USB thumb drives are so cheap nowadays I can back up all of documents, and even all my pictures on a thumb stick. USB thumb drives may not have enough space to back up your entire music collection but it’s great for non media files. I just bought a 4GB OCZ USB stick for about 20 bucks and now I will show you how to encrypt and password protect a USB thumb drive with a lovely little program called TrueCrypt. I hope these step by step instructions will be helpful to anyone who want to protect their sensitive data.

* Im using TrueCrpyt on a Ubuntu Linux machine so some steps might be slightly different from the Windows or the Mac version.

1. Download and Install TrueCrypt on your computer

2. Plug in a USB thumb drive, plug in one that is completely free of data because we are going to encrypt and password protect the whole USB drive and not just a portion of it. This will format the whole drive so any data that is on that drive will be lost.

3. Launch TrueCrypt.

4. Click on “Create Volume” button.

5. The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard window will appear with two options. And by default the “Create an encrypted file container” is selected but that’s not the one we want. Click on second option which is “Create a volume within a partition/drive” and click “Next” to move on.

6. Volume Type- we will leave it at the default settings which is “Standard TrueCrypt volume”. Click “Next” to move on.

7. Volume Location – click on “Select Device” and locate your USB thumb drive. Hit the “Next” button when done.

8. You will get a warning telling you about the risks of encrypting a whole drive, click “Yes” if you feel comfortable about it.

9. Now you may need to enter your admin computer password to proceed. Enter it and proceed.

10. Another warning appears asking if you are sure you want to format the device which will destroy all date that’s on it. Hit “Yes” to continue.

11. Encryption Options – I will leave everything in the default settings here because I feel the AES encryption is more than enough but you can select whatever you want from the drop down menu. Hit “Next” to continue.

12. Volume Password – enter a password, there are very good tips on that window on how to create a good password which is very important. This is the password you will use to open the USB thumb stick. Hit “Next” to continue.

13. Format Options – options for file system. FAT filesystem will do just fine so hit “Next” and let’s go.

14. Volume Format -move your mouse around this window to increase the cryptographic strength and the longer you do this the better. Hit the “Format” button when done. Now formatting will begin which takes a few minutes. When it’s done, you will get a window saying the encryption was successful. Click OK.

15. Volume Created – Hit “Exit”. Yay! That’s it. Check out Part 2 where we will see

From：http://askabouttech.com/

The hard disk drive installed on your computer system is the place where all your important data and files are stored and without this your computer system cannot work. There would be no internet, games, emails, chatting, surfing and not even an operating system.

A hard drive is so vital and it’s important to take proper care of it and save from getting corrupt – thus saving your data.

Problems in hard drive can cause major data loss and inaccessibility of data. Just imagine, you cannot show photographs, videos of a family function to your dear ones just because your hard disk crashed. Will you not regret the situation of watching and enjoying pictures and videos with your family?

Hard drive crashes can take place due to several reasons; it can be a hardware problem, virus attacks, media errors, spy ware attacks and many other unknown reasons.
Is it possible to identify the problem of your hard drive crash?

Let’s say that your hard drive crashed, but you do not know the reason, why this disaster occurred. You can discover this with the help of flashing light on front of your CPU. This light keeps blinking when the computer system is busy.

If you see the light flashing but your computer system is not able to boot up then it’s a problem related to some software i.e. its an operating system malfunction or a virus contamination. This can be effectively repaired and fixed by formatting the computer system thus saving your important data and files.

But the worst still resides, if the flashing light does not function while booting. It means that your hard drive is not able to run and is not performing any activity – A Mechanical problem.

It may sound good to purchase a new hard drive in this scenario but doesn’t the corrupt hard drive store your important data? At this point, you should always take services of hard drive recovery specialists, a professional data recovery service provider who can actually recover your lost data without causing any harm to it.

There are times when your hard drive gives indications of some mishappenings about to happen; like, creepy noises from the hard drive, automatic shutdowns, hanged up OS, slow running of the PC. These indications give you a chance to become alert, careful, and start backing up your data as soon as you notice these happenings.

Here I would like to discuss some causes and solutions to the hard drive recovery.

Why hard drives get corrupt?
The major activity which happens when hard drives crash, is the loss of data. Data Loss is termed as loss of data stored on your hard drive. This data, when damaged is recoverable or unrecoverable depending upon the reason and extent of hard drive corruption.

The general reasons for data loss are poor usage of media, virus attacks and manufacturing defaults.

Improper or Poor usage of the hard drive:
A non-technical person might not be aware of the proper and secure means of using and maintaining of the hard disk. Vibrations or collision, inadequate cleaning, split liquids can damage the hard drive and lead to data loss situations.

