Get help, advice and information on all your Computers and Technology issues. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/hard.htm Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:49:05 GMT en The hard drive is known as the workhouse of the computer. Therefore, the hard drive needs periodic tuning, so that the hard drive can perform its operations smoothly and efficiently without any interruption. In order to maintain optimal health of the hard drive, the user can follow the instructions given below: First of all, look at the short-cut icons on your desktop. As we know that, it takes time for your PC to find these icons when it boots up. Therefore, turn off these icons with a swift right click or delete them if you dont need easy access to them. On the other hand, if you dont need all those pictures and individual files on the desktop, then you can start categorize them into folders. You can also delete the files that you do not use any longer along with the duplicate files. These folders eliminate the clutter on your PCs desktop. You should empty the Recycle Bin after the removal has taken place. The user can sort and delete the temporary and unused files with the help of Disk C leanup. With the help of Disk Cleanup, you can free the space on your hard drive. As a result, the hard disk can perform its operations faster and smoothly. The data on the hard drive is stored in bits and pieces, wherever space is available. When the user opens a certain file, the hard drive gathers the data from different locations where it is stored. As a result, the whirring sound comes from the hard drive. Use the Disk Defragmenter to reorganizing that scattered data on your hard drive. The benefit of Disk Defragmenter is that it shifts the files at the beginning that you use the most. In this way the load time increases and the hard disk and PC can perform more efficiently. When the user visits a new website, the system stores the content automatically in the folder of Temporary Internet files. It is also called as cache. The Temporary Internet files use valuable storage space and therefore, slow down the hard drives speed. You can delete these files and clear the cache through the tools func http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/91254_Keeping_Your_Hp_Hard_Drive_Healthy.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:48:21 GMT The workhouse of the computer is the hard disk. Therefore, it is important to know the functions and working of the hard disk. The files that we save are magnetically recorded onto the platter. The platter is placed inside the hard disk. The platters in most of the hard drives are usually mounted on a spindle. With the help of this spindle, the platter is able to spin faster and the speed can reach up to 15,000 times minute. The platter is two sided, and is mounted on a single arm which has a slider. The head can move across the surface with the help of the platter is two sided. In this way the head can read and access the data. The unit of data held by the platter is tracksinch. The track is equal to 1 concentric ring around the disk. The track is further divided into sectors, and the sector is equal to approx. 512 bytes. The saved data on the disk is referred accordingly to its sector and track. The process of data collection can be made faster by de-fragmenting the hard disk periodically. The de- fragmenting can be done with the help of Windows Disk Defragmenter, which reorganizes the scattered data on the hard drive. Once, the de-fragmentation is done, the files on the hard disk run faster and more efficiently. The de-fragmentation process shifts the files to the beginnings that are used most often. This shifting of files is done so that the hard disk can load these files immediately when they are accessed. The SATA (Serial ATA) hard drives are the next generation of ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drives. The HP SATA hard drives have been developed and designed to offer its users the best and optimum prices for the entry level servers. The HP SATA hard drive also offers its customers the affordable solutions for external storage deployments in the environments with low workload. The hard disk Cleanup The Windows Disk Cleanup application sorts through the disk and deletes unused and temporary files. In this way space can be made available on the disk which speeds up the operation http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/91057_The_Maintenance_Of_Hp_Hard_Drive.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:51:08 GMT My friend Sharon called recently to ask for my email address. Her hard drive crashed and she was in the process of rebuilding a new drive--application by application and, it would seem, one email address at a time. Everything on her old drive was gone, including the photos from her recent vacation. Unfortunately, the backups she had been doing so religiously every night contained nothing. No one really expects a disk crash but drive failures do happenand often at the most inconvenient times. In addition to the possible loss of important data files, a disk crash can leave you with the daunting task of having to replace the dead drive and reinstall your operating system and all of your applications. While youre doing thisassuming you know how to do this, your computer remains nonfunctional. While this rebuilding time can range from mildly annoying to extremely aggravating for a home computer user, it can bring a computer-dependent small business, or even a large office, to a virtual standsti ll. Whatever you use your computer for, having a quick and easy-to-restore