Recover Deleted Files From Your Hard Drive

Accidentally deleted all your data? Is your hard drive failing? Hit the delete button? Help is here, read through the steps to get your data back and future prevention.

Data recovery is an advanced repair process. There is the usual concern of whether the device is repairable, but the bigger issue lies within, whether your important data, work docs, and family pictures can be recovered. In addition any data recovery procedures incorrectly carried out could further damage the hard drive and completely wipe out the data. It is important that the provider of your data recovery services is not only reputable, well equipped, but also trained and experienced within the various types of data recovery scenarios. Would you risk losing your most important data in the hands of an amateur?

There are two main types of hard drive failures - mechanical, non-mechanical. Mechanical failures are generally issues with the actual hard drive heads, platters and the hard drive's circuit board. With both issues there are two steps in the data recovery process. One is to service the drive to obtain a read of the drive's data, and then a data transfer to a new hard drive. Non-Mechanical issues usually involve corrupted data, bad sectors on the drive, and other problems preventing the hard drive reading the data.

The general data recovery process can vary upon different hard drive scenarios. First and foremost ensure the drive is in a readable state, followed by running repair and data recovery tools to obtain the data from the hard drive, data recovery software can be found on the internet. Generally if a hard drive has corrupted data, for the future safety of your information, it is advised to not use the drive again even if the repair tools enable a full read of the drive.

Avoid spending hundreds on data recovery. For future prevention ensure your data is backed up weekly on another computer, USB drive or external hard drive. Alternatively there are many online backup tools to explore. Cloud computing is an efficient way to back up data, as data can be uploaded and accessed anywhere in the world. The cheapest and easiest data backup solution is to send yourself documents via email, not only does this backup your data, but also provides a dated archive to go back through previous saved versions.

However if your hard drive is unreadable when connected to the computer, it is highly advised to contact your local data recovery shop. Ensure you contact the right data recovery business suitable and obtain an estimated quote, as some data recovery companies specialize in company repairs and emergency recovery, charging thousands.

Estimated Data Recovery Prices

$100-$250 - low level data recovery, recovery of deleted files, hard drive is readable, hard drive may only have small issues and may not need replacing.

$250-$700 - medium level recovery, could be mechanical damage on the drive, it is advised that the hard drive should not be used again.

$700-$2000 - advanced recovery, mechanical damage to drive as well as further issues with data corruption, hard drive cannot be used again.

For more information on data recovery services or for hard drive recovery repairs go to Drive Data Recovery.

Which Tablet Should I Choose? In Comparison To The iPad 2

Apple’s iPad 2 made a big debut when it was released, since then it has met a lot of competition in the tablet industry. With new tablets released from Motorola, Samsung, Telstra, though, there is finally variety in tablet selection.

It’s worth comparing what a tablet can and can't do before you splurge all your hard earned cash. They are a lighter and compact alternative to a notebook, with generally less power than the same notebook available for the same price. At the same time, the touch interface can make work fun and quick with its light weight accessible design, great for presentations and lugging around the house. See the list of 2011 best Tablets available on the market below. 

Apple iPad 2 WINNER
Price: $499-$699 (varies on memory and 3G capability)
Pros
Apple’s newly released tablet leads the market with the most affordable high end tablet available. If you’re an iPhone owner, applications can be transferred to the iPad in one touch. Not only is the tablet lighter, the 9.7 inch screen is even thinner than an iPhone 4. The tablet sports a pair of cameras for video recording and Face Time capability. Multi-tasking is a breeze with its a5 processor and variety of memory options including: 16GB, 32GB and 64 GB.
Cons
The cameras are VGA poor quality and the screen resolution could be improved. Unlike the Telstra or Samsung tablets, there’s no phone functionality.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Price: $599 outright (estimate)
Pros
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab offers a larger 10.1 inch screen with 1280x800 which beat Apple’s 9.7 inch screen with 1024x768 screen resolution. The tablet runs on Android 3.0 or Honeycomb juice which brings the benefits of multi-tasking and customizable widgets to the tablet.  The tablet offers an 8MP camera and 2MP front facing camera, in comparison to the iPad’s VGA camera. The Galaxy Tablet 10.1 certainly comes out as a worthy competitor to iPad 2 compared to most Android tablets out there.
Cons
The Galaxy tablet comes in the same size as the iPad 2, although the tablet is thicker than the iPad 2 measuring 0.43 inches. The Galaxy is only available in two options 16GB and 32GB.

Motorola Xoom
Price: $799 outright  Pros                                                                                                                                                            The Xoom performs outstandingly with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the NVidia Tegra 2 dual core processor skims the iPad 2 giving it a graphical advantage over most tablets. The Xoom holds built-in apps such as Google Maps, Gmail and Google Calendar still trump anything built into the iPad 2. The Motorola Xoom tablet has customizable widgets and also has a sleek & sexy design.

