Category Archives: Computers

How To Back Up Files Correctly

Throughout the world of computers, it’s simply amazing just how many people are scared to death of losing their data. Most of those who are scared, don’t give a second thought to backing up their data. Even though the thought may be the same, most people are worried more about losing their data than actually backing it up – which can prove to be a downfall in the face of disaster.

The process of backing up files is done by using servers, floppy disks, CD, DVD, external hard drives, or other methods to keep the data protected. This way, when something happens to your hard drive and you lose your information, you’ll have the information backed up so that you can easily access it again. Data that is important, such as tax files or business records should always be backed up, to ensure that nothing happens to it.

If you are using Windows as your operating system, it will be a lot easier to back up your files. Windows XP has a back up facility in it, so that it can make things a lot easier when you create your backups. If data that is stored on hard drives with XP becomes lost, Windows will immediately fetch the file from another drive or area where it has been stored as a back up. This is a very useful technique, although it still has to be practiced to ensure that you understand how it works. Although it may be very useful, it isn’t as safe as other options.

In order to back up your data and programs in a safe and efficient manner, you’ll need to use some of the more reliable methods, such as external hard drives or servers. Offsite backups are great as well, as the data you backup isn’t left around your office, it is instead entrusted with a company who will ensure that it stays protected.

No matter which method or methods you have decided to use for backing up your data, you’ll be happy to know that they are all easy to use. CD and DVD backups are easy to create, all you need is the software installed on your computer to create the backups with. Servers are easy to use as well, all you have to do is upload your data to a server, then log into the server anytime you need to have access to the data.

All in all, creating backups of your data and information is the perfect way to ensure that you always have it in the event of a disaster. Disasters can happen at any time, which is why you should always back up your data anytime you have something new or something that you haven’t backed up yet.

Digital Photo Recovery

Digital photographs are something that are important to all of us. Most of the pictures we take happen once in a lifetime, which is why they are so very important. From your child’s first steps to pictures of your family, photographs are very important. As important as they are, nothing is worse than losing them. This can be very traumatic and frustrating, especially knowing that you’ll never to capture the picture again.

Even though it may appear that the camera malfunctioned, all hope isn’t completely lost. There are ways that you can recover your digital photographs, even though you may not be aware of it. Most digital camera’s for instance, use smart cards that will store the information. To be on the safe side, you should always safe your photographs to your card, and transfer them to your computer the first chance you get – then back them up to a CD or DVD.

Sometimes, when you have your photographs on your computer, you may move them to the recycle bin and not even realize it. You can always correct this, by right mouse clicking the recycle bin then choosing to open it up. If the pictures are there, simply drag them to your desktop or right click them and choose restore. This will put them back in the location they were in before they were moved to the recycle bin.

There are other instances where your photographs aren’t this easy to recover. If the card in your camera has become corrupted or if your camera has experienced hardware problems, then it won’t be so easy to recover your pictures. If this is the case, you should always look towards software or professional repairmen. There is software out there that is designed for most types of digital camera problems, and it can normally recover your pictures in the case of malfunction.

Most services and software can recover almost all files that you have on your camera, from JPEG pictures to video files. Most people transfer their pictures to their computer as soon as they can, which can be recovered using data recovery methods. On the other hand, those who don’t, will need a professional to take a look at the camera. If you don’t waste any time and seek a professional immediately, your pictures can normally be recovered.

Digital cameras are something that most of us own these days, as they take professional quality photos. Anytime that it appears you have lost your pictures, you can turn to software and professional recovery services to get your pictures back. Your digital photographs are very important, which is why you’ll want to take care of them. Mistakes and disasters do happen though – which is why there are recovery services.

All About Data Recovery

At some point in time, everyone who owns a computer will experience the trials and tribulations of hard drive failure. The reasons behind it vary, and could include everything from a human error to damages resulting from flood or water. Viruses can play a role as well, along with many other factors. For many years, the need to recover data that has been lost or destroyed has made data recovery such a very valuable asset.

Almost all hard drives can be recovered. Normally, if the drive is making a ticking or a scratching noise, you can use certain software programs to recover the data. Sometimes, due to age or bad parts, the aperture arm in the hard drive can fail, or the platters can become damaged and lose the data that they hold. If you can’t recover the information with software, you’ll need to send the hard drive off and have it either rebuilt or have technicians recover your data.

Data recovery is always an option, from hard drives that are 2 GB in size to the largest of over 300 GB or more of data. No matter what size hard drive you have, the data can generally be recovered. Keep in mind that if you’ve had a computer crash, you’ll need to send the hard drive off to have the data recovered by technicians.

One of the key benefits of data recovery is the fact that information can also be retrieved from the recycle bin as well. Partition recovery, and even information that has been lost somewhere on the disk can be retrieved as well. Even though it may seem like your data is gone forever – the technicians that specialize in data recovery can retrieve it.

From Windows to Mac, everything can be recovered. There are different filing structures and formats, including NTFS and FAT32. These are common Windows filing structures, and hold all of the information for your hard.

Those of you who have multiple hard drives in your computer, can rest assured that RAID configurations can also be recovered. If a single hard drive on the RAID configuration fails, the RAID setup will absorb the blow and there won’t be a loss of data. On the other hand, if the entire RAID configuration crashes, it will crash big time. Whenever this happens, you’ll need to send it off and have technicians restore both the RAID hardware and software.

