1Gb to 2Gb change flasdisk

changed to :
1. Flashdisk into FAT format.
2. software run.
download : di sini

3. select the location of flash drives.
4. Click Fix.
5. Click Ok.
6. Click OK again.
7. Click OK.
8. remove flash and plug again ....
9. SO . 2Gb

good luck ...: D

Hardisk TREATING TIPS

just take care of your hard disk additional tips:

1.Install an antivirus to protect against future if there are viruses that attack and destroy your data .. if can be regularly updated antivirusnya .. see here a list of the latest anti-virus

2. Try to always make backups of data
important.
3. Use Scandisk to check whether there batsector in the hard disk.
4.selalu do Defragment two weeks so the data are arranged neatly inside the hard disk.
5. Use a third-party software to clean junk files, duplicate files, and recycle byn .. you can use the System Cleaner
6. Do not be too often revoked and put back into the CPU hard disk drive .. because very sensitiv.jika exposed to shocks, then the data in the hard drive endangered missing data.
7. Do not store the data too banyak.maksudnya not to free hard drive until a few kylobyte .. but give little space to hard disk is not too congested at least reserving about 20 MB .. if you use Windows OS will usually appear a warning if our hard drive is too full.
8. uninstall programs that are not useful in order not to burden the hard disk.

9. Use a UPS or Stavolt .. For what if we use the UPS is if when we're using a computer suddenly the power goes out, the computer will not directly mati.jadi we can save the new data first dimatikan.Komputer which suddenly die without at first shutdown will create fast hard disk is damaged.
10. adequate ventilation .. do not put the CPU in place is too crowded or narrow .. because it could make the air can not get out so that a quick drive into panas.Jadi should select the CPU that has many fans and put in place a somewhat broad ..

Restoration | undelete files Tool | Application For The Data Restore Deleted

There are some users who have the habit of deleting files by pressing [Shift] + [Del], which means that files deleted bypassing the Recycle Bin, so that these habits can cause your important data is accidentally deleted from your computer without a stopover in the Recycle Bin. Surely you will become confused, if the data was missing the most important office data. What should you do? Calm REFUND try using the application to restore the lost data is erased your data. Many kok data rescue application for free circulation on the internet.




One of them just try to use an application called Restoration, Restoration application is one tool that I found advantages, proprietary freeware Restoration. This program can search the deleted data on hard disks, floppy disks, PD, ZIP drives, Smart Media, DVD-ROM drives and memory stick. Supported file system is FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS.

Fun anymore, this program does not need to be installed. With a view that is user friendly, you simply select the partition or drive that will be scanned to find the file you deleted. Before you do file returns, better user Restoration not make changes such as adding new files or delete files on the hard disk or drives. Better scan done immediately after the data erased.

Information :
Name : Restoration
Version : 2.5.14
License : Freeware
Website : http://www.snapfiles.com/
Download : Restoration 2.5.14
Download : Restoration 2.5.14
Requirements : Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

Tips | Saving Data Lost With Recuva Portable Applications

In addition to the installer version, it turns out the application and data recovery are also made Recuva Portable With this Portable Recuva The version you can store them in USB Flash Disk or on other external storage. And you can also use Recuva Portable applications is to save your data in internet cafes or on other computers your friend, if you are outside the home. Recuva applications including data recovery software is pretty good and can be relied upon to save your data, which include specific files such as: Pictures, Music, Documents, Videos, Emails, and more.

This is a little tips to save your data is accidentally lost or deleted from the Recycle Bin:

1. After you successfully download Portable Recuva applications Here! Extract the file called Recuva Portable.rar, make a folder and place it in a place that you easily find on your computer.

2. Recuva Run by clicking on the file named Recuva.exe, then it will display a Wizard that will guide you step by step using this application.



3. After appearing window [Recuva Wizard], select the type of erased files you want saved, here I chose [Pictures] because I wanted to save some of my images accidentally erased and lost from the Recycle Bin.Tentukan your own choice and then click [Next] .




4. After the new window pops up, to remember the position where the last time the file is stored in your computer, if you still can remember the folder specified by selecting [In A specific Location], In this option I choose [In The Recycle Bin] because I remember the last time the file was still there and now gone. Then click [Next].



5. Well now a new window pops up stating Recuva ready to find your data is lost, after ready click the [Start].



6. Well Recuva will soon find a list of files that are missing, if you have found all check the files to be saved or just check the things if you are still hesitant to save the files anywhere. When everything is ready and click on the button [Recover].



7. Determine where the files are the result of saving your data, do not be stored in the same drive with the drive location you perform data recovery, because according Recuva will be able to reduce the level of success of the rescue data.Setelah ready then click the [OK].




8. It's data you've successfully rescued by Recuva, IMMEDIATELY check the drive Nowhere you keep files recovery and wish you good results come back in your favorite files.

