i am concerned about my hard drives, in my computer, if i have a problem and my comp crashes, would i lose all the data in there ? is it safer to get an external hard drive, that way if the comp. has a virus, i dont lose any info on the external?
2006-11-30 08:10:08 · 12 answers · asked by Jeannie 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
No, an external drive is not safer. Just more portable.
"My computer crashed." Is kindof an ambiguous term. Could mean anything from a simple freeze to actually falling out of a window I suppose.
The biggest common threat is that, through damage to your system files, or boot record, your system becomes unbootable. In that case, you have to "restore" or reinstall Windows...which will result in formatting your C:\ drive. So, I generally recommend getting a second internal drive to store your media and data on, and install your operating system and program files on your main harddrive. That way the data is safe no matter what happens to C:\.
Also, there are boot disks designed specifically for accessing files on harddrives with a lost OS:
Live Rescue Toolkit: http://www.inside-security.de/insert_en.html
Forensics disk: http://www.e-fense.com/helix/
More generic LiveCD: http://www.slax.org/
These are VERY useful CDs to have at your disposable if you ever need to access data on a damaged machine.
Harddrive themselves can be damaged, or "crash"...but I find this actually happening is very rare. Often people don't know how to access the files, so they think the HD itself is damaged. However, It is ALWAYS a good idea to backup important stuff on disks. Now, cheap DVD+Rs can hold 4 gigs., so there's no excuse.
2006-11-30 08:11:43 · answer #1 · answered by Tim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Computer Crash" is a very broad term. There are many reasons why a computer may stop working, and only one of them will cause complete data loss, and that is if there is a hardware or software (read virus) problem with a harddrive.
Harddrives are mechanical devices, and with all mechancial devices they wear out, and eventually stop working. Which is why "Backup systems" were invented. You can copy your sensitive (not replaceable) data to a CDROM or DVD-ROM, a backup tape, or to a second harddrive.
External harddrives are not immune to a virus, and it's even possible to burn a virus to a CD/DVD or Floppy disk, flash drive or anywhere, which is why you should always have an up to date AntiVirus software running on your machine.
If your computer crashes because the power supply, or a Fan, or the CPU, or memory chips stop functioning due to a power spike or brown-out, you can still recover the data by fixing the broken component, or moving the harddrive to a new machine.
Also some techicians can use special hardware and software to attempt to recover data from a crashed harddrive, but this depends on the damage to the drive.
2006-11-30 08:16:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
When your computer crashes it is possible to lose data on the hard drive but usually nothing happens to the drive and you only lose any information that was in open applications and not saved.
An external drive is no more or less likely to lose data but they are a good way of backing up your data.
2006-11-30 08:15:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the hard drive itself crashs, chanes are good that you could loose everthing. all important info should be burned to a disk or make a hard paper copy, I learned from experace and lost a ton of photos that can never be replaced. if the external hard drive is connected and run off the same computer, a virus could spread to that system as well
2006-11-30 08:15:36 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you think your hard drive is about to fail, transfer everything you don't want to lose to a disk. Label the disks, so you know what is on them. When you replace your hard drive, you can just put that info back into your computer.
Depending on your operating system, be sure to save all updates, fixes, patches, etc. I learned the hard way. I saved all my personal stuff, but not the important operating system updates. I got a new hard drive and Windows no longer provided those important little things for my operating system. I was only able to download security patches, onto the new hard drive, and that didn't quite do the trick.
2006-11-30 08:15:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
First... that link is not viewable... but... your fonts probably have changed if you installed a new HD and operating system. You no longer have all of your old fonts. You will still need to install the software you use normally for word processing or other stuff that uses fonts.. you can also set the default font size. Another thing it may be... is your video driver software. Make sure you are running the latest drivers for your video card and monitor... these can definately affect the quality of your display image.
2016-05-23 05:47:19 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
corret, you may wanna use an external as a backup, if the problem is the window that crashed you still get your data by puting the hard drive in another machine as slave but if is you're hard drive the one it crash yes i'm afraid you'll lose your data..
2006-11-30 08:13:59 · answer #7 · answered by MaxTunk 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Can you be more specific about the 'crash'? Did you get a blue screen? If so, do you have a diagnostic disk to see what is causing the problem... I've found that it is often due to pc memory which can be replaced/removed and still allow you to boot up and acquire all of your files.
2006-11-30 09:18:13 · answer #8 · answered by Craig Z 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Always back-up your data on an external hard-drive! Unless of course you don't mind losing it all when it crashes...........
2006-11-30 08:12:04 · answer #9 · answered by dazzerukuk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are seriously worried about losing data on your computer - invest in a tape drive backup system.
2006-11-30 08:14:13 · answer #10 · answered by Mike 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