How data is stored on a Hard Dirve

When a file is saved on a computer, the data is stored on the hard disk platter's magnetic coating. This magnetic coating on the platters is the 'glue' that keeps your data. Any damage to that magnetic coating means that there is data loss as each piece of missing coating contains data. So a platter missing a little bit of that coating has a better chance of a successful data recovery as opposed to a platter that has had massive amounts of that magnetic coating removed or destroyed.

Hard Drive Failure Parts

Typical hard disk components that fail include:

Platters Hard disk platters, or spindle, is rotated by an electric motor. The speed of this rotation is measured in rotations per minute (RPM) and the higher the performance of the hard drive...the higher the RPM is which increases the reading and writing of data to the platters. Any surface contact to the platters can cause serious damage to the magnetic strip the contains the data. This includes dust, finger prints, water, and most important of all, the heads of the hard drive. Platter damage is the most serious type of damage to cause hard drive failure.

Heads (Head Crash) When the hard disk is not actively in use, the heads are parked until the hard drive needs to read or write data again. It is when this head moves outside the super thin cushion of air between platters that causes the head to crash and touches the hard disk platter.

Firmware Firmware is the program instructions located on the chips on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Each firmware revision is specific to its hard drive type and each hard drive can go through dozens of firmware revisions to increase that particular manufacturer's disk drive's performance. The older the hard drive, the more difficult it could be to find a working firmware for that specific hard disk model.

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) The PCB of the hard drive is the electronics of the hard disk that manages and operates the hard drive. If a PCB becomes damaged it is often replaced with an identical PCB with the same firmware on the original hard drive. Typically PCB damage is from water or fire, but there are other reasons why a PCB would fail. And many times a failed PCB affect other aspects like firmware or heads.

Types of Hard Drive Failure

Generally speaking, when a disk drive fails it is due to one of the following causes:

Media Failure Otherwise known as a head crash (as described above), the heads of the hard drive have physically touched and damaged the magnetic coating on the platters.

Mechanical Failure Generally speaking, any electronic failure to the hard drive falls in this category. Fire, water, electrical damage to the hard disk would require 'parts' replacement.

PCB Failure As described above, PCB failure falls in the mechanical failure type and typically can be 'swapped out' for an identical PCB for that specific hard drive type. Along with the correct firmware for that disk drive, a PCB replacement can be a difficult type of hard drive repair if the hard drive is an older model.

Logical Drive Failure This type of hard drive failure is usually the least damaging to the data. This type of error usually means that the operating system of the computer (or utilities) can see the drive, has marked it as unallocated space, but because the computer's MFT is corrupted or damaged, can't read the data. Hard drive failure of this type is not that destructive and the chances of a complete successful data recovery are high.

Types of Non-Mechanical Hard Drive Failure

Other causes for data loss and why data recovery would be required could include the following:

Natural Disasters Extreme weather conditions that are out of our control can make a bad day even worse. Whether the computer was submerged in water due to a flood, scorched by fire or in the proximity of a lightning strike, there is still a chance to recover data from the hard drive.

The Human Factor Accidentally deleting files, formatting the wrong hard drive, and attempting to upgrade you operating system only to have it fail are common issues that come up. Also, as careful as most people are with their laptops, a small drop from the couch to the floor or down a flight of stairs, is the type of forceful jarring to the disk drive that could cause serious damage to the hard drive platters.

Viruses E-mail typically are the way most viruses are spread from computer to computer. Also, visiting questionable websites that have scripts, malware or spyware waiting to comprise your system and put your data at risk. It is recommended to run the most recent anti-virus software to protect your data from this sort of data loss and to reduce the need to require data recovery service.

So how do you protect yourself from loosing your data? Back it up! However, should you still require data recovery services, be sure to use a company that specializes in hard drive data recovery.

Jason Perry

ADR Data Recovery is available to evaluate the damage and potentially recover your lost data. For more information on ADR Data Recovery's service, visit http://www.adrdatarecovery.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Perry

What is Espresso

To answer the question, it is a concentrated coffee beverage that is brewed by forcing extremely hot water (but not boiling) under very high pressure through finely ground coffee beans. The coffee is ground so small, it's almost a powder. It was invented in 1843 by Edward Loysel de Santais and premiered at the Paris Exposition of 1855.

People in Milan, Italy perfected espresso in the early 1900s. That said, it was made with steam pressure until the mid 1940s. When the spring piston lever machine was invented, commercial success was huge as it pertained to espresso machines. The same type of spring piston lever that was used in the late 1940s to make espresso is the same one that is used today.

There are several differences between espresso and coffee. For example, espresso is thicker. Also, there are more dissolved solids in espresso than there are in coffee. Furthermore, a standard cup of coffee is 8 fluid ounces while a standard cup of espresso is just one ounce.

Espresso is a chemically complex fluid and is comprised of three different parts: the body, the heart and the crema. The latter is the most distinguishing characteristic of espresso, and is a reddish brown foam that floats on top. Made out of proteins, sugars and vegetable oils, crema has elements of foam colloid and emulsion.

