There was a time when I would be ultra-paranoid about losing data, and would make backup after backup in order to be safe and secure about about my information (my writing, my personal images, my email, etc.). But with so many advancements in data storage, I'm less paranoid about losing all that information, although there might be some inconveniences should there be something catastrophic, like a fire or a flood. Still, with redundancies in place (even remotely), data recovery on a copy restoration level is much simpler than it was when tape (or diskette) backups were the main methods of protecting your information on a personal level.

Now I'm no computer expert (although I do dabble with computer repair activities when I'm upgrading a system or fixing a relative's machine), but I am pretty certain that I am in the minority when it comes to the ability to recover some lost data due to the seizure of a hard drive--and when no other backup copy exists (where are those redundancies!?). When you experience a computer crash, and you're in the middle of a big project, or you've failed to backup your programming, your novel, your will, your wedding list, your home inventory, or anything else critically important to your existence, you can feel your heart sink through to the bottom of your stomach.

You probably don't want to put yourself in that position anytime soon (why don't you back up everything right now on to a DVD-R at least? I'll wait.), so instead of waiting for your hard-drive to seize up, because it is inevitable that hardware will fail sooner or later, take the precaution of backing up all your information on a secondary machine such as a server, burn copies on to CD-Rs and DVD-Rs and then put them in your firesafe, your safe deposit box, and leave another somewhere remote like the office or a trusted family member's home. Also, take advantage of the vast amounts of storage space available on free email accounts such as Google and Hotmail. Take a moment to email something to yourself, and you instantly have a remote copy of your data online. And if you're old school, don't be afraid to print out copies of your important electronic documents, although make sure that you're not using thermal paper (it just don't last!).

Proper data recovery can be time-consuming and expensive. And sometimes you just can't afford to lose your information, or have it sitting on some computer repair technicians desk while he runs diagnostics trying to pull data off of the (hopefully) recoverable sectors of your dead drive. So, be safe, be secure, and back-up often. But do it smartly and efficiently--make it a regular task--and you won't be caught losing your life's work.

There are a wide variety of failures that can cause physical damage to storage media. CD-ROMs can have their metallic substrate or dye layer scratched off; hard disks can suffer any of several mechanical failures, such as head crashes and failed motors; tapes can simply break. Physical damage always causes at least some data loss, and in many cases the logical structures of the file system are damaged as well. This causes logical damage that must be dealt with before any files can be salvaged from the failed media.

Most physical damage cannot be repaired by end users. For example, opening a hard disk in a normal environment can allow dust to settle on the surface, causing further damage to the platters and complicating the recovery process. Furthermore, end users generally do not have the hardware or technical expertise required to make these repairs; therefore, costly data recovery companies are consulted to salvage the data. These firms often use Class 100 cleanroom facilities to protect the media while repairs are being made.

Despite this, there are many accounts of users getting a bad disk going long enough to pull their data off, often via slightly bizarre tricks. These include making the drive cold (in the freezer) or spinning it manually on the ground, both actions being used to unstick a jammed platter. Most data recovery professionals recommend against the use of tricks such as these, as they can cause additional physical damage to the drive if done improperly (and in many cases, even when done properly).

The majority of IT managers and business owners agree that tape does not work. Ironically, most organizations are still using fixed-schedule antiquated tape systems that are subject to human error, cumbersome to manage and notoriously unreliable. The SonicWALL CDP (Continuous Data Protection)