backup can eliminate both the distress and the expense of the prolonged downtime normally associated with a hard drive failure. When youre restoring from a drive failure, the best kind of backup to have is an image backup. Most backup software products are designed to provide a way to backup and restore individual files. There are, however, some backup software applications that make it possible to backup your entire drive. A complete drive backup is called an image backup or image copy. Some full-featured backup software products will provide both image backup and individual file backup. They allow you to make an exact image copy of your drive and then supplement this with regular (daily, weekly, etc.) file backups. This is useful because, while some files on your hard drive change frequently, many files hardly ever change and need to be updated only rarely if ever at all. An image copy is a drive to drive copy. In ord http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/90094_Avoiding_Disaster_When_Your_Hard_Drive_Fails.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:45:24 GMT When you delete whatever type of file from your computer, the file immediately goes to your Recycle Bin. When you empty the contents of your Recycle Bin, the contents go into oblivion. The typical assumption here is that the files have been completely deleted from your computer. This is actually an assumption that would make sense because you are emptying out the contents of your Recycle Bin after all. however, this is not the scenario that takes place at all. yes, the files are deleted from your system, and the physical files can no longer be seen in the folder where they once were found. However, the memory space that were once assigned to them are still in existence. With the use of topnotch software applications and programs, any hacker can retrieve the contents of those deleted files via the memory space that was once occupied by these files. This is bad news, especially when the files you deleted contain sensitive or classified information of any sort. This is precisely why all computer users have to go that extra mile in making sure proper deletion is implemented. And this extra mile can be reached when you wipe the hard drive of your system. We all know that the hard drive is the main drive that acts as the storage area for all files that you would ever create in your system. Thus, if there is one particular drive to deal with, it should be the hard drive. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/84411_Importance_Of_Wipe_Hard_Drive_Applications.html Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:21:08 GMT Computers and their accompanying technologies have definitely revolutionized many aspects of human endeavor. With their amazing capabilities for handling and processing large amounts of information in far less time than humans could have, computers have made many tasks faster and easier. Their big advantages have led to them being ubiquitous in the modern world. Computers are now in use almost everywhere, handling many different types of data. They also now deal with private data as well as confidential data that need to be kept secure. Many security measures exist to protect digital information. The most old-fashioned of course is to physically keep the computers under lock and key. But this approach is neither foolproof nor always possible to take. There also exist various software security measures that range from simple password protection to sophisticated encryption systems. But again, these measures are not foolproof, and some of the better systems might be too work-intensive to use for low- to medium-security applications. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/76896_Why_And_How_To_Wipe_A_Hard_Disk.html Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:14:21 GMT Perhaps you are already aware of the fact that the data on your computer can be stored in many different ways, such as CDs, removable disks or DVDs and so on. I may also agree with the fact that all machines reach a point where they crash, with or without any obvious reasons. Floods, fires or human mistakes can be among them, if you were looking for actual examples! Loss of data is one of the major negative effects these break downs can cause, therefore one must try to prevent them as much as possible. You may always simply want to delete a file, but you do it on another one by mistake. On the other hand, the hard drive may fail in an attempt to open a file, or the whole operating system can crash and leave you with nothing! http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/75864_The_Procedure_Of_Recovering_The_Data_Stored_In_Hard_Disk.html Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:05:05 GMT It can be an advocacy but usually, companies that dispose old computers when they buy new units often donate the equipments to institutions and to some people who need personal computers. This is a widely acceptable practice. But are you ready to give much more than the worth of the personal computer you are donating? You might not be fully aware of it but when you are giving your old personal computer to other people, you are also giving the recipient the opportunity to access your old files and information saved previously on the hard disk. Even if you have deleted the files in the Windows operating system and in the Recycle Bin, there would always be traces of the deleted file somewhere within the hard drive of the computer. The simple process of deletion would only remove the shortcuts to the files. In actuality, the files are still there, though you could hardly trace them. But imagine if in the long process of donating, the personal computer goes to the possession of an expert who could be able to restore and retrieve the deleted files. There are many recovery and restoration software available in the market that could facilitate instant retrieval of deleted files. