So, you have that new, bright, and shiny SSD drive for your computer. Your computer is now working better, and faster than it did before. But how does TRIM work?

If you want to keep your SSD humming along swiftly, there are a few house-keeping processes that you should do on a regular basis.

One of those processes is TRIM.

So, How Does TRIM Work? and what it is?

To answer “How Does TRIM Work”, we need to review how traditional hard drives and SSD’s work.

When you delete a file on the standard-type hard drive, your computer will just mark that file as deleted. Although deleted, that file’s data is technically still on the hard drive — that’s why deleted files may still be recoverable. Your computer will, in due course,  overwrite those deleted files when it overwrites their sectors with new data. This is why if you recently deleted files, and need to recover them, you do NOT want to continue to save data to that drive.

When you write a file to an SSD, your computer has to first erase any data in the sectors that it will be writing the data. The SSD can’t just overwrite the sectors in one operation like the traditional hard drive may. The SSD drive must first clear the sectors, then write to those empty sectors.

This means that an SSD will, over time slow down. Writing to the SSD’s sectors will be quick the first time. After you have deleted some files and then try to write to the SSD again, it will take longer.

With TRIM enabled, your computer’s operating system will tell the SSD each time it deletes a file. Then, the drive can erase the sectors containing the file’s contents, so writing to the sectors will be quicker in the future.

What are the benefits of using TRIM?

Basically, if you do not use TRIM, your SSD’s performance will slow over time.

Using TRIM command reduces the amount of data an SSD needs to move during the process described above and reduces the amount of erase cycles, thereby the life of the drive. By not copying any unnecessary, invalid  data, the write performance of your SSD drive increases.

Isn’t TRIM the same as Defrag?

No. TRIM is a process unique to SSD drives. Defrag is rearrangement of fragments of data on a hard drive that make up a file into closer proximity to speed access. SSD drives  do not have moving read/write heads like a traditional hard drive,  and thus they do not need traditional defragmentation. TRIM command on SSD drives helps to optimize the storage capacity of an SSD drive by telling the OS (operating system) to ignore any invalid or non-viable data. Because of this, your SSD drive writes faster, and will last longer.

Want To Maximize Your SSD’s Performance?

Of course you do! We developed Solid State Doctor – Solid State Drive Utility Suite for just this purpose.

Solid State Doctor – Solid State Drive Utility is an essential tool to provide performance enhancement, optimization, disk cloning capability, data security, and firmware management for Solid State Drives (SSD’s). More importantly, the SSD utility suite is a proactive support tool, giving you the ability to make informed decisions regarding your data – whether to back it up, erase it securely or optimize the drive using the TRIM* command. This suite is designed to enable maximum performance and lifespan of your Solid State Drive on Microsoft® Operating Systems. The Solid State Doctor – Solid State Drive Utility gives you access to some of the unique features built into today’s Solid State Drives.

To learn more about Solid State Doctor, visit the Solid State Doctor product page.  A free evaluation copy of Solid State Doctor is available. The evaluation copy of Solid State Doctor will allow you to test-drive the software. The full list of features of Solid State Doctor will not be enabled in the evaluation version but will be enabled in the activated, licensed version.  Please note, Solid State Doctor is presently available for the Windows operating system only.

And that concludes answer to “How Does TRIM Work”.

Data Recovery for SSD Drives

If you should have lost data on your SSD, we have also developed products to help you get that data back.

SanDisk RescuePRO® Deluxe for SSD Drives is a data recovery solution designed for use with external Solid State Drives (SSD’s). SanDisk® RescuePRO® Deluxe for SSD’s is NOT designed to recover from system drives and works with external SSD drives only.

Featuring innovative recovery algorithms, RescuePRO® for SSD displays previews of the recoverable data.
It also features a worldwide first recovery algorithm for MPEG audio and MPEG video recovery (MPEG-1/2/3/4).

