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What NOT to do When Your Hard Drive Crashes

2008-05-21T17:06:00.000+08:00

With the amount of use most of us put on our computers these days, a hard drive crash can mean quite a panic. Not only are more people using their computers for their small businesses (both home based and otherwise) than ever before, but many people now have almost all personal information stored on their hard drives as well. This information can include obvious personal documentation such as digital pictures, videos, important documents, and calendars with date reminders, as well as information that is not so obvious, such as passwords to various banking services and other online businesses. Your hard drive may also maintain a record of web sites and services that you have used, which for many people is a deeply private matter.

When your hard drive containing all of this information does crash, many people will make hasty decisions on how to rectify the problem as their immediate concern is restoring the information and getting their lives back on track. Hasty action is often the wrong thing to do, however, especially where your personal information is concerned; one of the things to avoid when it comes to a hard drive crash is jumping on the first opportunity that comes along to get your information restored.

Most people will immediately look through the Yellow Pages to get the problem fixed, but this may lead you to a computer store or the computer department of a big box store. Retail stores are generally not the way to go when it comes to data recovery. The process can take a long time and in the end your information is not as important to them as fixing the problem with your computer; many times they will simply install new components or operating systems with no regard to the lost information. Not to mention, there is always the issue of privacy guarantees when it comes to these options or even using a close friend.

What, then, are the options when it comes to recovering your hard drive information? Well, just as you would go to a service store that specialized in tires when getting winters, you should go to a data recovery center for restoring your hard drive. These companies make their businesses solely from restoring your information, not from selling you a new hard drive. This specialized service is in itself a guarantee of the work involved. Their skill and their reputation for keeping private information private are necessary in order to stay in business.

Never use the services of a friend or generic computer shop when it comes to hard drive recovery. It simply is not worth the risk either to your hard drive, your information, or your peace of mind. These options are acceptable when it comes to computer repairs, but information is a specialty that should only be handled by experts.

Are You Still Not Backing up Your Data?

2008-05-21T17:04:00.000+08:00

THE BENEFITS OF BACKUP SYSTEMS

2008-05-21T17:02:00.001+08:00

Remote backup is fast becoming an alternative to traditional backup procedures. Most businesses do not rely on online remote backup as a single source for storage of critical data, but instead use it in addition to traditional backup solutions. It affords them a third storage area and data recovery source in the event of a catastrophic disaster. A remote, online, or managed backup service is a service that provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files.
Online backup systems are typically built around a client software program that runs on a schedule, usually once a day. This program collects, compresses, encrypts, and transfers the data to the remote backup service provider's servers.

A feature of some services is the capability to back up the primary site data plus remote offices and branch offices in a relatively seamless manner.
The ability to back up files that are extensively opened, such as Outlook files or SQL database files can be useful. Such ability allows IT administrators to run back up jobs any time of the day, not requiring setting aside server maintenance time. Most online backup products need an add-on for this.
A Multi-platform backup service can back up multiple platforms such as the various flavors of Windows, Macintosh, and Linux/UNIX.
A continuous backup feature allows the tool to back up continuously or on a predefined schedule. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Most backup tools are schedule-based and perform backups at a predetermined time. Some services provide continuous data backups which are used by large financial institutions and large online retailers. However, there is typically a tradeoff with performance and system resources.

Some services allow you to access your backed up files via a normal web browser. Many tools do not provide this type of functionality.
A way to minimize network traffic is to transfer only the binary data that has changed from one day to the next. The more serious tools use this method rather than transfer entire files. Tools originally designed for network backup use this method.

Remote backup has advantages over traditional backup methods. Remote backup does not require user intervention. The user does not have to change tapes, label CDs or perform other manual steps. It maintains data offsite. Perhaps the most important aspect of backing up is that backups are stored in a different location from the original data. Traditional backup requires manually taking the backup media offsite. Some remote backup services will work continuously, backing up files as they are changed, but most remote backup services will maintain a list of versions of your files.

These computer backup systems might have, though, some disadvantages. Depending on the available network bandwidth, the restoration of data can be slow. Because data is stored offsite, the data must be recovered either via the Internet or via tape.
Often business might look at data storage in another state as additional protection against data loss, especially if the original area is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes. Online and remote backup is gaining in popularity for the safety and security of the data. The idea is you download your data through an online process to a remote location that stores the data in a secure environment. Your company has access to the data 24/7 for recovery needs or further backup.

Could you recreate the emails, documents and photos on your home computer in the event of a virus or hard drive failure? If your computer was stolen would you be able to recreate or restore all the memories taken? With Empyreal Systems Online Backup you could rest easy that no matter what your data is safe and accessible only by you 24x7x365Online Backup by Empyreal Systems http://empyrealsystems.com/

Using Online Data Storage

2008-05-21T17:01:00.000+08:00

Most people don't realize how convenient online data storage really is in these days using email storage services. The benefits for storing excess data online and freeing up space on your own hard drive is becoming a popular trend. Backing up information that could be lost if something is to go wrong on the current storage media is another very common use of online data storage.

Instead of going through a process of sending data from one computer to the next, online data storage makes files easier to access from all around the world. You can backup those pictures and important documents online for free by opening an account with a free online storage provider and access them from any internet connection.

Online data storage is an excellent way to back up files in a place that can always be counted on to find your what you backed up. Internal and external hard drives can't always be counted on for your back up needs. An internal hard drive can simply crash and you will lose all your information you thought was safe forever. An external hard drive can be stolen, or misplaced. This is why online storage sites are becoming more common for the home user and businesses.

Accessibility is everything nowadays. You don't have to go out and buy a huge pack of cds to back up all your material. Online data storage is quick and simple way for the home user or business person to quickly store information and access it at another time with out having to go through the loops of searching for everything on a computer or back up disks. Most websites will allow you to login with a secure password and access your data from anywhere in the world. Have you ever been at work and needed to access a document that would normally be stored on your home computer? This is no longer a problem when taking advantage of the advice provided by this article.

There are many different websites that promise many things when it comes to online data storage. A good way to makes sure the site that you pick is safe and reliable is to read up on the website's history and check reviews by other users that happen to frequent the site for their back up needs. Make sure the usual online subjects are present on the storage website. Also, review the terms and privacy policies to ensure you know where you understand how your data is held.

Protecting your data by backing it up online has never been so easy and free. Be a smart user and keep your important files online for the sake of the data and ease of access.

This article was written for our friends at 30Gigs.com to inform people about online data storage solutions. Article written and distributed by Steve Cancel, IT Manager of Secure Link.

Save your Outlook Express email and address book to an archived file every once in a while

2008-05-21T16:55:00.001+08:00

If you have hundred of emails stored inside Outlook Express or Ms Outlook on your hard drive, which is not present on any other computer ( such as a server ) this article is a must read, it contains free, useful information about how to locate and save your email files to a CD or secondary hard drive.

Outlook Express and Ms Outlook stores your email and address book in some files on the local hard drive(s) of your computer. In many cases this email is NOT stored on any webserver, as is deleted from the mail server as soon as is downloaded.

The average computer user has several thousands of the emails, contacts, several rules and a few signatures, all stored on the local computer and vulnerable to viruses or other disasters that can make a PC unfunctional.

Our advice: you should consider saving these email files from time to time to a safe archived copy ( usually on a CD, or a separate hard drive ) and if ever you have problems with your PC you will be easily able to restore the email.

It is incredible how many people do NOT save copies of their Outlook Express email files; and when a disaster strikes, they will reinstall all software, copy back pictures and some documents from CDs, but all their email is gone. Forever.

Viruses, power failures, software failures, human errors, hard drive failures are only a few examples of what could destroy the data on a hard drive, including all documents, pictures, emails and other files!

Many users do not need an complex ( and expensive ) backup software, as they can easily copy all the important home made videos, pictures, documents, and important files to CDs or DVDs, from where they can be easily copied back when needed. However, the email is most of the time harder to copy because not all home users know where to find it, and which files should be copied.

This article contains a detailed tutorial of where these files are located and how to copy them to a safe place. Also, you can use a software that does it fast and most important, automated at regular period of time. It is very important to do the process right, or you will end up with an unusable, incomplete backup copy.

While using Outlook Express is fairly easy, finding and backing up the emails can be a little more complicated. Since there are a large number of files and folders on a computer running Windows, the first problem is to find the files containing the emails. Outlook Express stores emails in .dbx files and there might be several different dbx files depending on how many email folders you have created in Outlook Express. If you are using Windows 98, you can probably locate your emails somewhere in the Windows directory. In Windows 2000 and XP, emails are usually stored somewhere in the user data or application data folder.

The easiest way to find out exactly where your emails are stored is to start Outlook Express, go to the Tools menu, and open the Options dialog box. In the Options dialog box, select the Maintenance page and click the Store Folder button. . Here you can find the path to the folder containing your emails. To open the folder, copy the path and paste in the address field of the Windows File Manager. You should see a number of .dbx files and possibly some other files, too.

After locating the email folder, you can simply select all the files and press Ctrl-C. Then open the folder where you want to keep the backup copies (on another hard disk, a DVD or a network drive, for example) in Windows Explorer, and press Ctrl-V. To backup the Address Book, you can follow these steps:

a.. Select Tools | Address Book... from the menu in Outlook Express.
b.. Choose File | Export | Other Address Book...from the address book's menu.
c.. Select Text File (Comma Separated Values) as the export format.
d.. Click Export.
e.. Select the location you want to export your address book to using the Browse... button.
f.. Give your backup copy a meaningful name.
g.. Click Next.
h.. Select the fields you want to include in your backup.
i.. Finally, select Finish.
j.. Click OK.
k.. Click Close to end the process (successfully, I hope).

Additionally, there are several email backup utilities which can make the backup operation much easier. Outlook Express Backup Genie is one piece of software that can offer peace of mind by creating compact backup copies of emails, attachments, address book, signatures, blocked list, mail rules and settings periodically. The difference between using a automatic email backup utility and manual backups, is that the first can be scheduled to create backups quiet in the background at specified time intervals, and that it will include all email information ( signatures, blocked list, etc ) which otherwise would be more difficult to save. Also if ever the backup is needed, the application will ensure that the restore process is made smoothly. And, it works with top 9 popular email clients.

The downside of using a automatic email backup utility is that it costs money, usually about 20-30 USD as one time payment, while the manual backups are of course, free. The conclusion is that either manual or automatic, backing up emails is a critical operation for every computer user that would regret losing them.

A trial copy of Outlook Express Backup Genie can be found at:
http://www.amicutilities.com/outlook-express-backup/

http://www.amicutilities.com/outlook-express-backup/

Fast and Reliable Recovery of Microsoft Office Documents

2008-05-21T16:54:00.000+08:00

Microsoft Office documents store results of many hours, days or even years of work of practically all office employees and most people who use their computers at home. Microsoft Word dominates the market of word processors, and most if not all documents are stored in RTF and its proprietary DOC formats. Microsoft Excel and its XLS file format dominate spreadsheet market. Most presentations are created in Microsoft PowerPoint and stored in PPT files, and most charts and drawings are drawn in Microsoft Visio and saved as VSD files. Combined, files in these formats occupy significant space on the users' hard drives, and represent hours and hours of work, much more than any other file format.

In an unfortunate case of hard disk crash or file system failure, what would you try to recover the hardest? Would it be a set of software products such as Windows or Office itself, which you can easily re-install from the original CD or DVD, or would it be files and documents you spent your personal time working on? Unless you have a fresh backup of your documents somewhere, the documents are impossible to simply re-install. If you have a recent copy of your Office documents, that's great! But what if your backup is several days old, and you've put a lot of work into these documents? Or even worse, what if you don't have a backup at all?

Recover latest versions of your deleted documents even after a hard drive failure with DiskInternals Office Recovery securely and reliably. Unlike general-use undelete and data recovery tools, DiskInternals Office Recovery strongly benefits from being designed specifically to handle documents stored in Microsoft Office format.

General-use recovery products scan the computer's file system in order to locate files that were deleted or corrupt because of a hard drive failure. However, they frequently fail to work properly if the file system itself is damaged, which happens a lot after hard drive failures.

DiskInternals Office Recovery scans entire surface of your hard drive in order to locate all Microsoft Office documents that are still there. In order to find the documents, it uses a set of signatures that are characteristic for the Office file types. The file system is also scanned in order to retrieve the names of the files. The results of disk scan are matched against information contained in the file system, and you are presented with a complete list of all Microsoft Office documents that are on the disk and that are still possible to recover.

Quite often you don't want to see the list of all Microsoft Office documents that were ever saved on your computer. There's no point in spending time scrolling through an endless list of files if you just need the latest revision of a PPT presentation or an XLS spreadsheet, but you need that document right away. DiskInternals Office Recovery offers an extensive set of filters allowing you to display only the files that you need with just a few mouse clicks. If you need a DOC file that you know you worked with today, you simply activate the File Format and Date filters, and only the Word documents that were modified on this day will be displayed. If you don't remember the name of the file, but know its title or the person who created the document, the Title and Author filters will show you those files. Similarly, if you only remember a line or even a few words of text from the document, you can instantly locate that particular file by activating the Text filter.

With full document preview in the free evaluation version, there are no worries or surprises in buying DiskInternals Office Recovery. Download the free trial version from www.diskinternals.com and see for yourself that it is fully capable to do the job!

Why Online Backups Are The Only Choice For Many Businesses

2007-12-09T23:01:00.000+08:00

Online backup is a process of taking routine backups of data and files from your computers or servers and it is generally taken at least once every week and ideally every day. This is one of the preferred data protection measures and nowadays all business organisations regularly take online backups of important data and documents.

Taking regular online backups of your essential documents and data is now very easy and initially your service providers may provide a free trial for a fixed duration. To begin your service, you simply download the online backup software and the software does the rest of the job.

The program collects the various files, compresses and encrypts the files and then sends these encrypted files to the remote server of the service provider. No one, even the employees of the backup company, has access to these files and the files decrypt only when they are received back on the originating computer or server. Thus, this ensures not only the safety of the data but also its security.

There are lots of features available including open file backup, binary data transfer, and continuous or predefined backup. Generally the software has the feature of taking backups even when several files such as Outlook emails or SQL files are open. The administrator, in such case, need not plan separate maintenance and backup schedules. Another feature is continuous backup of data instead of predefined schedule. Companies and especially financial institutions need continuous backup of financial records and banking statements for FSA regulation purposes.

The latest techniques allow the identification and transfer of only binary data that has been changed from earlier backups, instead of taking whole data files. This technique not only reduces traffic on local area networks (LAN) and the time required for online backup, it also reduces the bandwidth and hence the cost of backups. The other typical feature of backup software is that it is compatible with almost all the operating system environments such as Windows, Linux, UNIX, and Macintosh.

There are many advantages of online backups over traditional backup systems. First of all the user has nothing to do manually to store data, or take the backup of data. Secondly, with online backups the data is automatically stored on the remote servers at a predefined time intervals or continuously.

Secure online backups also use software that encrypt the files so no one can have access to the data, however in traditional backup scenarios, you have to ensure yourself that the data is safe as well as secure, by keeping it in safe custody as well as password protecting it.

Online backups are necessary for data safety and you should ensure that your data or the necessary documents should be stored at a remote and safe location for your business continuity in the event of disaster or hardware failures.

Using Online Data Storage

2007-12-09T23:00:00.000+08:00

Online Backups, Are You Being Smart?

2007-12-09T22:59:00.001+08:00

Data loss is one of the major problems especially in big business houses where a large number of data has to be dealt with and in all the circumstances the data loss can be minimized by using secure online backups. Although there are many conventional backup systems such as CD, DVD, and floppy that can be used for storing small amount of data, however for storing large amount of data secure online backup seems to be the right option.

Nowadays many commercial secure online backup providers are easily available and after paying a nominal fee, you can store your data at a remote location. These commercial online backup stores ask you to download their backup software and the software manages the backup and does the rest of job. A few commercial backup stores charge anywhere between 20 cents to 3 dollar per month for storing 1 GB of data, however there are some online backup stores who offer the online backup free for a limited period.