Flash Disk Write Protect experienced

Knowledge in this article are:

* Flash Disk experienced Write Protect Error
* You can not remove files or insert files into the Flash Disk
* Efforts to get the format on the Flash Disk Write Protect message
* Flash Disk sometimes experience the same thing when used by different computers. And equipment may not be used by your computer, although sometimes can work on other computers

Messages displayed in Windows XP:

In the first message, a message appears when done format

Message to second when the files do write files or move files to flash disk

3 is a message to other message when flash disk is input data from the hard drive

Tip with CHKDSK and formats through the Dos Prompt:

1. Sign in to Windows XP DOS prompt and type CHKDSK / F Drive Letter: (chkdsk / Fy:)
2. Finished checking the Check Disk (CHKDSK), you try to remove the existing files on the Flash Disk with a drive letter :*.*. Del command Examples of commands remove the files from the Flash Disk on drive V: is DEL V: *.*
3. Once again you try the format with the command Promt Dos. Format V:
4. Or use the way through the Computer Management and see the volume V drive, and you try to format. If there are still doing the boot error message on computer

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3.4

Result

---

Flash disk you are experiencing corrupted. Mode mentioned above is to fix the corrupted files flash disk and experienced protect files when copying or moving data and can not perform the format.

Finish doing the format on the Flash Disk, but you get the same message when doing format. Try to do the boot on the computer to refresh the Windows XP to recognize your Flash Disk. If still experiencing the same thing, try doing chkdsk you repeat that again, if there is still an invalid link message. If you still experience the second time it is, the way we provide the flash disk does not apply to you ;-)

Case Flash Disk Write Protect sometimes just happen on one computer while some time still can be used by different computers. But can also directly occur on all computers that when you connect your USB Flash Disk in the system either Windows XP or other OS

Another thing could have made an error in your flash disk, and not necessarily due to the corrupted file that makes the case as above.

Recover data from external hard drive

External hard drives are being used widely for storage of data, since it is easy to carry them around. If you have lots of video on your computer taking much of the needed space, you can easily transfer it to an external hard drive and free up some of your space.

There are many reasons due to which, data loss can occur in an external hard drive. The main reasons can be summarized as follows,

1. Firmware Corruption / Damage to the firmware – If the firmware of a hard drive becomes corrupted or unreadable, the computer is often unable to correctly interact with the hard drive.
2. Logical errors - Often the easiest and the most difficult problems to deal with is logical errors, that can range from simple things such as an invalid entry in a file allocation table to truly horrific problems such as the corruption and loss of the file system on a severely fragmented drive.
3. Electronic Failure - An error on the controller board usually results in electronic failure. This might lead to a power surge, and cause data loss.

In case of logical data loss, all that you need is a good data recovery software, to recover data from external hard drive. REMO Recover (Windows) Pro Edition software, lets you recover data from external hard drive, with utmost ease. The software lets you recover files of all well known formats from the external hard drive.

NTFS data recovery: Explained

There are thousands of files saved on any computer at any given point of time. To make the retrieval of these files easier, the computer makes use of a systematic way of storing these files, which is called the File System. The two common file systems in use are File Allocation Table (FAT) and New Technology File System (NTFS).

The file systems make use of an unique method to keep information about the various files on the computer. It is this record which sometimes makes data recovery easier. For each file stored on the hard disk, the File System will have a unique entry containing details regarding the region of the hard disk where the file is stored. The file system maintains details regarding a file, even if it is scattered in different parts of the hard drive. It is this information that helps majority of the data recovery software in tracing the lost data from a damaged hard disk.

Though the NTFS file system, is a lot more stable than the FAT file system, there are situations in which, data loss cannot be prevented. The abundance of NTFS data recovery software does make it a lot easier for the user, to recover data from a NTFS partition, but the user has to make sure, that he chooses the best among the many. REMO Recover (Windows) Pro Edition software, is a powerful data recovery tool, that lets you recover lost data from both NTFS and FAT partitions. The software is a compact suite with its ability to recover just about anything, right from documents and photos, to entire partitions.

Recover data, lost due to virus attack

Storage devices get affected due to various reasons which can prove to be fatal or sometimes do not affect the device to a great extent. Among them, virus attacks are considered to be one of the contributing factors towards data loss, coming next only to data loss due to human error. Thus, data loss due to virus attacks need to be considered seriously and dealt with in a more careful way.

Nowadays we hear of different types of malware infecting computers. These are different terminologies used to identify malicious software programmed with specific purposes. These malwares work in a simple way, by just inserting random instructions, into the different applications that are running on the computer. If these instructions are strong enough, they can spoil the whole PC to a great extent.

The extent to which, malwares such as these can affect your PC cannot be pre determined, but can only be judged, once the whole file system and registries get affected. When this happens, you are now a victim of data loss. If you did not make any backups, you will need the help of a data recovery software, to recover your valuable data.

REMO Recover (Windows) Pro Edition software, lets you recover data lost due to virus attacks with utmost ease. This all-in-one software is the best solution for all your data loss problems. The software not only lets you recover data and media files, but also lets you recover lost or deleted partitions.

What is a Jump Drive?

A Short History of External Storage Devices

Floppy disks were the first storage device used on PC's. They were small in size and could store up to 3.44 megabytes of data. At that time, about 20 years ago, that was plenty. Most files were less than 100 kilobytes in size. However, as files grew larger, the need for larger external storage devices grew.

Zip drives were another format that took a file and could place it on a disk that was the same size as a floppy drive. The increased capacity was due to the magnetic formatting on the device which was of a higher quality than on floppy's.

Finally, CD's and DVD's could store very large files and were convenient to use. Their reduced cost allowed them to substitute and replace the zip and floppy disk.

