Tiplet expert tips & tech support

March 16, 2009

How to Transfer Files From Drive to Drive

Filed under: computer hardware,computer performance,data storage and recovery,file transfer,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: I figured it would be cheaper to buy an external hard drive and free up some space on my C: drive and in turn give me more speed and memory back, versus buying a whole new computer. So, my question is: How do I transfer files, programs, etc. from my C: internal hard drive to my new G: external hard drive? – Richard

Richard wants to “free up some disk space” (available memory won’t be affected by moving files) so I would recommend moving only user data files at first. That should free up quite a bit of space. Leave Windows and existing program files where they are. Install new programs on the external drive.

In increasing order of difficulty, here are ways to move user data, program files, and Windows itself:
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March 10, 2009

How and Why to Keep Data and Applications on Separate Drives

Filed under: computer performance,data storage and recovery,Windows — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by David Hakala

When you create a user account under Windows, the operating system sets up a number of different folders to contain data specific to that user. These folders are placed on the same drive with the Windows operating systems files by default. There are some good reasons to change the location of these user files to a drive other than the one which Windows resides.

First, it makes backup operations faster and more efficient. User data changes very frequently, while the operating system changes seldom. If you make backups daily, as you should, then your backup program must a) work to sort changed files from unchanged files before backing up only the changed files, or b) back up unchanged files unnecessarily. Either way, backups take longer and consume more system resources while they are running, slowing down other things you may be doing.
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March 7, 2009

Help, My Task Manager Is Disabled

Filed under: computer performance,data storage and recovery,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by David Hakala

Windows’ built-in Task Manager is a pretty useful tool. It can help you shut down programs that are frozen or misbehaving. It can even shut down background processes that may be causing problems. Many people use Task Manager almost every day, so they are startled when they click on the Taskbar or press Ctl-Alt-Del and get something like this:

“Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator.”

If you work in an office that has a systems administrator go talk to him or her about the problem. But if you don’t have an administrator, how did Task Manager get disabled and how can you turn it back on?
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March 6, 2009

Should You Worry About Backing Up Gmail?

Filed under: data storage and recovery,e-mail,Internet — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

Gmail is Google’s web mail service. It’s popular, easy to use, and free. One of the best features of Gmail is that it is easy to archive messages that you’ve already read, and search for them later using Google’s search technology. Google says you’ll never have to delete another message – they give you 7 GB of storage space for free. For that reason, some people have taken to using Gmail like a backup storage service by emailing files to themselves.
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March 5, 2009

How to Delete or Move a File That Is “In Use By Another User Or Program”

Filed under: applications,computer performance,data storage and recovery,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by David Hakala

Have you ever encountered one of these error messages when you tried to delete or move a file on your Windows machine?

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.
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How to Use SuperDuper to Make Backups and Bootable Mac Disks

Filed under: applications,computer hardware,data storage and recovery,Macintosh — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 9:00 am

by David Strom

After having my laptop stolen from the trunk of my locked car in a shopping mall parking lot, I am very paranoid about making copies of my data. Apple’s latest version of the Mac OS includes backup software called Time Machine that will make regular copies of the files on your hard drive. But what if you aren’t running this version (10.5) or want to use something else? My recommendation is a product called SuperDuper. You can try it for free with some limitations before you purchase a copy for less than $30.
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February 26, 2009

How to Install Recovery Console After Installing Service Pack

Filed under: computer performance,data storage and recovery,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 9:05 am

by David Hakala

The article is a supplement to the Tiplet on how to Install and Use the Recovery Console in Windows XP. This one covers the case in which you receive an error message while installing Recovery Console similar to this one:

Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is newer than the version on the CD.
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Install and Use the Recovery Console in Windows XP

Filed under: computer performance,data storage and recovery,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:00 am

by David Hakala

When something goes horribly wrong and you cannot get Windows to load at all, the Recovery Console can be your salvation. The unthinkable alternative is to re-install Windows, formatting the drive and wiping out all your data and added programs. Every Windows PC should have the Recovery Console installed.

But the Recovery Console is not installed by default. Here is how to add it and use it to recover from catastrophe:
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February 25, 2009

How to Install a Second IDE Hard Drive

Filed under: computer hardware,data storage and recovery — Tags: , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

If you’re running out of hard drive space, one option is to install a new internal hard drive. You don’t have to take your computer to a professional to have this done. It’s much more economical to do it yourself. If you’re intimidated by that thought, don’t be. Opening up your computer and putting in a hard drive is actually pretty easy. These instructions are for installing a second IDE hard drive on a computer with an existing IDE hard drive.
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February 24, 2009

How to Use an External Hard Drive to Back Up Photos and Other Important Files

Filed under: computer hardware,data storage and recovery,privacy & security — Tags: , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

If you’re in need of extra storage space for your digital photo or music collection, or you’d just like to back up those files in case the inevitable hard drive failure happens, one of the easiest ways to add more space to your PC is by adding an external hard drive that connects via USB. An external hard drive is inexpensive, portable, and very easy to use.
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February 23, 2009

How to Restore Your Computer to an Earlier Configuration Using System Restore

Filed under: computer hardware,computer performance,data storage and recovery,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

If you get into trouble with some spyware, or you install a program or a piece of hardware that just doesn’t play nice with your computer, what can you do? You may have heard that using System Restore is a good way to “reset” your PC back to an earlier time, before the problems started happening. But what is System Restore, and how do you use it?
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