All too often we don’t do Disaster Planning until an disaster occurs. All too often we get calls that a machine is getting a blue screen, or a black screen, or some cryptic error message, loud clicking noises. These days its not only a hard drive failure that can create the need to rebuild your machine, but can also be caused by corruption of one or more of the operating system files.
Why do hard drive failures occur? Its a physical, moving, spinning part. Eventually something wears out or goes a stray.
How can a operating system file get corrupted? Your machine, whether its a Windows or Mac have software from many different companies. These companies employ software developers who must write and test code anticipating the other software that is running on your machine. All these developers are writing, testing and sending out code without knowing exactly what other developers are doing. Sometimes one piece of software doesn’t play nice with something else, and can sometimes create a corruption. Your machine shutting down in the middle of an update, or pushing the power button can also create a corruption.
Preparation is your best defense. Here is a list of what you need to a personal computer. Disaster Recovery for your machine should include:
- MONITORED ONSITE AND OFFSITE DATA BACKUP
- MONITORED DISK IMAGE BACKUP TO REDUCE REBUILD TIME
- ORIGINAL INSTALLATION DISKS FOR YOUR COMPUTER THAT INCLUDE, OS, DRIVERS AND ANY OEM SOFTWARE.
- KNOWING WHAT YOU WILL DO WHEN YOU ARE WITHOUT YOUR MACHINE, WORK OFF ANOTHER MACHINE, IPAD, PHONE, RENT A MACHINE, GO TO THE LIBRARY, GO TO A FRIEND
Servers, networks and more advanced machines have a number of other considerations. Don’t know if you have are prepared for a IT Disaster, give us a call.
