Tips And Tricks from Fields Data Recovery to Recover Lost Files in Windows XP

Even with the advent of Windows 7, many businesses and organizations continue to use Windows XP, which has proved itself to be reliable and mostly stable. But it does occasionally crash, and a number of viruses that target the file system can make your hard drive inaccessible. When that happens, you can sometimes get your machine working and recover your data yourself. Other times, it takes an expert in data recovery, such as Field Data Recovery. If your computer hard drive is inaccessible due to a virus or other problem try these tips before calling in a data recovery specialist. Follow them in the order they’re listed for best results.

Check Your Hardware

Sometimes the issue is not the hard drive itself, but the power leading to the hard drive. Open your case and make sure that all of the ribbon cables and connectors are securely connected. Check to be sure that the CPU fan is working and that the hard drive is spinning up. If your hard drive is not spinning up after you’ve checked to make sure all of the cables are properly connected, you may have a problem for the data retrieval pros. But before you decide you have to call them in, swap out a few things to see if you can pinpoint the problem.

Start by replacing the ribbon cable that attaches your hard drive to the motherboard and try to boot up. Cables and ribbons are more likely to fail than any other part of your computer, and they’re a lot easier to replace.  If you have access to another computer or hard drive, swap the drive for a known good drive. If the computer still doesn’t start up, the problem may not be your hard drive. And if your hard drive will boot up when it’s connected to another computer, your problem is not with the drive itself. You’ll easily be able to recover the data on your drive yourself as long it boots up on another machine.

If Your Computer Starts and Your Hard Drive Spins Up

Check for any error messages in the BIOS screen, and if the BIOS screen doesn’t appear, you should check to be sure that your monitor cable is properly attached.  Then look for the MS Windows XP splash screen. If Windows XP fails to load or if you get an error message, the problem may be with the system boot record. You may need to use a special utility to correct the Master Boot Record, but first try reversing any changes you’ve made to your computer recently.  Next, remove any new hardware that you connected to the computer previous to the system crash and try to start up normally. The problem might be with your new device or card.

If Your Computer Boots to XP But Crashes

Many problems can cause your computer to crash after it boots up, including a malfunctioning CPU fan or computer fan. If your fan isn’t working properly, don’t run the computer or you risk damaging the hard drive and your files.

Crashes may also be due to an error in a system file. If this happens, your machine will often name the missing or corrupted file in an error message. If this happens, you should copy the problem file from your Windows XP boot CD and then restart your system.

If Your Computer Boots to XP

Use System Recovery to restore your computer to a point before the hard drive started crashing.

If none of this helps or if your hard drive won’t spin up no matter what you do, contact a data recovery expert like Fields Data Recovery. Data recovery companies have software that is designed to access the files on a pancaked hard drive and recover them so that you can use them again.

The Importance of Data Recovery as Part of a Risk Management Plan

One of the most important aspects of running a business is your risk management plan. Understanding the risks facing your business can help you avoid unwanted costs and reduce the chance that your company will face a devastating loss. Most major companies understand the importance of having a data recovery risk management plan in place to ensure against the loss of their important data. Do you?

Why Data Loss Can Be a Major Risk for Your Business

No matter what your business is, data is part of the grease that keeps the wheels in motion. Your computer, including disks, hard drives and any removable media you use, including CDs, DVDs, USB drives and Zip drives, contain essential information about your customers, your inventory, your accounts and your business. Imagine for a moment what would happen if you lost even part of that information to hard drive failure or a trashed CD. How many hours would it take you to re-compile your current inventory? How about putting together billing statements without your accounts receivable and accounts paid records? How would the loss of information about your customers like their billing information, their order histories and contact details, hurt your business?

