The True Cost of Data Loss

As many of you know, I have been the manager of The Computer Cafe here in Winchester for the past 3 years. I loved being able to walk to work and help my neighbors, even though many of you didn't even realize I was your neighbor.

Well all good things must come to an end and it has come time for me to say goodbye to Winchester Center. I am still with The Computer Cafe, it is just that my office is now in our Arlington headquarters. Dan and Justin have taken over the reigns for me in Winchester and are eager to help you. My office door here in Arlington is always open, even if I am not always at my desk.

I still live here in Winchester and will continue to blog here, but today's blog is borrowed from Justin Heath, the new Manager/COO here in Winchester and I could not have written this important info any better than he did. Stop in and welcome the guys and when you see me walking around town center, please wave and say "Hi".

The True Cost of Data Loss

Now more than ever the data on your computer is increasingly more important.

It used to be that only large companies had to deal with this, but with all the new technology that lets us store more and more on our devices,  the loss of data can be a huge hit on your expenses as well as your sanity.

Imagine if you lost your children's recital, birthday and vacation pictures. How about your taxes that you have stored on your computer for the last eight years? Maybe you have a large amount of music that you spent hours and hours ripping from the CDs you own. What about your iTunes library? I think you see where we are going with this. It would be devastating for any of us.

There have always been options to recover the data that has been lost, and most companies have pretty good track records, but the cost of advanced recovery can be staggering. A local company charges $500 (non-refundable) just to look at your hard drive and when the data can be recovered we have seen costs up to $3,500.

Statistics show that

• Forty-four percent of all data loss is due to failing equipment.
• One in eight hard drives fail, causing data loss.

Put these together and the statistics paint a pretty bleak picture for your life's memories.

This does not have to happen. PREVENTION is the best way to eliminate or at the very least lower the risk.

Safety starts with having an automatic image back up of your system. Special software will take a "snapshot" of your computer's hard drive and will give you options of how to restore your data in the most efficient way if something catastrophic does happen. It also protects from the inadvertent deletion of data by the user. This is usually coupled with an external storage device that can hold a larger amount of data than you have. The Computer Cafe recommends at least double the space of your internal hard drive on your computer.

The second step is to detect hard drive problems before they happen. Monitoring software will provide you and your IT people with a simple alert when your data could be in danger.

The third step should be a preventative maintenance plan. Your computer should be tested thoroughly every quarter for any small issues that could blow up to be bigger, more serious problems.

Finally, the last step is to have a reputable, anti-virus program that updates frequently and automatically without slowing your system down. All of these combined cannot ultimately ensure no data loss in your future, however, it will go a very long way to make sure that the chances of losing precious data are greatly reduced.

Computers are our new photo albums, record collections and file cabinets. Make sure your important info and memories stick around for as long as you need them.