Get a Terra-Drive and Back up That Computer

July 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
External hard disk enclosure from behind. On t...

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A lot of people don’t know how to do a back up of their computer. It’s so easy and completely automated for people now, with new programs doing all the work for us. Wizards allow us to click a “Next” button until it says “Finished.” 

It’s as easy as plugging in a USB plug. Multiple hard drives can be used for different kinds of files on a single computer, where more than one drive can be used at a time. 

Getting enough space to back up the entire systemis essential – get all the information on one drive by getting one with ample room for what is there. A terra-drive is recommended; with an entire terrabyte to transfer the back up to, nothing is going to be lost and there’s room for everything. 

Use a Different Drive for Different File Types 

A photographer in Oregon uses his terra-drives to store his photos and he has several of them. One is for sceneries, one is for portraits, another is for animals, another is for journalistic or artistic shots, one is for his family photos and the last one is for his computer back up. 

Each one sits next to the other on a shelf above his desk with a hub connecting them all together and to his pc at the same time.
Many of the new solitary hard drives come with software to help someone back up their computer onto them, and it’s a matter of clicking a button to get it done. It’s so easy now, nobody has an excuse for not doing it. Our advice? Just do it.

 

 

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The Importance of Using Backup Software

June 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The device pictured is a 128MiB PNY Attaché US... 

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Computer programs that are used to perform backup are known as backup software. This software make supplementary precise copies of entire computers, databases, or files. If data loss should occur, later on these programs can restore the original copies.

Backup software has several features that make it optimal for backing up data. Information on the importance of backing up data on the computer can be found at recyclingdata.com. A process known as Voluming provides the ability to split and compress backup data into several different parts to be stored on removable, smaller media. One form of the removable media that was often used was CDs because they were inexpensive and easy to transport off-site as opposed to servers or hard drives. However, the recent decrease in drive cost and the increase in hard drive capacity has resulted in voluming becoming less and less popular. Popular now is the portable, small and durable USB drive. In addition as broadband capacity has increased, this serves as a more secure and easier method of sending backup data off-site.

There has been a rapid increase offsite backup also known as Remote Backup of data to geographically remote sites which include disk drive technology falling in price, increased growth of data, the rapid demand for high speed broadband internet, increases in risks such as power outage damage, hardware failure, natural disasters, hackers and more.

These are structural changes that produce opportunities for newer startups, which do much to serve growing market that include next generation technologies for backup that back up data automatically through the Internet to offsite data centers.

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Clearing Your Computer Before Disposing of It

December 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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The world is becoming increasingly green. One of the best ways to live a greener lifestyle is by moving into Denver apartments.  There are movements on all fronts to try and recycle as much as humanly possible. With Denver apartments, you can have access to bike trails, recycling facilities, and other green living enthusiasts. It’s a noble endeavor, but it also creates a bit of a privacy nightmare for those who are looking to be a part of the solution, but don’t want to give themselves problems. When it comes to recycling computers, this issue is paramount as there is so much personal information that is stored on the personal, business, or family computer.

Disposing of the computer in an environmentally friendly way is one thing, but to do it in a way that protects your privacy is a whole other situation. For many, they worry that a simple erasing of the hard drive isn’t enough. A lot of people feel that the best thing to do is to format over the wiped out hard drive. This will ensure a layer of cleaning over the initial wipe. This should take out everything from stored information about personal bank accounts to the research done on Denver apartments.

The problem is that those who are really in the know and those who are determined to steal information can dig beneath the formatting and get back to the critical information, which can include email passwords and savings account numbers. This type of information is dangerous in the hands of the wrong people. Luckily, there are ways to clean the hard drive beyond the initial clean. Programs that a user can purchase can wipe the hard drive completely clean and make it so that no one can dig up anything.

If there are those people out there who are really concerned, they can always remove the hard drive. They can destroy it manually and be done worrying about it forever.

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Why Use a Professional Data Recycling Company

December 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Data recycling is now serious business for many reasons. Three of the main reasons are protection of data, safe disposal of data media and protection of the environment. No one wants to have sensitive or personal information just floating around. This could be used for identify theft, blackmail and even to steal company secrets.

There are now many media types used to store data. Just throwing these away would cause a health and environmental crisis of no small proportion. Computers, computer hard drives and tapes do not rot. It is therefore important to ensure that they are properly disposed of. The main way to do this is to recycle these parts where possible.

For some companies, especially those with highly sensitive or large volumes of information, a professional data recycling center is the way to go. Going this route has many advantages such as ensuring that the data is truly destroyed and that the parts are recycled.

