my disc, and suddenly realizing that all this story start with check disk, I stopped it and reboot on bart-pe and...
...Horror my Vista partition was,I can't believe it, was empty...
...Wake up after a big knock-out.
Everything was not loose, I decide to use my special weapon a backup of my windows partition located on an external usb hard drive.
Connecting everything, launching bart-pe to manage the recovery ,start the restoration, everything goes OK. Perfect.
Rebooting, windows start and after connecting with windows update it start downloading and installing the last updates. When it have finish with the updates I close everything I reboot and... "Winload.exe is missing or corrupt"
Stay cool don't beat it, it's only a machine, done a second restoration I get the same message at the reboot my after my updates, I decide to really check my partition I run the Bart-Pe environment and I check that disk (yes I love problems), after a scan with no error , I decide to try another restoration from my usb drive, and then Oh no...
My restore disk get corrupted...
Why, I don't know, why me, cause this was my destiny...
Now it was not any more time to speak to play it was time to fight.
I went in my limps Cd to take the heavy weapon, I mean the Ultimate Boot Cd.
And after all I was not so angry cause, all my important stuff was in the second and third partition, and in the fourth there was...
Linux...
OK after seeking on the net about this "winload.exe is missing or corrupt", I find many forums with discussion about this issue, and also many solution, I also discover that my Vista hibernate problem was maybe due to this totally new boot loading system.
Failing, to recover vista with many solution I suddenly think winload.exe is missing or corrupted(in system32), so I should find it's original location.
Try to find it by browsing my vista disc, unfortunately nothing, then I load bart-pe and I decide to browse my windows folder looking for an eventual boat folder.
Inside windows folder I find one boot folder but no trace of winload.exe, I then open system32 and of course winload was not there but ô surprise there was another boot folder, open it and winload.exe was there, I simply copy it in my system32 folder, quickly restart and...
First boot :
Recovery console with the message Winload.exe is missing or corrupt
Second boot : trying the recovery with the DVD, 2 attempts fail. Then I jump on my Bart-PE CD, launch it and I can access to my windows partition.
Launching an another check disk(yes stupid) to verify my disc, and suddenly realizing that all this story start with check disk, I stopped it and reboot on bart-pe and...
...Horror my Vista partition was,I can't believe it, was empty...
...Wake up after a big knock-out.
Everything was not loose, I decide to use my special weapon a backup of my windows partition located on an external usb hard drive.
Connecting everything, launching bart-pe to manage the recovery ,start the restoration, everything goes OK. Perfect.
Rebooting, windows start and after connecting with windows update it start downloading and installing the last updates. When it have finish with the updates I close everything I reboot and... "Winload.exe is missing or corrupt"
Stay cool don't beat it, it's only a machine, done a second restoration I get the same message at the reboot my after my updates, I decide to really check my partition I run the Bart-Pe environment and I check that disk (yes I love problems), after a scan with no error , I decide to try another restoration from my usb drive, and then Oh no...
My restore disk get corrupted...
Why, I don't know, why me, cause this was my destiny...
Now it was not any more time to speak to play it was time to fight.
I went in my limps Cd to take the heavy weapon, I mean the Ultimate Boot Cd.
And after all I was not so angry cause, all my important stuff was in the second and third partition, and in the fourth there was...
Linux...
OK after seeking on the net about this "winload.exe is missing or corrupt", I find many forums with discussion about this issue, and also many solution, I also discover that my Vista hibernate problem was maybe due to this totally new boot loading system.
Failing, to recover vista with many solution I suddenly think winload.exe is missing or corrupted(in system32), so I should find it's original location.
Try to find it by browsing my vista disc, unfortunately nothing, then I load bart-pe and I decide to browse my windows folder looking for an eventual boat folder.
Inside windows folder I find one boot folder but no trace of winload.exe, I then open system32 and of course winload was not there but ô surprise there was another boot folder, open it and winload.exe was there, I simply copy it in my system32 folder, quickly restart and...
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Data Recovery Freeware - Why Should You Have It And How Will It Help You?
