DHS | Department of Homeland Security | DHS Home Page

DHS | Department of Homeland Security | DHS Home Page
Official organization home. Includes news on latest threats, advisories, planning tips, and job opportunities.
Source: www.dhs.gov

Windows Defender home
Windows Defender (Beta 2) is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and ...
Source: www.microsoft.com

DHS | Department of Homeland Security | DHS Home Page
Governmental agency works to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage from ...
Source: www.dhs.gov

Microsoft Security Home Page
Microsoft-product-related security headlines and bulletins.
Source: www.microsoft.com

Internet Security Systems - Worldwide Home Page
A pioneer and leading supplier of adaptive security management systems, providing innovative software that enables maximum protection from network security ...
Source: www.iss.net

Linux Security
Information collected from many sources: feature articles, advisories, news, documentation, forums, links.
Source: www.linuxsecurity.com

Homeland Security
A federal agency whose primary mission is to help prevent, protect against, and respond to acts of terrorism on United States soil.
Source: whitehouse.gov

CERT Coordination Center
Studies Internet security vulnerabilities, provides incident response services to sites that have been the victims of attack, publishes a variety of ...
Source: www.cert.org

Windows (Microsoft) Backup. Windows built-in backup utility.

Windows (Microsoft) Backup. Windows built-in backup utility.
Microsoft Backup. How to use the Microsoft Windows built-in backup program. Volume shadow copy feature to back up locked files. Notes about file systems ...
Source: www.argentuma.com

Windows Backup - BackupAssist News
Windows backup software for your business. Simple and affordable.
Source: www.backupassist.com

Backup basics: What should you back up
How to back up manually or by using Windows XP Backup utility. , Tips for protecting your backup files. , Choosing an external storage format to back up ...
Source: www.microsoft.com

ZipBackup Windows Backup Software
ZipBackup is an easy Windows backup program. Backup to CD or DVD with the simple ZipBackup Wizard.
Source: www.zipbackup.com

Tim Anderson's ITWriting
Windows backup failure mystery. Posted 9 days ago on February 28, 2006. If you're responsible for a Windows server box and you've ever had backup fail with ...
Source: www.itwriting.com

Backup Software: Data Windows Back Up Professional software ...
Data Backup Software: Windows data back up Professional software, data Windows backup network zip compressor, DVD, scheduler, service, Search Engine ...
Source: www.grsoftware.net

Using Windows Backup Software
The Backup programs in Windows 98 and Windows Me where originally created by Seagate Software, now Veritas. They are relatively simple but, not surprisingly ...
Source: free-backup.info

Windows Backup Guide. What to backup How to backup
Windows Backup Guide! How to backup your personal documents, Outlook folders, Outlook Express e-mail's, AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, and ICQ. Backing up Windows system ...
Source: www.argentuma.com

security

security
www.homeoffun.com/security l=en- 11k - Cached - More from this site -
Source: www.homeoffun.com

CastleCops
Promoting education and health in online security and privacy. ... Become Premium Today! Security Central. Home. Deutsch ... and therefore have been blocked to prevent any further security breach. The phish prompts customers to login and verify ...
Source: castlecops.com

Security News and Security Product Reviews - SC Magazine US
Find the latest security news from SC Magazine US, SC Magazine online for products reviews, group test, latest news and features, security news, portals, whitepapers, vulnerability alerts, jobs and events from SC magazine US. ... for corporate espionage and ID theft has been shut down after a concerted effort by IT security firms ... delighted to invite senior IT Security professionals to apply for a free ...
Source: www.scmagazine.com

Gentoo Linux Documentation -- Gentoo Linux Security
Gentoo Linux Security. Content: 1. Security in Gentoo Linux 2. Gentoo Linux Security Announcements (GLSAs) 3. Security Team contact information 4. Resources. 1. Security in Gentoo Linux
Source: www.gentoo.org

