The urgency of the situation will depend on the type of file and the volume of data lost. If the computer is not starting up at all, it is an ominous sign, and might have lost all your data. However, we are dealing only with partial loss of data now. Below are a few guidelines that you should follow about the physical handling of your hardware.
If you cannot find some important files and the screen keeps freezing or the machine keeps hanging, do not try to do anything at all. Simply switch off from the electric supply or pull out the plug.
Do not panic. Most mistakes are made by people who lose their cool in the face of danger and become butter fingered, deleting more data and generally messing up further in their dilemma.
Do not insert a CD, DVD, USB drive or portable hard drive at that time. If something is attached, close it, and take it out by using the safe removal option.
Do not try to use peripherals such as webcam, printer or scanner for the time being. Maybe it is not related, but why take a chance?
Do not thump or hit the machine to get it working better. It may sound unbelievable, but a lot of people actually do it, usually with disastrous results.
Do not attempt to take out the hard disk and see what has gone wrong. Never try to take it out of its protective casing.
If a CD or DVD is simultaneously stuck inside, and the missing programme is for the drive, do not try to pry out the disk with sharp objects.
Do not try to run the machine through the UPS.
Incredibly, sometimes when people notice data loss from an overheated machine, they put the hard disk in the refrigerator. Please do not try this. It may cool the drive under some circumstances, but it will not work normally.
Being Logical
There are a lot of don'ts where handling the software is concerned too. In fact, you need to be all the more careful in this regard since it is a software related issue.
Do not open new programmes, and close the ones that are already running after saving your current settings/changes. If the screen keeps freezing or the machine keeps hanging, you need to steel yourself for losing a bit of your work for the sake of the overall data. If the programmes are not responding even when you try the ?end task? option, just shut down the machine, and if that does not work, pull the plug.
Do not try to surf the net, and try to disconnect. Close any site that is taking a long time to open. Do not follow any links.
Do not click on any pop ups.
Do not download any files from anywhere. Do not open online music or video clips, even for viewing. Do not save them even as temporary folders.
Do not try to burn or play a disk.
Do not download recovery software on to your disk. You may overwrite the files.
Do not run a de-fragmentation immediately. Do not try to use any of the inbuilt disk cleanup utilities by the OS. These are otherwise helpful, but you are in a delicate position now. These may end up messing your system farther by scattering the FAT locations of the files you can't locate.
You may check the recycle bin and other partitions, and even run a search. But do not try any of these if you notice files disappearing randomly ? it means your machine is under attack by a virus.
Do not try to run your machine on DOS prompts. Do not try to access the settings or registry files in any way. These are classic cases where a bit of computer literacy has goofed things up further instead of helping in any way.
When you think of any kind of back up battery for your computer you may think that there is no way to have one on your system. In reality there is a way that you are able to have a back up battery for you computer, yes even the one at home as well.
There are batteries back up devices that are going to work for all different kind of computers. You may even already have a battery back device on your computer if you own and use a laptop all the time. That is one good thing about using a laptop computer all the time. If you are not one of the many people that use a laptop all the time and still use a desktop computer to do all your work all the time then you are going to want to start to look at the different kinds of back up batteries that are out there for your system. Especially if you ever ran into a problem when you are working on a project and all of the sudden the power goes out and you lost all the work that you did and forgot to save.
With many of the battery back up devices that are out there you are going to be able to have a little bit of time to save your work on the computer and even do a proper shut down with it when the power goes out on you. Just think of all the hassle that you are not going to need to go through if you have a battery back up device on your computer.
You are not going to need to try to remember what all you have done so far for the day and even have to retype it all in again when the power does return. That would mean that you are not going to need to work late nights trying to make up all the work that you lost because you forgot to save it and the power went out before you got to print or save it in the middle of the work day.
Do yourself a favor; spend some money to get a backup battery. It's better to be safe than sorry.
Both James Walsh & Joseph Then are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
James Walsh has sinced written about articles on various topics from Small Business, Binding Machines and Divorce and Infidelity. James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on see. James Walsh's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.
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