Messages

51

Living Room / Re: Backup Strategy: "The Threes"

« on: June 14, 2011, 12:26 PM »

What I really need to do is make a visual graphic of the setup I need.  That will help me a lot, and I'm sure you guys would like it also.

-superboyac (June 14, 2011, 12:24 PM)

That would be nice to have a visual, yeah.

52

Living Room / Re: Show us the View Outside Your Window

« on: June 14, 2011, 03:57 AM »

Arizona Hot, whereabouts are you at? I'm plop down in the center of Glendale; just went outside to call a friend without waking up the whole family and came back in sweating

53

Living Room / Re: Backup Strategy: "The Threes"

« on: June 14, 2011, 01:13 AM »

Depends on the RAID controller, I believe. Some might have built-in tools to rebuild the array, and sometimes they require you to destroy the array and sometimes even wipe the drives and restart again (I don't think that applies to RAID-1 though, just 0).

For RAID-1, you might have to use something like Easeus Disk Copy to copy the data, then re-configure the array. I've never dealt with RAID as far as maintenance/fixing one, so what I know is few and far between. And running with just one drive in the array also depends on the controller, AFAIK (you might have to destroy the array and rebuild it later to continue using the machine). Maybe someone who knows can chime in and confirm?

54

Living Room / Re: Backup Strategy: "The Threes"

« on: June 14, 2011, 12:59 AM »

I can't vouch for the paid version, but SyncBack is a great backup application. I used to use it on my dad's computer and it saved him deleted files many many times.

55

Living Room / Re: Backup Strategy: "The Threes"

« on: June 13, 2011, 10:46 PM »

...Unless you want the speed of a RAID-0 setup. And I would see RAID-1 as logical because when one drive fails, you go out and buy a new drive and then just re-duplicate the data and move on (no restoration process, fastest system possible). Makes drive failure as convenient as possible.

56

Living Room / Re: SSD Drives - something to consider before taking the plunge

« on: June 13, 2011, 10:33 PM »

Reviving the thread here, but I figured I'd mention it:

I have a Corsair Nova V32 installed in this computer, and there were mixed reviews on NewEgg about it: some were saying it had been running great, others (about 5 out of several pages of 10 each) were saying around the 9-12 month mark, it was crapping out. I was shopping around for a while before I decided to chance it. I went down to the local Fry's Electronics (not wanting to wait for shipping) and had them price match it to NewEgg (saving me ~$25 before taxes). They mentioned that I wouldn't be able to give me a rebate form if I price matched, so I should do the rebate instead of price matching (saving me another $5, and it makes the store look bad to price match, as they have to document it and send it up to "corporate"). I declined and went up to pay and get my SSD, and the gal at the counter gave me my rebate form and rebate recept. I left the store paying $55 (after taxes) for an SSD going for twice as much off the shelf at Fry's, $30 more at NewEgg, leaving with more cash than expected, a thus-far reliable SSD, and a huge grin.

FWIW, I've filled the SSD (to 0 bytes remaining) several times (most recently today, actually; 7zip... ), and it's still going strong. I accidentally started Defraggler on it too a month or so ago, out of habit. It got about 50% done before I realized what I had started. TRIM enabled on Win7, still as fast as the day I bought it.

Link for the interested: http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16820233122

57

Living Room / Re: Backup Strategy: "The Threes"

« on: June 13, 2011, 10:17 PM »

The way I keep backups of files is quite simple (at least as I see it):

I have a 32GB SSD with Windows + a couple games on it, and a 1.5TB WD Caviar Black HD with games, large programs, and personal folders (Desktop/Docs/Pictures/Videos/Music/Downloads) in this machine. Running on it is a copy of Jungle Disk (for file sharing between machines, file archival, and the like), Syncplicity (which I am currently searching out a suitable replacement for), SpiderOak (what I was hoping to use as the Syncplicity replacement, alas I cannot get it to work how I like), and the built-in Windows 7 Backup tool.

• Jungle Disk is used to keep files that I will want later on, that I want to access easily on remote machines (via the web interface), etc.
  
• Syncplicity is used to sync files (Desktop/Documents/Pictures/Music) between all my machines + the Syncplicity servers. It also does file versioning for 30 days, and deleted file recovery for 30 days (longer times available for paid accounts, but I'm cheap ). This keeps me safe from a drive failure, because the data will be accessible on every machine, plus on the web. After replacing a drive, I re-add the computer to the account, and the files download back automatically.
  
• SpiderOak was theoretically going to replace Syncplicity, however when trying to add my netbook's folders to my SO account, it says that I am over-quota (even though the identical data is already in the SO account because it was uploaded on this machine). Hence it isn't being "used" at this point.
  