Virus Attacks:
Viruses can enter your computer system from nowhere. Whether you download a song, open an email attachment or access any free software provider web site; viruses, spy ware or ad ware can easily make space for themselves and start corrupting your hard drive.

Manufacturing Defaults:
After rigorous testings, 4 or 5 hard drives can be found amongst hundreds which give problems after certain time period of their usage. Defects in your computer system can make the case more worsened but it’s quite possible to recover the maximum or complete data from them.

Measures to Avoid Hard Drive Corruptions
The above points are the major reasons of data loss because of hard drive corruptions. The best and effective measure to avoid such kind of situations is to regularly backup your data or when you notice some strange happenings with your disk drive, start backing up data.

1. Perform regular Backups: The best way to prevent data loss is to backup data on regular basis to an external media like a CD or DVD. This would help you when you face the situation of data loss and can save your pocket from investing on data recovery procedures.

The backed up data can prove useful in case if you need to contact a data recovery company. The data recovery company can effectively help you in data recovery, as you already have backup of your data which will help the data recovery professional to retrieve your data back.

2. Keep your Media Clean: Your hard drive should be important to you as it stores your valuable data. As you keep your important things clean, hard drives should also be cleaned from time to time to keep it safe from dust particles as they damage your hard drive slowly just like slow poison.

“Always remember that it’s the hard drive which makes your OS and PC LIVE.”

3. Anti-virus Solution: Regularly scan your PC with good anti-virus software to keep viruses, ad ware, and spy ware at bay. Good firewall and anti virus utilities help to keep your hard drive safe and secure from unwanted attacks.

4. Defragmentation – another good option: Try to defragment your hard drive once a month. By defragmentation it means to organize your data and reduce fragmentation of a file on a storage device by moving separated parts into a contiguous location.

5. Other Minor Preventive Measures: Some minor precautionary steps also prove helpful to rescue hard drive corruptions. You can implement SPAM guard on your incoming and outgoing emails and delete your temporary internet files on a regular basis.
Update your computer system by regularly by downloading the latest updates for your operating system.

6. Try Third Party Utility: If the case of data loss in your situation is severe, you should always go for corrupt hard drive recovery software. As, if you try to diagnose the corrupt hard drive by yourself or through some cheap measures, this could lead to heavy expenditures on hard drive repair and data recovery.

The hard drive data recovery software offered by good data recovery companies are effective, powerful and result oriented data recovery software which can recover every bit of your data from the damaged files.

You can try some good data recovery software available in the market which is specially developed for hard drive recovery, hard drive repair, hard disk recovery and partition data recovery.

These were some preventive measures with which you can save your data from becoming inaccessible.

Source: http://www.articlesfriend.com/

LaCie and Samsung announced today the end results of their collaboration in implementing 1.3-inch hard disk technology for LaCie micro storage devices.

Available in 30GB or 40GB versions, LaCie will be offering its smallest Little Disk yet, as well as an update to the popular credit card sized USB Key Max. Both products are USB 2.0 powered and include their very own connection cable for true on-the-go mobility in an ultra compact form.

MOSCONE CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO / BOOTH S-2232

The Samsung 1.3-inch drive was designed to be the most efficient use of capacity per volume, while its size is equal to that of Compact Flash II cards. The development of such technology allowed LaCie to overcome current size limitations and to achieve innovative design with massive storage capacities for pocket-sized devices.

“The development of these small products was enabled due to Samsung’s new 1.3-inch technology that offers a small footprint with vast capacity improvement,” said Nolwenn Rozen, LaCie Mobile Product Manager. “By using this technology in these new mobile offerings, LaCie was able to see an increase in maximum capacity from 12GB to 40GB.”

“In the early 2000s, other hard drive vendors introduced 1-inch drives, and due to low demand, couldn’t gain traction in the mobile application market,” said TJ Lee, Samsung VP, sales and marketing team in Storage System Division. “However, in step with the surging growth of multimedia contents and the rapidly changing mobile environment, Samsung chose to design 1.3-inch as a new form factor, which has been very successful in mass production. Samsung is pleased to see LaCie embrace this new technology in these new products.”

With easy plug-and-play installation, the 1.3-inch Little Disk and USB Key Max could not be any simpler to use. The devices are driver-free and are compatible with any computer running Windows® 2000, XP, Vista®, Mac® OS X 10.2 or higher or Linux 2.4 or 2.6. The devices are preformatted FAT32 for cross platform versatility.

The devices come preloaded with LaCie’s ‘1-Click’ Backup Software for PC and Mac and SilverKeeper Backup Software for Mac to regularly back up data. Also bundled for Windows is LaCieSync synchronization and encryption software that syncs updated files, emails, or personal settings to your office or home computer. For added security AES 128-bit encryption keep data safe from unwanted eyes.

