Templot Club Archive 2007-2020                             

topic: 109OT - Any suggestions for a new computer?
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posted: 6 Jul 2007 17:37

from:

Brian Lewis
 
United Kingdom

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Hi,

I hope Martin doesn't throw me off this list for introducing an off topic item, but you all seem so knowledgeable about all things computer. I think it is time I purchased a new machine and monitor. My needs are simple - I don't play games or require sound, but just need a fast machine that will roar its way through the usual MS programmes - mainly Access, and of course, Templot. For absolute security, it will be a stand alone machine, not connect to the Internet.

What I need to know is:

What operating system? This new Vista or shall I stick with XP Professional?

What processor?

What type of hard drive and how big?

How much memory and what type?

I have ViewSonic flat screens. I assume these are still good?

My computers have what I believe is called an ATA Raid system, whereby there is a 'ghost' hard drive, duplicating the main HDD. Still available? Still the best form of backup security?

Anything else I have forgotten about?

Your collective advice will be greatly appreciated.

--

Regards

Brian Lewis
Carrs - C+L Finescale
http://www.finescale.org.uk
Tel: +44 1 275 852 027
Fax: +44 1 275 810 555

posted: 6 Jul 2007 20:19

from:

Bernard C
 
United Kingdom

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Hi Brian

You could consider a laptop/notebook using Microsoft Windows XP Pro. Peripherals like printer, additional monitor, scanner, mouse, can be connected as required.

Vista Basic is considered a rip-off; Home Premium is media rich; Business, if required; Ultimate for the developer. However, the cost at the moment is rather high and about double the cost found in the USA.

Drives tend to be in the range 60 to 160Gb depending on your data storage needs; processor from 1.66MHz to 2.0+MHz (cost is the consideration here at the high end of these ranges).

Memory (RAM):  512Mb; 1Gb or 2Gb supplied with room for expansion: maximum memory capacities seem to be 1 or 3 or 4Gb respectively.

Backup could use DVD or an external hard drive.

Good luck in this minefield

Regards

Bernard

 

posted: 6 Jul 2007 21:07

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Brian Lewis wrote:
I hope Martin doesn't throw me off this list for introducing an off topic item
Hi Brian,

No-one has ever been thrown off here. ( There is of course always a first time! :) )

This "None of the above" forum is intended for off-topic discussions, so presumably if you put OT in the subject line here it actually means "On Topic"? :?
My computers have what I believe is called an ATA Raid system, whereby there is a 'ghost' hard drive, duplicating the main HDD. Still available? Still the best form of backup security?
Raid is a good way to protect against hardware failure, but not really the "best form of backup security". Data can be considered securely backed up only if it exists in two separate buildings, preferably well separated. Otherwise fire / flood / theft / lightning strike could leave you with no data at all.

For a couple of years now I have been using an online backup service, whereby every night my data is backed up over the internet to a secure data centre (in fact to two separate secure data centres). It's not cheap, but it is fully automated, so my stuff is kept constantly backed up without my having to remember to do anything at all.

regards,

Martin.

posted: 6 Jul 2007 22:58

from:

Brian Tulley
 
United Kingdom

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Hi Brian,

1.    Personally I'd stick with XP Pro. Let someone else sort the bugs with Vista.

2.    How much room is left on your existing Hard Drive? There's no point buying a big drive if you won't use it.

3.    As for backup security, I use an external HDD in conjunction with a program called Acronis. If I can use it anyone can. There's no point having a backup on the internal HDD - what happens if the drive went u/s? Or some poor disadvantaged little scroat pinched it? And keep the external drive somewhere safe, away from the computer...

4.    As for the other questions - I'll leave those to someone more knowledgeable!!

5.    ps. I'd recommend Dell computers (as would many other people it seems). If you register on the Quidco website you'll get a discount (and on a lot of other stuff also). If you get a credit card from Citi then you can register all electrical purchases for an extra year's warranty free of charge - I've done this with a computer, printer, screen and scanner with no problems.

Hope this helps.

Brian Tulley

posted: 6 Jul 2007 23:24

from:

Paul Boyd
 
Loughborough - United Kingdom

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Hi Brian

If you can, avoid Vista.  It has to be regarded as Beta release software, it seems, and you will be storing yourself a whole load of compatibility trouble with very little help from people because no-one is using it!

For your kind of useage, a Dell would be a good bet.  They're not the flashiest gaming machines around, but they are good, solid and reliable workhorses.  I've always stuck with them at work, although for home I have different needs.  I hope Dell still offer Windows XP.

Memory - go for around 1Gb if you can.  I've lost track of the different types around now!

Processor - I prefer AMD rather than Intel because you get more bang for your buck, and I think Dell have now realised that as well.  Your machine will also run cooler, therefore quieter.

Hard drive - go for a SATA-2 interface if you can.  Only you can know how big - how much are you using now?

You can still get RAID setups, but they should not be considered backup systems.  They are there in case one hard drive fails.  For data security, you need a physically separate setup.

