What Makes Data Loss an Inevitable Truth on Mac OS X

Data loss is not only an issue with businesses; it can also cost individual users extensively. The adverse effects of data loss are rather hard to gauge. Mac users also experience incidents of data loss due to myriad reasons. Some of the common causes for data loss or damage on Mac are hardware failures, disgraceful shutdowns, application crashes, bad permissions on system-related files, bad sectors on the OS X startup disk, and the likes. These factors lead to Mac OS X directory corruption. A corrupted directory fails to distinguish between free disk space and the disk space that contains data. This results in overwriting of the existing files with new data. In such situations, you may also notice some files go missing from the system.

There are a plethora of factors that make your Mac vulnerable to data loss. A few of them are listed below:

System or Application Restarts

These are usually caused by power outages, spikes, and other related problems. Such incidents cause damage to your hardware and corrupt data stored on the drive. To prevent such damage, you need to ensure that there is a continuous power feed to your Mac.

Corrupted Permissions on System-Related Files

Incorrect permissions on system files and folders may cause your Mac to behave abnormally. It happens when a third-party installer sets wrong permissions on certain application files or the entire Applications folder. Permissions may also get affected by power interruptions. You can use the ‘Repair Disk Permissions’ function of Disk Utility to correct this problem.

Bad Sectors on OS X Drive

Bad sectors are a result of wear and tear of the mechanical components of your hard drive or issues with the magnetic media on which your data is stored. Bad sectors can corrupt all your hard drive data, including operating system files, user files, and space. Bad sectors indicate that you need to replace your hard drive.

System and User Cache Corruption

Caches are used to speed up your operating system and applications. These files multiply in size over time and tend to get corrupted quickly. Corrupted caches are a source of various problems and can cause data loss eventually. You can perform cache cleaning as a part of regular maintenance.

Absence of a Backup and Recovery Solution

You need to have a comprehensive backup and recovery solution to secure yourself against incidents of data loss, such as hard drive failures or system crashes. A backup is like an insurance plan that helps you restore all lost assets when a disaster strikes.

Lack of Routine Maintenance

You should do routine maintenance of your Mac OS X. This implies you should configure automatic updates for your OS and any third-party software installed on your Mac. Software updates help to resolve a range of issues, thus preventing OS X drive corruption and data loss.

In all the aforementioned scenarios, you are doomed to face data loss. Preventing these problems from occurring in the first place is the best method to avert data loss. However, if you have suffered data loss, you can use professional utilities to safely recover lost Mac files.

[Recommended read: 5 Great Tips to Increase The Performance of Your Mac]