Custom PC Guide

Our Custom PC Guide
We understand choosing a custom PC is often a difficult and time consuming process especially with an industry that is moving so fast. This is why we have devised a quick guide to helping you on your way.
Brand
Probably the most important issue surrounding custom PCs is the brand of components that go into them. Non descript and cheap branded components will be the difference between a top performing PC and an expensive paper weight! You should be looking at brands such as Antec, ASUS, Coolermaster, Corsair, Creative, Microsoft, Razer, Logitech, Seagte, Samsung, Western Digital, OCZ, Intel, ATI, Nvidia, AMD, Xigmatek, MSI, Gigabyte, Sony, LG, Akasa, Noctua, Coolit, Zalman, Sennheiser. Undescribed and "premium brand" are not brand names. Check carefully that the following components have a brand listed;
Power Supply (PSU) - This is where most manufacturers scrimp on their builds. Check the brand carefully. It is the most likely part of a PC to fail. Corsair and Antec are the industry leaders here, and their power supplies are that good they come with a 5 year warranty as standard.
Case - Same again, a lot of manufacturers use dodgy units that not only have poor cooling properties and will soon fall apart after touching it a few times. Antec, Coolermaster, Xigmatek, Lian Li, Corsair and Silverstone make the good ones.
Processor - Make sure this is of Intel or AMD brand. Most are. RAM - Check for a quality brand name associated with it. Poor choice in RAM will affect the overall speed and reliably of the PC as a whole. Corsair XMS RAM dominates the market by a long way. Other brands to consider are Kingston and OCZ.
Hard Drive - Another common corner cutter is the brand of hard disk. Cheap hard drives will affect the performance of the whole PC. You also would not one of these to fail as you would be likely to lose any data stored on it. Western Digital, Seagate and Samsung are the brands to look out for here.
Processor
The main "Engine" of a computer - The faster the better! Speeds are measured in Gigahertz (GHz) ranging from around 2.0GHz right up to nearly 4.0GHz. As a general rule of thumb, Intel processors are faster than AMD processors despite the higher gigahertz speeds.
RAM
RAM is like a turbo is to a car. It helps the Processor along with more being better. It is measured in gigabytes (GB) and ranges from 1GB right up to 12GB or even 24GB! Generally, 4-6GB is plenty even for the most demanding applications or games. DDR3 RAM is now the normal so choose a PC with DDR3 Technology. Least important is the memory speed, this is measured in megahertz (Mhz) where the higher the Mhz number the better so consider this when choosing RAM for your PC.
Motherboard
Good branded motherboards will usually have everything you need here. Choose a motherboard that has the right features for you. This maybe something as simple as onboard sound cards, network cards or the amount of expansion slots.
Power Supply
An often underrated part of a PC. As mentioned earlier, many manufactures use substandard power supplies so pay particular note to its brand. The industry leaders here are Corsair and Antec, try to make sure your PC has one of these units. When a Power supply fails it can not only destroy itself but can damage all the other components, or worse, cause a fire. The measurement of how powerful a Power supply is measured in wattage (W). The higher the wattage the more powerful parts can be chosen for a custom PC.
Case
Yet another part of a computer where manufactures cut costs. A decent case will last you year and years and will withstand upgrade after upgrade. It is not uncommon for a decent case to last 10 years! The general rule here is go for the best you can afford. Choose a case that has ample cooling fans, is of a good size and looks good. Antec, Coolermaster, Xigmatek, Lian Li, Corsair and Silverstone make the good ones.
Hard Disks
Mainly specified for the amount of data they can hold. Like RAM this is measured in Gigabytes (GB) and a thousand gigabytes, Terabytes (TB). The more the better but generally users are not going to need more than 500MB - 1TB. Hard Disk speed is also worth considering, Seek Times, Spindle speeds, Cache size and Data Transfer Rates define how fast a hard disk. High performance demanding users are now starting to use "solid state drives" (SSD) which are around twice the speed of normal hard disks.
Graphics cards
This is the part of the PC that defines how good a visual output you get. The Things that define how good a graphics card is, is clock speed (measured in MHz), the amount of stream processors and finally how much on board RAM the graphics card has to itself. When choosing a custom built PC for gamers this is one of the most important choices.
Optical Drive
This is not too much of a hard choice to make. The standard is a CD and DVD Read/Writer/Re-Writer whilst an upgrade would be considered a blu-ray drive which plays/burns blu-ray disks. Whatever you opt for make sure it is has a SATA interface as the older IDE interface is pretty much had its day.

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How to Get Value for Money From Your SSD Disk Drive

Purchasing SSD disk drives can be confusing, as prices can vary dramatically for what seems to be very similar technology. It can be difficult, therefore, to know if you are indeed investing in something that represents good value for money and also meets your needs without blowing the budget.
There are several ways to determine which SSD disk drive to buy, which are fairly straightforward to follow and will ensure that you only pay for what you need. The first factor that affects price is the speed of your SSD, with the cost of the fastest devices on the market being sometimes hundreds of times of entry level products.
It is important to remember, therefore, that the higher the speed of the products, the faster you can expect it to perform - although you should, of course, check all the specifications thoroughly before purchase. Carefully consider the speed that you require in your SSD disk drive, as this can allow you to save a few pennies, or may indeed indicate an area you need to splurge on.
A second significant factor to look at is that each different SSD disk drive will have a different average operational life, which can also have a great influence on the price of the product that you are wishing to buy. Whereas entry level SSDs can have an attractive price tag, some of the better quality ones can have an expected lifespan of up to 100 times more.
How long your equipment is going to last is no negligible matter; after all, the more frequently an item needs replacing, the higher your costs will rise. To make sure that you get value for money, consider spending a little more on a product that boasts an average operational life that you determine to be more than adequate for your needs.
There are also other reliability features that can cost more upfront but lead to greater savings down the road. These include enhanced fault tolerance, enhanced endurance, internal hardened data integrity and more, depending on the model you are considering. If reliability is important for you, consider spending more on an SSD disk drive with these options.
The memory of the SSD disk drive can cause prices on the market to fluctuate dramatically, and determining which memory capacity is right for you can be a tricky matter. It is generally worth noting that RAM SSDs are the most expensive on the market, followed by SLC Flash SSDs, MLC Flash SSDs and finally MLC SSDs.
If you are unsure about the type of memory and the capacity you need, consult with a specialist vendor, who will be able to guide you in the right direction depending on your particularly needs and requirements.
It is also worth looking at the efficiency of the SSD disk drive you are thinking of buying. Some SSDs use significantly more flash than others, and can use more expensive related chips. This can improve efficiency but also drive up costs. Again, talk to a specialist retailer is you are unsure about how this could affect you.
There are also other factors to consider, including security, extended temperature operation for industrial environments, ease of installation and more, all of which can affect the overall price of your SSD disk drive.
The key to getting the best value for money on your purchase is to look carefully at your specific needs in the areas of speed, average operational lifespan, reliability, memory and efficiency. Balancing out which of these are the most important for you will help you determine which is the right product in an often confusing market.
After this, consider any special needs that you may have, such as industrial use mentioned above, heavy and extended use, or use in varying temperatures. All of these could cost you a little extra for a more tailored product, but also offer great return on investment when you find a product that is reliable and specifically suited to your unique needs.

