Data Disaster Recovery

Aloha!

You’ve heard the expression, “It’s midnight, do you know where you kids are?” Well, my question to you is: “Your computer just crashed, do you know where you backup data and software installation discs are?”

The computer crash scenario I’m alluding to above means the crash is so bad - such as a damaged hard drive - that you have to completely reinstall your system (after resolving any hardware issues). This reinstall process begins with Windows, the operating system. And there are typically two options here: 1)your computer manufacturer provided a recovery partition on your hard drive, which you can use to restore the system to the original factory state; or 2)you need to find the Windows disc that came with the computer and reload it.

One wrinkle to the second option: Locating the Windows 25-character product key. It’s usually on a label that most manufacturers affix to the computer. Or it could be on the CD sleeve. If you have neither CD nor code, contact your computer builder.

After reloading Windows, you will need to reinstall the drivers, which are software that make the hardware work, such as the network adapter. Dell, for example, provides a separate driver CD. If you don’t have the drivers, guess what? You will have to visit the manufacturer’s website and download them. (But here’s the catch 22 – how can you download them when you can’t get online because you don’t have a working network adapter? Well, that’s where a friend or your friendly neighborhood computer tech comes in.)

Next, you’ll need to install the programs that you loaded since buying the computer. You do have these, right? You’ll need the CDs and any licensing codes that came with them. This is really the point of my article, especially for businesses: Make a list of the important programs in your computer, locate the CDS, and write down installation codes, vendor contact information, etc. Then store the CDs and this list someplace safe, preferably offsite, or in a safe. Having this cache will save you a major headache if your computer ever crashes.

Earlier in this article I mentioned that some manufacturers include a recovery partition on the hard drive. If that’s your case, and the computer provides the option of making recovery CDs or DVDs after firing it up for the first time, do it. These discs will come in handy in case you have to replace the hard drive, as the new drive will not come with a recovery partition. It’s a pain, I know.

Last, bear in mind that reinstalling a system means you’ll lose all customizations you made to it – themes, shortcuts, program personalization, updates and patches to the software, etc. You’ll have to do all this again. Another pain.

The more you prepare for a computer disaster, the less stressful it will be, especially if you have your precious data backed up. You do have that, right?

Wishing you akamai computing!