Computers destroyed in data rage

OILING the hard drive, spraying a computer with insect spray and putting a USB flash drive in the wash are some of the creative methods people have used to destroy their data, according to a recent report.

While not all users can boast of being computer savvy, the Top Ten List of Data Disasters from data recovery company Ontrack highlights some outstanding examples of technology incompetence.

Topping the list is a Thai photographer who removed the cover of his hard drive that was suffering from an ant invasion and doused it with insect repellent.

In another instance, a scientist in Britain became so frustrated at the squeaking noise coming from within his computer that he drilled a hole through the casing and poured oil inside.

Needless to say, the noise stopped - along with the computer.

Other accidental failings include USB flash drives falling into food or being hurled in a fit of rage, and acid in a laboratory being spilled onto the hard drive.

OnTrack Data Recovery general manager Adrian Briscoe said that in extreme cases he had heard of people in the US shooting their computers.

"They've just got so mad with their computers they've got their guns out and shot them," Mr Briscoe said.

To prevent such frustrations taking hold there are a couple of things to keep in mind when technology fails.

If it is a software mishap, for example pressing the wrong key or double-clicking the wrong icon, "Make sure they don't continue using their computer," he said.

"Because there is a chance they will start overwriting files that have been deleted."

If it is a hardware issue, however, Mr Briscoe says there is no opportunity to continue.

"It's a question of basically making sure that the computer is off and that the hard-drive is sent to a recovery lab for attention"

When the system crashes there is the fear that all its contents have been destroyed, this is where backing-up becomes important.

A recent survey by OnTrack found that only one in 12 people back up their data.

"I think that people get caught up with the pace of life," Mr Briscoe said.

"There's not such a thing as a perfect back-up, so really people need to start thinking about making back-ups of back-ups."