BB Data Recovery Guide

NTFS has many benefits over the FAT system. Not least of all, it is far more reliable and has made the dreaded ‘blue screen’ a thing of the past. This comes as a huge relief to those who struggled valiantly with or, more realistically, against the Windows 95 and other FAT file system based computer crashes.

In the event of system problems, the NTFS is far superior to the FAT system because it is a recoverable file system as it creates a log file of all communications made with the file system. This means the recovery process is far simpler and quicker as there is a record of all changes made and you can roll back changes to a state before the problem occurred.

The FAT system was likely to fail far more often, as it had a few special objects. If one of these failed, the sector where the particular special object existed would register a failure. NTFS does not have any of these special objects, which prevents this problem occurring. It also keeps many copies of the Master File Table. This means the system would replace a corrupted table with another.

The Windows NTFS file system offers use greater security than with the earlier FAT system. In particular, you now have greater protection for individual files and directories.

You are able to assign access rights to any file or directory with the choice of settings including no access, read only access, or full access. This also extends to the programs that are on a particular computer. And users could only run the particular programs they have access to. If you need it you can easily and automatically encrypt and decrypted the data stored on a hard disk.

Also, you can assign disk quotas to different users to restrict the disk space that a person can use. This also means limiting the disk space users can access on a particular partition. Only the users see these settings but the system administrator does not.

This customization is useful in environments where several users share one computer. This makes it unlikely for one user to have access to another user’s work. It also prevents changes or accidental erasure of work without the correct user’s permission.

The NTFS (New Technology File System) is the file system used in Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows NT and later operating systems. Previous versions of Microsoft’s operating systems, such as Windows 95, Windows 3000 and MS_DOS all used various versions of the FAT (File Allocation Table) file system including FAT16 and FAT32.

One important benefit of the NTFS file system is that it can support much longer file names. This gives the user far more freedom on the detail that they include in a file name and makes them easier to find - in theory. It was a pain having to use shorter file names under Windows 95 and other earlier versions of Windows operating systems.

The NTFS also comes complete with its own disk compression utility. This keeps working in the background to ensure the maximum amount of space is always available to the user without him or her even realizing that it is happening. That is the case with many of the features of NTFS.

Here is a popular choice you have for backing up your data. You can use the services of an online backup company. There are several companies that offer this internet based backup service.

The idea is simple. You simply create a backup of your data and important files that you upload to their server. You can perform these backups manually but most of the services offer an automatic backup feature.

This backup remains intact even if your computer crashes and you lose or misplace your normal backup. The beauty is that you can download the files to any computer, which enables you to transfer the files to a new computer, if your computer no longer works, or you simply want to use the files on another computer.

They are accessible from any computer that has an Internet connection. These online backup services cost a minimal amount compared to the cost of losing all of your information. Some start from around $5 a month and have easy to use user platforms.

One choice you have for protecting your important data is to save everything to an external backup such as CD-ROM or zip drive. All you have to do then is recover the proper files from the backup source. The problem you face with this is that you need to be able to get at the removable media.

This does mean that you have to do the backup on a regularly. You can set an automatic backup to save important files to tape or disk. This form of backup is simple to perform and inexpensive. You only pay for the addition tapes or disks.

The benefit of using removable media for storing your backups is that you can store the media in a different location than your computer. If you have a problem, such as a fire or break-in, at your normal place of work and have taken the precaution of storing your backups elsewhere, you will not have lost all of your valuable data.

There is nothing worse than finding that your valuable files have suddenly disappeared or become corrupted. Most people use the backup utilities that software developers build in to certain applications, such as Microsoft Word and are able to recover data until the last automatic save.

That is fine if your computer is still working and you simply had a glitch. However, it does depend heavily on the frequency of your autosave. If you have this set to occur every 10 minutes, for example, then you are only going to lose the data from the last 10 minutes.

Of course, the longer the gap between autosaves, the more information you are going to have to enter again. Another function of many programs is to create automatically a backup copy when you save a particular document. You can store this backup in whatever location you specify. If you have access to another hard drive or server over a network, this is the ideal solution as you can protect your data if your computer develops a problem.

An online data backup service provides some neat features to help you configure your backups, upload important files, and store your personal data. When you need your data, you can then login in and pick the data you want. This means you don’t always use the service when your system fails, but you can access the data while you are traveling, or if you only want the data for a current project.

When you are hiring a service, look for one that provides a secured environment. This should include security features that are acceptable for industrial concerns. Here is a list of ideal features you might want to look for in your online data backup service.

