PTNSYSTEMS NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2007

Part 1 – Backup,backup, backup

Part 2 – Power issues

Part 3 – Ink cartridges,wireless and alternatives (Homeplugs),cleaning TFT screens

PART 1 - Backup

Here at Ptnsystems we see lots of failed computer components, due to the nature and complexity of the components they are susceptible to fluctuations in power/magnetic fields/radiation/heat/manufacturing faults/age/impact/cabling etc. etc. They are, however, relatively easy to replace and, once repaired, have little effect on the computer itself. All your personal data (email, pictures, spreadsheets etc) is undoubtedly stored on your hard drive, and it is when this component fails we see the most tears.

Hard drives are solid disks, or platters, sealed within a metal case, mounted on a spindle with an arm travelling over the surface, reading and writing data to and from it. Think of it like a sealed record player (for those of you not old enough, ask your parents), this record player rotates thousands of times per minute though; it doesn’t have a stylus but has a read/write head which travels so close to the disk that it detects and generates small changes in magnetic field to create or read a piece of data. Every piece of information stored on your computer, is in fact, a minute magnetic field on this disk, and, as you can imagine, there is a lot to go wrong. Don’t think this only happens to older computers, we’ve seen new drives fail in a week or even less. (A more advanced explanation can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk amazing/boring but true)

Basically, it is worth considering what you will do WHEN your hard drive fails not if.

If we don’t use our PC for anything more than browsing the Internet/gaming then it’s not a big problem, but if you’re writing your life story, have all your photos on your PC, are running any kind of business etc. etc. then we need some kind of contingency plan. Backing up is no mystery; it is simply a case of having your data stored in 2 places so if one of them is lost, we have a record of it somewhere else. If all your emails, address book, favourites and photos have been printed, then you have backed up your data; I wouldn’t fancy scanning all my photos back in to my computer and re-typing all my documents again though, so it’s generally better to have them stored in another format.

To create a backup strategy we need some information, namely: what do we want to backup, where does this information reside on our computer, how much space will this data take up, where are we going to store our backups, how easy do we want to make our backup process and how do we make sure it is working/can it be easily restored?

Here is a list of data we would normally backup and their locations on a Windows XP computer.

My Documents                 C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents

Normally contains document files/pictures/videos/music etc.

Internet Favourites             C:\Documents and Settings\username\Favorites

Contains favourite websites and links

Desktop                                 C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop

Contains shortcuts and sometimes important files/folders stored on your desktop

Address Book                       C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book

If you use OUTLOOK EXPRESS (NOT OUTLOOK) you probably have your contact details here

Vista

C:\Users\username\.....as above

Email

If you use OUTLOOK EXPRESS or WINDOWS MAIL then to find your email store folder, do the following:

Open the program

Select Tools | Options... from the menu.

In Windows Mail:

Go to the Advanced tab.

Click Maintenance

In Outlook Express:

Go to the Maintenance tab.

Click on the Store Folder button.

If you use OUTLOOK then to find your store folder:

Go to the control panel

Double click the mail icon

Click data files

(The .pst file contains contacts/emails/tasks/appointments stored in Outlook (not Outlook Express)

If you use Hotmail/Yahoo or any other web based email then this data is stored on Hotmail’s or Yahoo’s servers and you generally have to trust them to back that up.

This is by no means an exhaustive list; you will almost definitely have programs installed which create valuable data in all sorts of locations, this can be found by opening the program and looking under preferences/options/properties or similar menu, if this proves fruitless try typing the name of the program and the words data folder into your search engine. Sometimes (most of the time) it’s quicker to Google it, rather than look for it yourself.

Now we know where our valuable data is stored we need to know how much space it requires, one way is to get a pen and paper and right click on the store folder or select all the files in the folder, right click and select properties then make a note of the size on disk value. Make a list of the results in MB or GB then add them all up (1000 MB = 1 GB). Let’s say for example your results are 6550MB (or 6.55 GB) then, without compression, you need something that can hold 6.5GB+ to store the backed up data on. Floppy drives (if you have one) can store 1.44 MB of data (pretty useless for today’s requirements). Blank CD’s can store 700MB (0.7GB) of data, single sided DVD’s can store 4700MB or 4.7GB of data, you then have ZIP drives, USB pen drives, Flash drives, external hard drives, the list goes on, which can store anything from 16MB to terabytes (lots) of data. Many cameras and mobile phones have cards in them which can also store a lot of data and if you have spare cards, these can, with the right set up, be used for backing up all sorts of things and not just pictures. These cards in your camera are simple drives to store data on, if your computer can read them, then it can also write to them, so it’s possible to backup your emails and word documents on to the storage card in your phone or camera. 

Once we have the location of our data and something suitable to store it on, we just need to copy the data from the original location to the backup device; a simple way is to right click on the folder we want to backup then select copy, open the device we want to use then right click and paste, do this for each of the folders we want to backup. Be aware of any warnings regarding hidden and system files as some of your data my be just that, a hidden or a system file (look at folder options in control panel to change whether hidden and/or system files are shown) and remember that all your data is probably stored as a file, or in a folder, somewhere, on your hard drive. With this method the next time you copy your data on to your backup device it will ask you if you want to overwrite the existing folder, as long as you copied the data from the original source and are making a more recent backup to the backup device, then the answer is yes and your backup device will contain a more up to date version of your data (which is what you want). This method can be laborious but it is a good exercise in knowing where your data is, and seeing where it goes, once backed up.

