Let’s talk about why it might be not the best practice to replace your memory card while your camera is on.

• Just like when working on a computer, you should eject the memory card or USB device before removing it. This is to make sure the write cycle has completed.

• These types of devices are also very sensitive to electrical spikes which is why you power down the camera before removing the card. Both scenarios can cause file corruption of the memory device.

How to prevent potential data loss?

• Make sure you have enough memory on your card before you go out shooting. (More information here)

• But if it just happens that you have to switch cards at some point. Make sure that the files are completely written to the memory card before you remove it from the camera. In addition, removing the card while the camera is powered up, can result in electrical issues with the card…so make sure you power down the camera prior to swapping memory cards.

And if something happens to your memory devices, lc-tech experts are always here to help and answer all the questions you might have.

The post Common User Mistakes –Not Powering Off the Camera Before Removing Memory Card first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Common User Mistakes –Not Powering Off the Camera Before Removing Memory Card appeared first on LC Technology.

WRONG: Re-using memory cards for photo/video shoots and deleting files while you’re still shooting (yes, that happens to the best of us).

All memory cards write files to the card in a linear fashion and if you delete a file, the camera will try to put the next file you create in the hole that was made in the linear string. Depending on the size of the new file, part of it will go into the hole and the rest will go to the end of the string. If that’s done a few times, the risk of having a corrupted memory card increases. And the ultimate result of it are fragmented images and videos.

RIGHT: So, how to minimize the risk of losing your data?

• Make sure you have more than enough memory cards to complete the entire job. Start off with completely empty, freshly formatted cards and number each one for reference.

• If you are a photographer who shoots in a burst mode, make sure your memory card is fast enough to handle high writing speeds. If your memory card is slow, your camera will be writing data for a very long time. Plus, there is a significant chance of images overwriting each other.

• Do not delete any photos or videos from the card while you’re shooting, and if you do, stop and power down the camera, then replace the card with a new one. Always transfer your files off your memory card before editing and deleting.

• When you have what you need and backed up, format the memory card so you start with essentially a fresh card.

And if something happens to your memory devices, we are always here to help.

The post Common User Mistakes – Re-using Memory Cards and Deleting Files in Your Camera first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Common User Mistakes – Re-using Memory Cards and Deleting Files in Your Camera appeared first on LC Technology.

Human Error is by far the #1 cause of lost and deleted files, accidentally formatted flash media, broken USB sticks, and countless frustrations, heartache, and lost revenue! Regardless of how prepared you are, all it takes is a momentary loss of focus, rushing to finish a project, or confusion and all your hard work, priceless photos and videos, or company presentations and documents can be gone from your memory cards or USB flash drives.

But are they really gone? In most cases, the raw data is still on the memory device. Your camera or computer just doesn’t know it’s still there. If you stopped what you were doing after you made your “mistake” and didn’t overwrite the old data with new data, odds are pretty good that you can get your priceless information back.
All you need to do is download a free trial of our world-class data recovery software and you will know for sure if you can get your valuable files back. One of our support experts can walk you through the process if you’re technically challenged or have questions. Also, if you accidentally damaged your memory card or USB stick, we can recover data from your device in our state-of-the-art recovery lab.

The post Number One Cause of Data Loss first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Number One Cause of Data Loss appeared first on LC Technology.

Companies that fail to make recovery plans for their electronic gear and essential data are inviting serious financial injury when an emergency strikes.

TechNewsWorld discussed disaster preparedness with a panel of IT experts. Check out their recommendations — and make sure that you have not forgotten that one key thing that many companies forget to protect but regret afterward.

IDC Findings

A 2018 IDC report entitled “The State of IT Resilience” warns businesses not to fall into the trap that snarls many companies each year when emergencies happen. These firms view disaster recovery (DR) preparedness as an insurance policy and an added expense that is likely to have little payback.

This approach to disaster recovery is inadequate for today’s digital businesses. If DR tools and initiatives are viewed as a cost center objective and not as a business driver, an organization’s cloud and digital transformation (DX) initiatives will be exposed to a higher rate of failure, the report warns.

