Windows 8 Sucks

[Walter]

Nov 6, 2015 19:07:24 GMT -5 oujour76 said:

Nov 6, 2015 17:14:53 GMT -5 Walter said:

UPdate....

I still hate it, for the most part, but 8 does have a few bells and whistles that I'm finding I like. I'm getting more used to the interface now and though I still don't like it, I am going to temporarily shelve my FATWA to hunt down and bring to justice the lead software engineer.

So...exactly how does a non-believer issue a fatwa?

[lz2112]

I wonder if FATWA being mentioned repeatedly here has peaked the NSA's interest in this board.

[Deleted]

They've been watching the Denver "Dr" for quite some time after people dropped dimes on him for making terrorist threats.

[daleko]

Nov 6, 2015 19:07:24 GMT -5 oujour76 said:

Nov 6, 2015 17:14:53 GMT -5 Walter said:

UPdate....

I still hate it, for the most part, but 8 does have a few bells and whistles that I'm finding I like. I'm getting more used to the interface now and though I still don't like it, I am going to temporarily shelve my FATWA to hunt down and bring to justice the lead software engineer.

So...exactly how does a non-believer issue a fatwa?

What's a Wa?

[daleko]

Nov 6, 2015 20:21:32 GMT -5 lz2112 said:

I wonder if FATWA being mentioned repeatedly here has peaked the NSA's interest in this board.

They've been here and gone.

[Walter]

Meanwhile, the hard disk on the old machine continues to deteriorate. I'm trying to move data over to the new machine that didn't get a full backup, but it's getting to the point that it doesn't even boot. Trying to boot it off a USB stick without much luck so far.

[daleko]

Nov 8, 2015 19:32:43 GMT -5 Walter said:

Meanwhile, the hard disk on the old machine continues to deteriorate. I'm trying to move data over to the new machine that didn't get a full backup, but it's getting to the point that it doesn't even boot. Trying to boot it off a USB stick without much luck so far.

Send it out. There's good ones and some not so good. I've got a bud in Atlanta that makes a v good living doing it. Doesn't help you in LA though. BB you're up. 

[burninbush]

Nov 8, 2015 21:51:23 GMT -5 daleko said:

Nov 8, 2015 19:32:43 GMT -5 Walter said:

Meanwhile, the hard disk on the old machine continues to deteriorate. I'm trying to move data over to the new machine that didn't get a full backup, but it's getting to the point that it doesn't even boot. Trying to boot it off a USB stick without much luck so far.

Send it out. There's good ones and some not so good. I've got a bud in Atlanta that makes a v good living doing it. Doesn't help you in LA though. BB you're up. 

Yeah. It sucks, but in the usual case you just have to replace a failing disk. A new 1-gig disk can be had for around $50 -- it doesn't make sense to think of repairing one. All I can really say is, he shoulda had it backed up better. A 2-drive raid setup where the 2nd drive mirrors the first is a convenient way to stay ahead of the backup problem, a business computer should be looking in that direction.

I assume we're probably talking about a recent windows OS -- they have decent imaging built-in. Most folks just don't bother to use it.

Maybe Walt will explain 'booting from a usbstick' -- that's the sort of thing that MUST be tested ahead of the time that you would need to use it.

I can advise how to locate and build a rescue linux disk on a usbstick -- which would allow you to copy-off data from a hard disk that still works. I've been assuming that his failure was the disk itself.

[Walter]

Nov 9, 2015 9:15:12 GMT -5 burninbush said:

Nov 8, 2015 21:51:23 GMT -5 daleko said:

Send it out. There's good ones and some not so good. I've got a bud in Atlanta that makes a v good living doing it. Doesn't help you in LA though. BB you're up. 

Yeah. It sucks, but in the usual case you just have to replace a failing disk. A new 1-gig disk can be had for around $50 -- it doesn't make sense to think of repairing one. All I can really say is, he shoulda had it backed up better. A 2-drive raid setup where the 2nd drive mirrors the first is a convenient way to stay ahead of the backup problem, a business computer should be looking in that direction.

