OneDrive

I see Microsoft has – once again – decided that changing the name of something will somehow benefit them, increase sales, and that they are now going to call their “SkyDrive” cloud service “OneDrive”.

Whoopee!

Yes, I feel much better about cloud computing now. Sign me up!

For those interested:

“Take a tour of the great new features in OneDrive and find out why it’s the one place to store and share all of your favorite things.  Learn more

Want to earn more free storage? Get up to an extra 8 GB by following the steps to enable your camera roll backup and by referring your friends. Log in at OneDrive.com.”

I’m sure the very highly paid People In Charge at Microsoft are a lot smarter than me. But I’m not seeing all that a bright a future for them…

Friday Fun video:

What can I say? That video has more than 10 million views…

Today’s quote: “Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.” ~ Jim Rohn

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

What To Do When Windows Does Not See The Drive*

You Plug In A Storage Device, And Nothing Happens

A reader e-mailed me a question I believe will be of interest to other readers of this series. He wants to use a thumb drive to transfer files between his computer at his work and his home computer, but the work computer will not “recognize” (aka “see”) the thumb drive when he plugs it in. He wanted advice on how to fix this.

Q: My thumb drive works great at home, but when I took it into work to try and copy some files so I could work at home, I plug it in and the little window never opens so I cannot use it. What am I doing wrong?
A: There are several possible reasons for this, and here’s a few things to try: Read more..

*      *      *

Bonus reading: Sync Box, Google Docs, Evernote and More With Social Folders

“If you use Box (online file storage service) and Google Docs, then you are well aware that there is no easy way to sync your online files (and folders) with your computer; UNTIL NOW! I came across an online service called SocialFolders where you can sync your files at Box, Google Docs and more (such “[…] Read more..

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Thinking About Hard Drives

Inside of a typical hard drive

Today, I have disks on my mind. (How Geeky is that??)

Now, you know that when you see “disk” – with a “k” – we’re talking about “hard drives”; which, technically, is a type of device used for “data storage” — you might know it as your “C: drive“.
(“Disc” with a “c” is a CD/DVD/Blu Ray “optical” frisbee-thingy.)

Now, you also know (if you read this site) that the nation of Thailand was not so long ago removed from planet Earth by a Great Flood and also know that Thailand was the only place that grew hard disks. This led me, and others, to warn all you PC lovers out there to buy now, while there still were computers being built (from the existing stockpiles of disks, which had been shipped before the flood happened).
Um.. Er.. or something like that.

Us Geeky types have seen many articles, such as this one, published today: Hardware makers slog through hard disk drive shortages

“Here’s a tour of how the Thailand flooding and a hard drive shortage affected three tech giants: Sony, Western Digital and Seagate.” Read more..

Today I have hard drives on my mind for two reasons:
1) if there really was a Great Flood, followed by a crisis due to no hard drives.. why am I still seeing multi-terabyte drives in the stores for under $100?
(I’m beginning to suspect that Thailand is still there.. still growing disks..)
and..
2) if I’m ready to finally get off my duff and get one of these new-fangled solid-state hard drives.

See, I have been told by owners of these new devices, for some time now, that they are the bee’s knees of the cat’s pajamas. From what I’ve heard – and read – they are faster than Wile E. Coyote on rollerskates with his rocket backpack on.

I mean.. I’m hearing things like a 20 second boot-to-Desktop. 20 seconds may not be “instant on”, but..

Maybe today’s the day I find out for myself..

Well, enough of my musings. I’ll be a bit more helpful to you before I go. Do you have a hard drive? (um.. yes, you do) Did you know they slow down over time? (um.. I am guessing, yes, you did) Here are some ABC’s hard drive owners should know..

Fortunately there are things you can do and steps you can take to improve your computer’s performance. (We Über Geeks call this “maintenance”.) Some are easy, some are free, and some are free and easy — keep reading!

Step 1 is to open your Control Panel, go to Programs and Features, and uninstall every program you recognize and realize you never use anymore (if you do not recognize it, leave it be .. or research it).

That’s the most important thing to do, but there’s more – much more you can do.

• Free: Windows comes with the tools (we Über Geeks call these “utilities”) you need (Windows 7 users have many of these enabled already [by default]). Please see, Revitalize Your PC With Windows’ Utilities

• Free And Easier: I have found that a few people prefer to download some “optimizer” and do all their “maintenance” with a single click. Fortunately for these folks, there’s a gazillion of these out there. But of these, I recommend the (free) Glary Utilities, or the (free) Advanced SystemCare.

