Crash test dummy

Protecting yourself from devastating hard drive crashes and surviving when they happen

by Gary Clites

Originally published in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund’s Adviser Update, Fall 2008

You’d think writing an educational technology column for over a decade would make you smart about handling data. Apparently not. When the hard drive failed in my laptop this Summer, I lost almost everything.  Articles, book rewrites, materials developed for all my classes, hundreds of e-mail addresses, not to mention personal photos and about 3,400 songs in iTunes (at the Apple price of one dollar a song).

It’s not that I don’t know about back-ups.  I had been copying my important documents to a portable hard drive at work for several years. But in a perfect storm of computer disasters, that drive failed late in the Spring, so when my drive failed two months later, I was left with no back-ups later than one I had made at home in Spring 2007.

Journalism teachers live and die on their computers. All of our students’ work product is generated there, and we tend to be technologically savvy people living squarely in the technological world. When it comes to those computers, however, the hard drive is the weakest link. 

The heart of a hard drive is a spinning magnetic platter on which data is written and rewritten thousands of times. The platter spins at spectacular speeds between 3,600 and 7,200 r.p.m.  The key to making this system work is that the read/write heads never touch the platter.  Rather, the disk spins so fast a cushion of air is created around the disk on which the heads float.  If so much as a tiny piece of dust interrupts that cushion of air, the heads can “crash” into the platter, potentially doing irreparable damage. In terms of the journalism classroom, that can mean losing a newspaper issue, a yearbook section, or more.

What can you do to prevent a loss? And what to do should one happen? Read on.

Five keys to preventing a hard drive disaster:

• Back up automatically - For desktop computers and servers, the best plan might be to buy software that automatically backs up your important files onto a portable hard drive. Portable drives were once expensive items.  No more. Today, a drive big enough to handle most computer’s memories can be had for around $100.  Better, many come with perfectly functional automatic back-up software in the box (though most often for PC’s, not Macs). Set up the software to back-up at an appropriate time every day, and your worries are over.  Or are they?

• Laptops need backups, too - Automatic backup software isn’t really functional in terms of the way most people use their laptops. The only sensible option, therefore, is to buy a portable hard drive and either run a back up program on demand or back up your files manually.  The key is to do so regularly.  Choose a day of the week... back up on garbage night... during your favorite TV show... whatever it takes.

• Back up your back up - As in my own case, the perfect storm can happen and both your hard drive and your portable can fail. It is important that you double back up really crucial files. Consider burning CD or DVD discs of key files monthly, say.  Or, buy a large capacity flash drive (the prices of which have fallen precipitously recently) and back up your key files on a regular schedule.  Don’t, however, use flash drives as your primary method of backing up as they have a much higher failure rate than do hard drives.

• Back up your server - Most of our publications are stored on servers, and we tend to think of them as invulnerable. They’re not. Despite my failure to save my personal data, for years I’ve ended my school day by copying my students’ current newspaper files to a large capacity flash drive just in case the server were to fail overnight.

• Remember what’s important - Aside from your work files, remember to back up items like web favorites, bookmarks, e-mail addresses and important e-mail messages. Trust me, in the event of a catastrophic crash, these may be the things you’ll miss the most. Luckily, things like bookmarks and favorites are generally stored in files of the same name, so they’re easy to find.

Four things to do in the event of a crash:

• Try the cheap solution first - Over fifty percent of crashes are software related, not due to a physical drive failure. Software failures are the cheapest and most easily recovered losses. Your IT staff at school may be able to help with this. If you’re on your own, there are a number of software recovery programs available you can use to revive data from a software crash. Don’t scrimp, however, as some of the more inexpensive programs have bad reputations. Go for a name brand product.

• Try level one recovery - In recent years, data recovery has become a major industry. Most recovery companies charge well over a thousand dollars to resurrect a drive. That sounds like a lot, but consider the theoretical value of my 3,400 iTunes songs. A few companies offer flat rate prices for recovery.  One with a good reputation is Aero Data Recovery (aerodr.com) which offers recovery for a flat rate of $279, plus the cost of the portable hard drive on which the data is returned (about $100). Better, they offer free quotes and only charge if they can recover your data.

• Be prepared for higher level recovery - If a basic recovery company can’t help, they may recommend that you try a more expensive option. Generally, these companies run clean rooms in which they physically dismantle your drive and move your platter into another hard drive for recovery. The standard fee is north of a thousand dollars, but, depending on the value of your missing data (remember all those one dollar songs), it may be worth it. No matter what, if one of these companies wants to look at your drive, make sure they offer a free quote.

• Drop back and punt - If all options fail, as they did for me, develop a fallback plan to save whatever material you can.  In my case, I found a year and a half old backup on a home drive with at least some of my material. In addition, you should search servers you’ve linked to, flash drives, CD’s you’ve burned for one reason or another, anywhere you might missing files. And, so you know, there is software available that will allow you to transfer your iTunes files from your iPod back to your computer (try TouchCopy, www.wideanglesoftware.com). At least I got my 3,400 songs back.

© Gary Clites, 2008