Actually you should ensure that the commercial online backup you have chosen is genuine and reliable and the privacy of your document is maintained. Many individuals take the benefits of these low cost commercial secure online backup facilities and store their family albums and other data. The software provided by commercial stores is easy to operate and with the instructions provided to you, you can install and operate the online backup software. You should try with a free online secure backup for a month and if satisfied with the services you should continue for the desired period.

The secure online backup software will generally have many features and the latest and modern software are equipped with highly sophisticated technique to protect the privacy of the data. The system ensures that backups are taken routinely as per your requirement and accordingly you are intimated by email. The software also ensures that the file system and directories structure is maintained during backup.

The software installed at your computer first compresses the data and sometimes the space occupied by the data is reduced to 85 percent. The data afterwards encrypted so that the privacy of these data is maintained and then forwarded to the commercial backup store via local area network or Internet. Due to the encryption of the data, these are even not accessible to the backup store employees and therefore the data are fully private and while retrieving the software installed at your computer decrypt the data.

The data loss is a very big problem for large business houses, commercial ventures and even for an individual and therefore secure online backup of data is one of the right options for each one of us. Sometimes it is also necessary to maintain the privacy of the data and therefore suitable commercial backup organization having an excellent track record should be carefully selected. So instead of taking a risk of loosing your important data, it is better to store and secure online backups available at a marginal price.

Recover Deleted Email Messages in Vista Windows Mail

2007-12-06T17:27:00.000+08:00

Outlook Express was, and by the time of this writing still is, the most popular email client by a huge margin. It's hard to overestimate the amount of support Outlook Express has received from third party developers. Multiple free and commercial products compete for your disk space and a place in your Start menu, including tools that backup and restore email messages, and that fix and recover corrupted mail database. Outlook Express users certainly have no lack of email recovery tools that help to recover accidentally deleted email messages.

The situation has changed momentarily. With the release of Windows Vista, Outlook Express has been superseded with a new-generation email client, Windows Mail. Windows Mail stores email messages in a new format that is completely different from Outlook Express and incompatible with anything before it. Familiar mail recovery tools for Outlook Express no longer work with Windows Mail, and, as is typical, there is no method to un-delete email messages provided by Microsoft.

Recovery for Windows Mail http://www.nsware.com/Windows-Mail-Recovery.htm is one of the first products on the market to support the new Windows email client. It is designed specifically to un-delete email messages in Windows Vista.

Windows Vista offers increased security and strengthened protection against modern threats. New security measures typically prevent users and applications from accessing important files and modifying vital information. In order to overcome these restrictions, you would have to be logged in as an Administrator, or at least as a user with administrative rights. This may become a major inconvenience for a home user, and a total show-stopper in a corporate environment.

Recovery for Windows Mail is fully aware of the new account security measures implemented in Windows Vista, and does not require you to be logged in with an administrative password. Just run Recovery for Windows Mail, and it'll do the rest - automatically!

Windows Mail differs from Outlook Express in the way it stores email. Each message is stored in a separate file, complemented by meta-information that's stored in a mail database for faster indexing. Deleting email in Windows Mail simply moves messages into the "Deleted Items" folder without affecting the files. But if you remove a message from the "Deleted Items" folder, there is no easy way to un-delete that mail.

Recovery for Windows Mail protects your messages from accidental deletion. It can un-delete and fully recover deleted mail even if it has been erased from the "Deleted Items" folder.

Recovery for Windows Mail is fully capable of recovering deleted email in the Windows Mail client. Protect yourself and download your free evaluation version here: http://www.nsware.com/Windows-Mail-Recovery.htm

THE BENEFITS OF BACKUP SYSTEMS

2007-12-06T17:25:00.001+08:00

Remote backup is fast becoming an alternative to traditional backup procedures. Most businesses do not rely on online remote backup as a single source for storage of critical data, but instead use it in addition to traditional backup solutions. It affords them a third storage area and data recovery source in the event of a catastrophic disaster. A remote, online, or managed backup service is a service that provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files.

Online backup systems are typically built around a client software program that runs on a schedule, usually once a day. This program collects, compresses, encrypts, and transfers the data to the remote backup service provider's servers.

A feature of some services is the capability to back up the primary site data plus remote offices and branch offices in a relatively seamless manner.
The ability to back up files that are extensively opened, such as Outlook files or SQL database files can be useful. Such ability allows IT administrators to run back up jobs any time of the day, not requiring setting aside server maintenance time. Most online backup products need an add-on for this.

A Multi-platform backup service can back up multiple platforms such as the various flavors of Windows, Macintosh, and Linux/UNIX. A continuous backup feature allows the tool to back up continuously or on a predefined schedule. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Most backup tools are schedule-based and perform backups at a predetermined time. Some services provide continuous data backups which are used by large financial institutions and large online retailers. However, there is typically a tradeoff with performance and system resources.Some services allow you to access your backed up files via a normal web browser. Many tools do not provide this type of functionality.

A way to minimize network traffic is to transfer only the binary data that has changed from one day to the next. The more serious tools use this method rather than transfer entire files. Tools originally designed for network backup use this method.

Remote backup has advantages over traditional backup methods. Remote backup does not require user intervention. The user does not have to change tapes, label CDs or perform other manual steps. It maintains data offsite. Perhaps the most important aspect of backing up is that backups are stored in a different location from the original data. Traditional backup requires manually taking the backup media offsite. Some remote backup services will work continuously, backing up files as they are changed, but most remote backup services will maintain a list of versions of your files.

These computer backup systems might have, though, some disadvantages. Depending on the available network bandwidth, the restoration of data can be slow. Because data is stored offsite, the data must be recovered either via the Internet or via tape.

Often business might look at data storage in another state as additional protection against data loss, especially if the original area is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes. Online and remote backup is gaining in popularity for the safety and security of the data. The idea is you download your data through an online process to a remote location that stores the data in a secure environment. Your company has access to the data 24/7 for recovery needs or further backup.

The Need For Remote Backups

2007-12-02T14:00:00.000+08:00

Remote backups, as the name suggests, are backups taken remotely. These backups are taken without interfering with the server, the data of which is being backed up. Remote backups are relatively new but are catching up quite rapidly as compared to other forms of backup.

Remote backups are exactly similar to online backups. Online backups involve copying the data while it is being saved on the server and simultaneously saving it to some offsite location. Online backups are also known as real time backups as they involve backing up the data in ?real time' that is almost simultaneously to the entry of the data. In the same way, remote backups involve taking a backup of the data to be backed up in real time. Real time backups involve backing up the data as and when it is entered into the system. However remote backup and online backup should not be construed to mean the same thing. Remote backups are a part of online backups. Remote backups are a type of online backups, which are normally preferred by organizations as they do away with the shortcomings of conventional backups as well as the shortcomings of other forms of online backups.

Remote backups involve backing up of the data of a particular server from a place distant to the server. Online backups involve running a backup process simultaneously on he server, which is to be backed up. This often leads to the server being overloaded with multiple processes and programs. This leads to low performance and output levels from the server. It also increases the risk of a server crash due to overloading. These shortcomings of other forms of online backups led to the origin of remote backups.

Remote backups do away with almost all shortcomings of conventional forms of backing up data. Remote backups do not involve interfering with the server being backed up. This virtually rules out any form of mishap to the server due interference during the back up process. Hence data integrity is not compromised on during the process of remote back up. Also remote backups are conducted simultaneously to the process of data entry. Hence, this form of backup does not require the server to remain idle for some time. This form of back up thus does not involve any down time on the part of the organization. Thus the organization can save on many productive man-hours. These can further be used profitably by the organization.

Remote backups also do away with the shortcomings of the other forms of online backups. As they are not run on the server being backed up, they do not compromise on the integrity of the data being backed up as also on the performance of the server. Also, such backups can be retrieved almost instantly. This is not the case with other forms of online backups, which can be retrieved only with a certain time lag. Remote backups also have a distinct advantage in comparison to other forms of backup. Remote backups are taken simultaneously offsite on a different server and hence are almost always reliable. Remote backups are steadily gaining ground among corporate and other organizations due to their obvious advantages and are here to stay.

Electronic Discovery 2.0

2007-12-02T13:59:00.000+08:00

Electronic Discovery 2.0, or ?e-discovery 2.0? refers to the next generation of processes, technologies, and services that streamline and modernize the traditional e-discovery process as well as allows businesses to manage huge volumes of data, lower costs, and meet tight deadlines. In this Electronic Discovery process civil litigants seek to acquire information from both parties and from third parties.

In the early days Electronic Data & Evidence Recovery meant just handling over a few boxes of paper, but in today?s rapidly growing world where it involves terabytes of electronic data & valuable time, it is a different story. To deal with the increasing volume & complexity of e-discovery issues, companies have to adopt new technologies and processes.

If technology has created problem, then it can also solve it. In recent years lot of new technologies have emerged which enables organizations to store and search through their data to fulfill electronic discovery obligations.

As the cost of disk storage is reducing, people are moving from tapes to disks. This enables them to keep their data online and readily available for e-discovery from basic keyword search to sophisticated analysis tools. That mines all meta data from e-mails and groups them together for relevance and allow users to search thousands of mails and logs in minutes to identify and export the data.

From the company?s perspective Electronic Data Discovery has become a core competency and a part of doing business.

iPod Solutions: Data Recovery for Lost MP3 Files

2007-12-02T13:58:00.001+08:00

What exactly is an iPod? iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched in October 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily digital audio players, designed around a central click wheel?with the exception of the iPod Shuffle, which uses buttons because of its size. As of October 2005, the line-up consists of the video-capable fifth generation iPod, the smaller iPod nano, and the displayless iPod shuffle. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod Shuffle use flash memory. Like many digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. In January 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, a device that combined the features of the video-capable iPod with mobile phone and mobile Internet capabilities. Apple's iTunes software is used to transfer music to the devices. As a free jukebox application, iTunes stores an entire music library on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It can also transfer photos, videos, games, and calendars to the models that support them.

Thus, it can be seen easily that the wide use of the iPod, coupled with its vast storage space (anywhere between 512 MB and 80 GB; the latter compares with some full-size hard drives for PCs) together creates situation in which iPod users are not immune from data loss and the subsequent need for data recovery. Data recovery, you exclaim? Is people?s music that important? In fact, it is; however, increasingly commonly, people have been storing data other than music on their iPods. A recent survey conducted by Newsweek magazine reported that of 500 iPod owning-respondents, 492 reported storing music on their iPod. Of these, 342 reported that the iPod contained their most recent and entire music collection. Further, they reported that they would feel ?extreme distress? if they were to lose this collection due to data loss. Of the entire respondent pool, 145 respondents stated that they stored data such as documents, spreadsheets, and other work- and business- related documents on the iPod, elucidating that the iPod?s extreme portability and reliability lead to their doing this.

Thus, it is clear that people do store rather important data on their iPods. Apple reports that 55% of all iPods sold contain hard drives, while the rest use flash-based memory, which is far less prone to data loss due to its lack of moving parts and solid-state technology. However, this renders over fifty million iPods the world over prone to data loss. Experts report that iPods are, in fact, more prone to data loss than typical PCs because of their portability and consequent exposure to far more risky situations and unusual circumstances. Underwriters Laboratories LLP, the world?s leading product testing agency reports that it has received confirmed accounts of iPods that have unwittingly been exposed to the following hazardous situations: fire, water, floods, earthquakes, dropping from a few feet, dropping from ten to twenty-five feet, dropping from four storeys or more, electrocution, power surges, power failures (within and without the devices), physical damage due to children, pets, and extreme anger, and so on.

As with any hard drive, physical trauma to an iPod may result in data loss. Further, logical failures, though rare for iPods, are also possible; an estimated .5% of all iPods sold worldwide had defective hard drives that are more prone to logical failures. This exposes 500,000 potential users to this problem, creating the need for redressal.

iPods that have experienced data loss are treated in the same manner as that for PC hard drives; first, methods employing software are tried. If these fail, more aggressive methods such as removing the hard drive and attempting to access the data through another system/IDE controller are used; however, the latter are costly and are only done in cases in which the data is critical, as these methods involve considerable expense.

However, it is important for iPod owners experiencing possible data loss to remember that their data is eminently recoverable, except in the rarest and most extreme situations. One can say that even in the bleakest of situations, hope is still alive for their precious music libraries and data collections.

An Introduction to Hard Disk Drives

2007-11-30T22:52:00.000+08:00

The word ?drive? is usually associated with a device that is used to play the disc ? just like the floppy drive is used for floppy discs, or CD/DVD drives for those discs. In fact, looking at the history of Hard Disks, one would note that it too started out as removable media like these. All HDDs are sealed within their protective metal casing. It all changed in 1980 when Seagate came up with the new version of the smaller HDD.

The Manufacturers

In 1980, Seagate Tech made ST 506, the first 5.25 inches Hard Disk. Its capacity was 5 megabytes. Till date, making Hard Disks remain an arduous task requiring huge technical resources, a high degree of precision, and special atmospherically controlled manufacturing units. As a result, 98% of the world?s Hard Disk production is still monopolised by a few big companies ?Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital, and Hitachi, which has taken over the disc manufacturing section of IBM. Fujitsu is another company that makes hard drives, but not for desktops. Toshiba makes 2.5 inch and 1.8 inch notebook discs, specifically with laptops in mind. Between 1985 and 1999, a lot of smaller companies came into the market and went away too, as they could not sustain production. So, it can safely be said that Seagate is the market leader in hard drive manufacturing, followed by Samsung, and then Hitachi and Western Digital.

Types of Hard Disks

Hard Disks can be divided into two groups, according to where they are used, and according to the interface used by them.

A. According to where they are Used:

1. Internal Hard Drives: Most of the hard drives used today are internal drives, i.e., the ones found inside a computer ? from a home pc to a powerful office workstation. Most computers now use a minimum of two Hard Disks within themselves ? one of which is usually kept aside to house all programme files, while the other disk is used for storage and other work. Most hard drives are more or less fast, reliable and offer almost 100% of their space for storage.
2. External Hard Disk Drives: These come with an additional protective casing. Therefore, these can be used by customers who have to travel a lot, or work from multiple computers.
3. Laptop Hard Drives: They are made much in the same way as a pc internal hard drive, but they are more compact in design. Like the ones used in a home computer, laptop hard drives are also of two types ? in-built, and ones that can be quickly installed and removed. It must be mentioned here that many laptop hard drives are designed for a specific model only, and installing them on a different model will fail.

B. HDD s according to Interface:

1. EIDE (Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics) or ATA drives: These are the most common interfaces used in the market.
2. SATA (Serial Advanced Technical Attachment): This format is gaining popularity fast, since it has several advantages over EIDE. The two greatest benefits of SATA are ? they are much faster ? and have much smaller cables, thus allowing more ?breathing space? inside the computer. The less cluttered the inside of a CPU is, the more chances it has of maintaining an air flow, and not getting overheated.

Data Recovery and the Hard Drive

We store data in the hard drive, precisely because it is supposed to be safer than the other media devices. But, sometimes, data stored in a hard drive that is securely installed in a computer can also be negatively affected. Broadly speaking, there are two ways in which a Hard Disk drive may lose or damage data:

1. Physical Data Loss: The HDD may be physically damaged due to water, humidity, fire, accident, water, or the impact of a fall. It can also be caused by the malfunctioning of other components, like a jammed read or write head, or a motor failure.
2. Logical Data Loss: Here the HDD itself remains unaffected, but the data is lost or corrupt. This happens due to accidental or malicious formatting of a logical partition or the entire disc, overwriting, fragmentation, virus infection and sudden power surge or spike.

To recover data, one may simply install and run a data recovery software available from the net, or approach a professional data recovery firm ? depending on the extent of damage done, and the volume and preciousness of the data.

Fast and Reliable Recovery of Microsoft Office Documents

2007-11-30T22:50:00.000+08:00

What would you value most in a data recovery solution should you lose an important document? Would it be speed, convenience, or ease of use? These things surely matter for all kinds of computer software, but data recovery has one specific demand that outweighs everything else by a huge margin. This factor is reliability of the recovery.

