Maximizing Storage Space On Your PC

Almost each household now has a computer or laptop or even more. It comes in handy not only for work or school tasks but even for storing photos, movies, videos, and other virtual memory you cherish most. Unfortunately, your computer’s hard drive can only save a certain amount and it has its limit. If your hard drive is damaged, meanwhile, your storage capacity gets worse. And when it does, you have no choice but to save one temporarily on a flash drive, purchase a pricey external hard drive, or worse, delete extra stuff.

While deleting them is not an option you delight in, it happens at times (albeit with a heavy heart). But if you find yourself in a similar situation now, don’t just throw in the towel yet. Back stuff up, and avoid having to pay data recovery service prices (http://www.harddriverecovery.org/pricing.html). We’ll try to find ways how we can maximize computer storage space without sacrificing the memories you have made along the way.

Holiday pictures, party videos, movies or music: eventually every hard drive reaches its limits and a new storage medium needs be found.

But what’s the best way to do it? Do you just expand the computer’s memory or move your operating system and programmes to another computer? And do you opt for a large conventional drive or more expensive but faster SSD memory?

The easiest solution for desktop PC owners is to add a new hard drive to a computer that has space for one. You should make sure the new disk has as much space as possible, advises Rainer Schuldt from computer magazine Computerbild.

"Today, three-terabyte hard disks are already available for a relatively small amount of money," he says.

A new disk can usually be installed in a few minutes and after a restart it’s recognised by the operating system. Then you just have to move your data from the old disk to the new.

(Via: http://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2017/03/29/hard-disk-full-finding-more-space-for-your-computer/)

If you hate running out of storage space, you can always do these things:

Your computer doesn't like running out of storage space — besides losing out on a place to store that kitten video you downloaded for Youtube, you'll also find your computer runs a lot slower when the storage is nearly full. So anything you can do to keep a healthy chunk of storage space free is an upgrade that's well worth doing.

Investing in an external hard drive and plugging it into a spare USB port is an upgrade that pretty much anyone can do. You won't be able to move your operating system files over to it, but you can shift all those photos, videos and other personal files to the external drive no problem. Just remember that you need to back them up somewhere else too, just in case your new external hard drive should fall into the fish tank.

Fitting a second hard drive inside your case or even swapping out your original drive for a bigger one isn't as difficult as you might think, though in the latter case you have the added hassle of having to move your operating system, applications and files over at the same time.

If you do decide to replace your internal hard drive, than switching from a mechanical hard drive to a speedy SSD can make a huge difference to the load times and running speed of your computer, as well as potentially giving you more storage space too.

(Via: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/03/the-easiest-ways-to-upgrade-your-computer-yourself/)

You don’t have to be a computer expert to find additional storage solutions for your computing needs nor do you need to spend lots of money to make it happen. Just a little ingenuity and know-how can save you from a headache involving your computer’s storage space that many of us face in our day-to-day life.

But then, it also depends on the unit itself. While some can benefit from making a few upgrades and add-ons, there are those that definitely need a replacement. If that’s the case, choose wisely and find a unit that has at least a terra storage space so you don’t have to constantly worry about running out of storage or having to lose data that are important to you.

The following blog post Maximizing Storage Space On Your PC See more on: http://www.harddriverecovery.org

source http://www.harddriverecovery.org/blog/maximizing-storage-space-on-your-pc/

What You Need To Know About SSD And Its Recovery

We deal with technology on a regular basis. The majority of the population go online through their phones and tablets, many still access the web through computers and laptops, especially students, professionals, and entrepreneurs who have more advanced computing needs.

While most computers have a built-in hard drive for storage, some have external drives (read about recovering them here), some use SSDs instead. A solid-state drive wasn’t really an option for many in the past because of its high price but its price has gone considerably over the last few years. And as such, SSDs become a more reasonable expense for many. It offers computer users all the benefits of your average hard drive with a few extra bonuses.

The issue of SSD drive life is coming to the fore – the economics of solid state storage is being turned on its head thanks to the introduction of longer-lasting enterprise SSDs.

