Easy Ways to back up your Computer
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tonight on WRAL news there will be a story on how to back up your computer. That is great if you are in the Raleigh area but if you're not, or if you would just rather hear it from a technician, here's our blog post on backing up.
We're asked this often- how should it be backed up? For most people the solution is simple.
Why back it up? Your hard drive is going to crash. We tell this to people all of the time. It is not IF but WHEN. Your hard drive is a cheap piece of equipment spinning at 4,200-10,000RPM. When it crashes, your data can be completely lost. We see it multiple times each day. Sometimes, using one of our data recovery services we can retrieve some of it, but sometimes the data is completely lost.
Again, there are several ways to back up your data. Keep in mind that in the event of a major system crash your programs will need to be reinstalled, unless you have an advanced backup utility. The main gist of this article though is how to keep backed up the irreplaceable files- baby pictures, last year's tax return, grandma's apple pie recipe, etc.
Options:
1. Burn the data to a CD or DVD. Almost all modern computers have this option and blank CDs cost as little 10 cents. Simply select and burn your documents, pictures, email database, etc to a CD or DVD. Most DVDRW drives also burn dual layer DVDs which hold over 8GB data.
2. Flash drive! A 2GB flash drive goes for $7 or so. Keep in mind these go bad also, so sometimes you need a backup for your backup. At this price buy a few of them. They also come in much larger sizes. These are also known as thumb drives, flash memory, USB sticks, jump drives, etc.
3. External hard drive. This is a great option if you have large amounts of data to save. A 1TB drive will hold a whole terrabyte of data and is currently around $100. These are susceptible to eventually crashing as well.
4. Network hard drive. Almost the same as above, but this is a hard drive that lives on your network. More advanced users or companies use NAS units (network attached storage).
5. Online. If you need off-site storage of your data, or if you just like paying monthly fees, you can get some online storage. One of the latest offerings for online storage is Microsoft's "SkyDrive" (visit the site here). The site currently offers 25GB free storage.
6. Clone. Some people must have an immediate, ready to go solution. We have a customer who carries around 2 identical laptops. If one fails he can immediately start using the second machine. He clones his hard drive the another weekly using a software such as Acronis.
There are more ways to back up data but the above are the most common.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 9:04 AM,
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Laptop Specials, July 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Laptop Specials! While supplies last! Perfect for student, home or business use.
IBM ThinkPad R60, Windows XP Pro, Core Duo 1.8Ghz, 2GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, 14" screen. Fingerprint reader, DVD/CDRW.
$379.
IBM ThinkPad T61, Centrino vPro, like new w/ new battery and new 160GB hard drive. This machine is under warranty until April 2011, has Wireless, a 14" Widescreen & Vista Business.
$649.
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IBM ThinkPad T60, Rock Solid machines! Centrino Duo 1.8Ghz, 80GB-160GB hard drives, XP, 2GB RAM, Wireless- these are just great all around machines. Specs vary a little from machine to machine but for the most part they cost right around:
$499.
Dell Inspiron 1501, AMD Dual Core 1.8Ghz, XP, 2GB RAM, Wireless, 100GB hard drive, Decent battery, glossy 15.4" Widescreen, DVD/CDRW.
$369.
Toshiba M45, XP, Wireless, 15.4" Widescreen, DVD+-RW, 1GB RAM.
$349.
We also have several laptops in the $149-$299 range, these will be 1-2Ghz and have very basic specs.
We also have 3Ghz, 1GB, 100GB, XP Desktops $199 or less.
Absolute Computers
www.AbsoluteRaleigh.com
919-468-3999
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 10:56 AM,
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How To Disable Embarq Redirect Search Page.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
One of our customers had a unique question for us earlier. Some of his searches were being redirected to an Embaq results page. He said that this would happen if he had a poor wireless signal or went to a page that did not exist. He wanted the standard "page not found" screen rather than a bunch of links. Our first reaction was to mention OpenDNS then we turned up this link here search.embarq.com/prefs.php which allows one to opt out of the "Embarq redirect service." The page also has an available content filter.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 9:54 AM,
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Open Saturdays starting July 11, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
Starting July 11, 2009 we'll be open on Saturday from 9:00AM to 2:00PM.
These new hours will be a trial run but we think the changes will be permanent.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 12:06 PM,
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July 4, 2009
Happy Fourth of July!!
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 11:59 AM,
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Melissa Foster Apex, NC writes bad checks
Melissa Foster of Apex, NC has written a bad check to Absolute Computers. Over the last few months she had contacted us and told us she would make good on the check but failed to do so. She also refused to return the stolen merchandise.
Do not accept her checks as they are worthless and an attempt to defraud you. The bank account is not even open. She is a criminal with an arrest record and a probation officer.
We located and informed her current probation officer that she is still defrauding local businesses.
She is currently in hiding but if you have a current address or phone number we can reach Melissa Foster at please contact us with it so that we can turn her over to the proper authorities and proceed with legal actions. (We will keep your information anonymous if you wish.)
Labels: Melissa_Foster
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 11:43 AM,
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