Other research estimates that as many as half of all organizations could not survive a disaster event. That research also found that many businesses do not properly protect their data, test their disaster recovery environment, or have automated DR processes in place.

“After an already stressful 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasters are expecting an above-average number of hurricanes this season. Regrettably, many businesses may be unprepared to weather those storms and could experience permanent data loss if they aren’t ready from an IT perspective,” Caroline Seymour, vice president of product marketing at Zerto, told TechNewsWorld.

To avoid becoming another victim, she recommends maintaining critical business operations, preserving valuable data, and ensuring IT resilience by having a formal DR plan in place that can be enacted rapidly.

In addition to having cloud-based disaster recovery technology implemented and tested, IT teams need to practice their DR plans to understand what works well and where there are opportunities for improvement, Seymour cautioned.

The Cost of Not Preparing

IT resilience — essential to disaster recovery — is a measure of an organization’s ability to protect data during planned disruptive events, effectively react to unplanned events, and accelerate data-oriented business initiatives. It includes traditional disaster recovery and backup tools, and also incorporates advanced analytics and security capabilities needed for the success of any digital business in the 21st century.

IDC’s research found that many organizations are seeing new forms of disruptions, such as ransomware, cause considerable downtime.

Here are some key findings from IDC’s disaster recovery research:

• More than half of the respondents are currently undertaking IT or digital transformation projects and view IT resilience. They see IT resilience as foundational. But few respondents believe their IT resilience strategy is optimized.
• Most organizations surveyed have experienced tech-related business disruptions. These situations resulted in material impact in terms of either recovery cost or additional staff hours, direct loss of revenue, permanent loss of data, or damage to company reputation.
• Data protection (DP) and disaster recovery (DR) are central tenets of digital transformation initiatives but may not be prioritized by many organizations.
• Only half of all apps are fully covered by a DR strategy. This indicates a disconnect at the business strategy level regarding the importance of data protection and data recovery to the organization’s initiatives.

Much Can Go Wrong

The research found that many companies struggle with the cost, complexity, and orchestration of their data protection and disaster recovery solutions. Almost half of the respondents (45 percent) reported challenges with restore or backup reliability.

The complexity of the backup and recovery process was also a leading challenge for 43 percent of the companies. These factors have a high probability of delaying or disrupting IT transformation (DX) initiatives.

That complexity process is pushing some 90 percent of the participating companies to pursue a convergence of backup and DR tools as they eliminate redundant tools. This indicates that users increasingly see backup and DR functions not as siloed products by as complementary assets of a single solution.

Researchers believe the best practice for corporate data recovery is to define what IT resilience means for their organization and develop a plan for implementation. That definition should begin with the core elements of data protection, backup, and disaster recovery.

It should also account for emerging security threats and address the requirements of all business applications. That includes on-premises or public cloud-based. It should not include a one-size-fits-all IT resilience solution.

“As of July 2020, the US has experienced 10 weather- and climate-related disaster events, losing more than $1 billion each time. This does not even count the storms that took out parts of the Northeast last week (Hurricane Asaias),” Jennifer Curry, vice president of Global Cloud Services at INAP, told TechNewsWorld.

Recipe for Recovery

Successful disaster preparedness entails prioritization and communication. Curry outlined three ways companies can protect their data and information before disaster strikes:

Step One: Identify Risks
For many organizations, losing data and information is the biggest threat. Start by identifying where their data is stored, if there are copies, and if so, where are the copies stored (onsite or in a separate location).

“Having all information stored in one place is extremely risky because one natural disaster can wipe out everything,” she said.

Step Two: Think About Off-Site Backups
If an organization does store data separate from its primary location, that is half the battle.

“To further protect their assets, companies should select a backup site that is in a different geographical region to reduce the chances that both locations would be knocked out by one disaster,” she reasoned.

Step Three: Consider Disaster Recovery Solutions
Many companies use cloud storage as a backup since it is easily scaled and cost-effective. However, a more robust option is disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS).

“DRaaS is essentially a facility redundancy in company infrastructures. It replicates mission-critical information, applications, and data so companies can maintain business continuity during natural disasters,” Curry explained.

