Tape drives are used for short and long term data storage, they can be very reliable providing one has a good understanding about them. The first thing to understand is that if you don't do regular backups you risk data loss due to some unforeseen event like a hardware failure or power outage. Tape drives come in either internal or external forms. Internal tape drives will generally perform much faster than external, however external drives can be moved from one system to another quite easily. The tapes are relatively inexpensive and are readily available at most computer stores or computer service providers. There are however some things to know about your tape drive to keep it in good running condition. First it is important to keep the recording head clean and free of any and all debris. Next the condition of the tapes themselves is important, an overstreched tape may record fine, but it may not restore or read very well. As a rule, it is a good idea to retention a tape before using it. Some tape drive software's require a retention before it will do a backup. Retentioning will run the tape from one end to the other, balancing out the tape on each of the two spools inside. After prolonged use of a tape at the beginning (short backups) the tape will become tight on one end and loose on the other. Retentioning will correct this problem. Also like audio tapes (music) the more you use them the more they stretch, this can ruin the preformat on the tape. Many tape failures are attributed to overuse at the beginning of the tape, so it is recommended that one append backups to the tape until it is full and then erase it so you can use it from the beginning again. If you have an old tape that may be questionable, don't use it, replace it! Tapes are great long term storage media, they can be recorded and then stored in a safety deposit box for years. Protecting your tapes from any magnetic or radiated influence will ensure a good long term backup. Some examples of magnetic or radiated influence would be maybe a magnet, the top forward edge of your monitor or maybe even your cellular phone. Cell phones when turned on transmit short bursts of radio waves that can have devastating effects on your data if too close and intense. So for you ladies, don't put a tape of your companies data into your purse with the cell phone on! Another potential problem with tape drives is dust. You may select to backup your system only once a month, during that time dust is being drawn into the drive and deposited on the tape head, then when you slide the tape into the drive it impacts the dust deep into the read/write head sometimes permanently damaging the drive head. A good quality cleaning cartridge can sometimes take care of it, but in severe cases drive replacement may be required. For more information about dust see cases at the support page. Other problems with backups can be a misconfigured software package or backup scheduler, improper insertion of the tape or maybe a despooled tape cartridge. When checking your tape system for problems, always look closely at the tape itself. flip the door on the tape cartridge open and look for abnormal wear on the tape or maybe a curled edge on the tape. This can indicate a misalignment with the rollers inside the drive.

    For more information on tape drives and systems, contact your computer service provider.