Security Policy - Policies and Publications
List of Policies and Publications related to Security Policies. ... Technology Security (MITS) Operational Security Standard on Physical Security. Operational Security Standard - Readiness ...
Source: www.tbs-sct.gc.ca

Stupid Security: Exposing Fake Security Since 2003
CapitolHillBlue: "Warning! Financial Responsibility Can Lead to Terrorism" Yes, play by the rules, and you'll have no problems citizen. Unless, of course you do something we didn't happen to be expecting you to do. ... When the FBI submitted a secret National Security Letter demanding information about Internet journalist Doug ... posted this on my embryonic blog at: Sir Alan's Blog: Insecure security ...
Source: www.stupidsecurity.com

Enterprise Security Today (Online Security): NewsFactor Network - -
March 9, 2006. Updated Daily. Technology Briefing. CRM Alert. Enterprise Security Report. Data Storage Report. BPM Industry Alert. Experts: Mac Security Flaw Remains ... In its recent security report, Symantec concluded not only that threats are rising but also that there ... released a new security package, called Mobile Security 2.0, to help protect ...
Source: www.enterprise-security-today.com

Tek-Tools Releases Its 8th Backup Module: Backup Profiler for Iron ...

Tek-Tools Releases Its 8th Backup Module: Backup Profiler for Iron ...
TMCnet - Mar 1, 2006DALLAS --(Business Wire)-- March 1, 2006 -- Tek-Tools, Inc., the leader in the storage and backup resource management market, announced today the addition of ...
Source: www.tmcnet.com

NHL Skinny: Backup Plan
Yahoo! Sports - Mar 6, 2006... end of the regular season. This time of year, backup goalies are more valuable than ever in fantasy hockey. Teams play on back-to ...
Source: fantasysports.yahoo.com

How to Restore Data with Remote Backup Software

How to Restore Data with Remote Backup Software
How to Restore Data with Remote Backup Software
Source: www.protect-data.com

Backup Best Practices Save Critical Data
In an increasingly paperless age, it's critical to backup your data. If you're not doing so, or if you're not doing so correctly, you and your company could be in for a disaster. ... For any data backup project, it is important to have a defined scope of what data and servers ... In some cases, backup data may only be needed for several months ...
Source: itmanagement.earthweb.com

Data Backup
powered by Google. Data Backup. Table of Contents. In a separate document... Overview. This page lists the backup options SSRL supports and how to use them. ... and convenient way to store data. It is relatively secure, provided that you have a second backup of the data as well ...
Source: smb.slac.stanford.edu

Data Backup
OK ... our mantra is, "Work from your local drives, backup to server drives". Simply put, that means save your data on your "C" drives and then back it up to your server drives. The CFS IS staff will routinely backup the CFS file server.
Source: www.cfs.purdue.edu

Nada Chair: Back-Up

Nada Chair: Back-Up
... Chronic back pain sufferers who cannot find ergonomic chairs that fit but still must sit all ... with Nada-Chair's Back-Up model lumbar support. The ergonomic back support can also ...
Source: www.nadachair.com

Backup.com
Online protection system that automatically backs up small businesses data to an off-site location and secures it through encryption. A service of SykDesk.
Source: www.backup.com

Ultrasonic Car Back-Up Alarm
Avoid hitting objects behind you while backing up your car with this easy-to-install item. No drilling required! ... Save yourself time and money with the Ultrasonic Car Back-Up Alarm! This alarm uses ultrasonic technology to ... Let the Back-Up Alarm take the guesswork out of backing into ...
Source: www.smarthome.com

Outlook & Exchange/Windows Messaging Backup and Dual-Boot
Which files to copy when you want to back up Microsoft Outlook and Exchange/Windows Messaging data or use the same data when dual-booting between two operating systems ... is no backup process built into Outlook. To back up, simply exit Outlook, then copy the files you ... that you'd want to copy back and forth between machines if you ...
Source: www.slipstick.com

