Hardware

Is My Hard Drive Failing?

By terry Leave a Comment

Reader Jerry wrote about a problem he was having when he tried to make a backup image using Acronis True Image…

Terry I want to make a hard drive image for a backup so that when I have to reinstall my windows and programs all I have to do is copy the image to the drive I want to use, what is a good program to use I tried acronis and I couldn’t make it work. It kept saying that certain sectors could not be read so I told it to ignore them (else it would not continue) and when it finished I tried using the drive and it would not boot. I’m using XP.
Jerry

I wrotte to Jerry to tell him thatt if certain sectors of a hard drive can not be read, it sounds like the hard drive is failing.

IDE and SATA hard drives have…

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Filed Under: Hard drive, Hardware, PC Repairs, Terry's Computer Tips

Catastrophic Hard Drive Failure

By terry Leave a Comment

Reader Jeanne Wright wrote me about her recent hard drive failure:

My computer just crashed and I had to have a new hard drive installed. Is there any way to get the information on my files and folders from the old hard drive? If so, where can I find someone to do this? Needless to say, I had NOT backed up my computer before all this happened. Thanks!

I wrote back to Jeanne to say that, depending on the nature of the hard drive failure, her data may or may not be recoverable at a reasonable price.

Continue reading Catastrophic Hard Drive Failure

Filed Under: Backup, Hard drive, Hardware, PC Repairs, Terry's Computer Tips, Troubleshooting, Upgrades

Converting Vinyl LP Records to Digital

By terry Leave a Comment

Subscriber Cary wrote with questions about project common to many people:

I’m starting a little project to record about 100 vinyl LPs to mp3s on my hard drive. I\’m looking for free software that will let me record a line-in source. I\’ve heard that Audacity is very good, but one critical feature I want is for the software to recognize a few seconds of silence as the end/beginning of a song and stop/re-start recording a new song. Otherwise, I\’ll end up with one very long mp3 that is basically the contents of the entire album. Do you have any recommendations? Cary

Cary

Having dreamed the same dream, let me say that you just wish you could do it in one step. Remember that your digitizing process is the most fixed in real time — a 45 minute album will take 45 minutes plus startup and shutdown of the record process.

I discovered very quickly that the idea of digitizing and immediately breaking into cuts made me do the recording over and over.

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Filed Under: Hardware, HowTo, Software, Terry's Computer Tips, Usability

Re-connecting after using Safely Remove Hardware

By terry Leave a Comment

Subscriber Peter Dunckelmann wrote recently to ask about disconnecting and reconnecting his external hard drive from Windows using the “Safely Remove Hardware” function. Although I wrote back to Peterseveral times, he’s got a Yahoo account, and Yahoo rejected my emails to him — it accepted some other emails I sent, so it just looks like Yahoo email is having some problems.

Hi Terry

When clicking the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the taskbar and removing a storage device, such as a USB external hard drive, but not unplugging the device, the icon of that particular device disappears from the desktop and seems inaccessible. The question is, how can I re-enable the removed but still plugged-in device? I am using WIN Vista Ultimate.

Thanking you in advance

Regards
Peter

The answer is relatively simple, but probably is not the one for which Peter was hoping…

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Filed Under: Flash Drives, Hardware, HowTo, Stability, Storage, Terry's Computer Tips

Save up to $189 instantly on the HP Pavilion dv6700z Customizable Notebook

By terry Leave a Comment

Save up to $189 instantly on the HP Pavilion dv6700z Customizable Notebook

Includes $100 instant rebate, FREE upgrade from 120GB to 160GB hard drive ($25 value), Free upgrade to Lightscribe ($15 value), FREE Kung Fu Panda Skin, and get FREE shipping ($49 value).
Save $189 instantly on the HP Pavilion dv6700z customizable Notebook

Note: This special deal is available June 22 – June 24, 2008
No coupon necessary!

Filed Under: Coupon Codes, Hardware, Notebook computer, Sales

Save up to $229 instantly on the HP Pavilion s3400t Customizable Desktop

By terry Leave a Comment

Save up to $229 instantly on the HP Pavilion s3400t Customizable Desktop

Includes $100 instant rebate, FREE upgrade to 500GB hard drive ($50 value), FREE shipping ($29 value) and a $50 instant rebate on LCD monitors.
Save up to $229 instantly on the HP Pavilion s3400t Customizable Desktop

Note: This special deal is available June 22 – June 24, 2008
No coupon necessary!

Filed Under: Hardware, Notebook computer, Sales

Save up to $328 instantly on the HP Pavilion m9200z Elite Customizable Desktop

By terry Leave a Comment

Save up to $328 instantly on the HP Pavilion m9200z Elite Customizable Desktop

Includes 100 instant rebate, FREE upgrade to 750GB hard drive ($100 value), FREE Norton Internet Security subscription ($49 value), FREE shipping ($29 value) and a $50 instant rebate on LCD monitors.
Save up to $328 instantly on the HP Pavilion m9200z Elite Customizable Desktop

Note: This special deal is available June 22 – June 24, 2008
No coupon necessary!

Filed Under: Hardware, Notebook computer, Sales

Save up to $324 instantly on the HP Pavilion dv9700t Customizable Notebook

By terry Leave a Comment

Save up to $324 instantly on the HP Pavilion dv9700t Customizable Notebook

Includes $150 instant rebate, FREE 320GB hard drive upgrade ($75 value), 50% off discrete graphics ($50 value), FREE upgrade to fingerprint reader ($25 value), FREE Kung Fu Panda Skin, and get FREE shipping ($49 value)
Save up to $324 instantly on the HP dv9700t Customizable Notebook!

Note: This special deal is available June 22 – June 24, 2008
No coupon necessary!

Filed Under: Hardware, Notebook computer, Sales

HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC

By terry Leave a Comment

Customizable HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC

Save up to $574 instantly on the HP Pavilion HDX Customizable Notebook
Includes $200 instant rebate, FREE upgrade to 320GB hard drive ($75 value), FREE premium software bundle ($250 value), and get FREE shipping ($49 value)
Save up to $574 instantly on the HP Pavilion HDX Customizable Notebook

Note: This special deal is available June 22 – June 24, 2008
No coupon necessary!

Filed Under: Hardware, Notebook computer, Sales

Why Buy a Notebook Computer?

By terry Leave a Comment

I’ve mentioned many times that my main computer is my notebook computer. Sure, I have a desktop computer, too, I just don’t use it very much.

Before getting my Inspiron 8600 in 2004, my primary computer was a Dell Inspiron 5000, which was also a notebook. That notebook taught me a number of important things to consider when buying a notebook — especially when buying one to be the main computer.

First, and foremost, you should consider why you even want a notebook.

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Filed Under: Hardware, Terry's Computer Tips