discussion Might not be online................computer woes BACK 13:25 Wednesday

[Dave Ward]

My computer is acting up - at the worst possible time! I've lent my laptop to a friend, and the PC has decided that it will only work intermittently - So, tomorrow, I'm going to open it up & see if I can spot anything wrong. I have a load of spare bits, so hopefully, I can fix it without external help! ( I used to build computers as a sideline 20 odd years ago ).
As is usual with anything computing, whatever it is will take an inordinate amount of time to fix, so I probably won't be online for a while.
In the meantime, my model bench has been converted to a PC repair base, the multimeter has had the dust blown off it & the small screwdrivers have been polished. My smartphone can just about get my emails, but, as for web browsing nooooo.
So, if I'm not around, - it's not the virus ( not seen anyone for over two weeks now! ), just some badly timed computer glitch! I'm going to go 'dark' tomorrow morning.................
Stay Safe
Dave

 

[Nicko]

Good luck Dave. Hope you manage to fix it alright...

Nick

 

[SteveH]

Threaten to use the 1 lb screwdriver, your PC will jump back to normal running in no time

Steve H

 

[yak face]

computers, dont you just love em ( not! ), i recently lost all my pictures on the laptop, hundreds of folders containing probably over a thousand pics - all my builds that ive put on here for the last 6 or 7 years , gone . So the only record ive got of all my past builds is on the forum . Hope you get it fixed dave , cheers tony

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Oh no!..... and at the worst possible time too Dave.
I hope it`s nothing too serious and you`re back with us all again soon :thumb2: ,
Cheers,
Andy

 

[Dave Ward]

I have an inkling it's a problem with the power supply - I have a spare supply brick, but of course to fit this, you have to practically strip all the other components out - I've had a quick look inside - one question - where the hell does all this dust come from??
The machine has been updated & new parts added, so I do know how it all fits together ( I think )
Dave

 

[outrunner]

I ma sure you will manage to fix it Dave, I mean, how hard can it be?

Andy.

 

[Guest]

recently lost all my pictures on the laptop

Not to rub salt into the wound, but this is why you should always make sure to have a backup of anything that’s important to you. Buy one or two fewer kits to insulate your loft with, and you can afford the hard drive you’ll need for this. Software that makes automatic backups is best, so you don’t have to remember to do it yourself. (On a Mac, all you need to do is hook up an external drive and the system will ask if you want to use it for backups, if you’re not making any automatically yet; not sure about Windows, but I suspect you may need to get a third-party program to do this. If you only use a tablet or phone, either plug it into a computer every so often to make a backup, or make sure it saves your photos to a cloud service — and preferably both.)

 

[Dave Ward]

Jakko,
that's sound advice, I have two external SSD drives that I back up all my personal files every week. I've set a Windows alarm to remind me to do this. My normal PC backup is my laptop, but I have lent this to a friend ( wouldn't you believe it! ) - his PC is in for repair!
Conspiracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dave

 

[boatman]

OH dear dave hope you get it fixed cos I have pc probs an know how youll feel cut off so lets hope you get back on soon
ATB chris

 

[topgazza]

This is a bit after the event for some I know but....

I spend most of the 90s running my own computer company designing and making custom PCs, servers, laptops for anyone including the MoD and several PC suppliers. I know a bit about these things and something I ignored for years until a few years ago was investing in back up software. I know most people don't need a NAS in their house as its over kill but a good sized external USB drive and another one to mirror that saves a lot of pain. Lots of programs out there that you can set up to auto back up specific files, folders or even complete hard drives as a bootable drive. I use one called Carbon Copy Cloner which I think is about £33 to buy a one off licence. Easy peasy to set and run and you can schedule your backups to suit you. Something like a Western Digital USB drive plugged into your PC will carry the backups and I recommend a second one to back that up. It's not paranoia, trust me

 

[Guest]

To add to Gary’s advice to make two backups: don’t buy two identical drives at the same time for this. Chances are that if one fails, the other isn’t far behind. You’re better off with two different models or even brands (make sure that the actual drive inside the enclosure is different, not just the name on the outside) because they’re much less likely to wear out the same way and at the same time.

 

[topgazza]

Agree with that

However if you want to stick to the same make you can order each drive from different suppliers to get different batch and date of manufacture. Amazon and Ebuyer for instance. It’s an investment that’s actually really worth it

 

[Dave Ward]

Woohoo - Back!! I changed the power supply, and also took the time to clean the fans, and vacuum out the dust bunnies in the bottom of the case, had to replace a few cable ties, but nothing too taxing. I was lucky, it only took me 3 hours! I can now convert the bench back to it's proper function, just as well that I had the bits to fix it in a cupboard.
I have 2 hard drives in this machine, one a 240Gb SSD - this is where the operating system & my program files live. The second is a conventional 500Gb drive,which I use for storage only. My back up consists of cloning the SSD, and backing up any files that have been created, or altered on the storage drive since the last backup.
I use two external SSD drives for this, one for the OS & one for storage. One thing I always do is keep the backup drives in a drawer in another room. I have been asked why I don't use cloud storage? Aside from security issues, you're stuffed if your internet goes down, or the site crashes none of which are under my control!
Anyway - back to the Bishop...............................
Dave

 

[stillp]

I gave up on backup software many years ago after a hard disk failure, when the backup software refused to restore to a different hard drive. Anything I don't want to lose, I make a copy on one of my two remote hard drives. Anything a really, really don't want to lose gets copied to a USB stick and the the web as well.
Pete

 

[Guest]

I have 2 hard drives in this machine, one a 240Gb SSD - this is where the operating system & my program files live. The second is a conventional 500Gb drive,which I use for storage only. My back up consists of cloning the SSD, and backing up any files that have been created, or altered on the storage drive since the last backup.

To be honest, you could skip backing up most of the SSD if all it contains is the OS and applications — doing only folders that hold preferences etc. would be enough, because you can easily get the OS and apps back.

One thing I always do is keep the backup drives in a drawer in another room.

Mine sits right next to my computer, because it’s attached to it all the time so the software can make hourly backups.

I have been asked why I don't use cloud storage? Aside from security issues, you're stuffed if your internet goes down, or the site crashes none of which are under my control!

That would only be an issue if it’s down when you need your backup. If you use a cloud service from a major tech company, like Google Drive, Apple iCloud or Microsoft OneDrive, I’d be highly surprised if it’s down just when you need it — or goes out of business.

What I do is have my automatic backup, and then I also occasionally FTP things I really can’t replace and that a lot of work has gone into (these are not modelling-related) to the storage space my ISP provides me with. I’ve also taken to simply having some of the latter in my iCloud storage instead of on my hard drive. Both ensure that I won’t lose it even if my house were to burn down.

I gave up on backup software many years ago after a hard disk failure, when the backup software refused to restore to a different hard drive.

That is poor software, but not a reason to distrust automatic backups entirely. What you want is software which makes a backup that’s also accessible through the normal file explorer on the computer, so that if the backup software becomes unavailable or refuses to cooperate, you can at least do a manual restore.

 

[stillp]

That is poor software, but not a reason to distrust automatic backups entirely.

I'm sure there must be better backup software available these days, but I don't see the point when it's easy enough to make a copy.
Pete

 

[Guest]

If it works for you, use it, of course. I prefer not to have to think about it at all, because I know I’ll keep forgetting and/or postponing actually making the copy