VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[SimondsSays]

after a couple of posts about computers over the last few weeks, I decided to toss out some genral advice etc about computers

I had started this as a reply to Chucks Hard Drive thread, but it gained a life of its own...so now it is a new post...



A hard drive (heck a computer in general) is simple and at the same time it is amazing it even does what it do...

The first hard drives were large platters that were a few feet across in these huge cases. They would spin very fast for something that large, not as fast as today's 10000 rpm drives... but consider the speed of the outside edge of a 3-1/2" platter vs the speed of the outside edge of a 3' platter. Anywho a hard disk crash was when the read write heads would actually crash on to the disk surface, and in some cases would shatter these big platters. Quite the event I am told.

Your hard drive looks much like a little phonograph inside with little read write heads on little arms that swivel back and forth less than a hairs width above the drive. The disk is covered with a highly sensitive magnetic material and the R/W heads are very sensitive in reading the minute changes in that magnetic structure.

Chucks issue could be due to physical degradation of that coating.

A power issue while the system is running, could have caused the heads to hit the disk, furrowing up some coating, and then the cascade happens. that same power issue could have fried the electronics of the drive and his data is safe.. unreadable, but safe.

Power fluctuations are really bad for hard drives. The on/off flickers are the most dangerous, well next to a direct mass voltage event like lightening or a transformer loosing it on the pole outside your house.... Those off/ons can send up to 180 volts down the line and that will pass right into your computer unless you have Battery Backup. If all you have is a surge suppressor you are not doing all you can to protect your computer. put a battery back up in front of all your expensive hardware.

After so many years of repairing computers and seeing all brands, makes
styles from the earliest 386's up to today's machines, I can tell you one sure thing..."All computers suck, start there, and what they do will never disappoint you"... ok that sounds all negative , but the reality is that eventually your computer is going to crap out. The most likely pieces to die are the moving parts and the voltage handling items. A hard drive that makes it past 3 years has severed its time in my book. Yeah sure, we all have drives that are 7 years old and still run, but we are talking about what can happen, and securing your data is critical to a continued smooth operation.

Count on the hard drive in your system dying. Even new systems sometimes are afflicted this way. There are hundreds of millions of hard drives being made every year. Some of them are going to be duds, so don't think your new system is immune. Now that you have read this, go and get a few thumb drives and a *couple* of external hard rives... a couple as one of these might be an off the shelf dud.

Find out how and be prepared for an Operating System redo. Sony and Toshiba both make great laptops, but their restore functionality can sometimes leave you with a complete redo choice in order to regain functionality. Know how you will proceed when the time comes to redo your Operating System. Be prepared for a complete mess and you will be far ahead.

Keep off site backups... if your entire world (heaven forbid) goes up in the big ball of flame those three hard rives and 6 thumb drives in your desk drawer won't be doing you any good as a pile of rubble/

Computers generate heat and therefore they have fans to help dissipate the heat. You can also think of your computer as a household air filter, ... without the filter. Do you have solid floors? Pets? Burn wood or coal? Forced hot air? Dirt road? all of these factors increase air particulate and your computer sucks them all through it. If your computer is on the floor, move it. Get it up away from the foot traffic that stirs up the dust. Learn how to blow out the fans in your system, so that the system runs cooler and the fans run slower.

If your computer is critical to your ability to generate revenue, don't let anyone use it for any reason. So many time we had to repair computers that someone had been fine with until they let their (insert idiots name here) use it to check thier Yahoo mail.. or whatever... the net result is malware that messes up their computer... and the perp doesn't even know they did it. Teenagers are THE worst on this one.. don;t listen to them, and don't let them TOUCH your computer.. .between porn and all the other FREE stuff on the net they are magnets for trouble on a computer.

Wow... there is just so much more... if you have questions ... ask...