If you’ve never considered these scenarios, you may not understand how important it is to manage the risks associated with your databases and other important software. The fact is, the loss of even one important backup record could cost your business hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Data Recovery as Part of a Risk Management Plan

Prevention is the best option, of course. Your risk management plan should include:

• Safeguarding data with virus protection and security measures to avoid data theft
• Backing up all data regularly – preferably at least once a day
• Using best practices for redundant data records using a RAID assembly
• Ensuring offsite backup of all your data so that you can recover it if something happens to your primary source
• Protecting your data media physically from cold, wet, heat and other conditions that can damage your drives physically
• Insurance to cover the costs of data recovery efforts if your drives or disks are damaged despite your best efforts

If all of your efforts don’t prevent the worst from happening and you end up with an inaccessible disk or media that you can’t get into, avoid doing anything that night compromise your drive further. Most self-help data recovery efforts actually make the problem worse and make it harder for a professional data recovery firm to recover your important information. Instead, contact an expert data recovery firm, such as Fields Data Recovery immediately so that they can get at the disk and bring your data back.

Fields Data Recovery and Security Tips for Business Computers

Many business owners don’t think much about data security and data recovery until they’re faced with an emergency situation, and by then, they could be faced with high costs to recover the data that was on their hard drives, laptops and USB or removable drives, according to the well-known firm, Fields Data Recovery.

Data loss can be an annoyance if you’ve lost your favorite photos or the collection of MP3’s you spent days copying over to your hard drive. But if you’re a business owner, data loss can spell disaster. Imagine losing the order histories for all of your customers—that data that drives your marketing efforts and helps you decide what items to stock. Worse, imagine losing all the payment records for your business and having nothing to back up your tax filings and accounting statements. While large companies take data security seriously, many small business owners, especially those who only employ themselves, aren’t tech-savvy enough to know how to effectively safeguard their data. If you’re one of those who have always counted on your computer to behave itself, and so far, crossing your fingers has worked well as a method of securing your data, the Fields Data Recovery team has a message for you: it’s only a matter of time before you need our services.

On the other hand, if you’d prefer to expend a little time and effort to securing your precious data and avoid the costs of an attempted data retrieval, these tips can help you be sure that your data is safe and secure.

Guard Your Files Against Malicious Tampering.

Virus protection is an essential part of IT security. Viral intruders can erase your data, scramble it to make it unreadable or make your hard drive completely inaccessible. When that happens, your only solution may be a complete reformat or replacement,  but even that won’t recover your data. Avoid the situation by making sure that every computer on your business network has up-to-date virus protection that’s scheduled to automatically scan for viruses daily.

Enable Real-Time Virus Protection

Daily virus scanning isn’t enough for truly sensitive and mission-critical data—a Trojan horse or worm can totally trash your hard drive in almost no time at all. Real-time virus protection is essential if your computers are connected to a network or to the Internet. Real-time protection scans every connection and every file that enters your computer to ensure that it’s virus free.

Put Your Firewalls Up

Engage firewalls to limit incoming connections to your computers. Hidden connections are a primary route for keyloggers and other types of viruses that can damage your files or make your disk inaccessible.

Treat Your Machines With Respect

Have firm rules about eating, drinking and smoking around your computers. Spilled drinks and food can cause major problems that affect hard drive performance and access. Avoid using the Administrator account on your computer as your usual login, as that will make it impossible for malicious programs to take over your computer and install dangerous software.

If You Do Run Into Problems, Call in a Professional for Data Recovery Services

If your data is vital to your business, don’t try a hard drive data recovery yourself because your efforts could make it more difficult for a professional to access your data. Turn to a professional firm, such as Fields Data Recovery, which can use the latest software and technical solutions to try to recover your inaccessible data.

Fields Data Recovery Tips for Students

College and high school students are among the biggest users of laptops and netbook computer. Many joke that they carry their lives on their computers, but they have a bad habit of being quite cavalier with their all-important data. Homework, papers, research, contact lists and that all-important master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation can all be gone in a flash because they have a touching faith in the invulnerability of their technology. Unfortunately, that faith may be put to the test when the unthinkable happens and they press the power button and their hard drive refuses to spin up. Data loss can be even more devastating to a college student than it is to a businessman—just imagine having to recollect two years worth of research and data collection all over again. Fields Data Recovery, one of the UK’s best known data recovery companies, have dealt with enough college students and their lost data to know how important that research, that paper and that dissertation is. Because it’s easier to prevent data loss than it is to recover data after a hard drive crashes, these tips from data recovery specialists can help prevent disasters.