Microsoft Office documents store results of many hours, days or even years of work of practically all office employees and most people who use their computers at home. Microsoft Word dominates the market of word processors, and most if not all documents are stored in RTF and its proprietary DOC formats. Microsoft Excel and its XLS file format dominate spreadsheet market. Most presentations are created in Microsoft PowerPoint and stored in PPT files, and most charts and drawings are drawn in Microsoft Visio and saved as VSD files. Combined, files in these formats occupy significant space on the users' hard drives, and represent hours and hours of work, much more than any other file format.

In an unfortunate case of hard disk crash or file system failure, what would you try to recover the hardest? Would it be a set of software products such as Windows or Office itself, which you can easily re-install from the original CD or DVD, or would it be files and documents you spent your personal time working on? Unless you have a fresh backup of your documents somewhere, the documents are impossible to simply re-install. If you have a recent copy of your Office documents, that's great! But what if your backup is several days old, and you've put a lot of work into these documents? Or even worse, what if you don't have a backup at all?

Recover latest versions of your deleted documents even after a hard drive failure with DiskInternals Office Recovery securely and reliably. Unlike general-use undelete and data recovery tools, DiskInternals Office Recovery strongly benefits from being designed specifically to handle documents stored in Microsoft Office format.

General-use recovery products scan the computer's file system in order to locate files that were deleted or corrupt because of a hard drive failure. However, they frequently fail to work properly if the file system itself is damaged, which happens a lot after hard drive failures.

DiskInternals Office Recovery scans entire surface of your hard drive in order to locate all Microsoft Office documents that are still there. In order to find the documents, it uses a set of signatures that are characteristic for the Office file types. The file system is also scanned in order to retrieve the names of the files. The results of disk scan are matched against information contained in the file system, and you are presented with a complete list of all Microsoft Office documents that are on the disk and that are still possible to recover.

Quite often you don't want to see the list of all Microsoft Office documents that were ever saved on your computer. There's no point in spending time scrolling through an endless list of files if you just need the latest revision of a PPT presentation or an XLS spreadsheet, but you need that document right away. DiskInternals Office Recovery offers an extensive set of filters allowing you to display only the files that you need with just a few mouse clicks. If you need a DOC file that you know you worked with today, you simply activate the File Format and Date filters, and only the Word documents that were modified on this day will be displayed. If you don't remember the name of the file, but know its title or the person who created the document, the Title and Author filters will show you those files. Similarly, if you only remember a line or even a few words of text from the document, you can instantly locate that particular file by activating the Text filter.

With full document preview in the free evaluation version, there are no worries or surprises in buying DiskInternals Office Recovery. Download the free trial version from www.diskinternals.com and see for yourself that it is fully capable to do the job!

What NOT to do When Your Hard Drive Crashes

2007-11-30T22:48:00.000+08:00

Instant Access to Password Protected Microsoft Office Documents

2007-11-29T21:20:00.000+08:00

If you were ever unable to open a Microsoft Word document or Excel spreadsheet protected with a password, you know how frustrating it feels. If you need to access that document right away, the frustration turns into urgent need to recover protected data.

Fire up a Google search and you'll be hit with numerous offers to recover your documents' passwords for highly varying fees. Such companies typically provide very fast recovery times ranging from an instant to very fast, depending on the complexity of your password and the version of Microsoft Office software that was used to save the document. Data recovery is their business, allowing them to have clusters of super computers handy to quickly break passwords of any length. Some of these services even do not ask for an upfront payment, billing you only if a document has been successfully recovered.

But what if your Excel spreadsheets or Word documents contain sensitive information? What if your company has strict security policies that forbid sending documents out of the corporate setting? Simply speaking, what if sending the encrypted document to an online data recovery service is not an option for security reasons?

In case you don't have a super computer handy, you are restricted to the limited resources of your personal or office computer, or your corporate server at best, thus making password recovery with brute force attacks a very lengthy process.

Solution? Try software designed specifically for instantly recovering Microsoft Word or Excel passwords regardless of your computer's performance. Office Password Recovery suite by Intelore (http://www.intelore.com/office-password-recovery.php) offers you an ability to recover both Word and Excel passwords, while if you are on a budget, Word Password Recovery and Excel Password Recovery are available separately (from http://www.intelore.com/word-password-recovery.php and http://www.intelore.com/excel-password-recovery.php respectively).

What makes these products really different is their ability to unlock your password protected documents and spreadsheets momentarily, without sending the entire document outside of your organization. If a document is password-protected for modification, or if it is weakly protected, the protection can be easily removed. Under these circumstances, no information will be sent outside of your corporate setting.

Other types of documents may also be recovered instantly. Instead of providing the entire document with sensitive information to a third party, Intelore servers only take document encryption parameters, and then the decryption itself occurs on your computer, so that your sensitive information never leaves your organization.

How is this even possible, and why all the password recovery services still exist?

This is a legitimate question. The answer is simple: instant password recovery is only possible under controlled circumstances. You can only recover documents that are protected with a password to open, and then saved by Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word 2000 and 97, as well as documents saved by later versions of Word and Excel XP, 2003, and 2007 in Office 2000/97 compatibility mode. In practice, vast majority of corporate documentation is saved in these legacy formats to ensure up and down compatibility within organization. Thanks to corporate policies regarding document compatibility, your Word and Excel documents may still be stored in the format that can be easily and instantly recovered with Office Password Recovery tools.

Try Word, Excel or Office Password Recovery suite to gain instant access to your protected documents! Download free evaluation versions at http://www.intelore.com/

How to Take Care of Your Hard Drive to Prevent a Crash

2007-11-29T21:17:00.000+08:00

They are also not immortal ? in fact ? a hard drive has a life span of only three to five years. We should always bear in mind that the drive may crash for no fault of ours, and we want our data to remain intact. Maintenance is important because that way we prolong the life span of the drive, and of the data in it. The whole effort is to prevent a crash from happening at all.

Below are some guidelines to help in the maintenance of hard drives. However, it should be underlined that even if you follow all of them stringently, backups are still important.

Do not take out the disk itself from its protective casing, even if your hands are exceptionally clean. Even a little unseen speck of dust can fatally scratch your drive. The surface of the disk is extremely delicate and cannot stand high temperature, direct sunlight, dust, moisture or rough handling.

Make sure that there is enough ventilation inside the CPU. A modern drive working at high speed can raise its temperature up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature rises beyond the melting point of iron, then the metal will just soften, and your data will literally vaporize from it. All CPUs now have built in fans and cooling systems, but it is important to arrange the wiring and placement of cards etc. in such a way that the space does not become too cramped in there. It is advisable to keep the machine in a room with controlled temperature.
Moisture is a killer for the hard disk.

Avoid moving your computer around too much if it is a desktop. A dropped computer can be bad for the data, and this happens often with laptops. If the shock level is beyond the absorption power, or the vertical component of the drop is higher than the speed at which the disk is rotating, the disk will be permanently damaged. This is true after keeping in mind that modern disks are much more robust.

Do not touch the pins under the drive if you have to take it out for some reason. Be very careful about wiring and putting in cards. A wrong plug in will blow the circuitry of the drive. Precaution needs to be taken against electrostatic discharge and strong magnetic fields. Do not plug in the room cleaner, heater and computer from the same plug in strip. If you take out the hard drive or are plugging in cards into it, keep touching an unpainted surface like the chassis of the computer to ensure that electrostatic discharges are not conveyed through you, and you do not end up electrocuting your own drive.

Keep the computer away from open doors and windows. If the drive is to be transported somewhere, try to move it round in the same packaging in which it came. Always carry a hard drive in a shock-proof and electrostatic shock-protected bag. If there is a severe hardware problem, or if there has been a disaster, do not take out the drive. The data recovery experts would know how to handle it best. If the computer has been burned, do not use water on it. Ship the entire CPU, with the disk sealed with heat inside it to the recovery firm. It is important to keep your data updated. It is also important to defrag your machine at regular intervals. The file endings will be hopelessly scattered and muddled if you do not do so, corrupting the data.

Make sure all hardware you are plugging in are compatible with your computer. Installing an anti-virus is not enough. Keep updating it regularly. Install a firewall and ensure that it is the latest version, and actually working.

The Lifeline Provided by Logical Data Recovery

2007-11-29T21:15:00.000+08:00

Be it a mogul or business magnate with multi-million domains earning several dollars of money or a university student, if the important data is lost, then it would for sure be a nightmare to them. No matter, whoever may be the person, whatever may be the level of damage and the significance of the data, and whatever cost is involved, the victims could attempt positively to recover the data.

Logical data recovery is nothing but rebuilding the corrupted files into their original form. In these cases, the BIOS would recognise the drive, but it would exemplify error if the data is accessed. The person, who is recovering the data, would make an image of the drive. One can do it with the help of commercial disk utilities; otherwise a data recovery company can also be approached. Although making an image is highly important, it should not be done if the drive makes unusual noises, otherwise it would end up in physical damage.

If a disk reports no boot partition, even after being recognised by the BIOS, it would be a logical data error. Under logical error, the files and folders would be missing and there would be no data or impartial data in the file. Incorrect data that is available is also an error of that type. In the case of logical failure, the drive has to be scanned completely to correct the corruption in the file system.

If files are deleted and formatted accidentally, then, there will be a need for logical data recovery. If the partition and file system are corrupted severely, it can be termed as logical failures. Partition can be repaired and the drive can also be restored to the original status. If these steps do not work out, then a low level of scanning would be performed in order to search the entire sector of the hard drive. If the files are located, then it would be copied to the storage devices such as CD ROM, DVD-ROM or other hard drives.

Logical recovery is a time-consuming process. Generally, it will take one day for scanning and another day for recovering the files. To make images of a drive, we need to have commercial imaging software that has to be installed on a separate computer. The entire image of the corrupted drive would be stored in the computer. If the drive has many bad sectors, then it will take more time to copy the images. It might take 30 minutes or several days depending upon the volume of the bad sectors. Once the system with imaging software is used for imaging, it cannot be used for any other purpose till the imaging process gets over.

As an alternative, one can also attach an external USB to the faulty computer. To do this, one should use the IDE ports on the motherboard as they have better error-handling capacity. After making the image, we have to run the logical data recovery software that is also a part of the imaging software.

One should also bear in mind that a file, which was overwritten by another file, cannot be attempted for data recovery. One might suggest of using high level technology such as Magnetic Force Microscope to read the magnetization. However, utilising this technology is not advisable as it is highly unreliable and also expensive. One cannot fight for a losing battle, but some users are attempting to do it. Even the high level technology has nothing to do with the file that has been overwritten more than once.

The major cause for the logical damage is power failures and fluctuations. It would prevent the file system from being written completely to the storage medium. The hardware and drives with defects and also system crashes would have the same effect. The file system would be inconsistent and could lead to problems such as system crashes and loss of data. The drive would also report negative amounts of free space. The logical damages can also be attributed to accidental physical damages.

Viruses could create serious logical errors. They would damage or manipulate the data against the interest of the owners. Viruses would duplicate it automatically and would delete and corrupt the programming files during the process. The malicious software is designed one step ahead of the latest antivirus and so it has the capacity to cause severe logical damage.

Disaster Recovery, Are You Prepared?

2007-11-29T21:14:00.000+08:00

Disaster recovery is one of the most important factors for most businesses, yet it is often overlooked or considered too expensive to implement.

Disaster recovery solutions enable a business to continue working in the event of fire, theft, malfunction or terrorism. By preparing for disaster recovery, your business will not lose any valuable data, configurations or time, saving you money in the long run.

By backing up data, applications, and settings continuously, to a secure location, your business will be ready for any disaster situation.

Any proven IT company can provide these services, but at what cost, and how good is it?

Since the introduction of Citrix and Microsoft's Terminal Services, it has been possible to provide these disaster recovery services at a much lower cost, with greatly enhanced security benefits.

Switch your IT system to a corporate-level, Terminal Services environment and what you get is a complete disaster recovery solution for a much lower cost than you would expect.

As well as having your data and applications held in secure data centres, your data could be continuously backed up, providing total disaster recovery. The ultimate solution is to have complete redundancy for your IT system and this involves not having any single point of failure within your IT infrastructure.

Imagine having your company's entire data, software and structure housed in two separate data centres, spread across two different ISPs, and having all your systems and data held on servers that have their own backup servers to automatically switch on, in the event of failure.

Most corporations do not have this level of redundancy, but for a fixed, monthly fee, this and more is possible for companies with anything from two uses to a thousand users.

Apart from all the mentioned benefits, you could also get the power of hosted Microsoft Exchange, Outlook Web Access, easy Blackberry mobile integration, hosted Microsoft CRM, and for the ultimate peace of mind, you can have portable security keys as used by major companies around the world to secure data, where password-only protection fails.

These systems and solutions put companies back in control of their IT, as systems are centrally managed, updated and supported from outside company offices, providing a completely outsourced solution that will save you money, instead of costing more.

Some companies get nervous by the prospect of their entire data being held offsite, but this can be the safest option as multi-million pound data centres have all the facilities to safeguard and protect your data 24 hours a day. With high-powered backup generators, security patrols and fire suppression equipment, your data and applications will be in complete safety, giving you a powerful remote system with disaster recovery to take your business to the next level.

Expenses Involved in Data Recovery

2007-11-28T23:30:00.001+08:00

Seized with such fear driven panic, data losers are known to have worked mindlessly. One such entrepreneur upon hearing weird noises from the computer opened the disk and poured lubricating gel over it. The strange noise disappeared along with the data. Fortunately, the data was recovered though the recovery costs were quite high.

Why are Data Recovery Costs High?

Data recovery from a hard drive is possible only if highly experienced engineers use specialised tools and work in a class 100 clean room. All these overheads are extremely expensive. These escalate the data retrieval costs.

Specialised Tools

The hard drive used in your computer is a highly technologically advanced device. Hard drives have been subjected to great technological revolution rapidly. Data recovery experts have to constantly update their tools for these turn obsolete quite fast. Research & Development (R&D) is a continuous process and the developed specialised tools are highly expensive. The tools used on the old hard drive can hardly be used. Every part of the hard drive is constantly bettered upon. Even the magnetic platters have turned glass or ceramic replacing the traditional aluminium platters. Such unique equipments necessitate expert handling by highly skilled engineers.

Highly Trained Engineers

When you pay for a data recovery service, you are also paying for the skill of the trained engineers. Retrieving data is an intricate process and the dexterity of the recovery expert determines the success rates. When your company?s fate hangs in a balance it is the experience and skill developed by these engineers over the years that can help prevent disaster. These experienced engineers have to work, with great concentration and put in extreme effort to make recovery a possibility.

Man Hours of Labour

To recover the data, the damaged parts of your hard drive have to be replaced. However, it is not possible to find an exact replacement always. The varied parts of the hard drive are synthesized to work in perfect alignment with each other. For example, if the circuit board of your hard drive is damaged, a re soldering has to be done carefully. It is not possible to replace it even if another hard drive shares the same model number. Thus some data recovery cases entail labour intensive techniques. The engineers are also required to work over the weekends if data requirements are immediate. Hours of labour intensive work are expensive. The engineers in the clean room work wearing specialised gloves, masks and different suits.

Class 100 Clean Room

A class 100 clean room should contain less than 100 particles of 0.5microns per cubic foot of air space. This room is enclosed within a shell to separate it from the rest of the building and has controlled temperature of 70� F and 45% RH. The walls and ceiling are made of plastic or polymer. The room contains filtered air and is externally lighted. Hard drives have to be opened in such clean rooms for the space between the read write head and magnetic platters is less than a spec of dust. Even submicron particles lodged on the platters can lead to hard crash and a permanent loss of data. It costs � 75,000.00 to construct, equip and maintain such class 100 clean rooms. Consequently the recovery rates are escalated.

However expensive the recovery rates might be they are still lower than the loss caused due to non availability of data. As an SME owner you would be aware that data loss results in monetary loss on various fronts. Costs are incurred on recreating data, losing hours of productive work and continuing without data.

The data retrieval costs are high due to expensive overheads. The specialised tools, class 100 clean rooms and the services of experienced engineers are costly. The work of recovery is complicated, even a single mistake leads to permanent loss of data beyond retrieval.