Why the Jump Drive Was Needed

With the advent of Windows both on the PC, the Mac, and the Linux side, files began to increase in size. It was not unusual for even a spreadsheet file to be larger than a floppy disk could contain. Users were frequently trying to find ways to extend the use of the internal hard drives, to have them available to users as mobile devices.

One solution was to build an external hard drive that was portable. This worked as long as the costs were down, the storage capacity increased, and with a small size. That, however, did not always work. So the goal for manufacturers was to have a device that was small, portable, inexpensive, convenient, and capable of offering a large amount of storage capacity.

Image: Sp.Life123

See Also: What’s the Difference Between USB Jump Drives and External Hard Drives?

The Jump Drive Hardware

The Jump Drive is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) device. It Dov Moran, CEO of MODU and Ajay Bhatt of Intel invented it in 1998. Disgo was the original USB device. Disgo was not the USB drive that we know in its current form. However, another company, M-Systems, created the patent that describes how USB drives work and different ways to implement them. Furthermore, In 2000, another engineer, Pua Khein Seng, developed the System on Chip, or SoC, which allows USB drives to work quickly and efficiently using the USB protocols developed by M-Systems. Without the SoC, jump drives would not be possible.

.

Image: I.T.Com

Benefits of a Jump Drive

To activate the jump drive, the user plugs the device into their USB port on the computer. This is a small rectangular slot where the jump drive fits. The computer's operating system sees and recognizes the device as a removable drive. It is not permanent and assigns it a drive letter. An important feature is that unlike other removable drives, a jump drive does not require a PC reboot after attachment, nor does it require batteries or an external power supply. Perhaps its biggest selling point is that it is not platform dependent, this means that it does not depend on an operating system to run. So Mac's, PC's, and even Linux based systems can use them.

See also How to Use a Flash Drive

Image: Riza

Summary

A jump drive is a small, convenient, and inexpensive storage device that can hold files that are quite large. Some jump drives have a storage capacity of over 200 gigabytes (200 billion bytes) in size.

Top Five Tools for Corrupted Hard Drive Recovery

Reasons for a Crash

Nothing is worse than turning on your computer one day and finding that it's not loading like it should or used to. There are many reasons for a hard drive to become corrupted - everything from a virus to missing system files.This would be fine and good if there weren't important things on it, like those work documents, personal files, or personal photos.

Even worse than a corrupted hard drive is the data that could be corrupted along with it. It can be very expensive to retrieve files and documents from a hard drive in a professional capacity, especially if the work hasn't been backed up.

Here are tools that other users have rated at being the best at recovering their data. But before we get to the list, here are some things to know beforehand.

Important Information

Always back up your computer!

That is lesson number one, as a corrupted hard drive can lead to a variety of things. At least, if a system file is corrupted and needs to be replaced; at worse, the hard drive needs to be reformatted.

You've probably heard about how a user lost everything on their hard drive by not backing it up. I certainly can't stress that enough; I know. I've gone through two system crashes without the foresight to back up my writings, my files, my pictures, my music, my games, etc. Depending on what may be on the hard drive, the loss may be minimal, but think of the time and effort you will have to go through in recreating those files and documents and depending on if you have pictures and music elsewhere...

It's a very long process that can be cut in half with the knowledge that items are stored in another, working location.

If you suspect that your hard drive is headed toward the technology bin in the sky, back up your computer! If you hear strange noises from the hard drive or you're getting errors like CRC, it's possible that your hard drive is failing. In that event, you should stop using your computer, especially if you have not backed it up. Professionally, it may be very expensive to retrieve files and photos from a crashed drive.

These tools may not help in the event of a failing or crashed hard drive, which is why I can't stress enough that it's important to back up your computer.

Five Recovery Tools

These recovery tools are based on the fact that a portion of the hard drive is corrupt and that files are now missing. This can be tricky as some files, like Windows system files, can not be recovered in this way. First and foremost, you should try whatever system repair disc came with your computer. This may put a band aid on the problem, but it will get you to the point of retrieving files and backing up the computer.

Most importantly, these programs allow you to run them without needing to install them on the corrupted drive.

1. Easeus - While there are many products under this company dealing with data recovery, the free data recovery wizard is what you're looking for. The program works well from a second or flash drive and can retrieve deleted files from FAT and NTFS drives.

2. Recuva - Like Easeus, Recuva is an undelete program that scans the hard drive for deleted or missing files, enabling the user to choose what file type they may be looking for (image, document).

3. Pandora Recovery - this program again does a scan for any missing or deleted files on hard drives and media cards, even if they have been deleted from the recycle bin.

Top Five Tools for Corrupted Hard Drive Recovery (Page 2 of 2)

Recovery Tools cont.

4. PC Inspector File Recovery - like the others in our list, this program allows the user to search for missing files, even going so far as finding files with a missing boot sector.

5. Restoration - easy to use interface on this program allows for the retrieval of files, even from a reformatted flash drive. It works well with FAT and NTFS drives, as well as digital camera cards.

This is of course just a small list of freeware for a corrupted hard drive. It is important to note that you do not try to install any of these programs on the corrupted hard drive; the best way is to either use a secondary drive or a flash drive in which to load and then run the program. All of the programs listed are able to run without installation, making it easier to retrieve any erased file.

Once again, I would like to stress the importance of backing up your computer. Backing up your important files and documents on a regular basis will ensure that if you should encounter this problem or something worse, you have not lost anything. There are many online solutions, like online storage or even file syncing programs that allow you to save or sync files, music, videos, and photos to the online site or to a secondary computer.

