Data Recovery Service and Software Experts

Backing up the Windows Registry isn’t as important as backing up your data to include photos, music and documents, but it’s still worth the effort as restoring the Registry to a point when it was healthy could save you a lot of grief.

The Windows Registry is a database that stores settings and options for Windows operating systems. It contains information and settings for all hardware, operating system software, most nonoperating system software and per user settings.

Windows provides two methods for backing up your Registry. I’ll provide a third.

1. System Restore: Although Windows is “supposed” to automatically create a restore point every day or so, don’t trust that to happen.

To create your own restore point in XP, select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Select Create a restore point, click Next and follow the wizard. In Vista, click Start, right click Computer and select Properties. Click the System protection link, then the Create button.

In either Windows version, you can restore by selecting Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore and follow the prompts.

Unfortunately no single restore point contains a complete backup and if one is corrupted can make all the following restore points unusable.

2. Regedit: To use Windows Registry editor to backup your Registry, click Start, Run (Start in Vista), type regedit, and press ENTER. To make a backup, select File, Export. For the “Export range,” select All and Export. This creates a .reg file.

To restore it double click it and confirm you want to change the Registry.

But Regedit also has problems. Restoring the entire Registry from this backup doesn’t always work. And even when it does, it’ll not delete new keys created since your previous backup.

My recommendation is ERUNT a free Emergency Recovery Utility for XP and now Vista.

However there’s a trick to using it to backup Vista’s Registry. Rather than double clicking the shortcut as you would with XP, right click the shortcut and select “Run as administrator”.

Each ERUNT backup consists of a dated folder containing several files. One of which is ERUNT.EXE. Click it to restore the Registry.

When used with XP, ERUNT will automatically backup your Registry daily. With Vista you must initiate the backup although a “Bit Beyond Novice” user can create a Vista ERUNT daily backup by using Task Scheduler.

I also recommend using ERUNT to back up your Registry before and after installing new software and/or making a major system upgrade.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

For new business owners working hard to build and develop their business, the thought of backup are probably not high on the priority list but any backup solution is better than none. Something as simple as copying critical data to a external hard drive or memory stick once a day or even once a week.   New business owners have a lot of worries to keep them tossing and turning at night into the wee hours. One technology ‘what if’ is the loss of critical data to a server crash, virus, hard drive failure or a larger mishap such as a fire or flood.

For new business owners working hard to build and develop their business, the thought of backup are probably not high on the priority list but any backup solution is better than none. Something as simple as copying critical data to a external hard drive or memory stick once a day or even once a week.

Sure, even memory sticks fail but at least USB memory data recovery is a viable option as a simple form of data backup

Even burning files to CD or DVD and storing them in a separate location such as a managers or directors house or even just away for the computer you are backing up is better than no policy at all, but you then need to make sure that you stick to the routine.

Then there is the important job of making sure that you can recovery your data easily from your backup as there is little point in having a system in place only to find that it does not work when you need it most.

As well as the potential cost of attempted data recovery when a backup has been found to fail , there is also the intangible (until it happens) cost of lost business due to system down time, and in extreme cases total business failure if legislation required business records to be kept for any length of time, which can be years.

Generally speaking most small businesses will not think about backup solutions until it is too late and they have lost their data.

As well as back up to external media offsite storage is also an option, however this methodology can be quite time consuming as data needs to be uploaded or downloaded en-masse which is very time consuming and consumes a lot of bandwidth.

Another option which is relatively new is an automatic real time backup using the internet. This consists of a program running in the background backing up data as you are working. This means you do not have to remember to backup up at regular intervals as it does it all for you once it is set up.

Online data backup is becoming a very favorable option for savvy IT professionals and local computer repair companies.

Of course a huge benefit is that if you need to access your data when you are away from your office, even if your laptop has been stolen or you simply didn’t bring it with you, you could access your data anywhere else in the world depending on your configuration.

The most important take away from all this is of course if you don’t have a data backup solution in your business get one before it is too late, and once you have one test it to ensure it functions correctly.

Of course an effective backup policy is far less costly than the costs of a hard drive recovery and data recovery .

Data Storage Practices Are Not in Line with Data Storage Policies

While implementing data storage policies that mandate where company files are to be stored is a popular data-protection measure, employees are not necessarily complying, leaving organizations vulnerable to data loss.

These are the results of a recent online survey* conducted by Kroll Ontrack®, the leading provider of Ontrack® Data Recovery solutions and legal technologies products and services.

Specifically, 40 percent of individuals surveyed stated that their respective company has a policy regarding where data should be stored. However, the survey results also revealed that 61 percent of respondents “usually” save to a local drive instead of a company network.

The risks associated with saving to a local drive could be minimized with an external backup drive or backup software; however, 44 percent of respondents said that their preferred storage location was not backed up.

“Saving to a local hard drive on a desktop or laptop more often than not contradicts data storage policies, which usually require employees to save to a network folder. Instating a guideline to save documents to a network better ensures the employee data is regularly backed up in accordance with company data retention procedures,

Reducing the chance of data loss,” says Jeff Pederson, manager of operations for Ontrack Data Recovery, a business division of Kroll Ontrack. “With the majority of employees saving to unprotected, local drives, companies could be at risk for losing anything from project plans and spreadsheets to customer data and financial information.”

Survey results confirm the findings reported by Kroll’s Fraud Solutions, a practice of the Background Screening division that guides organizations through a data breach and provides notification, consultation and restoration for individuals affected by the loss of personal information. “Employees are the wild cards in policies and procedures,” comments Brian Lapidus, chief operating officer of the practice.

“Companies must ensure that employees receive ongoing education to understand the risk of actions that do not follow the plan.”

To help businesses avoid losing critical data, Ontrack Data Recovery specialists recommend that companies have a clear, well communicated data storage policy in place for their employees.

Furthermore, companies should ensure that data recovery is included in their overall disaster recovery or business continuity plan. To this end, they should identify and partner with a data recovery provider that is able to quickly respond to any type of data loss scenario.

“This survey reveals that data storage polices do not necessarily safeguard a vast quantity of critical company data. This fact, coupled with the vast number of information-oriented regulations that have been enacted reinforces that companies need to be prepared to respond to data loss at the individual-employee level,” added Pederson.

Through its Ontrack Data Recovery products and services, Kroll Ontrack is the largest, most experienced and technologically advanced provider of data recovery products and services worldwide. Using its hundreds of proprietary tools and techniques.

 Ontrack Data Recovery solutions help businesses and consumers recover lost or corrupted data from all types of operating systems and media and storage devices through its do-it-yourself, remote and in-lab capabilities.

For more information about Ontrack Data Recovery solutions, visit www.ontrackdatarecovery.com.

About Kroll Ontrack Inc.

Kroll Ontrack provides technology-driven services and software to help legal, corporate and government entities as well as consumers recover, search, analyze, produce and present data efficiently and cost-effectively. In addition to its award-winning suite of software,

Kroll Ontrack provides data recovery, advanced search, paper and electronic discovery, computer forensics, ESI consulting, and trial consulting and presentation services. Kroll Ontrack is a technology services division of Kroll Inc., the global risk consulting company. For more information about Kroll Ontrack and its offerings please visit: www.krollontrack.com; www.ontrackdatarecovery.com; www.engeniumsearch.com; www.trialgraphix.com.

*Kroll Ontrack surveyed 100 business professionals via an online questionnaire. Organizations varied by industry and size, with the largest percentage of respondents (45%) were from medium-sized organizations with 1,000 to 10,000 employees.