Hard Drive Recovery Blog

My Asus UL30A is a Great Laptop!

2012-01-14T12:44:00.000-08:00

Computers have certainly come a long way in the last few decades and with each passing year they just keep getting better and better. From huge boxes to bulky laptops to even smaller bulky computers and laptop we have seen a huge change. In today’s world it is not uncommon for people to surf the web and send emails from their cell phone. The new Asus UL30A is a great computer from start to finish. It has awesome features and a nice frame that makes for one of the best computers on the market today. Just check out what the new Asus UL30A has to offer

It is powered by a low voltage processor which consists of an Intel Core 2 Duo and comes standard with a battery that will last you up to 12 hours of continuous work during the day without the need to charge it. That is the biggest problem that a lot of people have when it comes to their laptop that the battery does not stay charged past 2 hours and it can be quite annoying when you are trying to work away from home or the office. Not every place has a place to plus in your charger and sometimes charging your computer just seems like a huge hassle you do not want to deal with. When you get to the point where you are writing or researching and you have to stop to plug your charger in, it can be quite a pain to get back into the groove your were in before.
Some of the other features you will find when it comes to the Asus UL30A is a multi-gesture touchpad and multimedia entertainment to satisfy the needs of movie watchers and gamers. The screen is 13.3 inches across and has a bright screen that will make you want to watch all your movies on your small notebook. It has a total of 4 GB of Ram but you can expand that to a total of 8 GB of Ram which means more memory and less hardship on your battery. Try out 500 GB of hard drive space out and keep all your movies, music and pictures without worrying about running out of space.

The Asus UL30A comes with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (64 Bit) and is 5-in-1 memory reader compatible. You will find a small webcam at the top of the laptop to help stay connected with friends and send pictures. There is an Asus Ice Cool Technology that will allow for a cool touch when placing your palms on the palm rest.

The Asus UL30A is a great computer and the ultimate multimedia laptop for movie lovers. You have all the features you need and plenty of time on your battery to last half a day. Try out the new Asus UL30A and find out why is one of the most popular computers out there on the market today.

Replacement Laptop Parts - Selling Your Old Parts Online

2011-08-25T02:13:00.000-07:00

As convenient as laptops can be, they tend to wear out more quickly than desktop PCs. If you are replacing your laptop, you can make some extra money by selling some of your old parts online. Even if your laptop does not work properly, you should have one or more parts that do function correctly. People who need cheap laptop replacement parts will often order online, and your used parts might be just what they are looking for. Before you decide what to do with your old laptop, however, there are several things you should consider.

First of all, you should figure out what your laptop is worth. In some cases, you might get more money for individual parts than if for your whole laptop. Check the price of each of your components before you make a decision. Even if you think you know what your laptop is worth, certain components might be worth more than you might think. Sites that you can check include eBay, Amazon, Newegg, LaptopPartsWorld and Best Buy. Knowing the value of various components ensures that you will not be ripped off when you try to sell laptop replacement parts.

You will then need to find a buyer for your laptop replacement parts. Some stores or companies might buy your laptop components, but you might get a better deal by looking elsewhere. Listing on eBay, for example, might get you a better price. You should also try putting an ad on Craigslist or in your local newspaper. Be careful, however. Craigslist can be a very useful site, but it is also known for the unscrupulous people who try to scam others. If you need to meet someone before you sell your laptop components, make sure to do so in a public place. Also make sure that you do not disclose your information until you are sure that the buyer is legitimate.

There are many benefits to selling your old parts. While you might consider your laptop worthless, certain parts can save someone a very expensive repair bill. Motherboards, for example, can be very expensive to replace. You can get more money for specific parts than for your whole laptop in many cases. Finally, selling laptop replacement parts helps the environment. Electronic waste can be extremely harmful, but few places recycle laptops properly. By selling your laptop parts, you can do your part to recycle and prevent excess electronic waste.

Can You Mix Different-Capacity DDR Memory Modules?

2011-08-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Can you mix different capacity DDR memory modules? The simple answer to the question is yes. The biggest thing to remember is that the DDR memories must be the same type. Unless your motherboard specifically allows DDR2 and DDR3 mixture, you must use one or the other. If you have a 1GB DDR2 you can mix it with any size of DDR2 memory stick. But, if you have a 1GB DDR2 and 2GB DDR3, they will not mix. You can use the memory type that is compatible with your motherboard as a guideline.

When answering the question “Can you mix different capacity DDR memory modules?” you need to consider the speed of the memory modules. You can get various forms of DDR memory at different clock speeds. As long as you do not mix different forms of DDR memory, you can mix DDR memory with different clock speeds. You might have a DDR2 with a bus clock speed or 200 and another one with a bus clock speed of 400. They will work just fine. The only drawback is that the motherboard will use the lower clock speed to access memory. So, that means it will clock at 200 MHz, not the 400 of the higher speed chip.

Another consideration when answering the question, “Can you mix different capacity DDR memory modules” is can you uses old memory with new. The answer is yes, as long as they are the same type of DDR. The DDR specifications are the same no matter when the memory module came off the manufacturing line. So a DDR2 made two years ago will work with a DDR2 made today. Many people choose to swap out higher capacity memory modules as they come out on the market. This allows them to speed up their computers without doing a major upgrade.

What else should you consider when answering the question “Can you mix different capacity DDR memory modules?” You can mix and match DDR on your motherboard, no matter the manufacturer. However, it is usually better to keep the same manufacturer to optimize performance levels. Using different protocols can cause subtle differences in computer performance. When looking to upgrade your computer without purchasing a new one, upgrading the memory is a good place to start. But, you need to know your motherboard’s capacity and DDR requirements first. After that, you can mix and match DDR modules, as you need to.

Solid State Drives Review

2011-01-22T06:21:00.000-08:00

The hard drive of a computer is where information is stored and then accessed when needed. The more traditional storage device is the hard disk drive (HDD). It is essentially a moving disk, like a CD spinning in a player. The information is written onto it as it moves and in order to access that info again, it must spin again. The danger in moving parts is that they break down more easily than parts that don’t have to move. Solid state drives (SSD) have no moving parts and store information with flash technology. They are faster to write and read information and there is little danger of a hard drive malfunction.

Solid state drives cost far more than HDD. An average SSD costs about $3 per gigabyte while HDD costs about $.10- $.30 per gigabyte. The difference in cost is expected to remain for the next several years. So this begs the question, is it worth it? SSD are mostly popular with the techies of the world, but for a normal everyday use, many find that it is an unnecessary component. Average computer users are more focuses on the capacity of the drive rather than the speed. Many don’t even know whether they have SSD or HDD. For mostly word processing and internet surfing an HDD is usually sufficient. But for those who are running multiple applications and downloading video at the same time, SSD will make a considerable difference in speed.

