Tuesday, December 1, 2009

How to Recover Deleted Items From Your Recycle Bin

It's a common problem. You delete a file, and then you empty your recycle bin a little while later. But then you realize - you need that file back. Once a file has been deleted from the PC's garbage can, there is no way to directly access it. However, there is a way to recover it with special software.

Advanced data recovery software is able to thoroughly scan your computer's hard drive, and bring back deleted files. In fact, data emptied from the recycle bin is some of the easiest to recover.

Files can be lost many kinds of ways - corruption, hardware failure, viruses, and more. These causes of file loss can also cause the file to become damaged, or the computer to become inoperable. In many of these circumstances, the data can not be recovered. Since files deleted from the recycle bin do not involve these dangerous methods of file loss, they are inherently easier to recover. Files deleted from the recycle bin, if recovered soon enough, should be able to be recovered without any damage or interruption.

Any time you delete a file from your computer, it is not permanently destroyed. Instead, the information that makes up the document is kept hidden and inaccessible on your hard drive. All files are made up of data, encoded onto your hard drive, and when the files are deleted, that information still remains. But, the contents of the document are not available and can't be accessed, so this lingering information does little good.

This is why a data recovery program is helpful. These kinds of software scan your hard drive for deleted information, identify the type of file, and automatically restore it to its former condition. There are many types of file recovery software, but the best versions will automatically scan for files deleted from the recycle bin, and restore them. The most popular file recovery services do not need any special computer skills from the user, and work on a click-and-go basis.

If you've lost a file from your recycle bin, don't give up on it! Just find your favorite recovery program and get it back!

If you'd like to learn more about how to bring back emptied recycle bin files, visit Emergency File Recover.

How to Resolve "Extent E ID in Database ID" Error Message

The structure of an Index Allocation Map (IAM) page in MS SQL Server consists of one bit per dedicated extent for all the "Extents" in the file interval. The bit is allocated to the index of which the IAM page is a part. Corruption in the bit can result into inaccessibility of records stored in your database. Few major causes of corruption of the application damage, metadata structure corruption, malicious software like virus, and human errors. To access your data in such situations, restoration from an updated and valid database backup always helps. However, if the restoration could not be performed due to backup corruption, then the only way to access your data is by using advanced third-party SQL Server Recovery application.

Consider a practical scenario, where the underneath error message appears when you attempt to mount your SQL database:

"Extent E_ID in database ID DB_ID is allocated to more than one allocation object."

The above error message halts the database mounting process making all the records saved in it inaccessible.

Cause:

The fundamental reason responsible for the occurrence of the above error message is bit corruption that results in the allocation of same extent to two different IAM pages.

Note: The above error message can also occur due to physical damage of your system's component.

Resolution:

To resolve the above error message and to access the database records, take the below measures:

In logical crash circumstances, run DBCC CHECKDB command (with appropriate repair clause).
The physical damages can only be resolved by making the swapping the damaged component with the new component.

While the above resolution for physical damage is always successful, the DBCC CHECKDB does not provides complete surety of repairing database after all logical crashes. To permanently resolve all logical corruption scenarios, you will need to use advanced SQL Repair tools. Such SQL Database Repair applications are built by highly talented database recovery experts and use high end repairing methods to repair your database. These tools come with interactive user documentation, that makes them easy to understand without any prior technical understanding.

Naveen Kadian is a self employed Internet entrepreneur and product reviewer. This MS SQL Recovery utility is extremely useful when the database gets corrupted due to internal program errors, hardware malfunctioning, accidental deletion of data and more. This SQL recovery software recovers all types of database components including triggers, tables, stored procedures and more. SQL Recovery.

XD Card Error and Image Recovery

XD cards are some of the most popular memory cards today. The prime use of XD cards are in cameras and cell phones. While using a camera, one needs to be extremely careful not to do anything stupid that could lead to problems with the card. The problem with storing images, music etc on a memory card is, when your card corrupts you loose all your photos and video files instantly. XD cards are widely used in cameras. Sometimes problems may occur randomly. There are a number of ways to recover deleted pictures, so you have reason to panic when a problem arises.

The Common Problem in XD Card is: "XD Card Error"

After this error message, you might not be able to see your pictures,video, audio files. The camera will show you that your memory is being used, but it won't display your images. In some cases few of the images may be viewable. From this one can infer that your photos are still on the camera but they are not being read by the camera.