Cons                                                                                                                                                                          Besides the price tag being very high, the Xoom battery life is shorter than the iPad 2 with a fewer apps available. In terms of specs; Motorola Xoom is one of the top Android tablets to date. But that comes with an expensive price. Is it worth it? You decide.

 The iPad 2 will be setting the standard for tablet computing in 2011 but we’re going to see a lot of good alternatives throughout the year. Waiting really won’t hurt you.

Thinking of purchasing an iPad Tablet? Fix my iPad provides setup, iPad repairs, iPad support and iPhone repairs.

Top Rated Laptops for 2011

With technological advancements and prices plummeting yearly, laptops are becoming increasingly popular. We want you to find the latest and best laptop available in 2011. This list of top rated laptops for 2011 will help you find the right laptop available.

Find the top rated laptops of 2011 below:





10th Place

HP ProBook 5310m
320 GB 2GB Intel Core 2 Duo

pros:
attractive design
good processor
good multimedia performance

cons:
poor battery life
poor sound quality
no DVD drive


9th Place

Sony VAIO EC
8 GB 1 TB Intel Core i5 2.4 GHz

pros:
good light weight gaming laptop
great battery life
good multimedia laptop
bright display
blu - ray

cons:
poor quality speakers
poor graphics quality

8th Place

Toshiba Satellite L450
320 GB 3GB Intel Core 2 Duo

pros:
good performance for price
wide variety of options
good graphics
fast processor
quite

cons:
cheap glossy plastic finish
poor speaker volume
low battery life



7th Place

Lenovo ThinkPad X201
320 GB 8 GB Intel Core i7-640 2.13 GHz

pros:
powerful processor in a 12inch laptop
excellent battery life
fast boot-up
tablet pc

cons:
bulky
expensive


6th Place

Dell Inspiron 15R
320 GB 4GB Intel Core 2 Duo

pros:
wi-fi
good gaming performance
bluetooth
good battery life

cons:
poor screen resolution
slow boot-up
needs a better graphics card


5th Place

HP Compaq 6730b
320 GB 2GB Intel Core 2 Duo

pros:
large display
long battery life
good performance
great for mobile professional travellers

cons:
heavy
needs upgrades
processor needs upgrading












4th Place

Lenovo G560
500 GB 2 GB Intel Pentium 2. GHz

pros:
good keyboard
tough exterior – hides smudges
good performance for price

cons:
limited range of ports
sensitive cursor moves whilst typing


3rd Place

Alienware M11x

500 GB 4 GB Intel Core2 Duo 1.3 GHz

pros:
good graphics
good battery life
fast
lightweight

cons:
no disk drive

2nd Place

Dell Inspiron 14
320 GB 4GB Intel Core 2 Duo

pros:
fast
light weight
comfortable keyboard

cons:
limited battery life
keyboard has no lights
average graphics


1st Place

Apple Macbook Pro
250 GB 3 GB Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz

pros:
lightweight sleek design
great battery life
good expansion options
quite, minimal noise

cons:
expensive
heats up
non-removable battery

Now its up to you to decide which screen size, graphics card, weight, hard drive and price range you are looking for? Are you looking for a laptop for traveling or just presentation? Have you considered purchasing a tablet?


Tired of looking around for the right laptop? Bat Tech laptop repairs and i.t support make purchasing laptops stress free, providing an extensive range of laptops for sale, laptop setup and support services.

Top 10 Laptops for 2010

The rise of smart phones and tablet computers shook the world during 2010, displacing notebook and laptop use considerably. Laptop manufacturers counter-attacked with a variety of improvements to retain consumer loyalty. Changes like improved audio, multi-touch touchpad, and other enhancements were included to hold over consumers until major game-changing upgrades like new CPU architectures become available in 2011.

For now, consumers will just have to settle for the top laptops from 2010 that are still available on shelves today:

10th Place

Lenovo IdeaPad Z560
705 GB 4 GB Intel Core i5 2.53 GHz

pros:
huge hard drive
excellent battery life
good expansion options

cons:
horrible mouse buttons
only 100 Mb Ethernet
only 802.11n Wi-Fi

9th Place

Dell Latitude 2110
160 GB 1GB Intel Atom 1.83 GHz

pros:
very rugged
hi-res screen available
multi-touch touchpad
many upgrades available

cons:
limited battery life

8th Place

Fujitsu LifeBook SH760
500 GB 4 GB Intel Core i7

pros:
good performance
good keyboard
has USB 3.0 port

cons:
annoying hard drive sensor
gimmicky scroll wheel
limited battery life

7th Place

Dell Inspiron M101z
320 GB 4 GB AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.29 GHz

pros:
good performance for the price
good keyboard
various case styles available
decent battery life