Anytime your hard drive happens to crash or malfunction, data recovery is there to help you get back your files. Whether they are personally files or very important files that are need for business – you can put your trust in data recovery and know that you’ll get everything the back the way it was.

Cooling Your Hard Drive

For several different reasons, storage is a very important part of a computer. These days, computers do far more than they ever have in the past. From businesses to family photo’s, storage is the ideal way to keep documents on your computer. The most popular method of storage is the hard disk drive, which we all count on for keeping our data safe.

Even though the hard drive stores data, it isn’t perfect by any means. Hard drive failure is very common with all computers, with no real way to prevent it. Although there are several different reasons why a hard drive can fail, the most common is overheating. Viruses and crashes are common as well, along with theft and accidental deletion.

With the older style and mechanics of hard drives, the RPM speed was low, meaning that the drives wouldn’t overheat. The hard drives we use now days, have speeds between 7,200 and 10,000 RPM, meaning that they can get quite hot when they start working. Computers of this day and age come with fans to cool everything down, with most hard drives including temperature sensors as well, so you can keep track of just how hot your hard drive becomes.

With hard drives today, overheating is a very common problem. The faster hard drives come with speeds of 10,000 RPM, which can make the temperature soar above 70 degrees F, really heating things up inside the drive. The mechanics on the inside are built to withstand the heat, although if things become too hot, you’ll encounter problems. If a drive becomes too hot and ends up losing the data, it may be next to impossible to retrieve the information – no matter how good your data recovery specialists may be.

One area that suffers from the drive overheating is the platters, which are magnetic media. Platters are what carry the data throughout the hard drive. Platters are constructed from optical glass, aluminum, or ceramic and normally coated with a layer of magnetic material. Once the hard drive begins to heat up, the platters will start to expand, which changes their size. When this happens, the magnetic surface on the platters will get destroyed, which results in a loss of data. If the physical area of the platters are damaged, it will result in unreadable sectors.

Other areas of the hard drive that can be damaged due to overheating are the read and write heads, head actuator, and the controller chip. Hard drives are very sophisticated pieces of hardware, and can’t handle overheating. The read and write heads are a common example, as they can easily render the drive useless if they become damaged. If they get too hot, they don’t make any contact with media, which pretty much stops the flow of transfer from information to the computer.

To prevent your hard drive from overheating, you should always make sure that it is cooled properly and well ventilated. You can always get additional fans and coolers, which will improve both ventilation and the flow of air in your computer. You can buy fans and coolers at very affordable prices, which makes them an ideal investment for keeping your hard drive or hard drives cool.

You can also get software that monitors the temperature of your hard drive as well. Whether it’s software, or additional fans, you should always ensure that your hard drives are kept cool. By keeping them cool, you’ll greatly reduce the amount of crashes. You’ll also increase the stability of your hard drive as well, which will make your entire computer perform much better.

Computer Diagnostics

The diagnostics that are associated with computers can help to identify any problem or failure that computers show when they are having problems. Diagnostics are used to test out the computer system, which includes both the BIOS and memory, software, and even the hardware that is attached to the computer.

The most common types of problems will occur when your computer is down to very low resources, which can either be a low amount of RAM, or a low disk space. These conditions are very common, and generally result in your computer running very slow. This can easily be fixed, all you have to do is defrag your hard drive, and get rid of some programs and files that you no longer use or need.

Almost all types of computer diagnostic software can find and fix just about any problem that you are having. It normally starts off with a BIOS examination, and goes on from there. PC diagnostics
software can determine a lot from the BIOS, from the common settings to those that have a major impact on both boot up and performance.

No matter what you do, you should never modify or tamper with the BIOS settings, as it can lead to serious problems. If you do plan to modify or mess with your BIOS, you should always create a backup first, just in case something goes wrong. The BIOS settings can be very tricky, although they are responsible for a lot to do with your computer. If you have never been in the BIOS before, you really shouldn’t be modifying anything inside of it.

Depending on the diagnostics program that you are using, there will be several different features available. Right now, two of the most popular are Norton Systemworks and PC Doctor. Both of these programs offer full diagnostics software, good for fixing just about any software related computer program you can imagine.

Once you run the program, you’ll be able to select the diagnostic test that you are planning to run. Some offer you a full system scan, which will scan your entire computer and then display any problems that you having. After displaying any problems, the software will normally give you an option to go ahead and fix it. As long as the problem is nothing serious, the diagnostic software can generally fix it.

The more complicated problems, such as hardware failures or hard drive crashes, are a totally different story. They will require a technician who is very experienced, that can rebuild the hardware. Diagnostic software can report hardware problems to you, although most of the time it is unable to fix it.

There are other computer diagnostic software that you run after starting the computer or rebooting, that will check everything from BIOS. These types are great, although the types such as Norton and PC Doctor are by far superior. They offer far more features, including defragment, cache cleaner, and the option to delete your temporary Internet files. These features are great to have, especially if you aren’t the technical type.

For more reasons than one, computer diagnostic software is the ideal way to find and prevent problems with your computer. Norton Systemworks offers you Ghost as well, which is the perfect way to back up your data. You can back up certain files, or just go ahead and back up your entire hard drive. Systemworks and Ghost are very easy to use, even if you are completely new to computers. For everything they offer you – computer diagnostic programs are the ideal way to prevent problems before they happen.