Data Recovery Companies

2007-11-28T23:29:00.000+08:00

Certainly you were aware of the importance of your data as a precursor, generator and promoter of new business and were considerate about the reliance of your business on that data. Suppose the situation takes a U-turn. Some hard disk failure, virus attack or perhaps a human error creates a scenario, which may lead to the loss of the coveted data, gathered over a long period of time. Yes, you are urgently in need of some data recovery service. You are surfing the internet like a mad man and find that there is a plethora of data recovery companies, offering their services at dirt-cheap charges. What to do now? Considering the man of foresight you are, certainly you would not hire the first data recovery company you come across. Since you are desperately interested in recovering your data, it will be safe to assume that you are quiet aware of the potential value and relevance of that data for your business. Will you then allow the mere cost considerations to influence your choice for a data recovery company? Are there any other steps to be taken before you go for it? There may well be a chance that the very survival of your business, depends upon the decision you take.

So far as data recovery services are concerned, you often get what you ask for. One needs to be aware of a lot of facts, before coming to any decision. If you have started by surfing the internet, you are on the right track. However, don?t get mislead by mere verbal declarations. You need to ask a lot of questions. You aught to dig a little deeper, before coming to a final conclusion. One needs to have in advance, an idea of the services one desires, and should have a realistic estimate of the money he is willing to spend. First and foremost, try having a peep into the history of any company. The fact that a company has existed and survived over the years is in a way, a certificate of its authenticity, and is often indicative of the fact that it has the necessary experience and expertise to deliver the goods. Look for any references or testimonials from the past clients. If the list includes the name of any Fortune 500 company or some important government department, it certainly speaks well for that company. Never opt for the companies who do not give any contact number. Call the representative of the company and enquire if they have the requisite clean room environment, vital infrastructure and tools to do the job. Ask about their success rate. Data recovery is a complex task that often needs to be performed amidst many physical and logical constraints. Any company with a success rate between 85 to 95 percent is a reliable one. Any thing more or les then this, needs to be taken with suspicion. Enquire about the experience and credentials of their technical staff. Check if they have the sufficient number of technicians to execute big recovery projects and meet the peek season demands. Do they have the expertise to recover data from all kind of storage media and command the necessary research and development facilities?

Once you have satisfied yourself regarding the above mentioned details, you can jump to the cost considerations. Beware of the companies that quote a price that is too good to be true. It is most probably a sham and you certainly won?t prefer to leave your confidential data into the hands of some imposter. Also avoid the companies that offer a flat price. The chances are that they primarily resort to the same standardized procedures for all types of recovery problems. Any authentic data recovery will first furnish a free initial consultation and a diagnostic report, before mentioning the price. It will often give you a list of the files that can be recovered. A good data recovery concern will often exhibit a consistency of policy and a commitment to customer satisfaction. Take care that the company you selected has an online customer portal and keeps you informed regarding the recovery of your data at all its phases. Cost does matter, but what is more important is the sanctity of your data.

Data Loss Due to Natural and Man-made Disasters

2007-11-28T22:17:00.000+08:00

But, if they do strike, they usually cause a large amount of damage and recovery of data is usually not possible. Also, they strike without any warning and hence, it is always beneficial to be proactive and have sufficient protection against them thus ensuring the safety of your data. Let us have a look at each of these disasters in turn and gain some information about the damage caused by them.

Types of Disasters

Floods: Even a small amount of water can cause a large amount of damage to your computer. In case of floods, there is a possibility of your entire computer being submerged in water and it is likely that it will stay so for a few days. Thus, even if some amount of water is left in it, it will cause a short circuit that may lead to data loss. Even if your computer is dry, there is always the possibility of dust having accumulated inside it. This may lead to head crash (the read-write head of the hard drive touching the rotating part) etc.
Fire: This includes fires caused due to human errors or those that are caused intentionally i.e. arson. Even though the damage caused by fire is high, in many cases, recovery of data is still possible. This is so because even a small fire leads to the melting of the plastic components within your computer but, usually do not affect the metal areas. The measures taken to keep the fire under control may cause damage similar to that caused by floods viz. dirt and water accumulating within the devices.
Power Surges or Outage: These are most common among all the disasters that lead to data loss. These may be in the form of sparks within your computer, spikes in the current etc. that are in turn caused by irregular power supply, lightening etc. If the power surge is large in magnitude, it may cause physical damage to your equipment. But, more common ones are those that are small in magnitude and thus cause only logical damage. Data recovery in the latter case is often possible but cannot be guaranteed in case of physical damage.
Earthquakes: Earthquakes cause a lot of damage. This includes damages caused to computers and other data storage media as well. Data recovery is possible if the earthquakes are not severe in nature.
Terrorist Attacks: The loss of data due terrorist attacks has come into the limelight especially after the 9/11 attack on World Trade Centre. Such attacks can lead to fire, explosion, etc. resulting in data loss that usually makes the data irrecoverable.

These are some of the disasters that may lead to data loss. As most of them are not avoidable, backup of data is the essential to ensure the safety of your data. Information about the type of backup to be used in these cases has been provided below.

Data Backup to Ensure Safety Against Data Loss From Disasters

These disasters usually strike at a particular area (simultaneous disasters at more than one location are unlikely) and hence, are likely to affect all your computers, local server (if any) and the data backup media that are stored at your workplace. Hence, localised data backup does not prove to be useful in case of such disasters and remote backup of data is essential.

The term ?Remote Backup? implies storing the data at a different geographical location. Such backup can be achieved by manually transferring the data to a different location or by making use of the internet. These days, there are many companies that offer online remote backup. This proves to be convenient as the process does not require any human involvement at all and even provides immediate backup of data which proves to be useful as these disasters often strike without warning.

As this process is usually expensive, small businesses may not always be able to avail it. If such is the case, it is advisable to backup the most important data that you have at a different location.

Thus, it can be seen that recovery of data from the original media is usually impossible in case of such disasters and backup of data is the only solution.

How to recover lost photos

2007-11-28T22:14:00.000+08:00

It happens all too often. You're downloading your latest snaps from your digital camera, and the computer freezes. After you restart and try again, there appear to be no pictures in the camera. Or perhaps the photos were on your hard drive and you deleted them accidentally, or you didn't have a backup and your hard drive failed.

Whatever the cause, there is no reason to panic. The computer may no longer be able to find your pictures, but it's unusual for a fault to completely wipe them from the storage card or disk. With the aid of some inexpensive data recovery software, you're almost certain to be able to get your photos back.

There are many data recovery programs on the market, but for photo recovery I strongly advise using software specifically designed to recover digital images. This kind of software has several benefits, not least the ability to show a preview of every recovered image. Often, data recovery tools find files that look like they might have been a digital image, but aren't. The preview feature saves you wasting time recovering files that turn out to be junk.

Another advantage of specialised photo recovery software is that it looks only for photo image file types. It knows what JPEG and other image files look like on disk. This improves the chances of a successful recovery, and reduces the number of junk files that are found.

Modern data recovery software is easy enough to use that anyone can do it. You just start the software and tell the program where the drive containing the missing images is. The software scans the drive looking for the patterns that it recognizes as photo image files. When it has finished, it will display a list of files, with thumbnail images showing the content. All you have to do is select the photos you want to recover, and safe them to a safe place on your hard disk.

The Challenges of Recovering Data from RAID Hard Drives

2007-11-27T16:45:00.000+08:00

A ?Redundant Array of Independent Drives? is a popular technique today for people working with several hard drives at once. RAID is a data storage scheme which divides or replicates data among the hard drives used, and is thus capable of offering higher data reliability and shorter response times than other schemes. This system has been in use for some time in applications that are considered non-critical.

The reason for the use of the scheme within non-critical elements of a business is that unfortunately, when one drive in a RAID system fails all of the data stored on the entire array may also be corrupted, or simply rendered inaccessible. For a business without knowledgeable support, this can be devastating. The first challenge to any recovery effort will be the reinstatement of data on not just one, but all of the drives involved in the system. The higher the level, the more complex the data recovery process becomes. Each piece of data on each drive is important, and a recovery system that ensures complete recovery is key.

When it comes to the actual recovery process, the person using a RAID scheme has a few options. Someone trained in the implementation of RAID and its applications could recover the data from the drive, as long as the data required is on the drive involved at the time of the failure. Odds are the user will have to call for help; that means two choices.

First of all, you could contact the manufacturer?s support department. It is likely that they will be able to get your system up and running again, but like many support systems the recovery of your data is only a secondary objective. Basically, the manufacturer will assume that you have backed up your important data in a suitable fashion and the support staff are trained to operate under this assumption. The manufacturer cannot be expected to take responsibility for your data stored on its product.

The second option, and the best one open to the user, is to call in the services of a company that is trained in all manner of data recovery methods, and specifically one that has experience with all the levels of RAID storage. This service can be hard to find, since recovery issues and systems requirements are quite specific, but there are times when it pays to seek out the experts.

RAID schemes may be more reliable when it comes to data management, but in the event of a failure the challenges loom large. Getting the data from each system involved and ensuring that data recovery are at the heart of a support system are two of the most critical issues that a user of a RAID system will face in a failure, and it?s important to find individuals who can handle the challenge.

Hard Disk Data Recovery Still An Important Asset

2007-11-27T16:42:00.000+08:00

Hard disks have evolved along the years to be a lot more reliable than their ancestors, but no matter how good they got to be, they are still open to damage and errors that could cause loss of data. If this happens, hard disk data recovery is the solution and a big problem solver if the information on the hard drive is important and not backed up.

A hard disk can crash because of a range of different reasons but the most encountered is an unstable power supply. A hard disk is quite open to attacks from sudden power surges or power outages. Such power problems can cause both physical damage and logical errors. Logical damages are possibly easy to fix with a HDD scan and fixing the disk file system.

In most cases, you can observe some signs or symptoms that the unit is about to crash. An imminent crash will cause frequent disk error messages. If the disk will not be shown during the startup of the operating system or the information provided is incorrect when the disk is analyzed are almost sure signs of hard disk damage. If you can hear your HDD make weird sounds, clicking or whirring, the problem is mechanical and you will need professional hard disk data recovery assistance.

Some regular clues that may suggest hard disk damage are:

* When files are accessed or the system is powered up you might head ticking, grinding or clunking noises
* Problems with the operating system booting process
* Problems reading files that exist on the hard drive

To have your data safe, in case you notice such signs, make sure you back up the drive or the most important information at least. This way you will have an easy solution if the worst happens.

There are software applications that you can use to recover hard disk data and correct logical errors but they are quite dangerous in the hands of unexperienced users. If the information present on the damaged hard drive is of an elevated importance you might want to use the services of hard disk data recovery company.

Causes Of Data Loss And Storage Devices Damage

2007-11-27T16:38:00.000+08:00

There are a lot of storage devices used to store data but the most common used ones are the CDs, DVDs, memory cards, memory sticks and undoubtedly the hard drives. All these storage devices have on major flaw in common, they are not infallible and this means that the data stored on them can be lost or damaged through a number of unforeseen failures. Fortunately, there are companies that employ data recovery specialists that can recover your data by using special techniques, software and tools. Data recovery can sometimes be performed by the user of the damaged device by using software but there is a high risk of failure that can result in permanently erased data or damaged storage devices.

There are a number of conditions that can cause a storage device failure and they include heat, water, impacts and power interruptions. Other causes can be viruses.

Heat damage will usually be caused by fire but in the case of electronic devices and storage media, overheated equipment is the cause in most cases. For instance, in room with an ambient temperature that is too high, the air cushion thickness will be reduced by the air pressure. The hard drive heads might touch the recording plate and data will be damaged or lost.

In the case of hard drives, this kind of damage can also be caused by physical shocks or high vibration levels.

Most drives, but not all, have a seal that goes around the sides of the drive. If the seal is broken, the drive if prone to environmental contamination. The air is not very clean and with a damaged seal, particles from the air can grind the recording plate generating corruption or lost data.

If a hard drive is wet, water damage can occur even if it is turned off. Water is corrosive and will damage the metals found inside the hard drive generating microscopic pitting.

Data recovery specialists have both the required skills and the resources to perform a successful data recovery operation. This ensures a good chance that if you experience any data loss you can recover the data, be it sentimental data or business related information. The best advice is to keep a backup of the data that is important to you, this way you can avoid the expense of data recovery. If a backup is not available, expert services provided by data recovery specialists is a must.

Hard Disk Data Recovery Experts Helping The Detectives

2007-11-27T16:36:00.001+08:00

The advances in communication that have been made in the last two decades created a new branch of detectives. These are electronic detectives, and they are required because electronic communication almost replaced the written hard copy form of communication, the majority of corporate data only existing in electronic format. Because of this, hard disk data recovery experts have become a required aid for detectives or they became electronic detectives themselves. The computer has become a focal point for investigations or for corporations to identify their employs activities.

Nowadays, a significant part of corporate investigations is the data recovery process. Through data recovery, a volume of data can be obtained and evidence can be found in documents that might be relevant to the investigation. The data recovery process ensures a mass of important information that can be used.

There are a number of terms used to describe the data on a hard disk based on its state. "Active Data", is used to describe the data form that is accessible to the user of the computer. The term "Recovered Data" is used to describe the information that has been recovered after it has been deleted from the Active Data. This data is either in a very easy to recognize format, entire files, or an expert will be required to interpret it as it is in bits and pieces. The last type of term is "Unused" and it describes either parts of the hard disk that have never been used or parts that have been deleted from the Active Data and are available to be rewritten.

If covert corporate activities take place, then the data they leave behind will be deleted and probably the hard disk will be formatted and re partitioned to hide any traces. In this case, hard disk data recovery experts can help acquire proof by using advanced hdd data recovery tools and their expertise. This proof might then be used to conclude a case.

Data recovery specialists can help police investigations in many cases but the most expectable are cyber crime investigations that are related to credit card information theft or online money transfers. They also help in cases of child pornography.

With computers becoming a required standard in any office and workplace hdd data recovery experts will be tomorrows detectives in many investigations that include cyber crimes. They will be the ones that will uncover vital information for the conclusion of important cases.

Data Recovery For Laptop Hard Drives

2007-11-24T22:57:00.000+08:00

If you compare the hard drive of a desktop with the hard drive of a laptop, the only difference you will notice is the size. Their technologies are the same, but this size variation makes the laptop hard drive more difficult. Still, there are companies that have the required equipment for such fine data recovery procedures.

Because laptops provide the ability to work anywhere they are now preferred over the usual desktop work stations. This leads to a lot of important data being stored on their hard drives. While their hard drives are no weaker than the drives the old work stations had, they are however highly susceptible to damage. That's when you will need to call in a laptop data recovery specialist.

The best way to choose a data recovery specialist is to allow the required time frame to make the research and correct choice. To do this, you will need to recognize the symptoms of probable hard drive problems. When choosing a recovery specialist, by checking multiple companies and comparing their price statements you can avoid those that will try to use your need for help right away. The data recovery company should have sterilized facilities for full recovery procedures.

The most common signs that a damaged hard drive provides are ticking and clicking noises when access is required to stored data. These are mechanical damage symptoms. There are also logical errors that can cripple the booting process of the computer or that will disable the reading of certain files that are stored in damaged sectors

If the problem of the drive shows signs that the issue might be of mechanical nature, drive not spinning or you can hear noises when reading, the help of a data recovery specialist in imperative. The drive might have a critical failure and attempting to recover the drive yourself will probably make it worse.

If the drive has logical errors or you deleted a file by mistake, there is enough software on the market to help you but there is the possibility that you misuse it so the help of a data recovery specialist is still recommended.

All in all, if you have problems with your laptop hard drive you can attempt to fix the problem yourself, as long as it is not a mechanical one. If you need a data recovery specialist, make sure the research is done prior to sending the media.

Laptop Data Recovery Explained

2007-11-24T22:56:00.000+08:00

Some things in life are just unwanted, but still, can happen to anyone of us. A thing like this is loosing your data from your laptop hard drive, we don't want it, but can happen. All our important information got wiped out in a second, all of it. You can go to your tech friend or even to a computer store to ask what you can do about it but you will probably receive an answer that you can't do anything with it.