In short, the SSD lifetime is getting longer – and with time will grow far longer.

"Dramatic Effect" of Enterprise SSDs

"When the lifespans of enterprise SSDs change, the effect is dramatic," he said. "It affects not just the running costs but also migration, and it overlaps with all the other things built in to the total cost of ownership. So this is huge, and it overwhelms the price differential between spinning disk and flash."

It's an important point because enterprise SSD storage remains stubbornly more expensive than spinning-disk storage in terms of cost per gigabyte to purchase. But hard drive storage systems are only designed for a useful life of about three years, after which they have to be replaced and the data migrated to the new hardware. If enterprise SSD systems need to be replaced far less frequently, the effect is a significant reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO).

(Via: http://www.infostor.com/disk-arrays/ssd-drives/enterprise-ssd-long-life-drives-set-to-revolutionize-the-data-center-1.html)

And SSDs even work better than traditional hard drives in any recovery plan – although you have to keep in mind that while many think of these things at a personal level, they are actually more effective on a grander scale (like in big businesses and organizations perhaps).

Today, 1 TB SSDs are very inexpensive, retailing from distributors at around $200. This is still considerably higher than backup/archiving workhorse hard drives, which deliver 4 TB or more for the same price.

SSDs get interesting when we look at the backup window, which for many sites is just too long, and getting longer as storage grows. We are moving data to the cloud, too, using gateway appliances, but the WAN performance is fixed and limited, which implies a good buffer is a necessary part of the design.

This is where those large SSDs become very useful for backup and recovery plans. Data can be journaled on the gateway using a pair of SSDs in a mirror configuration for data integrity. The large SSDs allow many parallel backup streams, limited only by the LAN connection's capacity. This shortens the backup window significantly.

(Via: http://searchdatabackup.techtarget.com/answer/How-are-backup-and-recovery-plans-impacted-by-large-SSDs)

SSDs have gone far in the computing world. It is why some are even worried about getting rid of data stored in SSDs that they don’t want other people to know.

If you’re curious about the technical reasons why traditional formatting or hard drive destruction isn’t the best way to securely erase data on SSDs, Backblaze has a great guide that details why old hard drive methods don’t work. The short version is that there is no standard method for securely deleting data from an SSD, and that means there’s no universally accepted secure format option for SSDs. Some manufacturers make their own software for formatting their own hard drives, but it’s tough to independently verify any of them.

Instead, Backblaze (and others) suggest two approaches, encrypt the SSD and throw away the key, or shred it. Shredding an SSD requires a special machine that most of us don’t have access to, so let’s just focus on the encryption method. This is good enough for most of us who aren’t working on top secret projects because without the encryption key, an encrypted SSD is basically just a drive full of random ones and zeroes.

If you’re getting rid of an SSD for whatever reason, the process is simple, encrypt it first, format it, and if you want to be super careful, encrypt it again.

(Via: http://lifehacker.com/how-to-securely-dispose-of-an-ssd-1793336156)

In a nutshell, these are just some of the things you need to be aware of when using SSDs. Dealing with computers is not always a walk in the park for ordinary people but knowing the basics can go a long way and save you from all the hassles associated with technology use.

The blog post What You Need To Know About SSD And Its Recovery was originally seen on http://www.harddriverecovery.org

source http://www.harddriverecovery.org/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-ssd-and-its-recovery/

Are You Ready To Go Quantum?

We can’t stop progress much more that related to technology. The things we have now were only a dream to many ten to twenty years ago. And look how far the human race has come. While we continue to enjoy all the perks offered by technology (and perhaps not love the drawbacks - http://www.harddriverecovery.org/ms-exchange-data-recovery.html) to us, there is more waiting for everyone and we can’t stop it from coming.

We may be blown away by the technology we now use but are you prepared to take things to the next level? The future of computing is quantum. And that’s the direction experts in the field are taking us. While you’ve probably heard the term “quantum” back as a student, it is something you need to reorient yourself with because it is the future that is waiting for all of us.

