So it’s one thing to lose your data and have it be lost forever due to a hard drive failure, but it’s something else entirely when that data could be used for illegal purposes by someone else or a competitor.

ALL computer users Mac or PC, need to have a tested and reliable backup in place! You never know what might happen to a laptop computer. Since you’re out and about, it could get lost, stolen, wet, or damaged (by you or someone else by dropping it). Even if you’re not out on the road, there are still lots of things that can happen. Check out the story we posted a few weeks ago about a client who sadly had her house burn down and lost the data on her MacBook as a result. Or, you can read the posting about the client with an iMac set up on an Ikea glass desk that collapsed unexpectedly, and took out her iMac and backup.

It’s one thing to lose your laptop, but even if you have your data backed up, that does not necessarily stop the thief from using that data to steal your identity or your sensitive information (love letters, banking info, or your photos). With Back to my Mac installed (free from Apple) or Lojack for Laptops, you can secure your data and/or erase it before the thief can get to it.

Here’s a quick overview on Back to my Mac:

OS X and iCloud can help keep your Mac safe even when you misplace it. Sign in to iCloud.com from another computer or use the Find My iPhone app on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to locate your missing Mac on a map. If your Mac is offline when you try to find it, you can ask to receive an email as soon as it makes a Wi-Fi connection. You can also display a message on your Mac screen so whoever has it knows how to get it back to you. And until your Mac is back in safe hands, you can set a passcode lock remotely, or even initiate a remote wipe to delete your personal data and restore your Mac to its factory settings.

Via Absolute Sofware’s Blog regarding Lojack for Laptops.

A Rutgers Chemistry 5th year PhD student, Jingming Zhang, is desperately seeking the data from his laptop, which was stolen from a school building. The student has placed an ad up pleading for the return of the computer, saying:

“I would like to say that you can keep the computer and I would like to pay you money for my data.”

The unfortunate student is willing to pay $1000 for the return of the data and even offers the password for the laptop to help retrieve the file. The laptop went missing from an unlocked room in Wright-Rieman on campus, which houses the laboratories. The laptop was left unattended for a long span of time, so the exact time of the theft is not known.

Lojack for Laptops is a product that MacMedics highly recommends for ALL of our clients! You can purchase it on-line via this link.

We just repaired a newer Apple iMac for a client that had it’s front glass broken. It looked like a pretty simple repair on the surface, as the iMac was still working. We asked the client what happened, and they informed us that their Ikea desk had collapsed and the iMac had fallen to the floor. We replaced the glass panel with no problem, but because the unit had fallen, we wanted check the hard drive too.

No big surprise there. When we checked it, the installed hard drive already had a quite a number of uncorrectable errors and was failing quickly.

We recommended that the hard drive also get replaced while it was here.

A scenario like the one above is never one that you would expect, but they do happen. Even in your own home, something could happen that puts your data in great jeopardy. If you look a few posts under this one, we recently blogged about a MacBook that was destroyed in a house fire in Pasadena, Maryland.

We highly recommend an off-site backup. Make a clone of your data and but it in your desk at work, or subscribe to an on-line back up and backup to the Cloud.

We work with Mozy and CrashPlan Pro, and those links can be found below.

http://www.macmedics.com/mozy

http://www.macmedics.com/crashplan

Have you ever seen a roach infested iMac? We took care of this difficult repair a few months ago. The Apple Store refused to work on it, so they referred it to MacMedics.

As you can see the iMac was totally full of dead roaches.

We had to take the iMac completely apart to clean all of them out. When we were done, the unit was as good as new.

To start, we taped up all of the openings (the vent along the back, the SuperDrive slot, and the vents along hte bottom) and tied a black plastic bag over and let it sit for about 4 or 5 days.

Here are the pictures from when we opened the unit up. Viewer Discretion Advised

Ok, here it is, wait for it: This iMac had alot of “Computer Bugs”. (that was a joke)

Is There Hidden Data at Your Office?

We’re usually involved when a large hard drive or RAID gets installed at one of our client’s offices, but not always. An employee might bring in a large hard drive from home, a RAID from a previous video editing project might get re-used elsewhere, or data that has been offline for a few years gets reconnected to the network.