Back Up Camera - AutoAnything.com
Browse a selection of Back Up Camera at AutoAnything.com. AutoAnything is committed to providing you with top quality products from trusted name brands.
Source: www.autoanything.com

Technorati Tag: back-up
... www.netapp.com. Online Back up Software Automatically back up your data offsite every night ... <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/back-up" rel="tag">back-up</a ...
Source: www.technorati.com

Bright Horizons - Back-Up Care
Search. Back-Up Care. Family child care providers, nannies, and grandparents get sick or go on vacation. School is unexpectedly closed on a snow day. ... center, a consortium back-up center, dedicated back-up care rooms ... Dedicated back-up centers. Consortium back-up center. Registration & Reservation Management System. Back-up programs ...
Source: www.brighthorizons.com

Dynamic Solutions International | Tape Backup Systems | 4mm DAT DDS

Dynamic Solutions International | Tape Backup Systems | 4mm DAT DDS
DSI - Storage system specialists including Linear Tape Open (LTO) standalone and automated tape technologies. Tape backup software developers for Unisys and open market systems, including TapeManager and LibraryManager. Qualified resellers of ... while the time available for backup is shrinking. Even the slowest DAT tape drive writes at 1 MB ... that means a 200 GB backup can be completed in less than ...
Source: www.dynamicsolutions.com

FalconStor unifies tape and disk backup - Computerworld
FalconStor Software has added continuous data protection (CDP) to its Virtualtape Library (VTL) software. ... The appeal is that existing tape backup software and processes (such as Veritas' or EMC/Legato products) can ... used unchanged. A tape backup is often a fake tape device implemented ...
Source: www.computerworld.com

CFHT Observer Tape Backup Facilities
CFHT, Observer Information, CFHT Observer Tape Backup Facilities. CFHT Observer Tape Backup Facilities. This is an overview of what tape drive facilities are available for observers at CFHT.
Source: www.cfht.hawaii.edu

Backup & Recovery Software for Windows, Linux, NetWare & UNIX: home page of Yosemite Technologies
English Deutsch. TRIAL DOWNLOADS. Ideal for the medium enterprise with 21 or more servers. Ideal for the small to medium business environment with 1-20 servers. WEB TOOLS ... The world's leading heterogeneous backup solution. $ 811 ...
Source: www.yosemitetech.com

DAT Technologies, Inc.
Offers repair services, sales and exchanges for DLT, (Digital Linear Tape), 4mm DAT, 8mm and 1/4" tape drives and subsystems.
Source: www.dattech.com

Windows Backup Software, Windows 2000 Backup software

Windows Backup Software, Windows 2000 Backup software
Windows backup software, Unix backup software, Linux backup software, HSM, data replication software, jukebox / robotics drivers, open file & live database backups, laptops remote backups, archival
Source: www.unylogix.com

backup utility software Windows
Careful Backup is a powerful backup utility for Windows. Download Careful Backup! Download Screenshots Careful Backup TM is the complete
Source: www.panterasoft.com

Arkeia: Microsoft Windows environment hot backup
Home > Products & Solutions > Hot Backup > Microsoft Windows environment hot backup T he Arkeia Windows Server client has built-in features allowing online backup of Windows Registries, Active Directories
Source: www.arkeia.com

backup software
windows xp home backup utility pocket pc backup restore windows server backup software backup software for nt data backup solutions download windows backup software
Source: backupsoft.altervista.org

CBS.com: Ghost Whisperer

CBS.com: Ghost Whisperer
Official network site. Plot and cast overview with video clip.
Source: www.cbs.com

Ghost Towns | Pictures of ghost towns in Arizona, California, Utah ...
Pictures of ghost towns and historic places in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Utah. Picture gallery, driving directions, ...
Source: www.ghosttowngallery.com

Ghost Towns of Arizona - Arizona ghost towns with history ...
Over 300 of Arizona's best ghost towns with picture, history and locations inclucing clickable county maps with the ghost towns on them.
Source: www.ghosttowns.com