Nothing has changed the world more than our ability to compute. A large fraction of the global population now carries up to a billion transistors in their pockets, and universal internet access is rapidly following. Every business is soon to be an information business, as I’m reminded while running in the countryside, where even farming is being transformed. Livestock are being equipped with sensors to monitor their health remotely, and a farmer’s decisions on what crop to plant when, as well as how much to irrigate and fertilise, are increasingly based not just on weather forecasts but also on complex computational models making market and economic predictions.

Traditional computing and technologies available to us now pale in comparison to what quantum computing can offer us.

The good news is that a solution is at hand — a drastically different approach to computing that is profound both in terms of the fundamental laws of physics it exploits, and the transformations it will bring about in our lives, society and economy. At their most basic level, conventional computers represent each “bit” of information — the logical zero or one — in the on-off state of a transistor. But by exercising careful control over some of the smallest constituents of our universe, quantum computers instead work with “qubits”. A standard bit can only exist in the zero or the one state, whereas a qubit can adopt a uniquely quantum superposition of the two logical states. Any carefully controlled system obeying the laws of quantum mechanics can be used to form a qubit; popular choices are trapped ions, superconducting circuits and single particles of light, known as photons. However you choose to do it, changing how you compute at this fundamental level opens up new approaches to problems.

(Via: https://www.ft.com/content/6711e5c2-0e83-11e7-b030-768954394623)

Are you ready to embrace quantum computing sooner rather than later? Well, whether you are ready or not, you have no choice but to accept it because this is what's in store for us years from now.

Experts have suggested that quantum computers could break the toughest mainstream encryption strategies in use today; exponentially increased processing speed will eventually allow them to crack protocols that are currently too computationally difficult to unravel. The early commercial interest in quantum computing, though, focuses less on offense and more on helping beleaguered security analysts not just identify incidents, but decide which of those incidents represent an actual threat. IBM estimates that companies have to sift through 200,000 security events per day on average; that’s certainly more than a human team can dependably vet on their own, and generates enough data over time to challenge traditional computers.

(Via: https://www.wired.com/2017/01/quantum-computers-versus-hackers-round-one-fight/)

While many are thrilled with the arrival of cloud computing, there are also some precautions we need to take and details we should be aware of.

The Internet of Things is no longer science fiction. If it’s not in your home already, it will be shortly, and IoT will only grow more pervasive in the coming years. Soon, just about every “thing” that exists will be connected to every other “thing.” That concept is incredibly exciting—and incredibly dangerous. Many of us are aware that online threats are pervasive, and result in devastating cyberattacks on governments, businesses and private citizens. What most people still don’t know is that, within the next 10 years, those attacks will become exponentially more difficult to prevent.

The reason: quantum computing. Tech giants, including Google, Microsoft and IBM, and governments around the world are all in a high-stakes race to introduce the first commercial, universal quantum computer. These incredibly powerful computers will introduce dramatic new opportunities in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, materials science, and drug creation. Industry consensus is that a universal commercial quantum computer capable of these advances will arrive by 2026 or sooner. Experimental quantum computers already exist.

The dark side of quantum computers is that they will have the power to subvert the classical encryption widely used to protect data today, creating widespread and potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities. As computing has evolved, encryption has been able to evolve with it, largely hand-in-hand. Both were based on incremental changes in power; computers got faster, and encryption was improved to keep pace. With the advent of quantum computing, that model no longer applies. Incremental changes won’t be adequate as the paradigm shifts from classical to quantum computing.

(Via: http://www.informationsecuritybuzz.com/articles/future-cyberattacks-quantum-ready/)

Like any other thing on this planet (whether living or not), quantum computing has its good and bad sides. Although we can never really tell when quantum computing will be made available to the public at large, it helps to know that it is just on the horizon. There is much to learn with a technology as complex as quantum computing but it is best that we cross the bridge when we get there. We will continue to ramp up our data recovery services (including options like http://www.harddriverecovery.org/SQL_database_recovery.html) as computers get better. Expect Hard Drive Recovery Group to be there no matter your data issue.

