How Data Recovery Could Become Critical for Business Survival and What to Do in Case of Data Loss

A Scenario of What Could Happen

Just imagine this scenario. You own a highly profitable specialty retail store that stock thousands of parts. These parts are procured from the best sources that you have identified over many years, based on product quality, timely deliveries, reasonable prices and customer support. You have also fixed the re-order levels based on years of experience. These re-order levels are the basis for automatically triggering replenishment requests when the stock of a part reaches danger levels.

All the data, parts specifications, selling prices, supplier details, inventory accounts, re-order levels, consumption statistics, negotiated prices and other such critical information are stored in your computer system at the back office. You do back up these data onto magnetic tapes. However you have never checked the reliability of these backup tapes.

One day, during a severe thunderstorm, your computer disks become unreadable. And you find that the backup tapes have become unreliable with the restored data being no better than useless garbage.

Now imagine the disastrous impact such data loss could have on your business operations and profitability. You might be able to reconstruct the part specifications and selling prices from paper records. However, re-identifying the preferred suppliers, the replenishment stock levels and negotiated prices for each of the thousands of parts might prove a highly disruptive exercise, if at all possible. The result would be a serious loss of control over your business operations and profitability.

Now suppose that you had called an expert data recovery specialist immediately upon the occurrence of the data loss. It is quite likely that the specialist would be able to make a complete recovery of the data.

To make such recovery possible, you should not even try to recover the data using the backup tapes that had never been checked for their reliability. If you do that, the data in the computer might become completely unrecoverable.

How Do Data Get Lost?

Data loss could occur owing to:
Physical damage to the storage device as when the hard disk head crashes or other mechanical failure happens
Logical damage to the file system causing incomplete writing and consequent inability of the operating system to display results correctly
Human error or action that results in deleting the data on the storage device
Virus attacks
No or poor backup policies or their improper implementation of the policies
Natural disasters like fires and floods

How Can You Prevent Data Loss?

There are certain steps that you can take to prevent or at least minimize data loss:
Implement a systematic backup procedure so that the data can be recovered if it is lost. Backup policies and implementation is a complex topic and it is best you get professional assistance for formulating policies and implementing them in your particular situation
Audit your data back up practices and periodically check the reliability of the backups
Train your computer personnel in certain important operational matters. For example, if unusual sounds are heard from the drives, it is best to shut down the computer; don't get liquids and stuff get into the computer; unplug power chords if smoke is seen coming out of the computer; and so on.
Install Anti Virus and Security software to prevent virus attacks.
Consider online back up services offered by third parties, which could help you even in cases of data loss owing to natural disasters.

In Case of Data Loss, Call in Experts!

Experienced experts would know what to look for, how to proceed and the most suitable alternatives for each situation. Your best bet is to entrust data recovery to such a specialist rather than try a Do It Yourself recovery attempt.

You would be able to appreciate advise against DIY better if you are aware of certain facts:
Data storage devices pack more and more data in less and less space. Even minute specks of dust could affect the integrity of the data.
Opening the sealed drives could cause just that - allowing plenty of dust to damage the drive image, and make reliable recovery of the data impossible. Data recovery specialists work in highly controlled "Clean Rooms" to prevent this.
Data recovery specialists use such methods as replacing the PCB of the drive with a matching healthy one and/or replacing read/write assembly parts with matching ones. Not only do these require highly specialized expertise but also facilities for working at high precision levels. End users of computers are not likely to have these.

About Author:
IntelliRecovery - A San Francisco data recovery company authorized by all leading manufacturers, specialized in hard drive data recovery, laptop data recovery, raid data recovery service offers free evaluation and No Data, No Charge Policy.

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Notebook Data Recovery Prevention Methods to Protect Your Critical Data

Notebook data recovery methods are no different from computer data recovery. The costs are similar and the methods are the same. The key to notebook hard drive data recovery is to arm yourself with the different methods and costs associated with disk recovery and know which method is the best for your particular problem.

Of course the best method of recovering lost data is always prevention. Most seem to understand the importance of a good antivirus program but yet many do not check how up to date their program is or when it expires. Having an old out of date antivirus is little better than have nothing installed at all. Having your antivirus program up to date will help eliminate virus that can damage your system files and cause your computer to stop working.

Many computer users understand the benefits of daily backing up their sensitive data. But having and using a backup program is of little use if you don't store your files in a safe place. These days there are an array of options when considering your sensitive data storage needs including the use of DVD disks, external hard drives or even storing your data via the internet. When backing up your data, ensure that the media you use is large enough to handle all the files that you intent to protect. Also make sure you are aware of how to restore this data back to your computer should the need arise.

Preventing loss is important but understanding what causes notebook hard drive data loss is will also go a long way to protecting your critical data. Viruses and different malware programs normally contribute to loss of stored information. Viruses are able to operate automatically, duplicating themselves to infect many PC files. Other viruses are so dangerous that they can cause the destruction of files, harm to the operating system and even the denial of access to all the disk drives. Things get even worse if your computer gets a virus that takes your identity and puts your financial accounts at risk.

Perhaps the biggest cause of laptop data loss is human error. Companies waste a lot of time and assets due to data loss caused by human mistakes. According to one study, it is estimated that up to 75% of incidents involved in the loss of sensitive data are caused by human error. The main channels of loss stem from laptops, mobile devices, email and databases.

If you find that you need notebook data recovery services there are several methods available to you. Do to the increase of demands of having a better way to restores lost files, more software companies have been creating programs designed to help recover lost data. Today's file recovery software provides the tools that will allow almost anyone to recover files that have been accidentally deleted or are missing. Software is cheaper than a data recovery company, but software does not always work. In some circumstances they may even make the matter worse.

When all other options of data recovery has failed then the need for data recovery services are required. The capabilities of these third party data restoration companies can be quite different from each other. It's important to know how the company will restore your data and the expenses associated with the services. No company can guarantee data recovery in the case of massive disk drive crashes.

Discover other notebook data recovery options by visiting laptop data recovery guide.

Mike DiNapolis is a certified computer technician skilled in all areas of computer repair and data retrieval.

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