Computer Diagnostics

The diagnostics that are associated with computers can help to identify any problem or failure that computers show when they are having problems.  Diagnostics are used to test out the computer system, which includes both the BIOS and memory, software, and even the hardware that is attached to the computer.

The most common types of problems will occur when your computer is down to very low resources, which can either be a low amount of RAM, or a low disk space.  These conditions are very common, and generally result in your computer running very slow.  This can easily be fixed, all you have to do is defrag your hard drive, and get rid of some programs and files that you no longer use or need.

Almost all types of computer diagnostic software can find and fix just about any problem that you are having.  It normally starts off with a BIOS examination, and goes on from there.  PC diagnostics
software can determine a lot from the BIOS, from the common settings to those that have a major impact on both boot up and performance.

No matter what you do, you should never modify or tamper with the BIOS settings, as it can lead to serious problems.  If you do plan to modify or mess with your BIOS, you should always create a backup first, just in case something goes wrong.  The BIOS settings can be very tricky, although they are responsible for a lot to do with your computer.  If you have never been in the BIOS before, you really shouldn’t be modifying anything inside of it.

Depending on the diagnostics program that you are using, there will be several different features available.  Right now, two of the most popular are Norton System works and PC Doctor.  Both of these programs offer full diagnostics software, good for fixing just about any software related computer program you can imagine.  

Once you run the program, you’ll be able to select the diagnostic test that you are planning to run.  Some offer you a full system scan, which will scan your entire computer and then display any problems that you having.  After displaying any problems, the software will normally give you an option to go ahead and fix it.  As long as the problem is nothing serious, the diagnostic software can generally fix it.

The more complicated problems, such as hardware failures or hard drive crashes, are a totally different story.  They will require a technician who is very experienced, that can rebuild the hardware.  Diagnostic software can report hardware problems to you, although most of the time it is unable to fix it.

There are other computer diagnostic software that you run after starting the computer or rebooting, that will check everything from BIOS.  These types are great, although the types such as Norton and PC Doctor are by far superior.  They offer far more features, including defragment, cache cleaner, and the option to delete your temporary Internet files.  These features are great to have, especially if you aren’t the technical type.

For more reasons than one, computer diagnostic software is the ideal way to find and prevent problems with your computer.  Norton System works offers you Ghost as well, which is the perfect way to back up your data.  You can back up certain files, or just go ahead and back up your entire hard drive.  System works and Ghost are very easy to use, even if you are completely new to computers.  For everything they offer you - computer diagnostic programs are the ideal way to prevent problems before they happen.

Cooling Your Hard Drive

For several different reasons, storage is a very important part of a computer.  These days, computers do far more than they ever have in the past.  From businesses to family photo’s, storage is the ideal way to keep documents on your computer.  The most popular method of storage is the hard disk drive, which we all count on for keeping our data safe.

Even though the hard drive stores data, it isn’t perfect by any means.  Hard drive failure is very common with all computers, with no real way to prevent it.  Although there are several different reasons why a hard drive can fail, the most common is overheating.  Viruses and crashes are common as well, along with theft and accidental deletion.

With the older style and mechanics of hard drives, the RPM speed was low, meaning that the drives wouldn’t overheat.  The hard drives we use now days, have speeds between 7,200 and 10,000 RPM, meaning that they can get quite hot when they start working.  Computers of this day and age come with fans to cool everything down, with most hard drives including temperature sensors as well, so you can keep track of just how hot your hard drive becomes.

With hard drives today, overheating is a very common problem.  The faster hard drives come with speeds of 10,000 RPM, which can make the temperature soar above 70 degrees F, really heating things up inside the drive.  The mechanics on the inside are built to withstand the heat, although if things become too hot, you’ll encounter problems.  If a drive becomes too hot and ends up losing the data, it may be next to impossible to retrieve the information - no matter how good your data recovery specialists may be.

One area that suffers from the drive overheating is the platters, which are magnetic media.  Platters are what carry the data throughout the hard drive.  Platters are constructed from optical glass, aluminum, or ceramic and normally coated with a layer of magnetic material.  Once the hard drive begins to heat up, the platters will start to expand, which changes their size.  When this happens, the magnetic surface on the platters will get destroyed, which results in a loss of data.  If the physical area of the platters are damaged, it will result in unreadable sectors.

Other areas of the hard drive that can be damaged due to overheating are the read and write heads, head actuator, and the controller chip.  Hard drives are very sophisticated pieces of hardware, and can’t handle overheating.  The read and write heads are a common example, as they can easily render the drive useless if they become damaged.  If they get too hot, they don’t make any contact with media, which pretty much stops the flow of transfer from information to the computer.

To prevent your hard drive from overheating, you should always make sure that it is cooled properly and well ventilated.  You can always get additional fans and coolers, which will improve both ventilation and the flow of air in your computer.  You can buy fans and coolers at very affordable prices, which makes them an ideal investment for keeping your hard drive or hard drives cool.

You can also get software that monitors the temperature of your hard drive as well.  Whether it’s software, or additional fans, you should always ensure that your hard drives are kept cool.  By keeping them cool, you’ll greatly reduce the amount of crashes.  You’ll also increase the stability of your hard drive as well, which will make your entire computer perform much better.

Data Recovery Procedures

No matter who you are, where you work, or what type of computer you use - your computer data is always as risk.  With viruses, power surges, thunderstorms, natural disasters, human mistakes, and hackers around, the threats are always real.  To be on the safe side, you’ll need to back up your files and keep doing it on a regular basis.  In the event of your hard drive failing, you’ll need data recovery - which is the only option available.