Oh, you might like to consider a dual-monitor setup.  You'll wonder how you ever managed without it, and you will then also be hassling Martin to make Templot support dual monitors :)

Paul

posted: 7 Jul 2007 02:15

from:

Raymond Gibson
 
Jacksonville - Florida USA

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Hi,

Co-incidentally, my computer is feeling the strain & (although trying to postpone it for a year) I am considering a more powerful one.  I will use my local computer supplier (either in U.K. or U.S.A.) to build one.  None recommend using Vista yet - stick to XP which still does the job. 

They do not advise an up-date, but a new one.....& that advice is genuine, not to earn extra money (it will cost twice as much, but will not be out of performance in one year as would an up-date).  All the peripherals would be kept.

I understand that AMD Athlon is best for games/videos & Intel for "professional" type work.  A quote received using an Athlon 940 dual core, Sumvision 500W ATX PSU, LG 18x DVD Writer, 3bay enlight, 300GB 7200rpm Sata II hard drive, MSI K9N6SGM-V & 1024MB PC5300 DDR2 is £425.37 incl. V.A.T.

To go to the maximum performance (have not had a quote yet) would currently seem to involve Intel Petium 6700 8MB, 1000GB 7200rpm hard drive, 4GB RAM, & 4096MB Corsair 667 memory.

Talking of two screens......happen to have seen a Website - think it was ZenVision (I have lost my scribbled note) which can supply a bank of eight screens in two rows.  Templot would be great on that!!

Whilst writing & changing the subject to the Opera browser, does anyone know how to set a proxy server in permanently?  The method of setting-up is identical to Firefox but, whilst Firefox will retain the http proxy, Opera loses it everytime it is closed.  Opera has some valuable aspects which are lacking in Firefox, but these are somewhat negated by losing the proxy everytime!!  (Also, I have found that Firefox is more acceptable to some institutions, such as banks).

Regards,

Raymond.

posted: 7 Jul 2007 15:36

from:

donald peters
 
United Kingdom

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Hi,

May I just ask a quickie of our experts?

Is it worth while installing Opera and if so, why?

I have I Explorer and Firefox on already and don't wish to slow down a slow system with unnecessary loading times.

Regards,

Donald P

Raymond Gibson wrote:
Whilst writing & changing the subject to the Opera browser, does anyone know how to set a proxy server in permanently? The method of setting-up is identical to Firefox but, whilst Firefox will retain the http proxy, Opera loses it every time it is closed. Opera has some valuable aspects which are lacking in Firefox, but these are somewhat negated by losing the proxy every time!! (Also, I have found that Firefox is more acceptable to some institutions, such as banks).


posted: 9 Jul 2007 19:30

from:

GeoffB
 
 

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Hi Brian,

 

Just come in on this topic - I agree with those advising Dell machines and XP, not Vista - I got one about a year ago as an extra one for a new machine I was running and the deal was cheaper than I could build one from parts - which I haddone always in the past. It came with a gig of ram and a large 160 GB hard drive plus larger flat screen, etc, etc plus Windows XP Pro - not the home edition and it was well under £500. Just plug it in and go! Just look at what they are offering on line and in the mags then ring them up and you can get the offers from both thrown in.

 

You can also look online at their "Dell Outlet" store which can save you a fair amount of money - often £200-300 - well worth looking at - on their website in the corner of the front page last time I looked.

Regards,

GeoffB

posted: 9 Jul 2007 19:33

from:

GeoffB
 
 

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Oh yes. And forgot to mention - steer clear of the Celeron and Semperon processors - they are the cheap & chearful chips - not much good when you want real number crunching power.

Geoffb

posted: 10 Jul 2007 17:29

from:

Elliott Cowton
 
Fareham - United Kingdom

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GeoffB wrote:
You can also look online at their "Dell Outlet" store which can save you a fair amount of money - often £200-300 - well worth looking at - on their website in the corner of the front page last time I looked.

A quick 10p worth from someone who used to run PC support organisations for a living and may yet be going back into that world shortly...

Dell are OK but sometimes have been tainted by the "Bitsa Machine" label  (a machine made out of bin ends of components) its not unknown for two apparently standard machines side by side to have slightly different bits in them; this throws the support line 10 left when you tell them - practical experience I'm afraid.  That said, you will probably find that all companies who do OEM machines will be guilty of the same thing and the frequency of occurrence is directly linked to volume of production for obvious reasons.

You might want to compare Dell with http://www.novatech.co.uk - my local supplier with whom I have done a lot of business over the years (both personal and professional) and whom I can thoroughly recommend.  Interestingly Brian, they have a branch just opened at Portishead (which I think is up your way).

Spec? Avoid Vista like the plague until Service Pack 1 is released.  XP Pro (if you can still get it) is the best option to go for.  Look for a machine with an Intel DUO chip (dual core), well worth the expense, and go for an up-market graphics chip/card if you can - the extra £30 or so if you do anything "graphic intensive" is money well spent.

Agree with comments made about Raid - the main idea behind Raid is to mirror disks within a machine so that if one breaks it is possible to save the data from the second disk.  That doesn't help you if the machine itself is stolen or otherwise destroyed.  If you want data security then a facility to dump to another disk and physically move it to another building is a must - I can advise off line about that if you like.

Hope this helps.

