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Post by sumgai on Mar 13, 2011 2:30:48 GMT -5
Remember that old line from The Outer Limits TV show? Well, I did adjust the bleepin' Horizontal, and now I'm payin' for it.  My main laptop's hard drive has done did the face-plant trick, for evermore, no ravens necessary. That means that if I wanna stay up with you guys, I have to take the home network's server out of the network (which kinda means, no network at all), and play with it. Of course, the reason it was relegated to server duty in the first place was that the touchpad went wonkers - it moves the cursor to whereever it senses that I don't want it, and then of course I proceed to type just exactly where I shouldn't be typing. For a touch-typist like me, that's akin to forcing a guitar player to play his axe with only one string - it can be done, but it sure ain't pretty! So, until I procure either another HD or another 'puter (yeah, like the wife's gonna let that happen....), I'm gonna be pretty scarce. Not completely invisible, but just not as loquacious as you all are used to. Questions will still be answered, though maybe not so quickly. (However, my lawyer says I have to explain that correct answers will cost extra. ;D) That is all. The smoking lamp is now lit. sumgai |
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Post by sumgai on Mar 14, 2011 10:56:17 GMT -5
I'm not fully back yet, but I have secured another hard drive. It'll take me a few hours, once I can sit down to the job, to get an OS on it, and put everythng back in order, the way I like it. Things are hopping in the studio, customers want now, now, NOW!
However, I've also recently learned that my machine can handle W7-64bit just fine, so I may try that, just because I like tearing my hair out by the roots!! ;D
Give me another day, I suspect that I won't be getting much sleep tonight.....
sumgai
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Post by irwired on Mar 14, 2011 13:10:39 GMT -5
Condolences on the HD
Were you backed up?
If you still have data on the old drive you could try the, put the hard drive in the freezer trick. I’ve heard that can give you a short reprieve…enough to get some data back.
I lost a HD about 6mos ago. And Norton 360 backup would not work to restore my files from the external HD.
And the Bengali tech support was useless.
Well I feel your pain
IRW
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Post by cynical1 on Mar 14, 2011 14:16:36 GMT -5
Running a machine as a server with no RAID?
This is why I love VM's...either WMWare or OpenVM. You're back up in minutes...
But hey, the last thing you need now is some wise-butt chiming in...
Good luck with the W7-64 install.
HTC1
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Post by jcgss77 on Mar 14, 2011 18:33:04 GMT -5
Computer and server issues are such a pain. Usually has you messing with something new because you gotta shop for something and some new fangled technology starts making your credit card itch.
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Post by sumgai on Mar 17, 2011 2:02:01 GMT -5
OK, fully back up and bustin' out! ;D Well, not quite, but close enough to start harangueing you yo-yo's again! ;D ;D As it happened, I don't believe in Task Scheduler, but I do have the habit of initiating a batch file every few days, which takes an incremental snapshot of everything that's changed since the last backup. (xxcopy, for those who wanna know.) I was about 3, perhaps 4 days out when it all went bye-bye. I was able to boot from my USB stick (with BartPE on it, what a life saver), and ferret out the last few files that I wanted to keep. Sadly, even Bart couldn't resuscitate my drive's first (Primary Bootable) partition, it was just plain hosed. The remaining partitions however survive, even to this day. I stuck that drive in one of my USB connected enclosures, used as part of the server farm, and found it all waiting for me like it was no big thing. Go figure.  So all I really lost was my Desktop icon layout, and of course the Windows Registry. Which means a lot of reinstalling of my preferred programs, but that's OK. After all, I was seriously thinking of reinstalling the OS anyways, 'cause my Wi-Fi card was starting to drop the router connection way too often for even my rather large tolerance of idiocy.  This is a bit more of a pain (about $80 more, to be precise), but in the end, it'll be worth it, I'm sure. Now to go see who's been taking my name in vain!  sumgai |
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Post by gumbo on Mar 17, 2011 5:05:39 GMT -5
....thas why I gotta houseful of Macs... ;D
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Post by asmith on Mar 17, 2011 7:07:07 GMT -5
....thas why I gotta houseful of Macs... ;D But yer house is so small 'cause you spent it all on the computers, right? Glad to hear you're back SG. |
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Post by irwired on Mar 17, 2011 10:00:43 GMT -5
Yes sir!!! It's not the same without ya  and welcome to the new machine" long may you run" Cheers IRW |
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Post by gumbo on Mar 19, 2011 4:52:26 GMT -5
But yer house is so small 'cause you spent it all on the computers, right? ..no, 'coz I spent it all on GUITARS...  .....and just about everything that Roland made .. |
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Post by sumgai on Mar 20, 2011 12:40:28 GMT -5
Still a bit slow to get everything back in order.  Seems like no matter how much I think I've finished setting it all back up, I find yet another little "gotcha" that I haven't restored to working order. No wonder people just throw their hands up in the air, and just go buy a new 'puter. I'm beginning to see why they do that! And gumbo, since you're a friend, I won't get into that whole "platform wars" thing with you. But then again, I can understand how being upside down for one's entire life might affect one's ability to discern MarketSpeak from reality!  Thanks everyone, for all the joie de vire! sumgai p.s. I've taken to using a pencil-and-paper, kept right beside my chair/desk. I write down everything I'm doing, as I do it, then re-write it all over again in Notepad. I know that's backwards, but just about now, I'm a little paranoid about my memory, or lack thereof.  After all that, I then copy the software involved, or a text-file description of what Registry keys I modified, or whatever's needed, all to a CD-RW and to a USB stick. I'm serious about not having to go through this again - I'm too old for this crap! |
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Post by cynical1 on Mar 20, 2011 15:15:23 GMT -5
Running a virtual machine allows you to take snapshots at your whim to save the state of the virtual machine. If it tanks on Wednesday at noon your up and running by 1:00 P...if you take your time...
VMWare and OpenVM have free open source version available and tools are provided. The old ESX Server was a snap to install and run. Open VM isn't bad.
If you want to take the slacker's route, once the first machine is setup you can just copy the file, rename it, open it in ESX Server, change the SID and whammo, instant second VM...
You can also run a P2V client, free from VMWare, that will take any physical machine and make it a virtual machine. Some drivers may need re-installation, but no more then a hour or two. One that's done, snapshot it and save accordingly.
If you want to get really tricky, set up a VM server. Create multiple VM's for everyone in the house, or for special purposes. Use Remote Desktop to plow right into the server's virtual machine. Slower computers benefit from this as all the work is performed on the server.
The downside to that is your DirectX stuff will fail miserably in Remote Desktop...so games are a bummer on this route.
Long and short of it is that a VM will do practically anything a physical machine will do.
Wave of the future guys. You heard it here.
HTC1
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Post by jcgss77 on Mar 20, 2011 15:43:29 GMT -5
Man, I wish I had half the technologic know how of you guys... sg-I hear you on the writing notes and transferring them to wordpad. I do that all the time...now only if I could remember to look at the handwritten notes to get them permanent before throwing them out...  |
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Post by 4real on Mar 20, 2011 18:10:17 GMT -5
I learn a lot for these threads and experiences...don't follow a bit of it...but, backing up computer now...LOL!
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Post by gumbo on Mar 21, 2011 5:32:43 GMT -5
Platform Tickets anybody?  ? ...railroad joke.... |
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This is a bit more of a pain (about $80 more, to be precise), but in the end, it'll be worth it, I'm sure.
Seems like no matter how much I think I've finished setting it all back up, I find yet another little "gotcha" that I haven't restored to working order.
?