Cause:

The cause of the above error is the Corruption of the file system of the Card. Generally when you see a message like this you format your memory card without knowing the consequences. As formating the card deletes all your photos and images stored in the XD Card. Still worse is when you try to keep clicking photos even after the card shows them an error, in the hope that it will work.

By clicking photos after a card shows that sort of error message, old data gets over-written. This means that you lose those photos forever. Not even an image recovery software will be able to recover them.

Solution:

The solution of this Problem is first stop clicking photos. Connect the camera to the computer. Use an image recovery software and scan the card. You should be able to recover deleted images by following the software instructions. The software are designed to penetrate the corrupted file system and retrieve data (as long as there is no over-writing). If this doesn't work, try connecting the memory card to the computer with the card reader and then running the software.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery is a photo recovery tool which enables users to salvage images with ease. The software supports all popular file formats(JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, RAW, etc.) and so you can reclaim your photos at anytime. It also gives you a thumbnail preview of the various files which can be salvaged.

Blue Screen After a Windows Update

When buying a Windows computer, you must be well aware that you will receive the blue screen error at least once in the computers lifetime. Whether you are just typing or playing a game, there is always going to be a good chance that you will see the screen. If you recently just upgraded to a new Windows, and you received this error, you may have not installed everything correctly. Here are a few things that could go wrong.

Drivers Malfunction

Every time Windows comes out with a new software to download there is a good chance that the drivers within the software will not be up to date. As time progresses, more and more updates will become available, but very few people will actually go to the manufacturers site to download them. So if you just uploaded a new Windows Platform, make sure that you update your drivers.

If you just updated to a new version of windows and you receive an error, you may need to find out exactly what is causing the problem. To do this, you can go to...

Right Click My Computer, choose Properties, then start up and recover settings, then unchecked the box under system failure.

This will allow you to see the blue screen of death to write down what is causing the problem. Once you have found the code that states the hardware/driver that is malfunctioning, go to your add/remove programs to remove the program. Once removed, your computer should be back up and running.

Blue Screen After Boot

The blue screen error that you are currently seeing on your computer is not something to be afraid of. It is a caution flag that appears on your screen when the computer feels as though their is a problem.

There are a variety of reasons why you are seeing the screen when you boot up your computer. Here are just a few reasons....

Driver Updates

If you are experiencing a blue screen, 95% of the time it is cause by your drivers not being in sync with your hardware and operating system. When this happens, it cause one hardware to crash, resulting in the blue screen you are seeing.

Any easy way to fix this is by updating your drivers on a regular basis. You can download them all at once or you can go to the manufactures site to download each one individually.

If you download a lot of music, videos, software, or various programs from the Internet, there is a good chance that you may have picked up a virus. These viruses will cause your hardware to not run properly and thus creating a blue screen.

If you have a virus, it may be a good idea to download a virus cleaner. Be sure that the virus cleaner you download is not a virus itself. In easy way to check for this is by looking to see if you have to pay. Most virus cleaners that work will include some type of payment to go along with it.

Blue Screen at Boot

Getting the blue screen when you are working on a project or playing a game is one of the most frustrating things on the planet. To address the situation more, you need to find out exactly what is causing the problem. 95% of blue screen errors are caused by outdated drivers, but here are a few more reasons why.

Driver Errors

The main cause of the error that you are seeing on your computer is due to your drivers not working properly. In order for them to run, you need to update them on a monthly basis. To do this, you can go the manufacturers site and download them individually or you can get a program, such as Driver Robot, that will do them automatically.

Virus/Spyware

Another reason why you may have this problem is because you picked up some type of virus while you were on the Internet. If you download programs that are free, there is a good chance that you have obtained a virus. To clean your system, you should buy a spyware cleaner that will clean out your entire registry.

Overheating

If you are always on your computer or you never turn your computer off at night, your computer could be overheating. In this case, it is important to always shut down your computer when you are not using it. Also, make sure that you do not have multiple programs running at once. The harder the computer has to work, the greater the chances of you getting the blue screen.

Small Business Data Backup - How to Select an Online Backup Services Provider

Online data backup service provider is an alternative to backup off-site data and files. Using an online backup service is convenient and will help your small business to save money on hiring staffs for the management, ongoing maintenance, operating expenses and protection of data storage equipment. As with the SaaS options, it is important that the online data backup provider can address security issues before you entrust your data to them such as access controls, encryption and mutual alignment of security policies.

