Will historical data be lost because we won't have working equipment in the future to read our stored data
140741
Hopefully the Y2K "concern" forced us to look more to the future in regards to programming and data storage. I think all developments now are just building and improving on previous designs and processes, so there should be greater adaptability.
159218
Yes, if you have advanced data recovery tools. Search Google.
725025
There are programs that will do this, but no program guarantees that all data will be rescued.  For more serious stuff there are companies that will seriously rescue a hard drive.  We're talking if you backed over the laptop with an SUV.  They charge by the hour so your data better be worth it.\n\nI too have lost a lot of data, but most of the stuff can be re-found on the net, and some of the documents I made were so small in size that I was able to retype them.  As far as rescuing porn, I've lost that too, but there's so much out there.  Besides, when was the last time you looked at all those files anyway, aside from a few favorites?
59295
If you are using one of the popular IM applications, you addresses are stored on the host server.  Next time you install the application and login, they should be there.  If not, you will need your old computer.  If the Hard drive is dead, you'll have to spend big bucks to get the data off of it.
1040343
those are unrepairable, you system might still be able to read most of the disk, but if you can actually see through the disk in spots that data is lost.
650313
yes, usually its no problem, take your hard drive to a comp. store, they can easily transfer all your old info.\nto a new hard drive,,, usually less than a hundred bucks
143066
You can't if data on the file has been written over which is likely the case.
1072296
I don't think so. I have discs of backup data that I have stored for over 5 years, and they still work fine. Most likely, if your disc is 3-5 years old and isn't reading, it may be scratched, have a damaged read sector, or simply not be able to be read by your current drivers ... for example, older discs burned under Adaptec software (later renamed ROXIO) may not read properly if your computer doesn't have the UDFReader software.\n\nTo all intents and purposes, as long as the disc isn't damaged, it should have the same "shelf life" of any commercial disc
1006777
You'd have to build a time machine and go back a few billion years. Sadly organisms like amoeba are too small and soft to leave fossil records, the best we have to go on is evidence of the chemical reactions microbes perform.
905570
Sure. Software like OnTrack can replace your data in a heartbeat. It can recover data even if the drive has been formatted many times. If you don't want to buy OnTrack, find a local computer shop. Most good ones have it.
327274
Data stored on a hard drive could be corrupted or erased accidentally.  A traditional hard drive (as opposed to a ROM drive or key chain drive) has a set of spinning platens inside with heads very, very close to the surface.  Moving a computer that is powered on can create a "head crash" that can result in marring the magnetic surface of the platen(s).  This can result in loss of data, data corruption or even lose of the entire hard drive and some to all of the data.  Data could only be retrieved in this case by changing out the hardware inside the drive and reading what data wasn't scraped off physically.
518224
if its archived it should turn out okay but i would have them make sure its saved in HD or docs somewhere you have personal stuff .
191131
They Can if you want to. But if you delete 'em then they wont propaply show up without using any professional software. There are software which can recover almost all your data which might have been lost in a crash, or deleted by mistake. \nHowever It depend upon the Hardware you use. If you use a high quality hardware, the chances are that you can recover more.
555362
Yes, it depends entirely on what's wrong with it. Electronic storage isn't like hard drives. When you delete something from a hard drive, it doesn't really go anywhere, it's just marked as deleted, and will eventually be overwritten by something else. This is because a hard drive has moving parts, and it would create unnecessary wear and tear on them to go through and actually get rid of every file you delete. Electronic storage, on the other hand, works more like ram. When you delete something, or the device loses power, the data is gone, without a trace, period. If it's not that the data is gone, but imply can be retreived, because of say... a bent connector, you may be able to bend it back into place without loss of data, but other than that...
807325
A sledge hammer, just kidding, though that would probably work, in order to make sure no data can be read from your hard drive you need to wipe it with random data many many times, 7 being the bare minimum, and 35 being the industry standard, or a hundred or more if you're really paranoid. \n\nYou can easily do this with a program called boot and nuke:\nhttp://dban.sourceforge.net/\n\nYou of course will have to reinstall your operating system after doing this, and all of your files will be forever gone so make backups of any you want to keep.
831751
They're not going to care. Heck, they might copy the tools from you. But if it's a hardware problem, they might never even see the tools. You might make a "Valet" type account so you can give them access to the system without giving them access to your data and programs.
715453
yes. all the information about the websites you visited will be with your ISP(Internet Service Provider). if you delete all your cookies, cache and temp internet files along with history it is very difficult for anyone working on ur PC to know the history. but in case of any legal issues, ISP will provide the information about your IP address.