By: Pat Delany
As the owner of South Jersey Computer Pros, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey computer repair company specializing in a wide variety of IT services, Pat Delany is no stranger to sudden PC breakdowns. In fact, he'll be the first to admit that sometimes computer crashes are simply unavoidable.
As a computer user, you may have this experience: You're working on an important document for your job when out of nowhere, your computer crashes. Although you try rebooting, you find yourself faced with an unfamiliar error message. Then you dial the closest computer service technician and try to explain what happened. The problem, however, is that you actually have no idea what happened, as one minute your computer was working, and the next minute you were staring at an error message.
Nowadays, most computer users tend to associate computer malfunctions with virus attacks, but the reality is that it doesn't always take a virus to destroy a computer or render it useless. Software problems and hardware issues can cause a computer to stop working as well.
Software Problems
On the software side, a corrupted operating system can cause your computer to crash. Operating systems can get corrupted in a number of ways. For instance, if you happen to accidentally delete some system files while cleaning out your computer, then you could cause your operating system to stop functioning. The installation of software with bugs can also cause an operating system to crash. If you happen to buy a peripheral device, such as a printer for example, which requires a driver (software that allows your computer to communicate with external hardware), then a bug in that driver could cause your operating system to repeatedly crash.
Hardware Issues
On the hardware side, over time, you may run into problems with your machine's power supply. And, once the power supply goes bad, running the computer becomes next to impossible. It's also possible to encounter issues such as hard drive and central processing unit (CPU) failure. After all, a hard drive is a disc that has moving parts – parts that can simply wear out over time. And since your hard drive is the device that stores all of your data, when it stops working, so does your computer. Additionally, your computer also needs a working CPU in order to function. If your CPU fan happens to break due to age-related wear and tear, then it can take your CPU along with it, thereby causing your computer to stop functioning.
Data Recovery
In any of these scenarios, when your computer dies, it has the ability to take your data down with it. Fortunately, the right computer repair company can often times use its knowledge and expertise to recover your data and make it available to you.
If your computer crashes as a result of a corrupt operating system (or a virus, for that matter), then it may be possible for a skilled technician to recover your data and transfer it from one hard drive to another. However, when the problem lies in the hard drive itself, then recovering data becomes more challenging.
In some cases, a hard drive can become corrupt in certain parts without suffering a complete mechanical failure. When this happens, a computer repair professional can remove your data and restore it using a new hard drive. On the other hand, if you experience hard drive failure to the extent that your hard drive will not run at all, then a technician may need to physically rebuild your hard drive in order to recover your data.
Data Backup
Hard drives are actually fairly delicate devices, and it takes time, precision, and skill to put one back together. Therefore, it's always a good idea to back up your data so that you're protected in the event of total hard drive failure.
By simply copying your data to a thumb drive or external hard drive, you can save yourself a fair amount of money and hassle down the line. If you'd rather not have to worry about remembering to back up your data every few weeks, then sign up for a low-cost offsite backup plan at sites such as Mozy and Carbonite. Remember, a good computer repair technician will often times find a way to salvage your data even if your machine goes kaput. But, if you want to make sure that your data will always be around when you need it, then start backing it up.
About the Author
Pat Delany is a writer for Yodle, a business directory and online advertising company. Find a http://local.yodle.com/articles">computer repair company or more computer articles at Yodle Consumer Guide.
(ArticlesBase SC #2938024)
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - How to Recover Data after a Computer Crashes
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