Category Archives: Data Recovery

Data Management: Backup Strategies That Work

Posted on by
Reply

With cyber threats becoming a common phenomenon ensuring your data is safe and secure takes highest priority. With the right backup and recovery strategy in place you can make sure the information stored in your PC is kept private and well-protected.

Why Backup your Files

Backing up files is a virtual prerequisite to ensuring that any critical information remains secure in the event of a hard drive crash or a software failure. Duplicating important documents and media files can save a great deal of time and effort spent retrieving lost information. A number of PC mishaps that result in data loss ranging from hard drive corruption to unanticipated power shutdowns. Storing copies of files removes dependency on any one specific storage device while still allowing access to vital information when the primary memory is unavailable or non-functional.

Establish a Backup Plan

If data security is your prime concern, it makes sense to put in place an effective data backup schedule that will make sure you are able to manage a hardware crisis. To begin with, identify individual files to be duplicated such as sensitive business literature or media files including personal photos, videos and MP3. When relegating files to be copied, be sure to create a directory structure that is well-defined yet easily accessed. Establishing a backup routine involves making one-time copies of music files and photos, as also creating a schedule to duplicate files that are frequently modified. For instance, you may want to save business-related spreadsheets and reports or even backup work emails for reference at a later date. You could even copy zipped versions of software installation files, which can be particularly useful if you travel often.

Permanent link to this post (281 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

Clear Dictation for Your Digital Voice Recorder

Posted on by
Reply

There are many reasons for using a digital voice recorder. Voice recorders are an extremely useful piece of equipment, particularly if you have a busy job role or an active life. Voice recorders allow you to save time by audio recording what you wish to write rather than spending time writing it down. Often this audio recording can be passed to somebody else, such as a secretary, to be typed up or by running the recording through Dragon Naturally Speaking – saving you time by not typing this up yourself. Digital Voice recorders also give you the opportunity to record information on the spot. It may not always be possible to type up your thoughts or to write down every single word that your lecturer is saying to you, but with an audio recorder it is possible to accurately keep a record of the information you need.

When using a voice recorder, it is crucial that the information you are recording is done so accurately and clearly. There is nothing worse than returning to that important interview or trying to listen to the letter that you asked your secretary to type, and finding that it is mumbled, quiet and unclear. One of the best things you can do is to spend your time looking at the best audio recorders to invest in. Good quality voice recorders such as the Olympus DS-5000 or LS-20M have accurate settings and a good audio range, meaning that your information will be accurately recorded. Spend some time working with your voice recorder to ensure that all the settings are correctly adjusted and at their optimal levels. This will mean that the audio range of your recorder is able to pick up the sounds required with a good clarity.

Permanent link to this post (294 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

PC Backup Services Software

Posted on by
Reply

Backing up your information is important, especially if you have sensitive information saved on your hard drive. PC backup services ensure that your information is saved frequently. These services save your data in a location where you can access it from any drive in the event that it is lost. If you lose access to your hard drive suddenly, you should always have a recent backup available.

The most user-friendly services will run quietly in the background. Instead of bogging down the system with heavy backup activity, they run non-intrusively and quickly to keep user productivity high and system usage low. They are fast to install and have a simple configuration that requires only a few easy steps. However, their simplicity does not sacrifice functionality.

These same services will back up information more efficiently than heavy backup services. Data de-duplication functionality prevents the same data from being backed up multiple times, ensuring that your storage and bandwidth stays down by up to ninety percent. This saves money by costing less in monthly bandwidth fees. It also ensures that you will not slow down your computer by backing up unnecessary information.

Once the data is backed up, it becomes remotely accessible. It can be accessed from the same drive it was uploaded from or any other hard drive with internet access. You can also access your backups from any mobile or smart-phone. Additionally, you can have your backups stored on a DVD if you prefer hard media storage.

Permanent link to this post (248 words, estimated 1:0 mins reading time)

A Self-Publisher’s Guide to Computer Data Backup

Posted on by
Reply

Protecting your computer’s data files is something every self-publisher must know about and deal with before it is too late. It is not a complicated or expensive process. It can be as simple as having an external hard drive and using cloud storage. No special knowledge or fancy equipment is needed. And, the process is very easy to automate. It is essential that you keep the back-up process simple and automatic. It is also essential to create multiple copies, on-site, and off-site. Here is a run-down of how we do this in our office.

Using External Hard Drives For Data Backup

This is the most basic and easiest way to protect your data that is located on your internal hard drive. A brand-name 3TB hard drive is now $119. Make sure that you purchase a hard drive larger than you currently need. But don’t overbuy. Right now this 3TB has a good price. As time goes on, the larger hard drives will drop in price too. Another reason not to over-buy is that hard drives don’t last forever. Purchase only what you need now, and then upgrade with a newer and larger unit when you need it. We purchased an external USB hard drive that was only 5 inches x 7 inches x 1.5 inches. This small size gives you an easy way to put the hard drive into your safe, or safety deposit box, or take it with you on your working vacation.

Apple’s Time Machine and Windows’ History Vault

We use Apple’s Time Machine to automatically backup our data to each of our external hard drives. It makes multiple copies of the files that we tell it to copy. It only takes a few minutes to set the preferences. Time Machine keeps a record of all files added, deleted and modified. Users of Time Machine can browse back to see a file’s history and restore it to the present system state. It also keeps a complete copy of the system for full backup and migration purposes. Windows might be adding a similar feature to Windows 8, called History Vault.

Permanent link to this post (352 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)