Let’s look at the major causes of the disappearance and corruption of files.
Computer Viruses
Your primary concern with computer viruses is that some of them may corrupt the core files that run a particular application, which may affect how the application behaves (or if it opens at all) and may damage files you create using that application.
Sadly, today’s virus-ware now includes programs that attack other types of file formats besides those that actually execute your programs (*.exe and *.com files). For example, Word macro viruses are special viruses written to exploit the Visual Basic programming that can be added to Word and other applications to perform specific functions. Word macro viruses are abundant in corporate settings where users indiscriminately pass the infection back and forth between each other unchecked. Some of these viruses automatically send copies of themselves to contacts stored in an e-mail program’s address book, which is even worse than those bad fruitcakes that re-circulate at holiday time.
Improper Shutdown
The effects of improper shutdown can be devastating on some types of files that may be open on your desktop, including documents you’re working on at the time. These files may not be written properly to disk, may not reflect changes you made since the last time you saved the file, and could become corrupted. Always be sure you shut down your system properly whenever possible.
Even if you never shut down your system improperly, power outages can turn your PC off prematurely. If you have files open at the time of an outage, they might be corrupted when you reopen them after the system reboots.
Operating System Instability
An unstable operating system creates a ripe environment for file corruption because it can cause you to crash out of an application in which you’re working or it can freeze the system in mid-session, requiring you to reboot your PC without saving your open work. Take extra precautions to protect the files you’re working on by saving your files frequently during a session, by saving extra copies of your files, or by performing more frequent backups. Avoid installing any new applications or upgrading existing applications until the operating system is stable.
Problem Applications and Utilities
Another potential cause of file damage can be linked to unstable programs you run on your system. These can be applications that seem to generate corrupted files, applications that conflict with the operation of other programs, or applications that affect your system and the way it stores files or maintains file integrity.
You may see file damage when
- installing older software
- installing or using utilities written for an earlier version of Windows (more likely if the utility was written to work with systems running FAT16 file systems, such as pre-Windows 98 systems)
| Tip | Always check for Windows version compatibility before you buy and/or install software, just as you do with hardware. There are just enough differences between some versions of Windows and the file systems they use to cause serious data issues in some applications. |
Formatting and Recovery Tools
For all intents and purposes, formatting your disk wipes it clean of data. But this isn’t entirely true. Expensive professional software packages and data recovery specialists can often look beneath a reformatted disk to extract files and information that you can no longer see. Often, however, these services get priced out of the realm of mere mortals, even if you can claim the cost as a legitimate, tax-deductible business expense.
The same is often true with the recovery disks that many manufacturers distribute with a new PC. Many of those disks work by replacing the current contents of your hard drive with a drive image of what your system looked like when it was configured at the factory, in terms of the operating system and installed applications. When you’re desperate and you use the recovery disk, you may not notice the fine print on the screen warning that you’re about to lose everything you’ve installed since you first turned on the system. And, sadly, a few recovery disks I’ve seen did not even warn you at all; those users didn’t know the implications of using the recovery disk and got a nasty surprise.
Along with recovery disks, you can lose all your current files if you don’t save them off your hard drive before you run a “go back to a previous PC time” program. Such programs allow you to revert your system to the way it was before harmful changes may have been made. System Restore does not typically replace the files you create in your programs; it focuses instead on critical system files. However, some utilities that work similar to System Restore may, so check their documentation. Utilities such as GoBack allow you to preserve the files you’ve created or stored since the last time you made a system snapshot.
Likewise, you can have the same problem restoring a drive image. Always back up your good files before you use any of these techniques so that you don’t lose valuable data.
Other Contributing Factors
Several other problems can contribute to lost or damaged files, such as
- Power-related problems
- Dirt and debris in the system
- Programs running in the background at the time a file is being written to disk, such as virus scanners or anti-crash software (the latter is software which says it protects your system from unwanted crashes)
- Having your disk (usually removable) in close proximity to serious magnetic exposure, as you might see when putting floppy drives on a stereo unit
- Using disk utilities while also trying to save open files
