The majority of computer users have Microsoft Windows operating system on their computers. It is true that Microsoft dominates the market… but have you considered other operating systems? This isn’t a plug for any particular operating system but if you are considering purchasing a new computer because the old one has slowed to a crawl or you are fed up with virus or malware issues then think about swapping operating systems.

Ok… so it seems daunting… but in fact it really isn’t.  Back in the day when Linux was young you were really super cool if you could figure out how to install the stinkin’ thing.  Now you can choose a variety of flavors of Linux and the installs are typically easy plug-n-play type installs. Linux has a tendency to be a much smaller install than Windows.  I like the Ubuntu Linux… it is FREE and the install is typically trouble free. 

If you are used to Windows, you can setup Linux and the “KDE” (K-Desktop) or “Gnome” interfaces which are fairly intuitive if you are used to Windows.  As far as applications if you have been using Microsoft Office… install the free OpenOffice.org which is MS Office compatible.  If you don’t want to “lose” your Windows, you can either create a multi-boot system, allowing you to swap between Windows and Linux, or you can use a virtual machine host like VMWare and run Linux under Windows or vice-versa.  If you are experimenting use the free VMWare server do a few installs tweak settings and get comfortable with swapping OS’s.

These free “alternative” operating systems allow you to utilize older hardware and alleviate many of the hassles associated with virus plagued MS Windows. That is not to say that Linux or other OS’s are without flaw and susceptibility to virus but not to the extent that Windows is… do a web search for Linux, BSD, Unix, etc to get an understansding of how these different operating systems work.  If you do seriously consider installing Linux for the first time be sure to search for issues related to your particular hardware as a precaution.  Happy Computing!

Most computer users don’t backup their data. Why? Generally, because it is a “task”. Well it doesn’t have to be a chore to protect the pictures, music, documents or other files that are important to you.  I like to follow the “KISS” principle “Keep It Simple Stupid”… I dont mean that in a derogatory way, its just that we sometimes over-complicate things. 

So, my suggestions in two parts for the end user are: 1) to purchase an external usb hard drive, and 2) to get some backup software.  With the price of hard drives falling and the disk capacity increasing, this is a fairly inexpensive and easily implemented solution.  Whenever I can promote free software I will.  I use two types of backup software. One is a disk imaging software, DriveImage XML, and the other is a backup and synchronization software, SyncBack .

The differences are: disk imaging software (DriveImage XML) produces a “snapshot” of your entire hard drive, so that if the hard disk fails you can replace it and restore your “snapshot” to the new drive and it will boot up as if nothing had changed, and without having to re-install all your software and programs one at a time (a very time consuming process); file backup and synchonization software (SyncBack) allows you to choose the files or directories you want and you can schedule a time for it to run.

The difference between backup and synchronization is that backup will copy the files from a source directory to destination and always overwrite the contents with the most recent file version.  Synchronization is actually keeping the source and destination directories  current with each other, in other words, if I create a file “test.txt” in the destination folder when it synchronizes that file will be copied to the source directory so that files in both place remain current at all times with each other.

There are also commercial applications which are lifesavers as well, and two that I like are Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image.  Both are robust and offer the “snapshot” backup option. All of the previously mentioned softwares allow you to restore one file at a time if necessary, so that if you accidently delete a document you can recover it from your backup. Other important solutions you can consider are online services such as I-drive or Carbonite.  Your data is backed up to the internet and can be recovered from anywhere!  These softwares and services are by no means the only solutions available and are mentioned for purpose of example.

One easily implemented hybrid solution I share with clients is to backup locally to the external drive and then use the online service to backup the same files to the internet. This provides redundancy in the event that your computer and external drive are destroyed by meteor strike or tropical typhoon, or heaven forbid, something more likely, such as a fire or flood in your home or business.

The most important thing to remember though is this: how much do you value your family pictures? Or, your family or business financials? Without a backup you lose everything in a catastrophe whereas if you are prepared you can recover relatively quickly and easily and rest assured your data backup is as current as you want it to be!

Please visit TucsonPCTech for more information and ideas regarding the protection of your data.

For our first post we’d just like to welcome you to our blog.  Hopefully, you’ll find helpful information here from time to time and that this can become a resource for you to find solutions for various computer and technology issues.   While there are many resources available they can sometimes get lost in the jumble of information on the internet.  Bookmark us and check back from time to time.  Happy Computing!