Are You Ready To Go Quantum? Read more on: http://www.harddriverecovery.org

source http://www.harddriverecovery.org/blog/are-you-ready-to-go-quantum/

Why Windows 10 Is Facing A Major Backlash

While only a handful of the population has ever used a Mac computer or even laid eyes on it, the rest of us can certainly agree that a Windows PC is our go-to PC for all our computing needs. So, as most of us bid a fond goodbye to the much-loved Windows operating system - Windows 7 - because it’s finally time for all of us to move on. However, those who have already taken the leap and upgraded to the latest Windows 10 OS are having mixed reactions with it.

We can’t deny that there will always be glitches with any new system. Not all require  level three data recovery services (http://www.harddriverecovery.org/clean_room.html). And while it has been a while since the Windows 10 OS was released to the public, the company is now facing a serious multi-million dollar class lawsuit from a few people who really had a bad experience with Windows 10 after being forced to make the upgrade.

Released in July 2015, Windows 10 was offered as a free upgrade for one year to any Microsoft users running previous versions of the company's operating system. While Microsoft touted the cloud-focused Windows 10, now installed on more than 400 million devices, as its most advanced and secure OS to date, many customers have complained about the company's aggressive efforts to get people to upgrade.

(Via: http://www.cio-today.com/article/index.php?story_id=1310047VR7WQ)

Windows users have no choice but to make an upgrade to the much talked about Windows 10. And it proved to have caused them irreparable damage as many have lost valuable data (which is not an inexpensive thing) and even their computers because of the damage the Windows 10 upgrade did to them.

Three persons in the US have filed a lawsuit against Microsoft claiming that its Windows 10 update destroyed their data and damaged their computers, a media report said.

The complaint, filed in Chicago’s US District Court on Thursday, said that Microsoft Windows 10 was a defective product and that its maker failed to provide adequate warning about the potential risks posed by Windows 10 installation, Britain-based online tech publication The Register reported on Friday.

(Via: http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/microsoft-sued-as-windows-10-destroys-data-and-damages-computers-in-us-368716.html)

People are seriously upset about the damage and inconvenience caused by the OS upgrade and it may be a cause of worry for Microsoft officials soon.

Howard Goldberg of Highland Park, Ill. -- a suburb north of Chicago -- had a particularly tough time with the Windows 10 upgrade. "After three attempts to download Windows 10, each of which tied up his computer for extended periods of time, Goldberg's computer was damaged, and Windows 10 was not actually downloaded and functional," the complaint read. "Goldberg contacted Microsoft about the problems, and was told his computer was out of warranty, and that he would have to pay them for any assistance with the problems. Goldberg therefore had to have somebody repair the computer to make it functional."

Many of the plaintiffs' complaints resembled the general malaise widely reported during the one-year upgrade plan. For example, the lawsuit cited the insistent on-screen upgrade nag notices Microsoft placed on consumers' Windows 7 and 8.1 desktops, the limited-time window when the PC could be rolled back to its previous operating system, and the shifty reversal of the close-window operation in a critical dialog box.

Microsoft issued a statement regarding the lawsuit. They seem to be not that worried about the cases filed.

"We believe the plaintiffs' claims are without merit," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. Microsoft also pointed out that "customers had the option not to upgrade to Windows 10" and added that users also could contact the company's free technical support.

(Via: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3185309/microsoft-windows/consumers-sue-microsoft-allege-windows-10-upgrade-destroyed-data-damaged-pcs.html)

Like with any technology, you can expect to encounter technical difficulties at some point in time. Since there are risks involved, you always have the option to go ahead with it or not. And if problems occur, there is always some form of technical assistance you can reach out to. If all else fails and you have lost more than what you can bear, you can always fight for your right and let your voices be heard through a lawsuit case like this one. And who knows, maybe someone else is in the same situation as you and you can fight for a class action instead.

