Backup and Ease Up Program Overhaul
In the last couple of weeks we have seen a larger than usual number of customers joining us with disasters on hand because they have no backup of their important data. It is VERY important to realise that even putting your data on a ‘backup drive’ is not like chiselling it into stone. We often see the case where the customer has shifted all of their important data off their PC or laptop to help speed it up – this does not actually work and they are falling into the trap of having everything on only one hard drive. Hard drives whether they are in a laptop/PC or in a portable device are subject to unexpected failure. If your PC/laptop only has a small hard drive and you have lots of photos/files then you will need to have 2 external backup drives and keep a copy of your data on each.
If your computer is running slow and there are no viruses or malware on it then 9 times out of 10 it has more to do with marketing than anything else. Hardware vendors not only want to package their computer in a glossy box but they also want to show that they include heaps of software with it. Some will be trial versions and some will be a full version but buyer beware.
The more software (programs) that you install on your PC the slower it will work and the longer it will take to boot. Some hardware – especially cameras come with 6 or more different software packages that rob your PC of its performance and in many cases you didn’t even need to run the disk and install anything. Windows 7 and 8 already have many wizards built in such as the “Camera and Scanner Wizard” which will simply and efficiently move photos from your camera to a folder on your PC that you specify.
One of the biggest misconceptions about a slow PC is that it has too many files or photos or emails –this does not slow it down unless the hard drive is completely full. It is the number of programs that slow a PC down. In fact if you install too many programs your PC can get to the point of no return whereby even if you uninstall them it’s operating system is already corrupt and it will always run slow without a full reformat and reinstall (hours of work only for the really technically minded). Think of software programs as like a load on a truck – the more load the slower the truck will go until you get to the point of putting too much on and having a complete breakdown!
Never have more than one virus scanner, one photo editor, one music program and always uninstall old printers that get replaced. If you have to run an installation CD then select “custom install” and deselect all of the extra software except for the essential components.
Future Byte Me topics can be emailed to [email protected] and Bruce is contactable at Kerr Solutions, 205 Musgrave Street or on 49 222 400.
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