Technology

[southerngale]

It's great, huh? Well, until it stinks.

I'm particularly peeved with Toshiba at the moment. Two laptops... the hard drive crumbles on one of them after only 11 months. It wasn't used heavily either. It was covered under the warranty but I lost all of my data. I had some irreplaceable, important things on there too. Obviously, I should have backed it up, but I don't know. I'm good with basic maintenance... firewall, anti-virus, ad-aware, spyware, etc. I do disk defragment and stuff like that, but I get lost after very basic stuff.
Anyway, after taking that one to a place to save my data, it got my music, pictures, etc. but missed the ONE important thing I took it there to retrieve. I guess it wasn't their fault... it was hidden and I didn't know where it was stored either. I just assumed they would find it since I told them what I needed. So I took it there, had the data taken off, sent the laptop to Toshiba, got it back, took it back to that place to get my data put back on. All that time and money wasted as all that was saved was pics and music... the same pics and music I have on other computers and could have replaced via flash drive. Finally, got all that done, started over on the stuff that was lost. Less than 2 weeks later, my other Toshiba laptop crashes. This one is my personal one. I call Toshiba... it's a few months out of warranty and they said it's not their fault anyway... it's a Windows problem, and I should blame Microsoft, not them. He knew I was not a happy camper. The black screen that I get says that it's probably caused by recently added software of hardware. I haven't added either. It was working fine, then suddenly no internet connection (I have wireless and other computers were working), so I restarted thinking whatever it was would correct itself. That's when I got the dreaded black screen telling me that my computer has entered that pit of doom. My options... back up my data if I know how and then clear off my hard drive. Toshiba said that should fix it.

Does anyone ever fix anything anymore? Everyone that I know of who has computer problems these days... they just wipe clean the hard drive and that's that. It seems like "in the olden days" people actually tried to find the problem and fix it. But what do I know? I don't even know how to back it up.

My days are busy and I spent a lot of my "free time" (ha) dealing with getting the last one working (and still lost the data I needed) - I'm not thrilled about having to get this one fixed now. I don't even know where to take it. This latest place that missed the important data I needed or the place I went to years ago who ripped me off horribly and then took off to the Philippians, or experiment with a new place and hope someone there knows what they're doing? Sometimes technology stinks... yet here I am, using it.

Next time I'll go with Dell. They can blame Windows all they want, but that's two Toshiba laptops with problems - one just under a year and one just over. I have 2 Dell desktops, one is 4+ years old (with a few minor problems over the years... nothing that lost my data though.. and Dell came and fixed it, everything covered under warranty) and the other is 2 or 3 years old. No problems at all with it.

Toshiba was rated high with Consumer Reports. Maybe Consumer Reports is overrated.

[lurkey]

It's great, huh? Well, until it stinks.

I'm particularly peeved with Toshiba at the moment. Two laptops... the hard drive crumbles on one of them after only 11 months. It wasn't used heavily either. It was covered under the warranty but I lost all of my data. I had some irreplaceable, important things on there too. Obviously, I should have backed it up, but I don't know.

Windows has a utility to backup your data to an external drive. You can get external drives reasonably priced nowadays. If not back-up to an external drive, then you can use online service like Mozy. Another guide to backing up files here.

I'm good with basic maintenance... firewall, anti-virus, ad-aware, spyware, etc. I do disk defragment and stuff like that, but I get lost after very basic stuff.

Regularly backing up important files should be considered basic maintenance, especially on Windows machines.

Anyway, after taking that one to a place to save my data, it got my music, pictures, etc. but missed the ONE important thing I took it there to retrieve. I guess it wasn't their fault... it was hidden and I didn't know where it was stored either. I just assumed they would find it since I told them what I needed. So I took it there, had the data taken off, sent the laptop to Toshiba, got it back, took it back to that place to get my data put back on. All that time and money wasted as all that was saved was pics and music... the same pics and music I have on other computers and could have replaced via flash drive. Finally, got all that done, started over on the stuff that was lost. Less than 2 weeks later, my other Toshiba laptop crashes. This one is my personal one. I call Toshiba... it's a few months out of warranty and they said it's not their fault anyway... it's a Windows problem, and I should blame Microsoft, not them. He knew I was not a happy camper. The black screen that I get says that it's probably caused by recently added software of hardware. I haven't added either.

How about Microsoft security updates?? On my last laptop, I installed the updates, and laptop crashed within 15 minutes. My hard drive was fried. I ended up spending $300.00 (new upgraded hard drive, some new RAM, and labor (took it to Best Buy)) to keep it running for another year and half until I could afford a new laptop.

It was working fine, then suddenly no internet connection (I have wireless and other computers were working), so I restarted thinking whatever it was would correct itself. That's when I got the dreaded black screen telling me that my computer has entered that pit of doom. My options... back up my data if I know how and then clear off my hard drive. Toshiba said that should fix it.

Software, and maybe driver conflicts. I guess you can't restore to previous period of time when it was working.

Does anyone ever fix anything anymore? Everyone that I know of who has computer problems these days... they just wipe clean the hard drive and that's that. It seems like "in the olden days" people actually tried to find the problem and fix it. But what do I know? I don't even know how to back it up.

My days are busy and I spent a lot of my "free time" (ha) dealing with getting the last one working (and still lost the data I needed) - I'm not thrilled about having to get this one fixed now. I don't even know where to take it. This latest place that missed the important data I needed or the place I went to years ago who ripped me off horribly and then took off to the Philippians, or experiment with a new place and hope someone there knows what they're doing? Sometimes technology stinks... yet here I am, using it.