The following article Why Windows 10 Is Facing A Major Backlash is courtesy of Hard Drive Recovery Group Blog

source http://www.harddriverecovery.org/blog/why-windows-10-is-facing-a-major-backlash/

How Do Servers Protect You?

We all use technology in our everyday life. From the most mundane of things such as getting in touch with family and friends, checking out the latest and trending topics on the web and online shopping to the most sensitive of tasks like online banking, we all rely on our flashy and techy gadgets to do the job for us. And while there are a few frustrating moments, these devices mostly do the job 90% of the time.

However, considering the massive amount of sensitive data you deal with every day (and your PC), how sure are you that these data are protected once they get to the web? There are definitely some mechanical issues with storage devices that must be watched for (see here: http://www.harddriverecovery.org/data-recovery-services.html). Also, we can’t ignore the fact that many hackers out there are just waiting for their moment to strike to steal your data for a profit.

Fast forward to 2016, when a Malware installed on the Bangladesh’s central bank computer systems led to the theft of over $80 million. In simple words, ‘cybersecurity’ in movies or in real-life has always been a critical aspect that has the tendency to impact the business negatively which in turn can ruin it.

As technology becomes an integral part of our lives and interconnected devices become a reality of our times, we are entering a new phase of ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) era. Technology is revolutionizing how products connect and communicate with each other and with humans. The ability to connect, communicate, and remotely manage multiple number of networked, smart devices via the internet is becoming pervasive.

With device proliferation and a hyper connected ecosystem, data deluge is a given. Therefore, with this huge opportunity, there arises an added risk of data theft, leakage, malware and much more. Every connected device is a potential entry point for malware or virus and could be alarmingly vulnerable to hackers, thereby triggering major security risks.Threats to information security, in particular, are appearing more frequently and are of greater magnitude than ever before. According to EY’s 19th Global Information Security Survey 2016-17, despite the increased investments, 75 per cent of the Indian respondents say that their cybersecurity function does not fully meet the organization’s needs.

These threats are real. And we have seen time and again how others took advantage of system vulnerabilities and human error to make a big amount of money. As an individual, you have your personal responsibilities you have to take accountability for. But what if the incident happened outside of your scope and within the many pathways of the web? Can you vouch for the security of your data all the time?

In today’s connected ecosystem, data is a highly valuable commodity, and for companies dealing with confidential data and client information, even a minor infringement in security can cause irreparable damage to the organization in terms of wealth, privacy and reputation. A small breach in an unsecure connected printing device can lead to the breakdown of an entire system. Hence, it becomes extremely critical to maintain proper document management infrastructure to ensure data privacy and security.

(Via: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/the-it-issues-of-security-protecting-your-network-beyond-the-pc-4592318/)

While we may not always fathom what happens on the web, it does not mean that we should just sit still and wait for something to happen. As a responsible citizen, you have a right to demand your safety and protection while using the web and our elected leaders have a responsibility to take measures to do that for us.

The regulations, if they had gone into effect, would have prohibited internet service providers from selling information about your online activities to advertisers. But yesterday the House of Representatives blocked the move. Companion legislation has already passed the Senate, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill.

That has sparked a backlash from Democrats and many privacy advocates. Michael Copps, a former member of the Federal Communications Commission, called the bill a “perversion of what the internet was supposed to be.” And many ordinary internet users wondered what they should do to protect their online privacy.

The good news is that nothing is going to change right away. The Obama regulations weren’t scheduled to take effect until later this year, so the Republican bill simply preserves the status quo, which allows ISPs to sell customer data to advertisers. And while the law currently allows ISPs to do this, most aren’t currently doing it.

(Via: http://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/3/29/15107110/republican-isp-data-privacy)

So this is what happens when you have too much technology in your life. You don’t realize a lot is on the line because you think the sites you visit are innocent platforms for your entertainment. The truth is, they are there to make money. Facebook is a good example. You sign up and don’t have anything to pay for it but you end up sharing all your personal details with photos and videos to boot. And that’s where real business takes place.

