Understanding, Diagnosing, Recovering and Preventing Data Loss

Data loss is a serious issue, which most businesses and individuals will encounter at some point in their digital lives. It can cripple businesses, ruin careers and generally cause a great deal of unnecessary stress. This article will attempt to generalize a strategy for dealing with such scenarios.

Understanding Data Loss:

Generally data loss can result from any of the following:

Hardware and system failure, human error, software corruptions, power disruptions, computer viruses, Natural disasters and intentional human malicious damage. Almost all of these situations can be avoided, or at least the risk of them occurring be reduced.

The good news is that in most cases some if not all the data is recoverable. Think of it this way, when data loss occurs the information appears to be "lost" to the computer. This requires guidance from either data recovery software or a data recovery specialist to help "find" the data again.

Diagnosing Data Loss:

It is essential to write down the steps, which led to the data loss event. This is the simplest and most crucial action anyone can take when experiencing data loss. It is interesting to note that it is often the immediate actions taken after the data loss event, which determines the ability for the information to be recovered. So no matter how embarrassing the circumstances are note everything down!

But how will you know when data loss is going to strike? Common symptoms are a sluggishly running system, constant freezing or hanging, unusual noises (clicking or grinding sounds) coming from the hard drive or system and unusual error messages relating to software and/or drives being used.

Recovering Data Loss:

Essentially there are two methods to recovering data- via data recovery software or via a data recovery specialist. In general it is always best to first consult a data recovery specialist, however this is dependent on the value of the data which has been threatened,

Data recovery software essentially analyzes, repairs and recovers corrupted and/or lost data and assists in re-linking the information, which has caused the data to become lost. Free evaluation versions are freely available on the web and are often a good way to test the capability of a product, if you are satisfied with the job performed by the product you can purchase it and recover your data thereafter.

Professional Data recovery specialist will analyse and repair your system in a Class 100 clean room equipped with all essential technologies to ensure a stringent and controlled environment resulting in the greatest chance of full data recovery.

Preventing Data Loss:

Computer viruses are often the immediate cause of a data loss event. It is quintessential to have a trusted virus scanner and firewall operational on your system. A common misnomer is that if one does not view inappropriate sites one will not come across any problems. This is false; if your computer has a connection to the Internet there is a threat.

Backup your work! This is the simplest and tried and tested measure to ensure you never lose your data. Generally it is best to have a dedicated backup hard drive in which an exact copy of your system and data can be stored. Further to this it is also recommended that highly valued data be backed up to CD or DVD. The reason is that hard drives can fail, and it is rare to have problems with a physical medium such as CD or DVD. Finally it is important to have a form of off-site backup for in the event of a natural disaster. An easy way is to simply have another backup hard drive or DVDs stored at home.

Conclusion:

Data loss is a frightening concept and a real threat to businesses and individuals who rely on their computer systems for success. The risks however can be managed through developing a detailed strategy to deal with each possibility and mishap along the way.

Paul Korber writes on data loss and recovery solutions.

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