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New USB Storage & Data Backups - Prevent the Need for USB Flash Drive Repair & USB Drive Recovery
By Bruce Cullen

Pexagon Store-It 1.8″ - New USB Storage Device Now this drive is large. A USB Hard Drive is a razor-thin light-weight portable USB hard drive with a built in one button data backup. A new USB storage device from the “Store-It” series. 30% smaller in size and a 40% weight decrease compared to the 2.5″ “Store-It” USB Drives it uses a Hitachi Travelstar hard disk drive.

Ya want a backup system? The included software, a one touch backup program, uses the Retrospect backup software supporting numerous sources. This new technology allows for you to back up more than one drive. The cool new Progressive Backup system only backs up new or changed data after the first backup is made. This is a great new feature, the USB storage device allows you to encrypt, password protect, and proof/verify your backups with ease. This USB storage drive is exceptional for adding storage to or backing up any USB enabled desktop or laptop computer. Smaller than your hand, this features a rugged aluminum enclosure to safely protect your data and prevent USB Drive Recovery.

TravelDrive ID - Memorex TravelDrive ID USB Flash Drive with Display
To much to remember these days, I know I must have 1000 passwords. Can you remember what s on your personal USB thumb drive? Want to avoid plugging it into your notebook or desktop to remember which files are stored there? Why should you do that! This Memorex TravelDrive ID, can allow you to scroll through the drives LCD display clearly showing you a breakdown on all the files stored on your device. If you have many devices and hate plugging them in then get a few of these as it will allow you to decide on which drive to bring and which one to leave behind on the go.

Reminds you of a popular song (Should I stay or should I go now?) by the Clash. The only drawback is price - $80 for 512MB up to $200 for 2GB, almost double the price of a few competing USB products. For those who are a bit slow and have needed USB Drive Recovery services before, we recommend this device to prevent the need for data loss and USB flash drive repair. The more you move your storage around the better the chance for data loss and damage ease your mind just get one of these and prevent USB Flash Drive Repair issues.

Flash Drives for Those Who Do not Understand Technology USB flash drives are easy to use &amp compact usb storage devices that are similar in use to your computer hard disk. USB flash drives are small enough to slip into your pocket, conveniently wearable around your neck or can be attached to your key chain for amazing portable storage possibilities and uses. USB flash storage drives fulfill the promise of the digital age: freedom and mobility at its best. eProvided writes these stories to help end users avoid USB Flash Drive Repair issues by recommending the use of brand name devices from smart choice manufacturers. Some manufacturers use very cheap parts (Crystals, chips, capacitors) when building products, use the larger names. USB Drive Recovery is available at eProvided.com s website but prevent improper use today, get new devices and back your stuff up folks!

Example of Actual USB Flash Drive Repair Error Message - One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message.

Author Bio: A writer and founder of many successful online businesses, writes optimized content and press releases for numerous large corporations. Bruce is the manager of one of the Super Bowl 1/2 time show online marketing sites. Bruce also writes stories regarding USB flash drive repair and USB drive recovery issues.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bruce_Cullen
http://EzineArticles.com/?New-USB-Storage-and-Data-Backups—Prevent-the-Need-for-USB-Flash-Drive-Repair-and-USB-Drive-Recovery&id=347497

How to Backup Your Data Properly
By Michael Cottier

Your data is important to you and why shouldn’t it be. Computers have grown to be a part of our daily lives, so it’s safe to say that most of us would be devastated if we lost everything on our computer. That is kind of a scary thought as your data depends on a machine to keep and store it, and let’s face it, machines fail. Although computers have become much more reliable, more complex software and the internet has made everyone’s computer vulnerable to complete loss of data.

There is something you can do to fight back though, that is to take matters into your own hands and don’t rely solely on your computer. The best way to do this is to backup your data properly and keep doing that at least once a week, or once a day, depending on the type of data that you are backing up. This is perhaps the most important task that any computer owner can do, and is the simplest, but yet not everyone does it.

On the computer market these days there are a slew of external and internal storage devices that make backing up your data easy and convenient. With so many devices, and so many solutions, it can be tough for someone to decide on a backup method. So let’s talk about the different backup strategies you could implement and which one best suits your needs.