Elliott

posted: 10 Jul 2007 18:57

from:

Templot User
 
Posted By Email

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----- from Nigel Brown -----

Elliott Cowton wrote:
Spec? Avoid Vista like the plague until Service Pack 1 is released.  XP Pro (if you can still get it) is the best option to go for.  Look for a machine with an Intel DUO chip (dual core), well worth the expense, and go for an up-market graphics chip/card if you can - the extra £30 or so if you do anything "graphic intensive" is money well spent.
Glad somebody mentioned graphics cards. They're of benefit to an inceasingly wide range of screen operations. The seperate graphics cards Dell offers with its Intel Core 2 Duo processors (e.g. 256 MB ATI Radeon X1300 PCI Express, not the things labelled "integrated") should be adequate.

RAM - the more the better, ideally (with modern software) 1GB minimum but preferably more.
Agree with comments made about Raid - the main idea behind Raid is to mirror disks within a machine so that if one breaks it is possible to save the data from the second disk.  That doesn't help you if the machine itself is stolen or otherwise destroyed.  If you want data security then a facility to dump to another disk and physically move it to another building is a must - I can advise off line about that if you like.
Raid - avoid stripped Raid, which simply spreads your data across all your disks as if they were one; if one breaks you're still in trouble. Raid mirroring is OK but maybe not be needed with a good backup system.

Other things; laptops are good space savers, but if you get burgled they're easier to nick than desktops.

Nigel

posted: 11 Jul 2007 16:00

from:

Brian Lewis
 
United Kingdom

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Gentlemen,

May I thank you for the obvious effort you have put into replying to my query. I accept and take on board everything you say about the machine specification  and will be using this as my yardstick. But two issues are unresolved in my mind.

Vista. OK. I use XP and have had no problems with it. But it seems to be not the easiest task to find someone still offering it. At some point I assume I will update Office 2003 to the 2007 version. Will I need Vista for this? Also, I have been told that Vista monitors your computer and send reports back to MS. But this machine will not be connected to the internet. So is this going to cause problems? Should I just go for Vista, grit my teeth and hang on for a bumpy ride....?

Backup. If a Dual Raid system is not all I thought it was, what exactly should I be going for? I do not want to rely on something that backs up say once a day.(I do that anyway, via Nero. What I would prefer is something that 'mirrors' and saves everything as I save it. Is there anything that will do that please?

Remember your Shakespeare? In 'Timon of Athens' he wrote

'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,
But aid him after.

How wise................
--

Regards

Brian Lewis
Carrs - C+L Finescale
http://www.finescale.org.uk
Tel: +44 1 275 852 027
Fax: +44 1 275 810 555

posted: 11 Jul 2007 16:20

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Brian Lewis wrote:
Backup. If a Dual Raid system is not all I thought it was, what exactly should I be going for? I do not want to rely on something that backs up say once a day.(I do that anyway, via Nero. What I would prefer is something that 'mirrors' and saves everything as I save it. Is there anything that will do that please?
Hi Brian,

For that I suggest a brilliant piece of software which I've mentioned before -- AJC Active Backup. Not only brilliant but also UK-based for support.

This instantly mirrors everything as you save it, to another drive if for backup purposes. But not only that, it saves every single version of the file. So you can easily revert to how it was 5 minutes ago, an hour ago, yesterday, last week, 3 months ago. It does that without using masses of disk space by saving only the difference between each file, not the entire file every time. I've been using it for about 18 months now without any problems at all. Cost is a mere $29 and is money very well spent. Web site says it's compatible with Vista.

regards,

Martin.

posted: 11 Jul 2007 16:31

from:

Brian Lewis
 
United Kingdom

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Thanks for this Martin,  but exactly what does it back up to? If it just duplicate what you have written on the same HDD, then is it really of any value?  So could you configure ot to backup on a separate HDD please?

Martin Wynne wrote:
Brian Lewis wrote:
Backup. If a Dual Raid system is not all I thought it was, what exactly should I be going for? I do not want to rely on something that backs up say once a day.(I do that anyway, via Nero. What I would prefer is something that 'mirrors' and saves everything as I save it. Is there anything that will do that please?
Hi Brian,

For that I suggest a brilliant piece of software which I've mentioned before -- AJC Active Backup. Not only brilliant but also UK-based for support.

This instantly mirrors everything as you save it, to another drive if for backup purposes. But not only that, it saves every single version of the file. So you can easily revert to how it was 5 minutes ago, an hour ago, yesterday, last week, 3 months ago. It does that without using masses of disk space by saving only the difference between each file, not the entire file every time. I've been using it for about 18 months now without any problems at all. Cost is a mere $29 and is money very well spent. Web site says it's compatible with Vista.

regards,

Martin.


posted: 11 Jul 2007 17:16

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Brian Lewis wrote:
Thanks for this Martin, but exactly what does it back up to? If it just duplicate what you have written on the same HDD, then is it really of any value?  So could you configure to to backup on a separate HDD please?
Hi Brian,

Yes, it can make the backup on any drive. I use Active Backup to an external USB drive which I can easily unplug and keep elsewhere if necessary. This also has a reassuring advantage that you can see the USB indicator led flickering every time you save a file to the main internal drive, so you know Active Backup is doing its stuff.