GHOST
Ghost. British Designer Label. Mail order classic styles. Listing of Ghost stores and worldwide stockists.
Source: www.ghost.co.uk

Ghost Sites of the Web: Where Dead Sites Live On... Where Web ...
Ghost Sites of the Web: Where Dead Sites Live On... Where Web Disasters Are Still Fresh.
Source: www.disobey.com

StarCraft: Ghost
StarCraft : Ghost , Blizzard's upcoming tactical-action console game, refines the epic experience of StarCraft to the level of the individual soldier. ...
Source: www.blizzard.com

Ghost Towns and History of the American West
A guide to ghost towns in the western USA, divided by states and regions. Tour availablity, shopping links, other information.
Source: www.ghosttowns.com

Ghostscript, Ghostview and GSview
An interpreter for the PostScript language and for PDF, and related software and documentation.
Source: www.cs.wisc.edu

Mexico to Buy Back Up to $5 Billion of Foreign Bonds (Update1)

Mexico to Buy Back Up to $5 Billion of Foreign Bonds (Update1)
Bloomberg - Feb 23, 2006Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico offered to buy back as much as $5 billion of foreign-currency bonds. The government will finance the ...
Source: www.bloomberg.com

Nurun announces plan to buy back up to 5% of stock over coming ...
Calgary Sun, Canada - Feb 27, 2006MONTREAL (CP) - Nurun Inc. (TSX:NUR) on Monday said it has received permission from its board to buy back up to five per cent of its shares in the next year. ...
Source: money.canoe.ca

Home Network Security

Home Network Security
Gives home users an overview of the security risks and countermeasures associated with Internet connectivity, especially in the context of "always-on" or ...
Source: www.cert.org

Security-Enhanced Linux
NSA research prototype made public, has modified kernel, several utilities; has enhanced security-related functions designed to show value of mandatory ...
Source: www.nsa.gov

The National Security Archive
Provides access to government documents declassified under the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA)in the form of electronic briefing books.
Source: www.gwu.edu

Security Focus
News and editorials on security related topics, along with a comprehensive database of security knowledge.
Source: www.securityfocus.com

Norton Ghost 2006

Features:
NEW! "Hot imaging" lets you create backup images without restarting Windows®.
NEW! Incremental backup updates save time and disk space.
NEW! Scheduled backups automatically keep your backup image up to date.
Backs up everything on a hard drive or partition.
Works with a wide range of hard drives and removable media, including CDR/RW and DVD+-R/RW drives, USB and FireWire® (IEEE 1394) devices, and Iomega® Zip® and Jaz® drives.
Restores data from images created with PowerQuestT Drive ImageT 7.0 and previous versions of Norton Ghost.
Symantec Recovery Disk lets you restore data from a backup image even when the computer can't start up into Windows.
LiveUpdateT keeps Norton Ghost updated automatically over the Internet.

Ghost has always been one of the handiest products, especially when you deal with a number of computers of the same compilation.

The Windows XP/2000 Backup Types

The Windows XP/2000 Backup Types: "Backing up Windows XP/2000

Part 3: Choosing a Backup Type

When backing up your Windows XP/2000 computer with the Backup Utility, you have several options for what type of backup to perform. In fact, these are common options in nearly any backup software. Three of the choices are the most common types of backup: Normal (usually referred to as 'Full'), Differential, and Incremental. "

2000 Backup Server

I am back

Hi Guys, I am back.
I have been overseas for over a month, now I am back to keep up my information blog about backup. I hope you like what you see. If you have any ideas, please leave me a message.

Regards

Alexei

P.S. Here is a couple of sites where I saw a few nice articles recently.

File Backup Software
Tape Backup and Storage
Internet Backup Systems

Recommended Steps To Take Before Hiring a Transport Company To Ship Your Car, Boat, Horse, Furniture, or Move.