High end solid state drives can get up to 250 MB read rates and reach into the terabytes for capacity. But they can cost over $400. A tamer SSD will start at about $130. These SSDs can withstand between 350 and 1500 Gs before sustaining damage. They can get read rates as good as 250 MB/second. Write rates are sometimes enhanced with extra power and can get up to 1000 MB/second. Many read/write rates advertised cannot be trusted because in actual use the numbers can be much more random. Some companies will not even list read/write rates.

Solid state drives can decrease boot time to seconds. Some of the better boot times were as low as 20 seconds. CPU use is also something that differs from HDD. Random access time can get down to .2 milliseconds and use only 5% of the CPU. A file transfer of 1 GB takes under one minute in most cases. Watch out for what a SSD will do to your laptop battery usage.

External Hard Drives - Upgrade Your Computer with an External Drive

2011-01-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

When you run out of storage space on your hard drive it doesn’t mean that it is time for a new computer. When you need to transport large amounts of information you don’t have to burn a stack of CDs that get out of order and require extra time to access. An external hard drive is portable and can implement your computer by a terabyte. They work for both PC and Mac, desktop and laptop. Every computer of any size can accommodate at least one portable hard drive. And some systems that have multiple ports can have several of them.

There are several types of external hard drives. The desktop model requires a separate power adapter and though it can be transported from place to place, is designed to be on top of a desk where it has access to power. Drives for laptops are designed to draw power through the connector cable whether it is plugged in or running on battery power. These "pocket drives" are small enough that they fit into the palm of your hand or in your pocket, purse, or briefcase. Some are so small you can stuff it into your pants pocket.

The capacity of desktop model external hard drives is available all the way up to 2 TB. Some models contain two units of 2 TB drives for a total of 4TB. That is enough space to hold all of the books of four large libraries. Laptop models are available in up to 1 TB, but most range between 640-500 GB. Solid state drives are also available, but mostly in laptop models. They are extremely expensive and cost is based on the capacity of the drive. The capacities of SSD external drives are limited to 256 GB. SSD offer some shock resistant attributes that can be handy in a laptop external drive, but much of the power and speed of an SSD is wasted if it is connected by USB 2.0 as the drive transfer rates are so much faster than USB is capable of.

External hard drives can connect to your computer via USB, FireWire, and eSETA. Even wireless USB and iSCSI are available, but rarely. Some companies market their drives based on speed. While 5,000 rpm is quite speedy, it will not make much of an impact on noticeable performance unless it is directly connected to the motherboard. Speed may of more interest to you if you plan on putting it in your desktop later.

Laptop Hard Drives

2010-05-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

The hard drive is a very important part of a laptop as it lets you store all of your work and information that is on the laptop. The size of the hard drive is what enables you to store everything you have and save it. When your hard drive is full, your laptop will run slowly and you will not be able to save anything else. So in a way you could say that the hard drive is one of the most important parts in a laptop - the same as a desktop computer, hard drives are like the laptop's brain with all the information it stores.

When searching for new laptop hard drives online, there are many different ones to choose from. Different specifications as well as different brands so it is up to you to determine what specs you want the hard drive to have and also who you want it to be made by. Laptop hard drives are also available in different sizes, physically, as well as internally. The size you would like it to be internally is probably the most important piece of information you will need when hard drive shopping. It is mainly the size of the drive that determines the price of it, but the make of it will also have a part to play in the price. Of course it is always better to get a brand you know and trust, compared to getting something cheap and unknown.

When looking through laptop hard drives to purchase one, look for one that is slightly bigger than you need it to be, for example, if you think you only need an 80 gig hard drive, rather go for a 100 gig one. It is not really that much difference but it is not healthy for your laptop if your hard drive is too slow. Especially if you use the laptop for work purposes as it can slow your system down completely if there isn't enough space for it to "think". Think of it like you having a hard day, you feel exhausted and too tired to even think, that is what a hard drive feels like all the time if you have used up all of the space. Leave AT LEAST 20gigs free, more if you can.

Make sure you know what you are buying when you do your shopping. You have to know a bit about what you are doing because you need to make sure the hard drive will be compatible with your laptop and everything will run smoothly.

Source by: technology hub: iTechBot.com
Computer articles directory: ComputersLive.net

Laptop Solid State Drives

2010-05-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

Solid state is an electrical term that refers to electronic circuitry that is built entirely out of semiconductors. The term was originally used to define those electronics such as a transistor radio that used semiconductors rather than vacuum tubes in its construction. Most all electronics that we have today are built around semiconductors and chips. In terms of a SSD, it refers to the fact that the primary storage medium is through semiconductors rather than a magnetic media such as a hard drive.

SSDs, or solid state drives, are becoming more and more popular in notebook computers. They are perfectly suited for ultraportable laptops because they consume less power than in spinning mechanical conventional hard disk drives. The thin Apple Air or Lenovo Thinkpad laptops, amongst others, feature this solid state storage technology.

How Do They Work?

Traditional HDD have a spinning platter with a head that reads data from the platter. Remember all those hard drive crashes? This was primarily due to the vulnerability of the head being jarred by dropping or bumping into the computer and crashing into the platter causing mechanical and or read/write errors. Solid State Drives have no moving parts. Instead they have Nand flash chips and a controller. They are simply flash drives on a large scale. Solid State Drives are attractive when considering speed, noise, power consumption, and reliability. They consume approximately half the power of traditional hard drives of the same size. For example a 2.5 inch Samsung Solid State Drive consumes less than 1 watt of power when active, as compared with 2.1 watts that a standard 2.5 inch HDD consumes.

Increased Performance?

SSDs are noted for faster startups and shutdowns. They also have improved performance when applications are launched. Traditional hard drives get fragmented and slower over time unlike Solid State Drives. Because of this non fragmentation SSDs have a real time improvement with random reads. Performance remains constant throughout the entire drive even when it starts to fill up.

SSD vs Battery Life?

Many components in a notebook computer effect battery life. LCD Screens in particular do. The savings are about 10% prolonged laptop battery life for An SSD vs a traditional hard drive. For most, an SSD upgrade is not worth it for this feature alone.

However when taken into account the other benefits of Solid State Drives including: faster performance, less heat, less noise, no fragmentation, lighter weight, and a longer life expectancy an extra $1000 upgrade may well be worth it.

Which laptop brands have SSD options?

Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, Apple, Dell, Sony, and HP/Compaq are amongst the brands offering SSDs now. Solid State Drives are available in 64, 128, and 256 GB models.

The future for Solid State Drives

At a component level, manufacturers have been doubling the density every 10 years for these types of notebook drives. This makes for larger storage capacity at smaller sizes. Price varies per manufacturers. A 64GB Solid State Drive which costs about $900 now is expected to cost $450 in 2009 and $200 in 2010. Both SSDs and traditional hard drives will probably coexist for a while to come. Because SSDs do offer added value and benefits in several ways they are expected to grow to be in nearly 40% of the notebook laptops by 2011...