Known worldwide basically as the main method of backing up your data is your floppy disc drive. I know they store a very little amount of data, but for simple data files it’s perfect because every computer already has one, and it is easy to use and access. I thought I would remind everyone of that backup method because it still can be used and won’t cost you anything more.

Now if you want to get down and serious, and backup everything on your computer, then what you want to do is a full hard disk backup. A full hard disk backup is what every computer users should do, and is perhaps one of the best data backup solutions possible. This is true because it makes a full copy of your hard drive, so if all data is lost then your backup could be used immediately and will have everything on it. The only problem with this backup strategy is that it takes a little while to complete the backup, and to get the best use out of it, you should do it once a week. But if your data is really that important, then it is worth the time and energy to do this.

The next backup solution is pretty common and has already been done by just about everyone. You could just backup your data files and folders that are important to you, so if you ever lose all of your data, then you would still have your important files and only have to reinstall the software associated with them, if any. Files and folders are usually the most important type of data that someone needs to back up and is all that matters, so most of you should use this method.

Perhaps the best backup solution there is, next to a full hard disk backup, is a CD or DVD burner. Now since both of those burners cost around the same price, DVD is just a little more, then I recommend a DVD burner. Not only does DVD technology hold more then four times as much data as a regular CD, but a DVD burner will also burn regular CD’s. Also not to mention that fact that you can backup your home movies that then can be played in your DVD player, and can last forever without degrading in quality like VHS.

Well those are the main types of backup strategies and solutions that people are using these days. Whether you run a business on your computer, or just use it for fun, backing up your data is always a good idea and should never be overlooked by any computer user.

Copyright 2006 Michael Cottier

Learn all about data backup and more solutions at http://www.computer-customizing-guide.com/data-backup-solutions.html Michael Cottier can also help you upgrade your computer, step by step, with his website http://www.computer-customizing-guide.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Cottier
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Backup-Your-Data-Properly&id=154445

Essential Tips For Backups, Data Safety - Avoiding Data Recovery
By Steve Burgess

Backup, backup, backups!

If there s one thing I ve learned in 20 years and 12,000 data recoveries, it s that everybody doesn t back up their data sometimes. Computers may be dumb, but they know when you don t have your data backed up - because THAT s when they break. Don t let your computer fool you - back up new data daily.

It s important that you keep two alternating backups, and an additional spare piece of media. This means to have one disk (or tape, or thumb drive) labeled “EVEN” (for even-numbered days, one labeled “ODD” and one spare. Eventually, something will go wrong with a backup. For example, if an error occurs on an “EVEN” day, and you put in your “ODD” backup, you may ruin both. Instead, put in the spare. If there is a problem, you ve saved your extra backup (from the day before yesterday) and have not wasted all your hard work. If there is no problem, and it was only a temporary glitch, then put your spare back on the shelf, reformat the “EVEN”, and carry on with your backup.

What s the best thing to make a backup on?

There are a lot of ways to back up your data. Most new computers come with CD-R, or CD-RW drives. Most PCs still come with floppy disk drives (and you can get one for a Mac). There are Zip drives, tape drives, USB “thumb” drives, and more. My current favorites are External FireWire or USB 2 drives, and CD-R for full backups, and USB thumb drives for smaller amounts of data.

There are quite a few external drives on the market today and if you have a computer that s less than three years old, you probably have the ports for hooking these up. They usually come with backup software as well. As of this writing, the drives are mostly under $200. Once installed, it s a good idea to leave these drives off except when backing up. That way, a power spike or other environmental event that may destroy data on your hard disk will be unlikely to damage the external hard disk.

For CD-RW drives, I recommend using CD-R media only, as it s too easy to overwrite a previous backup using a CD-RW disk. This is a good form of backup for large amounts of data (they hold more than 650 MB), and each disk is inexpensive. But it leaves you with a lot of plastic disks sitting around. That s why I typically use them only for large backups. Heat, bending, and scratching are the enemies of CD disks. Incidentally, while it s hard to do CD-ROM recovery, it is possible to recover CDs that are damaged.

