Hard Disk Data Security and Protection

This article learns to keep your computer and personal data more secure.

There are many ways you can unintentionally lose information on a computer. A child playing the keyboard like a piano, a power surge, lightning, floods. And sometimes equipment just fails.

If you regularly make backup copies of your files and keep them in a separate place, you can get some, if not, all of your information back in the event something happens to the originals on your computer.

Deciding what to back up is highly personal. Anything you cannot replace easily should be at the top of your list. Before you get started, make a checklist of files to back up. This will help you determine what to back up, and also give you a reference list in the event you need to retrieve a backed-up file. Here are some file suggestions to get you started:

Bank records and other financial information
Digital photographs
Software you purchased and downloaded from the Internet
Music you purchased and downloaded from the Internet
Personal projects
Your e-mail address book
Your Microsoft Outlook calendar
Your Internet Explorer bookmarks
If you haven't already decided where you want to store your backup copies external hard disk drive, CDs, DVDs, or some other storage format and you want to know more about your options, you can read about the types of external storage available.

There are many ways to minimize loss of data:

Periodically backup your data onto some other media such as hard disk drive, CD/DVD disc, ZIP disk, streamer tape, floppy disk and so on; (Occasionally check backups to see if they can be restored.)
Backup your system partition using a partition backup program (Such as: Partition Table Doctor, Super Fdisk);
Don't save your data on the same partition where your operating system and programs are installed - it will be much easier to restore/reinstall operating system without touching your data;
Use NTFS/NTFS5 file system instead of FAT16/32 if your operating system is windows NT4/XP/.NET;
Use a reliable RAID;
Use an antiviral protection;
Use a firewall to protect your data from unwanted access from the Internet or network;
Use quality hardware: motherboard, memory, hard disk controller, hard disk cable, hard disk drive, power supply. Do not over-clock the hardware;
Never switch off your computer with the operating system loaded by using the power button or reset button;
Don't forget, you will not be able to read your data after you change your password or reinstall/upgrade operating system.
Data Backup:

The primary rule is to backup your data. The more often you backup your data, the smaller the chances you will lose your valuable data. The following are examples of data backup techniques:

Copy your data to another partition of the same hard drive (less secure, because you can lose both copies due to a of a hard drive crash);
Copy your data to another hard drive in the same computer (more secure, but you still can lose both copies due to a of the computer crash);
Copy your data to another computer (secure enough, but there is still a possibility to lose your data when both computers are in the same room);
Copy your data to removable media, such as removable hard drive, CD/DVD disc, ZIP disk (s), streamer tape, floppy disk and so on. This media, once removed from your computer, will give you the most security. (Check backups to ensure they can be restored)

Choosing an external storage format to back up files

External storage refers to any type of backup format that isn't on your computer. This can be a piece of hardware, software, or even a Web service. There are many types of external storage available, so when choosing external storage, weigh cost and convenience against the amount of information you're backing up.

Whether you use the Windows Backup utility or some other backup software, you'll need a place to store your backup copies. Below are some storage formats to consider. If you can, use a storage system that gets your information out of the house or office.

Data Recovery: If you lost you data, we recommend that you can use professional data recovery software, such as Partition Table Doctor to recover partition table or Data Recovery Wizard to recover files.