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The Principles of File Recovery

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Andrew Whitehead is a contributor at Free-backup.info — the home of the popular tool for windows online backup — Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/the-principles-of-file-recovery.html

Why File Recovery is Possible

File recovery is nearly always possible, if you spot the mistake and do something about it fast enough. Luckily, if you do mistakenly delete a file, the file has not been physically removed, the operating system just doesn’t know where it is anymore. This is easier to understand once you realize that there is more to storing a file on your hard drive than just finding space for the information and writing it there.

The operating system must also keep track of where it put the file, without this it would be unable to find it again. When a file gets deleted, this record is altered and the disk area containing the information is marked as free space. The information itself remains intact until some other information is written over it.

The effect is similar to rubbing out the name of a video tape – you know you can use that tape now, but the original film is still on there until you do it, and should you change your mind you can do your own ‘file recovery‘ by writing the name on the box again. Commercial file recovery programs do exactly the same trick with computer files.

File Recovery Programs

There is no shortage of file recovery software to help you out if you delete the wrong file. There are numerous commercial file recovery programs, DOS has its own ‘Undelete’ command, and Windows has the familiar Recycle Bin. Except for Recycle Bin, they all work on the same principle of searching the hard drive for files that have recently been marked for overwriting. More advanced ones will also tell you how much of the file is recoverable by checking how much has been written over.

The seemingly simple Recycle Bin has one advantage over any third party file recovery program: it doesn’t allow any overwriting of deleted files stored in there. This means that files from here are recovered in their entirety, and will function exactly as before once they are restored.

Obstacles to File Recovery

The biggest obstacle by far is time. The longer you wait, the higher the chance of a deleted file being written over, unless it is safely in the Recycle Bin. Once this has happened file recovery is still possible but it will take a lot more than a bit of commercial software to do it.

Operating systems are continuously creating files, every web page you visit does the same, and so does every application you open. With this in mind, the time to start your file recovery process is the instant that you realize you needed that file.

If you are extremely security conscious enough to be running encryption software this will also reduce your chances of file recovery, as the majority of file recovery programs need to read the file to know it is there. If the encryption utility doesn’t offer its own built-in undelete function then file recovery is going to be very difficult and very expensive.

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Backup Power and the Freelance Writer

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Walter Stevens is a contributor at Free-backup.info — the home of the best online backup software — Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/backup-power-and-the-freelance-writer.html

What is Backup Power?

Backup power is a power supply which will keep your computer operating in the event of a power outage. Most backup power supplies serve as advanced surge protectors which will keep your computer running for a few minutes, even an hour or more in the event of a power outage. They operate on a chargeable battery that will make sure that the power to your computer is uninterrupted, allowing you time to save any files on your computer which are currently in use and properly shut down the computer to protect it from crashing due to loss of power.

Why Does a Freelance Writer Need Backup Power?

Imagine that you are working on your current project, are almost done and then the power shuts off your computer. While you have been saving your work as you go along, there is an entire page of material you have written that is gone, and cannot be recovered when the power returns. You must now go back and rewrite that which you have already written, costing you time and anguish.

It is even possible that the entire system will fail due to a power outage and you will find that all of the documents on your computer are damaged, and can no longer be accessed. This is a great worry for any writer, and is one that you should not have hanging on your shoulders.

A backup power supply will insure that your computer never faces an immediate loss of power. No matter the weather, or problems with the power connection, your computer’s power supply will continue uninterrupted. This will allow you time to save your work properly, then allow the computer to shut down as it should, ensuring that no harm comes to any of your work or your computer which is so important to your writing business.

How do I Get Backup Power?

There are many different backup power supplies available on the market. One of the best known companies is American Power Conversion (APC). You can find their web site at www.apcc.com. This company offers a wide range of backup power supply options for home computers.