Zip drives come in sizes from 100 MB to 750 MB and cost from $60 to $200, while additional disks cost around $10 each. These are sensitive to dust, shock, too much heat, and big magnets. Remember to alternate backups with Zip disks as a damaged Zip drive can damage a Zip disk. Zip disk recovery is possible, but tends to be less successful than recovering other media.

Floppy diskettes don t hold very much (1.4 MB), but cost a few cents, and are easy to carry around. Almost all PCs have them, and quite a few Macs do. Floppies are sensitive to heat, magnetic fields, dust, bending and other rough handling.

Tape drives should only be used for very large amounts of data. They are relatively expensive and slow. They re great on large networks for after-hours backups, but they re easily damaged. Tape recovery is difficult and expensive.

I am an unabashed fan of USB thumb drives! These are actually memory sticks with a USB plug on the end that act like portable hard disks. They are sturdy - I accidentally let one go through the wash in my shirt pocket. After it dried out, it still had my data on it (don t try this at home)! While we ve been successful performing USB data recovery, in this case, it wasn t even necessary! They come in sizes from 64 MB to more than 2 GB. They can be shared and used on PCs and Macs without reformatting. You can buy one at a local computer or electronics store for $35-$150.

What s the alternative to backing up your data? Well, as every drive eventually fails, it s pricey data recovery or data loss, which can be devastating

Be safe. Back up your data.

Steve Burgess is the president of data recovery worldwide. As a founder of the data recover industry in 1984, Mr. Burgess has trained leading recovery companies and performed recovery work on more than 15,000 hard drives and other media. Burgess also writes and is a highly regarded computer forensics expert.

http://www.burgessforensics.com
http://www.datarecoveryworldwide.com
866-902-DRWW (3799), 805-902-8100

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Burgess
http://EzineArticles.com/?Essential-Tips-For-Backups,-Data-Safety—Avoiding-Data-Recovery&id=344149

Backup To DVD: 8 Reasons Why
By Johan Beyers

A backup to DVD gives you advantages that no other backup method can match. Here are 8 advantages you have when doing a backup to DVD:

1. Low initial cost — These days, DVD writers are often bundled with new computers. Even if your computer does not have one built-in, you can get one for about $40. Not only that, but the drive can be used to make DVDs of your home movies, burn CDs with your music selections, or just to copy data. If you have a DVD writer for any of these reasons, the backup function is a free extra.
2. Blank DVDs are cheap — Blank DVDs cost only cents per disk. There is no other medium that gives you the same cost benefit. If you plan on doing a regular backup to DVD, I recommend that you start out by buying a spindle of blank DVDs.
3. Backup history — As you backup files to DVD, you build up a history of how the files have changed. This can really help you if you have accidentally overwritten any files, or changed something three weeks ago to a document and need to see what the file looked like before the change.
4. Multiple copies — If you backup to DVD R and store those disks, you have multiple copies of your data. If anything happens to some of your disks, you can still restore the information from the ones that are OK.
5. Offsite backups — If you backup to DVD, you can take the disks to another location to keep them safe. This protects them against theft or a natural disaster at the location where your original data is. Using a USB hard drive cannot protect you against a flood or theft.
6. Robustness — A DVD disk is just a piece of plastic. Even if you drop it, accidentally spill coffee on it or just let it lie around, it will probably still work. This makes DVD disks very safe to use as backup media.
7. Easy, compact storage — Suppose you do a backup every week, using one DVD per backup. If you store your DVD backup disks on a spindle, a whole year s worth of backups will fit on a single 50-disk spindle.
8. Easy backups — If all your files fit on one DVD, it s simple and fast to just copy the files to the DVD, using the DVD writing program that came with the drive.

If your backup does not fit onto one CD or DVD anymore, Abbackup can help. Once you ve done a full backup, you usually need only one disk per backup. Abbackup is the easiest way to backup to DVD.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Johan_Beyers
http://EzineArticles.com/?Backup-To-DVD:-8-Reasons-Why&id=256575

The Benefits of Web-Based Help Desk Software
By Kent Pinkerton

Web-based help desk software has become the most popular way to manage technical inquiries and issues. The ability to access your help desk from any PC in the world is a very convenient tool. These programs offer flexibility and accessibility that was unavailable in former product versions.