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/74267_How_Computer_Programs_That_Wipe_Hard_Drive_Work.html Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:23:48 GMT According to most people, there are two types of hard drives: those that have failed and those that will fail. But for folks who use Data Recovery Services, there is a third type of hard drive: one that does not fail. A hard drive is the most vulnerable part of a computer; it has moving gears and is hence prone to wear and tear. So when you need hard disk data recovery, you must deeply consider the service and practice of the various repair companies in your area. A company that has been around the block more than a few times is ideal. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/72425_Data_Recovery_Services_What_To_Do_When_Your_Hard_Drive_Fails.html Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:11:45 GMT Your computers data is at risk. Whether you use a Mac or a PC, viruses, power surges, hackers, human error, natural disasters, hardware failures, and more are real everyday threats. To keep your data safe and sound, you will first need to back up your files on a regular basis. Secondly, when hard drive failure does occur, data recovery is the only solution. Of course it is ideal to back up data and avoid the complicated process that is data recovery altogether, but even when you take the necessary steps to prepare for hard drive damage, you might run into problems. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/72423_Data_Recovery_Procedures_For_Hard_Drives.html Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:50:31 GMT As computers become increasingly popular for use in almost every aspect of human endeavor, the question of data security also becomes important. That is, with the rise of computers also comes the rise of digital storage of information, since it is in this digital form that they can be accessed by computers. Digital storage comes in the form of compact discs, flash memory devices, and hard disk drives (which are currently the standard and usually are built into most computer setups). Now, physically securing the digital storage devices in question is of course an option. However this may not always be possible. For instance, these devices may be in regular use by many different people, and restricting access would just become counterproductive. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/72159_Why_Wipe_Hard_Drive_Space_-_Better_Ways_To_Do_It.html Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:21:10 GMT A hard drive wipe refers to a secure deletion procedure that leaves no traces of the data that used to be stored on the wiped hard drive. This is usually performed using specialized software programs designed for this purpose. It should be noted that a hard drive wipe is different from and much more secure than simply deleting all the files that are on a hard drive. This is because when a file is deleted, it is not really entirely removed from the hard disk. What actually happens is that the file is simply marked as having been deleted, and the hard disk space that it occupies is marked as being ready for use. So the file is no longer listed in its directories. Also, the space in which a deleted file is contained may in fact be overwritten by new data being put into the hard disk. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/70825_What_Happens_During_A_Hard_Drive_Wipe.html Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:08:05 GMT When you delete a file from your hard disk, it may seem as if it is gone forever. In truth, however, this is not the case. The seemingly permanent process of file deletion actually leaves the file data still on the hard disk. When a file is deleted, it is simply marked deleted, and the space that it occupies on the disk is accordingly marked ready for use. Hence, it may be overwritten when more disk space is required, but this is by no means certain, unless the entire hard disk is filled with data. Now, the actual data that make up the file is still on the hard disk, even after deletion. This makes it available for recovery, usually done using specially designed data recovery programs. MSDOS, in fact, has a built-in UNDELETE command which may recover recently deleted files. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/70777_Why_Bother_To_Wipe_Hard_Disk_Drives.html Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:24:37 GMT Internal hard drives. External hard drives. Floppies. CDs. DVDs. They are all great for storing data--until they fail. Nothing is certain in life, and there is no certainty that the means by which you have been storing your important data will not become damaged and require data recovery. You may even be the cause of your lost data, by doing some accidental deleting. If the data which you are trying to retrieve is stored on an external hard drive, however, the recovery process and can range from simple to highly complicated. But external hard drive data recovery, for the most part, is similar to that used for retrieving lost files no matter where they were originally stored. http://advice-and.info/Computers-and-Technology/66443_External_Hard_Drive_Data_Recovery_Not_So_Different.html Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:34:01 GMT