Many of us know what it is like to have a computer problem and lose all our important files. In many cases, this does not necessarily mean absolute tragedy. Don't despair. There are ways to retrieve lost files. One great option is to pick a good data recovery freeware. Often, this is a good idea but there are also some important considerations that you should have in mind when using recovery freeware.
Who Should Try It
Freeware may be the best option for you but only under certain conditions. It is important to remember that for some cases, freeware may work best. There are still however, some occasions when they may not exactly be everything you hoped for. In some situations, there is no absolute certainty that you will get back everything that you have lost.
Data recovery freeware is often best used when files have been lost or damaged because the system user has made a mistake. Freeware also works great when a virus is the cause of data loss or damage. It is very important that you take the time to assess your problem first before attempting to use any software to help recover lost data.
The best thing about data recovery freeware, should you decide to choose this option, is that you wouldn't have to shell out thousands for it. You can try it for yourself and see if you can get good results. If you choose the right one, then there is a great chance that it can easily solve your data loss problems.
Even when paid services for data recovery are eventually required, you can always try freeware first. Some people do this and then only progress at a later time to employing experts for a fee when more complicated recovery work is required.
Who Shouldn't Try It
It's tempting to try data recovery freeware upon suffering data loss of any kind. This isn't such a good idea though. You shouldn't try it under certain circumstances. You may have to find another way to recover your files in cases when freeware is not advisable.
Freeware probably wouldn't make a dent in your data loss problems if the cause of it is hardware damage. Try to check first if your problem stems from computer hardware problems. Data recovery freeware is only truly advisable when your concern is related to software issues.
Using freeware for data recovery is also inadvisable if you have to follow an installation procedure before it can run. This obviously means you have no chance at all of getting your data back. Freeware should be able to function by using only certain Internet services or a disc.
These days, you can get freeware from a lot of sources but you shouldn't take the risk with an unknown program. The best way to find a good program that actually works is to ask people who have used them. Ask for recommendations from those who have actually used the freeware you have chosen.
Where You Can Get It
By simply entering 'data recovery freeware' into a search engine's search box you are bound to get some items that you may be able to use. If you are unfamiliar with any of the programs listed, you can head off to technical forums, blogs and website to get some good user reviews, advice and tips about the particular software that you have found.
Who Should Try It
Freeware may be the best option for you but only under certain conditions. It is important to remember that for some cases, freeware may work best. There are still however, some occasions when they may not exactly be everything you hoped for. In some situations, there is no absolute certainty that you will get back everything that you have lost.
Data recovery freeware is often best used when files have been lost or damaged because the system user has made a mistake. Freeware also works great when a virus is the cause of data loss or damage. It is very important that you take the time to assess your problem first before attempting to use any software to help recover lost data.
The best thing about data recovery freeware, should you decide to choose this option, is that you wouldn't have to shell out thousands for it. You can try it for yourself and see if you can get good results. If you choose the right one, then there is a great chance that it can easily solve your data loss problems.
Even when paid services for data recovery are eventually required, you can always try freeware first. Some people do this and then only progress at a later time to employing experts for a fee when more complicated recovery work is required.
Who Shouldn't Try It
It's tempting to try data recovery freeware upon suffering data loss of any kind. This isn't such a good idea though. You shouldn't try it under certain circumstances. You may have to find another way to recover your files in cases when freeware is not advisable.
Freeware probably wouldn't make a dent in your data loss problems if the cause of it is hardware damage. Try to check first if your problem stems from computer hardware problems. Data recovery freeware is only truly advisable when your concern is related to software issues.
Using freeware for data recovery is also inadvisable if you have to follow an installation procedure before it can run. This obviously means you have no chance at all of getting your data back. Freeware should be able to function by using only certain Internet services or a disc.
These days, you can get freeware from a lot of sources but you shouldn't take the risk with an unknown program. The best way to find a good program that actually works is to ask people who have used them. Ask for recommendations from those who have actually used the freeware you have chosen.