Of course security is the number priority. If your host doesn’t encrypt your data before it moves from your PC to the host, move on. You want your files to move quickly over the Internet, so speed is important. You also need a service that will backup not just PCs but laptops, and networks if you have this need. Since you most likely will own removable storage, your service should backup storage on USB hard drives and memory keys.

I like the idea of continuous backups where your backups happen automatically when you make changes to your files. You also need the ability to recover older files, so the service should store more than one version of your backups.

Your host should also allow file sharing to cut down on storage capacity for large files. This way more than one user can access a large database, for example. This also goes with having multiple users access the backups from different locations. This remote feature makes it easy for salespeople to work with important files while helping clients.

Finally, you also want a backup service that pauses when you are busy working on the computer. That way it would back up only changes and not repeat previous backups.

You may have heard of Spyware and Malware, but maybe you are not too sure what they are or you simply do not know the difference between the two. Spyware is usually harmless, but it can invade a person’s privacy by tracking their internet history. This usually comes bundled with free software and many times automatically install onto your computer without your permission.

Malware, on the other hand, is a malicious program, and its main intent is to cause as many problems as possible to the computer. It is a piece of software designed to damage the computer, wipe out your hard drive, hide potentially incriminating information, and to steal your personal information.

With all of these different threats, suddenly, the internet can seem like such a daunting place to be. However, as long as you have a reliable firewall and anti-virus software, as well as adware removal programs, you should be safe.

One guideline you should follow is never download any software that you are not sure of the source. If you don’t follow proper advice, you will compromise your computer’s security and allow one or more of these programs to infect it. Also, some sites can be unsafe and viruses can attach themselves to your computer, so another good tip is do not visit sites that you are not sure about either.

If malicious programs have harmed your computer, there are data recovery software programs out there that can help to restore your computer and help to restore or repair any corrupt or damaged files. When you get data recovery software, make sure you buy one that is compatible with your computer’s operating system. For example, if your operating system is Windows XP, buy software that runs well with this particular operating system. Also, buy one that will help restore your computer fully.

I once worked for a small magazine publisher with a unique personality. One day I suggested we bring in an expert to help us solve a problem with our subscription management. He looked at me with stark blue eyes and calmly advised me that we are the experts.

It is true you are often the expert when it comes to what you do day-in and day-out. An expert or consultant only helps to prove you are right. But with experience you get a feel for what you need to do to solve your problem. It is no different when you have to face the prospect of a system crash, or your backups fail to work, or someone sends you a nasty virus.

You may lose valuable time trying to fix the problem yourself. Of course, you need to have an idea of what the problem is before you hire a consultant. But you can only know this if you have made emergency plans in case your system fails for whatever reason. You would have sat down with your staff and brainstormed possible scenarios and their solutions. If you couldn’t come up with worthwhile conclusions you would then get a consultant to advise you.

Once this plan is in place, you would file it away and look at it on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to reacquaint yourself with the possibilities. When trouble strikes you can then troubleshoot the problem and come up with what you think the problem is. If you have the resources within your group to solve it, you would go that way, and in the long run save yourself the consultant’s fee.

On the other hand, if you cannot solve the problem, then you would do the obvious and hire a consultant. But you cannot know which direction to go if you didn’t prepare a way out before you got the problem.

Many people prefer the do-it-your-self approach before having someone else look at their problem. Sometimes this can work to your advantage and then again, you could make more trouble that you first had. Developers create hundreds of software applications to fill this self-help need, and you have a choice of many programs in the data recovery market.

When your hard drive crashes, you can use one or more of these programs to help you sort out the problem. Most recovery software programs can recover lost, but some can also prevent against user error. Others include prevention against file deletion and viruses which can cause more than lost data.

Sometimes in your haste to make things good, you might accidentally reformat the hard drive and wipe out your data and system files. This is not so critical if you have workable backups, but if you have never backed up, or your backups don’t work, then you have to use the data recovery features.

Having a recovery program means you can try to recover your data with minimal fuss and expense. However, if your drive crashes and suffers damage, the recovery software won’t do you any good. You have to find a competent recovery service and get your hard drive to them as soon as possible.

Another advantage in having your own software is using it to recover data from many different storage devices. These may include hard drives, zip disks, flash cards and most other media types as well. Again, you need to be careful the devices don’t have any damage before using the software.

Finally, it is good to have a program that prompts you to reconsider whether you want to delete a file or directory. And it is gets even better if your recovery program can prevent against nasty viruses that invade your computer.