Archive for the ‘Computer Tips and Tricks’ Category

How to Recover Your Data Files

It’s an accepted fact that hard drives are the weakest link in computer technology. The hard disk is where the operating system and all software applications are stored. Because of this, a properly working drive is essential in the operation of any computer. But since these drives are basically just an electro-mechanical devices, and like any other machine they will eventually breakdown and fail. And then oops, without backups, all your family photos, legal documents and important emails are gone! There are three levels of data or file recovery for a dying or broken hard drive:

1) Basic Level: The drive is working (your can hear it spin up but it will not boot to Windows)

This usually means that some essential Windows files have been comprised or damaged in some way. With the right software you can view your files and even copy them. You have to choices…

Use a Rescue CD: You can grab a bootable CD with hard drive utility software already installed on it. You can then make repairs or copy your files from your bad drive to a replacement. A good name brand rescue CD for Windows is the “Ultimate Boot CD”

Move the Drive: If you don’t have a way of burning a rescue CD and don’t want to wait for a copy to shipped to you; you can always move your bad drive and place it in another working desktop PC. Once installed you should be able to view all your files on the drive from a secondary slot (normally where the CD or DVD drive live.)

2) Intermediate Level: The drive works but you can’t see the files you want using the methods above.

Okay, things are not going good. You at this point have to get out the big guns. You will have to download and run a data recovery program such as “Active UNDELTE”, “Recover My Files”, etc. Both of these programs are powerful, reliable, and easy to use and won’t cost you an arm or a leg to buy.

With Active UNDELETE you can also make a bootable CD to run on a PC if you can’t move the drive to another computer. Both have technical support options if you need further help.

3) Advanced: You have tried everything above but you still can’t find that Last Will from Aunt Sue…

At this point you have probably spent several hours (if not days) without your PC and invested just over a $100 in software if you used all of the above products. Now, is the time for you to decide to either use a professional level recovery application or throw in the towel and take your drive to a recovery specialist.

If you have the time but not a lot of cash (understand that hard drive recovery services can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars) then you can ratchet it up a notch and buy a copy of the home version of EasyRecovery from Ontrack. Ontrack is one of the leading data recovery companies in the world.

But if time is more critical and money is no obstacle then bite the bullet and take your drive to a local computer shop that does recovery work. Or if that is not possible then contact a big service like Ontrack and ship your hard drive to them.

Data recovery can be expensive no matter who does it, so to be on the safe side and make file backups frequently and fully.

Computer Fires: How Vulnerable is Your PC?

Fire and explosions are one of the leading causes of accidental death. Each year 4,000 people a year are killed in the US alone and a further 25,000 are left injured and often maimed or scarred for life. Whilst fires and explosions have a multitude of causes, three things are always required: fuel, oxygen and a source of ignition. Fires start when a fuel (from paper in a litter bin to petrol in a fuel tank) is ignited by a spark and the following explosion/inferno is kept alive by the oxygen in the atmosphere.

Of course there is little we can do about the oxygen in the atmosphere but we can reduce the amount of combustibles lying around, making sure areas are swept clean of paper or litter, but what about sources of ignition?

Many fires are caused by faulty electrical equipment a spark or short from a circuit board can arc setting alight any combustible material it comes into contact with. We can of course make sure all electrical equipment is off before we leave the work place, but how practical is this? What about that old IBM workhorse that is left on overnight or the servers left humming in the back room?

A computer monitor left on overnight at a newspaper office in Virginia, as it had been for many years, was, although not in a particular hazardous area, responsible for completely gutting the offices of the Carolina Coast and Virginian-Pilot newspapers as the amount of newspaper lying around provided enough fuel to destroy over a decades’ worth of records.

Computers that work in particular hazardous environments, where there is a risk of explosion or fire, such as chemical factory, have to be sealed, ensuring any fault in the electrical equipment does not spark. However these systems are expensive, particularly when the IT has to be upgraded and the whole unit has to be discarded.

This is of course an impractical solution for those who work in environments not deemed a potential risk and many companies opt to save their money. However, these same companies spend thousands on anti-virus, spyware and firewall systems to keep their data safe from malicious hackers. However, if your entire computer (an perhaps office or factory) goes up in smoke, how safe is your data then?

There is a solution, for computers and other electrical equipment (including monitors, printers), in the shape of specialist enclosures. These can be made from a variety of materials from food-grade stainless steel to cheaper plastic varieties. These enclosures can also protect equipment from knocks and bangs and some are even bomb-proof!

If you have a machine left on overnight or perhaps out in the warehouse amongst the dust and dirt, perhaps an enclosure could save you the time and trouble of not only replacing your data and computer but perhaps the entire building!

Tips To Buy A Computer Or A Laptop

In the fast breeding world of computer technology where each new day brings something new to the world in IT, it is extremely essential to make sure that one stays well versed with technology so as to avail quality support. In the World Wide Web, where one can manage huge database with a click of a mouse, getting the best computer helps in remaining at the top of one’s business. In the online world of business, computer has facilitated easy Ecommerce solution that provides a great platform to both buyer and seller. In case one is planning to buy a new desktop computer or a laptop for home or office use, one can check out from a huge range of computers that come with state of the art technology and advanced software solution that makes it must have utility.

While going for the laptop, it is essential to keep 5 basic points in mind such as its size, hard drive, memory configuration, network connectivity and last but not the least its price. For all those who are looking for lightweight laptops, size is the most essential feature that has leads to portability and ultra lightweight design. For frequent users who store huge amount of data in their computer, one can go for enhanced hard drive that supports easy storage of database.