Sometimes re-installing Windows is best solution. It clears up any software or driver conflicts that are causing problems.

Next time I'll go with Dell. They can blame Windows all they want, but that's two Toshiba laptops with problems - one just under a year and one just over. I have 2 Dell desktops, one is 4+ years old (with a few minor problems over the years... nothing that lost my data though.. and Dell came and fixed it, everything covered under warranty) and the other is 2 or 3 years old. No problems at all with it.

Toshiba was rated high with Consumer Reports. Maybe Consumer Reports is overrated.

Also, avoid Sony.

[southerngale]

Thanks for the info, lurker. I'm going to check out the links you posted. Yeah, I should backup. I guess I need to take some Computer 101 lessons to do that supposedly simple task. I better order a bunch of CD's or DVD's, because I have a lot to backup!

The security update crashed your laptop? Geez... so it's not even safe to do security updates! Something clearly wrong with that picture.

[lurkey]

Thanks for the info, lurker. I'm going to check out the links you posted. Yeah, I should backup. I guess I need to take some Computer 101 lessons to do that supposedly simple task. I better order a bunch of CD's or DVD's, because I have a lot to backup!

The security update crashed your laptop? Geez... so it's not even safe to do security updates! Something clearly wrong with that picture.

There was a conflict somewhere that sent Windows to the blue screen of death land and evidently fried the hard drive. I have a feeling the hard drive was about to go anyway.

[brunota2003]

Yes, I agree with the external hard drives. All I do is copy my files over onto it, and I try to avoid saving a bunch of my pictures on my computer. Most of my pictures are both online and on the external. It really is not that difficult, and once you figure out what you are doing, it'll come easy. (I do the same thing you do for a flash drive, as that is basically all my external hard drive is, is a giant flash...) Mine is 80 gb (actually, like 79.5 gigs) and I have not had ANY trouble with it. Got it at Wally World for $90 about a year ago? The prices have come down now for an 80 gig, to about $40 or $50, if I remember correctly.

Mine is a WD (Western Digital), and the way they are set up is so you can stack them side by side, like books, and save room (supposedly).

[lurkey]

Yes, I agree with the external hard drives. All I do is copy my files over onto it, and I try to avoid saving a bunch of my pictures on my computer. Most of my pictures are both online and on the external. It really is not that difficult, and once you figure out what you are doing, it'll come easy. (I do the same thing you do for a flash drive, as that is basically all my external hard drive is, is a giant flash...) Mine is 80 gb (actually, like 79.5 gigs) and I have not had ANY trouble with it. Got it at Wally World for $90 about a year ago? The prices have come down now for an 80 gig, to about $40 or $50, if I remember correctly.

Mine is a WD (Western Digital), and the way they are set up is so you can stack them side by side, like books, and save room (supposedly).

I've been using one 80 gb Firelite for backup my iTunes music and 120 gb Firewire Firelite drive to backup movies. I recently purchased a Seagate 500 GB external for $90.00 (after in-store and mail-in rebates) at Circuit City.

[mf_dolphin]

Unfortunately laptops are a lot more prone to failures than desktops. The main reason for that is a combination the higher operating temperature (due to restricted space and cooling) and the physical shocks that come with being moved around. I always recommend an extended service agreement with laptops. We cover all of our work laptops under a 3 year extended warranty and some with 4 years.

As to a couple of things mentioned in this thread:
1. Microsoft updates cannot crash a hard drive. Pure and simple it can't physically happen. There can be occasions when an update may not install correctly and even cause the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death" but the worst thing that happens there is that you have to re-install everything. If your data isn't backed up then you have a good chance of losing things.

2. The idea of an external back-up hard drive is the best advice as others have mentioned. They can be a REAL life saver and are dirt cheap now.

3. Whether you buy Dell, HP, Toshiba or any other brand, the hard drives are made by three or four major players. So a Dell might have a Toshiba hard drive

[lurkey]

southerngale - maybe you should hire a PC Excorist?

[Miss Mary]

Kelly - how about a Mac? We've never, ever had the troubles you've described. My hubby has been a Mac user for years and that's all they have at work - very reliable. Spyware built in too.

[lurkey]

Kelly - how about a Mac? We've never, ever had the troubles you've described. My hubby has been a Mac user for years and that's all they have at work - very reliable. Spyware built in too.

I'll second that recommendation. If you still need Windows, you can run VM Ware or Parallels. The great thing about running Windows on Parallels/VMWare is if Windows gets corrupted (viruses or a lot of spyware), you delete the Windows partition and start up from a previous saved copy of the partition.

[Extremeweatherguy]

I will also concur with the Mac statement. I personally have never had an issue with my Mac, and I would highly recommend one to anyone looking for a good computer with very few problems.

[azsnowman]

Michelle bought me a HP Pavillion for my Christmas 2 years ago and I LOVE It! So far no problems and what I LOVE about it is the wide screen, a 17" widescreen on a laptop is a killer!

[gtalum]

I like Macs too, but they're expensive...

[Squarethecircle]

They also don't suck, which you could probably expect from the price tag. Also, they last a fair while, while my Dell seems to need life support just to survive a few years (and it was one of the top models back in 2001!).

[gtalum]

They also don't suck, which you could probably expect from the price tag.

Of course, you can get the same non-suckiness and longevity from a dirt-cheap box running Linux.