Throughout the pandemic, manufacturers of electronics across the globe have been unable to meet the consumers’ ever-increasing demand. This is, in part, down to the coronavirus, which has forced people to work from home – leading to want for new gadgets and gear. As a result, chipmakers have simply run out of resources, and manufacturers are finding it more and more difficult to source them as quickly as demand is growing.

The most notable example of the past year and a half is the PlayStation 5, which has been plagued by a chip shortage. As soon as the products go on sale each and every time, they are almost immediately bought out by eager gamers and loving parents alike. This is likely to continue into next year as well since demand is not calming down in the slightest. 

Intel’s chief executive, Pat Gelsinger, says the worst of the global chip crisis is yet to come for laptops. He has predicted the shortage will get even worse in the “second half of this year,” and it will be “a year or two” before supplies return to normal. 

The reason the chip shortage is at its worst now is due to the reopening of the car industry now lockdown restrictions are easing. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of car manufacturers stopped or significantly reduced their manufacturing numbers. Therefore, they put a hold on their chip shipments. As a result, technology and gaming manufacturers were able to take on the car manufacturers surplus orders, meeting the demand for laptops, mobile phones and gaming devices during the lockdown. 

Now car manufacturer’s are attempting to return to normal production; there is an increased demand for chips across many sectors. But, unfortunately, the suppliers just cannot keep up. So what can be done in the meantime?

Pick up refurbished devices.

When browsing the net for brand spanking new laptops, many businesses may disregard the idea of purchasing a refurbished model. But these types of products should never be thought of as any less than new updated versions which just came out. They often perform as well, if not even better, than their more up-to-date counterparts. Just compare the specifications.

Due to the lack of stock available, businesses can be kept waiting for months before even having the chance to purchase the latest Acer or Dell laptops. Instead of waiting, go out and find refurbished machines. They are much better value for money and provide great performance.

Are there any other considerations to consider when opting for this, however?

Install both WipeDrive and VeriDrive.

To ensure that the devices are completely safe to use for consumers, install WipeDrive and VeriDrive. Doing this will protect them from any potential hazards that could occur if not properly optimised – things such as viruses, malware, and other dangerous infections.

WipeDrive

When reinstalling the operating system, formatting the hard drive or deleting specific files, data will always remain no matter how hard a person may try to get rid of it. Even more thorough methods of data erasure data cannot provide the protection which is desperately needed. Files leave physical imprints on the hard disk, and skilled computer hackers can access that confidential data, even if it has been properly deleted or overwritten.

This is the exact reason why WipeDrive was designed in the first place. The software ensures data is completely erased and unrecoverable by using military-grade wiping technology. In addition, the data is overwritten multiple times using Department-of-Defense-approved wipe patterns, ensuring that it is entirely unrecoverable even with the most sophisticated hacking tools.

If the refurbished device is running slow, WipeDrive will wipe the hard drive’s data in preparation for a fresh install of an operating system and programs. It can even erase personal data, other programs and the operating system, allowing the new user to start over afresh. The data will never be recovered again, meaning no worries regarding any potential hazards. What’s great, too, is that WipeDrive is compatible with all machines running on an x86 architecture, including all versions of Windows and Mac in the last ten years. So, refurbished computers will have no problem at all in the slightest with running them.

VeriDrive

To verify that the data is successfully erased, run VeriDrive to give the business ease of mind knowing that the job has been fully completed. VeriDrive scans the drive and examines bit patterns written by the wiping software to make certain recoverable data no longer exists.

Choose which pattern VeriDrive should scan for – if one pattern is expected to be on the drive and VeriDrive finds a different one, then the user has discovered a problem with the wiping! It can also detect which pattern was used and report whether it was properly applied to the entire drive. The report is then produced, showing the distribution of data stored in the bytes of the drive. If, for example, the user were to wipe the entire drive with zeros and a byte distribution appears with anything other than zeros, the drive was not wiped properly.

Like WipeDrive, VeriDrive is compatible with any x86 architecture (Windows, Mac OS X 10.6 and above, and Linux), allowing the business to boot, verify, and log results simply.

We provide both WipeDrive and VeriDrive!

To find out more about WipeDrive, visit here, and for VeriDrive, visit here today! Alternatively, give us a call on 0345 340 3105 to speak directly to our team, or fill out an enquiry form here. We look forward to hearing from you and welcome any potential questions you may possibly have.