Here's an article that goes through important files you should back up.

Again, these programs are just in the case of a corrupted hard drive; cases of crashed hard drives are another story. As mentioned, this is when the hard drive is having an actual hardware failure and a replacement may be in your future. To learn more about recovery data from a crashed hard drive, see this article.

All of these programs can be found and downloaded from Download.

Hard Drive Enclosures With Card Readers

Hard disk drives are perfect for storing music, videos and movies, which can take up a lot of storage space. Not only do hard drives have larger storage capacities but they have a lower storage cost per mega byte than other media as well. Using a hard drive enclosure creates an attractive package that allows the hard drive or drives to be conveniently placed close to the computer and to be moved around at will.

On the other hand, using a hard drive enclosure with a card reader adds more options to access media on other small format secondary storage devices. Here are three hard drive enclosures that can be used to create your own external hard drive:

Unitek's 3.5-inch SATA HDD bay / MicroSD card

While this 3.5” enclosure is sized to fit in the larger drive bay of a desktop, it is designed to accommodate a 2.5” hard drive. This hard drive enclosure also serves as a card reader that supports SD/SDHC, microSD/SDHC, MMC and Memory Stick/PRO/M2 cards. The enclosure has a SATA port at the back for connecting to the motherboard and an eSATA port on the front for connecting external SATA drives.

Magic - HDD Media Player (with 250GB HDD Built-In)

This hard drive enclosure ships with a 250GB hard drive, offering you plenty of space to store your large files. The drive connects to the computer and gets its power over a USB 2.0 interface, which allows for quick and convenient data transfers. Once media is on the drive it can be viewed by connecting the drive enclosure to a television or LCD monitor.

To allow for even more convenience, the device also includes a full function remote control to orchestrate the playback of your content whether it is on the HDD, a USB flash drive or SD/MMC/MS media cards.

The Magic HDD Media Player and drive enclosure supports video playback in the following formats: MPEG-1 (AVI, MPG, DAT), MPEG-2 (AVI, VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI, DivX, XviD). For audio files, it supports Wave, AAC, WMA and MP3.

Rocketfish SATA Enclosure Kit (RF-AHD35)

This device is a 3.5” SATA enclosure that can work with a PC or MAC using a USB 2.0 or eSATA port, of course, the computer has to support such connections. The other way of transferring data to and from the device would involve using one of two card reader slots on the front.

The Rockfish SATA enclosure supports SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/XD and Compact Flash (Type I / II) & Micro Drive. This enclosure also has a convenient backup/restore button that can be used to synchronize data between a PC and the enclosure but this feature only works in the USB mode and when the device is connected to a computer running a Windows operating system.

Hard Drive Enclosure with Card Reader

Those looking for a solution that will allow them to easily access and work with a hard drive without opening the system case or a hard drive enclosure may consider using a external hard drive dock instead of a drive enclosure. In general they offer much more convenience when working with several drives that need to be accessed interchangeably; the StarTech SATDOCKCRH 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0 Docking Station is one such option.

While many new computers now come with card readers, having an external hard drive enclosure is convenient for someone who doesn’t have a card reader or who needs the flexibility to access separate external storage whether it is on a hard drive or a SD card. It is true that there aren’t many external hard drive enclosures with a card reader, but the options from Unitek, Rockfish and Magic are competent solutions.

Tips Accelerate and Optimize USB Drive

Pusatgratis - We have a USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a standard connection port that is used by many devices to connect to the computer. Starting from a USB flash, digital cameras, iPhone, Mobile, external hard drives or other devices using USB ports as standard ports for connecting devices to the computer.

By default, Windows operating system to optimize the USB drive for quick removal or revocation of a USB Device rapidly. This means windows by default to disable write-catching function for USB devices can be revoked immediately even forget to use the feature "removal safety icon."

but you know if it's the death of the write-catching feature of this makes the performance of USB devices such as speed reading, speed and speed access to copy from a USB device to be slow? Yup very true .. for those of you who want to optimize access speed and performance from your USB drive, then you can enable write-catching feature of this. The following steps - steps to optimize and accelerate access to your USB Drive:

1. Click Start - Control Panel
2. Click System and Maintenance - System
3. Click on the Device manager and click continue when the UAC appears Tab
4. Click the + sign on the "Disk Drive" in device manager
5. Right-click the USB storage device that appears and click properties
6. Select the Policies tab
7. Select "Optimize For Performance" and check "Enable write caching on the disk"
8. Click OK

Congratulations, features a USB drive write-cathing active and you have USB drive access speed has been improved and optimized. You do not need to worry, because the write-cathing activating this feature is very secure and will not damage your USB device, but with a note that before removing the USB devices, you must decide beforehand connection with the "safety removal icon" or better known as " safety remove hardware "in the windows taskbar.

Good luck:)

Tips Protect Personal Data Missing When your USB stick with USB Safeguard

.. flash is becoming increasingly large capacity and smaller size. Not infrequently the data - important data and data - personal data we store in the flash. Some people store data that is very important office and secrecy, some others sometimes store data - personal data such as photos with a boyfriend, etc. (as I normally do: D)

It's very simple USB flash and portable, but announcing your due a very small size .. increase the chances of loss of the flash. My pendrive sendiripun already lost countless times. And announcing you how nasih data - your personal and confidential data when the flash was invented by people who are not responsible?

