Flood Damaged Computer Assistance to Be Made Available

In response to calls from several businesses wondering what to do about recovering data from flood damaged computers, the Red River Trade Corridor; University of Minnesota, Crookston; Computerland in Grand Forks; Corporate Technologies in Fargo; New Tech Computers in Crookston; and ONTRACK Data International from Minneapolis are putting together a program to help businesses recover data from their flood damaged computers.

This cooperative effort is being developed to help businesses recover the data from their hard drives that they need to get their businesses back in operation as soon as possible. The program is being designed to maximize the response time and minimize the cost to the region’s businesses.

Staff and students at UMC will help businesses remove their hard drives and forward them to ONTRACK for recovery of damaged data. Computerland, Corporate Technologies and New Tech will work with the businesses to help them prepare computer replacement estimates for their insurance companies. “We see this as an economic development issue” said Jerry Nagel, director of the Trade Corridor. “The partners in this effort are undertaking it to ensure that businesses and jobs in the region are preserved.” Nagel stressed that businesses should never assume that data is unrecoverable, no matter what it has been through.

UMC and the RRTC are donating administrative staff time to the effort. UMC is providing work space for removing hard drives. Computerland, Corporate Technologies and New Tech or donating their time to help businesses assess their situation. ONTRACK is waiving their normal diagnostic fee and perform recoveries at no charge for non-profit organizations. ONTRACK will also donate 10% of all revenues to the Red Cross.

In the interim, ONTRACK Data International and the Trade Corridor are advising businesses with flood damaged computers to take the following precautions:

• Do not shake or remove the cover on the hard drive assembly.
• Do not attempt to dry water damaged equipment by opening it or exposing it to heat.
• Do not attempt to freeze dry equipment.
• Do not attempt to operate visible damaged equipment. Specifically in the case of flooding, waiting for equipment to dry out and then attempting to operate it is the worst thing one can do.
• Do not attempt to clean equipment without using proper solutions in a clean room environment. In fact, ONTRACK prefers to receive flood damaged equipment in its clean room before it has had a chance to dry out.
• Do not attempt to recover data with commonly available software programs.

If businesses want to use the service they should contact the Red River Trade Corridor offiec at UMC to receive additional information about how to proceed. Businesses can contact RRTC staff at 218-281-8462 or 218-281-8463.

Contact: Barbara Weiler, University Relations, 218-281-8435

Posted 4-29-97

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