320 GB 4 GB AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.29 GHz

6th Place

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14
250 GB 2GB 2.26 GHz

pros:
sturdy physical design
dual-input system
has Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
great keyboard
many expansion options
not too much bloatware

cons:
annoying red light
annoying hot air exhaust vent

5th Place

640 GB 6GB Intel Core i7 1.6 GHz

Acer Aspire 8943G

pros:
great performance
large screen
media scroll button on trackpad
integrated Blu-ray
integrated TV tuner
potential for heavy home entertainment use

cons:
extremely heavy

4th Place

Asus K52F
500 GB 2 GB Intel Core i3 2.26 GHz

pros:
excellent build quality
excellent design
excellent screen quality
remarkable sound
multi-touch touchpad

cons:
too much bloatware
no bluetooth

3rd Place

Samsung N210
250 GB 1GB Intel Atom 1.66 GHz

pros:
good battery life
good keyboard

cons:
ho-hum performance

2nd Place

Toshiba Portege R700
320 GB 4 GB Intel Core i5 2.4 GHz

pros:
light and thin without compromising performance
high connectivity
good keyboard
good battery life for the performance

cons:
so-so quality in the software department


1st Place

Alienware M11x (Core i7)
500 GB 8GB Intel Core i7 2.26 GHz

pros:
impressive power for the price affordable
small size
great battery life
excellent sound
backlit keyboard

cons:
bad 100 Mb Ethernet port
SIM slot does nothing

Regardless of which laptop suits your fancy, be sure to check out cheap laptops Sydney before making a purchase. Bat Tech offers a wide variety of laptops for sale includes free delivery & setup, with competitive prices that are hard to match.

How to Speed up your Dell Laptop

Quick tips for speeding up your Dell laptop

Dell laptops are dependable and resilient. As with all machines, however, they can start to slow down if not properly maintained and cared for. Before sending your unit in for Dell laptop repairs, first trying following the tips below to get your Dell computer back up to speed.

Empty the recycle bin

The easiest thing you can do to speed up your computer is emptying the Recycle Bin. Many files are not completely deleted but remain in the Recycle Bin until it is emptied. Emptying the Recycle Bin frees up space on your hard disk and may speed up your computer if your hard disk is nearly full.

To speed up your computer by emptying the recycle bin go to Desktop > Recycle Bin > File > Empty Recycle Bin > Yes.

Disk Cleanup

Your Dell computer’s hard disk can quickly become cluttered with continued use. Temporary files, file caches, install files, and other unwanted files reduce your hard disk’s available space u unnecessarily. You can free up this space by running Disk Cleanup, a tool built-into Windows that helps you find and remove unneeded files.

You can start Disk Cleanup by navigating to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Then follow the prompts as provided by the application’s wizard.

(Note: This program provides the option of emptying the Recycle Bin, too, thereby saving you the time required to perform the previous step.)

Scan windows for errors

Over time, system files can become corrupted. This is especially the case when programs run afoul or your computer gets shut off improperly. As a hard disk ages, portions of the disk, known as “sectors,” can fail. This corrupts any data that may have been residing there before the failure. You can correct these errors and regain lost performance by keeping your hard disk and its resident files error-free.

To scan your hard disk for errors, use the Windows application called Scandisk. Go to Start > My Computer > Right-click the hard disk drive that you want to check, and then click Properties > Tools > “Error Checking” Check Now > select “Automatically fix file system errors”. > select attempt recovery of bad sectors> Start.

Defragment your hard drive

Running Scandisk is just the start. Your hard disk still may not perform optimally even after recovering all bad sectors. With normal use, files get deleted and written repeatedly. These actions cause files to become scattered everywhere, making it more difficult to retrieve files quickly. This is analogous to having paperwork scattered all over your desk; it takes more time to find what you want if they are strewn all over the place. It’s much easier to retrieve paper and file folder if they are neatly stored in alphabetically in a filing cabinet. A Windows tool called “Disk Defragmenter” does just that, organizing and neatly filing away files and folders on your hard disk for easier retrieval. Defragmenting the hard drive will increase your Dell laptop’s performance, allowing for faster file access.

To start the process, go to Start > My Computer > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter > select Drive > Defragment.

If you have tried all of the above steps and continue to have problems, your computer may require repairs. The next logical choice would be to visit Bat Tech Computer Repairs, where qualified technicians can diagnose and resolve any computer issues that may be troubling you. A visit to Bat Tech is well worth the trip, as it can easily save you the costs involved with buying a new computer.