Today’s quote: “Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.” ~ Unknown

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Reader Question Answered: Disposing of Floppies

Proper Way To Erase Floppies If You Don’t Have A Working Drive

Q: Paul I am hoping you can tell me what I should do. I have boxes of old floppy disks and I want to get rid of them. I want to delete the files on them, but I no longer have a computer that has a floppy drive. How can I erase these disks without a drive?

A: Dear Reader,
Let my start my reply by commending you for being aware that it is very important to remove (aka “erase”/”delete”/”shred”) the data from any “memory device” before you dispose of it.

The proper method for destroying files is to run a “shredding” program, (sometimes called “secure delete” — which repeatedly writes a random series of 1’s and 0’s onto the memory) as simply formatting, deleting (or Trash-ing) the files is not enough.
(See, What You Need To Know About “Delete”*.)

Since you do not have a working 3.5″ Floppy drive (the floppy having gone the way of the dodo) you will need to use an “alternative” method to destroy your files and/or the diskettes themselves — and there are many of these. Probably the simplest is to touch the floppy to a reasonably large magnet (such as you will find on the back of old stereo speakers).

A few other methods
Some of the more “heavy duty” document shredders have a slot for shredding CD’s, and some of those can shred floppies. Consult the booklet that came with the shredder.

One fella I know clamps several into a vice, and then drills several good-sized holes; while another cuts them in half with a chop saw (please be careful.. and wear eye protection..).

You can bend them until they snap open, remove the soft brown disk, and cut it in half with scissors.

You can take them to a trusty tech, or Data Destruction service, and pay a modest fee. This last is my reco for most folks.

Today’s free download: Many “utility suites” (and also many “security suites”) have a “secure delete” function, so you may already have a file shredder. But if you don’t, and are planning on disposing of/donating old tech gear, you can download File Shredder

“If you’re looking for a reliable utility for utterly erasing files from your hard drive, you’ll be pleased with File Shredder’s performance. This free tool’s attractive interface is designed for ease of use, and even novices will comprehend its functions right off the bat.”

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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About the Recovery (D:) Drive

A Reader Asks a Very Good Question About the “Recovery Partition”..

Q: Paul,
When I open up the My Computer icon on my desktop to check my hard drive, the recovery disk is usually close to 2/3’s full and it is in GB. Is this a drive I want to do anything with? I have plenty of drive space on my C drive but this takes 3-4GB of space.
What is the recovery drive for and should I try to recover the the disk space it uses?

A: When you click on “Computer” (or, “My Computer” in XP) an explorer window will open showing the storage devices (aka “drives”) attached to your computer (storage “memory”). These storage areas will be assigned a “drive letter”, and usually start with the area which contains the Windows operating system and is responsible for “booting” your computer — labeled drive “C:”
Why doesn’t it start with “A:“? Well, back in the day, it did. Long ago, computers came with A and B drives – which were 5.25” ‘floppy’ drives (which contained the operating system. Windows didn’t exist yet). When the first “hard” drive came along, it had to go next in line.. thus C:\ (c: equated to “hard disk” [with a “k”]). Eventually, operating systems were designed to run from “hard” disks, and – eventually – “floppies” went the way of the T-rex. (But “hard disk” still equates with “c””)

I digress, but! I need to keep talking about computer history/evolution for just a bit longer. Long ago, computers used to come with CD’s. Either a Windows CD or a Windows CD relabeled by the manufacturer to something like “Dell Recovery Disc”. These were used in the sad case of really bad errors crashing the computer, and tech support told you you had to “reinstall Windows”.
(Sometimes called “disaster recovery”)

At some point in time, some brick-headed, idjit barnacle of a CEO made the absolutely dumbest decision ever made by Man — in the hopes that they could save 3¢ per computer sold. (Can you guess what I would say to this *person* if I met them?) They decided to do away with the Recovery CD and instead put those files on a special section (called a “partition“) of the hard disk — which came to be Drive D:\ (aka “the ‘recovery partition’)… the topic today. Ahem, sorry.