Source: EzineArticles.com expert Paul Steinberg

Gateway TC Series

2010-02-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

Gateway Computers has excelled in finding the right combination of features that every computer user needs, and a value that every user can afford. Gateway was on the cutting edge of low-cost laptop technology, and now with the Gateway TC series they continue their streak of offering a high quality laptop at an affordable price. The Gateway TC series offers some features that are a step-up from previous Gateway laptop models, but the price tag keeps this line of Gateway laptops right in line with what the average consumer is looking for and keeps the chance of owning a quality laptop within anyone’s reach.

Gateway has brought in the next generation of laptops to follow their successful MC and MD series of mobile computers with the Gateway TC series. What Gateway learned with the previous models is that if you give consumers value for their money, and then make the computer look like it costs a little more, then people will respond. The outer shell of the MC and MD series has been updated with the Gateway TC series, and now Gateway computer users can choose from a stylish dark gray or burgundy outer shell. It looks like Gateway spent some time on designing the look of these new laptops because they definitely give the impression of a quality machine.

The screen on the Gateway TC series is a 14 inch high definition screen that is capable of high quality multimedia viewing. All of your high definition DVDs and computer images will come out looking crystal clear with the Gateway TC series screen. At 14 inches, the Gateway TC series remains small enough to be portable but large enough to be a practical laptop. The no-glare screen makes viewing easy, and the monitor adjustment controls make sure that you get the screen just the way you like it.

The Gateway TC series uses duo core Intel-based processors to offer the utmost in speed and compatibility. Not only that, but with the Intel duo core mobile technology you also get a more durable computer as well. The units come standard with a 2GHz processor and 4GB of system memory. They also have a built-in Intel graphics accelerator to help maximize the available 16:9 ratio available on the screen, and they also come with a built-in DVD burner as well.

These units start at under $650.00, and for that kind of pricing you would not expect a great deal of additional software to come with your new computer, but Gateway has managed to load up the Gateway TC series with enough software to help you be productive no matter where you are. The machine comes loaded with Microsoft Windows Vista Premium, and it also comes with the Microsoft production suite Works 9.0. To help you decide on making the upgrade to Microsoft Office, the Gateway TC series comes with as 60-day trial of Microsoft Office 2007 student edition. The new Gateway TC series comes complete with all of the production software you could ever need to get any computing job done.

The series comes with a 6-cell Lithium Ion battery for maximum portable computing time, and it also comes with a full warranty from Gateway to give you peace of mind while you are relying on your new Gateway TC series laptop for all of your important computing tasks.

Hitachi has Announced a Pair of New SAS Hard Drives

2010-02-15T03:50:00.000-08:00

Hitachi Unveils Two Enterprise HDDs for enterprise users today called Hitachi Ultrastar C15K147 and Hitachi Ultrastar 15K600. The Ultrastar C15K147 is Hitachi's first 15,000 RPM 2.5-inch 6Gb/s SCSI SAS HDD. The Ultrastar 15K600 is a 3.5-inch drive connectable via 6Gb/s SAS or 4Gb/s FCAL.

The 15K600 HDD spins at 15,000 RPM and has a 3.5-inch form factor for 33% more storage space compared to the previous generation drives. The HDD is designed for high intensity environments and has a 64MB cache. The drive comes in 300GB, 450GB, and 600GB capacities.

Hitachi Ultrastar C15K147 has a 70% higher space efficiency compared to 3.5-inch hard drives. The 15K RPM drive allows OEMs and integrators to pack more drives into the same space. The drive also uses less power than similar 3.5-inch hard drives with a 50% savings compared to them...

Source: i4u.com

Active@ UNDELETE v.5.1 data recovery software

2005-06-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Active@ UNDELETE is a data recovery software that helps to recover lost, deleted and formatted data from HDD, FDD, basic and dynamic volumes, hardware or software RAID (RAID0 & RAID5). Compressed, encrypted and fragmented files are supported. Besides HDD and FDD program supports recovery from removable devices like Secure Digital, SmartMedia, Compact Flash, SONY Memory Stick, USB Hard drives, ZIP drives etc ...
Active@ UNDELETE will help you to restore data residing on the hard drives formatted in FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5, NTFS+EFS file systems and it works under all Windows family operating systems: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 2003 Server and Windows XP.

Active@ UNDELETE v.5.1 data recovery software key features:

Recovers files on removable devices (SmartMedia, Secure Digital, MemoryStick, etc.)
Recovers files on IDE/ATA/SATA/SCSI hard disk drives
Recovers files from deleted, damaged, formatted or reformatted partitions
Supports:
- external ZIP drives and USB Hard drives,
- large (more than 200 GB) size hard drives,
- FAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5 , NTFS+EFS file systems,
- Windows XP / 2003 Server Operating Systems,
- Basic and Dynamic Volumes,
- localized and long filenames,
- recovery of compressed, fragmented and encrypted files on NTFS
Scans partitions damaged by virus or with damaged MBR
Advanced search by file name, file date, mask, size range, attributes
Ability to preview file contents before recovery
Visible representation of file/folder recoverability
Disk Hex Editor displays and allows to edit content of any sector on the drive
Two types of drive and device scan: Basic (Fast) and Thorough (Slow)
Ability to create and work with raw and Compressed Disk Images - representing whole drive in one file
Ability to look for a particular partition type (FAT, NTFS) in the Advanced Device Scan
Files and folders can be recovered to any (local or network) drive accessible by operating system
Virtual Editing of any drive's parameters to perform data recovery in manual mode
Ability to modify properties of existing, found or virtual partitions
Save and Load Advanced scan results

Download.com Review of Active@ UNDELETE v.5.1

Designed to recover accidentally erased files, Active@ UNDELETE v.5.1 proves itself to be excellent at what it does. We found the interface convenient. You simply scan a disk for deleted files, locate the ones you want to restore, then drag and drop them into the bottom window. You can choose between a quick scan to recover recently deleted files or a deep scan for restoring files from a formatted disk or a deleted partition. We were pleased with the results of our deep scan, as Active@ UNDELETE v.5.1 combed our 20GB hard drive in 10 minutes and resurrected several supposedly irrecoverable files. The program is capable of recovering disk arrays and can create disk images to save data on disks in danger of crashing. We think Active@ UNDELETE v.5.1 is a smart safeguard for both home use as well as for more professional applications.

Hard Drive Data Recovery Los Angeles, CA / California at Micro Com LLC

2005-06-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Micro Com LLC offers recovering hard drive data in California for over 15 years

Data Recovery on hard disk drives, RAID systems or any other media is probably one of the most specialized services you can get. And if you're anywhere in the state of California, Micro Com can help you get your data back fast. Based in Los Angeles California, Micro Com has been successfully recovering data for companies and individuals in and around Southern and Northern California for over 15 years.

