Data Recovery Tips for Small BusinessBusiness

If you run a small business, you’re more likely to need data recovery services than your bigger corporate brothers. Today, more and more small businesses rely on their computers and computer files to help them get information out to customers, keep track of accounts and cut their expenses. Computerization has made many of the parts of doing business easier. From accounting to publishing, the computer makes it easier for one person to handle most, if not all, of the tasks that used to require a full office staff. With one computer, you can handle the books and accounting, sales, communications and other parts of your business. However, this also makes your business more vulnerable to data loss and increases the likelihood that you’ll need data recovery services in the future.

Unlike larger businesses, these small business operations usually can’t afford such luxuries as fully redundant RAID drives and expensive data backup systems. When something goes wrong with their hard drives or other data storage devices, they often have no choice other than to turn to a professional data recovery service like Fields Data Recovery. In many cases, that’s an expensive option – and it’s made more expensive and difficult if the small business owner takes the wrong steps in trying to recover his lost files himself. In fact, in many cases, the business can avoid the need for data recovery services by taking a few important steps.

Backup, Backup and Backup Your Data

The biggest risk you can take with your business is to have only one set of up to date records. That’s why backing up your data regularly should be a vital part of your business routine. These days, it’s easier and less expensive to do than ever. In fact, it’s fairly easy to do a three-layer backup yourself, without taking a lot of your time.

Subscribe to an automatic backup service that backs up your files to an off-site computer every night. Most only cost a few dollars a month, and there are even free services you can use. If you’re willing to do a little bit of work yourself, you can even do nightly backups and transfer the backup to an online, off site server yourself.

Back up important files after any major changes to an external data storage device, such as an exterior hard drive or tape drive. You can set your computer to do this automatically, but be sure to check the backups regularly to ensure that they’re error-free and restorable.

Keep a second copy of your most important files on your computer, and use Save As to update the second copy whenever you make a significant change. That gives you immediate access to a backed up copy in the event you accidentally delete the file or can’t access it.

Practice Safe Data Recovery

You should also be aware that nearly anything you do with your hard drive after it starts to fail may make it more difficult for data recovery experts to retrieve any data from it in the event you are unsuccessful. If you can’t access the disk at all, your best option is to contact a reputable data recovery firm, such as Fields Data Recovery, and follow their instructions to the letter.