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Best way to prepare for a (dreaded) system failure?
Hello,
I am new to this community and fairly new to computers. I have a Dimension 521 with all Dell peripherals including a AIO 946 printer. The system is approximately 18 months old. I use it mainly for web surfing, emails, documents and games via the Dell Game Console.
Over the past month or two I've been experiencing some annoying problems, e.g.
IE stops working after several minutes of browsing. After trying various recommended solutions without success I finally downloaded Firefox which runs fine but is slow.
Windows Media Player also stopped responding on several occasions.
The printer prints blank pages. It copies documents OK, but when I try to print it goes through the motions but spits out blank pages.
One time I tried shutting down and it got stuck in the "logging off" screen so I had to manually shut down (which I know you shouldn't do)
I have updated full security by Mcafee, and recently did scans for malware and spyware with Malewarebytes and Superantispyware. All this has made me very nervous that a system failure may be looming on the horizon.
I have tried to find information on how to prepare for and what to do in the event of a "crash" but I have not been able to find any information on the Dell Support site ( I seem to go from one confusing page to another) So I am hoping that someone can explain in simple terms what is the best way to proceed, or direct me to the right source.
Thank you in advance,
Kathryn
shesagordie
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January 28th, 2009 15:00
bck2fut72
Kathryn.
There are many ways to prepare, but the most important is to make regular 'Backups' of any files and folders that you wish to save to other media.
For this you can use an external USB hard drive, a USB flash drive, or CD/DVD's, but the discs cannot store as much data as the USB drives.
THIS article may also help you.
My strategy for desktops has been, to permanently install a second hard drive, clone [using either Acronis or Casper XP], the primary to the secondary on a daily basis prior to shutting system down.
Then, if the primary C:/ hard drive fails [which has happened, many times], move the data cable to make the secondary, the primary hard drive and reboot the system.
I also back up all the files to other media.
Is this foolprove, no, but it's close and it makes recovery less painfull
Bev.
bck2fut72
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January 30th, 2009 11:00
Thanks, Bev. I'll get that 2nd hard drive. Do I have to back up everything, like the OS, browsers, Security suite as well as all the important files?
And what do I do with the drive that has "crashed"?
Thanks for you input.
Kathryn
TheRealFireblad
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January 30th, 2009 13:00
You certainly need to backup any personal files/data which are important to you Kathryn.
I personally also make backups of the config files for any important programs which I have 'tweaked' - or specifically setup in a certain way.
There are really no specific OS files you can backup.
If you wanted to use the configuration you're using now, the only way to do that... as Bev has suggested... is to use an 'imaging' program such as Acronis True Image, O&O Disk Image, Norton Ghost etc (there are many others).
Re browser files: If you use Internet Explorer (IE), it would certainly be worth backing up your 'Favourites' folder.
If you use Firefox, there's actually a free program available, which enables you to backup most everything - namely MozBackup :emotion-11:
There may be a similar program for IE, but since I use Firefox myself, I honestly don't know?
Re the 'crashed' drive: If it fails on you completely, there's nothing you can do with it - other than destroy it.
But even if it was still running - albeit with frequent errors - it still wouldn't be worth trying to fix, because it would likely just get worse.
That said... if the drive (/system) is still under warranty, you'll be able to return it to Dell, for a replacement :emotion-55:
You'd just need to contact tech support about it, and... once they confirm your entitlement to a replacement... they'll send you one.
If your system is no longer covered under warranty, you'll need to buy a replacement (SATA) drive yourself.
And given the nature/regularity of the problems you're having... the sooner the better, really!
bck2fut72
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January 31st, 2009 11:00
Thanks Chester,
I will follow up on that ASAP.
Kathryn
TheRealFireblad
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February 1st, 2009 13:00
Chester is where I'm from Kathryn :emotion-2: I thought "Chester, UK" might've given that away :emotion-55:
My username is actually TheRealFireblade (/Fireblade) :emotion-4:
Good luck anyway :emotion-21:
shesagordie
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February 2nd, 2009 16:00
Kathryn
There's no need to, when you use either Acronis True Image 2009, or Casper 5, you will have an exact clone of the primary hard drive.
If the primary C:/ boot drive becomes corrupt or inoperable, all you need to do, is switch the data cables, this will make secondary HD, the primary C:/ HD and start the computer, then clone the new C:/ hard drive to 'corrupt' hard drive and this again will give a clean clone of primary to use as a backup again.
When there's a hard drive failure, then buy a replacement hard drive and use the same procedure.
Bev.