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I have found PCs to be an enabling technology.
Currently four PCs comprise my home network. A
Netgear ReadyNAS Duo NAS hosts ALL of the data -
PERIOD!. This particularly model supports
RAID and it contains
two 500GB disc drives. It is the file server for the
house and it occupants.
A PC in the workshop is not only useful when working, but also hosts
the video surveillance systems, incoming-call filtering and caller
ID logging, and HomeSeer,
which controls many elements of the house from lighting
to humidity control and ventilation.
Here are a
few "rules" that may improve your computer experience.
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Don't steal software. Buy licenses for every piece of
software you install. NO, it not OK to buy one copy and install it
on many
PCs unless your license permits multiple installations. It is not nice.
It is the same thing as theft!
-
Learn how to
perform a system recovery as supplied by the PC
manufacturer. Do this step before "moving in" to
your new PC and practice it until you have this process
down pat. Why you may wonder? It’s
simple. When something goes wrong, instead of
spending hours upon hours trying to resolve a phantom
glitch (a glitch that may be way beyond your abilities
or that of easily available technical support), you can
perform a system recovery that returns your system to
its “as purchased” state. Also I have found that
XP over the years seems to slow down. The only reliable
way I have found to remediate is to wipe that baby clean
and start over.
-
Know where
your data is located - ALWAYS. I never allow an application to
decide for me where data is to be stored. If you do, tragedy can set in, and you will forever have
difficulty in archiving your data easily and fully. Since Windows 95, Microsoft
thinks
that your data should be placed under a folder called "My
Documents." Rather than fight this concept why not expand upon it and use it to organize your data. I create additional folders in the “My Documents”
folder for all other applications that create files.
I name each folder after the application or function. For example, if you were to look at my
"My Documents" folder among countless files and about fifty folders you would find a folder called Quicken. In this folder you will find all of the
historical and live data for Intuit's financial program called Quicken. Dymo is another folder that I placed into "My Documents."
This folder contains
all of the custom labels that I have created for the Dymo label printer.
I only backup
(Click here) the folder “My Documents.” In the event of disaster I resort to
the system recovery process as outlined above. For pre-installed PC programs, I use the default setting and location as a rule and reference my data. Since my data exists on a network share, all I do is right-click on the "My Documents”
icon and the
popup shown below displays. Set the target to wherever
your data is loaded, and you are up and running. The last time I needed to do system recovery, I was operational in about
two hours with the majority of
the programs and all of the data I need on day-by-day basis.
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Really, I MEAN REALLY think twice about
installing that new gotta have program. The
majority of problems that I get the pleasure of fixing
seem to related to this addiction of changing anti-virus
programs, installing a new free program or some other
non-essential update. However, do keep your
operating system and anti-virus signatures updated.
You really don't need the latest and greatest junk from
the internet and this is a big one if you can't execute
the system recovery as outlined above just don't do it -
your friends will appreciate it!
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