Protect existing data on your USB flash before its too late. Do not let the flash when you lost and found by the hands of mischievous .. your private photos scattered on the internet or your important data is stolen and viewed by unauthorized.

To protect your usb pendrive, you can use this free software, Free USB Safeguards.

Free USB Safeguards will protect the data - your personal and confidential data on your USB flash for FREE! USB Safeguards able to encrypt data - data on your USB stick so that if something bad happens on your pendrive as lost or stolen .. you do not need to worry about security of data - your data.

Safeguards are USB portable security applications for windows users. This software does not need to be installed. To encrypt and protect data - data on your USB flash, you simply download and save this application.

You can even save and run it from your USB stick directly. You can encrypt your entire USB flash or just choose the folder - specific folder. There are a drag n drop feature allows you to enter your important files to a folder encryption. You also can set if someone tries to access your important files and fail, then you can set whether these critical files automatically be deleted or left alone.

Even when you open your flash in the cafe, then there is a virtual keyboard feature that will protect you from keylogger attacks. Mantabh not at all ..? :)

Online Document Security Tips

Document Security

Document security in the online world has taken on a whole new meaning and connotation in comparison to the way in which security of hard copy documents is approached. When one is dealing with traditional hard copies of documents they are generally filed and stored in a physical setting and can thus be manually moved, organized, managed, and destroyed, depending on the situation and need.

When one starts to deal with storing and managing content and documents online there are different security points that need to be kept in mind. The primary security tip revolves around the medium by which one is uploading or creating his online content. Regardless of whether a traditional PC, laptop, PDA, or other smart device with online access is used, one needs to be sure that the device itself has security software installed and turned on. This is so that content cannot be accessed by those not authorized to do so.

There are numerous online storage sites that act as offsite storage for people who want to store content remotely as opposed to storing data on their own internal hard drives or even direct attached storage connected directly to their device. People who opt for an online storage system do so mainly because they then alleviate themselves of the stress associated with making sure that their backups and general storage processes have acted in the proper manner. Just about everyone who has ever used a computer has most likely been subject to thinking that they properly saved something only to find out later on that it did not take and the document is now gone.

Online storage works in that one creates or houses documents and content and then through a web site he accesses his online storage account. From that point he then uploads the content to be saved. It is then in hands of the online storage provider to make sure that the data is housed and stored properly so that it is not lost and can be accessed by the user / owner on an as-needed basis.

The other security tip in setting up and using an online storage system is that the user needs to make sure the device from which he is accessing the storage site has firewalls enabled and other security software running so that his log-in information and his own locally housed data is protected. Further, when one goes to initially set up his online storage account he needs to take care in setting his password so that it is something unique and one that would be hard for others to guess or figure out.

Online data storage and retention is becoming popular as the general public finds itself almost at a point in terms of data accumulated where people locally house on their personal computers as much data as a small business. Storage systems beyond what is within a computer are just not enough to store all of the pictures, music, videos and documents people quickly acquire. Therefore, online storage, and storage specifically for documents, is increasing in popularity and general acceptance as people are well aware that they need alternate solutions to make sure that their data is always available and not lost.

Basics of Computer Encryption - Data Encryption

Introduction

You all might be aware of terms encryption, data encryption, computer encryption, and many other similar words. The term “encryption” means to convert readable data into a form that is not understandable by any other person except the recipient of the data. In other words, encryption is a process by which data (text, image, audio, etc.) is converted into a non-readable form meant to be understood only by its recipient. This process is called encrypting the data, and the process of converting it back into an understandable form is called decrypting the data.

Decryption is a process by which data that has earlier been encrypted into a non-readable form is converted back to the readable form by some kind of operation or algorithm that was earlier used to encrypt the data.

For a brief comparison between different encryption algorithms, check out DEA (Comparison).

Purpose of Encryption

The sole purpose of encryption is to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the data. The term integrity means that data must not be changed by others and confidentiality means that it should not be visible to others.

Data Encryption is required to protect data from others while the recipient may still view it. In the present world, securing the data is very important as Internet has grown very vast, and it has become difficult for people to maintain privacy with an increase in the number of hackers, eaves-droppers, etc. One of the main benefits of encrypting data is that if the encrypted data is modified the recipient will not be able to decode it, which means that either the data was modified or portion of the data was lost in transit. This ensures that both integrity and confidentiality is maintained along with data security.

Pros

1. Data security

Encryption ensures data security by encrypting the data that can’t be accessed by others. This way the data can also be sent over unsecured channels as security is present in the encrypted data itself.

2. Data Integrity

Encryption ensures that if the data has been modified during transit or intentionally by a hacker, the same cannot be decoded at the recipient's end, providing complete security of the data.

3. Confidentiality

Encryption is equal to confidentiality as the encrypted data can only be viewed by the recipient of the data.

4. Encryption is easy

With present technology, it has become easier to encrypt the data whether it is an image, text, video, etc. Also, with the help of computers, an enormous amount of data can be encrypted quickly.

Cons

Encryption key

In order to decrypt the data you need an encryption key. An encryption key is nothing more than a procedure or an algorithm to decrypt the encrypted data. If the encryption key is lost, you lose the data associated with it.

