Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:24:25 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie is
Here wrote:

HK wrote:
JimH wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Jan 10, 8:07 am, John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough
room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is
FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD
that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."
Don't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. Just by a new
big external HD, they are cheap.

What's next? A treatise on computer science from the ReggieJerk that
summarizes something he read somewhere?

All Herring has to do is CONVERT the drive from FAT32 to NTFS. It is
a simple, straightforward procedure and the data on the drive will
still be there.


This is turning out to be just as funny as the battery charger thread
he started.

BTW: You were spot on regarding conversion of FAT32 to NTFS. Even a
10 year old kid can do it w/o a problem.



It obviously is too complicated a procedure for many of the "computer
experts" here, who suggested he needed a new hard drive, a new computer,
a new operating system, a new hairpiece, new teeth, whatever. Some of
these "computer experts" probably have the same level of "boating
expertise."






It is cute to watch Harry and JimH high fiving each other over this.
The only thing missing is for Don to repeat whatever harry says.


He might be at work. Give him a chance.

JimH took no time for his comments. He's wrong, but so what? Being wrong
doesn't seem to bother him much.
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:54:37 -0600, Del Cecchi
wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:10:30 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

Now what?
Buy a new computer.

Yeah but..yeah, but... oh ****.

Rather than using backup, can you just copy the files manually using
windows explorer. Or perhaps different backup software?

That's what I've been doing. Do you delete all the old folders and files
first, or do you just copy on top of the old?
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

"John H." wrote in message
...
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H


When you get this working properly, where will the external hard drive be
kept most of the time?

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:07:37 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
. ..
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H


When you get this working properly, where will the external hard drive be
kept most of the time?


One step at a time, Doug. That issue was part of why I suggested the
idea of buying another drive for this project to John. :')



Small enough to fit his safe deposit box at the bank, right? :-)

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:48:22 GMT, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:43:15 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:14:08 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:41:43 -0500, HK wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

You have a couple of options.

If there is enough room on your computer's harddrive, copy the
archives there temporarily while you work on the external drive. Then
you can use a program called "Partition Magic" to do the
reconfiguration without risk to your archives. Partition Magic "could"
do the conversion with the files in place, BUT: No matter what method
you use to convert the disk to NTFS, the only way to guarantee your
files will be safe is to back them up somewhere else.


The other option is to buy another external hard drive. They are dirt
cheap these days. Newegg is very reliable to deal with and has a ton
of external drives to chose from. They even have a no name 160gb drive
for less than $70 including shipping. I've got several Maxtor's and
they have been great. Still relatively cheap.


I also HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT use Windows Backup for
anything you care about. The reason is simple: When you want to
recover those backups a couple of years from now, you will find that
every new version of Windows has a new version of windows backup, and
they are NOT compatible! Use a separate backup program.




Jesus. This is overkill. It is a relatively trivial task to convert a
drive from FAT32 to the New Technology File System, aka NTFS. There's a
simple procedure to accomplish it, which I posted here. You can do it
without losing the data on the hard drive. I've done it a few times
without any problems.

I don't care if you've done it a thousand times with no problem. It's
HIS data on the drive, and he said he doesn't want to lose it. I
believe him, and took that into account.

You have firmly established your lack of computer expertise in many
previous posts. Now you are recommending that he risk data he said he
doesn't want to lose. Guess what? You could cross the freeway
blindfolded as many times as you've converted drives while they have
data on them, and you might survive every time, as well. Please try
THAT experiment and get back to us.

One more time:
"No matter what method you use to convert the disk to NTFS, the only
way to guarantee your files will be safe is to back them up somewhere
else"

Which is the same advice Microsoft gives.

It's also just plain common sense.

The difference between me and HK is that I am presently employed by a
medium sized city (one of the larger cities in Connecticut) to oversee
the entire city network, which includes all city departments, Police,
Fire, Utilities, school system and libraries. A few more than 40
servers, and 2500+ desktops.

