Home > Technobuddy > Archives > 2006 > August > 11 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USA get out of trouble free card for PCs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Note from Bill: Starting with this column the blog version will add links that offer additional information to offer a more complete explanation of complex topics.
There are some secret weapons that can destroy even the ugliest computer messes. The best thing about them are that you don’t need a degree in electrical engineering, or a screwdriver, to show your computer who is in charge.
The first weapon in our arsenal is simplicity itself. It is based on the fact that most computer glitches are mere hiccups — one time problems that are unlikely to repeat.
On and off: When your computer freezes, or when your cursor starts moving about the screen like a cat after a mouse, just turn off the computer. Let it sit for a few seconds and turn it on again. Honest. The problem will vanish at least half the time.
On and off part deux: If your Internet connection fails — whether you are using a cable modem, DSL modem or a dial-up — turn off the modem and then restart it. Most times, your connection will be restored. That’s because the on/off cycle forces your modem to resynchronize with the modem at your ISP. If you use a router, you may also need to put it through the same on/off cycle.
System Restore: Modern versions of Windows offer you an opportunity that life doesn’t ordinarily allow. When things get messed up, you can return your computer system to a time before all the trouble started. With a few clicks of a mouse, Windows restores the system to a time when all was rosy. If you want more information, or directions on using system restore, open Windows Help and type in those words: system restore. You’ll get step-by-step directions for using this terrific tool. More information here.
No hassle back-ups: A technology called RAID eliminates the need to back up data, yet offers insurance that you will never again lose data, even if your hard disk dies an ugly and irreversible death. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. Basically a second hard disk becomes a perfect mirror of your primary disk. When you save data, it is saved to both disks. Most new PCs can be purchased with RAID already installed and working. Or a computer repair shop can get RAID going for you. Those who are handy with computers can do the job yourselves. More information here.
Avoiding trouble: Voltage surges and power outages are capable of killing a computer instantly. But, most often, the damage is slow and cumulative. When the power goes out and your computer blinks off and then on again, the jolt ages electronic components. And, just as bad, the operating system can get hopelessly messed up when the machine goes off without the usual shutdown routine. By now you’ve heard of an interruptable power supply, a UPS — just a big battery that takes over when the power goes out. For $100 or so, you can have a UPS that filters out surges as well as kicks in to make sure that your computer stays on when the power is off. If you don’t have one and care about your computer, go buy one.
Windows Recovery Console: This fix often returns a hopelessly frozen computer to life. It’s the perfect remedy for what techies call the BSOD — the blue screen of death. When you are faced with an empty blue screen and none of the usual fixes return your computer to life, there’s still hope. Windows comes with a remarkable feature called the Recovery Console. To get there, you must start your computer using the original Windows installation CD. Since explaining the process involves more detail than I can print today, you can learn more by typing those two words — recovery console — into search box of Windows Help. More information here
I hope the added Web links are a help. Let me know what you think and feel free to suggest ways to make this better. I’ll start using them in the column, when it makes sense, here on the blog.
However, don’t expect to find a link that offers instructions on my first tip — turning the computer off and on to fix a temporary glitch.