Expensive

Computer encryption is an expensive process in terms of time, money, and storage. It also involves research cost for developing an encryption process specific to an organization along with the cost of developing a computer system for the same.

Compatibility

Often there is a compatibility issue with existing software applications where you face a negative impact on the operability of the system.

File Encryption - Online Data Safety

Need for File Encryption Online

This section talks about the need for file encryption online. Cloud storage is the most cost effective alternative to save on storage expenses. While bigger business houses employ their own servers for data backup and storage of data, many of the small business owners and even individuals are looking to cloud storage for saving on backup. There are plenty of cloud storage/backup service providers who offer file encryption online so that their users feel secure about their data - up on the off-premise, shared servers.

One of the most disturbing factors why people do not go for cloud storage is the feeling of insecurity. They feel that their data may be compromised if it is not encrypted. Others feel that the service providers may also sell off the data to their competitors. However, this is another aspect that we won't cover in this article.

The primary concern is hackers on the prowl. If you are utilizing the services of a cloud storage service provider who doesn’t care about file encryption, you are at a greater risk of being hacked. This is why most users look for service providers who offer the best at low costs. The best not only includes more space at lower rates, it also includes the safety factor – the techniques of file encryption for online storage.

Another angle is email service providers. Your emails can easily be read by hackers who are keeping watch on your computer ports. Though the use of a good firewall can reduce the chances of intrusion attempts, the limitations of the firewall can't stop any unauthorized person from sniffing at the email packets leaving the computer. In other words, the email data is safe only as long as it is within the computer. To secure your emails, you need file encryption. Online service providers allow email encryption so that your email is encrypted before it leaves the computer. This way, even if anyone is successful in accessing the data, s/he cannot comprehend it.

^{Image: Arun aka DreamsCentral}

File Encryption Online Methods

Plenty of file encryption techniques exist to protect your data. Mostly, the remote/cloud storage employs SSL or TLS (the latter being discontinued by many). For email protection, the most common method used is hashing or cryptography. Hashing involves multiplying data bits with a random number (often called a key) to create something that does not make sense until decrypted using the same key.

SSL or Secure Socket Layer is the successor to TLS (Transport Layer Security). Most of the online file encryption is done using the SSL technique. Comparing TLS and SSL, the SSL is more cost effective as it employs only 128 bits for encryption against the 1KB-2KB used by TLS. As encryption using 1KB would increase the size of files, the transfer speed gets slow. TLS also eats up a good amount of bandwidth for the same reason. Hence, service providers use SSL for file encryption online. SSL 128 bit encryption means 2 squared 128, meaning almost impossible to crack. Other service providers may use custom encryption methods.

The next page looks at some popular remote storage services and the kind of encryption they offer. It also looks at some Software as a Service (SAAS) that offers good file encryption online.

File Encryption - Online Data Safety (Page 2 of 2)

Microsoft SkyDrive and Office Live WorkSpace

As of now, both of these services are separate. Each of these services from Microsoft offers you 25GB of storage. Microsoft has announced that it will be combining both these services so that you do not have to login twice to access your files. Serving as unmanaged remote data storage, these services need manual uploading and downloading of data. Once you upload the data, it is safe using the SSL encryption method. However, the data is not safe as long as it is in transit. There is no provision from MS to encrypt the data before it leaves your computer. If you want that additional security, you need to install some sort of file or disk encryption software to encrypt the files before you upload them. The benefits of using a disk encryption software is that your data is safe on the local disk as well. Both SkyDrive and Office Live Workspace are free to use as of now.

Google Cloud Services

Google Docs is a famous cloud based service used mainly by individuals and small teams. The service is free as of now. Users can upload documents, spreadsheets, and presentations to collaborate. Unlike SkyDrive that serves as a remote storage, Google Docs is used more as a collaboration tool.

Google Apps is another facility from Google that offers paid storage space for business purpose. Designed specially for small business owners, Google Apps has the provision for paid online storage. The users of this service pay a nominal fee based on the amount of space they need for cloud storage. These storage servers employ complete encryption using SSL 128 bit.

Another Software offered as a Service (SAAS) by Google is the Google Cloud Print service. It allows printing of files stored in Google’s remote servers without having to download them. The data transfer to your local printer is encrypted using SSL file encryption technique. Google Cloud Print requires a proxy (available in Google Chrome OS) to be installed on your computer before you can use Google Cloud Print.

TIP: To have Google encrypt your data transfers for Google Docs, use https://docs.google.com instead of just http://docs.google.com

Mozy and IDrive – Managed Remote Backup Services

Managed remote backup services allow you to create backup sets for online storage. The storage process initiation can be automatic or manual. The best thing about both Mozy and IDrive is that they offer a software that is resident on your computer and encrypts the entire backup set before sending it out of the computer. Thus, you do not need a separate disk/file encryption software as in case of the Microsoft SkyDrive or Office Live Workspace. The file encryption online is again SSL based. These SAAS (Software as a Service) offer you the liberty of setting up a time for backup of entire set or for uploading a file as soon as it is changed.

Email Encryption Services

To make sure that your emails leave your computer safely, you need a software that encrypts the emails before they leave your computer. Plenty of email encryption services exist, some of which are free too. The only problem with email encryption services is that both sender and recipient should have the encryption software. If the sender sends an encrypted email and the recipient does not have the encryption software, s/he is given a link with a “key”. This link is the URL to the encrypted email that is resident on the email SAAS. The recipient can reach the mail using the link and the “key” helps in decoding the email. Though secure, the process can be very tiresome in some cases. Thus, I recommend it only for emails that contain really confident data. As said earlier, some email file encryption online software are free. You can check out the Comodo email encryption software that employs hashing to encrypt your data. The software is available for download at Comodo website.