While Micro Com recovers hard drive and RAID data for companies all over the world, we truly enjoy being able to offer our specialized services whithin our own community.

Based in Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley, Micro Com has recovered data for many Hollywood and Recording Studios. Some of our clients include ABC, FOX, Dreamworks, NBC, Warner Brothers, RCA & HBO, Disney just to name a few.

So if you're in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Hollywood, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, Ventura County, Sacramento, San Fransisco or anywhere else in California, we can rescue your data. And we have extensive experience with all media.

More Than Just Hard Drives:
Whether it's a Hard Drive, high-end Tape media such as DLT, Exabyte Mammoth & Sony AIT, Optical Disk cartridges, even problem CD-R/W & DVD discs, or floppy disks, Micro Com is here to help! And if you're a company with a RAID Array that needs recovering, we have a tremendous amout of experience recovering data from RAID subsystems as well. In fact, a day doesn't go by where we don't have a RAID Array in house for data recovery!

Location address: 9135 Alabama St - Unit F., Chatsworth, CA 91311
Website: www.data-master.com
Telephone: 818.718.1200

O&O DiskRecovery v 3.0 - Professional data recovery programm

2005-05-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

Until now, professional data recovery was only available in specialized laboratories. O&O brings this technology to you desktop, enabling you to rescue those data you thought were lost at a reasonable price. Through specialized search algorithms O&O Disk Recovery version 3.0 can sense deleted files on already formatted data volumes. If the file structure is completely destroyed, data can still be found and reconstructed.

The easy-to-use O&O DiskRecovery Assistant guides you step-by-step through each data recovery. No previous knowledge or experience is necessary. The one-of-a-kind O&O DeepScan function scans for those tiny files that other programs miss.

New version O&O DiskRecovery 3.0 - easy and secure way to recover data you had thought was deleted. Accompanied by an on-screen assistant, you are guided through the data recovery process, step-by-step.

Rescue deleted files with O&O DiskRecovery V3.0!

O&O's new data recovery software - O&O DiskRecovery V3.0 is able to find and completely restore your deleted files. Fortunately, deleting a file and emptying the recycle bin does not mean that this file is irretrievably lost. When you delete a file, OS Windows only marks the space that this file occupies on your HDD as free. The file's information still exists, hidden, but unchanged on your hard drive or other storage medium. As long as no new information is written on the exact location where your original file was located, the chance of restoring it with O&O DiskRecovery V3.0 is very good.

How To Increase Your Chances of a Successful Data Recovery

If possible, do not save anymore data onto the system after the data in question have been deleted.
Close all applications without saving any data to the disk or other data storage media (if possible).
Shut down the computer.
Think calmly about how the data were deleted. Try not to panic and quickly restore the data in question. Reckless behavior can lead to even more data loss.
If the data was deleted "normally", they can be found in the Recycle Bin. Open the Recycle Bin and restore the files.
If the data were really deleted then it is advised to use O&O UnErase or O&O Disk Recovery to restore them.
If you only have one partition (such as "C:\") it is advised that you download and install the software onto another computer. Then create a emergency disk with O&O InstantDiskRecovery on it. More details regarding this function can be found in the section entitled "Starting O&O Disk Recovery without Previous Installation" of the software's documentation.

O&O Disk Recovery V3.0 searches your hard disk for deleted files and makes a list of found and recoverable files. Simply select the file or group of files you wish to be rebuilt and O&O DiskRecovery V3.0 will recover them. Even if parts of your files are already overwritten with other data, this software will try to restore the intact parts of your files.

O&O DiskRecovery V3.0 Personal Edition (Max. 50 files) - $79.95
Admin Edition (Unlimited) - $299.00
Tech Edition (Service License) - $799.00

DiskRecovery V3.0 key features:

Recognizes and Reconstructs over 300 file types
The one-of-a-kind O&O DeepScan picks up even the smallest of files
The integrated O&O RawScan makes data recovery possible on data volumes with damaged or destroyed files systems (e.g. formatted)
An Easy-to-use Assistant guides users step-by-step through the data recovery process
O&O InstantDiskRecovery for data recovery without prior software installation
O&O SmartScan simplifies and accelerates the data recovery process by hiding undamaged areas of the data volume.

Mac data recovery software - Stellar Phoenix Macintosh - Data Recovery

2005-05-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

Stellar Phoenix Macintosh - Mac data recovery software, recovers data from damaged, deleted, or corrupted volumes and even from initialized disks. An exhaustive scan of the drive is performed to locate lost partitions. Stellar Phoenix Macintosh Data Recovery Software is a quick, simple and easy to use Mac data recovery solution. All found data in the lost partition is then presented in a tree structure so that you can copy your lost files to a working volume.

Stellar Phoenix Macintosh-Data Recovery Software supports HFS and HFS+ file system, and is compatible with Apple Mac OS X operating system as well as Apple Mac OS 9.x and higher. This Mac Recovery Software offer multi-languages interface: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Stellar Phoenix offer User-friendly Interface:

Has an interactive tree structure to view, select and recover files and directories to a safe location.
Simple “Windows Explorer” - style interface.
This Mac Data Recovery Software has an advanced search option for file search and file filter for selected recovery of files and folders.

Stellar Phoenix Macintosh - Mac data recovery software key features:

Provides partition recovery from deleted partition or formatted logical volumes.
Recognizes and preserves long file names when restoring files & folders.
Provides Mac Data Recovery from Missing or Lost folders.
Multi-Disk Drive Support - Performs recovery on all IDE, EIDE and SCSI disk devices.

Mac Data Recovery Software Systems Requirement:

Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended)
5 MB of free space

Active@ Floppy Recovery - Floppy Disk Recovery software

2005-05-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

Active@ Floppy Recovery is a tool for data recovery from removable devices like FDD. Recovery software can create disk images and manipulate with these images.

Active@ Floppy Recovery supports:

Floppy disks (FDD) and floppy disk images
Long file names and non-English language file names
Search in images and floppy disks by text fragment or file name or/and file extension
Disk Image creation and restoring
Creation of the compressed FDD images and self-extractor files, containing whole floppy disk structure
Storing reference to all floppy disk images that you are working with in Floppy Image Library.

Active@ Floppy Recovery can create:

Regular floppy disk image. Disk image is a mirror copy of entire floppy disk stored as a file.
Self-extracting image. This image file contains a small self-extraction executable code that restores floppy disk by itself. You can check the content of a self-extracting image before restoring floppy disk with Active@ Floppy Recovery.
Compressed disk image. With this image you can do the same operations as with the regular one. Using this type of images saves you some space on a hard drive, the decompression time, however, would be somewhat longer.

