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The steps are going to be very different if you have suffered an attack so bad that your computer has crashed, and won’t start up, or displays the hated ‘blue screen of death’. Then again, if you have suffered a mild attack only and only your mail inbox or a media player has been affected, the steps would be way more simple. Policies would also be absolutely different for a company server that has been attacked and for a home computer that has been affected. Home PC Let us start by considering what we would do for a home pc attack. The moment you see the dreaded pop-up at the corner of your screen with the customary red cross mark that most anti virus sport, you need to click on it, locate the file concerned and take the following steps: In case too many files have not been affected, you can simply choose to heal or delete the file affected depending on the importance of the data contained in it. However, there is a big question that can be posed here to bar your happiness. How do you know that only that file has been affected? It is the job of a virus to spread itself throughout a computer as fast as it can. If a virus has attacked a programme file, then the damage can be particularly severe, as it can spread to other application data and a large number of data files within a click of your mouse. Therefore, the best thing for you to do would be to choose the quarantine option for the file. Having put the file safely into quarantine, run a full system scan. Even though it takes a bit of time, this is very important, that is, if you value your data at all. Is your anti-virus software fully updated? If it is not, there is no use in running the scan. Almost all surveys have revealed that most home users install software but do not update it. If you are part of this crowd, then you are also about to become a part of the statistic of computer users who have lost data for good. The next step is to find out what has been lost or damaged and recover it. For this you may download and use a data recovery software from a reputed company, or buy a pack of such software off- the- shelf. Once again, your course of action will be decided by the severity of the loss. Sometimes, an application file may be so damaged that it needs to be reinstalled. Always do this from the original CD provided by the company. Using fakes would mean endangering your computer and is a loss anyway in the long run. By now, you have learnt the importance of backups from the disaster. Do not delay in starting this process. All data that you value should have backups in some form or the other. Be it a CD, DVD, USB drive, external hard drive or simply printouts, backup should always be in place keeping in mind that an attack always happens without warning and at any time whatsoever. Corporate Computers If you are a business that is unfortunate enough to have suffered a virus attack, the steps would be somewhat different from the above. The first job is to quarantine the computer. Before you spread the virus to other pcs as well, disconnect the affected one physically too. You cannot track how virus spreads, so do not run the risk. Next, run a total system scan for all the computers in the network, irrespective of what they contain. This is important to assess the situation and know the extent of the damage. Depending on the severity of the situation and rarity of the data lost, you would either go for a downloaded software to recover the data, or call the recovery people. But if you are a company that values its data, it is strongly suggested that you do not take a chance and go for a recovery company’s services.
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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk
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