“IT teams will be strapped when disaster strikes, and rather than having them tackle multiple requests from stakeholders across the organization, they are more successful if they have a prioritized list of applications,” she offered.

INAP tells clients to make sure comprehensive business continuity is developed before a devastating event happens. This also serves as an opportunity to identify the risks and gaps that may be commonly missed.

Balancing the Risks

Managing data loss is a case of reducing risks and consequences. The risk cannot and will not ever reach zero, according to David Zimmerman, CEO of LC Technology International.

“Events like fires, floods, tornados, earthquakes, and other disasters can result in business-altering data losses. Floods (especially salt water) severely damage equipment such as servers, SD cards, and laptops. With corrosion from seawater, data recovery might be impossible,” he told TechNewsWorld.

However, the right mix of training, corporate protocols, and cloud backups can greatly reduce the downsides of any data losses, making them slight inconveniences instead of business-ending disasters, he added.

Companies can protect their electronics and data during an emergency by incorporating the risks of data loss into a disaster recovery plan that evaluates the physical and virtual locations of their data. Then review how susceptible both would be to loss from fire, floods, or other events, suggested Zimmerman.

Sidestep Mishaps

Many small business operators with no IT staff tend to think a single backup to an external hard drive or storage uploads to a cloud service is all they need. This is dangerous thinking, according to Zimmerman.

Just because your business does not have a full staff with a fancy data management system does not mean you cannot take smaller, easy steps to protect your data.

“A single backup to a hard drive is the first step a business without the resources of an IT staff can do. However, it must go beyond that.

Without a formal data protection plan, all your hard work and content are at risk every day it is not duplicated. There are easy steps to proactively prevent this from happening,” he said.

Small business operators should follow what larger companies that have IT workers do. Implement a policy of redundancy.

This involves making multiple layers of backups, often more than you think is necessary. Create backups with the cloud combined with external hard drive storage. These should be used in tandem, not as replacements for each other, recommended Zimmerman.

“Managing the risk from any natural disaster should start with an inventory of all corporate-owned data. Back everything up to external hard drives — noting that these are kept off-site — that’s the important part. If a disaster strikes and all the data is held in the office, then the backups are pointless,” he offered.

One Thing Not to Forget

Many organizations still do not see the importance of creating a disaster recovery plan prior to a disaster happening, despite the massive risk of losing data that could impact the company’s future, Zimmerman shared. The most critical point of data recovery is proactivity.

“You don’t want to have to scramble to create a data recovery plan after a disaster strikes. The plan should function as a roadmap that includes all the sources and locations of data and who is responsible for it,” he advised.

Evaluating what to do and where to go after data is lost can be crippling to a business model, company reputation, and ability to actually do business. That can hurt any existing relationships with customers and partners.

“Forgetting to protect something is usually not the problem. What companies regret most is not doing periodic restore testing from backup data and testing disaster recovery plans. If companies are unprepared, it prolongs downtime and in some cases leads to data loss,” Shawn Lubahn, account product manager at Barracuda Networks, told TechNewsWorld. 

If you are interested in learning more about Manual Data Recovery, please visit our page:

The post How to Protect Data From Disasters? first appeared on LC Technology.

The post How to Protect Data From Disasters? appeared first on LC Technology.

As the pandemic moves into a “new normal” stage, it is time to revisit your company’s data protection strategies. COVID-19 has made enough of an impact already this year, so businesses that are not prepared for more unexpected events like data breaches or hurricanes could be wiped out completely. If a burglar takes 20 company laptops or the server room overheats, a prepared company could mitigate the damage through proactive planning.

Here are six expert tips for protecting and potentially recovering data after disaster strikes:

1. Craft a Formal Written Plan

The typical office has a plan for disasters. If an earthquake or fire occurs, the employees should know how to exit the building safely and where to congregate outside. Besides keeping employees safe, the second most valuable asset for many modern companies is data. Creating a formal data management and protection plan is the first step towards data protection. The very process of planning uncovers issues and concerns, so you can find data management gaps and take proactive action.