Whether your files were deleted, the media was corrupted or formatted, SanDisk RescuePRO® Deluxe for SSD Drives can help. The wizard-driven interface makes it easy to recover your files with just three mouse clicks. As with all of our software, a free evaluation copy is available for your to test-drive the software first.  Please visit the SanDisk RescuePRO® Deluxe for SSD Drives page to read more about this product, and to get your evaluation copy.

FILERECOVERY® file recovery software recovers files whether they have been deleted from the command line, from within an application, the file system, or removed from the recycle bin. FILERECOVERY® file recovery software recovers formatted or lost drives, drives with severe logical file system damage, and can even reconstruct lost RAIDs!    FILERECOVERY® can be used on internal SSD drives.   As with all of our software, a free evaluation copy is available for your to test-drive the software first.  Please visit the FILERECOVERY® page to read more about this product, and to get your evaluation copy.

In the event your PC is not able to recognize the device you are trying to recover from, we have experienced technicians who can perform a physical recovery at one of our data recovery centers. To contact our data recovery centers, just click here

>>>Manual Lab Recovery<<<<

If you are located in European region, please click here: >>>Manual Lab Recovery<<<<

The post How Does TRIM Work? first appeared on LC Technology.

The post How Does TRIM Work? appeared first on LC Technology.

Imagine heading back to your studio after an intense shooting day, and surprisingly explore that your mini-mag has been bombed-out. Fortunately, this nightmare can easily be avoided. Read below those insights given by a data recovery expert about video loss prevention.

Losing your precious data is a by definition, a filmmaker’s nightmare that can happen to the best of us. However, the good news is that it can easily be avoided. We interviewed David Zimmerman, CEO of LC Technology International, which is a data recovery expert, who has worked with filmmakers of every level, from at-home amateurs to Hollywood content creators, to recover data from damaged, deleted, or corrupt devices. These are his tips.

The Achilles hill of the digital age

Avoiding many data-related nightmares in post-production is often a case of preparation. As the world moves to digital, the problems that arise are often related to the captured output of digital content. Differing file formats, various brands of flashcards, and unpredictable shooting conditions all come together to put data at risk. Thankfully, camera operators that take the time to understand how data is written and stored can put best practices in place for video loss prevention.

As the world moves to digital, the problems that arise are often related to the capture output of digital content

Camera operator’s fault

When errors are noticed in post-production, the problem is often with the storage card, and is caused by a case of “user error.” Here are some of the more common issues:

• The camera operator turns off the camera before the data is fully written to the card. The camera is no longer recording, but the data is cached and needs a minute to move to the card without corruption.
• The card is removed abruptly and interrupts the data being written to the card.
• Cards are swapped between cameras. That is especially risky when utilizing the same card for two different camera types. Varying formats are structured differently, and interchanging cards can introduce errors.
• Exposure to humidity fluctuations, liquids, or dirt can ruin the cards.
• Operators should take care to discharge any static charge before carrying their equipment or handling flash cards.

Test your memory card regularly

Flashcards do wear out and should be tested periodically to ensure they’re functioning correctly. Consider using a utility that can test the speed and capacity of a card. If there are any issues, then put that card on the shelf and use a new one. It’s a classic risk-reward where you’re spending a little more on a high-end card, but avoiding a catastrophic video loss and costly production delays. There are numerous cases when bombed-out SanDisk professional cards were not recognized by the computer after intense shooting days.

Flashcards do wear out and should be tested periodically to ensure they’re functioning correctly

David Zimmerman, CEO of LC Technology International

Make several copies on different locations

A filmmaker shares his story: “I am a wedding videographer who had to do a force quit on my computer, and while I did it, I pulled an SD card out before it had time to sufficiently upload all those giant files. The next time I booted up and saw the files were gone – I put the card in, and NOTHING was on it except little boxes with an “!” in them, saying data was not there. I was sunk….”. There are two ways to avoid this: Perform a proper shutdown process and work off a copy

Created copies either on a different machine, the cloud, or an external drive

During post-production, someone will typically copy the content of the card and then load on their computer and edit it with their preferred studio-level product. They’re now working off of a hard drive instead of flash and must ensure they’ve created copies either on a different machine, the cloud, or an external drive. A separate physical location for one of the copies is a smart hedge against flood, theft, or fire. The time required to create backups is minimal, and the costs for storage fall every year, so there’s no excuse for being caught without backups. Moving a full 256 GB card to the cloud can take a few hours depending on your connection speed, but setting that in motion takes a few minutes.