Where You Can Get It
By simply entering 'data recovery freeware' into a search engine's search box you are bound to get some items that you may be able to use. If you are unfamiliar with any of the programs listed, you can head off to technical forums, blogs and website to get some good user reviews, advice and tips about the particular software that you have found.
Raid Data Recovery Is A Real Possibility
Raid systems are often the best there is. They can provide great data protection, enhance efficiency and endure common system problems. It is a fact though that like any other system, this kind of system also has its loopholes. There will be times when it can have problems that you just can't avoid. These problems can be due to failures in multiple drives or in the controller. The system can also suffer from a configuration loss. Of course, one other probable problem source is normal human slip-ups. You shouldn't fret so much though. If a problem does arise, raid data recovery is normally possible.
There is more than one way to approach raid data recovery. You can always hire a certified expert to crack his brains over your problem. An equally successful solution which you might be able to employ on your own is to get software that is intended exactly for recovery work of this kind.
There are many different kinds of recovery systems. You should get the one that is specifically made to work on raid systems. Among the raid data recovery products, there are also some differences but they all basically recover files or restore those that have been mistakenly removed. Some products are so good that they can perform their work in an automated manner. They can even scrutinize the raid system before performing any recovery procedures.
You should remember that raid system recovery software does not come cheap. You should therefore look into such details as software reliability and rate of success before buying any program. You should also always make sure that the software you would like to buy is a perfect fit with your set-up.
In a lot of cases, all users really need is a recovery software to retrieve data. You should be able to tell though if your needs can't all be provided by software. If more complicated procedures and retrieval are needed, then you would have to ask an expert to work on your problem. After all, raid systems can't easily be understood by just anyone. The usual downside to getting expert help though is that it may cost a lot. On the other hand, the cost may be well worth it if your data is very important.
In any case, both ways of raid data recovery for raid systems can be quite difficult and can cost a fair amount. If you do encounter a problem with lost or damaged data, you should first carefully assess how badly you need the data to be recovered. Once you have determined its value, you can then evaluate if the work to be performed can be done with software or with a possibly more expensive expert hand. For some people, reconstruction of lost files may be far more convenient and less costly than data retrieval options. This is of course only truly possible if there are actual tools that can be used for reconstruction.
There is more than one way to approach raid data recovery. You can always hire a certified expert to crack his brains over your problem. An equally successful solution which you might be able to employ on your own is to get software that is intended exactly for recovery work of this kind.
There are many different kinds of recovery systems. You should get the one that is specifically made to work on raid systems. Among the raid data recovery products, there are also some differences but they all basically recover files or restore those that have been mistakenly removed. Some products are so good that they can perform their work in an automated manner. They can even scrutinize the raid system before performing any recovery procedures.
You should remember that raid system recovery software does not come cheap. You should therefore look into such details as software reliability and rate of success before buying any program. You should also always make sure that the software you would like to buy is a perfect fit with your set-up.
In a lot of cases, all users really need is a recovery software to retrieve data. You should be able to tell though if your needs can't all be provided by software. If more complicated procedures and retrieval are needed, then you would have to ask an expert to work on your problem. After all, raid systems can't easily be understood by just anyone. The usual downside to getting expert help though is that it may cost a lot. On the other hand, the cost may be well worth it if your data is very important.
In any case, both ways of raid data recovery for raid systems can be quite difficult and can cost a fair amount. If you do encounter a problem with lost or damaged data, you should first carefully assess how badly you need the data to be recovered. Once you have determined its value, you can then evaluate if the work to be performed can be done with software or with a possibly more expensive expert hand. For some people, reconstruction of lost files may be far more convenient and less costly than data retrieval options. This is of course only truly possible if there are actual tools that can be used for reconstruction.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Data Loss Prevention 101
Own a computer? Or any electronic device which can store information and data? Mp3 players? TV recorders? Cd's and Dvd's? Cell phones?
Well, as long as you use those devices, you will always run into the chance of losing your data. We are surrounded by devices which stores data and help disseminate information.
However, with a few pointers, you can almost effectively prevent data loss from happening to you. Read on!
