According to the National Media Lab, you can expect CD’s to last up to 50 yrs and DVD’s up to 25 yrs.

The dye layer that is altered to accept a laser beam when data is written is composed of organic matter. This dye layer breaks down over time and the process is speeded up considerably with humidity, high temperatures and exposure to light. Makes you think twice about leaving your important data and backups in unfavourable conditions!

In recent studies, dye type has been proven to play a crucial role in the longevity of your data on magnetic and laser recorded media. In the study, samples of CD’s that contained the dye phthalocyanine lasted longer than those that didn’t contain this dye type.
You might be asking the question, “How do I know if my DVD’s and CD’s contain this dye layer?” Simply put, you need to stick with well known quality brands. These brands have been tested against high temperatures and humidity. Even though it has been advised not to expose your media to these conditions, should it happen, you have less of a chance of data loss.

Media that was produced using outdated equipment and processes will not stand the test of time. Of course you will find the price more affordable, but in the long run it pays to buy quality brand media to keep your data and memories safe.

In the event of data loss on magnetic and laser recorded media, Data Detect can assist you. We are a Sydney based data recovery company, with more than 20 years experience in the field. We recover data from most medias including: CD-ROM, CD R/W, DVD-R, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM disks. For a comprehensive list, view all media and operating systems.

Get Data Detect – a professional, experienced data recovery company to help you retrieve important lost data from CD’s and DVD’s. Give one of our highly experienced data recovery engineers a call or simply fill out a no obligation quote on the top banner of our website.

You can imagine the chaos when critical data is lost, and it needs to be recovered as quickly as possible. Data detect aims to do just this – recover your data quickly and safely.

If you have forgotten to back-up important files, consider using our reputable and experienced data recovery services .

We offer professional and quality file retrieval for almost any kind of modern technology. For example:

• single hard drive or multiple RAID drives
• Interfaces: IDE, EIDE, Serial ATA (SATA), SCSI, SAS
• The following brands: Maxtor, Western Digital, Seagate, IBM & Hitachi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Samsung, Iomega, Lacie.

In the event of data loss:

1. Give us a call or request a quote
2. Book your media on quote approval.
3. To avoid any further damage we request that you following our packing guidelines
4. Remember – we only charge if we recover the data

Once we have received your hard dive, a free diagnostic evaluation determines whether the media device is accessible to our equipment. A clone of your hard drive is then made and the recovery begins. We use proprietary software and in-house techniques to recover your data.
Your data is then written to any media of your choice (external hard drive, CD, DVD, tape, etc.) and delivered back to you. Our team will provide you with simple instructions on how to access and reinstall your recovered data. Data Detect’s technical support staff are available for assistance should you have any queries or comments.

LAKE FOREST, Calif. - Aug. 26, 2008 - As the enterprise market for highly reliable, high-capacity storage continues to grow, WDR (NYSE: WDC) today added 750 GB and 1 TB WD RE3 SATA hard drives to its successful family of WD RET hard drives.

Western Digital has become well known in the industry for their high-performance Raptor desktop hard drives. These hard drives spin at a rate of 10K RPM, but only provide up to a 150GB capacity. The new drives, just introduced into the market, spin slightly slower at 7200 RPM. This is not such a big disappointment when you take a look at the extremely high capacities. The two brand new models check in at 750GB and 1TB. These hard drives deliver top-rated performance in a maximum-capacity desktop hard drive. With consumers demanding more and more capacity for data storage, who could ask for more! Well, for the next couple of months anyways…

The new hard drive consists of a SATA 3.0 Gb/s interface, a dual processor design and a full 32GB of onboard cache, ideal for servers, video surveillance, and other write-intensive applications.

WD RE3 Key Features include:

StableTrac™ - The WD RE3 motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce vibration for accurate tracking during read and write operations. This reduces the risk of hard drive failure.

Dual processor - Doube the processing power and 20 percent performance improvement compared to the previous generation of hard drives.