In these instances, it’s best to let MacMedics know that something has been added. Data loss often happens during the re-introduction, handling, or copying phases, and we want to ensure that everything is protected and handled the way that it should be. For as little as $119, MacMedics can help you protect and preserve your data, ensuring that it’s always backed up and in your control.

With a RAID, even though such a device protects against hard drive malfunction, the RAID can still degrade, which means you could lose access to your data. If you are running a RAID of any type, that data also has to be backed up. Just because you copy data to a RAID or other large external hard drive, does not mean it’s backed up. Data ALWAYS needs to be in 2 places.

Also, are you storing data on a RAID without even knowing it??? Lots of people do, and it’s super dangerous. With a “Spanned” or “Striped” RAID, which are designed for performance NOT protection, if one hard drive fails in the RAID, you lose all of the data on BOTH hard drives. Read our previous Blog post about the topic here.

It does not happen often, but it does happen! A new client came to visit today with her MacBook that was burned in her house fire. Her house was a total loss.

We removed the hard drive with the hopes that it was not damaged, but it was still wet from the thousands of gallons of water used to extinguish the fire.

We referred her directly to Drivesavers in California. We’re a Drivesavers partner, so she will save 10% off her recovery, and there is no attempt fee charged by Drivesavers. If you are in a similar situation, call us to get our discount code.

She was not backed up! You, however DO have the chance to backup so please do that right now! If you don’t have a backup system or your backup if more then three years old, please call your local MacMedics office for help.

Isn’t it worth $119 to have w working and tested backup of your Mac (or PC) in place?

Please read our take on the Blog post titled The Nine Things We Wish We Did Before Our House Burned Down (at the link below). It’s full of good advice for you, your computers, your safety, and how to insure your belongings correctly.

We have several posts on the topic:

http://www.macmedics.com/blog/tag/9-things-we-wished-we-did-before-our-house-burned-down/

In case you are wondering, the house fire started in the mulch in the front yard, and the embers were whipped into a full on fire by the extremely high winds we had last week.

MacMedics gets calls from Mac users all over the country regarding data recovery projects that were from hard drives that were once installed in Apple Macintosh computers from the early days of the Apple platform.

Old Macs with old operating systems such at System 6, System 7, System 8, and newer OS version such as OS 9 and 10 are no problem for us.

Many data recovery firms offer recovery for older files that are no longer accessible, but they often charge regular data recovery rates to help you obtain and convert your files. MacMedics has much more reasonable prices, as most data recovery cases cost no more than $199 (some cases are less depending on the situation).

Recently we recovered long lost (from 1994/1995) college papers, poems, and stories from a dead PowerBook 520C. Our client needed writing samples from her college studies that she had not been able to access for over 7 years, since the computer had died. The PowerBook had been thru five moves, including two that were out of the country. She had hung onto the old PowerBook hoping that someone would be able to recover the data for her at some point. MacMedics to the rescue!

We were able to pull the info off of her old PowerBook’s SCSI 2.5″ hard drive the same day and email all of her files to her as she moved out of town once again.

Step 1: Get the hard drive out of the dead PowerBook

Step 2: Take the 2.5 SCSI hard drive and install it into an enclosure.

Step 3: Transfer that info over to a beige desktop G3.

Step 4: Remove that hard drive out of the G3 desktop and hook it up via a FireWire dock for IDE hard drives to a MacMedics data recovery workstation.

You can read other stories of super old files being brought back from the dead by MacMedics by following the links below:

http://www.macmedics.com/blog/2009/06/30/macmedics-saves-data-off-dead-mac-ii-ci-and-upgrades-client-to-powermac-5200120/

Hurricane Sandy will most likely hit the Mid-Atlantic area (MacMedics territory and from the looks of it we will be ground zero!), and it will likely destroy some data in some way.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic area, MacMedics clients and friends should un-plug their computer and remove and store back up hard drives in a dry place if you’re not going to be around when the rain and wind hits us.

Power surges via power lines and lightning hits via Comcast’s network seem to be the leading cause of damages to our client’s Macintosh computers.