Active@ Floppy Recovery software works under all Windows family operating systems. Active@ Floppy Recovery will help to restore data residing on FDD formatted in the following FAT12 and NTFS file systems.

HDD Recovery Software Active@ UNERASER

2005-05-10T03:07:00.000-07:00

Active@ UNERASER is a powerful hard drive recovery software for DOS and Windows (Console) that can recover deleted files and folders on FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS systems. It can even restore files from deleted and reformatted partitions.

HDD Recovery Software important features:

Recover lost data on all DOS / Windows systems whether FAT or NTFS partitioning
Undelete compressed, fragmented, sparse and encrypted files on NTFS
Recover deleted files with long file names
Undelete files with non-English filenames
Unformat. Recover files from formatted hard drives.
Create and Work with raw and compressed Drive Images - for backup purposes
Unerase files from deleted and damaged partitions and logical drives
Scan hard drives and display deleted FAT and NTFS partitions and/or Logical Drives
View File and any sector contents in Hex/Text Viewer
Support LBA mode for access to large hard drives
Read and copy existing files from NTFS to FAT partition

With this data recovery software NTFS drives can be recognized and deleted items can be recovered while working from DOS and Windows (Console) environment. It is not necessary to install the utility on your system's hard drive, as it fits on a boot floppy disk, removing the possibility of overwriting data which you want to recover.

Active@ UNERASER 3.0 Data Recovery & UnDelete features:

Contains Bootable Floppy Creator and Bootable ISO CD-Image containing DOS application
Displays complete physical and logical drive information (DOS & Win)
Supports IDE / ATA / SCSI / Zip / Floppy drives (DOS & Win)
Supports large partitions (more than 128GB) size HDDs
Supports MS-DOS, Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003 partitions (DOS & Win)
Supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5 (DOS & Win) and NTFS5+EFS (Win) file systems
Scans partitions damaged by virus or with damaged MBR (DOS & Win)
Detects deleted primary and extended partitions and drives (DOS & Win)
Assesses ability to recover files and folders (DOS & Win)
Previews files and folders before recovery (DOS & Win)
Supports preview and recovery of fragmented, compressed, sparse (DOS & Win) and encrypted files (Win)
Includes advanced search by file name, mask, size range, attribute (DOS & Win)
Displays content of any sector on the drive with Disk Viewer (DOS & Win)
Creates and Works with Raw and Compressed Disk Images (DOS & Win)
Contains two types of drive and device scan: Basic (Fast) and Thorough (Slow) (DOS & Win)
Unerases and saves deleted files and folders onto FAT (DOS) and FAT/NTFS (Win) drives
Copies existing files and folders from FAT or NTFS partitions to FAT (DOS) and FAT/NTFS (Win) drives

Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $ 49.9

HDD Data Recovery Program File Scavenger 3

2005-05-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

File Scavenger® is the most comprehensive, award-winning file undelete and data recovery utility for Windows XP®, Windows 2003, Windows 2000 or NT. This program can recover files accidentally deleted, including files removed from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from a network drive, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down, provided that recovery is attempted before the files are permanently overwritten by new data. File Scavenger® version 3 supports both basic and dynamic disks, NTFS compression, alternate data streams, sparse files, Unicode filenames, etc. Except in severe cases, both the file and the folder path leading to the file can be recovered.

File Scavenger® has advanced algorithms to transparently handle disks with many bad sectors and badly corrupted partitions. The software can be installed on a hard drive or run from a floppy disk. To run File Scavenger®, you must log on as a system administrator to the computer where data recovery is intended.

With File Scavenger®, files can be recovered from reformatted or corrupted volumes. This is even possible when a volume has been deleted and its original position and size are unknown. File Scavenger® can scan an entire physical hard drive to look for traces of defunct volumes.

Data Recovery Program features:

Recovers the original filename and folder path.
Recovers files deleted in a DOS command window.
Recovers files deleted from a network share. (File Scavenger must be run on the computer where the share is defined.)
Recovers files removed from the Recycle Bin.
Recovers data from reformatted volumes.
Recovers files from deleted volumes.
Recovers files deleted from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down.
Is especially effective in recovering digital images in JPEG format.
Supports NTFS compression.
Recovers files from broken striped volumes (RAID 0 or RAID 5) or volume sets (spanned volumes).
Provides English and German versions.
Supports both basic and dynamic disks.
Scans badly damaged partitions.
Transparently handles bad sectors when possible. Otherwise allows the user to skip ranges of bad sectors.
Supports alternate data streams and sparse files.
Can search for file patterns or filetypes.
Recovers multiple files in one click.
Restores the original Create and Modified dates.
Can sort files by date, size, name, type, path, etc.
Supports Unicode filenames.
Scans very large volumes holding up to a few million files or more on a computer with sufficient RAM.
Detects certain file types based on their data patterns, thus allowing recovery even when the file system structure is totally lost.
Saves a search session to a disk file for reloading later so that a drive needs not be scanned again.
Supports FAT and FAT32, but in a limited manner due to the inherent weakness in those file systems.
Scans disk image files.

Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $ 45.00 (English and German versions are available.)

Hard Drive Recovery

2005-04-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

A quote from JohnCovington.com company president: "They say that plumbers have the dirtiest toilets and postal carriers have the ugliest mailboxes. It must be true because I got lazy on my home PC and didn't backup. Oh yeah, I had a back-up plan. Not exactly sure where it was, but I had one. Well, my hard drive crashed and wouldn't you know it was at a crutial moment. Do not let this happen to you. Several companies and thousands of dollars later I finally got my data back! Please, back-up your data. If you're not sure how or how well you've done it, call me." John Covington

If you have found yourself in a similar situation do absolutely nothing until you have contacted JohnCovington.com. A recoverable hard drive failure can become catastrophic very quickly. Many times crutial data is forever lost due to amateur attempts at recovery. If your data is irreplaceable, treat it as such.

We've partnered with a company in Silicon valley that specializes in data recovery. Not only from hard drives, but floppies, tape, CDRW's, etc. This is your best (if not only) reliable solution. If you are in Nashville we will come to your location to professionally extract the hard drive and properly package it for expedited shipment to the recovery center. Otherwise please call for instruction prior to extraction.

USB flash drives FAQ

2005-04-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

USB flash drives FAQ (Part 3)

Q. A USB flash drive with important data appears to have "fried." What are your recommendations for recovering the data?
A. Whenever you experience data loss due to accidental erase or corruption immediately STOP using the USB flash drive. Try to retrieve the data is through recovery software, such as Image Rescue 2 or Image Recall 2, which are available at computer retail stores.