But if you already have a scheme for secure daily backups, all you really need is an additional internal drive for instant backups. Specify an extra drive when ordering your computer.

regards,

Martin.

posted: 11 Jul 2007 18:38

from:

Paul Boyd
 
Loughborough - United Kingdom

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I use XP and have had no problems with it. But it seems to be not the easiest task to find someone still offering it.
XP Pro itself is still readily available from ebuyer.com, so if you can't find someone selling a ready-built PC with XP on, you could install it yourself.  You might just invalidate any support though :)


posted: 11 Jul 2007 19:51

from:

Elliott Cowton
 
Fareham - United Kingdom

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Brian Lewis wrote:
Vista. OK. I use XP and have had no problems with it. But it seems to be not the easiest task to find someone still offering it. At some point I assume I will update Office 2003 to the 2007 version. Will I need Vista for this?
I can confirm that I have seen a machine running Office 2007 on XP. Its currently "on test" and I will let you know how it gets on. One thing I will say - my brief exposure to Office 2007 has left me saying I will never use it - the user interface has completely changed and to my mind for the worse...
Also, I have been told that Vista monitors your computer and send reports back to MS. But this machine will not be connected to the internet. So is this going to cause problems? Should I just go for Vista, grit my teeth and hang on for a bumpy ride....?
I'm not too sure about that one. XP already dials Redmond on a regular basis and is supposed to confirm its authenticity by reporting changes to the machine - supposed to prevent you using OEM software on anything other than the original machine. There has been much debate about this on various forums. What it does not do is communicate "your data" to M$, the whole thrust is to protect their software from piracy, much as Martin does with his unlock code but because they own the OS they have the ability to enforce things much more stringently. The fact that your PC will not connect to the internet should not cause you a problem as far as I know. Whatever you do though, you will need to formally "activate" the software presumably by phone call to the activation line. The other thought, if you are going to decommission the current PC and it has a proper "full" version of XP (rather than an OEM version) on it you should be able to transfer it to the new machine and M$ ought to accept it for re-activation.
Backup. If a Dual Raid system is not all I thought it was, what exactly should I be going for? I do not want to rely on something that backs up say once a day.(I do that anyway, via Nero. What I would prefer is something that 'mirrors' and saves everything as I save it. Is there anything that will do that please?
Mirroring will protect you on a transaction by transaction level - if a disk fails you haven't lost everything providing you have the correct Raid Level applied (i.e. mirrored rather than stripped). The idea of saving to a separate medium provides you with the security that if anything happens to the machine while you are not there you have a copy of your data to start again on a new machine. What you already do with Nero is certainly good enough for this purpose and if you want to automate it you might want to look at using Scheduler to do it automatically for you. This works as long as you remember to put a suitable disk in the drive for Nero to write to. If you want to go further the next step would be either an external disk or a tape. An aside - Have you ever taken one of your backups and reloaded it to see if its good? I have seen it many times, I rescue a machine, I ask for the back up tape and when I look at it all the recording surface has been scuffed off so there can be no data on it...

Hope this has helped you Brian.

Regards

Elliott

posted: 11 Jul 2007 20:24

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Elliott Cowton wrote:
What you already do with Nero is certainly good enough for this purpose and if you want to automate it you might want to look at using Scheduler to do it automatically for you. This works as long as you remember to put a suitable disk in the drive for Nero to write to. If you want to go further the next step would be either an external disk or a tape. An aside - Have you ever taken one of your backups and reloaded it to see if its good? I have seen it many times, I rescue a machine, I ask for the back up tape and when I look at it all the recording surface has been scuffed off so there can be no data on it...
That's why I changed over to an online backup service -- nothing to remember, nothing to get damaged or corrupted. Sign up, set up, and forget...

And yes, I have tried retrieving my files.:) All present and correct. See: Back2Go.

regards,

Martin.

posted: 11 Jul 2007 21:46

from:

Brian Lewis
 
United Kingdom

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Bless you Elliott. I am most grateful for your help. I cringe at the fact that I used to have less problems  purchasing a half million pound item of plant that I seem to have, trying to buy one snotty thousand pound computer...........

On the basis of your suggestions I have compared offerings from Evesham, (the only ones to state on their web site that they will install XP Pro), Mesh and Dell. The latter seems poor value compared to the other two.

But you mentioned 'Novatech' and the new Portishead depot. Now this is just yards from Waitrose and Wednesday is our shopping day so, as Novatech are open until 1800hrs, I will drop off Mrs. L and trot round there to see what is about. I will let you know what transpires.


Just to include a small item relevant to Templot, Gordon Ashton and I have created from a 1:1250 cadastral, a scale plan of Clifton Down Station, as it was in the 60s. (Gordon did the work, whilst I supplied the tea). He did it in P4, whilst I converted it to 7mm OXF. It would make a wonderful layout for anyone for whom space is not a consideration. If it is of interest, I will try to work out how to upload to to the files section.