When you are having your valued items shipped, it is important to find the best hauler for job, not necessarily the cheapest. Customer service, reliability, and trustworthiness are all important factors in choosing a transport company. An unscrupulous trucker can cost you money, damage your property, and cause you a hard time.

Recommended Steps to take before hiring a transport company:

• Ask Questions - When you first contact a hauler, you should ask as many relevant questions as you can regarding the care they will take with your property, scheduling, contract issues, what type of equipment they have, licensing, insurance, and take some time to get a feel for the type of people you are dealing with. The vast majority of truckers / haulers are reputable business people that simply want to help you, the best way to weed out the few that aren't is in this first stage.
  

  
  

• Get References - Most haulers should be prepared to provide you with several references in regards to RECENT jobs they have done. If time allows try to contact every reference and ask questions regarding the type of service they received from their hauler. Remember, that no one is perfect all of the time, so if there are any less than perfect reviews, follow up with a question to see how the hauler resolved the issue.

Sample questions to ask provided references:

• What did you have __(company name)___ haul?
  
• When did they haul it?
  
• Did they keep you well informed of their pickup / delivery schedule?
  
• How well did they keep their original promised schedule?
  
• Did they take good care of your (car, boat, horse, furniture, etc..)?
  
• If any problems occurred, how did the hauler resolve them?
  
• How would you rate your overall experience with this hauler?
  
• Would your recommend this hauler to others?

Use the above questions in an e-mail or as a template for a phone conversation with the provided references, and you will have a very good idea of what to expect when you use the hauler yourself.

• Check Licensing - Your hauler should be able to provide you with his DOT number, and MC, Number. You can check the validity of their DOT number at the FMCA website: http://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/LIVIEW/pkg_carrquery.prc_carrlist- A DOT license lets you know that the hauler has filed the proper paperwork and pays the proper taxes and fees when hauling your items.
  

  
  

• Check Insurance - It's important for you to know that your carrier has adequate insurance to cover potential damage to your property. If you choose an uninsured or underinsured transport company you risk not being compensated for loss or damage of your (car, boat, horse, furniture, etc..).
  

  
  

• Check FindAHauler Profile - If your hauler has a profile in the FindAHauler.com Directory: http://FindAHauler.com/directory/you can view any feedback left regarding the hauler by other visitors to the site.
  

  
  

• Read contracts carefully - Many haulers will have you execute a transport contract prior to hauling your (car, boat, horse, furniture, etc..). Make sure that you read the contract and understand the provisions of the contract. If there is a down payment required, make sure you know the conditions under which it will or won't be refunded. Is the down payment due prior to the pickup of your property, when is the full payment due?. It is generally not advisable to pay a down payment prior to pickup of your property. If it is practical, you may want to negotiate the full payment upon delivery of your property.

If you follow the above advice, you should have an easy and stress free experience having your car, boat, horse, furniture, etc... transported. Thousands of people have had their cars, horse, boats, trailers, livestock, etc... shipped using FindAHauler.com since September of 2002, and it is very rare for any of them to have a problem with a hauler they have found using our site. We have a very aggressive stance on any users of our site not operating in an ethical and straightforward manner, and do our best to provide an easy and safe environment for all.

by: John Kaufman

from http://www.backupfordata.com

Compact Flash Card Backup: the Benefits

Backing up one's Compact Flash card has a number of benefits: storage, convenience and reliability.

Backup for storage

First of all, backing up one's Compact Flash card to a laptop is great for storing all kinds of data, stored on a card, like images, audio files and what not. Since Compact Flash card size is limited (to 4Gb for now), backing up one's card can be a convenient way of using a single card perpetually.

Backup for convenience

Secondly, backing up one's Compact Flash card can be a convenient way of copying data between laptops. Using such a small medium, which can fit in one's hand, to copy data between computers seems to be rather comfortable, as one does not have to connect the computers, or use another medium as an intermediate.