When choosing a services provider, make sure the backup data can be encrypted. This is important to prevent the backup over the internet from being hacked or viewed in the event of getting lost, stolen, or been viewed by the unauthorized employees.

Encryption of the data is important. You should make sure the service provider has technology in place so the data is encrypted as it backup on the system. It is recommended that the backup services provider use 356 bit AES that is transferred over SSL using digital certificates. Key management allows you to delegate access so that you can assign more keys to more staffs. Commercial key management system can be too expensive for small businesses. If you do not have the budget, you can manually maintain key logs and secure them so that only the senior management staffs can gain access.

You should also do an on-site check to make sure the facilities and procedures are secure. The facilities of the backup provider should be significantly more secure than yours since you purchase the online backup services because you cannot invest in enterprise grade data security protection.

Other features that you should consider include versioning, continuous data protection, mobile access, locked file support, network drive support and large file support. Versioning allows you to restore a previous version of a backup file. Continuous data protection allows you to automatically backup files once they are created or changed. Mobile access allows you to access through iPhone or other type of mobile devices. Lock file support allows backup client to open or lock files. Large file support allows you to create individual backup file up to 4GB.

By following the tips above, you will be able to choose the right services provider that will help to protect your small business data and a secure back-up.

Ten Things You Should Know About IT Disaster Recovery

Today's businesses depend heavily on Information Technology (IT) because of the overwhelming business advantages it can provide. This dependence has a flip side in that an IT disaster can cripple the business. For example, the business can go bankrupt if it loses all the electronically stored business data and there are no backups to restore them.

1. The starting point of disaster recovery is a careful examination of all the different kinds of disasters that can happen, and the impact each can have on the business.

2. Disasters can generally be classified into:

i. Power-supply related such as power failures, surges and other kinds of disturbances

ii. System related such as hardware or software problems

iii. Externally originating dangers such as virus and hacker attacks

iv. Employee-caused such as accidental or malicious actions that result in data loss

v. Natural disasters such as fire, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes

vi. Others such as theft of equipment and storage media

3. Once you have a picture of the kinds of disasters that can happen, you will be in a position to think more clearly about the likelihood of each, and the impact each can have. The risks can then be prioritized depending on how serious the impact of each is.

4. Once the risks are prioritized, you can start planning preventive, detective and remedial measures. Each of these measures is important. Prevention can reduce the incidence of disasters. Detection can alert to impending serious disasters. And remediation is the ultimate objective. Thinking about each in detail will lead to a complete planning exercise.

5. Preventive measures typically involve taking safeguards like:

i. Using backup power supply systems and surge protectors,

ii. Regular hardware maintenance, and procedure manuals for handling software problems,

iii. Installing antivirus and firewall software,

iv. Maintaining audit trails of employee actions and restricting their access to data,

v. Backing up data and

vi. Storing them remotely and implementing physical safety measures.

6. Disaster detection requires both software and human actions. Software tools can detect viruses and impending disk failures, for example, and help take timely remedial action before the problem becomes serious. Human actions such as monitoring audit trails for unusual activities can alert the organization about unauthorized employee activities.

7. Disaster remedies depend on the nature and extent of the event. A natural disaster can involve replacing the whole infrastructure and restoring the systems, applications and data from the backups. Smaller disasters can involve nothing more than just restoring the data, or can involve disciplining employees guilty of malicious actions. Where the costs are heavy, claiming insurance can become a critical task for survival of the business.

8. Data backups need to be organized in a systematic manner. All data must be backed up while minimizing redundancy. In addition to transaction data, system data and applications must also be backed up to restore the original environment. Data compression to reduce storage requirements and encryption to maintain confidentiality are other practices.

9. A major portion of data losses has been attributed to employees. It is critically important to train employees in safe practices, and to restrict access to data by using access rights and passwords. Audit trails must be generated by all systems to keep track of who did what with the data.

10. It can be worthwhile to entrust installation and monitoring of IT disaster measures to expert third party service providers who will be aware of all that can happen and how these can be prevented, detected in time and remedied.

IT disasters are very real possibilities that need to be taken extremely seriously if the business is to survive. In particular, restoring the unique business data that each business generates is of critical importance. So are preventive measures like data backup, antivirus software, employee training and formulation of proper policies.