Essentially, espresso is a more concentrated form of coffee. The flavors are stronger than coffee because of the finely grated beans and the high pressure used during brewing. Because it is so intense and concentrated, it mixes well with other liquids to form different coffee based drinks.

When mixed with milk, hot water, sugar or chocolate, you can turn espresso into lattes, mochas, cappuccini and macchiati. It turns out, the question of "what is espresso?" is one that takes a longer amount of time than expected to answer.

Enjoy drinking coffee? Become a member of the Coffee Forums at http://www.DiscussCoffee.com today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Harris

6 Tips for Organizing your Music files

If you're a digital music fan, you probably have problems organizing your music file collection. For me, I used to have hundreds of MP3 files lumped in one folder in my hard drive. Can you imagine the pain I had to go through to find one specific tune to listen to?

Organizing your music files is an important skill to learn. Once your collection is nicely sorted out, you'll be able to find the songs you want quickly and easily. So set aside some time and read through the following tips I've come up with.

1. Create Subfolders

The single most important tip for organizing your music files is to create subfolders in your hard drive. Don't ever leave your MP3 files in one huge folder called C:My Music. Create subfolders like C:My MusicClassical, C:My MusicPop and C:My MusicSoundtracks.

2. Ensure your ID3 Tags Are Correct

ID3 tags are used to store important information about MP3 files. Things like the song title, artist, album are kept and will be displayed by your MP3 player. Take the time to properly edit these tags - many MP3 files you download have the ID3 tag information all wrong. A good software program for editing ID3 tags is TagScanner.

3. Invest in Good Music Management Software

There are several excellent pieces of software out there for managing music files. Two good ones come to mind. The first is MediaMonkey and the second is MusicMatch Jukebox. Both programs offer excellent music management features like an integrated music player, CD burning features and ID3 tag renaming.

4. Get Your Music Files from Legal Sources

If you've been downloading music using P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing programs like KaZaa, you will very likely get music files which have strange names like 56_HeyjAck.mp3. My advice: Get your files from legal sources like online music services iTunes or Napster and you will avoid this problem.

5. Create Good Playlists

Most software music player (e.g. Winamp) will allow you to create playlists. For example, say you're in the mood for rock songs, you can point to your folder called C:MusicRock and create a playlist from that folder. Save the playlist after it is created. When you next feel like listening to those songs, all you need to do is load that playlist instead of trawling through your hard drive and folders.

6. Get A Huge Hard Drive

I know this sounds a little crazy - but running out of disk space can and will ruin your well-organized music collection. Make sure you have enough hard disk space to store your music files. Say you have 10,000 music files that you absolutely must retain and listen to. It is a very bad idea to store, say, 8,000 files in Hard Drive A and 2,000 files in Hard Drive B. Very messy. It's better to store them all in one hard disk. So get your hands on the biggest hard drive you can find.

Conclusion

I hope this article helps you to organize your music collection a little better. I know it takes effort, but once your music collection is properly catalogued, listening to your music collection will be a much more pleasant experience. So don't hesitate - get organized now!

About The Author

Gary Hendricks is computer enthusiasts. He runs three websites about digital video, digital music and computers.

gary_hendricks@digital-music-guide.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Hendricks

Espresso Roast

Espresso roast

A common misconception about espresso is that it is a specific bean or roast level. Any bean or roasting level can be used to produce authentic espresso. While some major North American chains push dark roasts as their espresso roasts, some of the winning blends used in the World Barista Championship have been what is classified as a medium or "City" or "Full City" roast, with little or no visible surface oil on the beans.

The popularity of different levels of roast in espresso varies greatly. Espresso is typically made from a blend of beans roasted anywhere from very light to very dark. In Southern Italy, a darker roast is preferred but in Northern Italy, a more medium roast is the most popular type. Companies such as Starbucks and Peet's have popularized darker roasts in North America and around the world, but the current trend in espresso coffee is matching the roast level to the bean type; this means that the most popular roast style is moving away from being associated with roast color, and more associated with what will produce the best flavor extraction in the cup for each region and type of bean.

How to defrag your Hard Drive

Cheapest Hard Drives
Every computer has a hard drive that needs to be reorganized and optimized. This is why you need to know how to defrag computer. First of all, you need to know why you would need to defrag a computer. Once you understand why you need to, I will outline the steps to defragging your computer with the standard defrag program in Windows. This article will aim to educate you on how a hard disk get fragmented and then the steps on how to defrag computer.

So why do you need to defrag your hard drive? First of all, a hard drive is composed of several disks or platters. When data gets written to the hard drive, it is written in a continuous fashion. However, when files get deleted and filled with other data, existing data will prevent a continuous stream of data on a disk. Over time, files would get broken up thus resulting in a large amount of fragmented data that is spread across platters on the hard drive. When you defrag computer, you are basically reorganizing the files so that they are continuous stream. This will increase performance by as much as 200% depending on fragmented your PC is. It also alleviates any system errors caused by file fragmentation.