Avoid Extreme Environments
Never expose your hard drive or any other electronic equipment to extreme hot or cold temperature. Excessive heat can shorten the lifespan of a drive, reduce the performance of the system, and ultimately damage the electronic components.
Stable, Clean, and Safe working environment
Do not place a computer on unstable or moveable objects. During operation, computer hard drives can be damaged by any abrupt or sudden movement, especially laptops. It's important to find a stable area where there is not a lot of activity.
Dusty, dirty work conditions can clog your system ventilation and cause system overheat or even cause hard disk crash if dust infiltrates the hard disk.
Backup your data
Backup important data, files, documents and programs regularly.
You should backup important data, files, documents and programs regularly. Backups are an integral part of data loss prevention as it provides an exact copy of the data. It is the fastest way and also the easiest way of recovering from data loss if you suffer from data loss.
However, backup is useless if that redundant copy of data cannot be used. Checks should be conducted from time to time to ensure the backup is up to date and is free from virus and corruption so that it will actually come in handy when disaster strikes.
Install anti virus on your system
Take steps to protect your system from computer viruses. Computer viruses are so common nowadays that many PC's or laptop's are infected without the user's knowledge.
It is likely that in the near future a virus will spread that has the ability to actually destroy critical data in your hard drive. Keep a virus detection program on your computer, and of course, keep it updated.
System Protection
Keep your computer safe from human error (children, computer illiterates, general carelessness etc.) Use passwords on important programs or files to help prevent accidental erasure.
Vanishing or Deleted Data
If you accidentally delete or data just went missing for no apparent reasons, do not create new files, move files around, or save any old files. By doing so, you could make the recovery of lost data impossible as any of such activity might overwrite the missing data making these permanently erased from your hard disk.
Well, as long as you use those devices, you will always run into the chance of losing your data. We are surrounded by devices which stores data and help disseminate information.
However, with a few pointers, you can almost effectively prevent data loss from happening to you. Read on!
Avoid Extreme Environments
Never expose your hard drive or any other electronic equipment to extreme hot or cold temperature. Excessive heat can shorten the lifespan of a drive, reduce the performance of the system, and ultimately damage the electronic components.
Stable, Clean, and Safe working environment
Do not place a computer on unstable or moveable objects. During operation, computer hard drives can be damaged by any abrupt or sudden movement, especially laptops. It's important to find a stable area where there is not a lot of activity.
Dusty, dirty work conditions can clog your system ventilation and cause system overheat or even cause hard disk crash if dust infiltrates the hard disk.
Backup your data
Backup important data, files, documents and programs regularly.
You should backup important data, files, documents and programs regularly. Backups are an integral part of data loss prevention as it provides an exact copy of the data. It is the fastest way and also the easiest way of recovering from data loss if you suffer from data loss.
However, backup is useless if that redundant copy of data cannot be used. Checks should be conducted from time to time to ensure the backup is up to date and is free from virus and corruption so that it will actually come in handy when disaster strikes.
Install anti virus on your system
Take steps to protect your system from computer viruses. Computer viruses are so common nowadays that many PC's or laptop's are infected without the user's knowledge.
It is likely that in the near future a virus will spread that has the ability to actually destroy critical data in your hard drive. Keep a virus detection program on your computer, and of course, keep it updated.
System Protection
Keep your computer safe from human error (children, computer illiterates, general carelessness etc.) Use passwords on important programs or files to help prevent accidental erasure.
Vanishing or Deleted Data
If you accidentally delete or data just went missing for no apparent reasons, do not create new files, move files around, or save any old files. By doing so, you could make the recovery of lost data impossible as any of such activity might overwrite the missing data making these permanently erased from your hard disk.
Protecting Your Valuable Data
How to protect your valuable data, you will know after you read below:
Set up your computer in a safe environment. Your computer should be in a dry, cool, controlled environment that is clean and dust-free. Placing your computer in a low-traffic area will protect your system and storage media from harmful jarring or bumping.
Backup your data regularly. Creating regular backups is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself from losing data. Back up data at least once a week with reliable tapes or other storage devices, always verifying that the correct data is backed up.
