However, when hard drives fail, or optical media gets scratched, it is easy to curse this technology.  While backup systems will always protect you from this type of disaster, it usually takes a loss of data before the investment seems prudent.

Fortunately there is a faint glimmer of hope for those affected by digital storage media failure.

The first thing that must be discovered is whether the hard drive failure is a software or a hardware problem.  Software problems are for the lucky ones out there.  This usually means that something has gone wrong with the operating system and the hard drive will no longer boot (into Windows for example).  It is a fairly trivial matter to extract the data lost as a result of software failure and involves using an external hard drive enclosure connected to another computer, or simply connecting the hard drive directly to the mother board of another working computer.

Hardware failure is the tricky one.  This is usually identified by clicking or clunking noises coming from the hard drive when it is powered up.  We call that the “Click of Death” and usually means disaster to whatever data was stored exclusively on the device.  When hardware failure is the cause, there is really only a few things that can happen.  First, we will use a free tool, such as MHDD to run some diagnostics on the hard drive.  For hardware failure, the drive must be connected directly to the hard drive – not in an external USB enclosure.

MHDD – http://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD

The first thing that is required when you are attempting to recover digital data is to determine what type of damage your dear media has suffered.  MHDD allows you to determine the status of the mechanical pieces of the drive, as well as the output of various common tests such as SMART.  With this information you will have a better idea of how difficult the task ahead may be.

Once you know that the hard drive is responding you will use software similar to DeepSpar Disc Imager (http://www.deepspar.com/products-ds-disk-imager3.html) which will do a bit by bit extraction of all data that can be recovered.  This software doesn’t come cheap though, so it is at this point where you may need to be calling a professional recovery firm to take care of you.

Luckily, most hard drive failures are of the software type, and with the help of a technically savvy individual – you could dodge a pretty big bullet.  Then, once your data has been recovered – be sure to invest in a backup system – it will help you sleep at night.

BLOGS.. well have become a way of life over the past 10 years.  The Blog-O-sphere has allowed everyone to stretch their virtual vocal chords with these simple to use and highly customizable publishing platforms. The evolution of the typical blog is as follows:

1. An individual has a passion for something and wants to share that passion with the world.
2. That individual opens up a free account at Blogger.com, WordPress.com, or one of the many other blogging services that exist on the Internet.
3. Our individual spends some time customizing the built in template/theme, and writes their first entry – Hooray!
4. Sadly, our individual never publishes again and the blog dies – eternally broadcasting their groundbreaking ‘Hello World’ debut post.

HOWEVER, occasionally there is an individual that is truly passionate about their subject.  It could be their children, a television series, their pets, or their vintage HAM radio collection.  These individuals will follow a different pattern:

1. An individual has a passion for something and wants to share that passion with the world.
2. That individual opens up a free account at Blogger.com, WordPress.com, or one of the many other blogging services that exist on the Internet.
3. Our individual spends some time customizing the built in template/theme, and writes their first entry – Hooray!
4. Said individual KEEPS POSTING, and eventually people that he/she doesn’t know personally begin reading his content.
5. More content is created and there is now an opportunity to take it to the next step – this could even lead to a little money for our individual’s effort.

This is where things get fun and there are several options that will take an amateur blog to the next level.  These all revolve around breaking free of those free services and begin hosting your own blog, with your own blog platform installation.  Here are the advantages of this setup:

• You will finally get a REAL domain name (not a http://xyz.blogspot.com name) – You could be just http://www.xyz.com!  Now, I know that these free services will sell you a domain name themselves, and it will then link up to your current site – but you are still using their limited installation, with their limited selection of themes and plugins.
• Fully customizable blogging installation!  I am usually always going to recommend using WordPress as the installation platform, and when you install it yourself, on your own hosting account, you will have control of everything about it.  There are literally hundreds of thousands of free WordPress themes and plugins available on the Internet; far more than the free services will have.
• The monthly cost for this setup is actually pretty cheap – I’ll give you one popular example which is Godaddy.com.  The total yearly cost to run your own site is only around $70 (~$5 a month for the hosting plan, and ~$10 a year for the domain name registration).  Believe me when I say that this is cheap.

The only tricky part about this setup is the actual installation of the WordPress software, and that is where I step in (if you don’t have a nephew/niece that can help you out) – I can do this for you!  Without going into much detail here I can get you up and running with your very own WordPress site that you will have full control over!  I don’t provide the hosting, or get any money for the domain registration, and can use whatever hosting service you desire – but can be your personal consultant throughout the installation process.  I can also help you get your site looking and working the way you want.  Get in touch with me and we can discuss your needs and I will can provide you with a free estimate.  Click here to send me an e-mail!

Take care!