Bat Tech specialises in dell repairs, diagnosing the cause of your slow laptop. Find more information on laptop repairs at Bat Tech Laptop Repairs.

New Computer VS Computer Repair

New Computer Vs Computer Repair

There are plenty of options when it comes to buying your next computer but one thing's for sure and that is that it's going to cost you, from at least $900 to $2000 for an adequate PC. Is it really worth buying a new computer or spending money on upgrades and repairs?


Is your PC is getting too old? you have several options. You can, for example, upgrade your current system by adding new components or replacing some of its existing ones. Or you can just buy a new machine.

Older computers are generally unresponsive, prone to continuous crashing, and the usual odd occurrences and error messages which can be frustrating. A cost effective upgrade, system clean up or computer repair by a professional can save you a decent amount of money in the long run.

A slow computer can sometimes, be easily repaired yourself. In many cases this is the cause of an overload of unwanted programs being installed (sometimes without your knowledge), such as useless web browser add-ons and programs that automatically run itself each time you switch on the computer, and of course the usual threats of Virus and Spyware.

The other option of improving PC speed and performance can be a computer upgrade. Adding more RAM (memory) will help greatly assist with multi-tasking such as email, web browser, Skype, and MSN or Yahoo chat. Upgrading to a larger hard drive can give a computer additional storage space for you photos and documents.

Be cautious of investing more money into computer upgrades and repairs. As a rule of thumb, you don't want to be spending any more than 25 per cent of the cost of a new computer (between $200 - $400) would be a typical limit. Always get a warranty on computer repairs.

When you're looking for a new computer, or upgrading your existing computer, start by listing everything you'd like that computer to do, eg. Internet browsing, send/receive email, photo storage, gaming and music. Once you know what you'd like to use your computer for, you will find it easier to establish what sort of computer to buy, or what computer upgrades are needed.

Read more on laptop repairs and keep up with the latest computer repairs sydney at Bat Tech.

How to Speed up your Computer

Here are a few quick tips and instructions on how to speed up your computer

How to Speed up Your Computer

 Disk Cleanup

Clear up your system’s disk space by removing temporary, unnecessary and old files on your computer.  By performing the disk cleanup your computer will run faster and have more disk space.

To speed up your computer by running a disk cleanup go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup.

Remove Autostart Programs

Does it take a long time for your computer to load? By removing auto start programs your computer will boot up faster and its performance will improve. The next step in restoring your computer's performance is to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically.

To speed up your computer by removing autostart programs go to Start > Run > Type in the box “Msconfig” > Startup > On the Startup tab, you will see a list of all programs that are set to run when your computer loads > Speed up your overall start time by clearing the check box next to any item you think you don't need on start up > click Apply > restart your computer.  

Scan windows for errors

Over time your system files change or become corrupt. You can help the performance of your computer by making sure that your hard disk has no errors.

 To speed up your computer by scanning windows for errors go to Start > My Computer > Right-click the hard disk drive that you want to check, and then click Properties > Tools > “Error Checking” Check Now > select “Automatically fix file system errors”. > select attempt recovery of bad sectors> Start.

Defragment hard drive

By running a defragment on your hard drive your systems performance will improve and generate faster file access. When a defragment is completed the scattered data within the computer’s hard drive is arranged, reducing the amount of fragmentation in file systems.

To speed up your computer by defragmenting your hard drive go to Start > My Computer > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter > select Drive > Defragment.

Empty recycle bin

By emptying the recycle bin, your computers storage space will increase. Emptying the recycle bin results to removing the unnecessary files that have already been deleted by the user.

To speed up your computer by emptying the recycle bin go to Desktop > Recycle Bin > File > Empty Recycle Bin > Yes.

Uninstall un-used programs

Delete the programs you no longer need to free up space on your hard disk. Unused programs can even slow down your system.

To speed up your computer by uninstalling programs go to Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > select a program > Uninstall > follow prompts.

Virus spyware removal

Spyware, adware and virus’s may be the cause to an unresponsive or slow computer. If this is the case, to speed up your computer, run a thorough virus scan and remove any threats if found. It is recommended to purchase reliable antivirus software to protect your computer.

If you have done all of the above and your computer is still slow and unresponsive. Computer technicians are able to diagnose the cause of unresponsive and slow computers, whether the computer is in need of an RAM and memory upgrade to a virus removal or replacement part. It is recommended to take your pc down to your local computer repairs shop for either a computer upgrade or thorough virus scan. Ensuring your pc is back up to speed, saving costs on buying a new computer.

Bat Tech’s virus repairs specialists will diagnose the cause of your unresponsive or slow computer, find more information on computer repairs Sydney and keep up with the latest computer tips and tricks at Bat Tech computer repairs.