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Blank Blue Screen of Death

Did you just download a new software/hardware? Is your computer running out of memory? If so, this could be the main reason why your are seeing a blue screen error on your computer. To eliminate this error, there are a number of different things that you can do, starting with updating your drivers. Here are some easy ways to update your drivers.

Your drivers are the backbone to your computer. They relay the messages from your hardware to your operating system. Without them working properly, you computer will not only run right, but it could cause serious damage.

In order to update your drivers to fix the blue screen error, you need to do one of the following options. The first option is by going to the manufactures Web site and updating every single driver that you have. By typing in the driver that you need, you will be able to see if your driver is out of date. Once you detected all the drivers you need to update, download them onto your computer. This should eliminate any errors that you are currently seeing.

If you are not computer savvy and you do not know what drivers you need to update, you can get a software that will detect and install all the drivers you need with just one click. One software program this does this is called Driver Robot. It will allow you to see exactly what drivers you need, thus eliminating your errors.

Whether you update your drivers through the manufactures site or another program, you should always keep your drivers up to date. The more updates you download, the decrease in chances you will have in seeing the blue screen of death again.

Avoid Blue Screen of Death

The blue screen of death can be one of the most frustrating things that can ever happen to a computer. One minute, you are sitting on your computer looking up valuable information or playing games, then all of a sudden it happens. You freak out and you have no idea on how to fix it. With a little work, you should be able to get your computer back up and running today. Here are 2 ways that you can fix or avoid your blue screen of death.

Tip #1

The very first thing that you should do is always update your drivers. Your drivers are the backbone of your computer. They relate all of your hardware/software to your operating system. If these are not working properly, then your computer will not work properly. To update your drivers, you can go to the manufactures Web site or download a program that will automatically do it for you.

Tip #2

The next thing that you can do is download a registry or virus cleaner. If you are one of those people that download music, movies, games, etc., then there is a good chance that you have a virus on your computer that is causing your error. Be sure that you get a registry cleaner that will fix your error. Some cleaners will only remove files, rather than correcting and fixing them.

The blue screen error is frustrating but if you take the time to update your drivers on a monthly basis and always scan your computer for virus, you should not see another error on your computer again.

Linux Storage Servers - Data Retention

Problems Storing Data without a Linux Storage Server

There are many ways to back up any sort of data, including CD's; DVD's; external USB hard-drives and magnetic tapes. Although this may function well over the short-term, storage devices such as CD's and DVD's tend to degrade over time. Many individuals and companies who have stored important information to CD have been faced with the problems that occur when the CD is damaged or degrades and start to peel.

Other problems also arise when the backing-up of data is not done religiously. If a company, for example, does not back up all their current data to a secure and reliable source (such as a Linux Storage Server), an event such as a robbery will set the company back many months. If the current information had been stored precisely and securely, the company concerned would have been in a position to pick up where they left off with the last data stored.

Even if data is stored religiously, the choice in data storage facility can impact the quality of the data. Often, even though it appears that the data has been stored successfully, this is not the case.

Peace of Mind when Storing Data

A Linux Storage Server will allow you to safely and securely save your data on a central location. Essentially, a this is a computer on a network, but it is built with special hardware (and Linux software) in order to allow for the data storage capability to be much more reliable than the other alternatives available. In addition, the Linux storage server is readily available to computers within this network; encouraging these individuals to store their data easily and effectively.

Setting up a Linux Storage Server

In order to gain the benefits associated with storing data correctly and in a reliable medium, the implementation of a Linux storage server is a viable option that can be implemented.

How Data Recovery Brings Back Deleted Files

Data recovery software has become a popular solution for accidentally deleted files and items lost due to crashes or system error. However, many people are unsure just how these programs work.

In order to understand how data recovery works, you first need to know how your computer stores information.

Every bit of information on your PC, from saved files to your operating system itself, is recorded on your hard drive. The hard drive is essentially the memory of your computer.

Inside the hard drive are a few complex devices, primarily being the platters and the read/write heads. Platters are rapidly spinning disks, and there can be a few of these. They are similar to CDs in their general design. Platters store data though magnetic regions, which make up the binary code of information. With binary information, the magnetic fields can have two position only: 1 or 0. One of these positions is called a bit. Eight bits composes a byte, as in megabyte. Thousands of the magnetic regions record your information on the platters.

