Do you have recovery disks for your computer should the hard disk fail?

Recently I repaired a client's computer. The hard disk had failed meaning everything had gone. The computer itself was good and reasonably fast for a computer around 5-6 years old, so the decision was made to replace the hard disk and reinstall everything.

A new hard disk of the same size was $55 and it only takes a couple of minutes to install. Unfortunately there was no recovery disk for the operating system. It was decided to purchase a copy of Windows 8.1 which cost $123. Had the recovery disks been available this cost could have been avoided.

When you purchase a new computer you'll often find you either receive a set of disks which provide the ability to recover the computer, or there is an option where you can burn your own set of recovery disks. It is a good idea to make sure you have a set of recovery disks. If your hard disk fails, your operating system gets corrupted beyond repair, or you get a serious malware infection where it may be quicker to restore your computer than remove the malware, the recovery disks can be the fastest and cheapest ways to recover your computer.

Do you have recovery disks for your computer?

If you don't, then think about creating a set today. Think of the recovery disks as insurance for your computer. You may never need them, but if you do, you'll be glad you took the time to create them.

Once the computer had the new disk installed, and Windows 8.1 operating system installed, it was simply a matter of time to install the software the client had, set up all their applications, printer, internet and email access. The client hadn't performed a backup so their data was lost.

Do you have a current backup of your important data?

The recovery disks should enable you to recover your computer back to when it was new. However your own files you create are often more important than the computer itself. So do make sure you have a copy of your important data such as documents and photos you've created. A regular backup done based on your needs can mean the difference between losing everything, or having a copy of most things. If you don't have a backup program I wrote the MyBackup utility (www.onlineconnections.com.au/mybackup/) which enables me to create backup routines for clients and you're welcome to use the utility for your needs.

Save yourself some heartache and money, and make sure you have or create a set of restore disks and even consider performing a backup today.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support
Also www.Computer-Repairs.Melbourne.

Beware of the low cost entry level computers and tablets being sold by retailers.

There's some really good priced cheap computers available from retailers and it would be very tempting to replace your old, or perhaps broken computer with a new and inexpensive computer. Prices seem to have come down dramatically.

The problem is this is largely perception. The low cost entry level computers and tablets often have very slow processors. Even the more expensive computers available from retailers may not be as fast as you think.

As an example, I got a call from a person who purchased a great portable unit overseas which they loved. The problem is the unit was too slow. I checked the processor and found it was a very slow processor.  The person then decided based on advice from a person who worked at a major computer company to upgrade the memory and were initially quite pleased. A month or so later they came back and said the computer was still far too slow. Memory can often help but sometimes you have to think are you throwing good money into a computer that ultimately will still be too slow.

I've just compared fixing a computer for a client (the hard disk has died) with a new low cost computer. I have to say it is a hard call. The computer is a around five years old and came with Windows Vista. I'm the first to say save your money and put it into a new computer, but sometimes the budget won't stretch. When I checked the low cost computers some had processors much slower than their five year old computer. Those that were fast were a few hundred dollars more expensive than repairing the computer. If it was only the hard disk there would be no question, but there's labour and because the operating system disks didn't exist, there's also a copy of Windows 8.1. So the decision could easily go either way. Ultimately the choice is the customer's, which in this case was to keep the computer.

Another example is a client decided to purchase a new super fast computer on the spur of the moment. Their Windows XP computer was giving them grief and Windows XP was coming to the end of support. They purchased a new computer from a well known retailer who said the computer was one of their fastest. When I compared the brand new computer to their old XP computer that was over seven years old, the new processor was only about 20% faster. This was a bad purchase with bad advice from the retailer, as for the same price they could have purchased a computer that ran 300% faster.

I've heard another salesperson at a retailer tell and elderly couple the processor speed doesn't matter as they're much the same.

This is bad advice and means people are being guided into making poor purchasing decisions. Clients are welcome to contact me and I'll show them how to compare processor speeds. The processor is one of the main decision points when purchasing a computer. Salespeople are often only interested in making a sale. Only you can look after your interests by gaining a basic skill that will help you make a better decision for yourself.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Telstra free Wi-Fi trial using public telephones.

Today in the city at the following location I saw a Telstra free Wi-Fi public telephone location and decided to give it a go.

http://www.onlineconnections.com.au/location/showmap.php?lat=-37.81343375046734&lng=144.96607849550227

Connecting worked well but that's when the good experience ended. I sat down tried using the Wi-Fi connection as I do the data on my mobile. The performance was terrible. In the end I gave up, turned the Wi-Fi off and then started using the mobile data again.

Sometimes I wonder why companies provide free Wi-Fi and then seem to provide such a terrible experience. It certainly hurts the image of the company. It would be better not to provide any service than a frustrating service.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Medicare contact number.

I get some weird requests as a result of my presence on the internet and the things I blog about. I was called once for a bag that was left on the bus because they found my post about one of the Smartbus routes.

This request was from someone I know. They needed to speak to Medicare because they'd not received the payment, yet the doctor's receptionist said the request had been submitted but the refund had not hit the bank account. No problems they thought. Just call Medicare. The number provided by the doctor's receptionist had not answer and a search of the internet didn't reveal the number. Actually they went to the Human Services site and if you've ever tried to find anything on a government site you'll know just how hard it is.