RAFF™ technology - Up to 60 percent performance improvement over previous generation drives, RAFF technology includes more sophisticated electronics to monitor the drive in real time for maximum performance in high vibration environments.

IntelliSeek™ technology - Lowers power consumption by calculating optimum seek speeds, noise, and vibration in active seek modes - all without degrading hard drive performance.

Multi-axis shock sensor - An additional third sensor has been added to all RE3 models to automatically detect the smallest shock events, thus giving your data further protection.

RAID-specific, Time-Limited Error Recovery (TLER) - Aids in preventing drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes.

Thermal extended burn-in test - Extended burn-in testing with thermal cycling. This has been added to ensure only the most robust drives are produced as RAID Edition.

NoTouch™ ramp load technology - Significantly less wear to the recording head as recording head never touches the disk media ensuring better protection in transit.

WD RE3 1 TB (model WD1002FBYS) and the 750 GB (model WD7502ABYS) hard drives are available now through resellers and retail agents.

The problem is not that serious for small systems, but once a system goes beyond the 10TB mark it risks pieces of data becoming unreadable. Systems with over 100TB are certain to encounter this problem. The crux of the matter lies in a pesky bit error rate that occurs roughly once every 100 trillion bits. According to Wendt, not even RAID technology, which normally protects all storage systems against data loss, can detect unreadable bits on a SATA drive.

Wendt says that the problem is not really all that serious, provided companies don’t de-duplicate their data to increase their storage capacity. Even super-organised companies generate vast amounts of duplicate data as files and reports are sent around, recreated, edited, amended, saved and resaved in different locations. De-duplication gets rid of unnecessary duplicates, opens space and helps improve the organisation and management of data. The problem with the bit error rate in SATA drives, however, means that if the system can’t read a particular bit of information, and there are no duplicates to fall back on, companies risk a snowball effect. One unreadable bit of data can cause many other files to also become unreadable; the key to unlocking or reconstructing the data lies in that one vital bit that the SATA drive missed.

So while high-capacity SATA disk drives and storage systems have overcome numerous hurdles since their inception, and while they are valuable in solving the archiving and backup problems that many companies face, they are still not as infallible as users and vendors would like them to be.

According to the article, SSDs draw a consistent level of power (the maximum) regardless of whether they are active or not. The level of power that conventional hard drives use, on the other hand, fluctuates according to the amount of activity. Power consumption drops considerably when they are inactive or activity levels are low. Data analysts tested a number of different SSDs from seven different vendors and each one rendered disappointing results.

Understandably, SSD manufacturers have responded strongly to these new, potentially damning revelations. Dean Klein, vice-president of memory system development for Micron said that only early-generation devices were used in the tests, which he freely admits were “quite power hungry”. Patrick Wilkison, who is vice-president of marketing and business development at STEC, has also spoken out against the results. He says that the tests were flawed because legacy drives were used, none of which will be used by any PC manufacturer. Wilkison adds that new versions of SSD have intelligent power management systems to combat excessive power use.

Intel, who weren’t included in Tom’s Hardware SSD tests, has nevertheless added their two cents to the battle by saying that SSDs can be “architected (sic) to improve battery life”. They are expected to release new SSDs with improved capacity (80GB to 160GB) later this year, all of which they claim to be power efficient.

Throughout this entire furore, it appears that everyone has overlooked the fact that Tom’s Hardware believes in the value of SSDs, and says that they are the way of the future. They merely wanted to point out the areas that they believe need improving in order for SSDs to reach their full potential. The thing that can’t be overlooked, however, is that they may have mislead consumers by testing old and outdated SSDs that have already been replaced with improved models.

A team from the University of Berkeley, California, has broken down bulky medical imagers into their component parts and placed the most complicated elements in one central location. Then, using off-the-shelf cell phone technology, they created a portable scanner that can be plugged into any cell phone capable of sending and receiving pictures. Scanned data is sent to the central location for analysis and diagnosis, and the results are sent back. Practical tests carried out by the researchers found that the entire process uses fewer kilobytes than a single sentence email.