Use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). In the event of a surge of electricity or lightning strike, an uninterruptible power supply protects your computer from being fried. In addition, a UPS has a battery backup that keeps your computer running for a short time in the event of a power outage, giving you time to save your work and avoid potential data loss. If UPS is not an available or economical solution, a surge protector is also a good investment.
Run a virus scan regularly and update it four times a year. Computer viruses are one of the worst enemies to your computer. Good anti-virus software tests your system for sequences of code unique to each known computer virus and eliminates the infecting invader.
Be aware of strange noises. If you hear a strange noise or grinding sound, turn off your computer immediately and call an expert. Further operation may damage your hard drive beyond repair.
If you do experience a data loss, Data Recovery Wizard can help. Even the best maintenance program cannot always prevent system crashes or data loss. Data Recovery Wizard offers a wide array of data recovery solutions.
Set up your computer in a safe environment. Your computer should be in a dry, cool, controlled environment that is clean and dust-free. Placing your computer in a low-traffic area will protect your system and storage media from harmful jarring or bumping.
Backup your data regularly. Creating regular backups is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself from losing data. Back up data at least once a week with reliable tapes or other storage devices, always verifying that the correct data is backed up.
Use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). In the event of a surge of electricity or lightning strike, an uninterruptible power supply protects your computer from being fried. In addition, a UPS has a battery backup that keeps your computer running for a short time in the event of a power outage, giving you time to save your work and avoid potential data loss. If UPS is not an available or economical solution, a surge protector is also a good investment.
Run a virus scan regularly and update it four times a year. Computer viruses are one of the worst enemies to your computer. Good anti-virus software tests your system for sequences of code unique to each known computer virus and eliminates the infecting invader.
Be aware of strange noises. If you hear a strange noise or grinding sound, turn off your computer immediately and call an expert. Further operation may damage your hard drive beyond repair.
If you do experience a data loss, Data Recovery Wizard can help. Even the best maintenance program cannot always prevent system crashes or data loss. Data Recovery Wizard offers a wide array of data recovery solutions.
Online Backup - A Necessity for Every Computer Owner
Why is online backup important?
Most people have important (if not priceless) documents and files on their computer. The hard drive of your personal computer may be filled to the brim with years and years of personal photographs, MP3 music, financial records. Business PCs can contain documents with valuable intellectual information, finances, client records, and so on. In a society where we are continually evolving to adapt to an electronic business market, much of our most valuable data is no longer in paper form.
Regrettably (as many of us have experienced) computers are susceptible to crashing, online viruses, theft, and damage from natural disasters, all of which can completely wipe away everything instantaneously. Most businesses that experience such a loss do not survive the subsequent year and imagine losing all your personal photographs. Such a loss is often heartbreaking, difficult, and very frustrating. Not to mention expensive; utilizing services to recover a failed hard drive can cost thousands of dollars.
Why online backup over other methods?
Other methods of backup typically include compact discs and external hard drives. The problem with such methods is not only is it time consuming to backup all your data to these, but such tangible methods are typically in the near vicinity of the original copies, so they are still not protected. For example, if your home is ruined by fire and you did not keep backups in another location, then you have lost both copies and your backup efforts were fruitless.
Most people have important (if not priceless) documents and files on their computer. The hard drive of your personal computer may be filled to the brim with years and years of personal photographs, MP3 music, financial records. Business PCs can contain documents with valuable intellectual information, finances, client records, and so on. In a society where we are continually evolving to adapt to an electronic business market, much of our most valuable data is no longer in paper form.
Regrettably (as many of us have experienced) computers are susceptible to crashing, online viruses, theft, and damage from natural disasters, all of which can completely wipe away everything instantaneously. Most businesses that experience such a loss do not survive the subsequent year and imagine losing all your personal photographs. Such a loss is often heartbreaking, difficult, and very frustrating. Not to mention expensive; utilizing services to recover a failed hard drive can cost thousands of dollars.
Why online backup over other methods?