EndNote

The above online file encryption services and software are just the ones widely used. You can search the Internet for more such services if you wish to check out more. You may also ask about our take on any online file encryption software or service if you need a second opinion. You may also share any file encryption online services with others if you wish, using our comments section.

Step by Step Guide: install a new Hard drive on a Macbook Pro

Requirements for installing a new hard drive on the Macbook Pro

Apple has simplified the process of upgrading or replacing the hard drive on the new Macbook Pro Unibody models. Please note that the following steps only refer to the Unibody Macbook pro and not the previous generation of full aluminium Macbook pro models. Changing a hard drive is a relatively simple process, but caution is recommended. Please backup all data on your existing hard drive before attempting installation of a new hard drive.

Image Courtesy: Benjamin Nagel

Requirements for installing a new hard drive in my Apple Macbook pro:

1. a new hard drive

2. philips #00 screw driver

3. T6 torx screw driver

4. Spudger - not necessary, though can come in handy!

Installing a new hard drive on a Apple Macbook pro

1. Shut down your Mac and disconnect power by removing the power cord.
2. Set up your Macbook pro in an inverted manner such that the base of your notebook is facing you. Place this inverted notebook on a piece of cloth or other protection to prevent scratches on the surface of the notebook.
3. Now you remove the 10 screws holding the base to the notebook assembly.
4. Once the screws have been removed, simply lift the base slightly and slide it towards the rear of the computer to unlatch the mounting tabs.
5. Remove the 2 philips head screws holding the hard drive to the notebook assembly through the hard drive retainer bracket.
6. Now remove the hard drive retainer bracket out.
7. Gently lift out the hard drive with the help of the pull out tab.
8. Remove the hard drive connector from the drive by gently pulling it away.
9. There are 2 torx T6 screws on either side of the drive; unscrew them.
10. Now your hard drive is free and you can replace it with the newer one.
11. Follow the exact steps above in reverse to reassemble your MacBook Pro.

If you require further guidance on installing a new hard drive on your apple macbook pro, I suggest to take a look at the excellent iFixit guides which even provide video guides that could make things much easier.

Tips on installing a new Hard drive on a Macbook Pro

Shown above are the innards of a unibody Macbook pro; the hard drive is located at the right hand side upper corner.

Most Macbook pro machines come with a 5400 rpm hard drive, so replacing these with faster 7200 rpm drives could boost performance considerably. Hard drives from popular manufacturers like Western Digital, Seagate etc. should be a good choice when shopping for hard drives. As a general trend, the higher the capacity of the drive the lower the speed. Most cheaper fast hard drives have less storage. Ideally you won't be requiring huge amounts of storage on a laptop, hence picking a faster drive should still be comfortable.

Once you have the hard drive installed on your machine,it's time to follow these directions to install the Mac OS, guiding you through the process easily. If you do plan to install your Mac OS from an external USB drive then we have that covered as well.

At the install screen of the OS you can also choose to import all your older files and preferences. This requires you have the older hard drive connected to your computer during installation via a USB or firewire interface.

Remember, you can always retain your older hard drive in a firewire casing to serve as an emergency boot drive in case something goes wrong or you have trouble with your existing installation.

How To Reset or Recover A Lost Login Password On A MacBook or OS X

Reset Any Password Except Administer Account

Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.2.8

For any account passwords with the exception of the administrator account, you can reset them from within OS X. First, login with the administrator account and navigate to system preferences from the apple menu. Next, choose the accounts icon. Be sure that the lock in the lower left hand corner is unlocked. If it is not, click it to unlock. You may be required to type in your admin password.

Now, select the username whose password that you want to change. Click the Reset Password button (Mac OS X 10.4) or the Change Password button (Mac OS X 10.5). It should now ask you to type in and verify your new password. Click the reset password button and click OK if a box pops up verifying change to your keychain.

Mac OS X 10.1.5 or earlier

For any account passwords with the exception of the administrator account, you can reset them from within OS X. First, login with the administrator account and navigate to system preferences from the apple menu. Next, choose users from the view menu. Be sure that the lock in the lower left hand corner is unlocked. If it is not, click it to unlock. Now, select the username whose password that you want to change. Click edit user. Enter a new password in both the password and verify password fields and click save.

Reset The Password To The Administrator Account

If you have lost the password to the original administrator account, than you will need an OS X disk to reset the password. More than likely it will be "install disk 1" that should have came with your computer when you purchased it.

Insert the disk into the drive and restart the computer. As soon as you hear the chime when your computer is booting up, hold down the "C" key. If the "C" key does not boot from the disk, than try holding down the "option" key instead.

Once you have booted from disk, the OS X installer window should be on screen. Go ahead and click continue in the first box that pops up. Next, look at the toolbar located at the very top of the screen. You will see numerous options. Choose either installer menu, or the apple menu (depending on which OS disk version you are using). Under one of the top menus, you should find an option to reset your password. After you have selected reset password, it will ask you to select your hard drive. Select the hard drive and select your administer account name from the dropdown menu. Enter your new password, verify and click reset.

