Hard Drive Recovery Case Study: Computer Overheating

Overheating is a serious problem for people, cars and especially computers and hard drives. In my post Speed Kills With Hard Drives Its Heat, I talk about how heat can be very bad for hard drives. Today we are going to look at the world outside of the computer. You would be amazed at how many hard drive recovery cases we get that are heat related. It doesn’t matter if its a laptop hard drive, desktop, external or a mini drive, they are all susceptible to heat.

Heat Related Hard Drive Recovery

With a desktop computer you can add fans inside the box as well as right on the hard drive itself. You have no such luxury with laptop computers. The thing to do with a notebook is to keep the air flowing around it. Don’t use it while it is laying on a bed for example. There are laptop fans that you can buy for your desk if you have a dedicated workstation for your notebook. With the powerful options now available in laptops more and more people are using them as their primary computers, even companies. If a notebook is your main machine, keep it cool and avoid overheating.

For those of us that need the computing power that you can only get from a desktop, we do have options for keeping the system cool. Most new computers have advanced cooling options and these are just as important as duel core processors and gigs of RAM. Spend the extra dough and get as much cooling as you can when you configure your new computer.

The picture below is a typical computer cabinet desk combo. While it looks good and keep everything organized, it is a computer killer.

By squeezing your computer into a tight space you are stopping any air flow. Computers, like people need to breathe and stay cool. If you are looking at computer desks or furniture, make sure your computer has plenty of breathing room and air flow.  Heat is a major cause of hard drive recovery, so do everything you can to keep your drive and computer cool.

Novell NWFS File Recovery

Novell NWFS and system markers

File recovery for Novell can be at best rewarding, at worst tedious, however, the file system and its components lends itself to a more robust data recovery theater.

One of the first things that are necessary is to make sure that the file system is in alignment and the system entries are intact.   For every NWFS partition you will find the following components.

 1. A beginning of partition marker         “Nw_PaRtItIon”.          Offset 0

2. A backup of the partition table.                                             Offset 1

3. First HotFix marker                          “HotFix00″                   Offset 32

4. First Mirror marker                           “Mirror00″                   Offset 33

5. Second HotFix marker                     “HotFix00″                   Offset 64

6. Second Mirror marker                      “Mirror00″                   Offset 65

7. Third HotFix marker                        ”HotFix00″                   Offset 96

8. Third Mirror marker                         “Mirror00″                   Offset 97

9. Fourth HotFix marker                       “HotFix00″                   Offset 128

10. Fourth Mirror marker                     “Mirror00″                   Offset 129

11. Volume Definition Table                  “Netware Volumes”      Offset (32 + size of Hotfix)

 Using WinHex as your sector editor it is a simple task to see if these components are where they are supposed to be.  If they are then the next step is to find the Directory Entry Table (DET).   The DET is like a MFT for NTFS in as much as it holds the placement of every file in the system.  Unlike the MFT, there are multiple copies of the DET and therefore a higher chance of recovery exists.

NWFS is not used very much anymore.  Novell went to NSS in its 6.x series of OS, and NWFS went by the wayside.  It’s too bad since MWFS is fast, and easy to recover from.

File Undelete When Overwritten

Overwriting a file, can I get it back?

 

In a recent data loss nightmare I had a customer call and state that they had a file on a jump drive, as well as a copy on the desktop. They used the process of moving the most current file to the jump drive to get the excel file back and forth from work. In a most unfortunate turn of events the customer had accidentally copied the OLDER version over the newer version.

 

His question to me was if we had some kind of software that would help him recover the file. The answer is no, there is no software that can fix this problem; once you overwrite a file it is gone. All of the information we would use to get to the file has been over written with the older file. There are a couple exceptions to this.

 

One would be QuickBooks files; Intuit may be able to still harvest some data from your drive. Another situation is a large data base file, especially if the one you copy over it is much smaller, a data recovery company like ours may be able to pull records off. For the most part though I would recommend you don’t OVERWRITE files when copy from one media to another just # them and once you are sure you have the right data delete the previous version. This tip will have a ton of headaches.

DTI In The News

DTI Data Recovery’s owner Dave Mohyla was in the news again providing help to the Virginia State Police when they sought his advice concerning the possibilities of recovering data from a suspects hard drive that was thrown into a duck pond. DTI has extensive experience with water damaged hard drives and hard drive recovery of flooded disks. During our relief efforts with Hurricane Katrina victims we had to create a special lab environment just for water damaged hard drives.

You can read the whole story at the Roanoke Times website. Dave goes on to explain how we recover data from water damaged hard drives and recommends that the police keep the drive submersed until we can get out hands on it. Since DTI is a certified forensic data recovery company with unsurpassed experience at water damaged hard drive recovery, who else are they gonna call?

