IT Tips & Tricks

Published 14 November 2022

A DIYers Guide to Avoiding Missing Data

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We’re a bunch of developers and IT guys, not handyman heroes. We could teach a master class on how to avoid downtime, prevent missing data, find and fix broken links, or just about anything related to protecting your data during a migration such as to SharePoint®, OneDrive®, Dropbox®, AWS® or a new local storage network. But construction is not our game. However, this past weekend, a bunch of the guys from the office got together to help Brian, whose screened porch had taken a bit of a beating in the peripheral weather from Hurricane Ian. We needed to replace the back porch's framing, screen and roof. In other words, pretty much a complete rebuild. (Note to self: Always take down the kids’ trampoline when extreme weather is predicted. If Brian had simply removed the jumping mat, he’d probably still have his original porch.)

None of it was particularly difficult, thank heavens, because while our hairy-legged crew certainly seems to have a fondness for power tools, I don’t think you could describe any of us as much more than reasonably adept DIYers. There was simply a lot of measuring and cutting and angles to figure out and stuff like that. But judging by the array of power tools that the guys brought to the party, you’d have thought we were building a small city. The guys showed up with a brag-worthy collection of drills, a variety of saws, grinders, and so on. You name it, I think we had it. Tim “The Toolman” Taylor would have been proud.

It was a great day, with lots of camaraderie, joking, and cold beer. And, almost unbelievably, we somehow got it done. All of it. The porch looks like it’s always been there and is once again a mosquito-free zone that is protected from the rain. Brian and Teresa thanked us with a great barbecue and then it was time for everyone to gather their tools and pack up. And this is where it got interesting.

We could teach a master class on how to avoid downtime, prevent missing data, find and fix broken links, or just about anything related to protecting your data during a migration.

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Well, it turns out Brian himself is a die-hard Black+Decker® fan, so pretty much all the orange tools were his. Sam loves his lime green Ryobi® collection; Alan owns a ton of teal-colored Makita® tools, and John was sporting recently purchased black and yellow Dewalt® tools.

And that’s when it struck us. With our “color-coded” tools, each of us was easily able to assemble our tools and pack them for transport, almost exactly like the software we work with every day. Allow me to explain.

Assuring Safe Passage

The software we work with is LinkFixer Advanced and it does a number of things such as avoiding downtime, lost data, angry end-users, and upset bosses. But those benefits are secondary to its primary purpose, which is to protect linked files.

While LinkFixer Advanced is often used to protect linked data on a daily basis — such as if Mildred suddenly reorganizes and moves a bunch of the accounting spreadsheets — it is particularly useful (our customers swear it’s essential) — when it’s time to migrate your data, kind of like packing your tools to drive them home.

Regardless of whether you’re moving to or from SharePoint, to or from the Cloud, or undertaking virtually any other move or reorganization you can think of, LinkFixer Advanced will keep all your linked data connected and prevent the typical frustration users experience when they click on a link that is broken. Forget that storm of open service tickets in the IT department. You’ll never have to deal with that again.

Forget that storm of open service tickets in the IT department. You’ll never have to deal with that again.

A Power Tool for Broken Link Repair

LinkFixer Advanced can be used after a data migration to repair your broken links and restore your missing data and it’ll do it significantly faster than a human could — even armed with a script of some kind. Of course, it instantly restores any missing data and just like that, you’re the local hero.

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Zero evidence of the damage. Sounds like LinkFixer Advanced.

So, while using it after a migration is the obvious solution if you’ve already got a problem, using it before your migration is highly recommended and customers who have used it both ways agree. Overall, it’s simply faster to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place. Consider it preventive insurance.

It’s fast and efficient and nothing else in the world works quite like LinkFixer Advanced when it comes to handling vast numbers of file links, and when we say vast, we mean it — hundreds of thousands or even millions of links can be protected, preventing data loss, and ensuring a smoother migration. And how fast is fast? We’re talking about 6,000 times faster than a human, because in the time it takes a proficient IT guy to locate and repair a single link, LinkFixer Advanced can find and fix about 6,000 of those suckers, making it an essential migration power tool.

Test Drive

Sadly, you don’t get to test drive a power tool when you’re at the hardware store, which we’ve always thought was kind of weird. You can try on clothes and shoes at the mall, test drive a car you’re considering, or fiddle around with that computer or tablet before you slap down your hard-earned cash. But you never see a couple of guys happily firing up a chainsaw at the hardware store, right? And if we love trying new things out, maybe you do too.

If you’d like to “test drive” LinkFixer Advanced, we’re all about that. You can find out more at LinkTek.com, or simply call a Service Consultant at 727-442-1822 and request a demo or a no-credit-card-required free trial.

By the way, if you know of a hardware store where they do let you play with the power tools, we’d really appreciate it if you’d let us know!

Consider LinkFixer Advanced an essential migration power tool.

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