These portable scanners can be used for anything from detecting tumours to monitoring the progress of a child in the womb. Boris Rubinsky, professor of bioengineering at Berkeley, says that big bulky imagers and scanners are often too expensive and impractical to run in most areas of developing countries. The new portable cell phone scanners will play an important role in helping hard-pressed doctors improve their diagnoses and treatment options in even the most trying circumstances. The best part is that it needs only a cell phone signal to work. And where, apart from deep within the depths of an underground cave, can you not get a cell phone signal?

It’s quick and easily affordable, for example, an ultrasound machine costs around $70,000 (AU$ 74,341), but a scanner coupled to a cell phone would cost only around $1000 (AU$ 1,062). Another major benefit is that one central server would be capable of dealing with data from several portable devices, eliminating the need for many machines. As you can see, the savings are enormous, and exactly what developing countries need.

But Rubinsky doesn’t see them benefiting only developing countries; he hopes to see the devices in ambulances all around the developed world as well. Completing scans en route means that diagnosis and treatment could begin that much sooner, and could spell the difference between life and death for many critical patients.

We are fortunate enough to live in a world where science fiction is increasingly becoming science fact. If technology continues to advance at this pace, and scientists continue to take their inspiration from cult TV and books, it won’t be long before we’re traversing the universe with the help of someone who may or may not be named Scotty.

According to an article by Daniel Langendorf on Read Write Web, the latest thing to hit cell phones is the incorporation of billions of sensors that will make reporting on everything from traffic to the weather more interactive.

Bob Iannucci, chief technology officer at Nokia, has let the cat out of the bag regarding several of Nokia’s projects that use mobile sensor technology. One of these projects was carried out with the help of 150 students from the University of California, Berkeley. During the course of the project, Nokia placed 100 N95 smartphones into the student’s cars and used them to gauge real-time traffic. The idea behind the initiative is to use mobile sensors to collect data from thousands of motorists in any given area, which would then be analysed and interpreted, and the results sent back to the recipients. That way, your phone will be able to warn you of upcoming traffic problems specific to your route, and provide you with a viable, hassle-free alternative.

Another initiative proposes to use cell phones with barometric sensors to help meteorologists gauge changing weather patterns, and to provide up to the minute weather reports with pin-point accuracy. The theory is similar to the traffic initiative, in that data will be collected from millions of cell phones around the world, in order to provide a unique view of global climates. This would also have a profound effect on determining the state of the planet and could be instrumental in planning environmental interventions.

On a more surreal note, the MobileLab at the University of Texas in Dallas are looking into “the use of mobile devices in augmented reality”. According to Dean Terry, who is the director of the MobileLab, cell phones could soon be used to leave behind “virtual artefacts” for others to find. Imagine what it would be like to walk into a museum, art gallery or theatre and be able to view comments left behind by other patrons on your cell phone. If that doesn’t strike your fancy, perhaps you would prefer recommendations for restaurants that you’ve always wondered about. These ethereal communications could be in any form, pictures, video, audio or text.

Bob Iannucci sees a future where cell phones will be used in ways that extend far beyond simple communication. As he says, “The ability to move information changes societies and livelihoods.”

There is another area where evidence labs and data recovery overlap and that is in forensic data. Data recovery specialists are able to analysis the data on PCs and provide digital evidence on any activity. This has been a great assistance in crime fighting; especially murder cases, where users are acquiring information off the Internet before committing the crime.

But before you panic about what your daily searches will reveal, you should know that the information is highly detailed. Data specialists are able to tell the difference between an obscene pop-up ad and a specific search for crime information. For criminals, clearing the cache won’t help. Data recovery specialists have mastered retrieving files from the memory, regardless of a clean cache or not.