A written plan provides guidance for all employees regarding the creation, movement, and ultimate storage for data. For disaster planning, detail the different types of possible issues (hurricane, flood, robbery, etc.) and establish actions and a chain of command. Some disasters such as hurricanes offer some lead time before they arrive. The plan should detail which information should be saved and moved offsite. Should the company delete sensitive data as a precaution? Provide step-by-step guidance for every team (not just IT) that’s tailored to each type of disaster to best mimic real-world conditions. Keep in mind the limits of employee’s actions during a disaster such as a fire. If the fire alarm goes off, you cannot expect staff to download their laptop data and carry external hard drives out the door.

2. Collect the Information

Shift employee thinking to view data as a tangible asset: one that warrants consideration and protection. Encourage deeper conversations about all the sources of data the company collects. Not just transactions from the website, but also surveys conducted on a salesperson’s website or photos and videos taken of product demos and stored on a DSLR. Centralizing and formalizing the collection of all this data helps keep it secure and provides downstream benefits in terms of using business intelligence tools or machine learning platforms.

During this process, make sure all parties understand the corporate policy for keeping information. You should understand where all the data in your organization is coming from, and some might not even need to be stored long-term. Cutting out some data can reduce your footprint and exposure, while also streamlining the management process.

3. Build a Network Map

If your company operates an on-site network, then you need detailed network maps to prep for a disaster. Build the map with labels for each component so you can recreate it at a different location. Work with the team to create a clear and simple naming convention, and then share the map in the cloud and over email to create multiple backups.

If your business is in a flood zone, then talk to the building manager about temporary equipment storage, especially if your network equipment is on the ground floor. Designate team members who can move the equipment and put someone in charge who understands the priority for each component and has “move or stay” authority. A network map is also invaluable for insurance purposes.

4. Test Your Plan

A test keeps employees on their toes about their knowledge of the plan and ability to execute tasks under tight deadlines. Perform a detailed question and answer session after the test. Did the team access cloud or physical backups quickly? Did some members not understand their role? Did their actions correspond to the exact type of simulated disaster?

Review the answers and adjust as necessary, especially if the plan itself is flawed and needs correction. The testing might highlight other issues such as the need for more cloud storage, weak password procedures or too much local-device storage. Review the plan’s language to see if you need multiple versions for different workers. The development team will read the plan differently than the graphic designers, so adjust the verbiage and instructions accordingly.

5. Utilize the Cloud’s Capabilities

The modern office’s data protection plan needs the cloud at the forefront. After data is collected, organized, and unnecessary data purged, moving to the cloud is the next logical step. Whether it’s a public, hybrid, or private cloud model, the data is secure and separated from natural disasters. Consider using multiple cloud services to create more than one backup layer. Use automated tools to flow information to the cloud and reduce the risks for loss. Set rules for individual devices and content creation in terms of saving to the cloud instead of local storage. Transition to online software platforms to reduce the need for moving data and limit possible exposures. And your data management plan itself should reside in the cloud, so it’s accessible remotely.

6. Embrace Pro-Activity

COVID-19 is a different type of disaster because it’s ongoing and pervasive. It’s not a single tornado or fire. As we enter a “new normal” for business, look closer at your partners and vendors in terms of their economic viability. If they fold due to the pandemic, how does that affect your shared data? And discuss their own disaster planning efforts to be sure they’re taking the right steps and not exposing your company to unnecessary risks.

With data planning during COVID-19 and any other disaster, acting proactively is the best way forward. Develop a written plan, move information to the cloud, and get employees on board with safeguarding a vital company asset.

If you ever wondered what is the health status of your hard drive, you can find more information here

Or here if you are located in the Europe

The post Data Disaster Planning first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Data Disaster Planning appeared first on LC Technology.

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.

Two of our best data recovery software packages are RescuePRO, and FILERECOVERY.
As with all of our programs, they are available as a free trial/evaluation.
Just run the evaluation version to see if the program can find the missing files.
These programs also work very well on other forms of digital media, such as flash drives, SD cards, etc.