We can prevent this by backing up all our information from the laptop hard drive in time but sometimes we just don't think about it and the worst will happen. We know it's our fault for not backing up the files. The good news is that now, we can investigate and research some data recovery companies and ask them for help.

The process for data recovery from laptop hard drives is usually more succesful then normal desktop hard drives, that's good news also. This is because laptop hard drives were always built for mobility and are designed in such way to prevent severe hard drive crashes. The heads on a laptop hard drive are not likely to touch the platters, this can happen mostly on normal desktop hard drives. Because of this, the process of data recovery from laptop hard drives has a higher success rate compared with desktop hard drives.

Even if it has a higher success rate, the process is still difficult and expensive if done by an individual. If you would think about opening it up you will have to make sure to open it in a class 100 clean room. Bad news is that such a room costs about $50000 - $70000. Your best pick is to find a company that can handle the process for you for a cost.

If you don't want to remove the hard drive from the laptop yourself, most companies will do this for you with no extra cost, you will be able to send them the full system. Also, most companies will not charge you if they will not be able to recover your data after the data recovery process.

Any type of data lost is something nobody needs or want, if data lost happen for your laptop hard drive is good to know that the odds are in your favor. Take some time to research for a good company and with some money you will be able to get your data back soon. After this, make sure to always back up all your data.

For Laptop Data Recovery or for Mac Data Recovery and external Lacie Data Recovery visit the links .

The Fault Tolerant RAID Systems

2007-11-24T22:54:00.000+08:00

With the budget required to afford a RAID system you might be a little surprised to find that RAID data recovery is required. Well, any RAID system provides increased data security by being fault tolerant but they are not fault proof systems. RAID data recovery will be required if there are multiple hard drives that fail or for some reason other serious problems occur.

When a drive from a RAID system fails, the system itself is able to keep functioning based on the built-in redundancy. The lost information that the damaged drive was storing will be regenerated on the fly from the parity data but the performance of the RAID system will be negatively affected and the state of the system will be recognized as critical or degraded.

This is the advantage of the RAID system, it can still run while a drive is damaged. But, it is not a good idea to live it running in a degraded status because you will be putting your data at risk. The whole array will be vulnerable while running in a degraded state, because the redundancy is disabled until the moment the lost drive is rebuilt. After the lost drive is replaced with a new one, the RAID controller will start regenerating the lost data on it, this process is called rebuilding. After rebuilding is done, the RAID system will be back to full efficiency.

As pointed out above, a RAID system can fail if multiple drives fail. If this happens your data might be compromised and you will need a RAID data recovery specialist if backup of the data was not made. Success rates of data recovery specialists are encouraging, especially with RAID systems. A respectable data recovery company has specialized facilities, equipment and software that to help them restore the data from the damaged drives.

There are standard recovery procedures for RAID data recovery. The system will be evaluated to detect the exact problem then the data from the drives will be extracted in separated images. From the drive images the information will be put together and saved on a media of your choice

The information that is usually stored on such high cost RAID storage systems is high priority information, probably important for business. For this reason, in the eventuality of problems with the RAID system shutting down the system is imperative and RAID data recovery specialists should be contacted.

RAID Data Recovery and server recovery specialists for RAID 1 Data Recovery and RAID 5 Data Recovery .

Raid Data Recovery Explained

2007-11-24T22:46:00.000+08:00

Raid data recovery is somehow different from all other types of data recovery. Most experts advise not to try to recover the data yourself before sending in the hard drives to a data recovery company. This is because most companies found that most of the times simple users try to recover the files all by themselves, they fail and not only. Their actions will make the recovery process even harder and if the lost information is important, someone will be in big trouble. If it's about raid data recovery better handle it quick to the professionals without touching anything.

You don't have to take chances with the recovery, it's advised to research for a data recovery company that can handle the recovery process for you. Sometimes, it can be expensive for a raid data recovery but usually the price you will have to pay for the recovery is way lower then the price you will have to pay in time and resources to have all your data recreated.

There are procedures that data recovery companies always follow when they have a recovery on the line. These procedures are followed exactly and even expand when it comes to raid data recovery. As a first step in any raid data recovery, experts have to make sure that all drives are working. For Raid 0 as an example, it is a must for all the drives to be 100% functional. When they are not functional, the drives will be taken in the clean room and will be repaired.

When all the drives will function normally, clones of all the drives will be made. During this process, your drive will be placed in a write protect mode to make sure the data will not be altered in any way. The normal recovery process will be performed on the cloned drives, again, for increased safety.

When researching for a data recovery company you will notice some of them will offer a service full guarantee, if they don't get your data back, you don't pay. A phone consultation is something that could help you also. They will also offer you absolute 100% confidentiality on your data.

Even if raid data recovery sometimes can become expensive, most companies will not charge you for an evaluation of a complex raid system. If you need the help of the experts, get it, it's the best way. After getting all your data back, make sure to always backup your information from now on.

RAID Data Recovery and server recovery specialists for RAID 1 Data Recovery and RAID 5 Data Recovery .

Professional Data Recovery

2007-11-12T21:35:00.000+08:00

By James Walsh

Otherwise, don’t lose your sanity, money and your precious data. Leave the data recovery to the professionals!

Did you know that the single predominant reason for data loss, worldwide, is due to hardware failure or malfunction (44% to 78%)? Human error came in as the next single contributing factor for your data going missing (minimum of 26%). Software errors, acts of nature and the extremely dangerous malware camp contributed the least (each of them accounted for single digit percentages). From these statistics given out by software giants like Microsoft, data recovery specialists – Ontrack and a host of other information tech companies, it is obvious that either your machine caused the problem or you had a hand in inadvertently messing up your data.

Why not take on the data recovery job yourself? After all, you know your data better than anyone else and what’s more, the data recovery specialists use data recovery software!

If your machine caused the problem, you cannot even think of holding the manufacturer responsible because your machine has passed with flying colours, the several prescribed quality control checks, before it left the factory premises. Anything could have gone wrong after that (an unintended heavy knock, a problematic power outlet or the neighbourhood Dennis the Menace treating your CD Drive to a rare treat of diet coke). On the other hand, if you somehow deleted that important .dll file and you don’t know which one, the effect is the same. It’s like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. The critical knowledge to analyse and solve the problem is the specialty of trained full-time specialists.

In today’s high-tech world, progress is being achieved in all walks of life with high levels of automation and equipment usage. We are increasingly using machines to execute the work and to supervise. Naturally, somebody in turn has got to supervise those machines. At the end of the line, human supervision (though restricted to the barest minimum) is absolutely required. So, even if you were to buy off-the-shelf data recovery software and try recovering the data yourself, you will physically have to supervise the operation of the software.

To supervise, you will need to have a fairly good understanding of how the software works and the conditions under which it can work. This is because readymade software cannot comprehensively make provisions to recover any type of data or to recover data lost due to various types of circumstances. Some data recovery software vendors claim that their software can recover data which was lost due to physical damage while others claim that they can recover data which have even been securely deleted. On buying the software, you discover that they do not recover data perfectly.

Imagine if your doctor prescribed medication or suggested surgery without even wanting to know your symptoms or deciding on your ailment! It makes sense to get an assessment of the damage and its success rate before venturing into the vast unknown world of lost data. Almost all data recovery professionals give a free and fair assessment of what could be the problem area and the success rate. You would surely agree that it’s a lot better going into surgery, knowing that your chances of a cure are above 75%, instead of not knowing anything at all.

Since the cost of recovering the data and the time required to do it are also indicated beforehand by these data recovery specialists, it helps you decide whether it is worth rescuing the data. All this is done for free, in the shortest possible time, unlike the trial and error methodology employed by readymade data recovery software. Most specialists also give a guarantee of recovering your data to the maximum possible or your money back.

The data recovery specialists make it their business to recover your missing data. They therefore employ various specialized tools of their trade (both hardware and software) to do an efficient job. They know how most data is stored and where it is stored. They are also required to keep up with the mind boggling trends in exploding data storage mediums and methods (terabytes and miniscule drives). Since no single piece of data recovery software can perform a 100% data recovery all the time, even the specialists use a pool of software and hardware to achieve remarkable degrees of success.

The data recovery expert encounters a variety of data loss situations in the everyday routine. Every situation is a source of practical knowledge and experience gained (though at your expense) to serve the next customer better. Many of them don’t pay much attention to your detailed ramblings (of how you were working on your favourite PC and then suddenly everything stopped). But one look at your hard disk and that’s sufficient to give you a prognosis.

About the author:
James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk
Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

How To Recover Lost or Deleted Data Files: Data Recovery Software Information

2007-08-20T23:59:00.000+08:00

By Maria Markella

Have you heard of data/file recovery? The definition of the term Data Recovery is "..Making previously lost or damaged data available again.." A data recovery software or method can help us recover destroyed data e.g. an accidentally deleted file. It happens all the time. You delete an important file on your PC and send it to your recycle bin by mistake. You realize what you've done only after you've cleaned the contents of the recycle bin.

What do you do now?
That file you deleted was so important. Fortunately there are lots of methods (Data Recovery Methods) and software (Data Recovery Software) available to help you get your lost files back.

Let's start by mentioning some possible reasons for the loss of data:

* You accidentally delete an important file. Then you immediately shred the contents of your recycle bin
* During today's system crash some files just disappeared and cannot be located or accessed
* You format your hard drive but then you remember those important .zip files previously stored in the newly formatted empty medium.
* A power outage prevented some files from being written to the hard disk.
* Data loss can also occur due to physical damage of the storage media. For example the surface of your CD-ROM may be scratched off or your hard disk may suffer from all kinds of possible mechanical failures.

..and the list goes on.

Is Data Recovery Important?
Data recovery is a very misunderstood concept. A lot of people may not even be aware of the existence and the importance of data recovery. Maybe they think of it on a personal level. The truth is, lost data causes financial disasters to companies all over the world. The cost associated with computer downtime and lost data is enormous (several million dollars) for businesses.

How to deal with data loss?
Losing files is easy but recovering them can be difficult. If the loss was due to physical damage then you need someone with experience, a hardware technician or something. It wouldn't be wise to try to overcome hardware failures alone unless you are a professional.

Now, if the loss of data was due to logical failure or human error then the solution is data recovery software. The data recovery software should be able to:

- Undelete files even after you've shred the contents of your recycle bin
- Recover files after you've been infected from a malicious threat (trojan, worm or other virus)
- Recover files from reformatted hard disks or after your system crashes or your hard disk fails
- Recover all types of files (all kinds of documents, images, music, videos, email messages, zipped files etc)
- Recover data from all types of storage mediums (hard disks, external drives, CD-ROM, usb drives, floppy disks etc)
- Recover files easily and successfully. Should be user-friendly allowing someone with no data recovery skills to use it
- Take/create backups of critical system files or files you choose

The best way to avoid data loss is to start taking backups of your important storage mediums. Either create backups of data on CD-ROMS or use an external drive or zip drive to back up your critical files. If you want to go further look for software that automates the process of backing up and storing your data. These programs are kind of "set and forget". You set it up to take backups every hour or every day or month etc. and let the software do the rest.

About the author:
Now you know it's possible to restore almost every type of lost or deleted file, it's time to learn how to do it. How about this highly recommended Data Recovery Software that will restore all your lost data quickly and easily? There's a free trial version waiting for you to download. Give it a try. The author is a webmaster of DigitalStarProducts Digital Products Directory

Recovering Your Lost Or Deleted Files: How I Entered The Data Recovery World

2007-08-20T23:56:00.000+08:00

By Maria Markella

I Recently faced one of my worst computer nightmares. I accidentally deleted a folder stuffed with really important files and then I immediately cleaned the contents of my recycle bin. Minutes later I discovered the bitter truth. My precious files where lost. This sad and frustrating incident got me involved in the data recovery world.

Many people may not even know the existence of the data recovery industry. Did you know that it is actually a multi-million dollar industry? Businesses all over the globe worry so much about data loss and data recovery that they spend millions on research, prevention and data restoration methods.

Anyway, back to my story. I wanted to know if my files could be restored somehow. So I first learned that all my data can be recovered even though they seemed lost. I learned that although I have the impression that a file no longer exists, my hard drive always keeps a record of all the data that's been stored/written inside it. Even if you format and reformat the hard drive, there's still a chance to recover lost or deleted files.

Then I wanted to find a way to restore lost data/files on demand. I discovered hundreds of data recovery software offers. So I decided to research the web and learn everything about data recovery before I buy any software.

And here's what I found:

- 50% of all data loss is caused by human error. People are accidentally deleting files all the time. Then they shred the contents of their recycle bin. These "lost" files are actually -hiding- inside the hard disk and they are 100% recoverable. They can be restored.
- 30% of all data loss is caused by hard drive failure (physical damage). People do not follow proper shut down procedures or the hard drives may suffer from all kinds of mechanical/hardware issues.
- 20% of all data loss is caused by viruses, worms and other types of malicious threats. People forget to frequently update their anti-virus database (some of them do not even have anti-virus software). These days not too much people know what Internet security is.
- 10% of all data loss is caused by several other reasons.

It's time you start worrying about data loss and data recovery too, especially if you have critical files stored on your hard disks. Before you even think of buying data recovery software to restore your lost data, it would be a good idea to implement a data loss prevention routine:

1. Always store your important/critical files in a separate folder. Always back up your data. Either on CD-ROMs or external drives, it doesn't matter.
2. Always follow proper shut down methods. Do not just power off your PC by unplugging the power cable. Your system needs to do a little write/delete maintenance to your files before it shuts down. Also, never kick or punch your computer.
3. Protect yourself and your privacy online. Use anti-virus/anti-spyware software and keep updating it often since new malicious threats arise all the time.
4. Be optimistic. Never think that you might lose an important file. This actually helps a lot. The idea is to create a mindset of invincibility for your data.
5. Be prepared to act if something goes wrong (e.g. you lose an excell files with your clients list). In most cases lost data is recoverable.

About the author:
Now you know it's possible to restore almost every type of lost or deleted file, it's time to learn how to do it. How about this highly recommended Data Recovery Software that will restore all your lost data quickly and easily? There's a free trial version waiting for you to download. Give it a try.
Mary Markell is a webmaster of DigitalStarProducts Digital Products Directory

Word Recovery Software - Recover Your Word Data

2007-08-20T23:52:00.001+08:00

By Data Recovery

The data that we store in our computer is the most important & valuable for us. Sometimes accidentally or purposely we delete our files and documents from our computer or it may be corrupted due to attack of viruses. Then we realize that you need the files back and have to recover it. Now you think how to recover these files?

If your data is deleted from your computer, it’s really difficult to recover it. But in current times, there are many data recovery software available that not only recover your simple word, excel data but also recovers data from the Macintosh, UNIX, Linux, and Windows file systems.

Once I had deleted a folder which had .doc files saved in it. I just hit the "Delete" button and the folder was gone and then emptied the "Recycle bin" too. After few days I realized the importance of those word files and regretted to delete them once for all from my system.

After this I searched for word recovery software on internet and found word data recovery software. I downloaded the word repair software from the website, which was available for FREE download. Tested the software and could see the deleted .doc files and then I went on to purchase the software.
After restoring the files, I came to know that the deleted, damaged files can actually be recovered in the following situations:

• When a file gets deleted accidentally
• There’s a virus attack
• Error on storage media
• File fails to open
• Error messages; “Cannot open the file”

So in short if you have accidentally or intentionally deleted, don’t panic in such situations because word files can be recovered in 99% of cases.

Word recovery software is great!

To download the word recovery software which recovered my .doc files, visit http://www.wordfilerecovery.com

About the author:
The author is a technical writer for Nucleus Data Recovery – leading provider of data recovery, word recovery, word repair, office recovery, email recovery software range.

The Need for Backup and Disaster Recovery

2007-08-20T23:44:00.000+08:00

By Stephen J. Richards

Whether a company relies heavily on database activity for critical everyday business operations or only for select requirements, the loss of data due to technological failure can have far reaching negative implications. The loss of valuable information and records can cause productivity setbacks, lost profits, lost customers and headaches for everyone involved. Aside from the obvious business challenges associated with the loss of data, legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) places requirements on the retention and on request production of certain types of financial data. Companies assume the risk of non-compliance if they are unable to produce information within the specified time constraint required by Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) or other information focused legislation. Database and mainframe disaster recovery is more important in today’s technology dependent business world than ever before.

