Saturday, July 14, 2012

Laptop Repairs - Data Recovery Options By Dominik Barth

If you are a computer, laptop, netbook, iPhone or android phone user you are not safe from data loss. It can strike at any time, and as most of us have experienced, it happens when we need the data most. We have all been told, backup! backup! backup! but statistics prove most of us don't. Laziness being the most likely reason. So what now, who do we turn to, types of failures and how much will it cost?

When disaster strikes it can cause enormous stress for those involved. Since computers have replaced the humble writing pad, nearly everything is stored digitally. Data Recovery is big business and its very important to realise data damage falls in a few different categories. These distinctions are vital to the user because of two factors, and those are recovery rates, and cost.

First things first.Turn off the device you are using. Most important! further damage can result from the user constantly switching the device on, in the hope their data will magically appears before their eyes. It wont happen and it can potentially cost you more to have the data salvaged.

Data recovery companies are located in most major cities, and can be searched for either online, or in the yellow pages. Type in a few different keywords in to the search engines and those firms which consistently appear in the major search engines would be the best to go with.

Essentially there are two types of failure categories; no physical damage ( logical damage) and physical damage ( failed components within the drive itself).

The most common type of failure is due to the operating system, which is generally the easiest and cheapest recovery scenario. It usually involves copying all wanted data onto another drive. The next level up being file deletion when the contents of deleted files are not removed immediately from the drive; instead, references to them in the directory structure are destroyed, and the room they occupy is made available for later overwriting. The original file contents remain, in fragments and may be recoverable.

More expensive scenarios involve a disk-level failure, an example being a compromised file system or disk partition.This involves repairing the file system, partition table or master boot record, or hard disk recovery techniques ranging from software-based to hardware replacement on a mechanically damaged disk.

The most expensive of all involves damaged components, whether it be the printed circuit board underneath the drive, or any part contained inside the drive. It could be the motor spindle, platter(s), read/write head assembly and matching parts. All this involves dismantling the drive in a clean room, with specialised tools and expert skill and finding donor parts which are not readily available. This takes time and money.

Average costs start from $300-$500 for basic to moderate data recovery, then go up from there to $2000 to $3000 dollars for advanced, hardware failures. Whether it be for pc repairs or mac repairs, backup your data regularly, and to as many devices as you have at your disposal, either external drives or online with the many cloud storage facilities available. There is no excuse and if you can't afford to lose the data, then it's most important for you to save it.

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