And this is my "retirement job"!


Just keep in mind that Harry's probably managed *two* large city networks
(LA and NYC, for example), with at least 100 servers, and well over 5000+
desktops.
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:07:37 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
.. .
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H


When you get this working properly, where will the external hard drive be
kept most of the time?

Same place.
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:21:58 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

wrote in message
. ..
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:07:37 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
m...
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough
room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is
FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that
I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H


When you get this working properly, where will the external hard drive
be
kept most of the time?


One step at a time, Doug. That issue was part of why I suggested the
idea of buying another drive for this project to John. :')



Small enough to fit his safe deposit box at the bank, right? :-)


Probably, but that wouldn't be such a great spot for it. As I'm SURE
you know, the biggest failure of any backup plan is that if it is too
inconvenient, it won't get done. A backup stored onsite is 1000%
better than a backup that doesn't get done.

I do my backup onto an external drive and bring it to the office.


John doesn't have an office. So, when his "onsite" burns to the ground,
there goes his backup hardware, too. I'm in the same situation. I have a
choice to make: Two sets of media, one of which I can't get to if the bank
is closed. Or, no off-site media, and then I'm phuqued if the place burns
down.

Off site doesn't mean the backup doesn't get done. Use the one at home for a
week, then take it to the the safe deposit box and swap for the other one.
Or, someone else's house. Anything's better than storing all your backup
media in the same building. No sane corporation does that, unless they have
a storage arrangement like a bank's.

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

"John H." wrote in message
...
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:07:37 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
. ..
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H


When you get this working properly, where will the external hard drive be
kept most of the time?

Same place.
--
John H


Then, you are protecting yourself against only one type of catastrophe: A
computer hardware failure. Storing both drives in the same building means
that when the building burns to the ground, you lose everything. Got a safe
deposit box at the bank, or is there another location where you could store
one of the drives?

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:50:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:07:37 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
...
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H


When you get this working properly, where will the external hard drive be
kept most of the time?

Same place.
--
John H


Then, you are protecting yourself against only one type of catastrophe: A
computer hardware failure. Storing both drives in the same building means
that when the building burns to the ground, you lose everything. Got a safe
deposit box at the bank, or is there another location where you could store
one of the drives?


Good idea. I wouldn't store a drive anywhere else, but putting some data on
CD's and into the safe deposit box is an idea I hadn't thought of.

Thanks.
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:21:58 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:07:37 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
...
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough
room
for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is
FAT
32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that
I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

When you get this working properly, where will the external hard drive
be
kept most of the time?

One step at a time, Doug. That issue was part of why I suggested the
idea of buying another drive for this project to John. :')


Small enough to fit his safe deposit box at the bank, right? :-)

Probably, but that wouldn't be such a great spot for it. As I'm SURE
you know, the biggest failure of any backup plan is that if it is too
inconvenient, it won't get done. A backup stored onsite is 1000%
better than a backup that doesn't get done.

I do my backup onto an external drive and bring it to the office.


John doesn't have an office. So, when his "onsite" burns to the ground,
there goes his backup hardware, too. I'm in the same situation. I have a
choice to make: Two sets of media, one of which I can't get to if the bank
is closed. Or, no off-site media, and then I'm phuqued if the place burns
down.

Off site doesn't mean the backup doesn't get done. Use the one at home for a
week, then take it to the the safe deposit box and swap for the other one.
Or, someone else's house. Anything's better than storing all your backup
media in the same building. No sane corporation does that, unless they have
a storage arrangement like a bank's.




Feh.

I bought a used "two hour" fire safe at a bankruptcy auction to store
papers, valuables, guns and my computer backup drives. I also use an
"on-line" storage site to hold important data files.

The safe was a "steal," but it cost me mucho dinero to get it delivered
and brought into the basement. Damn thing must weigh at least half a ton.