--

Regards

Brian Lewis
Carrs - C+L Finescale
http://www.finescale.org.uk
Tel: +44 1 275 852 027
Fax: +44 1 275 810 555

posted: 11 Jul 2007 23:05

from:

pcalkel
 
 

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Hi Brian

I have recently up-graded my computer, I went for a Intel duo chip, a good graphics card (duel monitor), extra memory, box only from Evesham, as I already had 2 flat panel monitors, I have XPpro as the operating system at no extra cost. It came with an Internet Security program called Bullguard, I have found this to be less trouble then Norton, which was on my old system, part of Bullguard is an online back-up, which you can schedule. The trial version is quite small, but now that I have had to pay my subscription this size has increased and you can purchase more space if required, I have not had cause to use the back-up yet :), so i dont know how good it is. Overall I am impressed with the system.

Paul


posted: 12 Jul 2007 03:03

from:

Bob Ellis
 
 

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Hi Brian,

I am no computer expert, so I have refrained from contributing to this thread until now, but your last posting suggests that my twopennorth might be of some value, so here it is. I bought a new computer from Dell last February. I use computers a great deal because I am a wordsmith by trade. This is my fifth Dell (three of which are in current use) and I have found that company's machines very reliable and their after sales service good.

The machine I bought in February came preloaded with Visa and with Office 2007. I have had none of the problems mentioned by previous contributors to this thread. Perhaps I have been lucky, they have been unlucky or it might be that they have had no direct personal experience of Vista and are reporting hearsay. To my inexpert eye, it seems a stable platform and I have found no bugs, gremlins or other malevolent beasties lurking in the programme.

I can also report that, in my humble opinion, Office 2007 is a vast improvement on previous versions. It is set out in a somewhat different way from Office 2003, but I find the new incarnation more user-friendly and intuitive than previous incarnations. However, Office 2007 is not directly compatible with earlier versions. There is no problem in transferring files from earlier versions to Office 2007, but in order to transfer files the other way you need to save them in 'Compatibility Mode'. This is easy to do, but I forgot a couple of times when the computer was new and had to go back and convert the files.

Hope this helps,

Bob Ellis

posted: 13 Jul 2007 05:39

from:

Templot User
 
Posted By Email

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----- from Trevor Shaw -----

Brian,

Not exactly what you are asking for but a good solution nevertheless.

Buy yourself an external USB hard drive. You can get something like 250MB for £80-100 and Norton Ghost for about £30. I got mine from PC World about 18 months ago. You can register yourself as a business user at PC World and get 10 - 15% discount.

The hard drive plugs into a USB socket on your computer and the Norton Ghost software is easy to set up to back up your hard drive each day at a time when it is unlikely you will be using the computer.

If you are really nervous, you can unplug the USB hard drive, using the Windows "Safely Unplug Hardware* button and take it to bed with you.

This works for me. My son recovered a total disaster on his computer brought about by viruses by restoring to an earlier time using Norton Ghost.

This stuff is easy for computer duffers like you and me. I have a lot of sympathy with your pleas here for help with computer problems. It's all a bit murky and beset with jargon.

Best wishes,

Trevor.

posted: 13 Jul 2007 08:56

from:

Roger Henry
 
Brisbane - Australia

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Templot User wrote:
----- from Trevor Shaw -----

Brian,

Not exactly what you are asking for but a good solution nevertheless.

Buy yourself an external USB hard drive. You can get something like 250MB for £80-100 and Norton Ghost for about £30. I got mine from PC World about 18 months ago. You can register yourself as a business user at PC World and get 10 - 15% discount.

The hard drive plugs into a USB socket on your computer and the Norton Ghost software is easy to set up to back up your hard drive each day at a time when it is unlikely you will be using the computer.

If you are really nervous, you can unplug the USB hard drive, using the Windows "Safely Unplug Hardware* button and take it to bed with you.

This works for me. My son recovered a total disaster on his computer brought about by viruses by restoring to an earlier time using Norton Ghost.

This stuff is easy for computer duffers like you and me. I have a lot of sympathy with your pleas here for help with computer problems. It's all a bit murky and beset with jargon.

Best wishes,

Trevor.
Ummm.? 250 MEGA byte? For 80 to 100 quid? I recently bought a 'flash' memory 'stick'  with 2 Giga Byte capacity, for about 28 Oz dollars, at a walk-in computer store. (I did think this was very cheap but the lass assured me she had the price right?) 4 Gig were about 50 + dollars. For what it's worth, I back up my Docs, etc. (The Daily Grind) every evening to this 'drive'. Things like address book etc. sit on another 250MB 'stick". Bit low tech but the 'value' of the stuff on my PC doesn't really demand much more.

Roger,

Brisbane.

posted: 13 Jul 2007 15:16

from:

John Shelley
 
St Ciers Sur Gironde 33820 - France

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Roger Henry wrote:
Templot User wrote:
----- from Trevor Shaw -----

Brian,

Not exactly what you are asking for but a good solution nevertheless.

Buy yourself an external USB hard drive. You can get something like 250MB for £80-100 and Norton Ghost for about £30. I got mine from PC World about 18 months ago. You can register yourself as a business user at PC World and get 10 - 15% discount.

The hard drive plugs into a USB socket on your computer and the Norton Ghost software is easy to set up to back up your hard drive each day at a time when it is unlikely you will be using the computer.

If you are really nervous, you can unplug the USB hard drive, using the Windows "Safely Unplug Hardware* button and take it to bed with you.