In the past, many businesses utilized offsite data tape storage as a crucial facet of their disaster recovery plans. Such offsite tape storage entails serious security risks by today’s standards, such as the possibility of loss, theft or damage to the tapes while stored at the offsite location or in transit. In the event of a disaster, the retrieval of information from such sources can waste valuable time, require intensive reorganization by IT professionals and result in financial losses due to database unavailability and customer disappointment. Additionally, scheduled nightly backups often result in periods of several hours during which applications are unavailable to employees or customers.

In today’s information technology driven market, mainframe availability and security are of utmost importance. Fortunately, the need for reliable and efficient mainframe data recovery systems has not been overlooked by innovative enterprise data availability software and service companies. Fully integrated backup and recovery utilities for IMS databases are now available to simplify, automate and expedite the process of recovery without compromising crucial database availability. Such solutions have the capability to, for example, automatically accumulate and copy records on a periodic basis for ease of future retrieval, with some utilities even providing the flexibility of reverting to certain point in time.

Many companies are already discovering the direct benefits associated with such mainframe and database recovery utilities. Eliminating the manual labor requirements and uncertainty associated with offsite tape backup, integrated backup and recovery utilities provide businesses with an easily maintained, reliable and secure means of protecting valuable business data and technology.

About the author:
About the Author: Stephen J. Richards has 25 years experience in Data Management and Information Technology. This information is provided as a public service by Neon Enterprise Software, a leading provider of mainframe disaster recovery and data retention technology.

Data Recovery Wizard Explained

2007-08-20T23:37:00.000+08:00

By jack robinson

Data Recovery Wizard is designed as a one-stop data recovery solution. It will recover files that have been deleted by accident, recover lost files after its partition has been formatted and recover files after the attack of a virus or a computer crash. It can recover most any type of a file, including Word documents, Outlook messages, Excel spreadsheets, video, audio files, etc.

Data Recovery Wizard is 4.59 Mb and dog simple to install. You download the installer from http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/download/drwdemo.zip, unzip the archive and click the installer icon to start the installation. Basically what you see is a typical series of installation dialogs and the best thing is to click Next to do them all.

Starting the program opens a user interface with 5 large buttons that looks like a roadmap with several ways to go depending on the problem you have. Each button starts a wizard that will get you around the recovery in a step-by-step fashion. The interface looks clean and clear and doesn't shout with bright colors or too many elements.

There may be different problems that require data recovery. The most commonplace problem is deleting a file by mistake and then empting Recycle Bin. The second typical problem is when a file was lost because you had formatted the hard drive.

Data Recovery Wizard offers various data recovery techniques and each technique is suitable to recover one type of a data loss or another. For example, using 'DeletedRecovery' option, you can undelete lost files or folders. If you lost a file when you formatted the hard drive, then it's best to use 'FormatRecovery'. 'AdvancedRecovery' is good to recover files after a computer crash, virus attack or formatting a bad drive. You should choose 'RawRecovery' to scan severely corrupted partitions for files with a file signature search algorithm. This tool will help you recover files from a partition with damaged directory structures. If you interrupted the last recovery job, choose 'ResumeRecovery' to recover on!

Well, now it's time to see Data Recovery Wizard in action. Let's assume we have deleted a file and emptied Recycle Bin. Click 'DeletedRecovery' and you are taken to the dialog that displays all storage devices (hard drives, digital camera, USB, etc.) which are connected to the computer. Now you should select the device you want to search by highlighting it with the mouse. Then, it's also possible to select the folder to search by using 'Search Specified Folder' option. This allows you to narrow your search to a specific folder, which takes less time.

Click Next and it starts the scan that depending on the drive size could take 10-20 minutes. In my case that was 8 minutes and then Search Complete dialog popped up. On clicking Ok, Data Recovery Wizard shows found folders and files like in Windows Explorer: the folders in the left area and files contained in each folder in the right area. For each file you can see the associated information, including file name, size, file type, modification time, creation time, last access date, attribute and state.

The results of the search indicate the files that can be recovered and those that cannot because they have been overwritten. The best way to see if the file can be recovered or not is to preview it using the Preview option. The file can be previewed as text, HEX, or as an image. If the preview of the file is not available, the file is unlikely to be recovered.

To recover a file, you should tick its checkbox with the mouse and click Next. That's all.

Once the file has been recovered, you can save it to any folder of your choice. The restore and save operations are available to registered users. Please, register to gain these abilities.

As you can see, file recovery using Data Recovery Wizard is super-simple and doesn't require technical knowledge. In my case I recovered a deleted file. As for the other types of recovery, you can try them on your own. Download a free evaluation version of Data Recovery Wizard and see it in action: http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/download/drwdemo.zip.

About the author:
http://www.easeus.com

Data Recovery and Disaster Recovery Differ!

2007-08-20T23:29:00.000+08:00

By Ken Roberts|

Data Recovery is not Disaster Recovery - contrary to popular belief. Ask somebody what data recovery is, and nine times out of ten the response is, "backup". Thinking the question is too vague, I set out to ask a better one: "What is the difference between disaster recovery and data recovery?"

Technicians, you'll love this one...

When speaking to a group of corporate executives - while attending the world's largest technology conference in Germany - I opened the discussion by asking them to define their data recovery strategy on a piece of paper in thirty seconds. Some of the answers were mind-boggling. The most popular one: "backup server". The most honest: "I don't know, our IT department handles that." And the most ridiculous: "We don't have this problem."

The data recovery dog and pony show...

One man came forward and said, "I've lost some data that I need to present at a talk tomorrow. Do you think you could help me out?". After listening to all the...I can't believe what I am hearing, I thought of an idea: Recover this guy's files right here in front of everybody, and they will get a first-hand experience of what data recovery is. So, I canned my speech on Implementing Effective Data Recovery Strategies.

Everybody raised their hands when asking them if they would like to see a demonstration of data recovery. I stated that, 'This man - Herb from South Africa - has lost some data that he needs for tomorrow, and that I will first attempt to recover some of it.

Smiles, chuckles, and laughter...

Luckily, all of Herbs pictures were recovered. In fact, the data recovery went so well that many more pictures he had lost were recovered too, but I did not know it at that moment. I asked Herb if I could do a slide show of what I recovered. Slide one: A mind-map laying out his presentation for tomorrow. The next few slides: Details of slide one. Then came the pictures that roared down the house. Let's say that Herb was revealed in a way I cannot discuss here.

What is data recovery?

What the executives learned is that data recovery is your last resort to recover lost data after every possible backup method has failed - while disaster recovery is implementing a comprehensive data backup plan, so that when data is lost, you simply access the backup server or a local storage device, like a USB key, to retrieve your lost file.

Herb made his presentation on the airplane on the way to the show, but failed to back it up. He thought saving then to his laptop hard drive was good enough. In this case, he was not able to access his files because his computer would not boot to the desktop. So, data recovery software was used to access the computer, and then to reconstruct the file system, so that the data could be recovered to another storage medium to be used again by Herb.

Data recovery is a multi-billion dollar business...

The data recovery industry would be bankrupt if everybody would have a complete backup plan. But every day without fail, we get calls from people like Herb who are intelligent and run multi-million and billion dollar companies who have lost their data. Our advice: Backup your work - and not to the computer you are using. And then confirm it, because failure is quite common. Finally, make sure you use the Disk Defragmenter function regularly, so that if you do encounter a situation where data recovery becomes inevitable, the success rate will increase substantially.

About the author:
You can find more written, audio and video information discussing the data recovery industry at http://www.atl-datarecovery.com/data-recovery/index.htm . Ken Roberts has been developing data recovery software and performing data recovery services worldwide for over 15 years.

What do you do if your RAID server fails?

2007-08-20T23:24:00.000+08:00

By shafa seo

Let's face it. Life's full of ups and downs. It's full of uncertainties. Just like your precious data. If anything, data stability is not permanent. In fact, more often than not, data drives tend to crash and burn and leave you in the lurch when you least expect it.

As we know, data is delicate and is subject to loss due to many reasons. The most common reasons for data drive failure are a virus, a poorly ventilated casing, actual component failure, damage to your hard drive, a hard disk crash or a power surge. It's highly possible that your data can be lost for any of these reasons. The best way to avoid getting hurt by data loss is to regularly back-up your data. You can schedule a fixed time for this every day or at fixed regular intervals. There is a lot of software out there that allows you to do this automatically. Make sure you backup data or else you will end up needing the services of a hard disk data recovery software or a company that specializes in HDD data recovery if simple solutions fail to recover your drive's data.

Now, just in case you have somehow managed to have a serious hard disk failure, and need to call a data recovery company, here are some pointers to help you along the way. First and foremost, make sure you call in a data recovery company that is well known and known to specialize in data recovery. Make sure that it is not an additional service that they provide along with many others. When you call them in, make sure that they provide a no-fix no-charge policy. This means that they will not be able to charge you unless they can recover your data partially or completely, and is a very fair system of quoting for recovering your data.

Just a no-fix no-fee policy is not enough. Make sure you get a fixed quote in writing clearly outlining different slabs of data retrieval and the charges for the same. You should know exactly what you are getting into before they begin recovering your data. Also, make sure that the company has a clean room and qualified technicians who are capable of handling your drive without causing further damage to your data.

And yes. Never believe anyone who promises you the whole world. In fact, don't believe any company who promises great results. There's no such thing. When you are facing data loss, you have to face the bitter truth that your data is lost forever before you call in the data recovery company. The sooner you accept this the better. This is why you should never believe any company who claims they can recover your data for sure, as it is but a slim possibility in the first place.

Keep these basic rules in mind, and you will be able to find the right data recovery company to help you get your data back.

www.dypf.com
http://dypf.com/data-recovery/raid-data-recovery

About the author:
RAID Recovery UK Specialists in RAID Recovery servers and Hard disk drives with fully equipped class 10 cleanroom.

Disaster Recovery, Are You Prepared?

2007-08-20T23:21:00.000+08:00

Disaster recovery is one of the most important factors for most businesses, yet it is often overlooked or considered too expensive to implement. Disaster recovery solutions enable a business to continue working in the event of fire, theft, malfunction or terrorism. By preparing for disaster recovery, your business will not lose any valuable data, configurations or time, saving you money in the long run.

By backing up data, applications, and settings continuously, to a secure location, your business will be ready for any disaster situation.

Any proven IT company can provide these services, but at what cost, and how good is it?Since the introduction of Citrix and Microsoft's Terminal Services, it has been possible to provide these disaster recovery services at a much lower cost, with greatly enhanced security benefits.

Switch your IT system to a corporate-level, Terminal Services environment and what you get is a complete disaster recovery solution for a much lower cost than you would expect.

As well as having your data and applications held in secure data centres, your data could be continuously backed up, providing total disaster recovery. The ultimate solution is to have complete redundancy for your IT system and this involves not having any single point of failure within your IT infrastructure.

Imagine having your company's entire data, software and structure housed in two separate data centres, spread across two different ISPs, and having all your systems and data held on servers that have their own backup servers to automatically switch on, in the event of failure.

Most corporations do not have this level of redundancy, but for a fixed, monthly fee, this and more is possible for companies with anything from two uses to a thousand users.

Apart from all the mentioned benefits, you could also get the power of hosted Microsoft Exchange, Outlook Web Access, easy Blackberry mobile integration, hosted Microsoft CRM, and for the ultimate peace of mind, you can have portable security keys as used by major companies around the world to secure data, where password-only protection fails.

These systems and solutions put companies back in control of their IT, as systems are centrally managed, updated and supported from outside company offices, providing a completely outsourced solution that will save you money, instead of costing more.

Some companies get nervous by the prospect of their entire data being held offsite, but this can be the safest option as multi-million pound data centres have all the facilities to safeguard and protect your data 24 hours a day. With high-powered backup generators, security patrols and fire suppression equipment, your data and applications will be in complete safetyArticle Search, giving you a powerful remote system with disaster recovery to take your business to the next level.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Network London provides remote access systems and disaster recovery to businesses in London and Europe. Disaster Recovery Solutions

RAID Data Recovery

2007-08-20T23:17:00.000+08:00

By shafa seo

Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks with the acronym "RAID", coined by a research group at UC-Berkeley, is a general term for data storage that combine an array of drives collectively to act as a single logical unit. They provide increased data reliability and/or throughput depending on the option or scheme. It is disk subsystem where a set of two or more drives (or discs) with a specialized disk controller contains the RAID operating function. The use of RAID can enhance performance and/ or is endowed with error tolerance.

RAID was developed basically for servers and stand-alone disk storage systems, but can be used on workstations like the desktop PCs. Desktop PC can have RAID added to its system by installing a RAID controller board and additional IDE or SCSI disks. More and more RAID functionality are being built on the motherboard.

Most Small to medium enterprises have gone in for RAID-configured data storage on their servers. RAID even though is very tolerant to faults; does fail sometimes. It may happen due to component failure that includes drive failures, missing partitions, controller failure etc. Data can be lost from RAID due to computer virus and worm damage, bad parity or drives out of order. But the most common cause is user error that often leaves the data unusable and corrupted.

RAID data recovery is very different to hard drive recovery as RAID is a more complex media device. It is more difficult and complicated to retrieve missing data due to drive order, parity, rebuilds, drive synchronization etc. There are six different levels with different way to spread data across multiple hard discs with specific use optimization at each level. It is essential to understand these levels for RAID data recovery.

Most RAID data recovery processes include certain steps like:
" Numbered drives
" forensically sound images of each drive are taken (exact bit by bit copies - including the blank or 'white' areas including the redundant drive or drives are taken)
" People in charge of recovering data reconfigure the data into a 'virtual RAID' on their multi terabyte server (Like HP Dual Xeon, 4Gb RAM, 8Tb SATA Storage, rack mounted, backed by UPS, backed up with a further 4Tb of storage)
" A list of files are made to be checked by the user to see if all the files he needs are there
" Copies of the data are made to a new drive or drives either external or internal as per the client specification.

The RAID data recovery is achieved through using the latest state-of-art technology, tools and techniques. However, it is ultimately the effort of the recovery experts and the software coders that differentiates between success and failure. An excellent perception and sense of pattern recognition are essential for recovering the missing data from complex RAID configurations.

www.dypf.com
http://dypf.com/data-recovery/raid-data-recover

About the author:
RAID Recovery UK Specialists in RAID Recovery servers and Hard disk drives with fully equipped class 10 cleanroom.

Importance of Data Recovery

2007-08-20T23:09:00.000+08:00

Know the importance of data recovery software and data recovery services when you face the situations of data loss and its inaccessibility. The number of data recovery software present in the market enables you to retrieve your lost data and the data recovery services prove helpful in recovery of data in cases of major corruptions to your storage media.

What happens when you are working on a special project or document and your computer system displays a blank screen? Or one of the partitions is not recognized by the BIOS - It could be anything.

So is this a warning from your computer about some mis-happening about to happen such as hard disk failure, system crash or some other problem that caused your system to shut down? Don’t be surprised! This could lead your computer system to become dead and all your valuable data is gone forever. But Stop, Don’t Panic, the relief is there.

“The data which appears to be lost and inaccessible, in real terms is not lost forever. The lost data can be recovered with the help of professional data recovery software and services.”

Many times organizations or individuals do not give much importance to such kind of incidents and after wards suffer major loss of their valuable data. In such cases when the computer system shut downs or reboots or there are indications of disk failure, it means that your computer system needs your immediate attention.

You need a data recovery solution if you experience inaccessibility of files and folders, unrecognized format, virus attacks, accidental deletions, permanent deletion of files, inaccessible partitions, corrupt documents, unexpected system shutdowns, error messages while opening a file and there are endless reasons due to which you cannot access your data.

As the article targets towards importance of data recovery, the first question arises - What is Data Recovery?

Talking in simple terms, it’s like repairing a broken toy with the help of glue and making it usable again. Here, the broken toy is your damaged and corrupt storage media and glue refers to recovery of data with the help of software and services which instantly gets back your lost and inaccessible data to life.

