Yesterday, I decided that it was probably about time I backed up some files in case something goes wrong with my computer. The day before that, I got given a DVD writer for my laptop to borrow. I was going to give it straight back but they said I can borrow t for a bit longer. Since I had it, I thought that I might as well put it to use. I had some music to burn to CDs, music to rip from CDs, and some backing up to do.

I used Windows to format the disc to enable me to drag and drop the folders and files I wanted to back up. I was hoping that I could backup all my important files to one DVD disc so I didn’t have to mess around with multiple backup discs. I managed to just fit everything that I needed. I didn’t backup my desktop because the videos there will be transferred to an external drive later. I also didn’t bother backing up my music folder because I didn’t need the podcasts and iTunes libraries that were there because I wouldn’t use or listen to anything there ever again. If something did happen to my data, it would be easy enough for me to start fresh. After backing up, I closed the disc and labeled it with a marker and filed it in my Disc Case for archive purposes.

I then burnt music to disc and them ripped music into my iTunes Library. That was a simple task. I then decided that I would backup my iTunes Music Library because at times, I have heard clicking coming from my external music drive and also Windows Vista doesn’t spin down the disc when I eject it from the computer so I have to unplug it in a special way. If I just yank the USB cord from the computer, the drive makes an awful sound, and it could one day possibly destroy the drive somehow. For me to safely remove it from the computer, I have to pull the cord half out to spin down the drive, then I can take it all the way out without it making the horrible sound. It took a bit over 30 minutes and 3 DVDs to backup my iTunes Library, which was a little over 10GB.

Backing up my files on my computer will help me sleep easy and in the event on my computer fully dying, I won’t have to worry as much about the data I have lost. Also if my music drive dies, I have a backup which will contain most, if not all of my music and recovering my library in the event of a failure won’t be that painful. Using iTunes to backup my music was simple, I love how it just does it. I wish backing up what I want with Windows was as simple as that, without requiring third-party software.

Two days ago when I was trying to burn a CD in Ashampoo Burning Studio, it said “No compatible CD recorder found.” I went into Computer and saw that my DVD Drive was not listed there with my other drives. Then when I thought about it for a second, I remembered thinking a week ago that it looks odd and something looks missing. Well just then it hit me what was missing, my DVD Drive.

I looked to see if it was in Device Manager and it wasn’t listed there so I went and had a quick look around the internet. After seeing a few possible things I can try, and getting some advice, I decided to do a little troubleshooting to see what was going on. Was it my operating system not detecting the drive, was it the BIOS, or did the drive crap out. I went into the BIOS to see if it was disabled but it wasn’t, then I tried to boot an Ubuntu LiveCD. No luck there either. It seems to be a hardware problem.

Now it was time to figure out if it could have been a loose connection somewhere, my computer failing, or the drive dead. After a bit of thinking, I decided to take the drive out, check it and put it back. I did that, no change. I then later on thought that maybe I can put my sisters drive in my computer and that will tell me if its the drive, or something deeper. After swapping the drives and powering up my system, my computer detected the drive and started adding drivers for it. My computer was fine.

So the problem lies in the DVD Drive, its broken. I suppose its better there something being wrong with the drive than something having a deeper problem. It was a relief figuring out what the issue was. Now I have to figure out whether to replace my drive or not. If I do, it is going to be an internal one, which will lay me back about $150 New Zealand for a slimline DVD Writer. For how much I do use the thing, I don’t think replacing it, or even buying an external drive is worth it.

I only use the drive for ripping CDs and burning files for friends to DVDs. And even that is rare. The only time other than that is when installing software, but that usually only happens if its a new Operating System install. I don’t think its worth my paying to get something that will be hardly used and just for those purposes. I am probably better off keeping my money and putting it towards a new system, or just getting something else. If I do even need to reinstall Windows, or any other OS, I could always borrow my sisters drive for a few hours.

A month ago I finally decided to put a few dollars towards upgrading the RAM on my computer from 1GB to 2GB. It was really easy to install. All you do is remove a screw or two and pop out the old RAM and slide in the new RAM. It is as simple as that.

I noticed that performance increase from my laptop after doubling the amount of RAM I have. Programs seem to be much more snappier, to open and to do tasks. Another thing I noticed, which was really odd, was that the time it takes for my computer to go into hibernation is a bit less than before. You would think that it would take longer to hibernate with more RAM.

I am very happy with my RAM and recommend that everyone that doesn’t have 2GB or more of RAM upgrade ASAP, especially if you are using Windows Vista. RAM is cheap anyway and shouldn’t cost you a fortune. You will be much happier with more RAM, just like I am.

You may have seen across multiple technology sites over the past month, some stuff on a Apple docking patent. What this does, it is takes a portable computer, like a MacBook, and it goes inside the dock that looks similar to an iMac. This will allow it to be used as a desktop like device with many extra ports and such.