This works for me. My son recovered a total disaster on his computer brought about by viruses by restoring to an earlier time using Norton Ghost.

This stuff is easy for computer duffers like you and me. I have a lot of sympathy with your pleas here for help with computer problems. It's all a bit murky and beset with jargon.

Best wishes,

Trevor.
Ummm.? 250 MEGA byte? For 80 to 100 quid? I recently bought a 'flash' memory 'stick'  with 2 Giga Byte capacity, for about 28 Oz dollars, at a walk-in computer store. (I did think this was very cheap but the lass assured me she had the price right?) 4 Gig were about 50 + dollars. For what it's worth, I back up my Docs, etc. (The Daily Grind) every evening to this 'drive'. Things like address book etc. sit on another 250MB 'stick". Bit low tech but the 'value' of the stuff on my PC doesn't really demand much more.

Roger,

Brisbane.

I think Trevor meant Gigabyte as I've just purchased a 500GB external for 92 quid inc carriage.  I also recently bought a 8GB memory stick for 79.90 (around 57 quid) Euro at Carrefour in Bourg en Bresse.

 

Cheers for now

John  from Harrow Middx


posted: 13 Jul 2007 17:41

from:

donald peters
 
United Kingdom

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Hi Trevor,

Agree totally with the sentiments of your last para. Been following correspondence with interest.

As one of those duffers my question is simply: What version of Windows carries this "Safely Unplug Hardware" button (and/or where is it?)?

I  run  2000 at the moment and not noticed it.

Regards,

Donald

Templot User wrote:
----- from Trevor Shaw -----

If you are really nervous, you can unplug the USB hard drive, using the Windows "Safely Unplug Hardware* button and take it to bed with you.


posted: 13 Jul 2007 18:15

from:

Paul Boyd
 
Loughborough - United Kingdom

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As one of those duffers my question is simply: What version of Windows carries this "Safely Unplug Hardware" button (and/or where is it?)? I run 2000 at the moment and not noticed it.
I run XP Home and Pro (not on the same machine, obviously!!), and I've certainly never noticed it!  External USB hard drives can just be unplugged when you've finished with them.  Flash media though should be 'ejected' before you unplug it - this is a software eject only and ensures that all data is written - it doesn't physically eject the flash drive across the room :)    External hard drives don't have this option, so I assume it isn't necessary.

posted: 13 Jul 2007 18:55

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Paul Boyd wrote:
I run XP Home and Pro (not on the same machine, obviously!!), and I've certainly never noticed it!
Hi Donald, Paul,

Double-click on the lawn-mower icon (boxed yellow here):

safe_unplug.pngsafe_unplug.png

regards,

Martin.

posted: 13 Jul 2007 23:03

from:

Brian Lewis
 
United Kingdom

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Hi,

I have come up with this specification - a summation of your advices?

XP PRO

6700 PROCESSOR

2 x  80GB WESTON DIGITAL HARD DRIVES

8500GT SERIES GRAPHIC CARD

INTERNET 1500 CORDLESS DESKTOP  MOUSE + KEYBOARD

MODEM INT 56K PCI

MIDI ATX CASE

600W MODULAR ATX PSU

2 X SAMSUNG 20X DVD+/-R/RW/RAM SATA

2 X 2GBM DDRII 240PIN PC5400 NON-ECC CORSAIR RAM

ASUS P5N32 SLI PREMIUM 775 DDR2 MOTHERBOARD

22" TFT 5MS MM SILVER V7L22WD SCREEN

NEXUS 12CM SILENT CASE FAN

1  YEARS ON SITE WARRANTY

Novatech's depot is 4 miles from here and they can build this there, for me, in a week, at a cost of £1142 inc. VAT.

So,

a). Is the spec. good?

b). Does the price sound reasonable for the spec?

My thanks to everyone who contributed to this.
--

Regards

Brian Lewis
Carrs - C+L Finescale
http://www.finescale.org.uk
Tel: +44 1 275 852 027
Fax: +44 1 275 810 555

posted: 14 Jul 2007 00:24

from:

John Lewis
 
Croydon - United Kingdom

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Brian Lewis wrote:
2 x  80GB WESTON DIGITAL HARD DRIVES
You might check to see the price of larger hard drives (Assuming this is a desk top machine). I did not realize you could still get 80Gb drives for desktops!  :-)

I would suggest 2 x 250GB.

John


posted: 14 Jul 2007 01:48

from:

Brian Lewis
 
United Kingdom

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John Lewis wrote:
You might check to see the price of larger hard drives (Assuming this is a desk top machine). I did not realize you could still get 80Gb drives for desktops!  :-)

I would suggest 2 x 250GB.
Fair point John. But on my two existing computers one has 20GB of used space, the other 17GB. On that basis It seemed to me that 2 x 80GB drives would be more than ample.

Oh. I forgot to add in my earlier email. Additionally I have ordered AJC Active Backup - as suggested by Martin and a 80GB external hard drive.

Regards

Brian Lewis
Carrs - C+L Finescale
http://www.finescale.org.uk
Tel: +44 1 275 852 027
Fax: +44 1 275 810 555

posted: 14 Jul 2007 06:45

from:

Ken Murray-Taylor
 
 

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Hi

With this talk of large hard drives I am reminded of an item I read in a computer magazine some time ago. The gist was that an XP with pre-2003 bios could only manage a drive of upto 137Gb.