·      Treat your laptop with care. It may seem sturdy and rugged, but appearances can be deceiving. Be careful about when you carry your laptop around with you, and watch where you dock it. Dropping your laptop may not cause any obvious damage at first, but it could be all it takes make your hard drive stop working.

·      Keep your computer in a cool, clean environment. Dust, smoke, hair and other debris can make its way inside your laptop and cause problems. Invest in a keyboard skin to keep dust out of the laptop case and prevent it from damaging the works.

·      Invest in a well-padded laptop bag. It’s tempting to treat your netbook like a toy, especially when they’re so inexpensive, but remember that replacing your netbook won’t replace your lost data, and data recovery can cost a pretty penny. Don’t just toss your laptop or netbook into your backpack or rucksack, but instead always carry it in a specially constructed bag that will protect it and your hard drive from damage.

·      Back up your data regularly. Backed up data can be restored to a new computer, and new options for data backup make it easier than ever. Some web companies offer data backup services that automatically copy your hard drive to a web drive on a regular basis. It’s worth the few dollars a week or month that it costs for your peace of mind.

·      Install a good antivirus program, and set it up to run automatically every day. Keep it updated to deal with the newest threats to your data, and always run real-time virus protection when you’re working online. Viruses are among the most common causes of data loss on hard drives.

·      Maintain your laptop properly. If your computer starts making a funny noise, turn it off immediately and contact a professional. If you keep running your computer after it starts making a grinding noise or other funny noise, you could damage your hard drive and make it nearly impossible to recover any data remaining on the drive.

If all of your efforts fail and you find yourself faced with a data loss emergency, don’t try DIY data recovery methods. Contact a professional outlet like Fields Data Recovery to get a quote on recovering the data for you.

Five Data Recovery Myths

Data recovery—it’s one of those things you hope you never need, but it happens. It’s usually a classic Murphy’s Law situation. The one week you put off backing up your hard drive is the week that it crashes. To make things even worse, the reason that you put off your hard drive backup is that you were so busy you didn’t have time, and that means that the information on your drive is vital, mission-critical data that you absolutely, positively need. Desperate to get to your files, you’re likely to fall for one of the many hard drive data recovery myths that populate the web instead of contacting a professional data recovery operation. Here’s why some of those myths could be extremely counter-productive.

Hit the Hard Drive and it Will Start Working Again

Some people will suggest that you should give your hard drive a sharp wrap if it stops working. In all fairness, this used to work and still sometimes does. Hard drives are mechanical devices and occasionally, something gets “stuck.” That said, smacking your hard drive around in an attempt to get it working again is about as effective as kicking your dog to get him to stop barking. It may shut him up for a while, but the side effects make it a bad idea. When you smack your computer or hard drive, you risk scratching the surface of the disk and making it impossible for even the best data recovery specialists to get any of your precious data back.

Drop the Hard Drive Onto a Carpeted Surface

The theory behind this hard drive myth is about the same as the last one – a jar will kick things back into gear and get the hard drive running again. While this may work in isolated cases, there’s a far better chance that you’ll damage the drive, and the disk itself, making it impossible to recover data from it.

Put Your Hard Drive in the Freezer to Get it Running Again

There’s a persistent myth that freezing a hard drive can bring it back to life long enough to allow you to recover some data from it. Again, there’s some science behind it and it may work… temporarily. Again, it’s more likely that you’ll permanently damage the drive and make it impossible for professional data recovery specialists to get your data back.

The Truth

If your hard drive stops working and there’s data on it that you need, get it to a professional hard drive data recovery firm as soon as possible. If you can afford to lose the data anyway, feel free to try one of the myths that may work—or may lose all of your data permanently.