Upgrading? Better destroy all data on your Drive

Many companies observe strict policies regarding computer hardware and the data they contain. But many of us common folk fail to observe the same and sometimes end up in trouble for such irresponsible acts. May they be old digital photos or lewd email backed up on your hard drive, all of these can be used for wrongdoing and should be dealt with in the proper manner.
The simplest way to destroy data is to do a software hard format using the Operating system’s long format option. Going a step further, you could get your drill and drill a few holes through the whole thing just to be safe and then toss it into the recycling bin to be made into new drives. But be safe and do wear proper safety gear and clamp down the drive in a vise to prevent injury.
Keeping information out of the wrong hands is the responsibility of everybody and it does not hurt to be extra careful.

IDE hard disks still not obsolete

With the ever growing popularity of SATA hard disks because of its faster speeds and connectors that are can be more easily attached and detached (not to mention they’re significantly smaller), it looks like the days of IDE hard disks are numbered.

But it’s not just about to die yet. One good thing about devices today is that most of them are still working perfectly and these legacy devices still use IDE hard disks. That’s why a cursory look at online stores or brick and mortar retailers of computer products will yield positive results in terms of new IDE hard disks with capacities that still rival that of SATA hard disks.

HDD’s will get even smaller next year

Laptop and Notebooks are making strides like never before this year. Therefore, one of its major components needs to change or, in this case, shrink but retain its memory size.

HDDs apparently represent the most expensive component in a netbook system, as CPUs, LCD panels, optical disc drives and batteries mostly fall between US$20 and US$25 each, while a 2.5-inch HDD can go for as much as US$43-45, a perfectly good reason for trying to lower the cost of these specific components. The three storage companies are said to be focusing on minimizing the cost of the drive’s ICs, magnetic platters, and pick-up heads. Storage capacities for the lower priced hard drives are to fall between 80GB to 120GB, on the condition that the price cut is effective.

Small is the future…

Source

Going all the way in protecting your files.

If you have very important documents or files in your current hard drive, have you ever wondered how you can really “protect” your files from being destroyed? Of course, there are a lot of ways on how you can protect the files inside such as encrypting the drive with a password or buying one of those hard drives with fingerprint recognition. However, having these can only protect what’s on the inside. Have you ever thought of protecting the outside?

Sentry(R)Safe cared so much about protecting your precious files that they made a gadget that is both water and fire proof. The hard drive has a 160GB capacity and was given a lot of awards by some of the most known companies and critics in the world of technology.

Photo taken from http://www.firewebdesigns.com

Feeling a little unsecure?

If your business or job calls for secrecy, then you might want to store your documents in a safe place. Of course, our generation has already given up on manual storage and we let have let computers do this tedious task for us. However, there are some security risks when we store soft copies of our documents in a hard drive. First off, you must create backup copies of your documents. We will never know when your hard drive will fail you. Second, you might want to invest on hard drive security. Chinavasion has made a step towards this kind of security. They made a hard drive that can only be accessed with fingerprint recognition. The hard drive can recognize as much as 10 fingerprints, and so you can actually limit the access of your files. Fingerprint recognition can in fact be more secure than password encryption because hackers nowadays are becoming more ingenious.

Photo taken from http://www.portablegadget.com

How Much is Enough

The ability to connect a specific hard drive is generally limited but he architecture of the motherboard and bios as a matter of fact with most today limited to 500GB in capacity. Attach a larger drive and you may not be able to utilize the full capacity of the drive which you may find out in the detected drive displayed within the BIOS setup screen. Though most motherboards now use auto detect, detecting and getting the information about the hard drive from the internal electronics, there was actually a time when you had to know the parameters of the drive for one to mount it and use it properly. IDE today has become an older standard, replaced by SATA which has faster transfer rates and other speedy attributes. They also have a slimmer connector that lessens the restrictive effect the former 80-wire flat cable had on the overall computer system. Continue reading »

Hard Drive – Size does matter

Hard drives come in many forms and shapes, the most common are the 5 1/4″ and the 2 1/2″ the first appearing on desktops and the later on laptops. As of this year, the highest capacity hard drive has topped the 2TB capacity and is set to improve further as data storage technologies improve. The smallest hard drive ever made was a 0.85″ hard drive developed by Toshiba for use as if it were an SD/MMC card for data storage on a computer or mobile devices. The two forms of hard drives have stood the test of time due to the fact that flash memory has experienced such a boom prices have fallen making them a more viable storage solution for smaller needs. The speed at which these drives spin can range from 5,400 to 7,200 rpm the later of which was the long standing standard for server-type SCSI hard drives that were very expensive. Most mobile computers (laptops) come with a 5,400 rpm drive due to the sound considerations when using the device, the faster the device the louder the sound (the spinning sound or hum you hear). You can in theory use faster hard drives on mobile computers but they would reduce battery life and make it noisier defeating the overall design of the laptop. Continue reading »

S.M.A.R.T. – Saving your data before you know it!

SMART is a monitoring technology build into the electronics of hard drives as a way of the computer monitoring it’s performance and may give warning of pending failure. Though the system is generally one that works without a hitch, it cannot protect you from sudden hardware failure which leaves the drive non-operational. Sudden hardware failure is estimated to account for 60% of all drive failures, and is attributed to rough handling or drops and knocks say a laptop falling onto the floor from your desk. They are designed to withstand specific amount of impact force (measured in G’s) that means a hard drive may survive a fall from a 3-foot desk. Continue reading »

Two essential tips

1. Run Disk Degragmenter.

You can find it in Start > Program Files > Accessories > System Tools. Disk Defragmenter effectively sifts through your files and organizes them, thereby saving you hard disk space as well as speeding your system up. Since it takes a long time to get done, it is recommended that you run Disk Defragmenter just before you have a task or errand to do so you don’t have to endure the long wait.

2. Use a hard disk fan.
Electronic processes generate a lot of heat for the hardware, which is ironic, since heat is the major factor in the degradation of computer equipment over time. Especially for bigger and faster hard disks that spin at faster rates, you need a fan to help dissipate the heat and make your HD last longer.

Hard Disk Error – Hard Disk Not Found

This is an error message we all hate we’d never see but these small yet terrible precision storage devices are electro-mechanical and they will eventually wear out. Before you consider burying the darned thing, try getting hold of a new IDE cable and replacing that. The cable is made up of several dozen wires that tends to cook up in the PC’s case especially if you don’t have ample cooling and you love to over-clock the system that makes it hot enough to cook and egg on.
Another thing you might want to try is to unplug the IDE cable at both ends and try re-seating them. The heat within your PC causes thermal expansion which can loosen cables(though very rare), but they can happen. check the power connector and switch with another one or a free one you may have. Of course you’re doing this all after you’ve shut it down and pulled out the plug from the wall socket, waiting a few minutes for the residual charge in the power supply to dissipate. you should also touch the power supply to get rid of the very nasty static charge you maight have picked up walking on your carpeted floors.