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Your Hard Drive is
Going to Explode – Why a UPS is Essential
By Kevin Souter
It’s most peoples
worst computing nightmare. You wake up in the morning, flip on the computer,
and it doesn’t boot. Sometimes the problem rears its ugly head as a horrific
clacking noise. Other times it simply gives a read error.
At this point, most
people panic. The first thing you wonder is whether or not the data is
recoverable. There is no universal answer to this. In some cases, a simple
scan with some data recovery software is all that it takes to retrieve
the contents of the drive. In other cases, if you want it badly enough,
it will take thousands of dollars and a shipment of the drive to a clean
lab where they will pull the platters inside of the drive and access them
that way.
Now you’re probably
wondering if there’s a way to prevent this from happening. Well, you’re
in luck. Getting a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is the very best
and most effective way to prevent your data from pulling a disappearing
act.
While it is not fool-proof,
having something that regulates the electricity flowing into your computer
can reduce the risk of a drive failure by up to 70%. This figure goes
up to around 90% if the computer is being used while in an electrical
storm. (My computer repair business always gets a little boost after a
thunderstorm, courtesy of the lightning wreaking havoc on people’s hard
drives.)
Don’t just run out
and get any UPS. You want to get an intelligent one. The ‘intelligent’
UPS will regulate the power without having to hit the battery every time
the voltage takes a dip which greatly improves battery longevity. They
also include options to hook the power supply up to your computer via
a serial or USB port so you can monitor what the power is doing. This
also gives the option to allow for a soft shut-down if the power goes
out and you are away from your desk.
You can get an Uninterruptible
Power Supply at most computer stores. Best Buy carries a fairly wide selection
of them.
As for brands, I’ve
personally used APC with much success. Opti-UPS is another excellent brand.
In fact, I have an Opti that is 6 years old and still works fine, although
the batteries now have no life to them. (That’s to be expected. Rechargeable
batteries only last so long)
Now that you know
of the importance of a UPS I would strongly encourage you to invest in
one. It is far better to spend $100 now on some preventative maintenance
than having to spend much more later on data recovery.
Kevin
Souter is a full time computer technician. He also operates some free
spyware removal and computer
repair websites.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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