If you need help locating the on/off button for your computer, then forget everything I’ve said over the years about how easy computers are to use.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns
Comments
By RT Smith
August 12, 2006 09:50 AM | Link to this
There are a few misconseptions and incorrect items in this article. I’ve been working with PC’s for as long as there have been PC’s so let me point a few of them out. 1.) Hiccups and one time glitches are generally power related themselves. Whether through Spikes or brownouts which are just as dangerous as surges. They are also a sign a piece of hardware has a defect which usually wont be diagnosable until it fails or aproaches 100% failure. It’s interesting to note that those hiccups are almost entirely non-existent on Linux and OS-X 2.) Network connection failures can come from a number of hardware/software issues. I usually recomend on DSL and Cable utilizing a router to obtain and hold your connection. If disconnection occurs often make it a point to watch the “sync” light on the modem and see if your losing your connection to your ISP. If you have a router, and your modem is connected fine but the PC is still unable to connect then it could be a firewall, virus or spyware issue and should be checked out by your technician. Dial up users are a bit more prone to disconnection issues. 3.) RAID is not a backup system. Your article makes it sound like RAID is a live backup system which is far from the truth. There are many flavors of RAID going from 0 - 5. Some of which require you to purchase up to 50% more hard drive space then needed to ensure what is known as fault tolerance. RAID in some cases (usually a stripped drive) can actually make you more suceptible to data loss. 4.) Windows restore is nifty tool. However if in the case of viruses you could be ensuring that you reinstall the virus durring the restore process. If your dealing with a virus sometimes removing the backup images is the only way to remove the virus. 5.) Battery backups are nice but the article misses a key point. The real advantage is having a backup unit which has a feature called AVR available. AVR essentially seperates your equipment from the power grid unlike a standard battery backup. This means a lightning strike in a close area to you will generally take out the battery backup as opposed to all of your equipment. Another note is I’ve found when most machines get taken out by lightning it’s getting in through the phone lines NOT the power lines. A simple fix for this is again having a router on your DSL or Cable and a wireless network running for your connection which removes you from any hardwiring to the cable company or your telco. 6.) If you just read about the recovery console for your first time here, call a technician. You have no reason messing with this in many cases and will only lead yourself down a road of frustration and worse totally ruining your operating system and potentially losing data. If your willing to go into a recovery console I would tell you if it’s that important go download Suse 10.1 and run a operating system that doesnt shred itself in 2 years, never gets a virus and doesnt even know what spyware means.
This is a good article however the missing facts makes each line item a real source of potential misinformation. I hope this clears things up.
By Jay
August 13, 2006 03:38 AM | Link to this
Buy a Mac and disregard all of the above.
By Dick Barmann
August 13, 2006 08:55 AM | Link to this
Bill, You talk of money saving deals in PC’s. Why do you not talk about Linux. by using Linux all programs are free and most ae better than Windows. The forums provide the greatest in problem solving in a one on one basis. I have heard that most international organizations have switched to Linux. The cd/dvd’s are sent to you free and the programs are downloaded free. OpenOffice is better than MS Office and is updated continually. I get NO popups and my Email is clean.I have Windows on one drive and Linux on the other. I only have Windows because a company I send reports to has a web form that will only work on IE or Opera.
By Ryan
August 13, 2006 06:56 PM | Link to this
Dick Barmann,
Why don’t you just run IE through Wine and kick Windoze to the curb altogether?
Jay,
A Mac is the not the ultimate end to everything bad you and many other Mac users would like to think it is. They do have their strong points but also have their issues…
As RTSmith wrote above, RAID is in NO WAY a replacement for backing up important data. RAID goes beyond levels 0-5 although there is really no use in getting into any of the other levels when working with a home computer.
Also, UPS stands for UNinterruptible Power Supply…
By Dave
August 14, 2006 10:29 AM | Link to this
Us Macsters almost always get a few chuckles reading Bill’s columns. But, if I were a Peecee user, I’d really listen to what he has to say. Not always perfect, but who is? He usually has great tips.
By Bill
August 14, 2006 11:36 AM | Link to this
Dang Dave, I think that’s a first - and I’m very old - a Macster taking up for me. Heck I need all the help I can get today, I’m home sick, my wife is in California and I’m about out of pork ‘n’ beans and Mountain Dew. If things get worse I’ll have to fix something healthy to eat.
The nice thing about the Web, of course, is that I can still be home and work. Technology is a wonderful thing.
By Ssgreeno
August 14, 2006 04:03 PM | Link to this
Read this column in yesterday’s AJC, and only had one thing I’d have added (not that I’m any kind of expert). I’ve found that when the modem or my monitor goes dead and won’t turn on, it isn’t enough to just turn the on/off button off. I find I need to unplug them, then plug them in again, and presto - it has worked every time.