This magnetic information is detected and recorded by the read/write head. This is a finely tuned device which hovers just above the surface of the platter. It picks up the magnetic field, and sends the signal through the computer. The binary code is then converted into the file that you see as a picture, hear as a song, or interact with as a program. The same happens in reverse when you save a file - the information goes through your computer, is translated to binary code, and is recorded in magnetic regions on the platter by the read/write head.

There is a possibility for hardware malfunction, and a "head crash" occurs when the read/write head comes in physical contact with the platter. Due to the highly refined and sensitive technology, this can cause serious and irreparable data loss. Other hardware problems can lead to inaccessible files, and a frozen hard drive. These are serious issues, but they do not constitute the majority of data loss.

Instead, most data loss is causes by software malfunctions or mistakes, such as accidentally erasing a file, emptying a recycle bin, formatting a disk, and so on. Virus and system crashes can also cause data to be erased. In these circumstances, the binary magnetic information that makes up a file is not lost. Instead, just the icons, references, and file names are removed. As a result, the user is unable to access their file, but the data remains on the platters. This is due in part to the design and function of a hard drive - when a file is deleted, the information remains on the hard drive until new information takes its place. When new information is saved over top of old, this is known as overwriting.

A data recovery program makes the read/write head detect all information on the platters, even where the computer seems to show that there is no information. This allows the program to pick up on the magnetic regions of deleted information. This information is then analyzed, the file type is determined, and the file is reconstituted on the computer. The user can then interact with the file just as before.

The Type of Information and Data You Can Back Up

The database normally contains a wide range of data types. When setting up a backup strategy, database administrators have to make a decision of the information to be copied and the kind of free backup software to use. Some of the common types you can use include Configuration files, Control file, Whole database, Offline database, online database backup, Datafile, tablespace, configuration files and Archived redo logs. With the aid of the right free backup software, coming up with a database backup can be an easy task. When making a decision on what to go for, the important thing is prioritizing information on the level to which it changes and on its significance. Archive logs normally do not change but they are very critical in database recovery. It is therefore vital to maintain as many copies of it as possible. The tablespace kind should be done frequently so as to avoid applying redo data in the recovery process.

GFI Backup Home Edition and its Sections

The user interface of the free backup software selected should be easy to use. GFI brings forth a free backup solution known as the GFI Backup Home Edition whose menu brags of four types of sections that are clearly labeled. Each of these sections offers a short description of the tools each section offers. The four sections include the restore, my tasks, sync and backup sections. The restore section of this free software enables you to restore all your data into a given restore location. The backup section on the other hand makes it possible for you to back up all sorts of data ranging from registry keys, folders, files, user settings, storage media and emails among other information. To manage and configure files and do folder synchronization among multiple devices or locations, the sync section makes all this possible. It offers yet another kind of option to go for. The 'My Tasks' section enables you to manage all the tasks that you create to specify how the backup schedule should be done. Generally, the user interface of the GFI Backup Home Edition is very friendly, straightforward and simple to use.

For a backup to keep running 24/7, then online backups for the entire database on an ARCHIVELOG mode are inevitable. An offline database backup on the other hand should be carried out when the database is shut down and closed. If your database runs on a NOARCHIVELOG mode, then you require a complete database copy. A common type is the whole database which contains all database and control files. This can be constructed bit by bit using advanced free software. The tablespace copy is normally a database subset and can only be done if the database operates in ARCHIVELOG mode. However, it can be valid for a database running on NOARCHIVELOG mode only when the tablespace is offline-normal or read-only.

Free backup software can also be useful in constructing a datafile backup that is only done for single datafiles. The control file backup backs up the control files of the database while the Archived Redo Log backup ensures that media recovery is successful. With an excellent free backup software, constructing secure backups for all important data is easy. Go for software that offers an easy to use interface and if possible, let it have a wizard or guide to aid novice users in using the free backup software. GFI backup is a perfect option as it has plenty of unique features to offer. With GFI backup, you can easily backup data to any kind of storage device.

Part of figuring out what type of backup software solution you need is figuring out what data you want and you can back up. There are a lot of solutions to choose from and all offer different functions which make them unique from one another. After figuring out what data needs to be backed up you have to start to research which solution offers what you are after. Make sure to check out a number of free backup software solutions as there are a number of these solutions which will give you what you need without having to spend anything.