Be warned we’ve seen many software programs that take all of this hassle away, only to find the data never got backed up or is unreadable on the day we come to recover it. If you have a program which reports that it has backed up your data, make sure it has (if you believe everything your computer screen says, I would put it back in the box immediately and forget the whole experience). It is very important that once you’ve backed up your data you occasionally recover data from the device, to test it has worked, again we’ve been handed devices, which the client thought contained a backup of their data, only to discover it is blank or contains something of little or no use.

If you need any help backing up data please call, we do have scripts and batch files which can automate the process with a little setting up, so all you have to is click the icon on the desktop, otherwise look at some built in options:

Microsoft NTbackup (installed on XP pro, on XP Home CD, free)

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/tips/kelly00.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03july14.mspx

Vista backup(free)

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/backup.mspx

XCOPY (found to be more reliable than most, used at command line, free)

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/xcopy.mspx?mfr=true

Part 2 – Power issues

On many occasions, failed computer components can be attributed to power spikes, surges, brownouts and the like, this is certainly true of PC's located in more rural areas, we would suggest that you disconnect your computer from all mains and telephone cables if you are not going to use it for a few days and certainly if there is any chance of a thunder storm (most days of the year it seems). Surge protectors may help to an extent but a better solution is to get a battery backup device which shields your computer from far more than a simple surge protector. APC make a good and reliable range for home and office use and can save your PC from a lot of expensive damage, they are not 100% foolproof but do offer a good level of protection from power cuts/variations and the causes of some anomalies on your PC, they can also save the loss of data from your PC/server should you suffer a power cut.

Computer components seem to be upgraded and made obsolete far more frequently these days; we are increasingly finding it difficult to replace motherboards once out of warranty. Wholesalers don't keep masses of motherboards as they are tweaked/updated by the manufacturers at an alarming rate, and they do not want to get stuck with obsolete stock. Motherboards hold everything else together so if this fails and we cannot get an EXACT replacement, we may have to replace the processor and memory, due to the replacement motherboard not being backwardly compatible. Once you have a working PC again the story doesn't end there, as you will have to reinstall Windows and all your programs, setup your Internet connections, email accounts, and backup and copy your data from your hard drive to the new installation (headache). Built in obsolescence in the computer industry can be measured in minutes and its very frustrating to have to rebuild an entire computer due to a failed motherboard which in turn may have been caused by a small power issue.

Part 3 – Ink cartridges,wireless and alternatives (Homeplugs),cleaning TFT screens

Ink

We have seen some frightening stories of what some people are paying for their ink cartridges, sometimes cheap and gimmicky printers can be very expensive to run due to the availability of cartridges. Manufacturers are increasingly making their printers less compatible cartridge friendly to prevent cheaper cartridges from damaging their printers and the consumer complaining their printer doesn't produce desired results. Our advice to is stick to well known manufacturers of printers and check the cost of replacing the ink/toner with genuine ink products. Stick a compatible ink cartridge in your new printer and you've just invalidated your warranty, but after a year, if the printer didn't cost too much, it might be a risk worth taking. We have trade accounts with the biggest suppliers of computer components in the country so if you are spending a lot of money on ink please email us with the exact model of your printer and we will see if we can beat the price, no obligation. We do only supply genuine manufacturers products so if you use compatibles we may not be cheaper (but not always). We generally order on a weekly basis and can deliver for free within a reasonable distance of the office.

Alternatives to wireless

Wireless networking is great when it works, and some people use it without a hitch, but it does have its limitations due to building materials, distances and compatibility issues. Security isn't such an issue these days as long as you're using WPA (WPA2 is better) in some form or other, older security standards should be used with caution and it is worrying how many people use their devices out-of-the-box thus supplying their local area with free internet and access to their files and folders (not advisable). With advances in homeplug networking we are now happy to recommend these devices to our clients (more on this in future editions) but by using two or more of these relatively cheap devices it is possible to use your home mains electricity to carry data. Theoretically a PC up to 300m away could connect to your router and share a broadband connection with no wires or wireless devices by simply plugging it in to a mains socket. Data speeds vary depending on the device and the information can be secured on the line if necessary. We have used these devices through all sorts of extension leads and they have helped where unsightly wires and wireless would not have been acceptable, please call or email for more information if this is of interest.

Clean your screen

A lot of clients ask how to clean their flat screen monitors, we have found the best way is to put a few drops of water on a piece of toilet/kitchen roll and gently wipe the screen 3 or 4 times in both directions, some specialist products are available but general cleaning products should be tested first as we've seen these damage and/or leave a sometimes permanent and unwanted film on the monitor.

This concludes the newsletter for this month, we hope you have found something of interest. Please email the office if there is anything you would like to appear in future editions, we can't promise but we will see what we can do. Planned for next month - starting over, when it may be time to reinstall Windows, multiple user logins etc.etc.