LaCie’s new 1.3-inch Little Disk and USB Key Max, with capacities up to 40GB, can hold approximately 36,000 digital photos, 12,000 songs (MP3 files), or 60 hours DVD quality video*.

Availability
Both the 1.3-inch Little Disk and the USB Key Max are available now starting at $119.99 and $109.99, respectively. Both may be purchased through LaCie direct and widely available via LaCie’s specialized dealer network.
About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2006 parent company sales of US$63.4 billion and net income of US$8.5 billion. Employing approximately 138,000 people in 124 offices in 56 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, Telecommunication Network Business, and Digital Appliance Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs.

About LaCie
Located in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie is the leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for PC, Apple and Linux users. LaCie creates external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is listed on Euronext under FR0000054314 (LAC).

Link: http://news.creativecow.net/story/858923

Although the abbreviation IDE is popularly used in reference to hard drive interface connections, ATA (AT Attachment – AT refers to the Advanced Technology motherboard form factor) is also used. IDE and ATA are the same thing. The term Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) is owned by Western Digital, so other companies, including Maxtor, Quantum and Seagate, use the term ATA instead. Upon reflection, it is interesting that most computer users refer to hard drives as IDE while manufacturers use the ATA term. Each of the ATA specifications is rated for different speeds and all ATA specifications are backwards compatible, so even the oldest ATA-1 hard drives can be run on the latest Ultra ATA buses.

THE FLAVORS OF ATA

• ATA-1, the first ATA specification, was rated for 8.3 MB/sec (MegaBytes per second) of throughput and was introduced in the mid-1980s.
  
• ATA-2, also known as Fast ATA, was introduced in 1994 and doubled the transfer rate to 16.6 MB/sec.
  
• ATA-3, introduced in 1997, added a number of interface improvements along with error reporting. The third specification did not increase the speed of ATA.
  
• ATA-4 heralded the age of “Ultra”. Quantum introduced the the moniker Ultra to denote the faster speeds the standard could achieve. This term played well with motherboard and hard drive manufacturers and stuck with successive ATA revisions. ATA-4, also known as ATA-33 and Ultra ATA/33, doubled the transfer rate to 33.3 MB/sec.
  
• ATA-5, also known as ATA-66 or Ultra ATA/66, doubled the speed of ATA yet again to 66.6 MB/sec.
  
• ATA-6 (Ultra ATA/100) did not double the speed like the others, topping out at only 100 MB/sec.
  
• ATA-7, the current and final revision of the ATA specification, reached the ceiling of the interface’s limit, supports a maximum of 133 MB/sec.

Direct Memory Access

The term Ultra DMA also came to be known. DMA stands for Direct Memory Access and is a method, starting with ATA-2, by which data could be transferred directly to the computer’s memory without the help of the processor, or without as much help. This method is also referred to as “Bus Mastering.” DMA essentially frees up the processor to do other more important jobs like process data for applications. ATA-1, by comparison, used an older transfer method called Programmed Input/Ouput (PIO) that relies heavily on the CPU to transfer data to and from the hard drive. Hard drives still support PIO modes and revert to this older standard when the computer has driver problems or is running in safe mode. The difference in hard drive performance between PIO and DMA is noticeable.

The ATA Speed Limit

Since copper wire and copper interconnects are used to transfer electrical signals and data between chips and devices, inherent issues almost always crop up when data speeds and voltages are increased. With Ultra ATA/133, the limits of the original ATA specification have pretty much been reached. Crosstalk and signal noise, two interference issues that board designers battle even today when two copper interconnects are placed too close together. To fight this problem, starting with Ultra ATA/66 drives, 80-wire cables replaced the standard 40-wire ribbon cable used to connect hard drives to EIDE sockets. 80-wire cables contain 40 more ground wires that sit in-between the hot wires that carry data; these extra ground wires add insulation and stability to high-speed communications. Since the newer 80-wire cables have the same 40-hold plug, they fit into the same 40-pin socket. Detection technology is built into the Ultra ATA controller to detect which cable is used and which speeds are safe.

The ATA specification has other issues as well. Since motherboards only contain two EIDE sockets supporting two drives apiece, IDE is limited to two drives a chain. This is a problem since the ATA specification uses a parallel bus interface. Parallel buses are shared channels that transmit data over several wires simultaneously. As such, no other data can be transferred from other devices until the data from the first drive is finished. This can be an issue when two drives are connected to the same cable; they have to take turns to communicate. Also, IDE drives attached to the same cable must be configured as either master and slave. Pins on the drive are jumpered with little plastic connectors to specify whether the drive is the first or the second or slave drive so the computer knows which is which. This can be confusing to those wanting to add another hard drive to their system.

http://geekspeak.org/articles/hard_drive_technologies/

Recently we’ve been getting a lot of questions from people who basically have the same problem – they’ve assembled a PC but it won’t start up correctly!

