COMPUTER Tools
Pitchcare’s Web Monkey, Alastair Battrick, tells us about the USB External Hard Drive ... and other interesting stuff!
In the past month I’ve had four of my family, friends and colleagues speak to me about external hard drives. What an exciting conversationalist, I know! Anyway, as the most knowledgeable geek they know, they wanted to glean the information I have about these devices. Each of them has said to me that they want to back up some files to it. This attitude is commendable, as backup of files is usually only done once you have been stung by losing some files, and these people were all taking pre-emptive action. The USB External Hard Drive is a small unit, usually about the size of a desk telephone, but stood on its side. A narrow toaster perhaps? Often these devices have a regular hard disk drive inside them, like the one that is already inside your computer and holds all your files. There is a bit of electronics that connects this to a cable, that you connect to a spare USB port on your computer. Ideally this will be a modern USB version 2 port, or the speed of data transfer between the computer and the external disk will be very very slow. If you have run out of hard disk space on your desktop computer and you do not possess the knowledge to open the case and install a new internal hard disk, external hard disks are an option that will save you having to find a technician to do this for you. There really is nothing difficult about installing one of these devices; just plug in and power up!
data from your computer to an external USB disk, or back again, is slow in comparison to using a standard internal disk drive. The absolute maximum speed is about half the latter. The drives are currently
On the downside, transferring
size and cache size (doesn’t matter what that is, just know that more is better and 8Mb is average).
Good luck.
Here’s a few links that you might find useful:
http://www.econsultant.com/i- want-f
freeware-u utilities/
I want a Freeware Utility to ... 450+ common problems solved. Extremely useful free utilities that do specific jobs really well and save time and money.
http://www.getfirefox.com
The award-winning Web browser is now faster, more secure, and fully customizable to your online life. With Firefox version 2, there are powerful new features that make your online experience even better.
http://www.digg.com
Digg is all about user powered content. Every article on digg is submitted and voted on by the digg community. Share, discover, bookmark, and promote the news that's important to you!
careful!
... and a few shortcut key commands -b
but be
Ctrl+Alt+Del - Hold down these three keys to pop up a very useful window. See programs that are running, processes that are running (the programs that are running in the background), and your computer performance information. Plus, use it to shut down or reboot your computer if the windows menu has disappeared.
Alt+F4 - Use with care, as this will quit/close the currently running program that is in the foreground.
available in models from 40Gb to 500Gb, and expect to pay between £50 and £150, depending on the brand, disk
F1 - Opens the help screen for the program that is in the foreground
READERS
Who are you? Charmian Robinson, Marketing Director of Hunter Grinders and ABR Publicity.
Lives
What's your background? After studying business and marketing at college, I joined Colchester Tillage as PR and Marketing Manager and had my first introduction to ‘machinery’. Moving on, I formed my own PR business working in agriculture, horticulture and amenity. I managed to overcome my natural antipathy towards anything that had more than one knob and built a successful career in promoting outdoor equipment and machinery.
Status: Married to Paul with one son of thirteen who has taught me that ‘heavy metal’ isn’t all bad. In fact the ‘Greenday’ concert at Milton Keynes was fantastic. A new addition is on the way in the shape of a Bernese mountain dog (must be a mid-life thing).
Days Off: are spent catching up with chores, eating and drinking with friends or family, keep fit, badminton, walking - soon to be joined by dog.
What car? Haven’t you heard? Thought everyone knew of my love affair with my Mazda MX5. It’s beautiful, fast, sleek, sexy, has got black leather interior, Bose speakers, drives well, handles ……blah blah blah
Favourite Film: The English Patient. I’m a hopeless romantic, adore Ralph Fiennes and love a complicated saga and I adore Ralph Fiennes - have I already mentioned that?
Favourite radio programme: Radio 2 - Terry Wogan is wicked and amusing, Jeremy Vines is interesting for a chat, and
EACH issue we catch up with a leading turfgrass professional and ask him or her what’s going on in ...
Jonathon Ross relieves the boredom of the treadmill on a Saturday morning. And Classic FM when I’m driving my car.
Favourite Music: I love music. I will choose whatever suits my mood at the time, from schmaltz to heavy rock, classic to Rhythm and Blues. But I don’t do Jazz, tried but can’t seem to get it.
Love about my job: I have been on the receiving end of much derision from my peers for thriving in what is a very male dominated industry, particularly as my interest and technical knowledge of machines is known to be somewhat limited! However, I have found it incredibly rewarding and fulfilling and can honestly say that it is the people that make the job worthwhile and they don’t come better than you lot!
Favourite sport: It’s got to be badminton cos I’m good at it. I enjoy lots of sports if I can join in, not so good at watching from the sidelines.
Favourite TV: Thrillers, not the mamby pamby detective mysteries, I like a good gory serial killer. Drama - Greys Anatomy is excellent
Favourite food: To really enjoy food I have to eat out. I like the whole experience and don't mind what type; Italian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese. Everyday food is of no particular interest and I will often forget to eat.
Pet Hate: Waiting. I hate waiting.
Most memorable experience? Being rescued by a local hero after abandoning my car in a blizzard. See, I told you I was a hopeless romantic.
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