Pro Tip: When disconnecting your computer system from power, unplug everything attached to your network, even the COAX cable from your cable or satellite box as that appears to be #1 surge source (based on past repairs). In regards to power surges, if your power DOES goes out (or starts to flicker), disconnect from power, as surges can also occur when the power comes back on as well!

This might also be a good time to enhance your back up plan by adding an off-site back up. MacMedics is a Mozy partner, so click here if you’d like to sign up for that. We also are a partner for CrashPlan Pro, please click here for that link.

For our friends and clients in the Mid-Atlantic region, MacMedics recommends that you back up your hard drive via a “clone” use Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner, as that way you can “test” your back up to insure you have a good, bootable copy.

Take that back up put it in a Ziploc bag and have it ready to go with you, if you should need to evacuate. Also, hurricanes bring the rain with them, so plan ahead to protect your computer AND your back up. If you have to leave, put a garbage bag over your computer. If you have a light roof leak, that might be enough to save your computer.

The important thing is to PLAN AHEAD. Your back up is not complete if it’s not:

1. Automatic
2. Redundant
3. Off-Site

Here is the official Federal Emergency Check List for businesses:

• Conduct a room by room walk-through to determine what needs to be secured

• Obtain plastic to cover electronic equipment in the event of roof leakage

• Move electronic equipment away from windows

• Elevate electronic equipment off of the floor in the event of flooding

• Back-Up your systems and if possible store your back-ups off site

• Protect business records

• If you plan on being out of your business for an extended period, consider shutting down unnecessary electric breakers in the event of power surges

• If possible shut off gas valves leading into the business

• Consider alarm systems may not function during extended power outages.

• Remove valuables and cash to a safe location

• Move company vehicles to an area safe from flying debris and falling trees. Make arrangements with nearby parking garages to house vehicles if possible

• Remove expensive items from display racks, particularly near windows.

• Consider window breakage

• Understand your insurance policy and keep it in a safe location

• If you have a number of employees, establish a phone tree to distribute information

Here’s a few more tips from MacMedics:

1. If you do not have Ultra Call Forwarding, be sure to forward your business phone lines to your cell phone BEFORE you lose phone and/or power to your phone system.

2. Your alarm system should contain a small back up battery, but you can exten that greatly, by plugging your alarm system into a high capacity UPS system.

3. If your server is not set to Auto Restart after a power failure, it’s not to late to turn that on.

We have tons of posts on Time Machine and we even have a free White Paper on it If you’d like a copy, let us know. If you’re not using an automatic backup, your data is at risk!

P.S. If you are going to be where the hurricane is, then you DO need to go get a Ziploc bag right now, and put it with your iPhone. That way if you get caught outside or you’re checking out the surf at the beach, your iPhone is protected. Take my word for it, and you’ll thank me later!!

We perform Macintosh data recovery at our MacMedics locations every day. When you’ve been told that you need “data recovery”, you should come see us first. About 90% of the folks referred to us from the Apple Store walk away with all of their data.

If your drive still spins, there’s a very good chance that we can recover all of your data. Best of all, our Tier 1 Data Recovery is only $199. That’s a fraction of what you might pay for more intensive (and often unnecessary) cleanroom data recovery. If we cannot recover your data, we can work with you to get your hard drive sent off for cleanroom data recovery.

Why pay $2000 (or more) for advanced clean room recovery if all you really need is data rescue? Call us to talk about your situation and how we can help you!

See below for a recent review of our Data Recovery service by T D of Severna Park, MD:

“MacMedics to the rescue!

“Last week one of my external hard drives failed to mount for no reason. I contacted the drive’s customer IT support and they said the drive probably went bad (even though it was only 5 months old) and because it was a RAID drive which was set up as RAID 0 I probably lost ALL my data and there was no way to recover it. In desperation, I scoured the web for hours reading forums on the issue. I almost sent the drive to a very expensive data recovery site in California until I started to google local options – finally I found MacMedics! The cost of data recovery at MacMedics was a flat fee of $199 (no matter how much data needed to be recovered). Chris at MacMedics did a wonderful job keeping me informed of the job status. When he called me to tell me he was able to recover all the data from my drive, even back it up and create a duplicate folder which was more organized according to file type, I was so elated! I had to pull over to do a happy dance. All the information on the drive was irreplaceable, so they really rescued me and my data! I would highly recommend them for any situation that involves external hard drive failures. Thanks MacMedics!”

