Prevent Data Loss

Data Loss is responsible for millions of dollars of lost revenue each year. While it is true that Data Recovery Zone is a data recovery company and we profit from data loss, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to help our clients prevent data loss.

Leading Causes of Data Loss:

Natural Disasters 3%
Viruses 7%
Human Errors 32%
Software Malfunction 14%
Hardware & System Malfunction 44%

Computer’s are more relied upon now than ever, or more to the point the data that is contained on them. In nearly every instant the system itself can be easily repaired or replaced, but the data once lost may not be re-creatable. That’s why the Data Recovery Zone stresses the importance of regular system back ups and the implementation of some preventative measures.

The chart above lists the most common reasons that data recovery would be needed for. In all cases there are steps that you the user can take to minimize your risk of data loss.

Natural disasters Cause Data Loss

While the least likely cause of data loss, a natural disaster can have a devastating effect on the physical drive. However, Data Recovery Zone has rescued data from fires, floods, lightening strikes and the subsequent power surges.

In instances of severe housing damage, such as scored platters from fire, water emulsion due to flood, or broken or crushed platters, the drive may become unrecoverable.

The best way to prevent data loss from a natural disaster is an off site back up. Since it is nearly impossible to predict the arrival of such an event, there should be more than one copy of the system back up kept, one on site and one off. The type of media you back up to will depend on your system, software, and the required frequency you need to back up. Can you proceed with a day’s data loss? a week’s? a month’s? Also be sure to check your back ups to be certain that they have properly backed up. There’s nothing worse than attempting to restore data from a blank medium.

Data Loss From Viruses

Viral infection increases at rate of nearly 200-300 new trojans, exploits and viruses every month. There are approximately 56,712 “wild” or risk posing viruses and about 105,000 total known viruses, some of which are considered non-threatening. With those numbers growing everyday, you are at an ever-increasing risk to become infected with a virus.

There are several ways to protect yourself against a viral threat:

1. Install a Firewall on your system to prevent hackers access to your data.
2. Install an anti-virus program on your system and use it regularly and scan to see if you have been infected. Many viruses will lie dormant or perform many minor alterations that can cumulatively disrupt you system works. Be sure to check for updates on a regular basis.
3. Back up and be sure to test your back ups for infection as well. There is no use in removing the virus only to restore it again form your back up
4. Be wary of any email containing an attachment. If you don’t know where it came from or what it is, then don’t open it.
5. If you have contracted a “wild” virus that there is no known cure for, quarantine it to that system and contact the Data Recovery Zone for further information and assistance.

3. Human Errors

Even in today’s era of highly trained, certified, and computer literate staffing there is always room for the timelessness of accidents. Sometimes referred to as the U.S.E.R virus, human mistakes are made daily all over the world. There is not much we can do as users to prevent the intervention of Murphy’s Law, except to be cautious. Here are a few things you might want to try:

1. Be aware. It sounds simple enough to say, but not so easy to perform. When transferring data, be sure it is going to the destination you had in mind. If asked “Would you like to replace the existing file” make sure you are before clicking “yes”.
2. If you are even a little bit uncertain about a task you are about to carry out, make sure there is a copy of the data to restore from.
3. Take extra care when using any software that may manipulate your drives data storage, such as: partition mergers, format changes, or even disk checkers.
4. Before upgrading to a new Operating System, back up your most import files or directories in case there is a problem during the install. Keep in mind if you have a slaved data drive it may become formatted as well.
5. Never shut the system down while programs are running. The open files will more than likely become truncated and non functional.

Prevent Data Lost By Software Failures

Software malfunction is a necessary evil when using a computer. Even the world’s top programs cannot anticipate every error that may occur on any given program. There are still a few things you can do to lessen the risk:

1. Be sure you are using the software ONLY for its intended purpose. Misusing a program may cause it to malfunction.
2. Using pirated copies of a program may cause the software to malfunction, resulting in a corruption of you data files.
3. Be sure that you have the proper amount of memory installed if you plan to run multiple programs simultaneously. If a program shuts down or freezes up you may lose or corrupt what you were working on.
4. Back up, Back up, Back up. A tedious task, but you will be glad you did if the software corrupts your customer data base.

Hardware Malfunction Hard Drive Failures Cause Data Loss

The most common cause of data loss, hardware malfunction or hard drive failure, is another necessary evil inherent to computing. There is usually little to no warning that your drive will fail, but some steps can be taken to minimize the need for data recovery from a hard drive failure:

1. Do not stack drives on top of each other-leave space for ventilation. An over heated drive is likely to fail. Be sure to keep the computer away from heat sources and make sure it is well ventilated.
2. Purchase an UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to lessen malfunction caused by power surges.
3. NEVER open the casing on a hard drive. Even the smallest grain of dust settling on the platters in the interior of the drive can cause it to fail

If you need hard drive recovery do one of the following:

Call 727-251-2058 to speak with a representative and receive your quote over the phone. We answer our phones 24 hours a day 7 days a week.