Data Loss Disasters
Posted on December 1st, 2006 by Gary Petersen
Ontrack DataRecovery has posted their annual top ten list of the worst data recovery disasters from which they were able to recover data. The list is always entertaining to read.
If you don’t have a regular backup strategy that is developed, implemented, and being regularly executed, you really need one. I had a hard drive crash several years ago and lost a ton of data, including the computer bulletin board system I was running at the time. I’m by no means as good at backing data up as I need to be, but I do a decent enough job at it that the losses would be minimal, should that happen again.
Thanks to LockerGnome for pointing out the article.
09-Nov-2007 Update: Updated the linked URL.
Filed under: General
A couple of years ago I bought a Western Digital external USB 2.0 hard drive that came with backup software. I attached it to a PC that’s primarily for the kids and installed a second large HD in it. We store all our data on that second HD on that PC from our 2 laptops through a wireless network. I even have a back up plugin for MS Outlook that copies our PST files from the laptops to that drive.
Each night, the software runs and backup what ever has changed from the second internal HD. I’ve recovered several files that would have otherwise been lost forever. The other day my wife took some pictures for a school project, uploaded them in the evening and printed them in the morning. She then deleted the files. Our daughter’s printouts got damaged and we needed to reprint them. Even though the files had on;y bee on the HD for less than 12 hours, I was able to recover them and we printed new copies.
The cost of the internal and external drives together was less than $250, money well spent.