These companies ensure data protection by destroying or totally erasing information by methods such as hard drive shredding, degaussing and erasure. Hard drive shredding is the process of cutting the drives into tiny pieces that are impossible to put back together. These particles are then sent for recycling to smelters or other facilities to be reused. Degaussing refers to the process of removing data from storage media such as videotapes and hard drives. A magnetic field is created which randomly changes the pattern of data on the storage media. This results in data that is almost impossible to recover. Many companies no longer degauss hard drives as it has been found that not all the data is removed. Instead many now use other data erasure methods.

Finding a company to professionally recycle your data and components is easy since there are many of them offering this service. It is important to find out what methods they use to ensure data protection.

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How to Securely Destroy Data Before Recycling

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

While recycling data medium is a noteworthy cause and helps to protect the environment, there is a right and a wrong way to do it. Before any recycling of computers or hard drives takes place, it is important to delete the data first. This is particularly important where computers and computer hard drives are concerned.

There are a few ways to completely wipe a hard drive clean without actually destroying the drive. Using these methods make it possible to donate or even sell a used computer. The two most popular methods include writing meaningless data onto the drive or reformatting. Special software is used to write random codes onto the hard drive which effectively overwrites the original content of the drive. This makes it impossible to recover any previously stored data.

There are many free data wiping software options on the Internet that can do a good job of deleting information from a hard drive. This overwriting process is generally done thirty-five times if the Gutmann Method is used. If the chosen method is the military’s DoD5220, then the drive is overwritten only three times. With the DoD method, a series of ones are written onto the disk, the second overwrite is zeros and in the final pass, random numbers.

While not foolproof, a full reformatting of the hard drive will to some extent delete information. In fact, the best way to be assured that highly confidential information is totally unrecoverable is to destroy the hard drive itself. This can be done using an industrial strength shredder. There are also companies that offer this service.

The extent to which one should go to ensure data protection prior to recycling or even donating an old computer depends on what the computer was used for previously. Information that is particularly sensitive requires the most stringent removal methods.

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The Necessity of Creating a Data Disposal Policy

December 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This is truly the information age and more information is being created than at any other time in human history. This information must be properly handled and in some cases this means getting rid of what is no longer needed. Unlike paper-based information, electronic data is not that easy to dispose of. Unplanned or improper disposal of data, old computers, hard disks and other medium can have far-reaching effects.

To ensure that valid records are not destroyed whether by accident or deliberately, it is a good idea to develop a data disposal policy. This policy will ensure data protection so that information does not get into unauthorized hands. This is of utmost importance.

The main sections to look at include what to dispose of and when, who is to authorize the disposal of data and the process of disposal. It should also differentiate between data and medium, and whether they are being disposed of externally or being reused in-house. Many persons erroneously believe that simply deleting data from a hard drive has effectively deleted all traces. Nothing could be further from the truth, as technology exists that can enable recovery of this information.

Once completed, the data disposal policy should include a section on data protection and data recycling. These are important components of any record disposal policy. Even though data is being destroyed, it is important that confidential and personal information be protected. As such, a disposal policy must carefully state how to protect data whether it is being disposed of or not. This means that established procedures should outline the steps to be taken to ensure that the data is completely erased.

Proper disposal of data serves to ensure protection against litigation and acts as a safeguard against storage of incorrect information. It also minimizes costs associated with increasing storage needs. If used consistently, a properly written disposal policy helps a company meet its data protection demands.

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Effective Data Disposal Methods

November 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Computers are disposed of various reasons. Many are cleaned up and donated while others are sent to recycling centers and even the dump. One problem people have with donating or recycling data is the issue of data protection. Some persons think that simply deleting information and emptying the computer’s trash gets rid of stored electronic information.

To ensure that data is not accessed by unauthorized personnel, total erasure is important. The fear of unauthorized access actually results in some companies storing old hard drives that are no longer needed. Regulations and laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act demand proper data protection. This heavily impacts disposal of data and media used to store it. Luckily there are many ways that data protection can be ensured when recycling or donating computers.

To ensure that data stored on a computer hard drive or other storage media is properly disposed of, these methods can be used: shredding, degaussing, demagnetizing, over writing and physical destruction. Shredding of hard drives is now quite common. Degaussing, while used to some extent for hard drives is more commonly used for magnetic tapes.

Physical destruction of electronic media includes cutting CDs, and dismantling optical discs and hard drives. Some of these storage devices can now be shredded in special machines created to ensure total destruction of electronic storage devices. Physically pulling apart drives gives better results if the parts are not disposed of in the same place. This is time consuming, but can work in situations where there is not a lot of media to destroy.

When it comes to printed information, shredding, pulverizing, burning and inking with chemicals are popular disposal methods. Depending on the method used, the paper can sometimes be recycled.