Q. What is the difference between USB flash drives and USB Micro Drives?
A. The term "USB flash drive" is a generic phrase used to describe of these products without specifying a particular manufacturer. USB flash drives are sold by many different companies under a variety of different proprietary product names. The term "USB flash drive" is used in the same manner that the term "DVD" and "CD-RW" are used; to describe the technology in generic terms.

It is likely that other names you have heard used to describe these products are actually proprietary product names intended to describe a specific USB flash drive model made by a specific company.

Q. Where can I find technical specifications on USB flash drives?
A. In general, USB flash drives work like USB hard disks, using mass storage class drivers. The technical specification for mass storage class devices can be obtained from www.usb.org. Typically, manufacturers provide specifications for their specific products. Please check with your USB flash drive manufacturer for further information.

Q. Are there secure USB flash drives?
A. Secure USB flash drives are offered by multiple vendors with multiple features and functions. Typically, they allow the user to have a public and private partition or drive. The public part is always accessible, while the private part is secured though password and/or encryption technology.

Frequently asked questions - USB flash drives

2005-04-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

USB flash drives FAQ (part 2)

Q. What are the advantages of using a USB Flash Drive instead of an External Hard Drive?
A. At the size of a pack of gum, USB flash drives are far smaller than external hard drives, and with no fragile moving parts that can break if dropped, they're more easily transported. USB flash drives also do not require the time-consuming configuration required to connect an external hard drive to your computer.

Q: Who are USB Flash Drives for?
A. USB flash drives are for everyone! Power users will appreciate the power and portability that USB flash drives provide, while tech novices will love how easily and intuitively USB flash drives allow you to share files. If you can turn on a computer and open a document, you can operate a USB flash drive!

Q. Do I need a USB Flash Drive?
A. If you often find yourself in need of a way to share information between computers, or want to secure your most precious computer data, USB flash drives are for you. With USB flash drives you can transport a PowerPoint file to your client's office for presentation, work on documents from home and then bring them back with you to work in the morning, bring thousands of digital photos across the country to share with your relatives, and much more.

Q: How much do USB Flash Drives cost?
A. Prices vary greatly, based on the manufacturer and the size of the drive.

Q. Are there many manufactures of these kinds of products? If so, who are they?
A. USB flash drives are manufactured and sold by a number of different companies, including Lexar Media Inc., Kingston Technologies, SimpleTech Inc., PNY Technologies, and Viking InterWorks.

Q. I'm looking for a USB flash drive that will work on my Linux OS.
A. Most USB flash drives use mass storage class drivers that are supported in newer versions of the Linux operating system. Please check your system configuration for support of mass storage class drivers.

Q. How can I protect my computer from possible virus corruption when using a USB flash drive?
A. In general, the best way to protect your computer against virus attacks is through various security methods. These may include an Internet fire wall, a virus scanner and other tools screening incoming files for viruses. In the case of USB flash drives, you might want to consider running a virus scan on the contents of the drive before accessing any files.

Q. Can I use a USB flash drive as a back-up for significant files?
A. USB flash drives have many usage models. One of them is to function as a backup of your important files.

Q. What is the general architecture of a USB flash drive?
A. A USB flash drive typically consists of a controller with a USB interface and a non-volatile memory interface that is connected to one or multiple non-volatile memories (lower level or higher level of integration are possible), Hi-Speed UFDs typically use a crystal for external clock generation, a LED is typically used as optical activity indicator, possibly a write protect switch is controlling the write access and some other components are used for the remaining circuitry. Beyond this configuration, other components might be integrated depending on the functionality of the drive, such as an MP3 player, fingerprint sensor, etc.

Flash Memory Recovery and Smart Media Data Recovery at eProvided.com

2005-04-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Flash Memory Recovery (Memory Card and Smart Media Data Recovery) at eProvided.com

"We manage an efficient speedy service to all our image recovery customers and have historically been able to recover 95% of lost images" stated Mr. Cullen. "Every day we have professional photographers asking for our advice and service, most of them have been on the job only to find when they are back at the office their images are not stored on their digital film card. Data recovery - Smart media data recovery is within your reach." Digital Photo Recovery Service, eProvided.com, we'll Recover Lost Images.

MMC Multimedia Digital Picture Recovery
(Smart Media, Compact Flash, MMC, Multimedia Card, SD Card, Microdrive)

Digital picture recovery, Image-Recover is based at eProvided's head quarters in Southern California. Media card services are available to all digital camera users, service departments, camera manufacturers, card manufacturers, distributors, engineers, resellers etc.

Memory Card Recovery:

Media Recovery Products; Products that Support Flash Memory we Recover - Digital Cameras, PDA's, Handheld PCs, Printers, Projectors, MP3s, USB Flash Disk, USB Pen Drive, USB Drive, USB Memory, Intelligent Stick, iStick, MDM Card (Mobile Digital Media) Sony Magic Gate Duo, DiskOnModule, Cell phone data recovery and Movie Media Card Recovery.

Flash Card Recovery:

Manufacturers of Digital Media - Apacer, Agfa, AVB, Canon, Casio, Compaq, DataPack Portable PC Card, DataTraveler 2.0, Dycam, NEC Digimaster, Epson, Ericsson, Everex, Fuji, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Hama, HP, Intel StrataFlash, JVC, Kingston, Kingmax, Kodak, Konica, Kyocera, LG Electronics, Memorex, Minolta, Mitsubishi, Mustek, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, PC Card Hard Drive, Pentax, Philips, Polaroid, Pontis, PQI, Promaster by Wolfe's Camera, Pretec, PNY, RCA, Ricoh, Ridata, Ritek, Samsung, SanDisk, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, Sigma, Sound Vision, SuperMedia, SuperMedia Pro, Super Talent, Transcend, Toshiba, Verbatim, Umax, Vivitar, Xelo, Flash RAM, Ramjet, Yashica and more.

Digital image recover recovers these types of media files JPG, JPEG, TIFF, GIF, CRW, CDRW, RAW, NEF, WAV, MPG, MPEG, AVI, MOV and other formats, recover lost images.

Frequently asked questions about USB flash drives

2005-04-16T05:15:00.000-07:00

USB flash drives FAQ (part 1)

Q. What is a USB Flash Drive?
A. A USB flash drive is a compact USB flash memory drive that acts like a portable hard drive, letting you store and transport your most precious computer data. They hold incredibly large amounts of information and are small enough - about the size of a pack of gum - to slip easily into your pocket, conveniently around your neck like a necklace, or on your keychain.

Q. Will my USB Flash Drive work with any computer?
A. USB flash drives are using the USB protocol to interoperate with PCs (Macs too!) and devices with a USB port. Typically USB Flash Drives use mass storage class drivers that are incorporated in Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP or later as well as Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X or later as well as Linux 2.4.6 or later. Some manufacturers offer drivers for Windows 98 SE or Windows NT. Apple offers a mass storage class driver update for Mac OS 8.6. For more information, please consult with the manufacturer of the USB Flash Drive.