When you are choosing a backup power supply for your computer, you will need to know how much power your computer uses, and how long you want your computer to run before losing power from the backup supply. Depending on the type of computer you own, the number of hard disks, any accessory drives installed on the computer, the processor and the monitor will determine how much power your computer uses in a given period of time. Because backup power supplies are limited, you will require a larger supply to run a computer that uses more power.

APC’s web site offers a very easy to use tool that allows you to enter in the information about your computer, as well as how long you would like to ensure that your computer keeps running during a power outage, and then will show you the products they have available which fit within your range. Backup power supplies cost generally in the range of 50 to 100 dollars for home computers, although they can cost more if you wish to have a large power supply to keep your computer running for a long time.

Backup power is a very important thing for any freelance writer, and you should ensure that your home computer is protected from sudden loss of powers.

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Computer Backup for the Freelance Writer

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Walter Stevens is a contributor at Free-backup.info — the home of the popular Amazon S3 based online backup solution — Back2zip. This article is also at http://free-backup.info/computer-backup-for-the-freelance-writer.html

What is Computer Backup?

Computer backup is the storing of copies of your files in a location apart from your hard drive. In this manner, if any damage is caused to the file on your hard drive or your hard drive in general, you will still have a copy of this file to access and use. Computer backup can take many forms, as you can utilize floppy disks, CD-Rs, DVD-Rs or the internet to perform your computer backup.

Computer Backup and the Freelance Writer

As a writer you know how important your documents are. If you lose a document for any reason it can be quite devastating to you and your writing business. Keeping proper computer backups of all of your files can save you much pain, anguish, time and trouble.

By creating copies of all of your important files, you can rest assured that no matter what happens to your computer or the files on your computer you will always have a copy of that important writing project in reserve somewhere, so that you can still access it and work on it. A writer never wants to lose his work, especially to something seemingly as trivial as a computer error.

Forms of Computer Backup

There are many different forms of computer backup. At its core all computer backup is is the storing of files on a location apart from your computer. Traditionally, floppy disks were often used for this purpose, but they are becoming increasingly obsolete. They are being replaced with CD-Rs, DVD-Rs, and one of the newest forms of computer backup: the key drive. CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are burnable CDs and DVDs which can hold quite a bit of data: up to 800 and 4700 megabytes, respectively.

A key drive is a removable drive that is very small, the size of a key-chain, and can hold up to 2 gigabytes worth of data. They plug into your computer through a USB connection, and with most newer operating systems do not even require a device driver to utilize. There are also web sites in existence that allow you to backup your files online.

What is the Best Form of Computer Backup for Me?

While floppy disks are becoming increasingly obsolete, they can be a very useful form of backup for the freelance writer. CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, while able to hold great amounts of data, are not manipulable once you have written data to the disk. This means that you cannot re-save a file onto one of these disks, and if you are constantly working on a project they will be difficult to work with. While a floppy disk can only hold 1.4 megabytes, you can always work with any file on one and save it back to the disk.

This is also true with the new key drives, and if you are seeking to get ahead of the crowd, you might want to invest in one. Because it acts as essentially a removable drive, it is very easy to work with files that have been saved onto a key drive. If you are a hardworking writer who is constantly working on new projects, the key drive can be a powerful tool for you and your writing business.

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Initial Steps in Hard Drive Recovery

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Andrew Whitehead is a contributor at Free-backup.info — the home of the popular Amazon S3 based tool for online file backup — Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/initial-steps-in-hard-drive-recovery.html

First Steps in Hard Drive Recovery

If you find that your hard drive is no longer functioning, remember that a hard drive recovery is nearly always possible, so there is no need for panic. Data loss is not unusual and in nearly all cases the data can be recovered. Only in severe severe cases involving platter damage, magnetic degradation, or over-write of a file will the data be practically unrecoverable, and even in these cases a hard drive recovery by MFM photography may be possible if the data is valuable enough to justify huge expense.