As my bios is 2002, could anyone comment, so I don't buy a drive that I can't use.

Ken

posted: 14 Jul 2007 15:25

from:

John Lewis
 
Croydon - United Kingdom

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Ken Murray-Taylor wrote:
With this talk of large hard drives I am reminded of an item I read in a computer magazine some time ago. The gist was that an XP with pre-2003 bios could only manage a drive of upto 137Gb.

As my bios is 2002, could anyone comment, so I don't buy a drive that I can't use.
I think you may need to talk to your PC manufacturer or motherboard manufacturer. If true, and subsequent patches to XP have not dealt with the problem, there may be a bios update.

Or partition the new hard drive?

John

posted: 14 Jul 2007 17:03

from:

donald peters
 
United Kingdom

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Martin Wynne wrote:
Double-click on the lawn-mower icon (boxed yellow here):

safe_unplug.pngsafe_unplug.png
Hi Paul and Martin,

Thanks for help. V-e-rrrrry interesting but not in Windows 2000 so something to look forward to.

You will see how far I live in the past when I admit I still regularly use my 1988 CAD software running a 2 screen station on a 386 + co-processor at 25 mHz with a go-faster graphics card and its software installs from 5.1/4" floppies. It has revolvable 3D graphics, wireframe (and solids if the user can spare the time) and its only failure thus far was the clock battery dying. It takes 15secs from power-on to full operational under MsDos.

Back to sleep, Donald

Thanks again.

Donald.

posted: 14 Jul 2007 19:33

from:

Rod Baxter
 
 

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Ken Murray-Taylor wrote:
With this talk of large hard drives I am reminded of an item I read in a computer magazine some time ago. The gist was that an XP with pre-2003 bios could only manage a drive of upto 137Gb.

As my bios is 2002, could anyone comment, so I don't buy a drive that I can't use.
As long as the XP you are using has SP2 (service pack 2) in it your drive can be larger than 137Gig.

Brian,

I know you have ordered your new PC anyway, but this is the regime I setup for my brother's business.

Each day he burns a DVD with the data file he uses for stock, inventory etc. These are not R/W, so that if he cannot read one, he can always go back a day. DVD's are cheap.

He has four hard disks which he cycles around one per week, and at the end of each day he runs a batch file that clones his main server disk to his plug-in hard drive.

This way he always has the data for the last four weeks on a hard drive, handy in case of viruses, operating system corruption etc, and he has a separate daily copy of his critical data file as well on a DVD.

It has proved useful as 30 minutes after leaving work one day a couple of years ago, his business was burnt to the ground, I was able to easily re-create his server and get him running again.

Belt and braces type of approach, but worth it.

And concerning your new PC, as its not going to be on the network, avoid Vista, it's too unstable at present, whereas XP with SP2 is quite reliable.

Just remember to defrag once a week and keep the backups up to date...

and test them from time to time....important!

Regards...

Rod.

posted: 15 Jul 2007 00:07

from:

Raymond Gibson
 
Jacksonville - Florida USA

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Brian,

Not sure if this will be of any value, but......I decided that the specification given by my British computer guys was not powerful enough for my needs (Templot, WordPerfect Office, TurboCad, etc.) & I want it to cope with any developments over the next ten years. Also, now living most of the time (between tours) in the U.S., I kept tabs on specifications over here.

What the British fellows told me was that the items in order of importance are:- 1) memory, 2) processor, 3) motherboard, 4) hard drive. Incidentally, their charge for system build & installing the existing software is £44.83.

Avoiding the ridiculous (Kingston 8GB memory for £4,200!), my current thinking is for....

Memory (RAM) Corsair 4096MB 800MHz £112.00

Processor (not decided between 5 Intels as yet but the cheapest on the list is Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66 GHz x 2 / 4MB / 1066 MHz £194.00 ($340.00 herein the States, so prices do not differ very much).

Others are the Quad Q6600 at £287.87, going through the Extreme QX 6700, the Duo X6800 to, finally, the QX 6800 at £724.00.

Motherboard may be the Asus P5W DH Delux ($210.00)

Hard drive Seagate Barracuda 500GB/16MB Serial ATA300, 7,200 rpm ($120.00). The 750 GB version costs $240.00 - the gain does not seem to justify the expense; a 1000GB/32MB Hitachi costs a phenomenal $450.00!!

Graphics card Geforce512MB 7300GT costs $55.00; 300MB $300.00;a Radeon 512MB X1650PRO $135.00.

My inclination is to go for the first of each item; should provide ample power. Hope this will be of some slight value in coming to a decision. Incidentally, make sure there is ample cooling if you go for a powerful computer (fans cost in the region of £79.00 to £175.00 - 700w to 1,000w).

Raymond.



Brian Lewis wrote:
Hi,

I have come up with this specification - a summation of your advices?