The post-production work should always be done on a copy, leaving the original and backups as the fail-safes. Filmmakers that treat their recording media as long-term storage are setting themselves up for disaster. The cards are fragile and easy to lose and are meant as go-betweens from the camera to a more permanent location. Furthermore, for important studio-level work, it’s essential to use a single card for each project, and then implement strict rules for redundancies.

The next time I booted up and saw the files were gone – I put the card in, and NOTHING was on it except little boxes with an “!” in them, saying data was not there. I was sunk….

Fixing the card – cheaper than reshooting a scene

Fixing the card and format problems is possible with expert help. It’s indeed the last resort. However, it’s undoubtedly less expensive than gathering the team together and reshooting the scenes. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to choose the right expert for the job. Visit  LC Technology International for more info and help.

Summary

To simplify all that info, check out the slide below. It summarises all the important stuff which is pretty straightforward. Save it! It might save your data!

• Do not turn the camera off before the data is fully written to the card
• Perform Proper camera shutdown (NO hard shutdown)
• Do not utilize the same card for 2 different cameras
• Test your card periodically to ensure it functions properly
• Discharge the camera’s static charge before inserting the flashcard
• Avoid exposing the card to humidity, liquids, and dirt
• Make several copies of your data and work off a copy
• For more info, please visit lc-tech.com
• To find more about video loss prevention or if you already lost your videos please visit here VIDEORECOVERY

Article source HERE

The post Video Loss Prevention and Post Production Nightmares first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Video Loss Prevention and Post Production Nightmares appeared first on LC Technology.

While you may be able to repair software errors caused by bad sectors and in some cases, you may be able to repair the bad sectors themselves, if your drive has begun to fail mechanically nothing will stop the process. Know the warning signs of hard drive failure to help prevent disaster.
So, what are the warning signs of hard drive failure?

The key is to detect the imminent failure of your drives before they give out on you and data is lost.
Let’s look at some common warning signs of impending hard drive failure:

• Frequent but irregular crashes, especially while booting up Windows®
• Frequent and cryptic error messages while performing typical activities like moving files
• Folder and file names that have been scrambled and changed
• Disappearing files and folders
• Really long wait times to access folders and files
• The hard disk is silent for a long period after you request data by opening a file or folder
• Garbled output from open files or printing
• The hard drive grinds away constantly because of noisy bearings

Sound can be an excellent indicator of disk trouble!
* If you previously didn’t hear a peep from your hard drive, but now you do… Check it.
* If it seems much louder than usual or makes occasional clicks or grinding sounds, check it ASAP and be prepared to back up your data and replace the drive.

* If your drive is making regular clicking or grinding sounds, chances are you have a mechanical failure within the drive.
* Turn off your computer as soon as possible as continued use may damage the platters (data storage area) and make your data unrecoverable.
The longer the drive is powered on, the more damage you may be doing to your data.
* You should then make a note of what happened and contact LC Technology immediately.
LC Technology offers hard drive data recovery services. If the data is recoverable, we can get it back.

Click this button to find out more.

S.M.A.R.T: What it is and what it does

Data recovery on a failed hard drive can be difficult and expensive. The good news is that modern hard drives have S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) built in. This capability is standard on all modern hard drives and provides each device with a degree of internal status monitoring.

The S.M.A.R.T monitoring system built into your computer’s BIOS is rudimentary, only capable of telling you whether or not the drive is ‘OK’ at boot time based on the conclusion of its internal S.M.A.R.T diagnostics. This can make the difference between getting the data off the drive or losing the data when the drive crashes.

The post Warning Signs of Hard Drive Failure first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Warning Signs of Hard Drive Failure appeared first on LC Technology.