Free Computer Consultant ………. Daily Insights

A client had a very usable, but a bit out of date Compaq workstation; P4 2.8Ghz. But the integrated video was inadequate to handle Dual Monitors - naturally.

Unfortunately, this PC only had PCI slots, no AGP, so I was forced to buy a new video card (I have a couple of used AGP cards that were up to the task on my shelf which I would have given him). I chose a BFG Tech card from one of my favorite retailers, NewEgg.com, who happen to be on my recommended vendors list.

No matter what I tried, I just couldn’t get the 2nd display to do more than 800×600 in 16 colors - not only gross but unusable.

So I placed a call to BFG Tech, which has 7×24 service - this was on a Saturday morning. After a 20 minute hold, a technician came on the phone, asked my name, phone number and problem. I gave him my name and callback number, which he verified.

As I began describing the problem, the line went dead! I waited a short while for a callback and none came. This doesn’t speak too well of BFG’s Tech Support.

At this point I had wasted over an hour and it was time to call it quits. So I removed the BFG PCI card and informed the client that dual monitors just weren’t going to happen on this PC.

Here comes the good part: In less than 5 minutes I had received an RMA for refund from NewEgg.com via their website.

Now that’s service. I highly recommend NewEgg.com for hardware and software purchases.

What timing! I just released my new eBook “One Secret That Will Save You 8 - 16% Buying a Dell Online” the other day, charging only $15 for it. (Contact me on my website contact form to get it.)

I just hung up the phone. My Dell sales rep called me and 100% validated one of the two bonus secrets in the ebook.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I have stated before that I always make sure a new PC has the i386 directory from the Windows CD installed onto the hard drive, typically into C:\i386.

You can then easily install the Windows recovery console with the command winnt32 /cmdcons. See How to Install Windows Recovery Console.

But you might find that on Dell Computers, the i386 directory is on the C: drive, but the above command doesn’t work. I’m not exactly sure why, it isn’t worth my time to find out.

But the other day I had that problem on a new Dell Laptop and fixed it by simply re-copying the i386 directory and then running the command above.

Acronis True Image Home is now in version 11. This venerated computer backup software was great in version 10, but they have bested that with the new version 11.

I have written often about how this easy to use, inexpensive software is a must have for anyone with data they hold dear.

Acronis makes it easy to backup your data and more importantly, easy to restore your data when necessary.

I simply love the ability to “mount” a backup image and explore it just like another drive on my computer. Makes individual file restore a cinch. I’ve even use this method to grab drivers for a video card or other device from an old C:\Windows\System32 directory from an out of data backup.

If you have an older version, I suggest upgrading to the new version 11 of Acronis True Image Home.

If you have never tried it I suggest the Free Trial Download of Acronis True Image Home 11.

Or heck, take my recommendation and Buy It Now!.

The important thing is this: PROTECT YOUR DATA!

Acronis True image makes it easy, fast, and inexpensive to be fully protected.

Here is a Video on YouTube showing me using Acronis True Image (workstation).

Ok, on the ReadyNAS problem mentioned yesterday, it turns out that when you power the box on with new drives you have a 10 minute “window” to fire up the RAIDar program and stop it from automatically configuring XRAID on those drives.

Let me repeat, I  love the Netgear ReadyNAS unit, but I have to work on multiple projects at once, I can’t sit around and wait for machines to boot up… I flip on the power, move to something else and then come back later. It’s the only way I can possible make a living at this job.

Asus is my favorite motherboard to use for build your own computers. Tech support has generally been pretty good, but once in a while…

When the P5LD2 Deluxe board came out, it “supported” the Pentium “D” processor at 3.0Ghz, but not with the BIOS that shipped with it. The machine wouldn’t even POST. So how do you upgrade a BIOS in a PC that won’t boot up?

One way is to call Asus BIOS department and give them $5 for a new BIOS. That worked a couple of times, then they started sending me BIOS’s that didn’t work. I don’t know if they were defective or just had old code in them, and when I called they would send me another. But twice I went through about 4 of these before I got a good one. Eventually the boards started shipping with the right BIOS.