Backup for security

Thirdly, backing up one's Compact Flash card to a laptop can be a way to secure the data, stored on the card, in case a file gets deleted, damaged, or the card itself gets damaged or list. When coping data from a Compact Flash card to a laptop, the files will also be stored on a laptop and will be ready to replace the damaged or lost files.

As seem from above, Compact Flash card backup has a number of benefits. To reap the benefits, one can download Handy Backup and use it to backup one's Compact Flash card to a Windows laptop or any PC with the right adapter.

by: Filatov Mikhael

Retrospect 7 for Windows

Your home and home office computers contain more and more personal, family, and financial data. But what happens if you inadvertently delete a file, are attacked by a virus, or your computer fails? Will you lose your family photos or the only copy of your tax returns? Can you recover your information quickly to keep your home office running smoothly? That's why EMC Dantz designed Retrospect backup and recovery software - to make it easy to protect your data and computer systems.

•Set up and run in ten minutes
•Complete protection for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux desktops and notebooks
•Fast backups
•Smart restores with unparalleled accuracy
•Full Disaster RecoveryTo learn more about Retrospect, download a printer-friendly PDF of the Retrospect 7 for Windows Home and Home Office Product Family Datasheets. To learn about the features available in Retrospect 7 for Windows, visit our home and home office editions features page.

Where to buy?

Retrospect Professional
Retrospect Disk-to-Disk

Norton Ghost 9.0

Advanced backup and recovery for your PC


Symantec’s Norton Ghost 9.0 provides advanced backup and recovery for your PC. Protect your data by making a backup of your hard drive’s contents—without restarting Windows®. Incremental backups save you time and disk space. You can even schedule backups to run automatically. Quickly restore individual files, selected folders, or the entire hard drive.

Norton Ghost 9.0 User Guide

Top 7 Reasons You Should Back Up Your Data Online!

How much is your data worth to you? In this modern electronic-age we rely more than ever on our computers to supply us with the information we need. Chances are every piece of data you might ever rely on to make an important decision has been reduced to a digital format and resides somewhere on your computer's hard drive. Improved functionality and productivity are the benefits, however, on the flipside, one wrong click, one nasty virus, one untimely power surge or unhappy employee and that data is gone forever!

Online backups (also called offsite or remote backups) are a great solution for almost any small business or individual computer user.

1. The Statistics say you should.

a. Among the companies that experience data loss, 50% never re-open and 90% are out of business within two years.

b. 20MB of accounting data takes 21 days and costs $19,000 to reproduce.

c. Causes of data loss – 42% Hardware Failure, 30% Human Error, 13% Software Corruption, 7% Computer Viruses, 5% Theft.

2. Easy. Online backups are a simple way to protect your data. Online backup services provide the software application, server space and customer service in one turnkey solution. There are no additional software applications or equipment specifications to learn. The installation and set-up is quick and painless. Your backups can be scheduled to run automatically at any time you desire. There is no media, tapes or hardware to deal with.

3. Security. Believe it or not, online backups are generally more secure than in-house backup solutions. If your computers or data are affected by natural disaster, power failure/surges, viruses, vandalism, theft, human error, etc., your in-house backup will suffer the same consequences. Another unfortunate thing about tape backups is that they are not generally encrypted, and not very secure. Almost anyone can read them and gain access to your clients, sales, prospects, notes, billing records, payroll, tax info, and anything else on your computer.

Online backups encrypt (up to 448-bit) your data before transferring it to the remote server. Most backup servers are housed in secure locations with security guards, generators and the latest state-of-the-art security technology.

4. Inexpensive. Online backups give you more “bang for the buck.” Setting up a traditional data protection plan requires software, hardware, media and the man-hours necessary to set-up and protect your data on a daily basis. Online backups combine all of these functions in one easy service for a low monthly or annual fee.