Other methods of backup typically include compact discs and external hard drives. The problem with such methods is not only is it time consuming to backup all your data to these, but such tangible methods are typically in the near vicinity of the original copies, so they are still not protected. For example, if your home is ruined by fire and you did not keep backups in another location, then you have lost both copies and your backup efforts were fruitless.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Deleted Images And How To Recover Them
There can be a few reasons why your images have been lost or just "disappeared":
Case1. No images on your camera memory card
The first one is that you have not accidentally erased them from your memory card but your playback display states blandly "no images". The second one is that you have accidentally (or deliberately) erased some or all of the images from your memory card.
In both instances, the images have not actually been erased or deleted - they are still there but your camera will simply not display them. However, the camera software may well overwrite these files if you continue to take pictures.
In view of this is necessary to take immediate action to recover the files before this happens.
If you did not deliberately erase the images yourself, the first thing to try is to switch off your camera. Remove the memory card from the camera and then replace it, switch the camera back on and check to see if the images have returned. This is a similar procedure to re - booting a computer when it throws a wobbly. It works sometimes but not always.
If the images do not reappear, proceed as if you have accidentally erased them as follows:
Go online and use a search engine and type in "free file recovery programmes" to find a programme like "Free Undelete". Download it and connect your camera to the computer as you would for uploading images from your memory card. Alternatively, you can insert your memory card into the appropriate memory card slot in your computer if you have one.
I have tried this completely free programme and it works well. However, there are several other non - free programmes you can use if you prefer which may be more sophisticated with more features.
Start the programme, select the drive where the memory card is located and click "Scan". if a folder appears, open it. If the files have not been overwritten, the programme should find them. Note; For Windows Vista users; you may have to right click the program shortcut and select "run as administrator" or it may not work.
Be patient. The programme takes several minutes to completely scan the card and retrieve the files. It lists them with a rating of "poor" or "good". Select the files you want to restore, click "undelete" and then save them to your computers hard drive in a suitable location.
If you try to save to the memory card you may get a warning that the image may suffer loss of quality. If you definitely want to put these files on to your memory card then save them first to your desktop. Copy these files (right click - copy) and paste them to your memory card (right click - paste). I have done this without any apparent loss of quality.
One thing I noticed with this free programme is that if you click the "help" file on the main menu - nothing happens. To access this you will have to locate the "Free Undelete" folder from the Start - Programmes folder.
Case2. Images lost from computer
Exactly the same procedure is used to recover lost or deleted files on any other drives you have on your computer. Just select the drive where the images were stored before they disappeared. But this time specify the type of file you want to recover. In this case it is a jpeg, so enter ".jpg" as your search filter otherwise you will get every deleted file on your computer listed.
Note: As implied above, this programme will retrieve many other types of files as well, including lost or deleted emails and documents. However, Free Undelete is a utility programme so there is no preview available. If you want all the bells and whistles you may have to purchase a more sophisticated version like "Recover my Files". This has a preview window and many other features. It is available for a free trial but the save feature is blocked until you purchase it (about $70/£35). There are many other similar programmes available of varying degrees of sophistication - so take a look and find one that suits you.
Case1. No images on your camera memory card
The first one is that you have not accidentally erased them from your memory card but your playback display states blandly "no images". The second one is that you have accidentally (or deliberately) erased some or all of the images from your memory card.
In both instances, the images have not actually been erased or deleted - they are still there but your camera will simply not display them. However, the camera software may well overwrite these files if you continue to take pictures.
In view of this is necessary to take immediate action to recover the files before this happens.
If you did not deliberately erase the images yourself, the first thing to try is to switch off your camera. Remove the memory card from the camera and then replace it, switch the camera back on and check to see if the images have returned. This is a similar procedure to re - booting a computer when it throws a wobbly. It works sometimes but not always.
If the images do not reappear, proceed as if you have accidentally erased them as follows:
Go online and use a search engine and type in "free file recovery programmes" to find a programme like "Free Undelete". Download it and connect your camera to the computer as you would for uploading images from your memory card. Alternatively, you can insert your memory card into the appropriate memory card slot in your computer if you have one.
