Category: Unexpected

Upcoming CES 2009 — Juicy Stories

Paul

So we are getting close to CES or Computer Electronics Show to some.  This is going to be a very interesting year, due to the depressing economy.   So I wanted to talk about some of the upcoming announcements at CES so people could get ready for the upcoming 2009 Show:

  • Skype will announce free US and Canada calling to cellular numbers or land lines.  This will undoubtedly be an Ad supported service and have a limited amount of minutes per call.  This will be good for people on the road who need to make a quick call here and there without having to pay for anything.  They have given some of the tidbits out already but I can’t wait to find out what else they will announce at CES.

  • [ad#cricket-1-1]Windows 7 Beta — People seem to think they will release the beta the same day they announce just like they did at the PDC(Professional Developers Conference) and also give it out to people at CES.  Although that might work to a point it will be very hard for people to get in the BETA.  There is a list brewing of people wanting to get onto the beta in the Microsoft Connection Community Site.  I can’t wait for next month but I am sure it is going to be nice.

  • Windows Live Beta — Here is another Microsoft product that might also be combined with Windows 7, it is a possibility and might be intergrated into Windows 7 for some but I am not sure what will happen all to much.  I am sure they will announce something about this at CES and only time will tell.

  • IE 8 Beta — Although this isn’t something unexpected.  It however will be interesting to see how they throw this one out to testers because they will undoubtedly test it on Windows 7 and they will be sending these out in the same time.   I think they will be also intergrating this into Windows 7 Beta release as if it will be on the new system.  I do not know what they are going to do but I am sure something will happen.

[ad#ad2-left]This is just a small bit of possible out comes, and there is still more to come.  I wanted to point out that these are not confirmed and should be considered as a rumor nothing more nothing less.  Don’t put to much money on what will happen to much.  We do know that the Betas are probably going to come out due to Microsoft announcing these to be out by the first of year.   Only time will tell for what will happen in the coming year though.  I can’t wait to find out what happens.

Warning Signs of Hard Drive Trouble

Paul

For every computer there comes a time when you have a problem with hardware or software. This is for those who want to learn the signs of possible fixes for having hard drive problems. Although if you know you’re hard drive is dieing then you better back it up as quickly as possible. You will of course need to get the back up software to protect your data.  If you have special drivers you will need to backup yours drivers.  If you have an OEM system then you will need to backup the Hidden Partition.

So what are the warning signs of a hard drive failure:

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  • Unexpected freezing of Windows — When Windows Locks up and you have to reboot or getting a Blue Screen of Death.   You have no choice but to restart because you can’t do anything with windows.

  • Losing data files — if you seem to see files being lost or deleted without your direct input.  It might be a sign of a computer virus or it could be a damaged hard drive.

  • Locking up during boot — this is most common when you have a hard drive failure, although if you can restart and not be a problem then just keep in mind that it might be the beginning.  The more frequent you have the lockup boot problems the more chance of the hard drive dieing.

  • Hard drive isn’t recognized in BIOS– Although this can be a old hard drive, if the bios can’t see it then the problem might be a hard drive failure, usually this is meaning you just have to replace the hard drive.  there’s isn’t much you can do with this problem, just replace the hard drive.  Most of the time it is a problem inside the Hard drive bios and you really can’t fix this, you’d have to send it off to possibly save the hard drive data.

  • Clicking, Scratching, Whirling, Grinding sounds from Hard drive — This is the most dangerous signs of hard drive failure and means you need to get your data off ASAP.  If you want to hear some of the waring sounds of a dieing hard drive click here.

Although some of these can or can not be a hard drive failure, some can be driver issure or disk defragmentation and should be check out to rule out these problems.   There can be several problems that might be easily fixed.  If you think it is a failure you might try Spinrite.  The program is made by Steve Gibson and he actually has a “Absolute Satisfaction Guarantee“.  So if it doesn’t work or your not satisfied you aren’t out any money.  I’ve used this in the past for hard drives that are dieing so I could get all the important data off before it died all together.  It is essential that if you can get it working for a short time to get a backup.

Disclaimer: Although spinrite might fix some of the problems associated with a hard drive failure, it might not fix all the problems or any problems.   So it is left up to the user to decide if it is worth it or not to buy it.   I don’t recommend this for every situation or every problem only for the off chance that it might let you get the important data off the computer before you lose it.  Use at your own risk.