You will need to know how to connect your android device to your PC with USB Mass Storage Mode.
Should you not know how to connect your Android device to your PC with USB Mass Storage Mode, the steps below will outline how to do it with the various versions of Android®.

For Android® versions 2.3x (Gingerbread), while an older version of Android® , there are still a number of devices running this version of Android, such as some tablets and some earlier Android® phones:

• Turn on USB Debugging by clicking on Menu>Settings>Applications>Development>USB Debugging
• Plug your USB cable into your PC and then connect it to your Android® device. When successfully connected, a USB icon will appear in your device’s status bar.
• From your device’s main screen, use your finger and pull down the status bar from the top….this has been called the window shade.
• Then, touch USB Connected
• Then, touch Connect USB Storage, then tap OK.
• When the  Android® icon turns from green to orange, your Android® device is now in USB Mass Storage Mode and should show on your PC as a USB disk drive in the Devices with Removable Storage area, and it will be assigned a drive letter.

For Android® versions 4.0 – 4.1 (Jelly Bean), which also covers some Kindle Fire’s:

• Go to Settings > More…
• In More, tap on USB Utilities.
• Then, touch Connect Storage to PC

• Go to Settings > More…
• In More, tap on USB Utilities.
• Then, touch Connect Storage to PC
• Now, plug your USB cable into your PC, and then into your Android® device.  A screen will appear with the green Android® icon with USB Connected on the screen. Press OK. When successful, the Android® icon will turn orange. Your device should show on your PC as a USB disk drive in the Devices with Removable Storage area, and it will be assigned a drive letter.

For Android® version 4.2 (which is still Jelly Bean, albeit an upgrade from 4.1) there is no debugging option. There is, however, a way to turn on this option….it’s just that the way is hidden.

• Go to Settings > About Phone (tablet)…
• Go to Build Number at the end of the scroll list
• Tap on Build Number 7 quick times. After your third tap, you should see a message telling you that you only have 4 more presses to become a developer. Continue tapping until after the 7th tap.
• Now, Developer Options will include USB Debugging in the list of options. Click the box next to it so that it is selected.
• Now, plug your USB cable into your PC, and then into your Android® device.  Your device should show on your PC as a USB disk drive in the Devices with Removable Storage area, and it will be assigned a drive letter.

For Android® versions 4.3 and higher, you will only need to plug your USB cable into your PC, then connect it to your Android device. Wait just a few seconds, and it will connect. The USB icon will show in the status bar at the top. Then, pull down the “window shade” from the status bar, and select to connect as a drive.

After any of the above scenarios, and your Android® device shows as removable storage on your PC, start your recovery software, and select the drive letter assigned to your Android device as the media device you wish to recover. Normally, you will select the removable media in your device such as the microSD card. You may, however, also see your phone/tablet listed. Select the device you wish to recover and start the recovery.

Please note — The steps outlined above apply in general to the Android® versions described. Some manufacturers have applied their own “skinning” to the Android running on their phones/tablets, so the steps described above may vary slightly.  Should you not be able to set your device to Storage Mode using the above steps, please contact your devices’s manufacturer for support.

Also, should successfully set your device to Storage Mode, but still be unable to recover your data with our software, we may be able to perform a physical recovery for you. This would involve send your device to us for a recovery by our recovery technicians. Should this be the case, please contact our support staff for assistance.

If you have any questions about our software, please don’t hesitate to ask us

The post How to Connect Your Android Device to Your PC with USB Mass Storage Mode first appeared on LC Technology.

The post How to Connect Your Android Device to Your PC with USB Mass Storage Mode 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.

Our CEO, David Zimmerman, was interviewed by SLR Lounge about drones, how drone footage is different compare to regular video footage, how to protect the footage recorded by them, preventing crashes, and preserving your data. 

Drone crashes happen more often than you’d think, but usually, a crash won’t cause major damage to the frame. The more delicate piece of the body is the camera attached to it, which can suffer heavy damage in a crash and result in lost video footage – causing major panic for professional photographers and videographers. 