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About External Hard Drives

For people who move around often and are in need of carrying electronic data with them a must buy thing is an External Hard Drive. All the leading hardware companies like Apple, CMS, Seagate, D-Link, HP and Lenova have introduced compact, high capacity external hard drives.
External Hard Drives are available with attractive looks and also with high storage capacity. The storage capacity starts from 1 GB to that of 1 TB that facilitates the user to store any big size of data to carry along. They are tiny, approximately about 2.5 inches to 3.5 inches in size. The prices are also getting cheaper day by day making them affordable to all. They enable the user to take back ups quickly and easily and are portable too.
Once you plan to buy an External Hard Drive think of:
The storage capacity: This depends purely on the need of the buyer. If he has to carry many bigger files or data then he has to go for higher storage capacity if not he has to look for one with lower storage size that will be cheaper in price. The higher capacity the better for future needs.
Connectivity (Whether it supports only USB or Firewire)
Firewire is the latest in technology and may not be available in all the computers you access. If the hard drive supports USB only then transferring of the data will be slower than in the firewire. And if the USB Port is 1.0 and not 2.0 even slower will be the data transfer.
The Speed: The time an external hard drive takes for data transfer depends on the RPM and Buffer Size. The suggestible RPM (rotation per a minute) that is available recently is 7,200 and the Buffer Size 8 MB. This specification would take very less time to transfer bigger files.
The Life or Durability of the hard drive: For an assured durability it is best to buy a brand that is known for its quality, service support and a reasonable warranty period. Browse for good brands and specifications for a good buy.

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ATA vs SATA

Hard Drives: ATA versus SATA
The performance of computer systems has been steadily increasing as faster processors, memory, and video cards are continuously being developed. The one key component that is often neglected when looking at improving the performance of a computer system is the hard drive. Hard drive manufacturers have been constantly evolving the basic hard drive used in modern computer systems for the last 25 years, and the last few years have seen some exciting developments from faster spindle speeds, larger caches, better reliability, and increased data transmission speeds.
The drive type used most in consumer grade computers is the hearty ATA type drive (commonly called an IDE drive). The ATA standard dates back to 1986 and is based on a 16-bit parallel interface has undergone many evolutions since its introduction to increase the speed and size of the drives that it can support. The latest standard is ATA-7 (first introduced in 2001 by the T13 Technical Committee (the group responsible for the ATA standard)) which supports data transfer rates up to 133MB/sec. This is expected to be the last update for the parallel ATA standard.
As long ago as 2000 it was seen that the parallel ATA standard was maxing out its limitations as to what it could handle. With data rates hitting the 133MB/sec mark on a parallel cable, you are inviting all sorts of problems because of signal timing, EMI (electromagnetic interference) and other data integrity issues; thus industry leaders got together and came up with a new standard known as Serial ATA (SATA). SATA has only been around a few years, but is destined to become "the standard" due to several benefits to be addressed in this Tech Tip.
The two technologies that we will be looking at are:

ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) - a 16-bit parallel interface used for controlling computer drives. Introduced in 1986, it has undergone many evolutions in the last 18+ years, with the latest version being called ATA-7. Wherever an item is referred to as being an ATA device, it is commonly a Parallel ATA device. ATA devices are also commonly called IDE, EIDE, Ultra-ATA, Ultra-DMA, ATAPI, PATA, etc. (each of these acronyms actually do refer to very specific items, but are commonly interchanged)

SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) - a 1-bit serial evolution of the Parallel ATA physical storage interface.
Basic Features & Connections
SATA drives are easy to distinguish from their ATA cousins by the different data and power connections found on the back of the drives. A side-by-side comparison of the two interfaces can be seen in this PDF from Maxtor, and the following covers many of the differences...
Standard ATA drives, such as this 200GB Western Digital model, have somewhat bulky, two inch wide ribbon cable with 40-pin data connections and receive the 5V necessary to power them from the familiar 4-pin connection. The basic data cables for these drives have looked the same for years. A change was made with the introduction of the ATA-5 standard to better improve the signal quality by making an 80 wire cable used on the 40-pin connector (these are commonly called 40-pin/80-wire cables). To improve airflow within the computer system some manufacturers resorted to literally folding over the ribbon cable and taping it into that position. Another recent physical change also came with the advent of rounded cables. The performance of the rounded cables is equal to that of the flat ribbon, but many prefer the improved system air flow afforded, ease of wire management, and cooler appearance that come with them.
SATA drives, such as this 120GB Western Digital model, have a half inch wide, 7 "blade and beam" data connection, which results in a much thinner and easier to manage data cable. These cables take the convenience of the ATA rounded cables to the next level by being even narrower, more flexible and capable of being longer without fear of data loss. SATA cables have a maximum length of 1 meter (39.37 inches), which is much greater than the recommended 18 inch cable for ATA drives. The reduced footprint of SATA data connections frees up space on motherboards, potentially allowing for more convenient layouts and room for more onboard features!
A 15-pin power connection delivers the 250mV of necessary power to SATA drives. 15-pins for a SATA device sounds like it would require a much larger power cable than a 4-pin ATA device, but in reality the two power connectors are just about the same height. For the time being, many SATA drives are also coming with a legacy 4-pin power connector for convenience.
Many modern motherboards, such as this Chaintech motherboard, come with SATA drive connections onboard (many also including the ATA connectors as well for legacy drive compatibility), and new power supplies, such as this Ultra X-Connect, generally feature a few of the necessary 15-pin power connections, making it easy to use these drives on new systems. Older systems can easily be upgraded to support SATA drives by use of adapters, such as this PCI slot SATA controller and this 4-pin to 15-pin SATA power adapter.
Optical drives are also becoming more readily available with SATA connections. Drives such as the Plextor PX-712SA take advantage of the new interface, although the performance will not be any greater than a comparable optical drive with an ATA connection.
Performance
In addition to being more convenient to install and drawing less power, SATA drives have performance benefits that really set them apart from ATA drives.
The most interesting performance feature of SATA is the maximum bandwidth possible. As we have noted, the evolution of ATA drives has seen the data transfer rate reach its maximum at 133 MB/second, where the current SATA standard provides data transfers of up to 150 MB/second. The overall performance increase of SATA over ATA can currently be expected to be up to 5% (according to   Seagate ), but improvements in SATA technology will surely improve on that.
The future of SATA holds great things for those wanting even more speed, as drives with 300 MB/second transfer rates (SATA II) will be readily available in 2005, and by 2008 speeds of up to 600 MB/second can be expected. Those speeds are incredible, and are hard to imagine at this point.
Another performance benefit found on SATA drives is their built-in hot-swap capabilities. SATA drives can be brought on and offline without shutting down the computer system, providing a serious benefit to those who can't afford downtime, or who want to move drives in and out of operation quickly. The higher number of wires in the power connection is partially explained by this, as six of the fifteen wires are dedicated to allowing the hot-swap feature.
Price
Comparing ATA drives to SATA drives can be tricky given all of the variables, but in general it is the case that SATA drives will still cost just a bit more than a comparable ATA drive. The gap is closing rapidly though, and as SATA drives gain in popularity and availability a distinct shift in prices can be expected. Considering the benefits of SATA over ATA, the potential difference of a few dollars can easily be justified when considering an upgrade. Computer Geeks currently has a limited selection of SATA drives, but several technical sites, such as The Tech Zone and The Tech Lounge, offer real time price guides to see how comparable drives stack up.
Final Words
The current SATA standard provides significant benefits over ATA in terms of convenience, power consumption and, most importantly, performance. The main thing ATA has going for it right now is history, as it has been the standard for so long that it will not likely disappear any time soon. The future of SATA will be even more interesting as speed increases will help hard drive development keep pace with other key system components.

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How to Sanitize Your Hard Disk?

Some people say with the click of delete button your hard disk gets sanitize. However, do yourself think so ... well then check the recycle bin and see the list of deleted items, which you have removed and can be recovered as well. For secure deletion of data, it is necessary to sanitize the hard disk with the help of a professional. But if you want to do it your self then buy the right hard disk erasure software. There are many companies these days offering with Free Hard Drive Eraser Software. This was in general we have talked about.
Well if you are a customer care company, then it becomes necessary to keep the confidential data about the clients, like credit card numbers, customer's information, important policies completely secured. If you go on for a hard drive erasure, then you need to use multi pass scrubbing technique.
Beside this, there are three other ways of sanitizing the hard disk:
i) Physical destruction

ii) Overwriting the disk's data

iii) Degaussing
Some people prefer physical destruction of disk. This includes smelting and pulverizing of disk. If you think that this is an expensive method, well then overwrite the disk data using hard disk shredder. This is the proper and an economical way of secure data removal.
These all methods are suggested to those who want to sell their old hard disk, junk it or junk it then using the above methods is important. However, if you want to use the same hard disk then simple basic sanitizing is more than enough. In this you need to delete all the unwanted data, unused programs and reformat the disk completely. For more information on how to sanitize your hard disk [http://www.eraseyourharddrive.com/easytouse.htm], contact a professional company now.

