Page 12 - July 2023 News On 7

Dr. Jim's Computer Repair
Jim Sanders TECH TALK

It’s that time of month where I revisit a technical issue that seams to appear on a frequent basis. This month let’s talk about data loss and
scenarios to possible causes. There are many scenarios that can play out. First was the cause a computer failure? Power failure i.e.,
computer will not turn on. For the most part your data on the hard drive should still be intact and just need to be moved to a new
computer.
If we are dealing with a laptop that has been dropped there may be a physical problem with the drive itself, older technology used a platter
system to store data with moving parts. If these are jarred then unless you are willing to have the drive rebuilt in a cleanroom (very
expensive but data retrieval is possible). Newer drives SSD (Solid State Drive) have no moving parts but can be damaged by power
fluctuations or spikes in your hydro. Human error, I was trying to create space and deleted the wrong folder or file. While this is usually an
easy retrieval if you remove certain files, it may cause data corruption which is not always repairable. Viruses, over the years I have seen a
few systems that were subject to crypto viruses. These viruses manipulate the data on your computer and any device plugged into it. The
people that infect your system often ask for $$$ to unlock your files. Having a back up of your data in this case is imperative.
Rule of thumb is if the drive still spins the chance of retrieving the data is possible. Best practice is always having a copy of your data
(documents, pictures, and so on) on an external devise or using a cloud service (One Drive, Google Drive and so on). If you have your data
on an external hard drive do check these from time to time to make sure they are in good working order (if you hear a clicking noise from
the drive it is going to fail, so copy your files to another device as fast as possible). If you have data on your computer, you could not be
without, make sure you have these backed up somewhere else. When we have to retrieve files, it can be a very lengthy process and it can
ultimately cost thousands.
Until next time.
Dr. Jim’s Computer Repair