I have tried this completely free programme and it works well. However, there are several other non - free programmes you can use if you prefer which may be more sophisticated with more features.
Start the programme, select the drive where the memory card is located and click "Scan". if a folder appears, open it. If the files have not been overwritten, the programme should find them. Note; For Windows Vista users; you may have to right click the program shortcut and select "run as administrator" or it may not work.
Be patient. The programme takes several minutes to completely scan the card and retrieve the files. It lists them with a rating of "poor" or "good". Select the files you want to restore, click "undelete" and then save them to your computers hard drive in a suitable location.
If you try to save to the memory card you may get a warning that the image may suffer loss of quality. If you definitely want to put these files on to your memory card then save them first to your desktop. Copy these files (right click - copy) and paste them to your memory card (right click - paste). I have done this without any apparent loss of quality.
One thing I noticed with this free programme is that if you click the "help" file on the main menu - nothing happens. To access this you will have to locate the "Free Undelete" folder from the Start - Programmes folder.
Case2. Images lost from computer
Exactly the same procedure is used to recover lost or deleted files on any other drives you have on your computer. Just select the drive where the images were stored before they disappeared. But this time specify the type of file you want to recover. In this case it is a jpeg, so enter ".jpg" as your search filter otherwise you will get every deleted file on your computer listed.
Note: As implied above, this programme will retrieve many other types of files as well, including lost or deleted emails and documents. However, Free Undelete is a utility programme so there is no preview available. If you want all the bells and whistles you may have to purchase a more sophisticated version like "Recover my Files". This has a preview window and many other features. It is available for a free trial but the save feature is blocked until you purchase it (about $70/£35). There are many other similar programmes available of varying degrees of sophistication - so take a look and find one that suits you.
Online Backup - A Necessity for Every Computer Owner
Why is online backup important?
Most people have important (if not priceless) documents and files on their computer. The hard drive of your personal computer may be filled to the brim with years and years of personal photographs, MP3 music, financial records. Business PCs can contain documents with valuable intellectual information, finances, client records, and so on. In a society where we are continually evolving to adapt to an electronic business market, much of our most valuable data is no longer in paper form.
Regrettably (as many of us have experienced) computers are susceptible to crashing, online viruses, theft, and damage from natural disasters, all of which can completely wipe away everything instantaneously. Most businesses that experience such a loss do not survive the subsequent year and imagine losing all your personal photographs. Such a loss is often heartbreaking, difficult, and very frustrating. Not to mention expensive; utilizing services to recover a failed hard drive can cost thousands of dollars.
Why online backup over other methods?
Other methods of backup typically include compact discs and external hard drives. The problem with such methods is not only is it time consuming to backup all your data to these, but such tangible methods are typically in the near vicinity of the original copies, so they are still not protected. For example, if your home is ruined by fire and you did not keep backups in another location, then you have lost both copies and your backup efforts were fruitless.
Most people have important (if not priceless) documents and files on their computer. The hard drive of your personal computer may be filled to the brim with years and years of personal photographs, MP3 music, financial records. Business PCs can contain documents with valuable intellectual information, finances, client records, and so on. In a society where we are continually evolving to adapt to an electronic business market, much of our most valuable data is no longer in paper form.
Regrettably (as many of us have experienced) computers are susceptible to crashing, online viruses, theft, and damage from natural disasters, all of which can completely wipe away everything instantaneously. Most businesses that experience such a loss do not survive the subsequent year and imagine losing all your personal photographs. Such a loss is often heartbreaking, difficult, and very frustrating. Not to mention expensive; utilizing services to recover a failed hard drive can cost thousands of dollars.
Why online backup over other methods?
Other methods of backup typically include compact discs and external hard drives. The problem with such methods is not only is it time consuming to backup all your data to these, but such tangible methods are typically in the near vicinity of the original copies, so they are still not protected. For example, if your home is ruined by fire and you did not keep backups in another location, then you have lost both copies and your backup efforts were fruitless.
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