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How To Protect Your Computer

With all the technology around today, most people would not know how to function without it. From toasters to cell phones, everything seems to be getting more advanced every day. With that being said, something going wrong is usually a pretty big deal. With schools that now depend on technology and businesses relying upon technology the smallest glitch can cause chaos in the system. Knowing how to do hard drive recovery is a pretty useful thing if you own a computer. Data hard drive recovery is essential to getting your information back in case that your computer would crash. In the event of your computer crashing, knowing how to bring all your information back is very helpful. You could lose a lot of important documents and work if you do not safe guard your computer well.
It is ideal that your computer not crash in the first place, but it can happen due to viruses. Many people will tell you that viruses are becoming a thing of the past, and which is often true. However, they are not completely eradicated from the internet yet. The new big trend with viruses will most likely be with cell phones and getting your personal information. As of now however, the same virus protection rules stand as ever. Internet viruses find their way into your computer in a wealth of ways such as emails, pop-ups, side-links, spam websites and more. These programs are tricky and know how to get what they want.
First, always have an anti-virus system and make sure it is up to date. Virus protection has gotten much more advanced in the past few years so if you keep your system updated you should be safe from harm. If you fail to do so however, you run a very high risk of infecting your computer. Do not click on to a pop-up site. If it asks you to take a survey or play a game, just exit it. Never interact with them because all it takes is the slightest of clicks. In addition, do not even enter your information into an online form unless you know and trust the website. That is another safe and important point as well. Sites that are well-known and credible are always safer than obscure and creepy ones. As a general rule of thumb, do not peruse the dark alleyways of the internet.
A great way to safe guard yourself from a total melt-down is to back up your files to an external memory device. They are much cheaper than they once were and you can get a good amount of memory. You do not even need to back everything up, just the things you would be extremely sad or troubled to lose. Pictures and important documents should always be stored somewhere other than your normal memory drive. They are much more inexpensive than they once were, smaller and with more memory; there is no reason not to own one. Following this advice could really save you some trouble and stress in the event of a catastrophe.

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Keeping Data Safe While On the Go

Balancing convenience and security is a difficult task. People like to keep their information with them and have convenient access to it at all times. But as information becomes more convenient to share and access, security risks start to increase. Here's the issue: What is the best way to conveniently access our data while keeping it secure? To solve this issue, we need to balance convenience and security. More importantly, each person needs to find a plan that fits their needs.
To begin with, you might want to consider investing in a portable hard drive or in online storage. Portable hard drives offer a large amount of space for a very reasonable price. Because most portable hard drives come with backup and encryption software, they are a great way to keep your data safe while on the go. Another method you can use is the online storage option. The great thing about online storage is that it allows you to easily share all of your information while keeping it secure on the host's servers. Most online storage companies also charge customers based on the amount of storage that they use. In other words, you won't have to pay for any unused storage.
Try to avoid traveling with your laptop as much as possible. This reduces the chance that it will be forgotten, stolen or dropped. On business trips that require you to travel with your laptop, make sure to keep your eyes on it at all times. Even when your laptop bag is going through security in the airport, remain alert. People are quickly scanning through your bags and you need to make sure that you pick up the right bag. Keep your laptop with you at all times. Instead of checking your laptop in luggage carry it with you in your carry on bag. If you are traveling in a car, keep the laptop out of sight when not in use.
To provide additional security, use secure passwords to stop others from gaining access to your information. My definition of a secure password is a password that: contains at least twelve characters, uses lower case as well as upper case letters, symbols, numbers and is unique. NEVER write down your passwords and keep them in your laptop bag. If you're like me and have trouble keeping track of your passwords, consider installing a password protection program. I recommend using Keepass, a free password protection program that creates an encrypted password database for all your passwords. To gain access to the Keepass database you are required to create a master password that you use to login.
If you have to use your laptop in a public area and will be working with sensitive information, use a laptop screen guard to protect your privacy. When staying in a hotel, avoid leaving your laptop inside of your room. Hotel rooms are a common place to lose items; they also give the hotel's staff access to your belongings. If you absolutely have to leave your laptop in your hotel room, put your do not disturb sign on the door to keep the room as secure as possible.
In the event that your laptop is misplaced or stolen, change the passwords to your network accounts immediately. In addition, inform your IT department about the situation so that they can take the appropriate measures to protect as much data as possible.

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The History of the Hard Drive

The hard drive has very interesting history. In the past 30 years it has changed from being a big beast with 2' wide disks capable of holding a few megabytes of data to drives that are 2.5" wide capable of holding terabytes of data storage.
About c. 1950 Engineering Research Associates of Minneapolis built the first storage unit for the U.S. Navy, the ERA 110. It was able to store one million bits of data and retrieve a word in 5 thousandths of a second.
In 1956 IBM created the first computer disk storage system, which could store 5mb of data. It comprised of 50 x 24" wide platters.
By the start of the 1960's IBM had invented the first disk drive with air bearing heads and in 1963 they introduced the removable device.
In the 1970's the 8" drive was produced by IBM.
In 1973 IBM shipped the model 3340 Winchester sealed hard disk drive, the predecessor of all current hard disk drives. The 3340 had two spindles each with a capacity of 30mb.
In 1980, Seagate introduced the first hard disk drive for microcomputers, the ST506. It was a full size 5.25" drive with a stepper motor, and held 5mb of storage.
In 1983 Rodime made the first 3.5" rigid disk drive.
In 1984 the first CD-ROM drives were sold and at the same time the 3.5" IDE drive were developed as a drive connecting to a plug-in expansion board, or "hard card."
In 1997 Seagate produced the first 7,200 RPM, Ultra ATA hard disk drive for desktop computers.
In 2000 IBM tripled the capacity of the world's smallest hard disk drive. The drive capable of holding 1gb of data.
In 2010 disks the size of a match box are openly available to buy from the shops, which are capable of holding greater amounts of data than would have been thought possible 30 years ago.
Who knows what the future of disk technology will be, but you can be sure disks will get smaller, faster and hold much more data than we can imagine today. The important driving force is the IT industry which are producing software and content that requires ever increasing volumes of data and faster access and the drive manufacturers have to keep pace with the increasing demands. The ever developing multimedia technologies and requirements will mean that the humble disk that we all take for granted will be an very important device for a long time to come.