Laptops are becoming more popular and are starting to take over a lot of the desktop market. People are turning to laptops for what they need, except in a portable package with similar and/or sufficient power for their needs. People are turning to laptops to use as desktop replacements and therefore a type of dock is a well welcomed device for the home. This allows for all peripherals such as hard drives, monitors, keyboard and mouse to be on your desk, and you can dock your laptop and use it without having to plug half a dozen plugs into your laptop.

With the Apple dock, the laptop inserts into the device, and there is where the limitations start. First off, you lose the ability to use one screen. It is being wasted inside the computer. For some people, this wouldn’t be an issue but you could use the laptop screen as a secondary monitor to display stuff, such as your iTunes library, or even other applications that you may not use. It would be useful for displaying information that you don’t need to see but it would be nice to have displayed without getting in the way of the apps you are using and without you having to select it. It would be good if it was just there at your side on the laptop screen.

You are also limited to the screen size of the dock, which is dictated by Apple. They could have multiple docks with different screen sizes, but that means you have to pay extra for it, and it probably won’t be cheap. You could even be better off getting an iMac and leaving the dock out of it. It will most likely be cheaper to buy a Dell monitor, or any other brand, for cheaper than the dock is. If the laptop isn’t very powerful, it might struggle with displaying two large resolutions if the dock happened to have a monitor port for a dual setup.

What I would rather have is a dock that can be used with all the Mac notebooks, not just the one that the dock is made for. Also I would like to be able to use a monitor of my choice and have many ports on the dock. It could work similar to how their iPod docks do, you just slide the laptop into it, and it just goes. All peripherals and such connect to the dock and get detected by the computer on insertion. I would also be able to use the screen on my monitor for other applications and not have it wasted.

On the assumption that the new notebook is ultra slim, it might not be as powerful as bigger laptops, in many ways. If so, is it really a good option to use it as a desktop replacement? If people wanted a Mac desktop replacement, they would probably go for a higher end line with higher processor, dedicated graphics and larger screen. A lower powered notebook might not suffice as a desktop machine. In that case, the dock is a waste of space, and probably a waste of money. A port replicator dock would be much better and could also be usable with multiple notebooks, models from now, and in the future.

This is really all based on speculation, and not a real product. Maybe in less than 12 hours, we find out what this really is and if it is plausible. I may end up eating my words, but some of my points may still be valid. It is a neat idea just sliding in your portable computer into a monitor/iMac like device and use it as my desktop. It can be two units in one, a slim portable computer for when i need the portability, and then a desktop like computer with a bigger monitor and more ports and such for when I need that functionality. I would have to get some real information about the notebook and the dock, before I can have real opinions about the actual product, and I would have to use it for a personal opinion of the actual product. We shall wait and see.

Everyone, at some point in their lives, has to ring up a support line for an issue they have. I have only ever once had a good experience with a support person, the other half a dozen times have been mediocre or horrible.

Yesterday I rang up Compaq support, you listen to the voice and it gives you options. That’s fine if you are ringing once, but if you ring multiple times, it gets a little irritating. Anyway, once you have been through that, they put you on hold and play the shittiest tunes ever. Who would listen to the crap they play, honestly? And what makes it worse is that you have to listen to it while you wait for a human to answer.

So back to the story, I rang them up. I gave my details. A told the support person my issue. All I want is a recovery disc so I can reinstall my operation system and an expresscard blank. The reason I don’t have either of these things are because when I sent my computer away for repair a couple of months ago, they never gave them back to me. This is thier problem and I should be entitled to them.

It shouldn’t be too much trouble to just get these two things sent to me, but no, they don’t send recovery cds, you have to use the recovery partition. After trying to explain my situation multiple times, she ended up telling me that my hard drive will have to be completely reimaged. Screw doing that, its much more convenient for me to pirate the operating system than having it sent away for a few days.

The second part was even more horrible because the person wouldn’t give me one unless I had the case number from the last support call. Like I kept that information! It would have been thrown out with all the rest of the random papers in the house. I had proof of the case on the job report, but the person wouldn’t listen. After about ten minutes, I found the first case number and also read out the job report. After being put for hold again for ten minutes or so, she said she can’t get the records and will ring me back.

Now that didn’t happen did it. I have no fucking idea what is going on, but at this point I am pissed off and want nothing to do with them. I’m just going to download it. Screw them! Then this morning, I get a phone call from the repair centre telling me they got a case sent through and wanted to know if they were getting any parts or what not. Now I might know what is going on if the support person rang back to tell me what was going on, but no, I am left in the dark.