I assume we're probably talking about a recent windows OS -- they have decent imaging built-in. Most folks just don't bother to use it.

Maybe Walt will explain 'booting from a usbstick' -- that's the sort of thing that MUST be tested ahead of the time that you would need to use it.

I can advise how to locate and build a rescue linux disk on a usbstick -- which would allow you to copy-off data from a hard disk that still works. I've been assuming that his failure was the disk itself.

Yeah...the hard disk is a goner.
Back up "problem"? The dang thing claims it ran out of disk space which should not be as its larger than the entire hard disk of the computer, so I'm assuming that's a partition issue of some kind....I hadn't backed anything up in about a month as I procrastinated looking into THAT.

Managed to get the computer to run a checkdisk this morning....203 bad sectors.
For now, I'm back on as admin only, and am salvaging the remaining data.

As for the USBstick, I downloaded a linux program called UBUNTU or some such thing that I just plugged in and then f12'd to move the boot to the USB. but nothing came of it. I get the feeling there was a step in the process that I had to do that I didn't do to get that to work, but have no idea what that might be.

For now, the Checkdisk seems to have gotten things straightened out.

[burninbush]

Nov 9, 2015 14:32:57 GMT -5 Walter said:

Nov 9, 2015 9:15:12 GMT -5 burninbush said:

Yeah. It sucks, but in the usual case you just have to replace a failing disk. A new 1-gig disk can be had for around $50 -- it doesn't make sense to think of repairing one. All I can really say is, he shoulda had it backed up better. A 2-drive raid setup where the 2nd drive mirrors the first is a convenient way to stay ahead of the backup problem, a business computer should be looking in that direction.

I assume we're probably talking about a recent windows OS -- they have decent imaging built-in. Most folks just don't bother to use it.

Maybe Walt will explain 'booting from a usbstick' -- that's the sort of thing that MUST be tested ahead of the time that you would need to use it.

I can advise how to locate and build a rescue linux disk on a usbstick -- which would allow you to copy-off data from a hard disk that still works. I've been assuming that his failure was the disk itself.

Yeah...the hard disk is a goner.
Back up "problem"? The dang thing claims it ran out of disk space which should not be as its larger than the entire hard disk of the computer, so I'm assuming that's a partition issue of some kind....I hadn't backed anything up in about a month as I procrastinated looking into THAT.

Managed to get the computer to run a checkdisk this morning....203 bad sectors.
For now, I'm back on as admin only, and am salvaging the remaining data.

As for the USBstick, I downloaded a linux program called UBUNTU or some such thing that I just plugged in and then f12'd to move the boot to the USB. but nothing came of it. I get the feeling there was a step in the process that I had to do that I didn't do to get that to work, but have no idea what that might be.

For now, the Checkdisk seems to have gotten things straightened out.

OK, good news. Replace the drive soonest.

I've never cared for Ubuntu. But I heartily recommend Porteus 3.1 and Puppy Quirky. Both can easily be installed to usbstick, Porteus even has a zip-format download that can just be extracted onto a formatted usbstick (512mb or bigger, download is about 230 Mb.) Quirky is somewhat smaller.

My best advice: when you get the new disk loaded enough to be useful, make an image of it on some external disk. Several vendors make little external usb harddisks (typically have laptop drives inside) that need no more power than the usb port will provide. I have had a 320gb Seagate Free Agent drive for several years now, still works perfectly, think I paid $60 for it. If your new puter has usb 3.0 ports, then look for matching hardware, much faster than 2.0.

If you want to salvage the drive instead, then download the drive vendor's diag program and run that on the drive. Those can detect most fatal issues, and if the corruption was just errant software then a write-to-every-sector will solve bad sector problems, if they can be solved. Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor, Hitachi, etc -- all offer free diag downloads.