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Dealing With The Complexity Of Storage

Each year hundreds of new data storage products and technologies meant to make the job faster and easier are introduced, but with so many categories and options to consider, the complexity of storage instead causes confusion - which ultimately leads to lost time and the loss of the very data such new enhancements are meant to avoid.
Hence the question for most IT professionals who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in state-of-the-art storage technology remains, "How can data loss still happen and what am I supposed to do about it?"
Why Backups Still Fail
In a perfect world, a company would build their storage infrastructure from scratch using any of the new storage solutions and standardise on certain vendors or options. If everything remained unchanged, some incredibly powerful, rock-solid results could be achieved.
However, in the real world storage is messy. Nothing remains constant - newly created data is added at an unyielding pace while new regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, mandate changes in data retention procedure. Since companies can rarely justify starting over from scratch, most tend to add storage in incremental stages - introducing new elements from different vendors at different times - hence the complexity of storage.
All this complexity can lead to a variety of backup failures that can catch companies unprepared to deal with the ramifications of data loss. One reason why backups fail is due to bad media. If a company has their backup tapes sitting on a shelf for years, the tapes could become damaged and unreadable. This is a common occurrence if backup tapes are not stored properly. Another reason why backups fail has to do with companies losing track of the software with which those backups were created. For a restore to be successful, most software packages require that the exact environment still be available. Finally, backups fail due to corruption in the backup process. Many times, companies will change their data footprint but not change their backup procedure to keep up - so they are not backing up what they think they are. Without regular testing, all of these reasons are likely sources of failure.
What to Do When Your Backup Fails
No matter how much a company tries to speed operations and guard against problems with new products and technology, the threat of data loss remains and backup and storage techniques do not always provide the necessary recovery. When an hour of down time can result in millions of dollars lost, including data recovery in your overall disaster plan is critical, and may be the only way to restore business continuity quickly and efficiently. When a data loss situation occurs, time is the most critical component. Decisions about the most prudent course of action must be made quickly, which is why administrators must understand when to repair, when to restore and when to recover data.
When to Repair
This is as simple as running file repair tools (such as fsck or CHKDSK - file repair tools attempt to repair broken links in the file system through very specific knowledge of how that file system is supposed to look) in read-only mode first, since running the actual repair on a system with many errors could overwrite data and make the problem worse. Depending on the results of the read-only diagnosis, the administrator can make an informed decision to repair or recover. If they find a limited amount of errors, it is probably fine to go ahead and fix them as the repair tool will yield good results.
Note, if your hard drive makes strange noises at any point, immediately skip to the recovery option.
When to Restore
The first question an admin should ask is how fresh their last backup is and will a restore get them to the point where they can effectively continue with normal operations. There is a significant difference between data from the last backup and data from the point of failure, so it is important to make that distinction right away. Only a recovery can help if critical data has never been backed up. Another important question is how long it will take to complete the restore - if the necessary time is too long they might need to look at other options. A final consideration is how much data are they trying to restore. Restoring several terabytes of data, for example, will take a long time from tape backups.
When to Recover
The decision to recover comes down to whether or not a company's data loss situation is critical and how much downtime they can afford. If they don't have enough time to schedule the restore process, it is probably best to move forward with recovery. Recovery is also the best method if backups turn out to be too old or there is some type of corruption. The bottom line is, if other options are attempted and those options fail, it is best to contact a recovery company like Ontrack immediately. Some administrators will try multiple restores or repairs before trying recovery and will actually cause more damage to the data.
Managing Complexity
Through a series of interrelated system maintenance activities, Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services (formerly CCH Legal Information Services) lost access to data stored on the company's NAS storage array. After opening a normal service call with the manufacturer, they determined right away that the nature of the loss was much more significant than originally proposed. Due to network and other constraints, they did not have the data on backup media. After preliminary discussions, the manufacturer shipped the storage to Ontrack Data Recovery and after only a couple of days they reported 100% data recovery.
Despite this company's and your best practices, one thing is clear - no matter how much time and money a company spends planning, creating and maintaining their storage environment, with the complexity of storage, the threat of data loss remains. In the end, the only answer to the question of "how data loss still happens and what you should do about it" is to ensure data recovery is included in your plan.

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Tips For Preventing Data Loss

If you've spent any time on the various data recovery websites you've no doubt come across lots of advice on what to do once you have a data loss situation. But I've always felt the best advice would be to avoid such an unpleasant experience in the 1st place. So after some interesting discussions with our data recovery technicians, we have created a list of useful tips and suggestions that may keep you from losing your data in the first place.
1. Start by choosing the safest storage device you can. Here are some specific recommendations that may help...
• Don't buy the latest and greatest hard drive. Stick with a true and tested hard drive model that has been around a while. Not only will the bad models have been discontinued, but any bugs or known issues on seasoned models, will have been addressed. Search the web to discover problems other users may be having with a specific drive model.
• Don't use an old hard drive. If your drive is older than 5 years consider replacing it. And no matter how old your drive is, if it starts acting up in any way, whether making a strange noise once in a while or whether read errors keep popping up, get rid of it, before it fails.
• Buy the lightest hard drive you can! Huh? Preferably one with a single disk. Sounds strange you say? Less mass requires less power = less heat & less stress combined with less parts = less crashes. When a drive manufacture requires 4 disks to keep up with the competition until their latest technical innovations reach the marketplace, you know they're likely stretching the design limitations.
• Consider using a laptop drive in your desktop. Laptop drives by design are meant to take more physical abuse and are designed to be light in weight, low in power needs and quiet in operation.
• If you're using an SSD or Solid State Drive, ensure you always backup. SSD drives use extremely complicated and always proprietary methods of distributing the data across multiple memory chips. The point is, if your SSD becomes damaged, recovering your data may be very very very expensive... if it is even possible. I also wonder how an SSD will stand up to a power surge. If a hard drive gets a power surge the electronics get fried but the physically stored data remains intact. In an SSD, fried electronics could very well be your critical data disappearing into the cosmos.
2. Then maintain and protect your storage device or hard drive with these suggestions
• Connect your computer to a UPS or surge suppressor. This simple device can prevent electrical surge damage to your drive as well as preventing damage to any open files or the file system itself should your power source be interrupted.
• Ensure your system has adequate ventilation. One of the most common causes of drive failure is overheating, so make sure your computer's fans work or even consider adding an additional one.
• Use an antivirus program and keep updated with the latest virus definitions.
• Be gentle! A hard drive is a delicate device. Be sure it has a chance to stop spinning before attempting to move your desktop or laptop computer. And be extremely careful not to knock over any external hard drives you may have attached. Every week we see damaged external drives where the external case was merely tipped over while it was running.
3. And finally protect your data just in case bad things happen!
• Backup the important stuff! Yeah, yeah... we all know this and yet few of us do it, me included. If it's important to you, prove it and back it up.
• Defrag often! If the data is contiguous (all stored sequentially together) there are ways to rip off data files even if the drive's file system or "index of file locations" is totally missing. Be sure to use you computers defragmentation utility on a regular basis.
• Don't encrypt your data, unless absolutely necessary. Even if you never forget the password, a failing hard drive combined with encryption means the odds of getting your data back are slim. If you must use encryption, use it only on individual files that must be guarded at no cost.
While very few of us can be 100% diligent in safeguarding our data at all times, hopefully a few of these tips will lower the chances of you losing data. But if all else fails and you find yourself in a data loss predicament, please give call a professional.

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Guide to Swap Hard Drive PCB

What is Hard Drive PCB?
The green board on the bottom of the hard disk drive is known as Printed Circuit Board(PCB). The main function of the PCB is to supply power to the hard drive, maintain speed and rotation of the spindle, and control all internal operations through its firmware. Essentially, PCB is the brains of the hard drive that all components are heavily dependent upon.
Why Swap PCB Boards?
Hard disk drives that do not spin up after the power has been supplied can be diagnosed as PCB failure. Because data recovery service is very expensive, sometimes we would prefer to swap them ourselves.
How to find the matching HDD PCB boards? 

• Western Digital - same board number which is etched on the PCB, begin with 2060-
• Seagate - same board number which is etched on the PCB, begin with 100..., and the same Main Controller IC. If you can't find the number on the PCB (Old Models), you should find the same Main Controller IC.
• Maxtor- same Main Controller IC(The biggest chip on the board)
• Hitachi- same information on the small white label (first two lines)
• Samsung - same board number which is etched on the PCB, begin with BF41-
• Fujitsu - same board number which is etched on the PCB, begin with CA

Hard Drive PCB Swap Process:
Remove the PCB from both hard drives with star screwdriver. Replace the damaged PCB with replacement one. If you HDD spins up, but can't be recognized, you should also exchange the BIOS chip on it. If there is no matching 8pins BIOS chip on the PCB, it means the BIOS chip is integrated on the Main Chip IC, then you should remove the damaged PCB's Main Chip IC to the donor PCB. It is more complex to exchange the Main Chip IC than exchange the BIOS chip. If you should do, please do several test on the PCBs which don't have the important data.
What is PCB's BIOS Chip?
All of the 8pins (4 pins on each sides) with 25P05VP, 25P10VP, 25F512, 25F1024, 25F1024AN, SST25VF512, SST25VF010, etc. are the BIOS chip. It is easy to be found because there are not many 8pins chips on the board.
In most cases, you should exchange the BIOS before you swap hard disk pcb. You should have certain technique.
Note: You should know the hard drive failures are not always caused by PCB failure, swap PCB can't guarantee to fix all of the hard drive problems.

