How to Protect Data in Your Hard Drive
Data storage devices have become a necessity if you take your data everywhere. Hard drives are the most popular components if you want to carry large chunks of data. But hard disks can be broken or can be stolen, and your data can be lost. So how can you protect your data on a hard disk? This article explains several ways to protect data on your hard disk.
Best ways to protect data in your hard drive
1. Always ensure your hard drive is in a secure place when storing it at home. Try not to put your hard drive at a site easily accessible to your pets, children, or anywhere someone can accidentally pull off the power cord or connecting cable, or knock the drive to the ground. It is advised to store your hard disk on a flat surface, as close to your Mac or PC as possible.
2. If you travel a lot with your computer equipment, including your hard disk, or if you use your hard disk for storage while you travel, you need to have a strong, robust, and well-padded case. There are many cases where it may get knocked on the floor, or sometimes the dust or water particles can get inside the head of the hard disk, which can damage the data or the hard disk permanently. A well-padded case helps to absorb the knockdown shocks and water molecules.
3. Always use a power outlet with a surge protector when you plug in your hard disk. It’s better to give your it power via laptop, which is a more safe and convenient solution.
4. If you are using your hard disk as a back-up storage method for your PC, try to store it in a separate location from your computer. If your office or home falls victim to floods or fire and your external back-up hard drive is sitting right next to your system, chances are both of the storage mediums will be damaged. You can consider cloud storage as a secondary back-up means. Additionally, you can access your data from any part of the world without exposing it to real-world emergencies.
How to Protect Your Data from Thieves
1. Lock it with Hard Disk Drive Password Protection
HDD password protection enables users to put a password on their hard disk, so no thief or any person can access your data. Any user who will have access to your hard drive will also need the password to access it. Otherwise, the hard drive will act as a piece of hardware only. You don’t need any specialized software to put password protection on your hard disk. Some companies have a default password protection software installed and it runs simultaneously when the hard disk is connected to the computer.
2. Hard Drive encryption
Hard drive encryption is another excellent method to protect your data. You can use software like BitLocker that encrypts your hard disk and no one can access any single chunk of your data. BitLocker is a top-rated software and runs on the AES encryption method. If any person gets their hands on your data, then they will first need to decrypt the hard disk to access it, which is near to an impossible task.
