Just like any other software virtual machines still require (unless you have a very specialist setup) to be run from the hard drive, which is still and probably will remain so for many years to come, the slowest part of your system. Drives can be broken in sub parts know as partitions which can then be utilized as a different drive so to speak but hard disk fragmentation is still an issue.

Fragmentation occurs on all hard drives and is part of the way the operating system stores the data on a disk. It won’t lay it down nice and neatly in one continuous block, but will lay it wherever there is a space. One file could literally be split into many separate places on the hard disk and this is fragmentation. If you have one OS running it can be bad but if you are running virtual machines the problems is far more serious.

Fragmentation is the scourge of modern computers as most people fail to conduct even the most basic maintenance on their computers. The situation just get worse over time and some people have even been known to purchase a new system even though there is nothing wrong with the old. On servers and raid arrays fragmentation is far more serious as it slows down business applications and reduces productivity. In very bad instances data recovery is the only method of saving the data.

Operating systems handle fragmentation in different ways. Microsoft Windows, for example, pays little or no attention to the degree of fragmentation on a storage device, whereas Mac OS X goes some way to helping by automatically defragmenting files under 20 MB in size. Other Operating Systems handle file fragmentation in various ways, with varying levels of success.

Defragmentation utilities can take care of this problem, however, running them practically ties up the machine until completion, slowing the machine to a crawl. So what can be done to remove this issue? There are a number of possibilities that can be tried.

Scheduling a defragmentation is a good bet as you can let it run whilst you are doing another task or perhaps out to lunch. Third party applications can do this extremely well.
Invest in dedicated hardware. Not the cheapest solution but for business and power user home systems probably the most sensible route. Dedicated hardware could be an additional hard drive (internal or external) a dedicated raid array or even an SSD device. The actual solution will depend on how mission critical the application actually is.

Ensuring your systems are working in tip top condition is vital to maintaining a productive IT infrastructure. For more great computing tips visit the IT support Bury , or click here for hard drive recovery information and raid data recovery advice.

So what can you do. There are several software options for backup data recovery, but most of these only work on backup files, so how do you recover data from a tape?

Data Recovery Engineering Software Limited write software mainly for data recovery companies, and one of their titles is a very affordable tape imaging tool.

The software creates an image file of the data on the tape to hard disk. Now you are able access the data on the tape and recover it with your backup recovery software.

Other uses are when someone has created a backup set that you need to access, but it is password protected (not encrypted) and the user cant remember the password or no longer works for the company. Or a forensics engineer needs to look at the data stored on the tape but does not have access to the software used to create the backup.

Tape Imaging Software

If you have been here before then at least you will have a vague or depending on your experience a deeper level of knowledge here, but for many potential data loss scenarios are a new computing horror to overcome, so what typically should we be looking out for?

Your computer appears to be starting normally but fails to present the log in window: Typically this can be put down to a number of different causes that could be either hardware or software centric. What this means is that it may be a mechanical problem such as a hard drive failing, or could be one of your drivers failing or a corrupt system file. Starting in safe mode may help but not always.

Operating System becomes slow: When it comes to a Microsoft Windows operating environment it is not unusual, over time for the OS to become cluttered with background processes that slowly grind the system to a near halt. In such cases it may be deemed that a full reinstallation of the OS is required in order that it reach a more useable state.

Viruses, trojans and malware: Unless you are sat behind the strongest firewalls known to man, or are not connected to the internet or share any files then your computer will always be at the risk of data loss due to these rogue programs. In extreme cases the only rectifiable solution is a totally fresh install.

So what are the options here once the problem has arrived, and how can we avoid any form of data loss when in a lot of circumstances the only answer is to wipe our system and start from fresh?

The Key, wherever possible, and where there is no hard disk drive fault requiring professional data recovery services is simple: Backup! Sounds simple enough if the drive is working fine, but not enough people do it.

External hard drives can be purchased in most computer shops now days and a quick search online for online backup will also give you a number of remote back up options

So what can you do if the worst has happened to you? One simple technique that has helped thousands of people recover data that would otherwise be at risk due to the unpredictability of the reinstall process is to use a USB caddy and hook the drive in question up to a fully working, (and fully protected) machine.

You can find more great advice on data recovery and in particular for businesses raid data recovery here.