Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:10:35 GMT, wrote:

And major corporations generally hire a service that comes and swaps
backup media on a schedule, and takes the fresh backups offsite.

Actually not, been there, done that. Iron Mountain is just about
passe for big IT. Remote replication in close to "real time" is the
way of the future. EMC showed the way, everyone else is following.

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:11:25 -0500, WaIIy 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).

I think your problem is file size. If I recall correctly, a Fat32 file
can be no larger than about 4 gigs.

I think the Windows utility made one giant file.

The Windows backup system sucks.

Get something like Second Copy....


http://www.centered.com/

A good freeware...



http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp

You're correct about the file size and the making of one giant file. Once
the size hit 4gigs, the backup stopped.

Thanks for the freeware site. That looks inter4esting. Have you used it
(the karenware)?
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:09:07 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:08:04 -0500, "Eisboch"
wrote:

I have Windows 98SE on an older laptop that I use for a midi interface and
sequencer for the keyboards. It runs fine, but I haven't used it on the
'Net for a long time. The other computers, (this one on the boat) and my HP
both run XP.

I am no computer guru, but XP Pro has been the most stable Microsoft OS
since Windows 3.1, in my experience.

I run XP Pro on my primary laptop because it came that way but all of
my other machines run Win2K. I've probably overlooked a few but there
are only two things about XP that I perceive to be an improvement:
The image/slideshow viewer, and the network "repair" function.

Vista? Who needs it. Maybe after SP3 or so.

IrfanView has a great slideshow/image viewer, and does well at small
changes to images. It's still free.

http://www.irfanview.com/
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:14:20 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:10:35 GMT, wrote:

I even know one guy who keeps his backups in his
pickup truck parked outside. Tupperware is a beautiful thing!

Some of us here even own boats.

Imagine that.

Hell, some of us own the boats we *say* we own!
--
John H

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:10:34 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

It's like buying a new car because the style changed.

Um....

Never mind. :)

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:15:39 -0500, wrote:

XP boots a hell of a lot faster than 2000 and has native support for far more
hardware.

It does boot faster but I don't boot very often.

With hardware I usually go out to the vendor site for the latest
drivers.

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:25:16 -0500, wrote:

And major corporations generally hire a service that comes and swaps
backup media on a schedule, and takes the fresh backups offsite.

Actually not, been there, done that. Iron Mountain is just about
passe for big IT. Remote replication in close to "real time" is the
way of the future. EMC showed the way, everyone else is following.

Alcohol is not your friend Wayne. Really.

FU and the horse you rode in on...

If your shop is not doing remote replication, either you are *not* big
IT which is entirely possible, or your outfit is living in the past.

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

wrote in message
...
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"!

Any you use Microsoft for anything critical?

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

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.

Thus spoke the PR flak.

Help needed - Computer stuff
 

HK wrote:
wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:03:00 -0500, HK wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:00:27 -0500, HK wrote:

wrote:

Damn!
So, what sort of boat do you own, and where do you keep it?
Why? Need a place to sleep?



I have a feeling the closest you get to deep water is during your
weekly sheep dip.

I'm glad for you.



So, where in New Haven do you live...

Why don't you hire a PI to build a dossier on him? Or, you could do the
legwork your self.