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FREE Data Recovery Services

This is a story I love to tell. It reveals much of the human psyche and I find it fascinating.
Back in the 90's when Data Recovery type services were first starting to mature I was working for one of the pioneers of the industry, Nick Majors. Nick was a man of unquestionable integrity and honesty. So it was no surprise that nothing perturbed him more at the time than the massive influx of companies that suddenly "claimed" to be experts in data recovery. From cases that were sent to us for a 2nd opinion and through our own secret shopper program, where we sent data recovery cases to these so called experts, it became obvious that there were a lot of unscrupulous and opportunistic villains infecting the data recovery business. They made their money by getting in as many jobs as they could, charging an evaluation fee for each one, and then recovering the 10-15% of the cases that were the easiest (skimming the cream off the top as we referred to it back then). They would do the cases where no parts and little intelligence were required... basically the cases that could easily be handled by any commercially available recovery software. Those they couldn't recover were declared unrecoverable and the client was told they were out of luck.
So it was decided that we had a responsibility to save the world's data from all these crooks and make some money off it at the same time. With huge fanfare and press releases, we announced our FREE-FIX program. Basically, we would recover people's data for free IF it was a simple problem that we could resolve in 15 minutes or less. This would include logical problems with the file system, deleted files, formatted drives and pcb problems for common drives we had in stock. The program was intended for consumer users and was available on single hard drives with Windows or MAC data only. If we were successful, the client only paid for the return shipping and the media to put the data on. If the case was not eligible for FREE-FIX, we would provide the client with a no obligation quote for further recovery attempts.
We thought if we took the high road and did the easy stuff for free, we would kill this growing segment of con artists as they would not be able to survive without the easy jobs. And of course we also hoped that many of the ineligible cases would be approved for escalation into more desirable expensive jobs. We really felt that we would gain such a good reputation from this program that it would pay us back a thousand times.
Boy, were we wrong!!!! Yes most of the owners of the cases that qualified for FREE-FIX loved us. But the other 85% of the people were absolutely outraged at us. We were suddenly bombarded with irate clients wanting to rip a strip off of us. Those that we tried to "up-sell" because theirs' was not a simple/free recovery, largely declined as they felt we were using bait and switch tactics. Even some of the 100 or so people who qualified for FREE-FIX every month thought we must be making money off the return media and the shipping.
Shortly after the 1st month, the FREE-FIX experiment was cancelled and quickly disappeared into the growing mist of the World Wide Web, never to be heard of again.

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Effective Data Recovery Options

There are different types of software that correct data loss. Each has specific uses and approaches to tackle different problems that may have occurred with the system and then recover the lost files. You need ensure that the software you settle for would work to resolve your peculiar data loss situation.
An understanding of the critical difference and attendant varying cost implications are essential, your personal budget is an important consideration in all of this. It is the best means that you have to figure of the appropriate software for you specific need.There are software that effect data recovery from damaged hard ware or software and others which simply reverse data loss or erasures. It is important to understand the scenario and the distinctions.
The data recovery process, often varies in computer systems depending on the size and configuration. Certain system components take up much less space and basically require greater care and skill in handling, in any instance of data recovery. Partitioning of the hard drive also plays a part. If the data is stored in same partition as the operating system and software that is essentially a recipe for complications.
There some scenarios for data loss. Files may deleted accidentally by human error in instances when give a guest access to your personal log in which holds your data rather than the appropriate Guest login. Then you may have some files and deleted accidentally. Or a total system restore rather than a partial one which would simply have taken the system to a previous state rather than a total wipe out data loss that takes the system to the exact state it came in on the day it was purchased.
Virus attacks are another matter. A virus is a program that simply runs its own set of instructions and vary in the mode in which they evolve. It may begin in a subtle manner, and would gradually erase or it may be aggressive, executing it encoded instructions instantly inflicting damage.
Some data recovery software can essentially restore data deleted in error, these data are whole and only need to be extracted from the portion of the hard drive holding it. Damaged or corrupt data files require another sort of recovery software that can recreate the whole data files from the ruins of the corrupt or damaged bit of data file. That is the essential distinction which sets them apart.
The latter software programs are usually more expensive than those which simply reverse data erasure. Whatever led to the data loss, would usually determine the software that is appropriate. Virus attacks and operating system software failures for instance, would usually require more sophisticated and expensive solutions.
Employing the services of an expert is an important option to consider as well especially in the event of a hard disk crash. In that instance you do not have a variety of options available.
Prevention of data loss is essential. Ensure your hard drive is partitioned, and do not store data in the same partition as the operating system and other software. Also install an efficient anti virus software and run system scans regularly. Scan external media with your system anti virus at the point of insertion. Maintenance of the system and regular software check ups are essential. The system would usually lend tell tale sign of inherent problems. Overheating, humming sounds and tacks that may give a feeling that the system is overworked. When some installed programs give error messages and cease to function it is an indication that the computer requires some attention and proactive maintenance.

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External Hard Drive Recovery

You can store your computer data in several ways. Information can be stored on removable disks, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and other types of media. Although there are several ways that you are able to store your information, someday in time the electronic or machine is sure to break down, leading to a loss of data. Even supposing the device may work good foreign sources, it can invariably break up when you least expect it, with no technique to avoid it.
Hard drives are the most commonplace way to store data, although they're mechanical contraptions and can conk out or crash at any time. When they crash, you'll typically lose all of your information, which can put you in quite a bind. To be ready and keep yourself protected, you should invariably have a backup plan, like an outside hard drive.
An exterior hard drive is very handy to have around. You can store any kind of file on it, including music and pictures. The majority of people try them for film recordings, when they can store a great amount of videos. You can get them in lot of different sizes, going as high as 500 GB. If you have a lot of video on your computer that is selecting some of a lot of much needed space, you can simply transfer it to an external drive and free up some of your space.
On the information recovery side of things, exterior hard drives are a good answer. You can support your entire drive on them, even a mirror image. Most outside drives are FireWire or USB compatible and will work on most computers. To use an outside drive all you have to do is connect it to your computer. Then, using the software that came with the device, you can begin to transfer your data and files.
If you have a huge hard drive, you'll like to get a bigger outside hard drive. If you're transferring your entire internal drive to the outside drive, it may take you a few minutes. You can also add files and such along the way as well, if you get newer files to add. Backing up your entire hard drive to an outside drive is a very smart idea, particularly when your area gets a great amount of electrical storms.
As soon as you have backed up all of your information to an external drive, you can remain confident that your information will be there when you require it. External drives don't crash, for the simple fact that they aren't utilized until you need them. They'll last you years as well, which makes them great for pictures and other precious files. If you own a company, you may see them to the best method to store your company documents and other files that relate to your business.
On the whole, outside disc drives are the flawless way to establish a back up of your information. Once you have your data backed up, you'll be prepared for something that happens to your internal hard drive. In the occasion of a crash, you can use your outside drive and transfer the data back to your hard drive, and be the contingency plan and running very fast, in the least. Exterior drives take all of the guess work out of the information recovery process - and may also save you the difficulty of needing to send your hard drive off to be fixed.