• Windows Backup is set to backup Documents, Desktop, Pictures, Music and make a full system image of the SSD every Sunday at 4AM (right after Task Scheduler runs through it's nightly cleanup + defrag). I realize I am backing up files onto the same drive, but this is being done for reinstallation purposes, not for catastrophe protection (that would be mostly Syncplicity's part).

Everything else is replacable or somewhere out on the net (1and1 manages my email, Google has my Contacts, etc).

I never liked external drives, and I like the convenience of online backup. My connection's upload speed tops out at ~70kilobytes/sec, but it gets the job done. If I could just find an encrypted service like what Syncplicity offers, for what I'm paying now ($0.00), I'd be set.

58

Living Room / Re: Show us your (physical) desktop

« on: June 13, 2011, 06:03 PM »

Cleaned out my room a bit after helping a close friend move out of his parents house (and realizing how much of a packrat he is, and then in turn realizing how much I am as well) so I took some crappy cellphone pictures of my current setup now. It hasn't changed much unless you look for things (which if you want to do, last years pics are here. Also, for the extra curious, 2009 images are available here.

Noticeable changes from last year:

Spoiler

Server moved to ground, now 100% wireless (except power)
Gaming machine now using wireless network connection - only power, video, sound, keyboard+mouse
New, HD screen
Routers moved to top of computer cabinet for better signal (not visible)
Printer now on top of stand atop parts cabinet; laptops sit below
Alarm clock/iPod dock/FM radio is now being used instead of collecting dust!

Here are today's pictures

In updated pics (from left to right): 19" HP LCD monitor (for sale, actually), 4th gen iPod Nano hooked to my Jenson dock/radio/alarm clock, my gaming rig (now with liquid cooling! ), the new monitor for said gaming rig (ASUS VH242H 23.6") with 5.1 setup, then on the ground is my personal "server" for file storage and tedious, low-priority tasks (set it and forget it), then my new iBook G4 sitting next to my ASUS 1005HA-P.

EDIT: The black Compaq laptop from '09 is not lost: it sits atop the server right now

Directly behind where I was taking these pictures are 3 more almost-working (no OS) computers, along with a 17" Dell CRT monitor (also trying to sell, ugh) and a somewhat frightening amount of cables that I have yet to put away properly (that is what the cabinet is for that the iBook/netbook are sitting on).

59

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 13, 2011, 03:54 PM »

The multitouch and gestures work just fine for me. I have the occasional issue where big fingers + small touchpad = super zoom 100000x, but I never really had actual problems with it.

60

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: IObit Advanced SystemCare Pro for just $4.99 (reg. $29.95).

« on: June 12, 2011, 07:40 PM »

My 2 cents:

Advanced SystemCare is a great tool for those whom want system maintenance to be simple and aren't looking for the most powerful or robust tools/system. The only reason you'd jump on the Pro version is for scheduling functionality and additional/more aggressive features.

Or you could download the IObit Toolkit and get the whole shebang for free, just run each tool manually. Fully portable, too.

EDIT: Spelling

61

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 12, 2011, 07:37 PM »

The touchpads do pretty much everything that PC laptops do (form "tap to click" to "tap and drag" to drag/select) and wayyyy more (two fingers to scroll, pinch, rotate and if you install BetterTouchTool, you can customize a ton of gestures using several fingers and stuff like that). And all that way more smoothly that I've seen in any PC.

-jgpaiva (June 12, 2011, 02:10 PM)

FWIW, my Asus EeePC 1005HA-P (netbook I bought back in 09 because my then-primary laptop's screen broke off) has all those features, including the "extra ones," built in. And the "clicker" is one button, but does both left and right click.

62

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 12, 2011, 12:31 AM »

Whoa, long post. Helpful information, though; I never used magnetized screwdrivers at all because I was once told that it will damage the parts beyond repair and you'd have to go purchase a new whatever-it-was that you touched with it.

I believe I have what I need sitting out in the garage already, but I might go out and buy a kit just for techy stuff. It's really annoying having to scrub down tools before you use them on computers because the last place you used the tool you need was in the messiest environment possible

That, and my dad would stop blaming me for losing his screwdrivers. He just lays them down and then asks for them days later, oblivious to where they may have gone.

63

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 11, 2011, 11:13 PM »

Actually you are probably stuffed if you want to do much with faulty memory or hard disk as Apple laptops are notoriously difficult to take apart and probably require specialist tools.

-Carol Haynes (June 11, 2011, 04:00 PM)

For a Mac Powerbook, you'll need a T6 and T8 Torx screwdriver plus an (I forget which size) mini-Phillips. Keep track of which holes you take each screw out of too. They're not interchangeable. There's something like 6 different screws used in the Powerbook case assembly if my memory serves. Talk about smart industrial engineering practices. Is it any wonder they cost what they do? 