In the shop, when I am advising MacMedics clients, I find myself going back to this blog post from www.younghouselove.com over and over when advising folks on backups: 9 Things We Wished We Did Before Our House Burned Down.

I’ve posted a recap with some of my own thoughts with an emphasis on backups and insurance.

We deal with clients almost everyday who have lost their data by way of hard drive failure, but lots of other clients, some who were even backed up, have lost their data in some other way.

Even if you don’t make it over to www.younghouselove.com, please take a minute to read these highlights with some MacMedics tips:

1. Subscribe to an online data backup service (The writer of the original story says: My external back up drive sat right next to my laptop in my office).

2. Keep passports in a safe deposit box. [MacMedics Pro Tip: Make copies as well, and store a digital copy in your new online backup service too! Dropbox might be a good place. Also when traveling copy medical docuemnts, drivers license, passport, and other fiels you might need onto an encrypted and password protected thumb drive.]

3. Take pictures of each room initially and update them as improvements are made (storing them somewhere offsite – like Flickr).

4. Take pictures and keep hyperlinks of all expensive purchases, including jewelry.

5. Hire an architect (my dad in our case) or use floorplanner.com to document each floor layout along with precise wall/ceiling measurements, each outlet, light switch, crown molding, other trim, type of flooring, any unique items to structure of property. [MacMedics Pro Tip: When you rebuild, the insurance company will try to pay the lowest amount by building things as basic as possible. By having a detailed floor plan with engineering plans along with pictures of each wall, you can force them to build it the way it was!]

6. Put phones in a consistent place each night. [MacMedics Pro Tip: iPhone is right there 24/7!]

7. Get fire ladders for any second floor bedrooms.

8. Scan each photo and receipt, again keeping them offsite, or on an online data backup service.

9. Do not be frugal with homeowner’s insurance. Spend the extra $50 per year for the most coverage. [MacMedics Pro Tip: Highly recommended! Buy a replacement policy rider for anything you have that is valuable. If your $3000 camera or computer system burns up, it’s going to be hard to get the full amount. Insurance might pay for $500 to $1000. Also, see SafeWare.com for computer insurance. If you don’t own your home, get renter’s insurance. It’s super cheap! Clothes are also not fully covered in most polices. If you had to replace every single piece of clothing your family owns, that could cost you $10,000 right there. Insurance will not cover all of that that.]

Links to MacMedics’ special pricing for Mozy.com and Crashplan.com

http://www.macmedics.com/mozy

http://www.macmedics.com/crashplan

We perform Macintosh data recovery at our MacMedics locations every day. When you’ve been told that you need “data recovery”, you should come see us first. About 90% of the folks referred to us from the Apple Store walk away with all of their data.

If your drive still spins, there’s a very good chance that we can recover all of your data. Best of all, our Tier 1 Data Recovery is only $199. That’s a fraction of what you might pay for more intensive (and often unnecessary) cleanroom data recovery. If we cannot recover your data, we can work with you to get your hard drive sent off for cleanroom data recovery. In fact, our least expensive cleanroom data recovery partner has prices that start at $800 for a 320GB drive.

Why pay $2000 (or more) for advanced clean room recovery if all you really need is data rescue? Call us to talk about your situation and how we can help you!

See the following review from our new MacMedics client from Pittsburgh, PA, Gerry M. from 6/4/12. He could not get the help he needed in his town, so he mailed his Macintosh Data Recovery into us:

My Mac OS X hard drive crashed after about 3 years’ service; alas, I didn’t have a backup system and thus sought to recover my data from the old hard drive. MacMedics came through for me, recovering all of my data, pix, iTunes etc., and also set me up with a neat backup system — ALL AT AN EXTREMELY REASONABLE COST. I was delighted, to say the least!