There is a standard troubleshooting procedure for that scenario which everyone should follow, and I’ll describe it to you in a moment. But first let me address a few common issues for people whose older PC won’t start any more:

* Does it ‘hang’ when it’s loading Windows or when it reaches the desktop?

If so your problem is most likely a software one and NOT a hardware problem. You should, of course, check that all the cooling fans are working (especially the ones on the processor and the video card) in case overheating is a problem. If you have two or more sticks of RAM which are from different manufacturers you could try using them one at a time in case a RAM mismatch is causing the problem. But other than that the only real way to see if it’s a software or a hardware problem is to try running it with a fresh, clean installation of Windows.
Go buy a second hard drive. Extra storage space is always worth having and they’re quite inexpensive. Swap your current drive out, put the new one in, and load Windows onto it. If all runs fine you know for certain that the problem is in your original Windows installation. If not you’ve got a second hard drive to use once you track down the hardware problem and fix it!

* Have you recently changed internal hardware items?
Added RAM? Changed a display card? Added or changed a drive? Whatever the internal change has been, if the machine won’t start afterwards you’ve got clues to where the problem lies. Remove the recently added device or component and try again. If it still won’t start have a good look inside to ensure you haven’t dislodged or damaged some other component while you were working in there. Make sure everything is firmly in place.

* Have you reset CMOS?

No, setting it to default in BIOS Setup isn’t good enough. When you make changes to the hardware of a PC you need to physically reset the CMOS memory, either by ’shorting’ a jumper on the mainboard or by removing the CMOS battery and waiting several minutes at least before replacing it. A vast number of instances where machines won’t start up are simply the result of changes made without resetting CMOS afterwards.

* Did you ensure that the power was switched off at the mains before working inside the PC?

Shutting down Windows isn’t good enough. Modern ATX motherboards still have power running through them after Windows has been shut down! You must either switch off at the wall outlet or remove the power cord before opening it up to perform internal work. Damage to components can ensue if you make hardware changes when the motherboard is still receiving power.
Now, back to the original point of this post.
* Does your newly assembled PC refuse to POST?

Even without a hard drive fitted, your machine should run the Power On Self Test. If it doesn’t, then it is either incorrectly assembled or it contains a faulty component. You should be getting the memory check, the device detection information, and perhaps an ‘Operating System not found” message.
Unfortunately, although PCs are quite easy to assemble, putting the whole thing together before trying it to see if it works is far from the ideal approach. If the entire PC is fully assembled, tracking down the reason for the failure can become a nightmare. The ‘bare bones’ approach is far better when assembling, and far better when troubleshooting. If your system is already fully assembled, go back several steps and try again.
The ‘bare bones’ PC contains only the following components:
- Motherboard
- Processor
- Processor heatsink/fan unit, connected to power
- A video card if there is no onboard video available
- One RAM module (unless the RAM is of a type which requires installing in pairs. ‘Dual channel’ RAM is NOT such a type!)
- The front panel connectors for Power Switch, Power LED and case speaker attached to the motherboard
- The ATX connector connected and supplying power to the motherboard. – The P4 power connector attached also if required. A molex connector attached to the display card if required.
That’s it. Attach monitor and keyboard and see if it’ll POST. Reset CMOS and try again if it doesn’t. If you are building a new system stop at this point and try it out. If you’re troubleshooting a fully assembled PC strip it back to this point and try!
If the PC won’t POST in this configuration you need to determine why before proceeding:
*check power switch and LED connectors. If they are reversed the system won’t start
* check that the processor is correctly fitted
* try a different RAM module
* ensure that the display card is correcxtly seated.
* get a technician to check it over if you can’t locate the cause
Once the ‘bare bones’ system is operational, add other components one by one. Try starting the machine after every addition to check that it will still POST. This is the ONLY procedure by which you can adequately and effectively troubleshoot where a hardware problem lies.
‘Other components’ includes additional RAM modules, add in cards, drives, etc etc etc….
If your are troubleshooting a system which has already had Windows installed to a hard drive, add that drive last so that the system doesn’t continually try to boot into Windows.
If you strike problems and need to post a new thread about your problem, include the following information:
* Identification details (make and model) of all components
* Full details of any onscreen error messages
* Full description of any BIOS ‘beep’ codes emitted through the internal speaker.

Cheers, and good luck with it.

http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread27079.html