Like other help desk software products, web based products offer the ability for customers to create their own trouble tickets. Effectively managing trouble tickets can save your business both time and money. In some cases, having an informative F.A.Q. menu allows the customer to troubleshoot his or her problem without contacting the technical support department. Customers enjoy finding the answers to their problems quickly, without the traditional wait times.

Companies waste valuable resources when they do not effectively manage their customer issues. Web-based help desk software is much more productive than having multiple email addresses for customer messages. By offering a web based help desk, companies can manage their tickets by directing them to the appropriately trained personnel. Using this type of product can save thousands of dollars every month and prevent employees from becoming overworked and burnt out. Many companies also praise the flexibility of working with a web-based system. Customer and technical support can be managed from anywhere in the world. The web-based option overall is much more flexible than stationary help desk programs.

When researching your options for web based help desk software, please be aware that some companies may have hidden charges. Constant updates can become troublesome and costly - it is wise to know what updates are expected and how frequently prior to purchasing a software package. Some software providers require additional purchases of database software components, web-servers and/or middleware. Know exactly what you are buying and what the future expectations are to ensure your satisfaction with your software.

Help Desk Software Info provides detailed information on help desk software solutions, including IT help desk software, web-based help desk software, free help desk software, help desk tracking, help desk support software, and reviews of help desk software programs. Help Desk Software Info is the sister site of Recruiting Software Web.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kent_Pinkerton
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Benefits-of-Web-Based-Help-Desk-Software&id=62686

Backup Data For Your Computer In Simple English
By Wai-Pan Chan

Along the way, more and more data are stored into your computer hard disk. (The hard disk is the place where all your computer data are stored.) A lot of them are valuable to you. You do not want to lost them. So, it make sense to make extra copy of them and stored it into a different location (not on the same hard disk). This is backup of your data.

There are several methods of backup.

One, is to make an exact copy of your computer hard disk. Like a mirror image of the hard disk. This way, when the computer crushes or the hard disk just refuses to work properly. You can take the extra exact copy of the backup and copied it into a new or formatted hard disk. Now, you can continue using the computer from the time that you last made the backup. This method saves a lot of time by not having to reinstall all the software and running the software updates again. You do not need to create or copy all your data files again. However, this type of backup take a longer process to complete. Example, you have already used 50GB of your hard disk space. To make a 50GB of backup, you need another 50GB of hard disk or 11 DVD disks or 72 CD disks. Almost all backup are done by compressing your existing data and stored into another storage media (DVD, CD, another hard disk etc.). So, you may not need to many instead, but you get the idea. It takes a longer time to compress and store all your 50 GB of data.

Another type of backup requires you to one full backup (the method above). After a full backup is done, the next time, it will only backup the changes that you have made from the time that the last backup and now. Only the first backup takes a longer time, whereas the subsequence backup takes a shorter period of time. Time are saved on the subsequence backup. However, you may require a lot of storage media. The subsequence backup stores all the existing new and updated data. So, your backup media will store both old data, from previous backup and new data from the new backup. To save storage media used, you still need to do a full backup, maybe after every 10 subsequence backup. Example, on your 11 backup, after 1 full backup and 10 subsequence backup, its time to do a full backup again. You need to use a new storage media during this backup process, after the backup is successful. You can recycle and used the old storage media for your subsequence backup again.

Another backup is to select only that data files that are important to you. This type of backup takes the shortest time and least space. You only backup files that you want and nothing more. You just copy and paste or compress them and copied it into a backup media. That is it, simple and straight. However, in the event that your computer crushes or the hard disk stops working. You have to reinstall all the programs that you requires and do all the program updates again. It is more troublesome but you uses less backup space.

Remember that you must backup all your data in a different location form the data source. It is prefer to backup in a portable storage media. Example, DVD, CD, portable hard disk, storage media card, USB storage media, online storage space, tape etc.