If you see ads popping on your monitor, that’s Facebook retargeting at work. Without your knowledge, the company sells your data to advertisers and they do it in the most clever and efficient way – even getting you to the right demographic. Now, if something happens to this site’s server, perhaps, what will happen to the data of billions of its users who will be compromised if you can’t always rely on servers to protect you all the time? That is a reality we have to live with every day.

The blog post How Do Servers Protect You? Read more on: http://www.harddriverecovery.org

source http://www.harddriverecovery.org/blog/how-do-servers-protect-you/

New Facebook Server To Watch Out For

Servers are at the core of the operation of any system – whether for businesses or government agencies. These servers deal with precious consumer data and even provide security and storage., despite certain hard drive dangers that can affect them. What's more, even newer SSD driven servers can have issues. And servers continue to improve and develop as more people take their businesses and transactions to the web.

The popularity of social media and the convenience offered by the web for people looking for answers-  even to the most sensitive of issues -  the web managed to ingrain itself as a human need and no longer a luxury. And as the population explodes and more people patronize the Internet, servers play an even bigger role in keeping everything and everyone safe day in and day out.

Facebook needs powerful computers in order to store and process the millions of photos and videos it maintains for its users.

But instead of buying expensive servers from big-name brands like Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Dell Technologies, the social network designs its own servers so it can fine-tune the machines to its own specific computing needs and save some money.

As part of its continuing efforts to design its own servers, Facebook (FB, +0.63%)said Wednesday that it’s upgrading all of the servers used in its vast data centers. Additionally, Facebook said it would contribute the server blueprints to its Open Compute Project foundation, in which companies can exchange and access data center hardware designs for free so they can build their own custom gear.

(Via: http://fortune.com/2017/03/08/facebook-datacenters/)

Everyone has heard about Facebook at one time or another – if not already an avid user of this social media platform. You can get lost in it for hours on end reading all the posts of your friends and the people you follow. It even became the hub for businesses of all types – think of advertisers, business pages and online sellers among others. The opportunity is endless when using Facebook so it makes perfect sense for the company to take their servers to the next level.

In just six years, Facebook's Open Compute Project (OCP) has become a major phenom in the data center hardware industry that has attracted an almost cult-like following among engineers.

And on Wednesday, Facebook upped the bar yet again.

Facebook announced that it was giving away four new designs for brand-new types of computer servers invented at Facebook.

Anyone can take these designs, modify them and use them, with contract manufacturers standing by to build them.

Those contract manufacturers include Chinese companies ike Quanta, as well as the world's largest maker of computer servers, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE).

(Via: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-fires-four-more-shots-into-the-server-market-2017-3)

Facebook has yet again taken the lead. The technological innovations they are using aims to provide better services to the billions of people relying on the platform to work 24/7 without fail.

Facebook has unveiled a new type of data centre server called Big Basin, which is said to be useful for artificial intelligence.

Through the Open Compute Project, the social media giant is making available the new hardware for use by other companies.

And when Facebook dreams big, there’s nobody stopping them.

The memory of the new server, which can support eight new generation GPUs, has been increased from 12GB to 16GB. Its throughput has also been doubled compared to Big Sur.

Separately, Facebook has also unveiled a new storage platform called Bryce Canyon, which supports the inclusion of 12 more hard disk drives compared to its previous version Honey Badger.

The new platform, which supports 72 hard disk drives (HDDs) in four Open Rack units, allows storing high-density data, including videos and photos. 

(Via: http://www.cbronline.com/news/enterprise-it/server/facebook-unveils-new-gpu-server-big-basin/)

This is good news to all Facebook users all over the world. The social networking site values its users and making big leaps like this one in the technology they are using can help assuage the doubts and worries of many. Rest assured that millions can still continue to connect, communicate, and market using Facebook using new, better and customized servers the company offers.

New Facebook Server To Watch Out For is available on http://www.harddriverecovery.org

source http://www.harddriverecovery.org/blog/new-facebook-server-to-watch-out-for/