Whether due to a battery dying, a lost connection, or user error resulting in a crash, David Zimmerman, CEO of the international data recovery company LC Technology, has seen hundreds of professional and amateur videographers bring in damaged footage from drone crashes in need of data recovery. 

While traditional cameras are still the best choice for production-level shoots, the cameras in high-end drones are reaching very impressive quality marks and amazing drone footage. There’s a widening spread in prices and capabilities as the drone market matures, with decent models available for $100 and professional multi-camera drones that cost $6,000 or more. These tools provide professional videographers and photographers with a way to capture amazing angles and perspectives. 

Higher quality drones are built to withstand crashes, and most can survive even a significant impact with minimal frame damage. However, they’re still flying in the sky and that comes with risks. The operator might fly it into power lines or steer it into oncoming traffic. While the frame might survive, the camera attached to the drone is often a different story. The cameras are comprised of complex electronic components (not just a steel tube), and when they crash, the operator might lose photo or video footage. Advancements in drone design are preventing damages through improved casings, and flexible frames that absorb and spread out the force of impacts.

Professional photographers and videographers pay a premium for their equipment. With this premium comes an expectation that the device’s data will record and store properly. When a camera is subjected to a 20 mile-per-hour landing into a pine tree, then the expectations need to shift.

Avoiding crashes isn’t too difficult if you have training and follow guidelines:

• Make sure the compass is properly tuned.
• Check the rotors after each flight to spot any bends or small breaks.
• Be careful telling the drone to “return to home” immediately. Most drones do this in a “straight line” fashion, which might mean a collision with obstacles.
• Watch for other drones in the area (either yours or someone else’s) and give them a wide amount of operational space.
• Practice makes perfect. Before steering the drone through skyscrapers or into a canyon, get some flying time in an open field. Practice landing and maneuvering in an area with zero obstacles except for the ground.

Even with your best laid plans to avoid a crash, problems still occur. The very best drone pilots will experience crashes, but hopefully they don’t lose their film or photo data. Here are tips for professional photographers and videographers to protect and recover drone footage:

• Some data loss incidents occur on the ground. Check the drone’s battery level and avoid running it too low as this can cause errors on the camera’s drive. Operators should also use the same SD card for each drone, instead of swapping them back and forth. Each drone’s camera will format an SD card in a particular way, and moving between devices might cause glitches and data loss.
• Water landings are a big no-no for drones. Unless you have a specialized waterproof drone that’s able to land in the ocean, avoid water at all costs. Saltwater is especially damaging to storage cards and drives and might make data recovery impossible.
• Handle SD cards with care when they’re out of the drone’s camera. These cards are light and can hold an amazing amount of content, but they’re fragile. Avoid exposing the cards to extremes in temperature and humidity and of course, keep them away from sand or dirt. When you’re shooting out in the field, be sure to utilize a case for your SD cards.
• If you have a bad drone crash and the camera is busted and the SD card is crooked, then you need to call an expert. Qualified data recovery services have tools for extracting data from damaged devices. You can also utilize rescue programs from reputable companies such as SanDisk, but only if the SD card isn’t physically damaged and is accessible.
• Move the data from the drone to the cloud. Don’t let your data sit on an SD card or the drone’s own internal storage. Remove it as quickly as possible and then create a backup on the cloud. Drones are flying miracles – they aren’t intended as data storage devices.

Drones enable you to capture unbelievable shots that simply weren’t possible without a Hollywood-level budget just a few years ago. They’re a great tool for any pro videographer if used properly. Take the time to become an experienced flyer and understand the best practices for data management, and you’ll leverage the drone’s full potential.

If you ever need any help recovering lost drone footage, please feel free to contact us HERE

The post Protecting Drone Footage – Crash Prevention & Data Management first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Protecting Drone Footage – Crash Prevention & Data Management appeared first on LC Technology.

Data loss comes with corresponding damages: time, money, and potential branding problems. Despite the risks, many business leaders aren’t aware of the types of common losses, are technically unprepared, and are unsure of the right remedies.