Although there are tools you can buy that do ongoing defragmentation, you can easily do this task manually every so often to keep your hard drive optimized. Here are the steps on how to defrag computer on a Windows 2000/XP/2003 machine:

Step 1: Open "My Computer"
Step 2: Right-click a drive and click properties
Step 3: Click on the "Tools" tab
Step 4: Look for the "Defragmentation" section and click "Defragment Now"
Step 5: This will open the "Disk Defragmenter". Select a drive and click "Defragment"
Step 6: You can see the visual representation of the files in your hard drive. Once they are in continuous colors, you are finished!

I've just told you about the steps on how to defrag computer. Now that you understand how files get fragment, you can see how performance can affected. The steps to defragging your computer should be done at least once a month to keep your hard drive optimized. Defragging your computer should be one of the many tasks to having a healthy computer.

Good Espresso Machines 101

Good Espresso Machines

Believe it or not, there are eight different types of espresso makers. The first, and most common one to find in homes in Spain, Portugal and Italy, is the stovetop espresso maker. There are three chambers, the top holding the ground coffee, the middle being a filter basket and the bottom holds the water. As the water is heated, it forces steam up through a tube to the second chamber, then the top, making espresso that is ready to serve.

A steam espresso maker is very similar to a stovetop one, and produces a cup of espresso that is nearly identical. A piston-driven espresso maker is another beast entirely. This type of espresso maker comes in high end designs that can cost several hundreds of dollars. Ornate and exquisite, they can be made out of brass, copper, chrome or silver.

Also, the piston-driven espresso maker is what made the crema a desirable trait in a cup of the drink. Before, the crema was thought of as an unwanted waste product.

The piston-driven espresso machine gave birth to its pump-driven counterpart. Small, simple and ideal for home use, it is also the most popular machine found in American coffee shops. A motor-driven pump does the work that manual force used to, making this version very easy to operate.

There are also semi automatic and automatic espresso machines, the former is automatic in the way that the water is delivered from a pump instead of manual force. The latter allows the user to send a programmed amount of water through the flow meter.

Super automatic espresso machines are even easier to operate, since they literally do all of the work for you. From grinding to tamping and extracting, getting a perfect cup of espresso has never been easier. Fully self contained, all you have to do is fill the water reservoir and bean hopper. The antithesis of the Presso manually operated coffee press, these are more expensive but completely fool proof.

That a mere beverage could generate so many romantic tales and so much hard-headed business is a wonder. Yet from its beginnings to the present, this dark, pungent liquid has fascinated, cured and enriched billions the world over.

the legends

Legends abound about the origins of the coffee plant, but the most reliable histories put its discovery in Ethiopia somewhere around 500 BC. From there, after observing the stimulating effects of its berries, travelers brought it to Arabia, where it acquired the name.

The Renaissance gave birth not only to science and art, but the commercial production and known-world distribution of what would later be called "that heathenish liquid." By the late 18th century, both plantations and drinking popularity had spread to Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South and North America, and to every social class.

healthy or not

Throughout those long centuries, the health effects ascribed to coffee border on the miraculous. But, as with most claimed miracles, there's some fact at the bottom.

Some studies suggest that mammalian sperm swim faster, farther and longer in fluid laced with coffee. The theory is the caffeine stimulates them. One Harvard study followed over 100,000 individuals for almost 20 years, drawing the conclusion that moderate use can help reduce diabetes. Others show reduction in cirrhosis of the liver and decrease of asthma severity.

As with wine, the antioxidants in coffee have been touted as helping keep hearts healthier, though debates rage about whether the pros outweigh the cons. Coffee is a diuretic and encourages more frequent urination, and some assert that the stimulation from caffeine leads to long term nerve degeneration. Caffeine withdrawal can lead to increased sleeplessness. And, caffeine is a natural insecticide.

economics of coffee

But for good or ill--or both--coffee is here to stay. The economics alone virtually guarantee that as a commodity coffee is second only in dollar volume to oil.

Whether traded on exchanges in London, New York, Hong Kong or Lima with over 400 billion cups consumed annually, this other "black gold" only grows in popularity. Though only 10-20% (depending on country) of adults drink one or more cups daily, the total retail sales hovers near the $9 billion level annually.

Add to those figures the number of raw beans, grinders, roasters, brewers and cups bought for the home or office and the figures become astounding.

With the rise in both basic commodity and specialty retail prices, the future for coffee businesses continues to look bright. Starbucks alone has over 10,000 outlets around the world.

And specialty coffee shops are not the only outlet for a wide choice of blends and styles. Home roasters and brewers also can enjoy espresso, invented in 1901 and growing ever since. Straight shots, long shots or double shots are a snap now with home machines.

How to Make Espresso

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog 1MarketNiche. I have started a BANS (Build a Niche Store) endeavor. My first niche is www.GoodEspressoMachines.com. At this site we offer you values on Espresso Machines, Coffee Grinders and Coffee Roasters as well as Demitasses, Coffee Beans and Espresso Tampers. So if your looking for values on these products please visit the site at GoodEspressoMachines