Implementing Hard Drive

You Will Learn



About supporting hard drives and making backups About viruses and other computer infestations, and how to protect against them How to troubleshoot hard drives

Partitioning and Formatting Drives



Partitioning is the process of electronically subdividing the physical hard drive into groups of cylinders called partitions. A hard drive must have at least one partition, and multiple partitions on a single hard drive can be created. Formatting the drive installs a file system onto the drive that organizes each partition in such a way that the operating system can store files and folders on the drive.

Managing Hard Drives



Use Windows utilities to protect, optimize, and maintain hard drives

Defrag and Windows Disk Defragmenter ScanDisk Disk Cleanup Disk compression Disk caching Making backups

Access utilities from command prompt or Windows desktop

Defrag Command and Windows Disk Defragmenter



Detects and repairs fragmentation, which can slow down access time and complicate recovery of a corrupted file Defragment hard drive once a month

ScanDisk
  

Designed to replace Chkdsk command Repairs cross-linked and lost clusters crossChecks FAT for problems with long filenames and the directory tree Scans the disk for bad sectors Repairs problems with structure of a hard drive that has been compressed using Windows DriveSpace or DoubleSpace

 

Cross-Lined and Lost CrossClusters

ScanDisk Results

ScanDisk in MS-DOS MSMode

Disk Cleanup

Disk Compression Methods



Store data on hard drive in one big file

Manage writing of data and programs to that file

Rewrite data in files in mathematically coded format that uses less space

Disk Compression


Disk compression in Windows XP and Windows 2000

Use the NTFS file system

Disk compression in Windows 9x

Use DriveSpace utility on a FAT 16 file system

Disk Cache


Temporary storage area in RAM for data being read from or written to a hard drive Speeds up access time to the drive

Disk Caching

Disk Caching (continued)

 

Hardware cache versus software cache How disk caching methods have changed
DOS DOS with Windows 3.x Windows 9x Windows NT/2000/XP

Making Backups
     

Child, parent, grandparent method Full, incremental, and differential backups Scheduling backups Backup software Disk cloning software Planning for disaster recovery

Child, Parent, Grandparent Method

Full, Incremental, and Differential Backups



Full
Backs up all data from hard drive

Incremental
Backs up only files that have changed or been created since last backup

Differential
Backs up files that have changed or been created since the last full backup

Scheduling Backups

Scheduling Backups (continued)

Scheduling Backups (continued)

Backup Software
  

Comes with most tape drives ThirdThird-party software also available Backup utilities are provided with Windows NT/2000/XP and Windows 9x

Windows 2000/XP Backup Utility



Can perform immediate backup from Backup tab Can schedule repeated backups

Disk Cloning Software



Replicates hard drive to a different computer or to another drive on the same computer Examples Drive Image by PowerQuest ImageCast by Innovative Software Norton Ghost by Symantec Corp

Planning for Disaster Recovery

 

Verify your recovery plan Keep a record of regular backups

Folders or drives backed up Date of the backup Type of backup Label identifying the tape, disk, or other media

Viruses and Other Computer Infestations

Virus
 

Has an incubation period Is contagious; replicates by attaching to other programs; infected program must be executed for a virus to run Is destructive Spreads copies of itself without a host program, overloading the network as it replicates Does damage by its presence Best defense is a firewall Does not need a host program to work Substitutes itself for a legitimate program Most cannot replicate Dormant code added to software; triggered at a predetermined time or by a predetermined event

Worm

 

Trojan horse

  

Logic bomb

Understanding Computer Infestations



Where viruses hide

Boot sector viruses File viruses Multipartite viruses

Cloaking techniques
Polymorphic viruses Encrypting viruses Stealth viruses

Potential damage ranges from minor to major

How Infestations Spread



User activities can increase susceptibility Virus replicates A Trojan horse gets into your computer A worm gets into your computer

 

How a Virus Replicates

How a Worm Gets into Your Computer

Virus Hoaxes


E-mail warnings about a nonexistent virus Overload network traffic Check Web sites that specialize in debunking virus hoaxes

 

Protecting Against Computer Infestations

  

Make backups Use antivirus software regularly Keep Windows current with updates and patches Implement a firewall

Protecting Against Computer Infestations (continued)

 

Be aware of virus symptoms Know what to do when you suspect a virus infestation
Run antivirus software Check Web site of AV software manufacturer

Use antivirus software

Capabilities to Look for When Selecting Antivirus Software



 

 

Download software upgrades and virus definitions from the Internet Automatically execute at startup Detect macros in word-processing worddocuments Automatically monitor files being downloaded from the Internet Send virus alerts to your e-mail address eScan both automatically and manually

General Troubleshooting Guidelines

  

Make backups and keep them current Run antivirus software regularly Defragment files and scan the hard drive occasionally Don t smoke around your hard drive Don t leave the PC turned off for weeks or months at at time

 

General Troubleshooting Guidelines (continued)



High humidity can be dangerous for hard drives Be gentle with a hard drive Take precautions when moving a hard drive or changing CMOS setup

 

Resolving Common Hard Drive Problems



 

Categories of problems Caused by hardware or software? Prevent hard drive from booting or prevent data from being accessed? Gather basic information from user; diagnose and address the problems Focus on the main priority Use available resources (documentation, manufacturer s Web site, technical support)

Troubleshooting Hard Drives with Third-Party Software Third  

SpinRite PartitionMagic GParted

Hardware Problems
   

Hard drive not found Invalid drive or drive specification Damaged boot record Damaged FAT or root directory or bad sectors Cannot boot from the hard drive Drive retrieves and saves data slowly

 

Software Problems with Hard Drives

 

Corrupted OS files Corrupted partition table, boot record, or root directory, making all data on the hard drive inaccessible Corrupted area of the FAT that points to the data, data s directory table, or sector markings where data is located Corrupted data

Resolving Hard Drive and Data Access Problems

    

Partition table Boot record FAT and root directory System files Data and program files

Data and Program File Corruption



Options for restoring a data file that is not backed up

OS system tools and commands Third-party software ThirdProfessional data recovery service

Data and Program File Corruption (continued)



Recovering data when portions of a damaged file are still intact

Create a new file on another disk Use Copy command Edit new file to replace missing data

Data and Program File Corruption (continued)



Potential problems with files and file system

Corrupted file header Lost clusters Erased file

Getting Technical Support



Before you call, have available:

Drive model and description Manufacturer and model of computer Exact wording of error message Description of the problem Hardware and software configuration for the system

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)