Physical destruction of data, whether stored on electronic media or paper effectively renders information unrecoverable. This type of disposal method is best utilized for very sensitive information. It makes dumpster diving something that you do not have to worry about.

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The Personal and Global Benefits of Data Recycling

November 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

How many times do you open a program on your computer, only to see a box asking whether you want to download an update? This can be annoying, and actually accessing the update can be time consuming. While driver downloads and other updates might be essential to keeping your computer running smoothly, they can take up a lot of space on your hard drive. There are ways to free up space so that when you finally get around to downloading the updates, you’ll have room for the files.

Data recycling is a recent trend that some computer users are embracing. Instead of hitting that little blank piece of paper in the upper left hand corner of Microsoft Word each time you need to start a new document, open an old file you no longer need or use. Delete the content and begin your new document in that old file. You can save it under a new name that accurately reflects its new content. By consistently doing this over time, you will reduce the amount of space on your hard drive you’re using.

Besides the personal benefit of saving space, there is a broad benefit as well to data recycling. When data is no longer needed, it’s deleted. This refuse is then released into the air by your computer or handheld device that uses wireless Internet. Some scientists say that there could be dangerously high levels of data in the air by the year 2014, causing problems such as corrupted files on wireless devices and interference with air traffic control towers.

You can begin to do your part by being more responsible when it comes to data creation. Ask yourself if you really need to forward that large file to all of your friends. If everyone begins taking small steps, perhaps the problem will be under control in a few short years.

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Data Recycling: Where Security is Paramount

June 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Data is the most secure and important aspect of computers. When computers are recycled and reused or donated to charity, data recycling is also a vital security measure that has to be taken into account. What exactly is data recycling? Data is stored in our workstations and data security is a crucial part of computer recycling. Federal regulations authorize no information security leaks in the life-span of secure data including its demolition and recycling. There are several federal laws and regulations as well as HIPAA, FACTA, Sarbanes-Oxley and GLB that help administer the data life span and require that organizations with a sensitive or regular profile data keep their data protected.

Recycling computers can be hazardous while handling critical data, especially to the establishments which store tax reports or their employee details. Many wipe their hard disk clean before trashing their old computer systems, however only a few depend on a specialist or any third party to clear the data before it gets recycled. Nevertheless, industry standards suggest and advise a 3X overwriting procedure for thorough protection from repossessing private data and this could mean that the hard drive needs to be cleaned 3 times to ensure the data cannot be reclaimed and probably misused by others.

There are several ways to destroy confidential data and prevent misuse. With identity theft becoming the order of the day, customer data and private information needs to be kept completely secured. Customer information when lost, stolen or misplaced affects many with identity theft and can cause conglomerates to lose more than just money. The reputation and integrity of a company is affected. Some of the corporations who hold vital data are banks, credit card corporations and pharmaceuticals.

Data recycling should be done in an effective and secure manner and the regular procedures for effective data recycling is to receive the hardware for destruction in protected and sheltered transport vehicles, tear up the hard drives completely, and divide the aluminum from the waste metals with an electromagnet and to cast the rest of the hard parts into aluminum blocks.

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Tips for Data Recycling

January 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The age of advancement in technology has dawned. Many have been bitten by the technology bug. Almost all of us want to upgrade our electronic items to suit the requirements and need of today. If you have just got yourself a new computer and need to get rid of the old one you first need to ensure the data is recycled in the right manner. Shredding sensitive data and documents seem to be the order of the day. Many of us assuming that it is the right way to completely remove any private information. Individuals and companies are aware of the importance of protecting their data and the process of destroying the old or insignificant ones. Until a couple of years back, data security was not given such an importance as it is today and the reason for this is the advancement of technology which allows hackers to steal identities, phishing attacks and the likes. Identity theft has become a booming business for hackers, yet there are rules and regulations today which emphasize on how to protect your information and private data.

All rules point to one single factor – one cannot trash, recycle or dispose of any equipment without erasing or eliminating private information. Mostly, these rules are for individuals but now it has been imposed on companies too. The reason is that many companies collect vital and important information from individuals like social security numbers, credit card details and bank information which can be misused if it should fall into the wrong hands. The most secure methods of destroying information on hard drives or magnetic computer tape medium are to degauss or erase the information completely.

Degaussing is a method wherein a magnetic field using an alternative field of required intensity completely saturates the medium. The magnetic field is then patiently reduced and the magnetic medium is erased or left in a magnetic neutral state. Protecting data and recycling it effectively does not necessarily mean a hard task; if done in the right manner with the proper equipment, your data can be recycled without a hassle.

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