If you are having hard disk problems than give us a call, no one has a better hard drive recovery success rate than DTI.

24 Hour Hard Drive Recovery & Server/RAID Recovery Hotline:
Toll Free 1-866-438-6932 or direct 1-727-345-9665.

Extended Software Support:
8 AM to 11 PM EST 7days a week!

DTI Data Tech Support AKA Jacqui Best

Running DTI Data’s tech support for software is more like an adventure than a job. I get to speak to a lot of people every day, and they are always very nice. I like being able to help people recover their data and teach them how to use our software. I get a lot of questions, but one really sticks out.

So the question would be what is the most asked question I get? And the winner is “Where are you located?” the answer is always, “Right here in Florida.” For the longest time I thought the customers were just being friendly, but recently I have found they are really trying to find out if I am outsourced tech support or not.

Be assured that with the specialization of this field you will always get live tech support, from someone that works for DTI. Add that to the fact that about 85 percent of the time you will be talking directly to me no matter when you call for support, it allows for us to build a real relationship with our customers.

About me?

Well I have been in the IT field for 17 years (yes actually working it). I am old school, I get all misty when I think about playing lemmings on my Atari ST, and long for the days of BBSing. I have been supporting this coder’s line of software for about 10 years. It takes a special talent to deal with people who have lost their data all day.

For those of you who want to “see” who you are talking to!

DTI DATA Recovery Software Line and Windows Vista Compatibility

We have been getting a lot of calls from people wanting to know if our Data Recovery Software is compatible with Windows Vista. I wanted to let our customers know that our Recover It All Professional, DART XP, and DART File Undelete are all Vista compatible.

Being a data recovery company, we feel that this form of data recovery software should not be installed. It sort of defeats us telling you not to install data recovery software on the affected drive and then forcing you to do so.

Safely Run Data Recovery Software on Vista

In order to gain proper access to your drives with our data recovery software you need to right click on the executable and “Run As Administrator” even if you are logged in as the admin. It is a function of Vista that will not allow full low level access to the hard drives unless you do this. I hope this clears up any confusion about our data recovery software and its compatibility with Vista.

For a list of our products, please visit our data recovery software page.

Hard Drive Recovery Case Study: Power Failure Surge Brown Out

One of the most common causes of hard drive failure surround power problems. Anything from power outages to electrical surges can cause major problems for both computers and hard drives. Hard drive recovery from electrical issues requires special tools and training. In the good old days all you had to do was swap the pcb board on the back of the hard drive and you were good to go. Hard drives these days require more advanced techniques to solve electronic hard drive failures.

Hard Drive Recovery From Power Surges

When a computer is subjected to a power surge many bad things can happen. The first target is the power supply. Not able to sustain more voltage than it was designed for, the internal electronics will fry. While any boards that are plugged into the motherboard are likely victims, devices that are plugged directly into the power supply usually are the worst hit by a surge. When a surged disk comes in for hard drive recovery often times the electronics are fused together making the pcb board unusable. The hard part is to isolate those electronics and replace the chipsets to not only power up the drive motor, but to obtain communication between the electronics and the platters.

It is almost impossible to replace pcb boards due to the proprietary microcode and encryption that is prevalent on newer drives. That means that the hard drive recovery process is going to require advanced electronic work including soldering and un-soldering effected chips.

The best way for you to avoid this type of failure is to purchase a solid surge suppressor. There are plenty of power strips for sale that offer surge suppression, but you have to be careful to buy one that can handle at least 3800 joules.

Hard Drive Recovery Power Outages Failures Brown Outs

Almost as bad as a surge. a power failure can also cause quite a bit of damage to both your computer and your hard drive. A computer that gets shut down without proper sequencing can cause damage not only to the mechanical hard drive, but to the data on that disk. Most programs can’t restore from a dirty shutdown, or be rebuilt from a power outage. Another physical hard drive recovery issue from power outages is within the electronics within the disk. Power supplies send out an expected amount of voltage to the hard drive. Insufficient amount of power can cause the motor speed to fluctuate and sectors to be damaged.

A sudden stoppage of the hard drive without proper shut down could cause the heads to crash on the platters which damages the heads or worse, scratches the platters. This will lead to a clicking hard drive and data loss.

The best thing you can do is to buy a battery backup. A 600W 1 hour battery backup will keep your computer and monitor running long enough for you to institute proper shutdown. This can save you a lot of heartache and ultimately hard drive recovery!