Forensic Data is becoming a common procedure to find evidence in murder cases. Recently, it was used when Indian PhD student, Anurag Johri killed his wife with a baseball bat. Prosecutors were able to reveal that the day before the killing, Anurag was searching for terms such as “tips with killing with a baseball bat” and “how to murder someone and not get caught.”

Data Detect has had more than 10 years experience in the data recovery industry. One of the services that they provide is Forensic Recovery. They are able to secure evidence from an entire system, network or data storage device. From the information they will be able to conclude whether data has been erased or damaged.

They are able to search on the system, using keywords, numbers, files or even phrases to find specific data. Once the digital information is found, they can verify if there was unlawful use of proprietary information or if an authenticate software license was breached.

In another murder case study, a woman attempted to kill her husband by giving him anti-freeze in his wine. Her husband managed to live through the ordeal, but is now blind and deaf from the poisoning. The wife was hoping he would pass on so she could use his life insurance to pay off mounting debts. According to reports, she had been researching ways to kill her husband of seven years, on Google.

Data Detect is able to repair altered or damaged data through a variety of computer investigation methods. With the advantages of having clean rooms, they are able to control and fully document an assessment of the computer media.

Forensic data isn’t a service that is used only for criminal investigations. Data Detect provides it for the public as well, in recovering or repairing data for personal use. They are able to assist in finding lost files and emails, which have either gone missing due to error or physical damage.

Data detect forensics
http://www.datadetect.com.au/forensics.php
Google kill
http://antimisandry.com/cop_wife_googled_commit_murder_then_killed_her_husband-t4447.html?s=eaaddc20965096241af7d3aeb9eb3e26&s=22dc29b758db08b92a16a7fe97217101&
anti freeze
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/29/npoison229.xml

To their advantage, microdrives cope well with power loss - whereas flash disk memory is easily jumbled, should your computer experience a power surge. However, microdrives have a slower shutter speed than advanced CompactFlash cards, and their transfer speed is also relatively sluggish. They are more sensitive to shock, considering their capacity-size ratio.

Hard drive manufactures are continually upgrading their microdrives to correct the running speed and sensitivity drawbacks. Notably, Sony is closing gap on its microdrive speed, offering 2 and 4GB drives that are compatible with devices that hold a PC card type II slot.

Digital videos and quick-shutter succession photos can be easily stored in these minidisks, whereas flash memory will quickly run out. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has created a 4GB microdrive with a data transfer rate that’s 70% faster than previous models. The new microdrive has the distinction of being the world’s smallest hard disk drive, at only 16 grams and the size of a matchbook.

On formatting:
The hard drive won’t die if you format it. Formatting will not magically cause it to gather dust and/or lint on the platter surface. Formatting doesn’t worsen bad sectors nor does it stress the machine. You can format it every day and probably not change the unpredictable lifespan of the drive.

On power supplies:
The information placed on a hard drive has very little to do with its lifespan. The same applies in the case of power supplies. Cheap, low-power cables do not slowly choke your hard drive to death, although a power surge may fry it. Check the connectors carefully, and ensure that you turn off the device and unplug it when it’s not in use. Hard drives recalibrate (spin up and down) to regulate temperature, or when they can’t properly read data from the platters. This may be a symptom of a dying hard drive, but it is not caused by insufficient power. A drive with insufficient energy will simply power down.

On bad sectors:
A bad sector is a part of the drive that can’t be read or written properly. In most occasions logical data recovery will restore misplaced information. In other words, simply reformatting the drive won’t work. Bad sectors are a sign that something is wrong with the drive. You may be able to avoid bad sectors by re-routing and using previously spare sectors - but this pressurises the performance of the heads. Always back up data before attempting to delete bad sectors. Don’t ignore bad sectors in the hope that they’ll go away, as they are a sign of problems to come.

Don’t be misled by zany data recovery myths that have “reportedly” been successful. Save your data and the use of your hard drive by sending it to professionals for reliable and safe data recovery services.