Eventually I said that I will just buy a Vista Upgrade disc and install that so I don’t need the recovery stuff. I still have no idea on what is going on with the expresscard slot, that just so happens to be filling up with dust. I don’t think dust is good for it and it is their fault that it is doing that because they never returned my expresscard blank. They should really do something about it.

Why does support suck? I have only once got good support, at it just so happened to be on a public holiday. I got through fast, the person understood that I knew what I was doing and quickly pushed me through to getting it fixed. I was happy with the support I got there. Why can’t they treat me like a normal computer user, not some dumbass that got a virus or uninstalled a driver or some shit like that? Can you get good support anywhere???

Yesterday, one of the desktop computers gave in. The thing just would not work. It had a good life, seven years with no problems what so ever (except for viruses and spyware.) My sister was using it as we replaced it a couple of years back. We looked around a few shops at the computer and decided that maybe a laptop computer would be an option, rather than a desktop. The price of a laptop isn’t that much different from a desktop and depending on what you use your computer for would depend on if it is a good idea to go portable or not.

We ended up getting a new laptop, same series as mine, only a higher model. The main differences are the better processor, an AMD Athlon X2 1.8Ghz, 120GB Hard Drive, Bluetooth and Vista Home Premium. Other than that it waspretty much the same, except for Compaq’s new (ugly) logo. It is a huge upgrade for my sister, going from a 1.3Ghz, 30GB Hard Drive with 512 RAM. I wouldn’t notice that much of an advancement but for someone using such a low spec computer, this computer would be blazing!

Some of the thing I like about this one, than my model, is the precessor. Yes, its a little faster but what makes it better than mine is the heat. With the new laptop, you hardly feel any warmth coming from the thing, where as mine, you always feel heat coming from it, and depending on the conditions, it can even get to the point that it burn you if it touches your skin too long. I would benifit from a cooler processor because I use my computer on my lap and it can get uncomfortable when using it for a while, and even be unbearable if the weather is hot as well.

Another thing that is great about it is the bluetooth. This is one thing I have never experienced in my life, and for a lot of people, its the normal, even old technology. I was surprised about how great it work. Sending a picture from a cellphone took 30 seconds, from capture to looking at it on the computer. I know there are other things you can do with bluetooth but just sending a picture amazed me. I have no idea why our digital cameras, Mp3 players and other common devices don’t use bluetooth to communicate with computers. Bluetooth is a great feature, but personally I wouldn’t use it because I do not have any bluetooth devices. Still, it was amazing to play with.

The final little difference is Vista. Yes, I have been using Vista since February, or so I though. You really aren’t experiencing Vista unless you are using Home Premium or above. Home Basic in my books, doesn’t count anymore. It is stripped down, I don’t even know why they even have this version. To me it seems like a bloated XP with a fancy skin on it, nothing mch new here. I love the smoothness and animations of Premium, especially the Flip3D. It is so pretty to look at and I can’t believe they would have a version without it. To be honest, the visual features is the only real selling point of Vista, yet they have a version that lacks all that.

Do I wish I could have that laptop instead of the one I have now? Yes! Would I trade what I have for that one? No! This is my laptop and I am going to keep it forever. I wouldn’t trade it in for anything. I wouldn’t mind a new laptop in the nearish future so we will see what happens. Some more RAM and Home Premium would be nice to get and would make this last until it is time to upgrade. MacBook Pro, I’m coming, just wait a little longer!

For the past few months, since a little while after I got my new computer, I set up Remote Desktop on my old desktop computer so I could log in and use it from inside my laptop. This is a tool that I have seen, but never really knew how to use, or wanted to use. But now that I have a portable computer, it is nice to control the desktop from anywhere in the house. This little gem that is built into Windows is a fantastic tool.

It was a little time consuming to get it set up because the desktop only had one user account. This made me have to create my own user account, with a password, so I could log in and control the computer remotely. I also had to use a piece of software to hide the user so the computer stays logging into the main account when the computer is turned on. After that, the software is great.

Probably the two reason I use this the most, is to administrate the desktop and do necessary maintenance, start uTorrent and downloads, and to test software. I used the computer to test Firefox 3.0 Alpha 7, also known as Minefield. Because the computer wasn’t my main system with all my important stuff on it, I felt it was the perfect environment to take the plunge with playing around with Alpha software. More recently, I also tested Windows Live Messenger 9.0 Beta and had a play around with it. I now use both of these applications on my main computer because I have felt they are stable enough to use and they do run very well, but I wanted to check them out a little bit before taking the plunge with them on my main system.

It is really nice to be able to use these little gems hidden in your system. There are a lot of things included with Windows that I don’t use, or don’t even know about. Remote Desktop is one of those and it is a great application that is bundled with Windows. I wish I could use it more and for other things and connecting to other computer, but unfortunately I cannot. I wonder what I will discover next, hidden in my computer.