By jim brady
August 14, 2006 05:48 PM | Link to this
A toolbar is on my desktop apparently from hotbar. How can I delete it, I deleted my cookies, but that didn’t help,
By Bill
August 14, 2006 07:09 PM | Link to this
Hi Jim, here is a site that claims to offer Hotbar removal instructions.I say ‘claims’ since I’ve never had to remove it so I can’t vouch for it.
By Prootwadl
August 15, 2006 10:55 AM | Link to this
Dave, not all of us PeeCee users are fulltime Windows users (I left the Microsoft fold myself back in 1992 when IBM’s 32-bit OS/2 2.0 was first released, and I also started using Linux seriously at home around 1997 (RedHat 4.2), but I agree that his articles are informative even for me (since I use Windows at work and also at home from time to time).
By Prootwadl
August 15, 2006 10:59 AM | Link to this
About backups: I picked up a 250GB Buffalo LinkStation on eBay the other month, and I’m really glad I did. It runs Linux in firmware and pretends to be a Windows fileserver, and I’ve been using InfoZip’s ZIP compression tool to make backups to the LinkStation on a weekly basis (I back up certain boxes on certain days).
I also picked up a Buffalo DriveStation 250GB USB disk so the LinkStation has a place to back up its own data. I do that by hand right now, though. It takes a while.
By Bruce Nebergall
August 15, 2006 01:05 PM | Link to this
Bill, Bill, Bill,
I hope you made a slip when you wrote in your Sunday column about backups “…RAID eliminates the need to backup data … “
NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING, (the caps are for emphasis, not shouting) eliminates the need to backup data. There are only two kinds of data in the world: 1) Data which has been backed up and 2) Data which has not yet been lost.
RAID does NOT replace a backup! It only insures that you MAY have a good copy of your data of one of your hard drives fail. If the program glitched since yesterday what you may have are TWO copies of bad data and, without a backup, nothing to recover with. If you have a catastrophe (fire, break-in, flood), you still have NOTHING to recover with.
Please advise your readers to make regular backups, to different media each time, and to remove those backups to a safe place (like a safety deposit box). By the way, those “fireproof” safes you see at the home centers are good for only one hour, good only for paper and are generally not even water tight. A good data safe costs lots of money; a safety deposit box is a whole lot cheaper.
By Bill Husted
August 15, 2006 01:23 PM | Link to this
I hear you Bruce and - hey, maybe you’re right … I should have made a stronger case for backups. In fact, in the past I’ve mentioned that off-site backups (either storing the data off-site or using an online system for remote backups) is the way to go.
But, and go ahead and holler if you think I’m wrong, most home users don’t backup data at all. Sure, they might make a copy of their photos and stick the CD in a drawer. Let me know if you think I’m wrong when I say this but I’d make a bet that most home users don’t back up data ever.
Now if that’s true, then wouldn’t it be better to have a chance - as you put it - to have the data stored away on the second hard disk? Wouldn’t that chance of having the data if one hard disk fails (and see if you agree, but I think it’s a pretty good chance) be better than nothing at all.
I’ve mentioned the fact that backups are necessary since 1992. I’m not alone. Other people do that too. Do you think that’s radically changed the habits of most home users? I’ll keep on making the same recommendation, no matter what - pushing the idea of making backing up data.
But my thinking (and lord knows I have no patent on the truth here) is that something is better than nothing. Anyway, I do agree with you that backing up data is a good thing.
By bucky
August 16, 2006 05:52 PM | Link to this
It figures, every P.C. forum ever gets the Mac users coming in and sniping at us. Well, before anyone gets too serious, go to
http://www.deadtroll.com/index2.html
enter, then navigate to “Every O.S. Sucks!” in the green area. This is one priceless download that serves to remind us all of the nature of the beast…EVERY beast!