For music lovers love to store their music collection on their computer, one can go for 60 GB or a bigger hard drive as per one’s like. Similarly, the memory of RAM configuration depends upon the utility. In terms of price, it depends upon the kind of features installed in the laptop. Well, if you are going for desktop computer, it is essential to have a clear idea about the use- home or office. Once one has a clear idea about the requirement, one can go forth with the purchase of the desktop. With the arrival of fast processors, make sure you get the best quality and fast speed processor. In terms of operating system, Windows XP or Vista can be best accompaniment to your computer. One should always remember that RAM and operating system is the backbone of a perfect system, so while choosing computer, make sure you know about its system integration that includes both software and hardware.

In terms of price, same as in the case of laptop, a desktop PC comes can be costly depending upon its software and hardware integration. So, the next time you plan to purchase a new computer, make sure you look for the best software and hardware integration that helps you in finding the best computer or laptop at affordable price. One can check out online buyers to know more about various branded computers and make an easy estimate of its price. This helps in comparing the price and choosing the best computer at an affordable price. In case of assembled solutions, it is essential to verify the originality of the computer accessories so as to buy a genuine product.

Accessing Computer Without An Administrative Password

We all eventually overlook one countersign or the added and such a botheration can be so acid and capricious that it can accomplish absolutely a huge impact. The botheration is even added austere if we overlook the authoritative countersign to anything, abnormally our operating system. In a lot of cases the approved user will accept to architecture the harder deejay and afresh re-install the operating arrangement in adjustment to break this botheration and unfortunately, such an activity usually agency that some abstracts will be absent forth the way. Although it can be absurd at times to admission the claimed computer if the authoritative countersign was loss, there are some accomplishments you can yield in some cases. You will basically charge the computer (which absolutely needs to accept the achievability to abutment a bootable CD-ROM) and the Windows CD-ROM.

The aboriginal footfall you will charge to yield is to adapt your claimed computer’s BIOS in adjustment to acquiesce booting from the Windows CD-Rom. Next you accept to admit the CD in the drive and cossack up the PC. Just delay and if the “Press any key to cossack from CD” bulletin appears just columnist any key. Now go through the absolute footfall by footfall action until you get to the bureaucracy screen. This is area you will accept the advantage to adjustment or install the operating system. You will charge to accept adjustment and Windows Bureaucracy will afresh alpha a analysis on your arrangement and alpha artful files. Afterwards this you will apprehension that the PC will re-boot automatically.

The next footfall will depend on your operating system. You basically charge to accessible a command alert afterwards the reboot and resume the bureaucracy process. If you accept Windows 2000 you accept to delay until the allotment area you see that the OS is registering apparatus and columnist “Shift + F10″. If you accept Windows XP you will charge to columnist the aforementioned key aggregate if “Installing devices” appears in the larboard duke ancillary of your screen. Now we will accept a command animate accessible and you can accretion admission to the Ascendancy Panel. In Windows 200 you will charge to blazon “control.exe” and in Windows XP “nusrmgr.cpl”. Columnist the “Enter” key and we now accept admission to the ascendancy panel.

Now just acclimated the accoutrement that are provided in adjustment to displace the countersign and if you are done just abutting the ascendancy console by accounting “Exit” and afresh acute “Enter”. Now we will charge to acquiesce the adjustment action to complete as usual. If the operating arrangement starts afresh you can use the new countersign in adjustment to log in. There are some affairs in which you will not be able to admission your claimed computer but these are rare. If this happens we acclaim that you yield your harder drive and install it on addition computer as bondservant so that you can save every section of advice you charge and afresh architecture the absolute harder drive. Afresh you will charge to re-install the operating system.

How to Backup Data from Computer

Data advancement is one of the capital methods of convenance that abetment in abstracts recovery. You all ability accept a catechism on what Abstracts Advancement is. Well! Advancement is a convenance of possessing twinned archetype of the aboriginal document. Advancement is a adjustment of convenance that copies capital files, folders or databases in adjustment to anticipate the capital advice in case of arrangement abortion or harder deejay abortion or adventitious abatement of files. As abstracts is absolutely capital for greater akin of efficiency, abstracts advancement plays a cogent role to anticipate and thereby put and end to abstracts loss.

Data advancement is essential, as it helps the user in several altered ways. Computer users ability ache with the abstracts accident while their arrangement turns abortion due to virus defect, software failure, harder drive failure, OS failure, annexation and lot more. Abstracts advancement is the arresting adjustment of convenance and it plays a cogent role in businesses or corporate, who depletes abounding of hours on their PC either for business or claimed work. The convenance of not demography any appropriate abstracts preservatives will be the greatest blooper and will advance to astringent consequences. Several groups of humans will advocate the so alleged adage “I will never appear to face those troubles”. This archetype accept to accept to be tainted! Abstracts accident will appear to anyone, anytime…

No matter, whether your arrangement gets afflicted or not, it is absolutely a acceptable convenance to yield backup, as few abstracts could be deputized. With the arresting adjustment of abstracts backup, you can calmly retrieve the abstracts files of several months or years back. This will acutely accomplish your seek plan simpler.

There are several factors that you accept to accept to accede while demography abstracts backup. Once afore demography up the abstracts backup, you accept to accept to analyze the adequacy of the amplitude and admeasurement of abstracts you activity to backup. In antiquarian days, humans who authority massive abstracts admeasurement will acquisition abundant difficulties in demography the abstracts backup. The alone blazon of media that could be purchased to yield abstracts advancement was billowing disk. This deejay appearance alone a compression abstracts amplitude to yield the backup. With the avant-garde improvement, humans in the avant-garde years can yield abstracts backups as per their requirements affair their needs. Several medias that user can accept to yield abstracts advancement includes Tape, Optical deejay such as CD & DVD, Harder disk, Billowing Disk, Remote backup, External harder drive and lot more.

When considered, abstracts advancement is conceived to be an capital assignment to affected abstracts accident in agreement of business with account to efforts and costs.