Another way is to throw away money on a lower grade processor (that I wouldn’t want otherwise) that the old BIOS does support, boot the machine, upgrade the BIOS, then change processors. I’m too cheap to spend $200 or so for a BIOS upgrade only processor.

The third way is to have 1 machine that does boot, extract the BIOS while the machine is running (carefully!) and put in the BIOS that won’t work (carefully!) and upgrade it. Unfortunately, Asus put a chassis fan connector right up against the BIOS socket which makes it tough to get the proper tool on it.

This problem essentially resolved itself a year or year and a half ago. But I had to RMA a P5LD2 Deluxe a couple of weeks ago, and when I got the board back and it wouldn’t boot. If I took the memory out, I got the memory missing beeps, but it would not POST all assembled.

I called tech support and mentioned this old BIOS problem and was assured that since I got the missing memory beeps, that couldn’t be it. Probably bad memory. Wrong, works in another PC, etc.

Well the board is grounding on the case, take it out. Nope, I’m not gonna fall for that.

So I (carefully) grabbed a working BIOS, popped it the RMA board and viola (sp), it worked!

So I performed the “hot bios upgrade” mentioned above, and with the loss of only about 2 - 3 hours of time (argh!) it’s all working.

I have recently complained about Microsoft requiring a floppy drive to load a driver on Windows Recovery and installation. Well, though I haven’t had reason to try it yet, Windows Vista now allows one to load a driver from something other than a floppy drive - FINALLY!

Computer people love TLA’s; that’s Three Letter Acronyms. Lately you may have heard about NAS (Network Attached Storage) and SAN (Storage Area Network).

What’s the difference?

In a nutshell, NAS connects users to data; SAN connect servers to data.

The Netgear ReadNAS unit that I have been working with and writing about is a NAS device because it is designed to connect users to their data. Unless you are an IT person with a pretty good budget you won’t be coming across SAN’s soon.

Let me start by saying that I really like the Netgear ReadyNAS line of Network Attached Storage (NAS).

But those who know me know I’m very good at finding fault.

I installed 4 - 1T (1 terabyte) hard drives in a Netgear ReadyNAS RND4000 bare bones unit on Friday. Since I didn’t have time to set it up then I didn’t turn it on. Mistake.

I turned it on this morning to configure the volume and make some other configuration changes. Much to my dismay, 20 minutes later the unit still shows “configuring volume” on the LCD display.

Problem is, it is likely configuring all 4 drives in an XRaid configuration. That’s not what I want. I want 3 drives in a 2T RAID 5 with 1 hot spare. So after it FINALLY finishes, I get to login and undo what it did, then wait some more while it carries out MY instructions.

I know the manufacturers want to make these units so even an idiot can set them up, but try not to torque off the professionals that actually sell the units for you.

A wizard, which the unit utilizes, could do the same initialization but wait for the “Ok” from the person setting it up. When I flip on the power switch I want 1 of 2 things withing a minute or two:

1. A functional unit that I can log into
2. An error message that I can troubleshoot

Are you listening Netgear?

NETGEAR RND4000 ReadyNAS NV+ Gigabit Desktop Network Storage NETGEAR RND4000 Diskless System ReadyNAS NV+ Gigabit Desktop Network Storage IT3107 Processor

I don’t use AOL (and pity those of you who do - LOL!), but I was asked recently about using BCC (blind carbon copy) in AOL.

I found this solution:

Add Bcc Recipients to an Email in AOL

To add a Bcc recipient to a message you are composing in AOL:

* Start with a new message (click on the Write icon in the AOL toolbar).
* Enter Bcc recipients’ email addresses in the Copy To: box.
o Separate multiple recipients by commas.
* Make sure you put the Bcc recipients in parentheses.
o For example: “(ladeduaolmember, ladedu@ladedu.com)”
* Write and deliver your email as usual.

I found it here.

For more on Email Etiquette, please see my Email Etiquette eBook.