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Flash Data Recovery

Flash disks have become ubiquitous media for everything from computer data, mp3 players and digital cameras. It has replaced the floppy disk as means to carry data around. Flash disks are solid-state devices and, therefore, have no moving parts. Plugging it into the USB drive, the flash drive is automatically recognized by the computer without any need of installing additional software. With expected lifetime measured in hundreds of thousands of write-erase cycles, flash drives are expected to last up to 10 years. That's more than twice that of a hard disk.
Flash disk portability however leads to a higher probability of damage due to environmental factors. Aside from the regular causes of drive failure, flash drives could get wet in the rain, the casing could shatter when it is accidentally dropped, or it could be damaged while inside the camera.
The difference in data storage between a flash drive and a regular hard drive or a floppy is due to the data residing on a chip. This allows for a truly random access across the whole media. In fact, the disk access algorithm makes sure that the data is spread evenly among data sectors with the use of "wear leveling algorithm." The flash disk has a finite number of write or erase cycles. If it were to keep on writing to a particular sector, that sector would literally wear out from use much earlier than the other sectors. The wear leveling algorithm ensures that the sectors wear out evenly. And also because of the wear leveling algorithm, when a data sector wears out, the rest of the disk is sure to quickly follow.
In some instances, the camera cannot distinguish between the file system on the flash disk and force a format. Early flash disks used FAT12 or FAT16. FAT32 is used by current generation large capacity flash disks. If the digital camera fails to detect the flash drive's capacity it might wrap around data while writing the photo and over-write system areas.
There are times the flash disk could not be read by the computer. Though attributed to the computer, this is an error caused by the camera or MP3 player OS. Unplugging the drive while it's writing data may also cause a corrupted flash drive.
Flash data recovery in most ways is like recovery from any other media using FAT. The only difference is the location of the media files. The data can be recovered by using data recovery tools capable of reading FAT. Typically for cameras, the file structure is fixed. The camera's limited operating system will write to a specific folder on the directory. The same goes with MP3 players. The mp3 files have to be located in a specific directory for the mp3 player to locate and play them. Some specialized tools look for the specific folder where the media files should be.
Treating all the data on the disks as data files, disk recovery programs or other utilities are capable of correcting any errors. The Windows CHKDSK utility treats the disk like any other drive.
In case of lost data, flash data recovery is just like recovering data from any other medium but, again, with slight differences. Because the data is stored differently, there are more tools available for flash data recovery. Available tools and utilities include flash data recovery specializing in picture files or mp3 music files. Other specialized utilities which can be used for flash data recovery are those which specifically recover data from FAT drives. In case the pictures were accidentally erased from the camera, these utilities are also able to recover them and recover the picture.
In some cases, data recovery can be even simpler. A flash disk recovered from a lake or which got wet from the rain may still be usable after making sure that the circuitry is completely dry. And a flash disk with a broken case might even be usable. In both instances, it would be good to test first by plugging it in. If the drive is still readable, just copy the files before deciding what to do with the flash drive.

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Recover Data With Secure Data Recovery Services

Failure of hard disk drive, server, or RAID array can lead to loss of data stored in the computer and also stop ongoing work. Both these aspects can be extremely detrimental to the interests of the computer user, whether an individual or a business entity.
It is essential that at such a stage data recovery process is set in motion immediately to maximize the possibility of recovering the entire lost data and to make the computer operational. The first step would be to contact a reputable online services provider such as Secure Data Recovery Services. They have a network of it's locations throughout the United States.
Essential Attributes Of Data Recovery Services
If data recovery is of prime importance to you, choose the online recovery services that specialize in all types of them. These include hard drive, RAID recovery, Mac, SQL, and Tape recovery. You must ensure that the data one selected by you should be able to extract vital and critical data from any interface hard disk drive. For example, IDE, EIDE, SATA "Serial ATA," PATA "Parallel ATA," SCSI, SAS, and Fiber Channel. The data one should also be able to recover data from single drive, multiple-drive, and RAID array setups. They should also be able to service all major brand drives.
The most important attribute of Secure Data Recovery Services is that they have qualified, experienced, and professional technicians. They should be able to diagnose the cause of the failure and set it right. These technicians are trained to work continuously till the time a solution to your problem is found. The service also has all modern tools and instruments. The work is carried out in Clean Rooms so that no dust particle can enter the hard drive. All these services are provided to the full satisfaction of the clients and at competitive prices.

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External Hard Drives - Best Buying Deals For You

The market for e drives has grown phenomenally over the years, considering the fact that people nowadays store important data, music, pictures and videos in digital format. One can never know when the hard disk of the computer may be damaged, which is why a good e drive is worth going for.
Two of the companies that are famous for manufacturing high quality drives are Seagate and Western Digital, although many others like Hitachi, are also making their presence felt. The best buy when it comes to Seagate d drive is FreeAgent Desk and FreeAgent Go; with affordable prices going down to $100 and a massive data capacity of 1TB(Terabyte)Usually poor motherboards are allowing the computer to not discover this disk, particularly if it's powered while using Hardware. There are lots of exterior hard disks that will additionally demand another energy resource for additional effective make use of.
When, it comes to Western Digital, you can go for MyBook Essentials, which also sell at more or less the same price as Seagate. USB 2. is a regular connection useful for present day pcs, which can be faster when compared with previously versions. Hitachi, though a good product, has not been marketing their stuff as well, but it also forms one of the external drives in the best buy league.You can go for their SimpleDrive series.
One thing you should bear in mind while going for drives is that if you are going to play lots of videos, then you should go for the one with the highest speed. You can get these external hard drives at a very good price online, just make sure that you do sufficient research according to your needs, before buying one. After you buy them online or through the brick and mortar store, make sure that you do not misplace the receipt till the warranty period gets over.The market fordrives has grown phenomenally over the years, considering the fact that people nowadays store important data, music, pictures and videos in digital format. One can never know when the hard disk of the computer may be damaged, which is why a good d drive is worth going for.

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With Online Backup "Trust But Verify"

With online backup of your data you have a real opportunity to take a major load off your mind. It is a truly automatic solution that will take the worry out of wondering if your important files, emails, pictures, and music would be lost in a fire or through theft.
You must check in every once in a while to make sure what you think is being backed up actually is being backed up.
Here's my personal story and why I strongly recommend doing that:
I have been using online backup for some time now and thought all my records were being backed up.
Then, one day, I started getting a message on my computer from Seagate that I couldn't interpret. It was saying, congratulations, you just backed up!, then, the next time I would sign on, it would tell me, Hey, you haven't backed up in a while!
I started to get a bit concerned if my data was in fact being backed up, so I called the company.
Couldn't get a live human that had any interest in helping me. They suggested I go to their live-chat and I did that.
The solution they thought was something to do with "shadow files", whatever that is - anyway, I applied their fix and the mysterious message went away...for a while.
Then, it returned.
So, I gave up on Seagate and peripheral drives as a solution to data backup.
As I began to do some soul-searching I realized my plan was kind of weak anyway. As I am writing this, I can see my little drive sitting under my nightstand, where I left it.
That meant, I was keeping the device in the one place it didn't need to be, out of convenience.
If my house had burned down or were broken into, it may have been stolen along with my computer! Lousy backup plan.
So, I moved to online backup. Totally satisfying experience. Conceptually, set it and forget it...practically speaking though, you'd better trust but verify.
This is the way online backup generally works:
1. You download the client software which runs in the background uploading your files, etc. to the server and then updating on an ongoing basis.
2. The client uploads files from documents, emails, pictures, and music.
3. Depending on the system, you get some kind of indication that files are backed up or are being backed up.
Herein lies the problem and what you need to be wary of...online backup companies each have internal rules about the size and nature of the files they will try to backup.
For example, Mozy won't backup "locked files".
Another example, Carbonite won't backup individual files larger than 2 GB...unless you tell it to - you get my drift.
The way to solve this issue is to trust but verify - just take a peak at the list of files that the system has backed up and make sure that it is backing up all you want it to. All you have to do is look under the restore feature in the client software for the online backup company.
That will tell you which files are available to download - also, any previous versions of the data that you had that were uploaded earlier. If there are any files that you expected to be backed up and aren't, submit them individually to the backup service.
Bottom line: Just always check and make sure your initial upload contains all the files, email, and media you intend to backup.