The cost? If you or your staff spends as little as 10 minutes per day running a tape backup or burning a CD, figure just the cost of labor at about $100 per month. Add on top of that, the cost of CDs, or tapes and you're spending 4 or 5 times the cost of the average online backup fee, which requires “no time” daily once your initial setup is done. You can start an online backup account for as little at $5 - $15 per month.

5. Quick File Restores. In the event you need to restore your lost data, you simply select the applicable files or volumes and with a click of the mouse all of your data is transferred to its original location. Your data is ALWAYS available 24 hours a day – 7 days a week. You can recover a single file or all of your files in a matter of minutes.

6. Peace of Mind. Knowing that your data is safe, secure and always available is enough reason to check out an online backup solution.

7. The Alternatives. You can’t afford the alternatives! Computer users spend millions of dollars annually to recover lost data. The data recovery industry is HUGE and continues to grow. Assuming that your data is even recoverable - expect it to be an expensive and time consuming ordeal. Obviously, it is best to be prepared in the first place.

by Sol Spencer

About the Author

Sol Spencer helps computer users have the peace of mind that only a secure, online backup can provide. With Safe Harbor Data, you can restore your entire computer with one download! Amazingly affordable and effective, Safe Harbor protects your data with state-of-the-art encryption. Get the peace of mind that comes with secure, online backup today for only pennies each day. http://www.safeharbordata.com

You Lost Your Data... Don't Panic!

Inability to access your data stored on the data storage device could be caused by many reasons, from those that are easy to fix to those which are completely impossible to fix. If the damage is irreversible then data loss will occur. The causes of the failure of your hard drive or CD-ROM drive could vary from a bad connection due to a loose wire (which is easily recoverable) to damage to the media itself, which could still be recoverable in many cases.

As in the medical profession, the first principle of data recovery is: "do not harm".

If you are facing a data loss situation, what not to do is very important!

• Do not power up a device that has obvious physical damage.
  

• Do not power up a device that has shown symptoms of physical failure. For example, disks that make "obvious mechanical fault noises" such as ticking or grinding, should not be repeatedly powered on and tested as it just makes them worse.
  

• Activate the write-protect switch or tab on any problem removable media such as tape cartridges and floppies. (Many good backups are overwritten during a crisis.)
  

• Do not use free software. This is very important. Free data recovery software can be extremely dangerous and ruin your chances for a successful data recovery. Many companies offer free data recovery software -- also called Do-It-Yourself (DIY) data recovery software -- available for download on their website.
  

Even the best programs only work in very specific situations. While these free tools that are available may help, they usually only help if you are encountering one of a very few specific data loss situations.

Some programs may cause further or permanent data loss. While these programs are provided with good intention, even when carefully used these utilities may cause recoverable data to be permanently lost and may cause the loss of additional data.

Anyway, there is something you CAN do; if you are having data access problems and your media has no symptoms of physical failure or damage, try and check some obvious issues before deciding if you need data recovery:

• Are the power and disk cables properly connected?
  

• Is configuration or disk information correct?
  

• Try the defective unit with a different adapter/controller interface or on a different computer.
  

• Is there an experienced technician at a local store or the company help desk that you can consult, if these steps are beyond your capabilities? (Make sure whoever is in contact with your data loss situation is fully aware that they should do nothing during their troubleshooting that will risk hurting your data.)
  

Doesn’t work? Don’t panic; if the damage occurred to the drive's electronics, it most likely could be fixed. If the damage occurred to the, for example, system areas of the disk, leaving the data zone intact, those data could be theoretically, and (in some cases) practically, recovered by a professional.

Look on the Net for data recovery companies, ask them questions, explain them your situation. In most cases they will be able to understand your problem and fix it for a fair price.

by: Emanuele Allenti

About The Author Emanuele Allenti is the owner of http://www.hard-disk-data-backup-recovery.com - a website containing tips and useful information written by experts for those interested in backup and data recovery