You can use the backup programs that are with your computer Operating System (Windows, Mac OS, Linux etc.).
You can also use commercially available backup programs. These are more flexible and provides more function.
You can also use the compression/expansion program and do the backup yourselves. This is useful for the last type of backup method.

Wai-Pan Chan has a website http://www.startwebiz.com. He shares his knowledge and findings through the website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wai-Pan_Chan
http://EzineArticles.com/?Backup-Data-For-Your-Computer-In-Simple-English&id=364191

Network Certification Exam Tutorial: An Introduction To Backup Types
By Chris Bryant

Fault tolerance isn t fault invulnerability. No matter how hard we work to avoid single points of failure, sooner or later something catastrophic will happen to a part of our network. Don t get me wrong, I m no pessimist - quite the opposite! But part of being a world-class network manager is having a disaster recovery plan in place, and in place before disaster strikes. It doesn t do you any good to implement a data backup strategy after data is lost!

I bring that point up because having a sound backup system in place is a vital part of administering a network. If an email server in your network right now, would you have a backup to restore as much data as possible? Take it from me — you better.

It s rare to find a network that has no backup system in place, but whether that system is current is often another matter. Personally, I ve visited networks where they had a tape drive right there in the server room, with tapes right next to it, and no system in place. Everyone thought someone else was supposed to be handling it (or hoped someone else was), the tapes had no dates, etc. That s exactly where you and I do not want to be.

Part of developing a data backup strategy is deciding how often to run backups, and what kind of backups to run. It s not always feasible to back up all data on every single server every single night. Let s look at the different backup types and exactly what gets backed up when they re run.

Files have an archive bit that indicates whether the file has been changed since the last backup ran. When a file is backed up, this bit is set to “off”. When a new file is created or an old file s contents are altered, this bit is set to “on”. Keep this archive bit in mind during the following discussion.

A full backup is just what it sounds like. All files are backed up, regardless of the archive bit setting.
That s the easy one. Watch these next two. The difference is subtle, but significant.

An incremental backup backs up all files created or changed since the last backup of any kind. Every single file with the archive bit set to “on” is backed up.

A differential backup backs up everything that is different — that is, all files created or changed — since the last full backup only.

Now you may be thinking, “What in the heck do we need both of those for? What s the real difference?” Believe it or not, this wasn t developed just to make your Network+ exam harder. It just seems that way!

Your choice of backups depends largely on the amount of time you have to run your backups and how much data will have to be stored. Many network administrators choose to run full backups only on weekends and either incremental or differential backups during the week.

One network I was the admin for had this backup schedule:

Every Sunday - full

Every Tuesday - incremental

Every Thursday - incremental

I was lucky enough to never have to use the backups, but let s say that on Saturday morning, a drive went bad. Since I used incremental backups, I needed the last full backup and both of the incremental backups. If I had run differential backups, I would have needed only the last full backup and the last differential backup.

The type of backups your network will run really depends on three factors:

the amount of data to be backed up

the capacity of the backup media

the time available for the backup

If you can run full backups every night, great if you can t, differential backups are a great middle ground between full and incremental backups. The important thing is that you do run them!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also available!

Visit his blog and sign up for Cisco Certification Central, a daily newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice questions! A free 7-part course, “How To Pass The CCNA”, is also available, and you can attend an in-person or online CCNA boot camp with The Bryant Advantage!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Bryant
http://EzineArticles.com/?Network-Certification-Exam-Tutorial:–An-Introduction-To-Backup-Types&id=321056

Backups Required for Your Online Business
By Gary R. Ferguson

Your on-line business cannot afford a feeling like this in your stomach

Have you ever experienced that terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach? You know the one. The one you hope is just a mistake. Nah, that couldn’t really be happening to me. This only happens to the other guy. Not me.

Well it is happening to you. You just got a Windows blue screen. No, this is not your typical Application Error blue screen. This blue screen makes reference to “unable to find boot sector” or “failure writing to default drive” or some other ominous message then makes your body shutter, because you just lost your hard drive.

If you are like most people, you have little to no backup available. If you run an on-line business, this can be the “kiss of death” or at least a major financial set back.