The Data Security Incident Management Process: Policies, Teams, and Communication

Why Security Incident Management Is Necessary

Once a security incident occurs, it’s management’s responsibility to minimize loss and destruction. According to NIST SP 800-61,

“An incident can be thought of as a violation or eminent threat of violation of computer security policies, acceptable use policies, or standard security practices” (Grance, Kent, & Kim, 2004, p.2-1).

An eminent threat is defined as a reasonable belief, based on available information, that an incident is about to occur.

When responding to an incident, the first consideration is protection of human life. The second is the restoration of information processing services that were lost or damaged. The final consideration is mitigation of weaknesses that might have been exploited during the incident. An Incident Management program that effectively addresses these areas produces the following benefits for your organization:

1. The business impact of each incident is minimized
2. The safety of your employees and data is enhanced
3. Corporate liability due to lack of due diligence is mitigated
4. Regulatory requirements are met
5. Your organization’s public image is protected by a fast, professional response

Managing incidents consists of a set of institutionalized policies and processes, which are the product of the steps depicted in Figure 1: preparation, detection and analysis, containment/eradication/recovery, and post-incident activity.

Steps of the Data Management Process

Before an incident occurs, it’s important to do everything you reasonably can to prepare yourself for a quick and effective response. The steps leading to the proper preparation of your organization include:

1. Developing an data loss incident management policy
2. Forming and training incident response teams
3. Developing a communication plan

Develop a Policy

The first step in any data security activity is the creation of a policy that clearly states your objectives. You should include:

1. A statement of management commitment to an effective incident management capability
2. Purpose
3. The business and security objectives to be met
4. A statement defining how your organization defines a data loss incident
5. An incident management and response organization structure

The organization structure section of the policy is very important. Employees responsible for incident response must clearly understand their roles and the roles of other teams with which they will have to interface. The lack of a clearly defined organization structure can create confusion, resulting in each phase of a response taking longer than necessary. This almost always results in a more severe impact on your business. Some things to consider when planning your incident management teams include:

1. The role of each team.
2. Clearly defined responsibilities assigned to each team.
3. Levels of authority – The chain of command, leading up to a single recovery manager, should be easy to follow. Further, the incident response teams should be given sufficient authority to make decisions necessary to shut down or confiscate systems to protect your information assets.
4. Prioritization of incidents – Various types of incidents will occur in your organization. Each type might require a unique response with specific reporting requirements.
5. An explanation of reporting requirements. What is each team’s responsibility for reporting, what should be included in the reports, and to whom are the reports submitted?

This policy forms the foundation for the next two steps in data security incident management preparation.

The Data Security Incident Management Process: Policies, Teams, and Communication (Page 2)

Form One or More Incident Response Teams

Cross-functional Incident Response Teams (IRTs) are your basic weapons against all types of data security attacks. The proper staffing and training of these teams is critical to your success in dealing with security incidents. Whether you need one or ten teams depends on your business environment. In any case, each team should consist of the following:

1. A team manager. This person has overall responsibility to ensure business objectives are met during an data incident response activity. In addition, she is responsible for communicating status to senior management.
2. A technical lead. The technical lead is charged with assessing the scope of impact of an incident on the technology infrastructure. He’s also responsible for containment and recovery activities as they relate to data processing systems. The technical lead supervises the following members of the IRT:
   1. One or more network engineers
   2. One or more programmers
3. Public relations. This person is responsible for communicating with shareholders, the press, and other outside entities.
4. Security. The IS Security team is usually the first responder to any incident. The members of this team are also responsible for providing oversight during containment, eradication, and data recovery operations.
5. IS Support. The support team can:
   1. Assist with containment
   2. Establish alternate methods of information processing when primary systems or network paths are disrupted
   3. Assist with system recovery tasks
6. Physical security. Securing the facility and responding to human intrusions and alerts are the responsibility of this role.
7. Facilities management. Responsibilities for resolving power issues, locating and coordinating the move to alternate facilities, and structural assessments and repair fall here.

Overall responsibilities of an IRT

Your IRTs have three primary responsibilities.

1. To prevent data security incidents
2. To respond to incidents when they occur
3. To take steps after an attack or outage to improve the organization’s incident prevention, detection, and response capabilities

The prevention of security incidents is essentially an exercise in managing risk in a reasonable and appropriate manner, including:

1. Identification of threat/vulnerability pairs through
   1. Vulnerability assessments
   2. Penetration testing
   3. Vulnerability reports from vendors as well as private and government sources
2. Assessment of the probability that a threat will exploit one or more vulnerabilities
3. Assessment of potential business impact if specific events occur
4. Development of action plans, based on sound risk management principles, to proactively mitigate risk

Once a data loss incident occurs, your IRTs must have the skills necessary to quickly react in a way that minimizes business impact. To accomplish this, each team member must understand how to:

1. Analyze incident data
2. Determine the scope and nature of the incident
3. Communicate with other data recovery teams, including the information to be communicated

Recommendations as to how each of these activities should be executed are provided later in this series.

The IRTs’ responsibilities don’t end once they complete recovery operations. As we’ll examine in the following articles, post recovery activities are a very important part of incident management. These activities include understanding how to improve prevention and detection controls, how to further reduce business impact, and the development of an action plan to make the necessary adjustments to incident response teams and documentation.