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Basics of RAID

A couple of the recent Tech Tips from http://www.geeks.com have made mention of RAID, but the level of detail required in those tips didn't shed much light on what RAID actually is. The number of e-mail responses and comments in the Readers Digress section was convincing enough that an introduction to the basics of RAID would be an appropriate Tech Tip, so here it is.
Introduction
The word RAID sounds like it might describe something Marines conduct in Fallujah, or a can of what all roaches fear, but it is simply an acronym that stands for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks. Depending on who you talk to, the letter "I" can stand for either independent or inexpensive, but in my opinion independent is more appropriate, and far less subjective.
RAID generally allows data to be written to multiple hard disk drives so that a failure of any one drive in the array does not result in the loss of any data, as well as increasing the system's fault tolerance. I say RAID generally does this, as there are several RAID configurations that provide different approaches to redundancy, but some RAID configurations are not redundant at all. Fault tolerance refers to a system's ability to continue operating when presented with a hardware (or software) failure, as should be experienced when a hard drive fails in one of the redundant configurations of RAID.
The Hardware
The basic hardware required to run RAID includes a set of matched hard drives and a RAID controller.
RAID can be run on any type of hard drive, including SCSI, SATA, and ATA. The number of hard drives required is dependent on the particular RAID configuration chosen, as described later. I mention the need for matched hard drives, and although this is not absolutely necessary, it is recommended. Most arrays will only be able to use the capacity of the smallest drive, so if a 250GB Hitachi drive is added to a RAID configuration with an 80GB Hitachi drive, that extra 170GB would probably go to waste (the only time that this doesn't apply is in a RAID configuration called JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks); which really "isn't a RAID configuration" but just a convenient thing that a RAID controller can do - see "Basic RAID Configurations" below for more information). In addition to matching capacities, it is highly recommended that drives match in terms of speed and transfer rate as the performance of the array would be restricted by the weakest drive used. One more area that should be considered while matching is the type of hard drive. RAID controllers are generally for either SCSI, SATA, or ATA exclusively, although some systems allow RAID arrays to be operated across controllers of different formats.
The RAID controller is where the data cables from the hard drives are connected, and conducts all of the processing of the data, like the typical drive connections found on a motherboard. RAID controllers are available as add on cards, such as this Silicon Image PCI ATA RAID controller, or integrated into motherboards, such as the SATA RAID controller found on the Asus K8V SE Deluxe (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=K8VSE-DELUXE). Motherboards that include RAID controllers can be operated without the use of RAID, but the integration is a nice feature to have if RAID is a consideration. Even for systems without onboard RAID, the relatively low cost of add on cards makes this part of the upgrade relatively pain free.
Another piece of hardware that is not required, but may prove useful in a RAID array is a hot swappable drive bay. It allows a failed hard drive to be removed from a live system by simply unlocking the bay and sliding the drive cage out of the case. A new drive can then be slid in, locked into place, and the system won't skip a beat. This is typically seen on SCSI RAID arrays, but some IDE RAIDS cards will also allow this (such as this product manufactured by Promise Technology: [http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?productId=92&familyId=7]).
The Software
RAID can be run on any modern operating system provided that the appropriate drivers are available from the RAID controller's manufacturer. A computer with the operating system and all of the software already installed on one drive can be easily be cloned to another single drive by using software like Norton Ghost. But it is not as easy when going to RAID, as a user who wants to have their existing system with a single bootable hard drive upgraded to RAID must start from the beginning. This implies that the operating system and all software needs to be re-installed from scratch, and all key data must be backed up to be restored on the new RAID array.
If a RAID array is desired in a system for use as storage, but not as the location for the operating system, things get much easier. The existing hard drive can remain intact, and the necessary configuration can be made to add the RAID array without starting from scratch.
Basic RAID Configurations
There are about a dozen different types of RAID that I know of, and I will describe five of the more typical configurations, and usually offered on RAID controller cards.
RAID 0 is one of the configurations that does not provide redundancy, making it arguably not a true RAID array. Using at least two disks, RAID 0 writes data to the two drives in an alternating fashion, referred to as striping. If you had 8 chunks of data, for example, chunk 1, 3, 5, and 7 would be written to the first drive, and chunk 2, 4, 6, and 8 would be written to the second drive, but all in sequential order. This process of splitting the data across drives allows for a theoretical performance boost of up to double the speed of a single hard drive, but real world results will generally not be nearly that good. Since all data is not written to each disk, the failure of any one drive in the array generally results in a complete loss of data. RAID 0 is good for people who need to access large files quickly, or just demand high performance across the board (i.e. gaming systems). The capacity of a RAID 0 array is equal to the sum of the individual drives. So, if two 160GB Seagate drives were in a RAID 0 array, the total capacity would be 320GB.
RAID 1 is one of the most basic arrays that provides redundancy. Using at least two hard drives, all data is written to both drives in a method referred to as mirroring. Each drive's contents are identical to each other, so if one drive fails, the system could continue operating on the remaining good drive, making it an ideal choice for those who value their data. There is no performance increase as in RAID 0, and in fact there may be a slight decrease compared to a single drive system as the data is processed and written to both drives. The capacity of a RAID 1 array is equal to half the capacity of the sum of individual drives. Using those same two 160GB Seagate drives from above in RAID 1 would result in a total capacity of 160GB.
RAID 0+1, as the name may imply, is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1. You have the best of both worlds, the performance boost of RAID 0 and the redundancy of RAID 1. A minimum of four drives is required to implement RAID 0+1, where all data is written in both a mirrored and striped fashion to the four drives. Using the 8 chunks of data from the example above, the write pattern would be something like this... Chunks 1, 3, 5, and 7 would be written to drives one and three, and chunks 2, 4, 6, and 8 would be written to drives two and four, again in a sequential manner. If one drive should fail, the system and data are still intact. The capacity of a RAID 0+1 array is equal to half the total capacity of the individual drives. So, using four of the 160 GB Seagate drives results in a total capacity of 320GB when configured in RAID 0+1.
RAID 5 may be the most powerful RAID configuration for the typical user, with three (or five) disks required. Data is striped across all drives in the array, and in addition, parity information is striped as well. This parity information is basically a check on the data being written, so even though all data is not being written to all the drives in the array, the parity information can be used to reconstruct a lost drive in case of failure. Perhaps a bit difficult to describe, so let's go back to the example of the 8 chunks of data now being written to 3 drives in a RAID 5 array. Chunks one and two would be written to drive one and two respectively, with a corresponding parity chunk being written to drive three. Chunks three and four would then be written to drives one and three respectively, with the corresponding parity chunk being written to drive two. Chunks five and six would be written to drives two and three, with the corresponding parity chunk being written to drive one. Chunks seven and eight take us back to the beginning with the data being written to drives one and two, and the parity chunk being written to drive three. It might not sound like it, but due to the parity information being written to the drive not containing that specific bits of information, there is full redundancy. The capacity of a RAID 5 array is equal to the sum of the capacities of all the drives used, minus one drive. So, using three of the 160GB Seagate drives, the total capacity is 320GB when configured in RAID 5.
JBOD is another non-redundant configuration, which does not really offer a true RAID array. JBOD stands for Just a Bunch Of Disks (or Drives), and that is basically all that it is. RAID controllers that support JBOD allow users to ignore the RAID functions available and simply attach drives as they would to a standard drive controller. No redundancy, no performance boost, just additional connections for adding more drives to a system. A smart thing that JBOD does is that it can treat the odd sized drives as if they are a single volume (thus a 10GB drive and a 30GB would be seen as a single 40GB drive), so it is good to use if you have a bunch of odd sized drives sitting around - but otherwise it is better to go with a RAID 0, 1 or 0+1 configuration to get the performance boost, redundancy or both.
Final Words
Implementing RAID may sound daunting to those unfamiliar with the concept, but with some of the more basic configurations it is not much more involved than setting up a computer to use a standard drive controller. But, the benefits of RAID over a single drive system far outweigh the extra consideration required during installation. Losing data once due to hard drive failure may be all that is required to convince anyone that RAID is right for them, but why wait until that happens.