In technical terms, Data Recovery is defined as a scientific approach followed to get back the lost and inaccessible data. This can be made possible through data recovery software utilities and services.

How useful are Data Recovery Software?

Data Recovery software effectively recovers and repair files, databases, storage media, corrupt partitions and brings back your data safely. The recovery software are helpful and effectively recovers back your lost, deleted data, which can be easily purchased through on-line sale transactions. Almost every data recovery company provide FREE demo version of their software range. The Free demo version is the best evaluation technique for a user. You should always try demo version of the software before deciding to purchase it. Test your corrupt hard drive or file with the demo version and see whether the software is capable enough to recover back your data. This is a reliable means to test features, performance, speed, user friendliness of the software. If the demo version displays your data then you can purchase Full version of the software as the demo versions might not allow you to save the recovered data.

The number of data recovery software present in the market promise to recover data from the damaged or corrupted file systems: Windows (FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5), Linux (Ext2, Ext3, JFS, ReiserFS), Unix (UFS, EAFS, HTFS, VxFS, FFS), Novell Netware (NWFS, Net386, NSS) and Apple Macintosh (HFS, HFS+) and also from corrupt access databases, MS backup, corrupt zip files, corrupt excel files and corrupt word documents.

So whenever you face situations of data corruption or data loss, always follow the rule: “Test, Evaluate and Purchase!!!!”

How useful are Data Recovery Services?

Following the scientific approach, data recovery services are performed in Class 100 Clean rooms with high biometric security to recover every bit of data. These clean rooms should be equipped with the entire infrastructure like, air flow rate and direction, pressurization, temperature, humidity, specialized filtration and other standards required to perform recovery of data.

Data Recovery Services are usually performed when the software to recover data is unable to recover your data or the complexity of the damage to data is to such an extent that specialized attention of the data recovery technician is required. This generally happens in cases when your hard drive or storage media indicates the following symptoms:

* Clicking noise from the hard disk drive
* Lots of bad sectors
* S.M.A.R.T failure
* Drive not recognized by the BIOS
* Fire and water damage
* Hard disk component failure
* Computer is not bootable and many other undefined reasons.

The specialist data recovery service providers offer services to recover data from hard disks of desktops and laptops, RAIDs, Tape media, Pen drives, Zip drives, Compact disks, DVDs, Digital Cards, Memory Cards etc where data gets lost due to Logical and Physical crashes.

Always ensure that the data recovery company has a Class 100 Clean Room and lab to perform data recovery on your media, as this would increase the possibilities and assurance of recovery of your data.

Computer forensics has also indulged itself in data recovery services. This kind of investigation is required for legal argumentation in the cases of evidence recovery or to prove any case in court against any theft of data, digital fraud, unauthorized data duplication, bankruptcy data investigation, private investigation of personal computer - PDA, disloyal employees, forgeries, murder, industrial espionage, theft, assault, IP theft, computer break-ins, inappropriate internet usage, internet abuseFree Web Content, email abuse and there are endless reasons to carry out legal investigation on an employee or individuals computer system.

Data recovery services are the most efficient and economical way to recover your data and files. If you choose for data recovery services you can be assured that you will get back your data.

Conclusion:

Data Recovery has become essential activity for the people in the computer world. The valuable data can get corrupt or lost at any point of time or the partitions might become inaccessible. In these situation(s) you need to contact data recovery specialists.

The importance of data recovery can be measured by the number of organizations opting for data recovery services from the data recovery service providers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

AuthorNeha Gupta

http://www.recoveryfix.com

What is Data Recovery? - A brief Introduction

2007-08-20T22:46:00.000+08:00

Data Recovery is the process of retrieval of inaccessible or corrupt data from digital media that has become damaged in some way. Data Recovery can be used to recover data from devices as varied as Hard Disk Drives, Memory Cards, Tapes, Mobile Phones, Personal Digital Assistants, Floppy Disk’s, CD’s, DVD’s, Data Cartridges, Xbox’s and many more items.

Data Recovery may be needed for reasons as diverse as hardware failure, (the tape has been ‘chewed’ up, the hard disk drive has failed, the user has maliciously damaged the computer or digital device, or it could have suffered fire or flood damage). All of these instances will require the services of a professional data recovery company if the data was of such value (be it sentimental or financial) that the cost of the services are less than the perceived value of the data which is no longer accessible.

It is not just businesses who are at risk from Data loss. Clients requiring data recovery come from all walks of life, including large corporates, smaller businesses, and the self employed to “joe public” who, with the introduction and subsequent boom in the use of digital cameras etc to record holidays and special occasions may have lost anything from sentimental data to critical e-mails, and personal account details. Students are often grouped under this heading too.

There are numerous ways that Data can be recovered from digital media which can vary greatly, the simplest method can often involve the running of basic software on the storage medium in question. This is always a dangerous idea, because the recovery data could overwrite the very data that is being recovered. More complex commercial software tools are available which will do this job more professionally. No software fix should be attempted prior to the original media being imaged, enabling the recovering company to work on a ‘back-up’ of the original software. The most professional companies will also take a second image should there be a problem with the first image that is being worked on for recovery.

The next problem is what happens when the hard disk or storage device doesn’t work. For the smaller ‘Data Recovery Companies’, this is a problem, and it is when the more serious Data Recovery Companies get involved, (such as Disklabs, http://www.disklabs.com ), who specialise in higher end Data Retrievals. It is always recommended that the most critical work should be sent to a true data recovery specialist, (check out the accreditations - ensure the specialist has ISO9001-2000 Quality Assurance status, and is certified to ISO BE EN 14644 to ensure that their clean facility is at the correct level for intrusive data recovery work, find out how long that company has been trading, and check their testimonials). Once you have found the company that you are happy with, if the data storage device doesn’t work, there is a high likelihood that the digital media will require spare parts, this is where organisations such as 1st Computer Traders Ltd, ( http://www.1ct.com ) are of service. Organisations such as 1CT sell spare parts for hard disk drives to organisations such as Disklabs, ( http://www.disklabs.com ) enabling them to get the original data accessible for long enough to image the data onto a stable storage device, enabling that data to be duplicated again which in turn allows a safe recovery attempt to be achieved.

The data recovery job is generally finished when a list of all the recovered files is sent to the client. Once the client approves this file listing, they are then shipped the data of an appropriate media. This can be a hard disk drive, floppy disk, CD or DVD. Alternatively, if a file is considered critical, it can be encrypted and then emailed to the client.

It should be noted that in extreme cases it may be impossible to recover any data, however the bottom line isFeature Articles, as soon as you have lost data you should power off your device and send it to a professional Data Recovery Company to optimise your chances of a successful recovery.

Simon Steggles
Disklabs Data Recovery and Computer Forensics Services

www.disklabs.com
www.mobilephoneforensics.com
www.1ct.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simon Steggles is a Director of Disklabs and also a director of 1st Computer Traders Ltd, (www.1ct.com). Disklabs are data recovery and computer forensics specialists, 1CT.com specialise in hard disk drive repair.

What is data recovery?

2007-08-20T20:59:00.000+08:00

Data recovery is the retrieval of inaccessible or contaminated data from media that has been damaged in some way. Data recovery is being increasingly used and is an important process nowadays.

There has been a lot of progress in increasing the memory capacity of data storage devices. Therefore data loss from any one incident also tends to be very high. The relevance of lost data can vary greatly. Maybe you have had the experience of storing a homework assignment on a floppy disk only to have it missing on the day the assignment in due.

Consider the fact that a large amount of businesses nowadays have vital organizational related data stored on machines. Also hospitals store data on patients on computers. Large amounts of websites nowadays use databases technology to enhance their websites and make them more dynamic. Php and MySql use has been on the rise on the Internet. Database failure is not uncommon and so it is not a fail proof method of storing information.

Companies have high reliance on computer technology to write and store data relevant to their business operations. Thus the data being stored can have a great deal of impact on personal lives and operations of companies.

There can be several causes of data loss.

Data loss can occur from unexpected incidences including national tragedies such as floods and earthquakes.

Often power failure can cause loss of data from hard drives. Sudden power surges can also cause a lot of damage to a computer's hard drive.

Accidentally deleting a file or formatting a hard drive or floppy disk is a common reason for data loss.

If you have accidentally lost any important documents there are several steps you can take. Remember that if you have accidentally erased a file, it may not have vanished from your computer. It may have left an imprint in a different format on the computer's hard drive or other storage devices. Recovering the data involves locating it and transforming it into human readable form.

Not all data may be recoverable.

You can either hire professional service to help you solve your problem or attempt a recovery on your own.

You can carry out data recovery operations on your own computer if you know what you are doing. There is data recovery software widely available that can assist you in the process.

Data recovery can become complicated if you overwrite on the storage device that has the lost data. Therefore if you do not know what you are doing, it is advisable to contact a professional service firm.

Data recovery professionals are experts in recovering data from all sorts of media and from a variety of damages done. There are many specialists out there who have years of experience in the IT field. The kind of data recovery operation to use will depend a great deal on the storage device and other variables such as the amount of damage done or the operation system used such as Macintosh, Windows or Linux.

There are some cases where it may be impossible to recover any data. However do not fret as the odds lie in your favor since a high percentage of data recovery operations are successful.

Preventing data loss

Of course the best way is to prevent data loss in the first place.

Data backup allows for restoring data if data loss occurs. Even ordinary pc users can set up their computer to carry out regularly scheduled backup operations. In the event of a hard drive crash or an unwise change in settings by an uninformed userFeature Articles, the restore tool can be used to retrieve deleted data or to restore the computer's settings from an earlier time.

For the back up process to be useful it should involve several reliable backup systems and performing drills to make sure the data is being stored correctly. Additional protection methods from data loss include making sure that the hard drive is protected from damages from the external environment. This includes protection from sunlight and temperature extremes.

Also plugging in your pc into a surge protector rather than an ordinary outlet can give your computer a protection layer from electricity fluctuations. Keep your virus protection up to date. Also remember to keep your backup data separate from your computer.

Nevertheless a lot of companies will go through a disaster and experience data loss. The best thing to do is not to panic and also not to ignore the situation. The quicker you rectify the situation the better. Counting on data loss will help you be prepared for any such event.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

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Encryption

2007-03-12T20:04:00.000+08:00

NTFS support encryption where it keeps file or folder safe from intruders who are unauthorized to access them. When a file or folder encrypted by NTFS, it cannot be access by unauthorized user where there receive error message if they try to open, copy, move, delete or rename the encrypted file or folder. When file encrypted, it is actually transparent for authorized user and any applications. If authorized users access the encrypted file or folder, it will be decrypted automatically without interaction with the user. After the file or folder saved, NTFS re-encrypted the file. Indeed, all encryption / decryption process are occur automatically as long as you mark the file or folder as encrypted.

What is encryption actually? Encryption is a process that converts the data into a secret code to hide its substance and ensure the data security. When you encrypted a file or folder for a first time, a key pair randomly generated which contain of private and public key. This key is used to encrypt and decrypt the file or folder. The technology that allows files to be encrypted in NTFS file system called Encrypting File System (EFS) and it is available in MS Windows 2000 and later operating systems. Why is EFS created? NTFS allows object permission to restrict the access to the file or folder from unauthorized user. Although it can protect the file or folder but if the attacker gains physical access to computer, for instance, they removed the hard-disk and mounted it on other Windows system, any user with administrator privileges can take ownership of the partition ignoring the previous permission. This is when the Encrypting File System (EFS) plays the role to protect the file being read by unauthorized user. The essence of EFS is that, encrypted file or folder only can be viewed by the creator of the file. For creator, the encrypted file appears as normal file and they are not required to go through any decryption procedure to view the file contents. The decryption process is done automatically. Other user including the Administrator also cannot view the encrypted file as the only want who can view is the one who encrypted the file. Unlike, NTFS object permission, although you have the administrator privileges and intend to change the file's ownership, the fact is you still won't be able to read the encrypted file as you weren't the one who originally encrypted the file. NTFS ensure the security of the file from physical attacker because only appropriate user can gain the access on the encrypted file.

I'll show you on how to use EFS on Windows XP. Before using EFS you need to create your own account with password protected. When you encrypted a file, it is only accessible to your account and other users have no access to this encrypted file. Bear in mind, lock your workstation when you are away as failing to do so means that other user can access to your data. It is strongly recommended that you designate a specific folder to store all the encrypted data in your account as all files that are created in or moved to this folder obtain the encrypted attribute. Let's say that you created an encryption folder to stores all the encrypted data in this folder. To encrypt a folder and its current content, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the folder and click Properties.

2. In the properties dialog box, click Advanced.

3. In Advanced Attributes dialog box, check on Encrypt contents to secure data check box and then click OK. Please take note that NTFS cannot support compression and encryption at the same time meaning that you can only check either compression or encrypted at a time.

4. Click OK once again to close the Advanced Attributes dialog box.

5. In Confirm Attribute Changes, select option to apply changes to the folder only or the folder, sub folder and file. (Only appear for folder encryption that contains file but not in file encryption)

After you encrypted the folder, the folder name color will be changed into green. To decrypt a encrypt folder or file, just follow the same step but unchecked Encrypt contents to secure data check box in the Advanced Attributes dialog box. EFS also enable the encrypted file to be share by multiple users where you can give individual users permission to access an encrypted file. Unfortunately, this ability only support encrypted file only but not on folder encrypted. Before you can add additional user on a file, you need to encrypt it first. Bear in mind EFS only support access for multiple user but not for a groups of user in an encrypted file. To encrypt a file for multiple users, follow these steps (apply to windows XP and above):

1. Right-click the encrypted file and click Properties.

2. In the properties dialog box, click Advanced.

3. In Advanced Attributes dialog box, Click Details to add additional users.

4. In Encryption Details dialog box, click Add. The Encryption Details dialog box shows users that can access the file and data recovery agent for the file.

5. In Select User dialog box, you can select which user certificate you want to have an access to the file. If you do not see the user click Find User to search Active Directory. Select which user certificate you want to have an access to the file. If the intended user's certificate is not found, they need to send you a copy of their certificate. You need to import the certificate and add them to the encrypted file.

6. After you select the user, click OK until you closed all the dialog box.

EFS uses users' certificate to identified users that can access the encrypted file. As mention earlier, when you encrypt your first file, a key pair randomly generated which contain of private and public key. You need to back up your certificates as if you lost or damaged it, and then there is no way for you to recover the encrypted data. You can store the backup certificates at the secure location. The backup certificates can be import when you lost or damaged your certificates. To backup certificates, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer.

2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options

3. On the Content tab, click Certificates

4. Click Personal tab

5. Select intended certificate. Note that when you encrypted your first folder, a certificate was generated. Make sure the selected certificate shows Encrypting File System in the Certificate Intended Purposes. This is certificate that generated earlier.

6. Click Export to start the Certificate Export Wizard, and click Next

7. Click Yes, export the private key and click Next

8. Click Enable Strong protection, and click Next

9. Type your password. (To protect the private key)

10. Specify the path where you want to save it. You can save to a floppy disk, CD or other removable storage. Click Next and then Finish.

To import the certificates, follow the same steps as backup certificates but Click Import on a certificates dialog box. After that, follow these steps:

1. The Certificate Import Wizard appeared and you need to specify the file and path location of the certificates that you want to import. Click Next

2. Type the password of the certificate that you want to import. Check on the Mark this key as exportable, to allow you backup your certificate (Enable you to export the certificate) Click Next.

3. Select Place all certificates in the following store, and then click Next

4. Click Finish to complete the import wizard.

EFS can give a different results when you moving, copying and saving an encrypted files. When you copy an encrypted file to a medium that not support EFS, such as floppy disk (FAT file system), the encryption is removed. Please remember that encryption process is an attribute based and for that reason encryption will be removed in a medium that not support this attribute. When you encrypted a folder which contains no data, any files that are placed into the folder are encrypted. Bear in mind, the file only accessible to user who transfer or create the file within this folder. For instance, if user A encrypted a blank folder and user B created a file within the folder, only user B can view the data but not user A. Although user A created the encrypted folder, but user B are the one who place the file or encrypted the file. This cause only use B can view the data.

