Data Disaster league table

Ontrack Data Recovery announces 2005 Data Disaster league table

~ unbelievable but true tales of data disaster and remarkable feats of data recovery ~

Ontrack Data Recovery has unveiled its annual top ten league table of the strangest and funniest computer mishaps in 2005. Taken from a global poll of Ontrack data recovery experts, this year’s list of bizarre data disasters is even more incredible when you consider that in each case cited, Ontrack actually recovered the data.

“Ontrack Data Recovery receives more than 100,000 requests for data recovery service every year so we come across some really strange data disasters,�? said Adrian Palmer, managing director, Ontrack Data Recovery, UK. “Although the examples in this year’s list are extreme, they illustrate a very important point – data recovery is possible, even in cases where it seems impossible.�?

The Ontrack 2005 top ten Data Disaster league table and remarkable recoveries:

10. PhD Almost an F – A PhD candidate lost his entire dissertation when a bad power supply suddenly zapped his computer and damaged the USB Flash drive that stored the document. Had the data not been recovered, the student would not have graduated.

9. Suffering from Art – While rearranging her home office, a woman accidentally dropped a five pound piece of clay pottery on her laptop, directly onto the hard drive area that contained a book she’d been working on for five years and 150 year-old genealogy pictures that had not yet been printed.

8. Domestic Dilemma – A husband deleted all of his child’s baby pictures when he accidentally hit the wrong button on his computer. His wife hinted at divorce if he did not get the pictures back.

7. Bite worse than Bark – A customer left his memory stick lying out and his dog mistook it for a chew toy. Ontrack was able to recover all of the data despite teeth marks all over the stick and a hole that went completely through.

6. Don’t Try this at Home – A man attempting to recover data from his computer on his own found the job too challenging mid-way through and ended up sending Ontrack his completely disassembled drive – with each of its parts in a separate envelope.

5. Out of Time – A clockmaker suffered a system meltdown, losing the digital designs for all of his clocks.Ontrack literally beat the clock recovering all his data just in time for an important international tradeshow.

4. Drilling for Data – During a multi-drive RAID recovery, engineers discovered one drive belonging in the set was missing. The customer found the missing drive in a dumpster, but in compliance with company policy for disposing of old drives, it had a hole drilled through it.

3. Safe at Home – Scouts for a professional baseball team used laptops to store all of their reuniting information. When several of the laptops became damaged during transit, they needed recovery to stay informed about their latest prospects.

2. Hardware Problems – A frustrated writer attacked her computer with a hammer. When the engineers received the computer, the hammer imprint was clearly visible on the top cover.

And finally, the number one most bizarre data disaster of 2005…

1. La Cucaracha – In hopes of rescuing valuable company information, a customer pulled an old laptop out of a warehouse where it had been sitting unused for 10 years. When engineers opened the computer, it contained hundreds of husks of dead and decaying cockroaches.

“Data can be recovered from computers, servers and even memory cards used in digital devices by either working on the computers or media/storage devices in our labs and cleanrooms, or by using our patented Remote Data Recovery™ technology,�? added Palmer. “However, individuals and companies can avoid the hassle and stress this can cause by backing up data on a regular basis and establishing a relationship with a professional data recovery company before disaster strikes.�?

For further information about data recovery please visit the website at www.ontrack.co.uk.

About Ontrack Data Recovery Ontrack Data Recovery (www.ontrack.co.uk) is the largest, most experienced and technologically advanced provider of data recovery products and services worldwide. Ontrack is able to recover lost or corrupted data from virtually all operating systems and types of storage devices through its do-it-yourself, remote and in-lab capabilities, using its hundreds of proprietary tools and techniques. Ontrack Data Recovery is a brand name of Kroll Ontrack Inc., a technology services subsidiary of Kroll Inc., the global risk consulting company.

For further information about Ontrack Data Recovery, please contact Katie Jamieson or Sarah Crawford at LEWIS, the PR agency

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7802 2626 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7802 2627

Email: katiej/sarahc@lewispr.com Web site: www.lewispr.com