The 10 most common reasons for data loss - and what you can do about it!

10th place: Water damage

If you work on a PC, you should be particularly careful with drinks, and this applies even more to notebook users. All it takes is for the coffee cup to tip over and the drink to spill over the keyboard - the underlying parts will be damaged and nothing will work. Investing in a waterproof notebook case is therefore highly recommended.

9th place: Cold damage

Extreme cold or extreme temperature fluctuations can cause data loss. You should only use your computer when it is approximately at room temperature. Of course, this also applies to a laptop that you have left in the car overnight in freezing temperatures, for example.

8th place: Dust

The combination of dust and computer is dangerous. Dust particles can damage the components and also cover the fan more and more over time, causing the temperature to rise. As a result, the sensitive inner workings can be affected to the point of total failure.

7th place: Hard disk defect - head crash

A head crash is mechanical damage to the hard disk. This occurs when the read and write head touches down directly on the medium, for example in the event of shocks or a fall. The drive is then a case for the data recovery professional, self-attempts usually only lead to even greater damage. Therefore, always make sure that your computer has a secure and fixed location.

6th place: Heat death

Not only cold, but also excessive heat can lead to data loss. This is due to the excessive expansion of the read and write head of the hard disk. Avoid temperature fluctuations wherever possible and only work at normal operating temperature. You can monitor the heat status using various tools.

5th place: Magnetism

Data is stored using magnetism, so it is no wonder that magnets from outside can cause problems. These are built into loudspeakers, for example, so pay attention to this point when choosing a location.

4th place: Lightning strike

A lightning strike triggers electrical heat and can completely destroy your laptop or computer. Therefore, leave your devices switched off during thunderstorms. Alternatively, you can work on your laptop on battery power.

3rd place: Cleaning too well

As mentioned above, dust is bad for the computer. However, this also applies to intensive cleaning. You should therefore avoid using strong cleaning agents - especially on the inside - and use the special cleaning agents available from specialist retailers.

2nd place: Removing external drives

Do you always close the external medium before you unplug it? In most cases, the writing process is complete - but not always. Therefore, you should always make sure to disconnect the external drive and the computer using the appropriate operating system command.

1st place: The empty battery

Simple - but still on the winner's podium: With notebooks, a flat battery is actually the most common cause of data loss. Of course, the user receives a warning signal in good time. However, this is often ignored, as only two more sentences need to be written or a few numbers inserted anyway. You would therefore be well advised to react to the first warning message and ensure that power is supplied. Regular caching should be a matter of course anyway.

When it comes to data loss, prevention is better than cure. If you take care of a functioning and automatic data backup in advance, you can access the last backup in the event of data loss and restore your data without being exposed to unnecessary stress, negative feelings or even financial loss.

Langmeier Backupequips companies and private individuals with the right data backup strategy and the appropriate software so that people can sleep better at night without having to worry about losing data. The guilty conscience of having forgotten to copy important files again gives way to the good feeling of having a data backup to hand at all times in an emergency.

Many large and small companies as well as private individuals with important data have been relying on Langmeier Backup for years, and many have been happy to be able to fall back on data backups created with Langmeier Backup.