Q. How do I use a USB Flash Drive?
A. Just plug your USB flash drive into the USB port of your computer or other USB-equipped device and drag the files you want to take with you into the folder that appears on your screen. Your files are instantly transferred to your USB flash drive. To transfer the items on your USB flash drive onto another computer, simply plug your USB flash drive into the computer that you want the files transferred to, open the folder that appears on your screen, and drag the desired files onto the computer's desktop.

Q. What are the advantages of using a USB Flash Drive instead of a CD-R or DVD-R?
A. USB ports are much more common than CD and especially DVD burners, so your USB flash drive will work with more computers than a CD-R or DVD-R. Also, the process of uploading files from your computer to a USB flash drive is much faster and simpler than burning a CD or DVD. Additionally, USB flash drives act like portable hard drives to which you can add and delete files as many times as you like. With CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, you can only add data once, and you can't remove data once it's burned onto the disc.

Q. How much data can a USB Flash Drive hold?
A. USB flash drives are currently available with up to 2 GB storage capacity, and are available in a variety of storage sizes for different needs. For reference, a 2 GB USB flash drive can hold about 250 songs in MP3 format.

Contest will test: Studio Network Solutions Hosting Hard Drive Toss at NAB

2005-03-25T22:25:00.000-08:00

Studio Network Solutions Hosting Hard Drive Toss at NAB Contest will test participants' arm strength and accuracy (March 25,2005)

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) will host The First Annual Hard Drive Toss Contest from noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 19th in the outdoor Mobile Media area between South and Central Halls. The contest winners will receive one of three prizes, including a 17” Powerbook, an iBook and finally, a U2 iPod . While the goal of the event is to campaign the latest workflow design software built by SNS, the contest seeks to demonstrate that without the proper storage technology a person might as well “toss their hard drive in the garbage*.”

“NAB is a highly anticipated show for SNS and we are looking forward to the Hard Drive Toss being an extremely fun way to bring attention to our new software products,” stated Eric Newbauer, Director of Operations at SNS. “The Hard Drive Toss Contest derived from a similar event that SNS sponsors at reseller locations worldwide. Bringing this contest to NAB is a great opportunity to have some fun with attendees as they move from one hall to the next.”

Participants will be asked to toss a traditional hard drive into a garbage can that will be placed at a pre-determined length from the tossing line. The contest will test the arm strength and accuracy of attendees while providing some relief from the stresses caused by a tradeshow environment.

*garbage - NO hard drive recovery

SNS expects The Hard Drive Toss Contest to become a popular, annual fixture at future NAB shows.

...go to the Mobile Media area and toss a hard drive for yourself!

About Studio Network Solutions
Studio Network Solutions is a storage technology company specializing in products and services for the entertainment industries. Founded in 1998, SNS has become a premier provider of storage area networking products and technologies for real-world media production.

Hard drive tips

2005-03-24T17:09:00.000-08:00

How to find a barebones hard drive?
Today people looking for a customized computing system can purchase a Barebones Computer. This type of computer is a step up from those build-it yourself-systems mainly because it comes equipped with components like a case, power supply and a motherboard. For this system a hard drive is usually needed. Fortunately, today there are lots of inexpensive options like Maxtor or Seagate hard disk drive.

If you want Boost Your Trip Down Memory Lane
How many system applications and data can you cram into your computer? It all depends on how much memory space you have. Hard drive space is measured in units known as bytes. The term “bytes” (coined by the folks at IBM) refers to a set of binary digits that make up a unit of memory. Early on hard drive space was measured in megabytes (1024 kilo bytes). However, due to the complexity of applications, memory space has increased to gigabytes (1,024 Megabytes). To keep your hard drive space free from being unnecessarily filled up remember to always:
- empty all deleted files in the recycle bin
- uninstall any unneeded programs.

External Hard Drives
The hard drive is the essence of any computer. In tech terms, the hard drive refers to the primary component of a computer that stores all permanent data and system programs. It is called the “Hard Drive” or “Hard Disk” because it is made up of one or more hard disks sealed inside an airtight casing. Hard drives are primarily positioned inside the computer. However, you can purchase 80GB external hard drives with USB 2.0 (External Hard Drives for extra data storage space.)

How to Tell if your Hard Drive is Hardly Working
The trick is spotting the symptoms before the hard drive crashes permanently, taking all of your irreplaceable data with it. Things to look out for are if your computer keeps freezing up. If the computer says your drives are not found or formatted. Also, if it makes a weird clicking noise when booting up. As a precaution it’s always a good idea to back up precious data & applications on CDs - just in case (That then it was not necessary to hard drive recovery)

Seagate 5 GB CompactFlash Hard Drive for Digital Cameras

2005-03-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

Seagate Press Release: Seagate Set to Ship 5GB CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive for Digital Cameras

Highest Capacity and Best Value for Photography and Other CompactFlash Applications

LAS VEGAS (CES), Jan. 5 /CNW/

Seagate, the world's number-one consumer electronics hard drive designer, announced today at CES that the Seagate CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive, with a massive 5GB capacity, begins shipping next month into retail stores across the country. The first 5GB CompactFlash media storage card ever introduced, the Seagate CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive offers unparalleled capacities at cost-effective price points for digital photography hobbyists and professional photographers that shoot and store large volumes of high-resolution digital photos.

The Seagate CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive lets photographers shoot large volumes of high-resolution pictures without changing the card -- this reduces set-up time and extends shoot cycles, which saves photographers valuable time and resources. And its massive 5GB capacity reduces the need to purchase or carry additional storage cards. The 5GB Seagate CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive delivers over 1500 high-resolution (6 megapixel) pictures, or over 4000 standard-resolution pictures (3 megapixel) on a single card.

Available in 2.5GB and 5GB capacities, it's ideal for high-resolution, point-and-shoot and professional digital cameras with a Compact Flash type II media slot. It's also the most cost-effective solution for entertainment, gaming and PDA devices that use Compact Flash Type II media.

Photographers and other customers rely on Seagate's renowned product quality, the best in the industry. The Seagate CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive delivers high performance, low power consumption, and reliability in a compact physical package - its durable drive architecture insures data integrity and protects the drive from drops or falls. The Seagate CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive is rugged and built to last, inside and out, so your drive and data are protected, even under demanding conditions.

The Seagate CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive features a worry-free 1 year warranty that covers all parts and labor, plus free technical support even after the warranty ends (sample: hard drive recovery). Ask for this and other Seagate products at major consumer electronics retail, e-tail, and photography shops.

Vantec EZ-Swap SATA Aluminum Mobil Rack

2005-02-15T02:22:00.000-08:00

Unlike standard IDE hard drives, Serial ATA hard drives feature faster speeds, easier configuration, and the ability to change hard drives without having to turn your system off first.

