Backup software is a pain in the neck.  It doesn’t matter what brand, be it commercial or personal grade, or cost.

Backing up a computer is a high-maintenance task whether you area a network administrator, computer technician, or home user.  Surprisingly most don’t take data protection serious enough.  Most either don’t perform regular backups or assume they are running fine.

If you or your business wish to avoid a disaster, by losing data, then you must perform a “dry-run.”  A dry-run is performing a mocked-up restore of either individual files or an entire computer system.  You don’t want to discover the backup is not working when you lose data.

So what will you do when your hard disk drive crashes?  Send the disk drive off to a repair facility out of the St. Louis area that specializes with restoring data that was not backed up.  It will only cost you $1200 or higher.

One of the highest quality backup programs we have used here at the shop is Cobian.  It has been around for a number of years and has many of the same features that commercial grade programs offer.  The program is free and has enough options to make you dizzy.  The program is free.

When your hard disk drive starts to act up, you will know it. Your computer will begin to screech, clang, bang, or just plain stop working. Obviously, this is not a pleasant experience.

There is currently a 20 to 35% average each month Net-Net Tech, LLC receives calls related or indirectly related to hard disk drive failure. The failure is often called a “crash.”

The cliche “crashing” is a bit overstated at times. Most drives fail due to indirect crashes. Either the core part of the operating system (Windows) is corrupted causing the computer to lock up or there is a surface problem. Surface issues can occur in new or old drives.

Here are a few tips to assist you should you have problems:

1. Do you make mountains out of mole-hills? If you suspect hard disk drive problems, DO NOT run any handy utilities. Please don’t let your buddy try to fix this for the sake of saving a few bucks. In the long run you will most likely spend more bucks.

2. If your hard disk drive or computer emits squelches, clicking, or metal sounds, immediately stop and shut down your computer. Call a computer repair facility for best results. The longer you allow the drive to run the more damage can occur

3. All operating systems (i.e. Windows, Linux, Novell, Unix, etc.) manage advance disk drive formats. The complexity does not provide an optimal situation to fix it yourself.

This entry is a general guide to assist you during a computer failure caused by disk drive failure. Net-Net Tech, LLC can certainly assist you with your computer service and repair needs in St. Charles and Saint Louis, MO.