When Data Recovery Is Needed?

With so many viruses going around, your computer might not have been equipped with the right anti-virus system which left it vulnerable and ended in the loss of data. But all is not loss. Intratec’s professional data recovery solutions will be able to recover data that might have been deleted, lost, damaged or corrupted. In cases where storage media was erroneously or accidentally formatted, the drive was FDisk-ed or situations such as RAID system failures (RAID 0 – 5), Intratec will be able to recover the data.

Physical damage to storage devices where the BIOS does not recognise the drive, the drive doesn’t spin or even when it’s making strange noises are usually due to environmental surroundings or circumstances. This is when you will require a professional data recovery service such as Intratec to assist, because even if you tried to connect the storage device to another computer, no software solution will be able to read the hard drive.

Data recovery is often called for in aiding civil cases where illegal activity left a trail but the suspects tried to damage or discard the information from the hard drive. Known as computer forensics, the use of computer technology is applied to recover the altered or damaged data which is then incorporated in a civil case as evidence. By the use of Intratec’s knowledge and 10 year experience in computer forensics, data recovered can often make or break cases such as employee misconduct, sexual harassment, fraud, and so forth.

For whatever reason you require data recovery, be sure to contact Intratec. Their high standard of professionalism, knowledge and skill has saved many, both personal and corporate, from the misfortune of losing data.

Cybercrime is increasingly becoming a problem in South Africa, with the recent R42 PostBank heist acting as poster child for all references to cybercrime. Data recovery in Pretoria is set to play an increasingly important role in the future – not only locate and identify digital fingerprints left by cybercriminals, but to prevent attacks from happening.

But in using the PostBank case as an example of typical cybercrimes, the average layman’s definition of cybercrime might be misconstrued, identifying such an occurrence as something that happens to big business entities, and usually involving a large sum of money. But it isn’t. A cybercrime occurs when a Facebook or bank account is hacked, or when some form of theft, however small, occurs. The case for data recovery in Pretoria is bolstered by the scale of local IT infrastructure, and its proximity to South Africa’s financial hub, Johannesburg.

According to a March 2012 newspaper report, South Africa has lost almost R1bn to cybercrime in the last three years – a conservative figure according to some. And while the occasional big corporate attacks attract the most attention, and contribute a substantial amount to the overall economic impact of cybercrime, it’s small businesses who are hit most often, and the hardest. After all, a loss of R1, 000 to a small business is more serious than a loss of R50, 000 to a big corporate entity.

Data recovery in Pretoria seeks to reconstruct the digital events that took place when the crime occurred. It’s a solution for businesses of all sizes. More importantly, it’s not only a solution that helps detect the digital history of an intrusion, it’s also relevant in efforts to prevent future intrusions; it has the ability to see where access was first gained, how the system was used and where potential weak spots are.

As more and more businesses in and around Gauteng are connected to the internet, data recovery in Pretoria will play an increasingly important role in detecting cybercrimes. Until government eases on the amount of red tape necessary to bring criminals to justice, it is, at the very least, also a good form of prevention.

Raid recovery solutions available from Intratec are designed around the client needs. As a company that has developed a proven track record of successful data recovering over the last couple of years, Intratec has expanded its market range to include Johannesburg and Durban in addition to Cape Town as major centres.

Major Reasons for RAID Array System Problems

Because we understand the reasons for array system failures, we are in the position to offer the most relevant RAID recovery solutions. System failure is often caused by human error, but can also be the result of software configuration problems or hardware failure. In addition to the above, transmission problems cannot be ruled out as the cause of a system failure.

Recovering From a System Failure

Our RAID recovery process commences with a full diagnosis of the system and possible causes for failure in addition to an assessment of data to be recovered and the most appropriate route to be followed. Data is then cloned through the use of special software and if an image is not available for cloning, we reconstruct such. Should hardware failure be the main cause of corruption or complete data loss, we identify components involved and replace such before proceeding with the recovery process, also involving reassembling of data drives.

In addition to RAID recoveries, we offer solutions for recovering of data on memory sticks, external drives, floppy and stiffy drives. Our solutions support numerous RAID configurations including Non-RAID, 0, 1, 1+0 and 5. Companies thus no longer have to fear complete loss of data and severe financial losses as our experts in RAID recovery will recommend and apply the most appropriate solutions. We provide written quotes ensuring that the client will never have to face unpleasant billing surprises.