Thus, Vantec introduces the EZ-Swap Mobile Rack. Vantec SATA EZ-Swap Aluminum Mobile Rack combines the features of our IDE EZ-Swap with the convenience of SATA.

Vantec EZ-Swap Aluminum Mobil Rack key features:

Aluminum Case w/ Additional Cooling
Compatible With 3.5 inch SATA Hard Drives (HDD)
Swap HDDs w/o Turning Off Or Opening Your PC
Temperature Display w/ Alarm
Blue LCD Display
SATA Interface
Anti-Dust Hard Drive Casing
Easy And Secure Three-Step Key Lock
40mm Rear Cooling Fan
Up To 150 MB/sec Data Transfer Rate

Vantec EZ-Swap Mobil Rack specifications:

Material / No. of fans: Plastic and Aluminum alloy
Color: Black
RPM: N/A
Support 66/100/133: N/A
ATA / Serial ATA: SATA
Dimensions: 148.0 x 42.0 x 235.5mm , 117.0 x 35.0 x 216.0mm

The SATA EZ-Swap is hot swappable, features a keyed lock for security, a built-in fan for cooling, and a built-in LCD that display hard drive up-time, temperature, and fan status.

MSDN Hard Drive Pilot Program

2005-02-11T17:03:00.000-08:00

MSDN Hard Drive Pilot Program - the idea is that instead of receiving a the huge compliment of CDs/DVDs that make up a MSDN subscription along with the monthly updates a hard disk can be delivered with the equivalent contents; this can be plugged into a USB port on your computer, accessed via a drive letter and updated via an internet connection as required.

Many thanks go to Howard Lo, the MVP Lead for SE Asia, who is liasing between the MSDN Hard Drive Pilot group and the SE Asia MVPs for organising this pilot scheme for us.

I had to put some sweat into getting my one out. I spent some time at the Inland Revenue Dept and then at the Customs in Colombo.
Now its the FedEx guys. They are keeping me on my toes. Hopefully I should be getting it tomorrow.

The capacity MSDN's Hard Drive Pilot was around 175 Gb...

All talk here

SCSI - Short for small computer system interface

2005-01-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

Short for small computer system interface, a parallel interface standard used by Apple Macintosh computers, PCs, and many UNIX systems for attaching peripheral devices to computers. Nearly all Apple Macintosh computers, excluding only the earliest Macs and the recent iMac, come with a SCSI port for attaching devices such as disk drives and printers.

SCSI interfaces provide for faster data transmission rates (up to 80 megabytes per second) than standard serial and parallel ports. In addition, you can attach many devices to a single SCSI port, so that SCSI is really an I/O bus rather than simply an interface.

Although SCSI is an ANSI standard, there are many variations of it, so two SCSI interfaces may be incompatible. For example, SCSI supports several types of connectors.

While SCSI has been the standard interface for Macintoshes, the iMac comes with IDE, a less expensive interface, in which the controller is integrated into the disk or CD-ROM drive. Other interfaces supported by PCs include enhanced IDE and ESDI for mass storage devices, and Centronics for printers. You can, however, attach SCSI devices to a PC by inserting a SCSI board in one of the expansion slots. Many high-end new PCs come with SCSI built in. Note, however, that the lack of a single SCSI standard means that some devices may not work with some SCSI boards.

The following varieties of SCSI are currently implemented:
- SCSI-1: Uses an 8-bit bus, and supports data rates of 4 MBps
- SCSI-2: Same as SCSI-1, but uses a 50-pin connector instead of a 25-pin connector, and supports multiple devices. This is what most people mean when they refer to plain SCSI.
- Wide SCSI: Uses a wider cable (168 cable lines to 68 pins) to support 16-bit transfers.
- Fast SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, but doubles the clock rate to support data rates of 10 MBps.
- Fast Wide SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 20 MBps.
- Ultra SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, and supports data rates of 20 MBps.
- SCSI-3: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 40 MBps. Also called Ultra Wide SCSI.
- Ultra2 SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus and supports data rates of 40 MBps.
- Wide Ultra2 SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 80 MBps.

Hard Drive. What's Inside a Hard Drive?

2005-01-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

And how hard disks are classified? All disks can be divided into three basic kinds. A hard disk is a very difficult mechanism and its work depends on quality of making of each and it constituents. This very sensible equipment, therefore to unseal it and a specialist must execute repair or tuning!

The Platters

The platters are the actual disks inside the drive that store the magnetized data. Traditionally platters are made of a light alluminum alloy and coated with a magnetizable material such as a ferrite compound that is applied in liquid form and spun evenly across the platter or thin metal film plating that is applied to the platter through electroplating, the same way that chrome is produced. Newer technology uses glass and/or ceramic platters because they can be made thinner and also because they are more efficient at resisting heat. The magnetic layer on the platters has tiny domains of magnetization that are oriented to store information that is transferred through the read/write heads. Most drives have at least two platters, and the larger the storage capacity of the drive, the more platters there are. Each platter is magnetized on each side, so a drive with 2 platters has 4 sides to store data.

The Spindle and Spindle Motor

The platters in a drive are separated by disk spacers and are clamped to a rotating spindle that turns all the platters in unison. The spindle motor is built right into the spindle or mounted directly below it and spins the platters at a constant set rate ranging from 3,600 to 7,200 RPM. The motor is attached to a feedback loop to ensure that it spins at precisely the speed it is supposed to.

The Read/Write Heads

The read/write heads read and write data to the platters. There is typically one head per platter side, and each head is attached to a single actuator shaft so that all the heads move in unison. When one head is over a track, all the other heads are at the same location over their respective surfaces. Typically, only one of the heads is active at a time, i.e., reading or writing data. When not in use, the heads rest on the stationary platters, but when in motion the spinning of the platters create air pressure that lifts the heads off the platters. The space between the platter and the head is so minute that even one dust particle or a fingerprint could disable the spin. This necessitates that hard drive assembly be done in a clean room. When the platters cease spinning the heads come to rest, or park, at a predetermined position on the heads, called the landing zone.

The Head Actuator

All the heads are attached to a single head actuator, or actuator arm, that moves the heads around the platters. Older hard drives used a stepper motor actuator, which moved the heads based on a motor reacting to stepper pulses. Each pulse moved the actuator over the platters in predefined steps. Stepper motor actuators are not used in modern drives because they are prone to alignment problems and are highly sensitive to heat. Modern hard drives use a voice coil actuator, which controls the movement of a coil toward or away from a permanent magnet based on the amount of current flowing through it. This guidance system is called a servo.

The platters, spindle, spindle motor, head actuator and the read/write heads are all contained in a chamber called the head disk assembly (HDA). Outside of the HDA is the logic board that controls the movements of the internal parts and controls the movement of data into and out of the drive.