Before you travel down that long road of data recovery, there are some things to keep in mind.  If you are using your computer and a program starts to act funny, you should shut things down immediately.  You may also hear some very odd sounds as well, which is the first sign that your hard driving is working overtime.  If you shut your computer down immediately at this point, you may prevent data loss from happening.  If you don’t shut your computer down and allow the failing hard drive to continue running, it is only a matter of time before it destroys itself - which will ultimately result in the loss of data.

If this happens, and you lose all of your data, you should never try to fix the hard drive yourself unless you know exactly what to do.  At this stage, professional data recovery services aren’t just a luxury - they are something you must have.  The process for data recovery is time consuming, and requires both tools and a clean work environment.  Trying to repair a hard drive on your own is very challenging, and could end up making matters far worse if you don’t know what you are doing.

Even though there are software out there for data recovery, you shouldn’t use them unless you know what you are doing.  With most hard drive problems being very intricate, software can do more harm than good.  Even though companies may claim that their software will fix the problem and, retrieve your data, you should always use caution and simply avoid the use of do it yourself software.

To be on the safe side with your hard drive and retrieve the data that you lost, you should always turn to a local data recovery service.  This way, you’ll know that your hard drive is in good hands and it will be fixed the right way.  Professional services can fix nearly any hard drive problem, and recover any type of data.  In some cases, your hard drive may be beyond repair, even for professional data recovery specialists.  If this happens, you should be prepared to buy a new hard drive - and count your blessings that you thought to back up your data in advance.

Dealing With The Loss Of Data

Data loss is something that can be very traumatic.  Whether it’s a business with important files and documents, or an individual with precious pictures and videos, losing data can be a very traumatic and stressful situation.  If you’ve never experienced hard drive failure or losing data before, it can indeed be a situation where you find yourself wondering what to do.

No matter what you happens, you shouldn’t stress out or let the situation get the best of you.  Although computers are great to have and hard drives work very well for storage, they are both machinery and are bound to fail at some point in time.  No matter how sophisticated hard drives get, they will never be able to completely avoid crashes or failure.

In most cases, your data can be recovered, which is always good news.  When your hard drive first crashes or you notice that your data is missing, you should immediately take it to a local specialist.  The specialist will be able to evaluate your hard drive, find out what the problem is, and then tell you.  The evaluation process could take anywhere from 1 day to a couple of weeks, so you should always prepare yourself for anything.

Once the hard drive has been evaluated, they will go over pricing with you and tell you what options you have.  At this point, you can decide if you want to go with their offer, or how you want to proceed.  Keep in mind that this can be very costly, although at this point it may very well be the only chance you have for recovering your data.

The smartest way to avoid data recovery altogether, is to create a backup of your files and keep backing them up.  Companies and those who do their work with computers should always back things up at least once a day.  This way, if your hard drive happens to crash or you lose all of your data, you’ll have the back up files safe and sound.  Then, when you take your hard drive to a specialist to be recovered, you’ll have the files to keep on working.  Also, at this point, you can choose whether or not you want to have the hard drive recovered, or just scrap it and get a new one - as you’ll have all the files backed up and ready to use.

In the event of data loss or hard drive failure, you should always remain calm and know that there are options out there to help you recover your data.  If you’ve been backing up your information, you won’t need to worry near as much.  From backing up your data to data recovery specialists - you’ll have the options you need to keep your sanity and recover your lost data.

External Hard Drive Recovery

you can store your computer data in several different ways.  Data can be stored on removable disks, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and other types of media.  Even though there are several ways that you can store your data, at some point in time the electronic or mechanical device is bound to break down, resulting in a loss of data.  Even though the device may work good for years, it can always break down when you least expect it, with no way to avoid it.

Hard drives are the most common way to store data, although they are mechanical devices and can break down or crash at any time.  When they crash, you’ll normally lose all of your data, which can put you in quite a bind.  To be on the safe side and keep yourself protected, you should always have a backup plan, such as an external hard drive.

An external hard drive is very handy to have around.  You can store any type of file on it, including music and pictures.  Most people use them for videos, as they can store a lot of videos.  You can get them in many different sizes, going as high as 500 GB.  If you have a lot of video on your computer that is taking up a lot of much needed space, you can easily transfer it to an external hard drive and free up some of your space.

On the data recovery side of things, external hard drives are a great solution.  You can back up your entire hard drive on them, even a mirror image.  Most external drives are Fire Wire or USB compatible and will work with most computers.  To use an external drive all you need to do is connect it to your computer.  Then, using the software that came with the device, you can begin to transfer your data and files.

If you have a big hard drive, you’ll want to get a bigger external hard drive.  If you are transferring your entire internal hard drive to the external drive, it may take you a few minutes.  You can also add files and such along the way as well, if you get newer files to add.  Backing up your entire hard drive to an external drive is a very smart idea, especially if your area gets a lot of electrical storms.

Once you have backed up all of your data to an external hard drive, you can rest assured that your information will be there when you need it.  External drives don’t crash, for the simple fact that they aren’t in use until you need them.  They will last you many years as well, which makes them great for pictures and other precious files.  If you own a business, you may find them to the best way to store your business documents and other files that relate to your company.

All in all, external hard drives are the perfect way to create a back up of your data.  Once you have your data backed up, you’ll be ready for anything that happens to your internal hard drive.  In the event of a crash, you can use your external hard drive and transfer the data back to your hard drive, and be back up and running in no time at all.  External hard drives take all of the guess work out of the data recovery process - and may also save you the trouble of having to send your hard drive off to be repaired.