Back to the topic: When you first start up your computer (aka “boot up”) you will see a drab screen that says something to the effect of “Press F11 to recover your computer” (or some F key.. maybe F10, maybe F2..) This function is used in the sad case of really bad errors crashing the computer, and tech support tells you you have to “reinstall Windows”. (Sometimes called “disaster recovery”)

This “recovery process” will wipe (aka “erase”, aka “delete”) your C:\ drive, and copy the “image” stored on D:\ over to there — thus returning your PC to “factory condition”.. complete with crapware, such as Connect to AOL and Polar Penguins, and minus all your installed programs, updates, and … files.

You do have a backup copy of all those.. right?

This disaster of a disaster recovery method was not necessarily the case if you had/have a disc. Which is why the CEO mentioned above is a jackass. And why you want to read, Windows 7 Owners, You Want To Do This…

Answer the question, Paul: Okay okay okay
The drive D: aka “Recovery” is a special, protected area, which contains the files necessary to restore your computer to factory defaults. You cannot modify it. Short version: Pretend it isn’t there, and … hope you never need it.

(If you are eyeballing that ‘open space’ because you have filled up your C:\ drive.. well, no. What you need to do is install additional storage [ aka “upgrade” ] and/or go in and remove stuff from C:\)

* Okay.. maybe not the dumbest…

Today’s reco’d reading: Warning: Surprise spam trojan on Facebook

“Ever received messages from your Facebook friends containing a notice or invitation, such as an invitation to visit a particular site, added with an interesting message, like “Hey watch this, so cool!”? In most cases, the recipient of the message will be happy to follow it, especially if the message was sent by one of your best friends, which you trust. However, did you ever think that it could be sent by an intruder, spam, or even viruses?

Like yesterday, one of my friends received a “surprise” from Facebook, but then soon realized that his computer was now infected with the trojan, as well as making it a “spam machine.””

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Thumb drives: did you get less than you paid for?

I received in my e-mail a question from a very upset reader yesterday. The reader wanted to let me know about a company that makes thumb drives (and other products, too) and told me I should warn you folks about how that company had ripped them off.

Now, I want you to rest assured, Dear Reader, and take joy and comfort in, that if and when I run across “bad things” in the world of tech– I let you know about them. (I think we can all agree that a rip-off qualifies as a “bad thing”.)

The writer named names and pointed fingers unabashedly.. and I suspect, had to go back and clean up their language before hitting Send. They were.. um.. passionate in their outrage.
What had caught my eye, however, was the perpertrating  company’s name — it was a (brand) name I think highly of; and frankly, so does rest of the industry.

What had our e-mail writer so irked? The company had ripped them off over a Gigabyte. They had paid for 16 GB’s, and actually gotten just under 15. (14.9, to be exact.)
They felt short-changed, flim-flammed, and lied to… and as I may have mentioned, they did not like the feeling.
My letter writer’s angst was natural, but misplaced.

When is a Gigabyte not a Gigabyte?
* Ever since the neolithic era of personal computers, way, way, way, back in the Early Days (circa 1984), when dinosaurs still roamed, and “kilo” was king (I’m talking before “mega”, and well before “giga”) the men who produced hard drives (aka “storage devices”) described the size of their products using numbers other humans could understand. That is: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. of the good-old “Base 10” system [ten fingers and ten toes=20].
So to those guys, a “Giga” is 1,000,000,000… just like it is to you and me.
* Computers, in their relentless and perverse desire to frustrate, confuse, and generally annoy humans, decided not to speak in Base 10. Computers invented their own numbering system and named it “binary”.
In this sick, twisted, and baffling numbering system, a one is still “1” (to sucker us, no doubt), but two is “10”. And “3” (to us) is “11” (to them). Want a real kick in the head? Four is “100”. And if you expect 5 to be “1,000”, you’re wrong– it’s 101.
A “Gigabyte” to a computer is 1,073,741,824 bytes.

Let’s see if I have done a good job and you’ve followed along: to the guy who is making the storage device, if he makes it big enough to hold 1,000,000,000 bytes of information, he calls it a “Gigabyte storage device” (always has and always will).
When you plug it into your computer, your machine will see 73,741,824 bytes less than what it thinks of as a Gigabyte, and it tells you that you you have “.93 GB’s of available space”.
In the case of my writer, we multiply the difference by 16… which equals 14.9 GB’s of available space.

Let me be clear, the manufacturer did indeed provide a storage device that can hold 16,000,000,000 bytes of data– 16 GB’s. And machines “see” that as 14.9 GB’s. So they’re both right.. and my writer wasn’t a victim of a scam, flim-flam, nor fraud.
It’s just Base 10 vs. Base 2.

