Dec. 9, 2007
FOXNews reports on data recovery:
Data can be salvaged from Windows-based computers and Apple Inc.'s Macs, and even from fully loaded iPods or cell phones. Engineers then ship the files back on CDs, DVDs or on a new hard drive. Typical computer users know they should back up their data, Johnson said, but many keep their backup files so close to their computers that secondary files are destroyed at the same time as the computer. He recommends that backups be kept at a distance, perhaps even in a safe-deposit box at a bank. That experts can recover data from hard drives damaged by water, fire or even a sledgehammer is a mixed blessing. Sometimes a person disposing of an old computer actually wants the hard drive destroyed to thwart would-be hackers looking for private information. So how can one be sure the hard drive is rendered permanently inaccessible? Some experts suggest running a data-erasing program that repeatedly overwrites information with ones and zeros. Others suggest keeping the hard drive and disposing of the rest of the computer. The most extreme option would be to physically shred the hard drive and dispose of pieces in multiple locations.