-40hz (June 11, 2011, 05:20 PM)

*Googles for images and bookmarks them* Good to know thanks

64

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 11, 2011, 11:09 PM »

[Desperately scrambling for a "bright side"]

If the entire experience is documented throughly, it should make for an excellent cautionary tail.

-Stoic Joker (June 11, 2011, 04:25 PM)

 

I bash Apple all the time. I've been a long-time Mac hater. I despise having one damn mouse button. The idea of using laptop parts in a "desktop" system drives me up the wall and I use it commonly as fuel in arguments. But at least when you run into someone that is liek "z0MAI GAWD D00d U haZ a MaC tOo???" you're going to get more valuable intel and help from them than the average Dell customer who wants "lots of RAMS" and "MEMORIES for his files" and bought Norton AND McAfee because he gets "all teh spyware" from his Hotmail inbox (and the Apple hipster is like "lOl We DuN gEt ViRuSeS tHaT OnE gOiNg ArOuNd RiGhT nOw DoEsN't CoUnT cAuSe YoU gOtTa PuT YoUr PaSsWoRd In So It DoEsN't CoUnT lOlOlOl" and then proceeds to Apple+Q his copy of McAfee before the Dell dude notices). And I'd totally take the side of Linux users because I dig the idea behind it all, and the execution isn't half bad either, but then you get with people wearing digital watches and thick-rimmed glasses and start talking about how you'd like to "sudo that chick all night long" while you're in your basement/attic/someone else's basement/attic talking over Skype to 5 other people whom are having "WAY more fun in the Terminal than those newbs running Windows 7 with their DirectX and closed-source drivers and fancy transparent window borders"

TL;DR
I hate all the sides, I just hate Windows the least. Not due to the OS, but due to the damn people that use the OS. I guess that holds true to all three though, after typing that out. Heh.

Spoiler

That upper/lowercase "Apple-guy" line pained me so bad typing it. Not just the effort, but it actually killed a part of me.

65

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 11, 2011, 04:11 PM »

I have a Win7 netbook, and I'm typing this out on my Win7 gaming machine. I recently wiped Ubuntu off of the netbook because I wasn't using it much and I was having issues with it. OSX is the only mainstream OS I am unfamiliar with ("mainstream" to me are the last few flavors of Windows (2k and newer), OSX Panther and newer (I know Panther users still), Debian/Ubuntu and its variants, and other largely-popular distros like Fedora or Gentoo, etc).

OK  ............................

Oh and what were you drinking last night?

-Carol Haynes (June 11, 2011, 04:00 PM)

 

For parts, I guess I'll go to NewEgg if something simple breaks down, then. The hard drive in this is below the keyboard, AirPort card, RAM, and then you have to remove a couple more pieces. From what I read, it is over 20 screws total. Ugh.

Good luck - enjoy your new toy 

-Carol Haynes (June 11, 2011, 04:00 PM)

I hope so

66

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 11, 2011, 03:30 PM »

Hey, for $140, you're set! Do what you can with it. Play with it. Make some money with it then splurge on the newest one~!

-Renegade (June 11, 2011, 03:51 AM)

That is one of the best pieces of advice I've ever seen given here. 

 

-40hz (June 11, 2011, 07:19 AM)

I may just do that

67

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 11, 2011, 03:28 AM »

Justice: Thanks for the information! I'll check out the links in the morning, I've run myself down today and need to squeeze as much sleep as possible into the next few hours

... why in the world you would buy a PowerPC Mac at this point...

-JavaJones (June 10, 2011, 05:53 PM)

Simply because I can't afford an Intel-based Mac, even used Minis are going for twice as much as what I paid, and I don't have *that* much disposable income (sadly). I'm just trying to jump into something new that I've been wanting to do for a few years now, and this is all I can afford at the moment.

I could return it, but I'm unaware of any Intel based Mac (desktop or notebook, new or used) for anywhere near the $140 I paid (and I can't go much higher than that, unfortunately). I dabbled a bit with Hackintosh a couple years back, but the huge amount of hardware that has to have custom drivers, the poor support for uncommon hardware brands, and seemingly random issues even with working builds, I ran from that shortly into the process. If there's something I'm not aware of though, I'm all ears!

68

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 10, 2011, 05:06 PM »

This isn't sluggish in the least for what I've been loading onto it thus far - custom Firefox build, Skype, Adium IM client, messing with the Dashboard widgets, iTunes and file syncing from other machines, etc. The only thing that has brought it to its knees (it went down like a sack of bricks) was Flash 10.x, and reverting to Flash 9 somewhat resolved it (Flash 8 fixed it completely but youtube looked worse than it does on my phone over a bad 3G connection, ughhhh).