Here are five ways business lose data, along with proactive tips for prevention:

Human Error

Human error accounts for a substantial number of data breaches. People make mistakes, and there are many entry points for a loss. An employee with access to sensitive data might use a weak password, or they might have a thumb drive containing patented trade secrets that they lose in an Uber.

Employees may leave a company and take confidential data with them. This could be a benign case where the employee wants to stay in touch with internal contacts or keep work samples. It could also be unknowingly obtaining trade secrets, partner information, sales figures, or other data. Companies must prevent such instances through employee monitoring systems and the segregation of sensitive data from most employees. They could lose critical data forever, or worse, place it in the wrong hands.

Corruption

Data corruption is a lesser-known but devastating way to lose data. To prevent such occurrences, it’s recommended to replace in-house storage with newer servers and add multiple cloud-based backups. Cloud storage is inexpensive, and running multiple clouds with different providers practically eliminates many data loss risks.

On a smaller scale, companies might lose valuable image-based content due to corrupted SD cards. If an employee uses a high-end camera to document a tradeshow or a product, then the images are valuable data. Employees should keep SD cards clean and dry and quickly move photos off the card onto the cloud in order to prevent accidental loss.

Hardware Malfunction

Hardware failures are especially prevalent at smaller businesses that do not implement automated backups. Employees are more likely to utilize their own machines or external hard drives as storage containers, which exposes them to potential loss because of a lack of a streamlined and company-approved backup plan.

Portable flash drives are still used by remote workers, sales staff and others that are frequently on the road. They are convenient and fairly durable, but they’re easily lost. Cell phones are another vector for data loss, as employees use their phones to connect to company files, access proprietary systems and engage in other tasks that historically required a laptop or desktop computer. The prescription for preventing hardware issues is to purchase updated and sound equipment and to implement strict rules on moving data from the corporate servers to portable devices. Additionally, any data held on phones or personal computers should be auto synced to the cloud as often as possible

Unforeseen Events

Damage from natural disasters can not only destroy physical office equipment – it’s also damaging to on-site data. A flood will destroy laptops, SD cards and other devices along with on-premises servers holding valuable company data. Take steps to manage these risks by implementing offsite backups. Duplicating content to external hard drives is a way to back up data, but it still means all the data is locally held. Again, creating additional backups on the cloud is the best way to remove the risks from natural disasters.

Incorporate the risks of data loss into your disaster recovery plan. Look at the physical and virtual locations of your data and then review how susceptible they are to loss from fire, floods or other events. Do this proactively, instead of two days before a hurricane hits, otherwise there’s a risk in missing important data or taking shortcuts.

Ransomware and Theft

According to the 2019 Official Annual Cybercrime Report (ACR), businesses fall for ransomware attacks every 14 seconds. That statistic points to more than just the frequency of attacks, but also their obvious effectiveness. Ransomware is especially damaging because the thieves will usually encrypt the data and hold the key as the actual ransom. And these criminals often leak data when ransoms aren’t paid, or they’ll find ways to leave it encrypted and essentially worthless. Firms should carefully review their intrusion detection systems (and increase their backup frequency) so they can thwart ransomware schemes.  

The many ways businesses lose data are not always preventable. You cannot control every employee’s actions. Fires and earthquakes are going to occur. What is preventable is the permanent loss of the actual data. Through proactive planning, companies can train employees on best practices, avoid hardware and software issues and implement cloud backups and on-premises storage strategies.

Conducting stress tests and “dry runs” are essential parts of data loss prevention. The dry run should cover the “what if” of data loss. What would your company do if a significant portion of data was lost? Run through this exercise to find gaps in your data storage processes. Consider all types of losses, whether it’s failure by a single cloud provider, a fire affecting your on-premises storage or theft of multiple company laptops. Going through this exercise is worth the company time because it’s preventative maintenance. You’re spotting and fixing problems with minimal effort and expense, which compares very well to the expensive risk of losing your business’ critical data.

If you want to know more about ways how businesses lose data, read our other articles here.

The post Five Ways Businesses Lose Data and How they Should Prepare first appeared on LC Technology.

The post Five Ways Businesses Lose Data and How they Should Prepare appeared first on LC Technology.