On the other hand, when you encrypted a folder which already contains data, you will be prompt whether to encrypt the files in the folder or not. Let's suppose that user choose to encrypt the file that contains in the folder. The files that contain in the folder only can be view by the user who encrypted the folder. File that copy in this folder only can be view by the user who encrypted the folder but not by the user who place the file in this folder. Ok, now let's suppose that user who encrypted the folder choose to not encrypt the existing files. The files remain unencrypted and accessible to anyone who can access the folder, but if user renames the existing file, then the file will become encrypted.

In general, when you copy a file, it will inherit the EFS properties of the target location. If you move a file, it will not inherit the EFS properties of the target location. EFS can be performed on a file and folder but not on a volume. You also cannot encrypt system's root directory.

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NTFS Compression

2007-03-09T13:55:00.000+08:00

Compression is to decrease the object size and reduces the amount of allocated space in the volume to stores the object. NTFS support compression on a file, folder and even the NTFS volume itself. Unfortunately, NTFS only support compression for cluster that not greater than 4KB only. Compression is not available for NTFS volume that uses cluster that more than 4KB.

NTFS does not need other compressed/decompressed program such as WinZip or winrar to read or written the compressed file in NTFS. User can open a compress file without need to decompressing them first. The decompression of the file is done by NTFS automatically and copies it into memory. If user closed or saved the file, NTFS automatically compressed the file back and stored in the volume. In other word, compression and decompression was done automatically by NTFS itself without user's interference. Unfortunately, this caused NTFS performance decrease because NTFS need to perform the compression or decompression before opening or closing the file. Bear in mind that compressed file or folder only remain compressed in NTFS volume, and if it's copy to FAT volume, the compression will be lost. NTFS compression also cannot be done to file or folder that has been encrypted.

If you want to compress file or folder in NTFS volume, these are the step you need to do:

·Right-click the file or folder and then click properties.

·On general tab, Click Advanced.

·Check on Compress contents to save disk space check box, and then click OK

·In the properties box, click OK again.

·In Confirm Attribute Changes, select option to apply changes to the folder only or the folder, sub folder and file. (Only appear for folder compression not in file compression)

To compress a drive also required the same step such as:

·Right-click the file or folder and then click properties.

·Check on Compress drive to save disk space check box, and then click OK

·In the properties box, click OK again.

·In Confirm Attribute Changes, select option to apply changes to the C: only or the C, sub folder and file.

You can compress only a folder without compressing it content such as sub folder and file inside the folder. This can be done by selecting apply changes to folder only option in the Confirm Attribute Changes windows.

NTFS compression can also set the display of compression file in color. The steps are:

·Go to folder options under tools menu in windows explorer.

·On the view tab, Check the Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color check box.

After you compress the file or folder, file name color will be change from black to blue for example. By that, we can identify that this files or folder are compressed.

When a file or folder in NTFS volume is moved within the same NTFS volume, they retain their compression state regardless of the compression state of the folder it is moved to. For instance, when you moved a compressed file to uncompressed folder, it retains compressed although it is moved to uncompressed folder.

When a file or folder in NTFS volume is copied within the same NTFS volume, the original compression state islost and inherits the compression state of the destination folder. For instance, when you copy uncompressed file to a compressed folder, the uncompressed file become compressed because it inherit the compression state of the destination folder.

When you copied a file to a folder that already contains the same file within the same NTFS volume, the copied file inherits the compression state of the target file (File that you want to replace). For instance, lets say you want to copy file named 'A' which its compression state is compressed to a folder contains the same file named 'A' but the compression state is uncompressed. The same file within the folder will be replaced and the compression state of the file inherits the compression state of the target file which is uncompressed.

When you copy or move files and folders between NTFS volume (Example, drive C: to drive D), the files and folders inherits the compression state of the destination folder. If you copy a compressed file or folder in an NTFS volume to FAT volume, the compression state lost and become uncompressed. This is because unlike NTFS, FAT does not support compression. However, if you want to copy a file or folder from FAT volume to NTFS volume, it inherits the compression state of the destination folder. Bear in mind, that NTFS compression is different with the compressed (zipped) folder. Compressed (zipped) folder is not NTFS features. This feature is provided by the windows itself which is Windows XP Professional.

NTFS Features

2007-03-06T12:10:00.000+08:00

Compare with the previous file system, NTFS provides more features that improve the security, space efficiency, reliability and data integrity of the disk volume. NTFS new features made it is suitable to in a network environment. As network becomes bigger and more users are connected, more security and data efficiency must be provided. Among the features of NTFS that will be discussed are:

NTFS Compression features

It is a file-based compression that allows a file or folder to be compressed (reduce space needed to store file) and can be read and written by any windows-based application. This compression is handled by the operating system itself.

NTFS Encryption

NTFS can automatically encrypt and decrypt the file data to provide an additional level of security for files and directories.

NTFS Object Permission

NTFS enable user to set permission on file or folder for security purpose. This features used to control the access level for particular user or group to file or folder. Permission can be set by Administrator, file or folder's owner and any user or group that have full control permission to the file or folders.

Disk Quotas

Give administrator ability to track and control disk space usage in the volume on a per volume basis or per user basis. Disk quotas can only be set on a volume (drive C and D for example) but not on a file or folder.

NTFS Journalizing

Provides a persistent log for every change made to files or folders and other object in NTFS volume. The changes that recorded including adding, deleting or modifying files or folders. When the record size exceeds the limit size, older records are deleted.

Sparse file

This features enable volume to use file system space efficiently, where it allow program to create large files which contains of non meaningful data (zero data) and meaningful data (non-zero data). Only meaningful data are allocated in the disk space and the non meaningful data is not allocated in the disk space

All of these features will be discuss in the next post where it will be discuss features by features.

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NTFS Architecture

2007-03-05T12:07:00.001+08:00

When you press a start button on a computer, system BIOS started and search for first boot device. This first boot device can be set by user by entering the BIOS setup. Normally, the first boot device is a hard disk. As mention in previous topic, a formatted hard disk contains a Master Boot Record (MBR). A master boot record contains "master boot code" and partition table for the hard disk. When MBR is loaded, master boot codes are executed and search for partition table to find which partition is active or bootable. After detect an active partition, a boot sector that located at the first logical sector of the active partition, loaded in memory. This boot sector contains an executable code and data that required by the code, to determines the disk structure before loading an operating system.

When an executable codes within a boot sector are executed, it provides information to locate the NTLDR. NTLDR consist of ntldr.dll file which switches the CPU to protected mode and start the file system. NTLDR then find and reads the content of boot.ini file to start the operating system. Before starting the operating system NTLDR need to load system file driver of NTFS by executing the ntfs.sys file. After that NTLDR also need to loads the system device drivers that uses by the computer by executing the ntoskrnl.exe. This provides information about which system device drivers to load and the load order. Then, an operating system is running on the hard disk. All of the previous process loading an operating system is done in kernel mode. A kernel mode is a processing mode that allows code to directly access hardware and memory in the system.

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NTFS Components (Cont2)

2007-03-04T17:39:00.000+08:00

D) File System Data / Area

NTFS view every each of file and folder in the volume as the file attribute . This file attribute including file name, security information and also the data. Each of file attributes are identifies by an attribute type code and optional attribute name .

As mention earlier, each file or folder exist in NTFS volume recorded on Mft as file or folder records. What actually is this file and folder records? It is the file attribute for each file as well as the partition of that file record within the Mft. Unfortunately, not all of file attribute can fit within Mft. If the file attribute can fit within the Mft, it is called resident attributes. For instance, file attribute such as file name and time stamp always be resident attribute. On the other hand, if the file attributes does not fit the Mft, it is called non-resident attributes. Non-resident attributes stores a portion of the file attribute within Mft and the remaining are stores in other cluster outside the Mft. NTFS creates the attribute list table to describe the location of the attribute records. Figure 6 illustrated File Attributes Types.

Attribute Type	Description
Standard Information	Information such as access mode, timestamp and link count
Attribute List	Locations of all attribute records that not fit in MFT record
File Name	Name of the file.
Data	File data that contain file attributes.
Object ID	Unique file identifier.
Logged Tool Stream	Data stream that logged to NTFS log.
Reparse Point	Used for mounted drives and mark special file for the particular file.
Index Root	Used to implement folder and other indexes
Index Allocation	Used to implement the B-tree structure for large folders and other large indexes
Bitmap	Used to implement the B-tree structure for large folders and other large indexes
Volume Information	Contains volume version

Figure 6 File Attributes Types

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NTFS Component (Cont)

2007-03-03T16:32:00.000+08:00

B) Master File Table

Every file that exists in NTFS volume must be recorded in Master File Table (MFT). MFT consist of 16 records that describe MFT itself (metadata) , MFT minor record , log file and or folder records for each file or folder exists in NTFS volume. Figure 5 illustrated MFT metadata files stores in MFT.

System File	File Name	MFT Record	Description
Master file table	$Mft	0	Allocates at least one file record for each file or folder here. If the file or folder is too large to fit within a single record, other file records are allocated too.
Master file table copy	$MftMirr	1	This is a duplicate copy of first four records of the MFT as a backup if failure happened in MFT.
Log file	$LogFile	2	Contain information that can restore metadata consistency after a system failure.
Volume	$Volume	3	Contain information about volume
Attribute definitions	$AttrDef	4	Contain information about attribute name, numbers, and description.
Root file name index	.	5	The root folder
Cluster bitmap	$Bitmap	6	Identify the free and unused cluster in the volume.
Boot sector	$Boot	7	Contain BPB used to mount the volume.
Bad cluster file	$BadClus	8	Identify bad cluster for the volume
Security file	$Secure	9	Contain unique security descriptor for all files
Up case table	$Upcase	10	Converts lowercase characters to matching Unicode uppercase characters.
NTFS extension file	$Extend	11	Used for optional extension
		12-15	Reserved for future use.

Figure 5 MFT metadata files

Both $Mft and $MftMrr data segment location are recorded in the boot sector . If the $Mft data corrupted, NTFS read the boot sector to find where is the location of $Mftmrr and use the $Mftmrr information. Mft is not located at a predefined sector and because of that, it can be relocated if the current location identified as bad sector. Normally a duplicate Mft are located at the logical center of the NTFS volume.

C) Master File Table Copy

NTFS duplicate file $Mft record in the volume as Mftmrr and located the file in the logical center of the hard disk. However not all of the info are duplicated; only first four records of the Mft are recorded. If Mft record corrupted , NTFS reads the boot sector to find where the Mftmrr located in the hard disk. After located it, NTFS read the information and correct the data by written back information from Mftmrr to corrupted Mft record.

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NTFS Components

2007-03-02T21:18:00.001+08:00

A) Partition Boot Sector

When a hard disk is formatted, a Master Boot Code (MBR) is created. MBR contain executable code called “Master boot code” that will be loaded into memory by system BIOS. This code scans the partition table that consists in MBR as well to find which partition is active . After find the active partition or bootable partition in boot sector, it is load to memory . Figure 4 illustrated boot sector section on NTFS Volume.

Byte Offset	Field Length	Field Name
0x00	3 bytes	Jump Instruction
0x03	8 bytes	OEM ID
0x0B	25 bytes	BPB
0x24	48 bytes	BPB Extended
0x54	42 bytes	Bootstrap code
0x01FE	2 bytes	End of sector marker

BPB & Extended BPB Components

Byte offset	Field Length	Field Name
0x0B	2 bytes	Bytes Per Sector
0x0D	1 byte	Sector Per Cluster
0x0E	2 bytes	Reserved Cluster
0x10	3 bytes	Must be 0
0x13	2 bytes	Must be 0
0x15	1 byte	BPB Media Descriptor
0x16	2 bytes	Must be 0
0x18	2 bytes	Not used by NTFS
0x1A	2 bytes	Not used by NTFS
0x1C	4 bytes	Not used by NTFS
0x20	4 bytes	Must be 0
0x24	4 bytes	Not used by NTFS
0x28	8 bytes	Total sector
0x30	8 bytes	Logical cluster number for the file $MFT
0x38	8 bytes	BPB Extended Logical cluster number for the file MFTMRR
0x40	1 byte	Cluster per MFT record
0x41	3 bytes	Not used by NTFS
0x44	1 byte	Cluster per Index buffer
0x45	3 bytes	Not used NTFS
0x48	8 bytes	Volume serial number
0x50	4 bytes	Not used by NTFS

Figure 4 Boot sector section on NTFS

On NTFS volume, First 16 sectors are allocates for the boot sector and bootstrap code . When boot sector loads into memory, Master Boot Record (MBR) transfers the CPU execution to the boot sector which executes the CPU instruction that stored as ‘Jump Instruction' in the boot sector. After that, read OEM ID that identifies the name and version number of operating system consists in NTFS volume. Following the OEM ID is the BPB which are information about:

Bytes per Sector (size of sector in the hard disk)
Sector per Cluster (Amount of sectors in a cluster)
Media Descriptor (info about type of media being used)

The data field in BPB forms an extended BPB which provides information such as:

Total sector (total sector in the hard disk)
Logical Cluster number for $MFT file (Identify MFT location in the volume)
Logical Cluster number for $MFTMRR file (Identify MFTMRR location in the volume)
Cluster per MFT record (The size of each record for each file or folder that created on NTFS volume)
Volume serial number

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NTFS Physical Structure

2007-03-01T10:23:00.000+08:00

When a hard disk is formatted, a Master Boot record (MBR) is created. MBR consist of executable code called Master Boot Code and Partition Table information of the disk.

NTFS cluster size is depending on the size of the volume. However, when formatting NTFS volume, you can specify the cluster size up to 64Kb. If you did not specify the cluster size, default cluster size is used. Figure 3 illustrated the cluster size base on volume size.

Volume Size	Cluster Size
7MB – 512MB	512
512MB – 1024MB	1KB
1025MB – 2GB	2KB
2GB – 2TB	4KB

Figure 3 Cluster size for each volume size.

NTFS disk space efficiency actually determine by the cluster size of NTFS volume because it uses smaller cluster size than FAT file system. The smaller the cluster size, the more efficient the disk is because unused space in cluster that have been used cannot be use to store file. NTFS also support more clusters which is nearly unlimited and it able to create larder volume up to 2Tb.

When a hard disk is formatted with NTFS file system, it can be divided into four components which are:

Boot sector

Master File Table

Master File Table Copy

File system data

Every part of this component builds NTFS file system. Bellow is the illustrated of NTFS file system Components.

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NTFS

2007-02-28T18:52:00.000+08:00

New Technology File System (NTFS) is a file system managing file that exists in the hard disk (NTFS Volume). It can be called disk file structure which used Master File Table (MFT) instead of File Allocation Table (FAT). This file system is more advanced than FAT file system which provides more efficiency in performance, security, data efficiency and data recovery.

NTFS file system managed each file in NTFS volume using structuring method. Every file that store in NTFS volume recorded in Master File Table (MFT) whereas MFT is a relational database that consist of file records for each of particular file that exist in NTFS volume with its file attribute as well. On the other hand, FAT file system which uses File Allocation Table, record every each of particular file that exists in FAT volume by the file names and its addresses.

Before you read this article, the first thing that you should know is what is Cluster and Sector on an NTFS volume (hard disk). Below is illustrated of Cluster and Sector:

Figure 1 Cluster and Sector

Figure 1 above, shows component of a hard disk which are Sectors and Clusters. This hard disk uses a 1Kb sector and 4Kb sector. Sector is the smallest part of hard disk component distribution and Cluster is the smallest amounts of sectors that can hold a file. From figure 1, we can say that 4 sectors is equivalent of 1 cluster. In order to store a 6 KB file in NTFS volume that uses 4Kb Cluster, Two (2) Clusters are needed. This is because all part of cluster is identified as used even though only a portion of it is used. Figure 2 illustrated how 6Kb file stores in the NTFS volume that uses 4Kb cluster.

Figure 2 storing 6Kb file

Two (2) clusters are used to stores a 6Kb file where only 6 sectors that stored a file and 2 more sectors are free but cannot be used anymore. This means that 2 more sectors are wasted to store 6Kb file in NTFS volume that uses 4Kb sector. The smaller the cluster is, the smaller the space is being wasted.

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