Page 26 - News On 7 November 2021

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, 392 Front St Belleville ON 613-480-5056