Yes. I understand.
And despite that, I actually like computers!

[For those of you who would like more of a description of “Gigabyte” than my attempt, click here; and for more on binary, here.]

Today’s free link: FreeRip 3, a C/Net Editor’s 5-star CD application. Description: FreeRip is an easy to use application that can record digital audio tracks directly from compact discs to PC files. You can save CD audio tracks to CD-quality WAV files or encode them to OGG Vorbis, WMA, MP3 or Flac compressed audio formats. It can also convert/encode audio files from WMA/WAV/MP3/Vorbis/FLAC. FreeRip also lets you adjust track volume and it supports ID3 tagging and CD-Text. Includes MP3 ID3 Tagger.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Online storage for data backup

Backup your data. Backup your files. Backup your pictures. Backup your ‘system state’. Backup, backup, backup!

Backup your files. Please. (with sugar on top.)

Dear Reader, if your hard drive died.. would you lose valuable tax records? Irreplaceable photographs? How about your address book? Or.. have you followed my advice, so oft repeated here, and made two separate backups and stored them in two different locations/media types? If you have, you just may have saved yourself some tears of sorrow and frustration. (And if you run a business, maybe your livelihood.)
A good backup will mean the difference between a couple hours’ of inconvenience –in case of a failure– and total loss. Just recently, I wrote an article on how having the second backup saved my bacon on an XP machine (see Back in the saddle) when its hard drive decided enough was enough.
I cannot say it often enough: computers are complex devices and their parts DO fail (and usually provide little or no warning before they do). Make some copies of your stuff.

Tip of the day: consider storing one of your system backups online. Online backups are convenient, (most are) secure, and most important, offsite. “Off-site” means, literally, “not here”, but “over there”. This is a key element in enterprise “Disaster Continuity” and you can implement it as well by taking advantage of an online storage service.
Think of it as being like your safety deposit box. If your house (God forbid) were to burn down, get hit by a meteor, or swallowed by an earthquake.. and everything inside destroyed, you still have copies of your vital documents in your safety deposit box (right?).
With an online storage service, you “upload” your files, via the Internet, to somebody’s server.. where they sit until you need them. When you need them, (and, I understand, hopefully you never will.. but.) you simply “download” them back onto your repaired machine.

A reader has written to ask me which of the many online storage services I recommend (thanks, Bryan W.) and inspired today’s article. Sorry to say, I don’t have a “favorite”. What I can do is tell you what to look for, and point you to a comparison list. Fair enough?

* Security: the storage service you want will have security in place so that some hacker can’t come rifling through the server, and read all your vital docs. (you wouldn’t want your bank to leave the vault wide open, and all the safety deposit boxes unlocked.. would you?) This is usually accomplished through encryption. Look to see if the data transfer occurs using SSL, that the account is fully password protected and your stored data is encrypted by some method.
* Price: some of these “storage solutions” are quite pricey, charging 10 times as much as others. Why? Shrug. Because they can? While price alone shouldn’t be a deciding factor, be aware that some places gouge.
* Size: These storage services charge you by how many Gigabytes you are going to take up on their server. There are MANY free online storage providers for very small allotments (typically 5GB’s, but some go all the way to 35GB’s), but these really won’t hold a full system state backup.. you need a “plan” that will allow you to store backup copies of each of your hard drives– with a little room to spare. But unless you’re a big corporation, you won’t need Terabytes.
To quickly see how much data is currently on your hard-drive, Open My Computer (just “Computer” in Vista) and right-click on the icon representing your hard-drive(s), and choose “Properties” from the context menu. You will see a pie chart showing the total size of your files and folders.

Today’s free link: PC World magazine has two comparison charts of online storage providers: read this first, (reviews 17 providers) then click here, (for 6 more) which will give you their number one pick(s). Then take a look at Tom’s Hardware discussion/article (click here) and, may I suggest, skipping ahead to the Conclusion will give you their results.
* My friend Mike, over on My Tech Talk, has also written about his experiences with online storage.
* And Bill Mullins discusses Mozy here.

[update 5/1/08: PCMag has just published a new article with updated reviews. They say say a new service, SOS, has ursurped the throne from Mozy. To read this updated review, click here. (I still suggest reading the others, as well, though.)]

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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