XP PRO

6700 PROCESSOR

2 x  80GB WESTON DIGITAL HARD DRIVES

8500GT SERIES GRAPHIC CARD

INTERNET 1500 CORDLESS DESKTOP  MOUSE + KEYBOARD

MODEM INT 56K PCI

MIDI ATX CASE

600W MODULAR ATX PSU

2 X SAMSUNG 20X DVD+/-R/RW/RAM SATA

2 X 2GBM DDRII 240PIN PC5400 NON-ECC CORSAIR RAM

ASUS P5N32 SLI PREMIUM 775 DDR2 MOTHERBOARD

22" TFT 5MS MM SILVER V7L22WD SCREEN

NEXUS 12CM SILENT CASE FAN

1  YEARS ON SITE WARRANTY

Novatech's depot is 4 miles from here and they can build this there, for me, in a week, at a cost of £1142 inc. VAT.

So,

a). Is the spec. good?

b). Does the price sound reasonable for the spec?

My thanks to everyone who contributed to this.
--

Regards

Brian Lewis
Carrs - C+L Finescale
http://www.finescale.org.uk
Tel: +44 1 275 852 027
Fax: +44 1 275 810 555

posted: 15 Jul 2007 05:13

from:

Templot User
 
Posted By Email

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----- from Trevor Shaw -----

Hi John,

I did indeed mean 250 megabytes.

Thanks for putting me right. This piece of hardware and Norton Ghost does me a complete update once a month and an incremental update every day. It cost me just over £100 (hardware and software) and was money well spent. I've several times used it to recover files and my son has used it to recover his whole hard drive after a virus infection.

Hi Donald,

The "safely disconnect hardware" button is right down the bottom right of my screen. Hover your mouse over all those buttons until you find it. If it's not there, sorry, can't help.

Best wishes,

Trevor.

posted: 22 Jul 2007 18:39

from:

Brian Lewis
 
United Kingdom

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Hi,

Well, I now have a new computer, based on the advice you gave - an my sincere thanks for all the help you gave.   It is blisteringly fast and for anyone whose eyesight is not what it was,  :( I can really recommend a 22" wide screen.

Trying to keep up with trends, once the machione was set up as I wanted it, I purchased a Skype telephone. So far the only person I know how to contact is David Rogers at Ultrascale and he has inserted a Skype link on the contacts page. I haven't quite got this right, as I have not yet got the beast to ring, but I know it works otherwise, as I saw the 'You have a call' pop up on the screen and I can contact David. (If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would be delighted to hear from them).

Running Templot on  a 22" screen should be a treat - I have loaded the program but need to get an unlock code from Martin,

Just broke off to look at the one o'clock news. Gloucestershire is used to flooding - there is a local saying, 'The River Severn lies in Gloucestershire; but there are times when Gloucestershire lies in the River Severn', but this is unbelievable. I hope no Templot forum members are affected.

Regards

Brian Lewis

posted: 22 Jul 2007 19:10

from:

Paul Boyd
 
Loughborough - United Kingdom

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Hi Brian

Well, I now have a new computer, based on the advice you gave - an my sincere thanks for all the help you gave. It is blisteringly fast and for anyone whose eyesight is not what it was, :( I can really recommend a 22" wide screen.
Even better would be two 22" wide-screen monitors :)

Trying to keep up with trends, once the machine was set up as I wanted it, I purchased a Skype telephone. So far the only person I know how to contact is David Rogers at Ultrascale and he has inserted a Skype link on the contacts page. I haven't quite got this right, as I have not yet got the beast to ring, but I know it works otherwise, as I saw the 'You have a call' pop up on the screen and I can contact David. (If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would be delighted to hear from them).
I work in WSM, but the head office is in Chippenham.  The boss's IT manager decreed that we shouldn't be spending money on phone calls to each other and installed Skype at each end.  Suffice it to say that after trying to use it, the boss and myself agreed to give up on the idea...
Just broke off to look at the one o'clock news. Gloucestershire is used to flooding - there is a local saying, 'The River Severn lies in Gloucestershire; but there are times when Gloucestershire lies in the River Severn', but this is unbelievable. I hope no Templot forum members are affected.
I'm not affected, but I am getting mildly anxious!  Parts of WSM were under around 8" of water last week, and my car had water about 1.5" up it's tyres whilst parked on the drive at one point - this was basically a large puddle, but that just doesn't happen!  Hopefully the geography will prevent the horrendously deep floods other people have had, as the water will run off into the sea - won't it?????

posted: 22 Jul 2007 22:26

from:

Martin Wynne
 
West Of The Severn - United Kingdom

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Brian Lewis wrote:
Trying to keep up with trends, once the machine was set up as I wanted it, I purchased a Skype telephone. So far the only person I know how to contact is David Rogers at Ultrascale and he has inserted a Skype link on the contacts page. I haven't quite got this right, as I have not yet got the beast to ring, but I know it works otherwise, as I saw the 'You have a call' pop up on the screen and I can contact David. (If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would be delighted to hear from them).
Hi Brian,

There are several known problems with Skype and Windows, especially Vista. There was a new beta version for Skype released in the last few days with a long list of bug fixes:

 skype beta page

p.s. Brian, are you aware as a Nildram broadband customer that you can get 500 free minutes of 01 and 02 landline calls every month? Any time of day. See the Nildram site.

regards,

Martin.



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