Desktop and notebook data recovery do not differ much in terms of the technology employed, but rather the scale of technology in question.  Both typically use the same type of mechanical hard disk drives that employ platters of disks with heads that read them, but notebook hard drives are usually extremely compact and often a little slower in their read and write rates because of the miniaturised technology.  Hard disks are extremely sensitive to dust and dirt and are tightly sealed to keep them uncontaminated.

Clean Room Facilities

While we perform both desktop and notebook data recovery, we can in fact perform data recovery on virtually any type of media and these include, but are not limited to:

• SATA, SCSI, IDE and SAS hard disk drives.
• 1.1-inch and 1.8-inch drives.
• 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch floppy disks.
• Smart media and flash cards.
• HDD iPods.
• Memory sticks.

Some of these media is manufactured to extremely tight tolerances and require Clean Room facilities before they can safely be stripped to perform data recovery.  A Clean Room is a unique environment, because:

• It employs advanced filtration systems to keep dust out.
• It is kept under a constant high pressure for the same reason.
• The temperature can be precisely controlled.
• The humidity can be precisely controlled.

While not all desktop and notebook data recovery procedures would require a Clean Room, it is heartening to know that we offer the most advanced data recovery services in the country, with branches in Cape Town, Midrand and Durban.  It is also more affordable than you think:

• Our rates are very competitive.
• We charge NOTHING for quoting, diagnosing and even if you reject a quote.
• We offer student discounts.

Make use of South Africa’s foremost desktop and notebook data recovery service today.

Act Promptly

However, if you act promptly after the disk failure and a RAID 6 recovery is started, much, if not all, of your data can be recovered.  However, it is important to act at once, before data can be overwritten, files deleted or changed or data corruption can take place.  Although it is extremely unlikely that two RAID drives fail at once, you have to back up your data regularly or shut down the RAID when a drive has failed and only start it up again once the new disk has been fitted.

Different RAID Arrays

Besides RAID 6 recovery, we also perform RAID 0 to 5 recoveries; here are the main differences:

• RAID 0: not true RAID in terms of redundancy (there is none), but if offers improved performance because the data is evenly striped across two or more disks.
• RAID 1: creates exact mirrors of a set of data across two or more disks.
• RAID 2: stripes data at block level with Hamming error correction allowing for seven disks.
• RAID 3: a dedicated parity disk and byte-level striping.
• RAID 4: a dedicated parity disk and block-level striping.
• RAID 5: parity data distribution across all disks; low cost of redundancy.
• RAID 6: adds an additional parity block to RAID 5.

We can recover data from nearly all media, platforms and operating systems, so we are certainly your first choice for a RAID 6 recovery too.

There are few things more horrifying than turning on your computer and finding that your hard drive has been compromised in some way resulting in corrupt data or even the entire loss of data. But it isn’t necessary to panic just yet because there are a range of different file and data recovery options available that can help turn this nightmarish event around.

It is necessary to know what types of recovery are possible before you get your hopes up. Professional data recovery specialists will be able to work with DOS, Windows, Linux, Mac as well as a few other computer systems. However, the amount of file and data recovery that is possible on any of these operating systems depends on the type of damage that caused the loss of data and the extent of the damage.

These file and data recovery professionals also specialise in the recovery of lost information on other forms of storage and media devices. These devices include flash drives, memory cards or memory sticks, external hard drives, other types of back-up data storage mediums and even old fashioned floppy discs. Data recovery is however not restricted to the listed devices and you should contact your local recovery specialist to find out whether data can be restored from another type of media.

Before you receive a quote for the file and data recovery process you will need to take your computer or other form of media to a specialist to have the problem diagnosed. This will let the recovery expert know how much of the data is recoverable or whether any data can be saved at all. You will then be quoted according to the amount of data that needs to be recovered as well as the amount of time it will take to complete the process.

It’s one of our greatest nightmares. Slaving over precious work and all of a sudden the hard drive crashes. Oh no! You get that cold feeling running down your back and your mind races to figure out: how do you restore desktop data from your damaged hard drive?

What to do When Your Desktop is Crashing

Pretty much everything is done on computers or laptops nowadays and a reality is that hardware does occasionally let us down. Hard drives do crash. Processors do give out. But it is relieving to know that you can restore desktop data from your damaged hard drive.

Current operating systems have made it easy for us to store and access our information and often we like to store everything on our desktops—that way it’s easy to remember where you left it. However, it can crash and the signs usually are that scary blue screen, unresponsiveness and the worse sign: your usually smooth PC is now making noises.

