When you take your computer in for service one of the questions that you (I hope!) are asked is if you have a current backup of your data. Think this through fully before answering – if you have a backup from ‘several months ago, I think…’ then the answer is no, you do not have a current backup.

One of the services that we offer at Scurlock Systems to clients is to image their hard drive, which is a complete, 100%, bit by bit copy of *everything* on the drive. The cost is minimal ($45), and the process involves pulling the hard drive out of the computer, mounting it in one of our servers and obtaining the image.

The process takes all of 90 minutes to an hour to complete, after-which you *know* your data is backed up before any work is performed.

The next time you take your computer in for service and you aren’t 100% sure that you have a current backup, ask about getting your hard drive imaged as a precaution.

I’ll leave you with one example of how a simple image saved the day…

We had a client who needed several of their computers’ hard drives to be encrypted, and while the program used to encrypt the drives, PGP Whole Disk Encryption by Symantec, was world-class, anytime we perform disc encryption we take an image of the drive before beginning the encryption process.

We imaged each of the system drives, then proceeded with the encryption process. On all of the systems but one the process was textbook. Installed the software, encrypted the drive, rebooted, Bob’s your uncle, we’re done.

On that one system though… The software was installed and the encryption process run, the system rebooted, and… Nothing. Zilch. System would not boot. Seems something got corrupted during the encryption process and fried the drive.

After spending time on the phone with tech support it was determined that the only option moving forward was to reload Windows, applications and data. ‘I hope you have a backup…’ was all the tech could say at the end of the call.

Not to worry, we had a full image of the hard drive! We placed the image back on the drive, putting the drive back to just how it was before starting the process, booted into Windows with no harm done. We reran the encryption process, this time without any hitches, and all was right and good with the world. Had we not had the image, and even if the client had a full backup of all their data we would have wound up reinstalling Windows, updates, antivirus, applications, the list goes on…

The imaging software we use is made by Acronis.

We welcome any feedback, and as always if you have any questions don’t hesitate to give us a shout!

Web www.scurlocksystems.com and www.ssaremote.com

Scurlock Systems and Associates LLC

866.665.1750 | 972.633.1111

Scurlock Systems is located in Plano, Texas and provides both remote computer service and computer repair in Plano, Dallas, Richardson, Allen and surrounding areas.  We also make killer desktop computers.

 

 

We had quite an interesting job this last week…

One of our long-time client’s house was struck by lightning (for the 2nd time in as many years, but that’s a story for another post) and took out one of their computers.

Insurance covered the cost of replacing the computer itself, but there was a lot, and I mean a LOT of data on the hard drive that the client wished to recover.  The client had no backups of their data.  Nada, zilch, zippo  – this was a fall to your knees, pull your hair out and wail to the heavens moment.

We got hold of the hard drive and mounted it in one of our recovery boxes.  After powering it up we didn’t hear any loud clicking or banging coming from the drive (Good Thing) and the drive platters were spinning (Good Thing) but the system didn’t recognize the drive (Very Bad Thing).

We pulled the drive out and took a close look at the circuit board.

Take a look at the photo below.  Do you see the problem yet?  (Hint – look at the lower-right corner of the board)

 

 

Still can’t see it?  Here’s a close-up view…

 

One of the chips on the board was completely fried, which was (we believed) causing the problem.

At this point the client had two options:  One, they could send the drive off for data recovery in a clean-room which would run them over $1,000 (cheapest we’ve seen from those types of recoveries is $1,3000 to date) or we could try and find replacement board, or a PCB board, for the drive, swap it out and hope for the best.

The client opted for option two, and to make a long story short, we found a fantastic company, PCB Solutions, who worked with us to find a replacement board.  They were able to locate one and shipped it to us, we swapped it out and viola! The dead drive was dead no longer.  We were able to retrieve 100% of the client’s data and the part we needed?  It was only $40.  We’ll take $40 over $1,000 any day of the week.

If you ever experience a hard drive crash, before you go spend a WHOLE lot of money do yourself a favor and see if a simple PCB board replacement will fix the issue.

 

We welcome any feedback, and as always if you have any questions don’t hesitate to give us a shout!

Web www.scurlocksystems.com and www.ssaremote.com

Scurlock Systems and Associates LLC

866.665.1750 | 972.633.1111

Scurlock Systems is located in Plano, Texas and provides both remote computer service and computer repair in Plano, Dallas, Richardson, Allen and surrounding areas.