Using my snooping skills I had the number in a flash. Simple. Don't always use Google. I've found Google isn't particularly good for some things so I tend to use a range of approaches. In this case the White Pages gave me the answer faster than Google could.

The number for those interested is 132011.

Keep in mind Medicare is now part of Human Services. I suggest that when people call Human Services they call the number and then put the telephone on speaker. That way you can go about your business and when someone takes the call in Human Services you haven't wasted as much time just sitting there. Not to be unfair to government departments there have been a few times I've got through for various things over the years with a reasonable delay. However plan for a delay and if it is quicker than expected it can be a pleasant surprise.

By the way in this case the issue was the information provided by the doctor/admin was incorrect. The request to Medicare was that the bill hadn't been paid where in fact it had been. That mean completing an additional form for the person I know so as to rectify the error made by the doctor's practice.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Preferably not to look up telephone numbers;-)

Is open source a bit con with the free as in freedom and not free as in beer?

At one stage I was all for open source projects and put in a lot of time. However I now think they're just sucking in good people and using the energy of others. The big projects gain at the expense of good people.

As a person making a living in IT, IT has been good to me. But in the end you have to make a living. When you participate with software and code in open source you're giving away your time and thus your income. Anyone can take your work and call it theirs. You have nothing at the end and only the projects you contribute end up with your energy. This is the same was when you work for a company. When you leave you have nothing and the company ends up with the momentum you build from your efforts.

One opportunity that represents real freedom to me is public domain material. The beauty of public domain material is anyone can use the material in their work and then that work becomes your intellectual property. Free for you to do whatever you like with the end result. You can make your end material public domain in the same way you received the material as public domain. To me that is the essence of how most people view open source material. If you wish you can make your material open source. You can also make your material copyright. You have true freedom to do what you want with your work.

My older open source dictionary work is used by Firefox, Google Chrome and almost every open source project that uses an open source Australian spellcheck dictionary. Countless companies including the largest companies in Australia use my work.  Neither project (or any of the companies) gave anything back to assist me. They just took for their own benefit and I received nothing in return. These projects just use people.

Don't fall for the same romanticised ideal that I did. My involvement in open source has cost me dearly in terms of revenue and future direction that will be hard to recover from. Public domain however gives me hope. I hope that by sharing this insight it may help others in the IT industry that I love.

My first material based on public domain material will soon be released. It will be interesting to see the result which I hope to share with others.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

The .Melbourne top level domain has now been released so I thought I 'd run a test for Computer Repairs Melbourne searches.

I registered the domain www.Computer-Repairs.Melbourne to promote the services of Online Connections. Whilst it may be difficult to get a good position in the organic search results in Google, I felt  this would be an interesting test.

By testing the presence of a .Melbourne domain clients will be better positioned to know whether or not it is worth retaining a .Melbourne domain. Relative to other domains a .Melbourne domain is quite expensive. Many businesses will feel they have now choice and purchase the .Melbourne domain as I did for one of my services. For Online Connections I don't feel it is necessary. For searches on computer repairs Melbourne I felt it was worth the cost of the test.

Only time will tell if the money has been well spent or not.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Internet Explorer 11 doesn't work on a number of sites making it frustrating to use.

Internet Explorer is my preferred browser because I find it easier to fix if there's a problem on client machines and I like the scripting capabilities. However, as with most things Microsoft, Microsoft seems to have lost the plot. It is not possible to use just Internet Explorer to get things done.

During my support role I've found a couple of sites where Internet Explorer 11 simply doesn't work. For my own use of Blogger I'm not able to upload an image to a blog post. It simply doesn't work and freezes Internet Explorer. Those using Centrelink's site to upload documents for a claim find you can't use that feature and a different browser is required.

There was a time when sites were crafted to work with Internet Explorer since it dominated the market. Now you just don't know what will or wont work. To get around this problem I have the Opera browser installed as a back-up browser.

Since Microsoft in their short-sighted wisdom (commercial self interest) decided to stop supporting Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8, for those using Windows XP I suggest using Google Chrome. Google has committed to support Windows XP for 12 months after the end-of-life. Well done Microsoft. You've simply handed 20-30% of the market to Google and lost considerable credibility that Microsoft even cares about its customer base. That's OK, but that means the customer now cares less about Microsoft and perhaps that isn't such a bad thing. Now the market can evolve to where it will be in the future. Unfortunately that does appear the movement is to Google which is simply replacing one large business with another with our usage data being mined for advertising and other purposes.

So if you're having trouble with your browser, install a second browser in case a site gives you problems. Opera isn't a popular browser, but I do find it to be lightweight and gets around the problems I have. This also means I don't hand my usage data over to Google. Somehow I think Google however is winning this game, with my logs showing Google Chrome to be the leading browser and Internet Explorer in the third or fourth position.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.

PS. My apologies. I originally wrote Internet Explorer 10 for this article. I was of course meaning the latest version Internet Explorer 11.