Some Good Tips to Follow

The most vital, expensive component of any computer is data. When someone has worked hours on certain documents or spreadsheets, and that data is lost, all that time spent is lost as well. Time is money. Here are some practices to help protect your data if system files become corrupt, to the possibility of a virus contaminating the master boot record of your hard drive. These tips will also help efficiently recover data.

When things get real bad the recovery console is a very good tool for recovering data. The recovery console is a basic operating system, that through commands, allows you to save data, as well as create and delete partitions and format those partitions. When recovering data, it can be a very frustrating process. One way to help the efficiency of your time, is to install the recovery console onto the hard drive. If the boot.ini file is still intact and accessible on the hard drive, the recovery console will be an option on the advanced boot options menu. To install the recovery console onto the hard drive, first access the command prompt by going to run and typing cmd. Then type this into the command prompt with the Windows XP Professional CD in the CD-ROM:

x:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons

The recovery console is very easy to use even if you have never had to use it before. Just type Help, and a list of all the commands are shown. If there is a question about a certain command, just type the following in the recovery console:

Command /?

When a system repair goes bad, or an update goes bad, your data will be vulnerable from being lost. This is why it is wise to create an automatic system recovery disk. You can do this by using the backup utility in system tools. Just follow the instructions. A floppy disk, and any removable media that can hold at least 25 gigs is required. This is why tape drives are recommended, but external hard drives as well as high capacity iPods work well. To use ASR, you have to press F2 during the boot-up faze of the XP CD-ROM. It will then ask for the ASR floppy disk and it will recover the back up placed on the removable media used. Once that is recovered, it is also possible to then restore other back ups that weren't used as the ASR. This is why constant back ups are very important.

If you think system files are corrupt, there is a utility that can be run if the computer is still able to boot. In the command prompt type this following command:

sfc /scannow

This will inform you if you need to do a system repair.

Finally, these next two practices should be used to extend the life of the hard drive. Constant defragmentation of the hard drive puts less stress on the read and write head, resulting in extended life. Also, check disk scans will help the life of the hard drive. You can access the disk defragmenter either through a MMC snap-in, or through system tools. To do check disk, go to the command prompt, and type the following command:

chkdsk /r

This will scan for bad sectors and repair if possible. If it isn't possible, the bad sectors will be marked.

If these tips are followed, and your computer will not boot, it would be still possible to retrieve the valuable data on the hard drive.

Jon Brengle
Senior Technology Analyst
Microsoft Certified Professional

1. How to Make Your Computer Run Faster
2. Tips On Cleaning Your PC
3. Tips To A Healthy Computer
4. Defragging Your Hard Drive
5. Microsoft Update
6. Clean Your Computer
7. Tips to Organize Your Computer
8. Online Backup Software