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iPod Error - iTunes Could Not Contact the iPod Software Update Server

To update or restore an iPod, you first need to download and install the latest version of iTunes. Update refers to the process of simply updating the software that controls the iPod and doesn't affect the stored data. However, restoring an iPod implies erasing all the data from it and getting it back to its original factory settings. After restoration, you need to use your recent data backup or commercial iPod Data Recovery applications to get the lost data back. But at times, you find errors while trying to update or restore your iPod.
As an example, when you try to update or restore your iPod using iTunes 7 or later, you might receive the following error message:
"iTunes could not contact the iPod software update server because you are not connected to the Internet. Make sure your Internet connection is active and try again."
This error is specific to Windows Vista installed computer systems.
Cause
As suggested by error message, this error occurs when Internet access is not available that could download the available updates for iPod. In some cases, the reason could be faulty LAN settings.
Solution
Try resolving the existing issue by following these steps:
Make sure that the Internet access is available

If you can connect to the Internet using Internet Explorer and access the iTunes Store, use these steps:
Launch Control Panel using Start menu
Next, you need to open Internet Options control panel
You should then click the Connection tab and click the LAN Settings button
You can then select the 'Automatically detect settings' checkbox. Click OK in both of the windows that appear
You can try again to restore or update your iPod by reopening iTunes and connecting your iPod. It should be successfully updated or restored.
If you have performed iPod restoration, use your existing backup to get the lost files and folders. If in any case, you observe that data backup cannot give the required data, it is suggested to use iPod Recovery applications. These are special purpose iPod Data Recovery applications designed to offer effective lost data recovery from crashed iPods.

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What Are the Causes of Hard Disk Failure?

Almost everyone has had to deal with the pains of a dying hard drive, but not everyone knows what the causes of hard disk failure are. If you are still unaware of what you may be doing to shorten the life of your drive, you will be destined to scramble to backup your data when that ticking noise starts again. It is never pleasant to have to deal with a dying hard drive, so make sure you know what causes it and what you can do to prevent it.
Probably the single biggest cause of hard drive failure is physical trauma. Hard drives are extremely delicate, the pieces inside are built with only a micron of space between them. It doesn't take much to cause a scratch or other damage. Some computers are under the desk where they are constantly bumped and kicked. Others sit right next to loud subwoofers which may cause vibrations. Still others, and almost everyone has done this, get smacked a few times by frustrated users. Make sure your computer is kept in a safe place where it doesn't have to endure these physical abuses. And remember that hitting your computer will only make problems worse.
Among the causes of hard disk failure, overheating is a big one. Computers today are capable of incredible things, but they put out a large amount of heat in exchange. While the problem can usually be solved by turning down your settings or turning up your fans, sometimes there are layout issues inside the computer. Most pre-built computers are laid out just fine, but if you want to save money by building your own, there are a couple things to be aware of. You have to install the fans so that the airflow inside is maximized. Make sure you install the fans so they let out hot air at the top and force in cool air at the bottom. Heat poses a risk to the hard drive as well as almost every other facet of the computer.
One easily prevented problem is an electrical surge. Getting a surge protector for all of your computer's plugs is crucial. It cannot be stressed enough that you should never plug your computer directly into the wall. Even a small electrical surge can cause a computer to short out entirely. Not only could it kill the hard drive, but every other component is at risk. And make sure that your surge protector is tough enough to protect against a big surge. If it can't protect your computer adequately, it serves no purpose.
There are countless reasons that a hard drive can fail. These are just three of those reasons, but they are among the most common. If you take care of your drive, you shouldn't have to worry about that strange noise that you get when your hard drive plays its death knell. By listening to your hard drive and taking care of it properly, you can extend its life indefinitely.

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How to Recover Data From Windows 7 Hard Drive

What Is Data?

Data is a small word of great importance in today's world of computers. In this small word, the whole world of information could be fed.
What Is Data Loss?

Data loss can be the biggest trouble for many computer users as data is a thing of prime importance today. The problem of data loss is a very common problem for computer users as human follies, computer bugs etc cannot be ruled out. Data is very important for many business/organizational/institutional/personal operations because it contains chief information whose loss can lead to severe trouble. You can lose your valuable data due to any reason like virus problem, formatting of hard disk, accidental file deletion etc.
Is Data Recovery Possible After The Loss?

Sometimes, when we have lost our precious records (data), we think negatively that the lost data can't be recovered. But, this is a wrong notion! At the time of data loss, you should not panic as most deleted documents can be recovered.
How to Recover Deleted Files?

If you act immediately after the deletion occurs, then you have very high probability of retrieving your files. After deletion of files, they not permanently deleted from your system but they are in a hidden mode; so, you are unable to see them. To get back deleted data, follow these steps:
Step 1: Look in the Recycle Bin
Your first step is to look in the Recycle Bin and see if you can restore the deleted file(s). If you are able to restore the files, then navigate their original location as they will be present there. If you have already emptied the Recycle Bin or deleted the files using Shift+Del, then go to Step 2.
Step 2: Use a Third-Party Software Tool to Recover Data
You can still recover files even if you have deleted or emptied the contents of the Recycle Bin by using an outside software tool. It is important to use the correct software to recover your deleted data. Recover Data's Data Recovery Tool is perhaps the most commonly used software to recover deleted data from any type of data storage media device or any other Windows Operating System such as 98, ME, XP, 2000, 2003, Vista, Windows 7. Windows 7 Data Recovery Software is an excellent recovery program for Windows 7 Operating Systems. After file deletion/corruption, if you take immediate action, then the chances of recovery are very good and you can easily recover all of your deleted data from any corrupted or formatted partition.
(Note: Many times people try to recover files through the 'System Restore' feature but this only restores your system to a previous date and cannot recover the file you just deleted.)

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Microsoft Popfly

Microsoft has just released its latest mashup program, Popfly, which is part of Web 2.0 technology. It is a free service that can be used to create applications or gadgets, as well as a variety of other web services.
It is based on another program of Microsoft's, Silverlight. As a result, Popfly can function on both Macs and Windows. It can also be used with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Currently the program is still in beta testing, however, the reviews for it have been very positive.
Unlike other mashup tools, the user isn't required to know that much about Web Scripts, in fact for simple tools, they don't need to know any. It has a user-friendly interface, allowing users to click, drag and drop and fill in information on form-based fields.
However, the programs don't have much to provide, as far as cross-platform capabilities are concerned. Users can log into the program, with any of their Microsoft account information, for example MSN. There are tutorials available for users to familiarise themselves with the technology.
There are gadgets, blocks, and even WebPages [http://www.popfly.com] The interface is made up of online visual tools, which are common for Web pages and mashups. You can create games and applications for your social media sites, such as Facebook, or Windows Live Space.
You can create your own home page, with over 150 themes to choose from, 10 styles and 30 unique colour themes. Photos can be uploaded or get an RSS feed. Earth maps are also available as an option. For Facebook, you could create slideshows by combining the application with your Flickr account. Alternatively, you could feed in videos from YouTube.
Another useful tool is being able to unify your online profiles and stick together all your social media accounts. The programme over all has tremendous power to create and recreate a web-programming environment and social network for all your data sources. It is also a means to having new ways of displaying your information, and for embarking on full Visual Studio projects.

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