This scenario happened to me recently. Well almost. I was lucky because my hard drive failed over a 2-day period so I was able to frantically start backing up data before the drive completely failed. I was sweating bullets before I got done. I did manage to recover about 85% of my data before the drive completely died.

Well, once I got a replacement drive in place, I vowed to not get in that situation again. I put a very simple (and cheap) backup process in place, which I recommend you do to - especially if you rely on your computer for income.

First get an external USB hard drive that is at least as large as your computer’s hard drive. Preferably one that is 2 to 3 times larger than your computer’s hard drive. Depending on the size, they can run from about $75 to $300. If you watch the ads for your local computer stores you can find some great deals especially when a rebate is involved.

Next you need a simple backup up tool. I use a very cheap program called Ez-Back-It Up. I picked this program for several reasons: It was cheap, it would backup just changes, it didn’t use a proprietary format (Windows Explorer could access the backed up files), it was easily configurable, and it had a built in scheduler. What more would I need?

So I hooked the external drive to my computer, installed the backup software, and did a little configuration. Since I have most of my programs save data in the My Documents folder I only had to select a couple data directories to backup (My Documents, Favorites, and Outlook). I scheduled it to run every night at 4 AM and I now have regular backups. The most I can lose now is a day’s worth of data. If I need to, I could have the backup run several times a day and even cut this window down.

So in just a few minutes, I’ve created a system that will pretty much prevent that ugly feeling out of my stomach.

Gary R. Ferguson is a writer, publisher, and on-line marketer who publishes the Only One Page Newsletter available at http://www.onlyonepage.com and also the recently released ebook Hypnotic Auctions at http://www.hypnoticauctions.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_R._Ferguson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Backups-Required-for-Your-Online-Business&id=340653

Local Vs Remote Data Backup - The Pros And Cons
By Niall Roche

Backing up your data should be an essential part of your daily routine. Unfortunately for many businesses this simply isn t the case. The only time data backup crosses their mind is when they have a hard disk crash or a serious spyware or virus infection. Unfortunately by this stage it s already too late to do anything about it - the data is gone and you re then looking at several hundred, if not several thousand, dollars to have the data rescued and restored.

The concept is simple - choose a data backup plan and stick to it.

The burning question on most IT managers minds is should the data be stored locally or remotely? To be fair this is the pivot point of all data backup plans. There are pros and cons to each method.

Local Data Backup

Most companies rely on either DVD, external hard disk or tape drive data backup solutions locally. These provide fast, cost effective storage for most small companies and are also very easy for even the IT novice to operate. In the case of any data being lost it s simply a matter of restoring the data from a previous backup point and the user can then continue working.

The data, however, is only as safe as the building it s in. What happens in the case of fire, burglary, flooding or storm damage? That s right you just lost all your data backups in the blink of an eye.

Remote Data Backup

As an emerging industry remote data backup has really taken off. Most commonly remote file backup services allow you to log into a remote drive and via a web based interface upload all your critical files. 5GB of storage space is the entry point for most of the remote data backup services and this is provided at a low cost. Knowing that your data is being stored in a secure facility that s deliberately protected against harm allows you much greater peace of mind.

The weak point here however is the data transfer speed. Unless you re operating a high speed LAN in your company then remote backup can be a complete waste of time as you re tied to the maximum upstream speed of your network - which can be surprisingly slow depending on your IT infrastructure. Add in the issue of firewalls blocking uploads on certain ports and it can quickly become a real IT headache.

So how do achieve a Win-Win scenario? Blended backup! Look at utilizing both of these forms of backup. In an ideal world you d store a local copy of your data and then upload an exact copy of that data to the remote file backup server. If money is an issue then store your bulk data locally but copy your mission critical data to the remote backup service. That way in the worst of disasters you ll still have the data you need to actually function as a business. That s not to say that bulk data such as archived email is not important but that old data could be recovered in time by a data recovery specialist whereas you mission critical data needs to be available at a moments notice.

This article was written by Niall Roche and provided courtesy of BackupAdvice.com If you want to know more about computer backups this site is full of useful information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niall_Roche
http://EzineArticles.com/?Local-Vs-Remote-Data-Backup—The-Pros-And-Cons&id=100707