Backing Up Data

To ensure the safety of your data, it is important to save your work regularly. Data can become corrupt or be damaged for a variety of reasons, such as water or heat damage (e.g. due to flooding or fire), theft, and virus infection. For this reason it is vital that you back up your work regularly onto a removable storage device, such as a CD, DVD or memory stick.

 A CD (Compact Disk) can store up to 700 MB and is commonly used to store data and audio files.

 A single-sided, single-layered DVD can store up to 4.7 gigabytes of data and is commonly used to store data and movie files (a double-sided, double-layered DVD can hold a lot more).

 A memory stick (also referred to as a flash drive or USB stick) is a portable storage device which is inserted into the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port of a computer. It is a small device which enables data to be easily transferred between computers. A memory stick can hold large amounts of data, such as text, image, sound and movie files.

Practice Makes Perfect

Fill in the blanks below to complete the sentences:

1. If the antivirus software detects a virus that it does not recognise, it will _____________________________________ it. (10)

2. ____________________________ is a malicious program that can secretly monitor and track a user without their knowledge. (7)

3. A ____________________ __________________ is a malicious program that can be received through downloads from the Internet. (6, 5)

4. A _____________________________ blocks unauthorised access from a private network. (8)

5. An __________ address identifies your computer. (2)

6. Someone who uses unauthorised access to invade another user's computer to secretly read files or steal or destroy data is called a ____________________. (6)

7. _________________ ___________________ are levels of access provided by user IDs – these must be monitored and controlled to ensure that only certain personnel have access to particular areas on the system. (6, 6)

8. A __________ is used to access debit and credit cards when using cash machines to withdraw money or view balances, or to make a card purchase in a shop. (3)

9. To keep passwords secure they should be ___________________________ regularly. (7)

10. Text that has been encrypted is called _________________________ text. (6)

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Backing up data is important in the event of a disk or drive failure, fire, theft or corruption. Data should always be backed up onto a removable storage device and kept off-site.

Remote backup services are provided by ISPs over broadband Internet connections, providing

convenient access to files over the Internet and the ability to share files with friends, family or colleagues, using a password. It also allows a user to protect files by enabling automatic backup. For data security reasons, this form of storage is not recommended for confidential or sensitive data.

Important and valuable information may also be stored on small removable storage devices, such as USB memory sticks. It is important to keep all portable and removable devices safe from theft. This means ensuring that they are stored safely and securely. Portable devices, such as laptops and notebooks, can have tracing software installed that tracks the location of the stolen device when it is connected to the Internet. Other security devices include attaching ID tags and security cables.

If you only store important data in one storage area, such as the hard drive of your computer, it could be lost in the event of a computer problem – so it is vitally important that data is backed up regularly onto a removable storage device, such as a floppy disk, zip drive, CD-R, DVD, USB memory drive or magnetic tape.

Computer problems could result from:

 Power surges or power loss

 Hard drive failure

 Corruption from viruses and/or security threats, such as hackers

Data can also be lost as a result of:

 Fire

 Flooding

 Theft

 Accidental deletion

Data should be backed up regularly and kept in a secure place, preferably off-site away from the original location.

Backups are the last line of defence and other methods should also be implemented to ensure that data is secure and safe. One limitation of backing up data regularly is the issue of storage space required for the disks or CDs, and also the extra costs incurred in purchasing the removable storage media. Data storage requirements can be quite considerable in larger companies, and the problem is compounded if the backed-up data is being stored off-site. It is good practice to keep a log of backed-up data so that you can keep track of dates that data has been stored on a rotational basis. Magnetic tape is the

common media for backing up large amounts of data, while a floppy disk, capable of storing 1.44 MB, is only used to store small amounts of data. Solid-state media, such as memory drives, can hold

comparatively large amounts of data (from megabytes up to gigabytes) and are portable and easy to use between different computers. Remote backup services are also being provided by ISPs over broadband Internet connections – this form of storage is not recommended for confidential or sensitive data.

Deleting and Restoring Files

When you delete items from the hard drive they will be sent to the Recycle Bin, where they can be restored or permanently deleted if required. Files and folders deleted from the A drive or flash drive will be deleted without the option of being restored. For this reason, you should be very careful when deleting files or folders from the flash drive or other removable drive.

The following items cannot be restored from the Recycle Bin:

 Files/folders deleted from network locations

 Files/folders deleted from removable storage media, such as memory sticks

 Files/folders which are larger than the storage capacity of the Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin gives you the option of restoring deleted files and folders (remember, files and folders on the USB drive will be deleted permanently and cannot be restored from the Recycle Bin).

Safe Software Storage

Software is normally stored on the hard drive of your computer, in a folder called Program Files. It is important that the hard drive is backed up so that, in the event of hard drive failure, all programs are saved. Microsoft Windows has its own backup wizard that takes you step-by-step through the backup process. It is best to back up all data on the computer and create a system backup disk in the event of a system crash or hard drive failure. This may take a long time if you have a large amount of software installed on your computer.

Recover Lost Data

In addition to recovering data from the Recycle Bin or restoring files from a removable backup medium or Windows Backup, recovery programs exist that can recover lost files and data. When a file is deleted it is not removed from the hard drive, unless overwritten by another file. Therefore, it is possible to retrieve it using a recovery program. Recovery programs are available to download as freeware and as purchased software (requiring a software licence or agreement). There are also companies that specialise in data recovery.

Microsoft Windows^© offers a restore facility where files can be restored from Windows Backup or recovered from previous versions (previous versions are also called shadow copies).

Restore from Windows Backup: Go to Control Panel, System and Maintenance and then Backup and Restore. Follow instructions to restore files.

Restore from previous version: Go to the Computer window and then select the Restore previous versions option. Drag relevant files to a location on which the restored files are to be saved.

Practice Makes Perfect

Fill in the blanks below to complete the sentences:

1. To ensure the safety of your data, it is important to _______________ your work regularly. (4)

2. A ________________________ _____________________ is a portable storage device which is inserted into the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port. (6, 5)

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