When you’ve come to the realisation that your desktop or hard drive is failing the best thing to do is not to panic. It’s best to contact a data recovery expert immediately so that your work can be salvaged or restored. In the meantime there are a few tips to remember:

1. Turn off your PC or laptop immediately. Running it further could do more damage and result in further data loss.
2. Don’t be a hero and start taking your PC apart! Rather take it to a professional.
3. Don’t reboot. If you don’t know what the problem is, you don’t know what this will do. Let a computer technician first diagnose the problem.
4. Don’t try and install or re-install any software. Again, until you know what the problem is, you might be doing irreversible damage which could result in permanent data loss.

Finding a professional and reputed data recovery professional is your best bet to restore desktop data from your damaged hard drive. But the most important lesson to learn in such a situation: always keep backups!

RAID data recovery is essentially a technology that gives increased storage functions through redundancy. It’s attained by combining various (or multiple) disk drives into one cohesive and logical unit. RAID is now seen as a common term for computer data storage systems that replicates and divides your data along multiple physical data disk drives (which is phrased as being in a RAID array).

Why Make Use of RAID Data Recovery?

In the business world data is precious commodity and data loss could cripple a business and drive a CEO to pull out his hair. Therefore, any business worth their salt would have contingency or backup plans—and part of this plan would be a well structured RAID data recovery policy.

Not all systems are full proof and there are a few ways which could result in a RAID system failing. We never see it coming, but it could be due to human error (although we never want to admit it!), software issues, transmission errors or hardware failures (which we like to blame most frequently!).

Damages to RAID data can be a problem also during power outages—this means the data writing is interrupted and causes inconsistencies when the data is read. A solution is required to analyze and rearrange the data to a more logical format.

If you’re making use of RAID systems, RAID data recovery is a no brainer. There’s that old saying about crying and spilt milk and having a recovery system in place will spare you the tears.

When it comes to business, it’s all about data. Data is like currency and is important as it’s all the information that your business is built on, whether its client information and lists or product statistics. Data is the lifeblood of your business and keeps it ticking over. However, life does have its ups and downs, and one of those downs often sees businesses lose data, necessitating the need for data recovery services. Sometimes it’s due to human error, but other times it can be a force of nature—and before you know it, you’ll lost your precious commodity of data.

Luckily there are services out there that can assist. Data recovery services are out there to restore lost data. These are professionals who are geared to recover lost data for a variety of different media types, including laptops, hard drives, old floppy disks, raid systems and flash drives.

Data Recovery Services: The Types of Solutions

Businesses can often be crippled if they lose data unnecessarily. Fortunately data recovery services are available to reverse data loss mishaps. There are various kinds of data loss and the most common experienced are:

1. The loss and accidental deleting of e-mails across the various e-mail systems and platforms.
2. The recovery of data from various external storage devices (hard drives or flash drives/memory sticks) that have encountered environmental damage.
3. Files that are lost or damaged due to computer viruses.
4. Files or partitions that have been lost or deleted.
5. RAID system failures
6. Files that have been corrupted on the Microsoft platform (i.e.: Microsoft Office documents or Outlook files)

Intratec Data Solutions: The Answer to Data Loss

There is a certain helpless feeling when you’ve lost data or deleted files which should not have been deleted. That’s where Intratec Data Solutions comes to the rescue. They are experts at recovering lost data quickly, simply and successfully. Contact Intratec to assist with all data loss and recovery.

Data loss is always disruptive and even if the data can be recovered, it will cost you time and money.  Hard drive recovery can at least recover some of your data and, if you are lucky, all of it, even if you still have to endure the inconvenience and delay.

Supported Desktop Hard Disk Drives

In addition, we also provide hard drive recovery services for the following desktop hard drive brands, interfaces and models:

• IDE and EIDE drives from all manufacturers using 3.5-inch normal and 2.5-inch laptop 40-pin ATA to UDMA6 interfaces.
• SCSI hard disk drives from all manufacturers using UW, Normal SE, LVD, WD, 2.5-inch laptop and SCA interfaces.
• 1.8-inch ATA-5 drives from Hitachi and Toshiba.
• Type II IBM CF+ microdrives.
• PCMCIA Types I, II and III hard drives from Western Digital, Integral Peripherals, IBM and Procomm.
• RLL & ST/MFM and ESDI drives from all manufacturers.
• MCA hard disk drives from Western Digital, IBM and Seagate with 2.5-inch laptop ESDI and IBM ST-506 & ESDI interfaces.

For more information on hard drive recovery services, please contact us today.