CRM Software AIMpromote

Running an online business can be a challenge if your company doesn’t have solid crm software. Customer Relationship Management Software can not only help you manage and improve lead conversion, but give your company invaluable business intelligence. Since we manage thousands of customers a day and even more quotes, we needed to find a solution that suited our unique business model. I thought I would share with you the company that gave us the best options for CRM.

On Demand CRM Software Lead Handling

Much like our business model, AIMpromote lets you try their lead management and CRM services before you buy. This is a huge advantage when searching for an easy to integrate CRM software solution. For those of you not familiar with CRM and what it can do for your business here is a link to WikiPedia’s CRM page. For one of the best solutions available on the web visit AIMpromote’s CRM  page.

When choosing business tools it is important to find the solution that not only best suites your needs but also your budget. Some of the best features of AIMpromote are:

• Lead Management
• Reporting
• User Management and Authentication
• Sales Force Automation
• Website Integration and Internet Marketing
• Support and Consultation

They really have an edge over their competitors in both services and pricing. You will be able to seamlessly integrate their powerful tools into your sales force, and easily manage leads and gather important business intelligence. Another powerful aspect of AIMpromote’s CRM Software is the reporting features which are hands down the best in the business. You will be able to track:

• Campaign Performance
• Return on Investment (ROI)
• Return on Advertising Spent (ROAS)
• Gross Profit
• Net Profit
• Campaign Cost
• Revenue from Leads
• Revenue from E-commerce Sales 
• Call Center Performance
• Real-time Reporting
• Activity Logging
• Duplicate Lead Removal 

No other company that offers lead management and CRM software offers that type of reporting in their base package. If you are straining to keep up with your growing business and have a sales force that is overwhelmed, then I suggest you call AIMpromote right away and give their CRM and lead handling on demand software a shot. They have an extensive testimonials page of business success stories. That and their fully featured 14 day trial is what swayed us, give AIMpromote a call today 1-888-251-4635 and put your business on the path to success!

Web Site Hosting

If you operate an online business, the only thing more important than your website is the web site hosting company you choose! The problem that many of us face is figuring out which company to use to host your web site. While searching the Internet I came across a great site that has tons of information to help you find the right web hosting company.

Web Site Hosting Information

There are literally millions of web hosting providers to choose from that advertise online. It is hard to figure out which is the best web site hosting company for your needs. Web Site Hosting Information is a great place to start your search for the best web site hosting company. They offer pertinent information to help you choose the hosting service that is right for your situation.

Web Site Hosting Information has everything you need to find the best solution to fit your specific needs and your budget. With concise and clear articles they can help you find the best situation from single site hosting to dedicated servers. They even explain how to set your self up as a reseller and make money by reselling web site hosting services.

One aspect of the site that I found very helpful is their explanation of the different types of domain names, and how to choose a domain name, set it up, etc. This is an often overlooked part of a company’s Internet strategy and Web Site Hosting Information really dishes out good information that helps you not only choose the best hosting company, but how to set up a domain name, protect it and prepare to launch your website.

If you are in the market for web site hosting, than do yourself a favor and visit the ultimate informational portal about hosts: Web Site Hosting Information

Undelete Lost Files With DART File Recovery

We have all deleted a file by accident. When you empty the recycle bin after deleting a file, you will need undelete data recovery software to restore your data. DTI was one of the first data recovery companies to create a program made just for data undelete. Called Fast File Undelete, it could be run from a floppy disk and was very powerful. Fast File Undelete had many revisions over the years each one improving its undelete capabilities.

When a file is deleted, the actual sectors on the hard drive where the file existed remain unchanged until another file needs that space. The only thing deleted is the header information or the marker. Fast File Undelete is able to get that file back by using a powerful scanning tool. It could also rebuild certain types of file types making it the most popular undelete program for years.

Undelete Data In XP or Windows Vista

With the arrival of Windows Vista and the popularity of XP, DTI’s programmers decided to focus on the NTFS file system and make an undelete software focused on XP, Server and Vista. The result is DART Undelete one of the most powerful tools ever created for data recovery.

Have you accidentally deleted important files from your hard drive, or your hard drive became corrupted, or you mistakenly formatted your drive losing all or some of your important data, files, and folders?
Download the fully functional demo of DART Undelete and SEE your lost files before you buy!

DART Undelete Data Recovery Software uses read-only access and never writes any information on the hard drive it is recovering data from. It’s strongly recommended to never install any programs including Data Recovery Software, that can overwrite the original files that you are trying to undelete. Call us if you have any questions about DART Undelete!24 Hour Hard Drive Recovery & Server/RAID Recovery Hotline:
Toll Free 1-866-438-6932 or direct 1-727-345-9665.

Extended Software Support:
8 AM to 11 PM EST 7days a week!