Having said that, there are steps you can take to minimize further data loss and greatly increase your chances of successful hard drive recovery

Initial Steps in Hard Drive Recovery after a ‘crash’

If you find that you are unable to boot to the operating system, and you can no longer see the hard drive in the BIOS, there is a strong possibility that your hard drive has crashed. In this case you should shut the whole system down immediately. If there is some physical problem with the hard drive, it will be made a lot worse if you run power through the hard drive attempting to reboot the system.

If the head stack inside your drive is damaged, trying to run it will cause additional damage to the surfaces of the platters in your hard drive, and this is where the data you are wanting to recover is stored.

Initial Steps in Hard Drive Recovery after Corruption

If you have accidentally reformatted your hard drive, or accidentally deleted a file or folder, once again you must not write any new information onto your drive. The files you have deleted are still intact somewhere on the drive. Deleting a file simply means removing the location tag for that file, allowing that area of the drive to be over-written. If you add any new data it is possible that it will over-write your lost data effectively losing it forever.

If you believe a partition has become corrupted on your hard drive, it is very important not to try and re-install your operating system or add any new data to the drive.

If you have accidentally deleted a partition, attempting to restore it by formatting the drive will not recover your data, it will only result in the addition of an empty partition.

If you experience a single file corruption, any attempt to create a new file with the same name will partially over-write the file, greatly decreasing your chances of a full recovery.

This is just a short selection of the more common reasons for losing data from your hard drive, and illustrates that some attempts made by you, or even an IT technician, to recover a file or drive could decrease the chances of subsequent professional recovery efforts, or even make a successful recovery impossible. If you have any doubts about what action to take, just ask yourself this question: “Am I prepared to lose that data? “.

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An Overview of Three Popular Online Backup Services

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

James Fohl is a contributor at Free-backup.info — the home of the popular tool for personal online backup — Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/an-overview-of-three-popular-online-backup-services.html

An Overview of Three Popular Online Backup Services

There are a great number of online backup services on the internet, and choosing one is a difficult one. If you continue reading, you will get an overview of three very popular online backup services; .mac, ibackup, and backup.com

A very easy to use online backup service is provided to subscribers of Apple’s .mac online service.

Apple gives every subscriber of their .mac service two hundred and fifty megabytes of web space that users may use for online backup and their email. It’s kind of a combined deal; the amount of space that you actually are able to use for online backup purposes depends on how much of the space you would like to use for your email.

The .mac service charges a flat fee of $99 a year, and also has several other services targeted primarily towards Apple computer users. Any owner of a new Apple computer can use the service to two months for free, as well as get a $30 discount on a subscription.

While the .mac service is primarily targeted towards Mac Os X users, Apple also provides software tools for Windows XP that users are able to use to access their dedicated online backup space.

If you are one of the few Apple users out there, then .mac is the perfect option for you. You’ll get enough space to make online backups of your small files, as well as several other utilities for your computer. Windows users should try and stay away from this service, as several other services exist for their platform that are far more powerful.

Ibackup.com is the best online backup service provider for users who demand a lot of space for their files.

The next online backup provider, is the original, ibackup.com ibackup.com is the king online backup provider on the internet. They have several service plans, including an economy plan that is priced at $9.95 a month, and includes a very impressive five gigabytes of storage.

Not only do you get more storage than you’ll know what to do with, but you also get access to a wide variety of free software tools provided by ibackup to easily upload and download your files.

iBackup.com also provides users with a thirty day free trial, however they request a credit card number before you can start the trial. If you find out that the online backup service is not exactly what you needed, be sure to quickly cancel your account. Failure to do so will result in your credit card account being charged for the service.

Backup.com is an excellent online backup service for users who do not need much space, yet do not wish to pay a lot either.

Backup.com also has online backup services that vary with the needs of the computer user. Plans start at a mere $4.25 a month for fifty megabytes of online space. This is perhaps the best bang for your buck as far as commercial online backup services go.

All three of the above services provide users with a fair amount of online space to backup or just store their personal files. Picking the right service provider is totally up to you, because everyone has their own set of needs when it comes to online backup services.

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