EDIT: That, and 720p MP4 videos made Quicktime implode as well.

69

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 10, 2011, 04:39 PM »

I don't think you can buy Apple Care for a machine that old.
From my experience, you can only buy Apple Care for a machine if its warranty hasn't expired yet.

-jgpaiva (June 10, 2011, 04:04 PM)

Okay. I'm planning on shooting up to the (somewhat) local Apple store this afternoon and asking them if they can run a quick check of the hardware. I've tested USB, audio-out, power/battery, and normal functionality (screen/keyboard/touchpad/wifi/etc), but I want reassurance that there isn't something amiss that I am overlooking. That, and to see if I can get Leopard to run on this (doubtful, but I figure it can't hurt to ask).

70

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 10, 2011, 03:48 PM »

Is it still possible to get AppleCare Protection on a machine this old though? I bought it from the previous owner also- I thought you had to purchase it directly from Apple to qualify?

71

General Software Discussion / Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family...

« on: June 10, 2011, 01:08 PM »

I am really amazed I am not typing this due to being held at gunpoint: Last night I purchased a used, factory restored, and seemingly well taken care of iBook G4. <insert *gasp* and long pause here>

From what I can tell, I got a good deal on it, and I also know my way around OSX (it is running Tiger) for basic use. The problem arises here: I have an extremely limited idea how OSX's back end works for things like application removal, system tweaking (beyond the System Preferences), and what to do when crap hits the fan. It did not come with installation DVDs, but I could easily find those online if problems occured (OSX is cheap anyways if I had to go and purchase a copy, I don't know how Apple handles licensing... I would assume similar to Windows' Product Key system?). The main problem, however, lives in the fact that is is a PowerPC, not Intel, processor; hence all the updated applications are made for the Intel CPUs, because PPC has died (for good reason, from what I have heard).

So I turn to the only online community I actually have trust in to see if I can learn a bit about what I have gotten myself into, and how I can make the most of this new machine. Specifically, I'm looking for things like

• Applications that still are updated that run on PPC (I'm running a custom version of FF 3.6 with Flash 9 as it stands; I couldn't find an old version of Opera for PPC, and I also don't know how Opera Link would handle differing versions...)
  
• Tweaks I can do to OSX (for any reason, security, visuals, speed, because-you-can, anything at all - I plan on tinkering and screwing it up many many times )
  
• Any information or tips or anything that will make using this iBook better (kind of goes with the above) or any general OSX information that could be helpful (I know my way around it, but haven't ever had free reign so my knowledge is limited)
  
• What I can do when things don't work - login, startup, hard drive failure, any common issues that anyone has seen/experienced that I should look out for... anything helpful
  
• Any suggestions where to go for parts if things break - I know Apple charges you a bazillion dollars for everything, and on my teenage budget, I can't afford that

Thanks all
-Brandon

72

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« on: June 07, 2011, 06:58 PM »

Ah okay, that sounds like it works how I want. Downloading now

Last-second edit: If anyone has a referral code that they want to use or anything like that, I'll use that. I'm all for more free space.

73

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« on: June 07, 2011, 03:59 AM »

I'm using JungleDisk as a Dropbox replacement, but I need something that does sync of in-place folders for me as well as offline access. I'd rather avoid JD for this purpose because I'm cheap and don't want to spend ~30 cents for another 2GB of space on top of the 5 you get.

I haven't looked at SpiderOak yet, but it looks like it is one folder dedicated to the app that it syncs - I need in-place folder sync.

74

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« on: June 06, 2011, 05:03 PM »

Bump for information about whether Syncplicity (http://www.syncplicity.com/) has any similar issues - I've been using it a few months because I tried it and liked it, but as far as I can tell, it offers no encryption or protection past the login process. I don't store sensitive stuff on it (Documents/Music/Desktop) but I would much rather have my data stay that way- mine only.

Anyone know? Or have an alternative?

75

General Software Discussion / Re: Dropbox....without dropbox?

« on: June 06, 2011, 02:36 PM »

Windows Secrets Newsletter just did a great article on Dropbox:
http://windowssecret...alternatives/#story1

They mentioned an alternative called SpiderOak which lets you use your own encryption keys:
www.spideroak.com

-Jimdoria (June 06, 2011, 11:22 AM)

I remember SpiderOak being mentioned somewhere (most likely here) a few months back and it totally slipped my mind. Any comparisons to Jungle Disk, as far as "drag, drop and forget it"? I really like JD's pricing as well, for a pay-per-GB basis instead of Dropbox/Syncplicity/SpiderOak and their tiered pricing.