Archive for April, 2009
Can I recover my file?!
If you’ve used a computer very long at all, you’ve probably lost data. Maybe you lost a paper you were working on, deleted an email too fast, or worst of all, your hard drive crashed!
Losing data is always a painful thing, but here are some tips that will help you know whether or not your file might be recoverable. My next article will explain some steps you can take to avoid data loss in the future.
Let me compare your hard drive to a book. Just like a book has a table of contents, a hard drive has a Master File Table (MFT). The MFT stores information like the names and locations of files on the disk.
When you delete a file, it’s usually still there, and has simply been removed from the MFT. It’s like having a book with a chapter that’s not listed in the table of contents. Files like that are easy to recover as long as they haven’t been overwritten by another file, so you’ll want to recover sooner rather than later if possible.
If you deleted your file a while back, it might be difficult to recover, because once a file is removed from the MFT a new file can be written on top of where the old one was. Similarly, if you save an old or bad version of a file that has the same name as a file you’ve been working on, you overwrite the file with bad data. In many programs, you can undo changes by clicking Undo (File->Undo), but once you close the file this option will probably be unavailable.
If your drive isn’t showing up in My Computer, you’ll want to make sure that everything is plugged in properly, and then check Disk Management (Go to the Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management) to see if it’s showing up there. You should also check and see if it shows up in your system BIOS (Usually you get there by pressing f2 or del on your keyboard during start up, but it varies). If it’s not showing up, your drive is probably dead.
If you have a drive that has suddenly stopped showing files that used to be there, they may have been deleted or possibly the MFT has simply become corrupt. Data recovery software can usually help in these sorts of situations.
Even without spending any money you can run free file recovery software, such as the free version of Handy Recovery I linked to above, which can recover data in most basic scenarios. If the free version won’t cut it, you can download a trial for the full fledged version to see if you’ll be able to recover the data you’ve lost. If the files are there, you can recover them by buying a license for $49. If you have a Mac, one option for data recovery software I’ve used with good success is Data Rescue.
Quick guide for buying a computer
Computer technology changes rapidly. Because there aren’t clear cut ways to gauge performance, it can be difficult to know exactly what you’re buying, and whether or not it’s a good deal. Even when buying a computer at your local computer superstore or at Dell.com there are things you’ll want to know to be sure you’re getting the best value you can.
Let me start by describing the main components of a computer by comparing them to your kitchen. The CPU or processor is essentially the brain of the computer and does the “thinking” involved with everything you do on your computer. You could compare the speed of the processor to the speed of a cook in preparing a meal. One way to err, is to think that you can make accurate comparisons based on the Gigahertz (GHz) of a processor. Regrettably, the GHz of a processor is not a reliable ‘real world’ indicator of performance. We’ll talk about this more later on.
Your hard drive is like your kitchen cupboards. If you run out of space to put things, you have to stop getting more dishes and tools for your kitchen, unless you can add more cabinets. However, even though a kitchen’s pots and pans don’t grow, the number of files on your computer will continually grow as you use your computer. If you enjoy music or photos, it’s better to err on the side of getting a drive that allows you some room for growth.
Your memory is like the counter top space in your kitchen. Have you ever tried making a meal without enough counter space? If you don’t have enough memory, the computer ends up moving data around a lot, and slows things down significantly. If you’re planning on using your computer for more than simple web browsing and document editing, you’ll probably want to upgrade from the standard amount memory if you can. Upgrading the memory is usually one of the least expensive and most effective ways to increase performance on an older computer.
When you evaluate a computer, one of the primary things to look at is the processor. You can compare a processors performance to others at websites like cpubenchmark.net, but there are a number of other things to consider as well, such as: the amount of hard drive space and memory. If you’re a computer gamer or if you work with a lot of media, the sound card, speakers, video card and screen will also be major considerations, but if you’re mainly just browsing the web and editing documents cutting back costs in these areas will save you money.
Next time you’re looking for parts for your computer, like a wireless router, LCD monitor, USB flash drive, or some extra memory, I’d recommend NewEgg.com. They’re well known for low prices, great service, and speedy delivery. They allow you to sort products by popularity and rating, and reading a few reviews can be a really helpful in making your decision if you’re not exactly sure what you want and need.
Computer slowing down?
Your operating system and the software you’ve installed on your computer will slow your computer down over time. It’s unavoidable at a certain level, but there are things you can do to limit the impact. Every time you install a program, you’re demanding more from your computer, and the effect accumulates over time, so use discernment in what you install.
Your computer will certainly slow down if you get a virus or spyware on your computer. If you don’t have an up-to-date antivirus and antispyware program, consider installing the free version of Avast Home.
If your computer is protected from viruses and spyware, and it’s still running slow, here are a couple of things you can do to speed things up. First, go to the Control Panel (Click Start -> Control Panel), and click “Add or Remove Programs” or in Windows Vista click “Programs and Features”. Uninstall all of the applications that you don’t need and restart your computer.
If your computer is running slow, you probably have a lot of programs automatically starting themselves when you turn on your computer. You can speed up your computer by turning off automatic startup for most of them. The only programs that really need to startup with your computer are applications for core functionality and protection, such as drivers and antivirus software. To see what applications are currently starting up when you turn on your computer, and to turn some of them off, you can use the Microsoft Configuration Utility. Here’s a tutorial with screenshots.
What software do you use every day?
Some of the best things in life are free. Let me tell you about seven of the finest free gems in the software world.
1) Mozilla Firefox is a superior browser. It’s open source, and its add-ons deliver incredible flexibility. My favorite addon is Adblock Plus. It blocks almost all advertisements you’d normally see on the web.
2) WordWeb has become one of my regular friends over the last several years. With a simple Ctrl + Alt + W (the hotkeys can be customized if desired) a box pops up instantly that allows me to look up the definition or spelling of a word. If I really want to be fancy, I can double click on a word, which highlights it, and then press the hotkeys and it instantly looks up that word. This has been a really helpful tool for me in expanding my vocabulary and improving spelling. Some people have told me that they think Google is just as good for doing this, but once you get used to WordWeb, you’ll never go back.
3) Google Picasa is a superb free program for photo management and basic editing. It’s comparable to Adobe LightRoom, which retails for $299.
4) Foxit PDF Reader is an extremely lightweight and fast PDF reader. If you work with a lot of PDFs or work on an older computer, you’ll notice significantly faster performance.
5) iTunes: It took me a while to finally come to the conclusion that I like iTunes– even though there are still things that really tweak me about it. It runs a few too many unnecessary processes in the background, and I don’t like the Apple Software Updater very much, but I’ve found iTunes to be very stable and easy-to-use for managing music.
6) AVG Free Antivirus protection is a must for most computers. Instead of going out and buying Norton Antivirus every year, home users can save some money by using AVG Free. The free version offers a very decent level of all-around protection, and it’s always done a good job for me. AVG also offers more comprehensive packages as well if you want to guard against rootkits and broader protection on the web.
7) Open Office is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office for those who are hesitant to plunk down a couple hundred dollars to edit documents. There are a few things to keep in mind. While I’ve almost never had a problem opening a file with Open Office, there have been a couple of times when I’ve forgotten to save the file in a format that other Microsoft Office users can open– which is a frustrating experience for everyone involved. It is possible to save files in the Microsoft format, so if you’re planning on sharing a document with others, simply save the file in a Microsoft format right from the start.