ONTRACK Data Protection Guide

The average hourly impact of computer downtime to a retail brokerage is $6.45 million. For an airline reservation center, that figure is $89,500 (from Contingency Planning Research). Considering the investment and the value of your data, doesn't it make sense to take steps to protect your valuable data? The Ontrack Data Protection Guide offers tips on protecting your investment and your data.

Protecting Your Valuable Data , Caring for Your Hard Disk Drive , Caring for Your Tapes , Tips for Successful Data Recovery

Protecting Your Valuable Data

1. Set up your computer in a safe environment. Your computer should be in a dry, cool, controlled environment that is clean and dust-free. Placing your computer in a low-traffic area will protect your system and storage media from harmful jarring or bumping.

2. Backup your data regularly. Creating regular backups is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself from losing data. Back up data at least once a week with reliable tapes or other storage devices, always verifying that the correct data is backed up.

3. Use an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). In the event of a surge of electricity or lightning strike, an uninterrupted power supply protects your computer from being fried. In addition, a UPS has a battery backup that keeps your computer running for a short time in the event of a power outage, giving you time to save your work and avoid potential data loss. If UPS is not an available or economical solution, a surge protector is also a good investment.

4. Run a virus scan regularly and update it four times a year. Computer viruses are one of the worst enemies to your computer. Good anti-virus software tests your system for sequences of code unique to each known computer virus and eliminates the infecting invader.

5. Be aware of strange noises. If you hear a strange noise or grinding sound, turn off your computer immediately and call an expert. Further operation may damage your hard drive beyond repair.

6. If you do experience a data loss, Ontrack can help. Even the best maintenance program cannot always prevent system crashes or data loss. Ontrack offers a wide array of data recovery solutions, ranging from in-lab and remote services to cost-effective do-it-yourself software. Please visit our Emergency Help Center to learn more about these solutions, and to find out which is best for your particular situation.

Caring for Your Hard Disk Drive

Despite the obvious importance of this equipment to your system, many users neglect to care for their hard disk drive. Your drive is easily susceptible to many sources of damage. Ontrack offers the following tips to protect and care for your hard drive:

1. Protect your drive from excessive jarring and bumping. All too often, when people install, move or reconfigure hard disk drives, they knock the drive around unintentionally, damaging equipment that can result in the loss of data.

2. Beware of static. Static electricity, an unseen and unfelt enemy, can wreak havoc on the wiring inside computer chips and transistors. Because it's so easy to discharge built-up static when you touch a hard disk drive, precautions like wrist straps can help prevent static discharge.

3. Acclimatize the room in which you store your equipment. Be careful of temperature, humidity, altitude and vibration, all forces that could lead to the intermittent or total failure of hard drives.

4. Perform periodic checks of your hard disk drive. Ontrack Data Advisor software can run tests of your system, warning you of impending problems. We recommend that you run Data Advisor once a month.

5. Place your hardware in a safe location. When you move your computer to a new position (from your desk to the floor, or from a horizontal to a vertical position), you should always backup the hard disk drive. An accidental bump to the drive could cause the heads to track differently, resulting in disk read or write errors.

Caring for Your Tapes

Tapes are delicate storage media, but like the hard drive, people often fail to give their tapes adequate attention and protection.

1. Keep your tapes boxed until you need to use them. Opening tape boxes prematurely will unnecessarily increase a new tape's exposure to dust, moisture and sunlight, and could eventually erode a tape's quality and dependability.

2. Do not attempt to load a tape into the drive if you notice dents, cracks or moisture in the tape's cases, hinged doors or file-protect selectors. Loading a damaged tape could not only lead to further tape damage, but compromise the integrity of your system.

3. Store your tapes in proper fashion. It's important to store your tapes in their original cases, and standing upright. This helps prevent uneven winding of the tape and protects them from potentially damaging environmental elements.

4. Beware of temperature extremes. Store your tapes at room temperature. Excessive heat can cause the plastic used in tapes to constrict, causing instant destruction and unpredictable read/write errors in your tapes.

5. Avoid magnetic fields. Speakers, microwave ovens and printer heads can destroy your tapes and erase all information stored on them.

Tips for Successful Data Recovery

No matter how hard you try to protect your data, your system may still fall victim to data loss. Regardless of the cause of your data loss, there are steps you can take to keep your data loss from becoming a data disaster.

1. Don't panic. You should never assume your lost data is unrecoverable. Simply call a qualified data recovery expert or visit the Ontrack Emergency Help Center. In most cases, your data is fully recoverable.

2. Do not use file recovery software if you suspect an electrical or mechanical failure. Using file recovery software on a faulty hard drive may destroy what was otherwise recoverable data.

3. "Undelete" tools can save your data from human error. Most disk utility packages contain a function that allows you to retrieve an erased file. This tool must be used immediately; however, because your computer will quickly write new data over the deleted file. For users of Windows95 and WindowsNT (v4.0) deleted files are stored in the recycle bin and can be restored as long as you haven't emptied the recycle bin. For more information see your Windows documentation or help file.

4. Do not clean or operate equipment damaged by a natural disaster. Whether it's a flash flood or a twisting tornado, if you've fallen victim to a natural disaster, there is only one option. Call Ontrack immediately. Your chances for a successful recovery are greatly reduced if you make any attempts yourself to clean or dry your damaged computer.

5. If your data falls victim to computer crime, seek professional advice. Computer crime is a growing threat to data. Intentional data deletion, duplication and theft increasingly threaten valuable computer information. If you need to uncover criminal computer activity or need electronic evidence to make your case, contact Ontrack immediately. Ontrack Computer Evidence Services specialize in computer theft diagnosis and electronic evidence gathering.

6. Create and maintain reliable backups. It's surprising how few people actually backup their systems regularly, and verify that backups are complete and error free.

7. If you have suffered data loss, seek professional help. Professional data recovery services offer the expertise and tools required to recover your data quickly and efficiently.