If you're working with an HP machine, there should be some label somewhere specifying the exact model number. It’ll probably say something like a Dell OptiPlex
velvetnomad44 said:When I try Step 2—the automatic route—it keeps telling me I don't have the latest Java version. I've already tried installing Java five times, plus five attempts at the auto-install itself, all failed. So, I went back to Step 1 for the manual setup. It found my graphics card and offered the package for download, but then that same error pops up again.
Honestly, you might just need to reinstall the OS—these kinds of crashes usually aren't a good sign.
Timothy Torres3 said:In the end, I’d say we managed to salvage about half of it. The most significant hurdle was that the Restore process didn't actually reach completion; it just sort of stalled out halfway through. To make matters worse, I wasn't able to double-check everything last night because my husband decided to head to bed and performed a hard force shut down on the computer without even checking if I was finished—and since I was already fast asleep, I didn't have a say in the matter. Now, the results are incredibly inconsistent: some of the JPEGs still retain their metadata, like the date they were taken, while others are only displaying half of the image, and for about fifty percent of them, there is absolutely nothing left to see. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Long live Facebook, I suppose; after all, the most vital pieces of our lives end up living there anyway, and they are developed so much more beautifully within those digital spaces—and even more so when you find them curated in albums.
This is honestly the most reliable way to ensure long-term storage for your pictures—I guess other services really ought to take a page out of this book.
There are a few different ways to handle that first issue: http://www.labnol.org/internet/save-...le-docs/21045/ https://productforums.google.com/for...il/9V2yJ-H8gGg http://lifehacker.com/5990556/how-ca...ersonal-backup
Basically, the solutions boil down to two main approaches—either saving your emails as individual files (like PDFs with the attachments included) or just connecting your Gmail to an external mail client—maybe Apple Mail or Gmail—and then exporting everything from there, or just using the client itself to manage the backups.
As for the second issue, I guess those emails probably ended up in spam because you sent a huge batch to so many different addresses in such a short window of time.
feralrider92 said:I'm planning to dive into some 4K gaming soon—I really want to pick up something that'll last me at least four years while still running everything smoothly.
The whole idea of "future proofing" is usually a bit of a flawed concept—mostly because nobody really knows what the landscape will look like four years from now. At most, you might be able to secure yourself for the next two years, I guess.
Like Timothy60 said, it's your money—do whatever you want with it.
There are all sorts of external drive enclosures out there.
My WD Elements has these slots on the sides—I'm guessing they're for cooling—so I suppose you could technically clean it, though that might just end up being a matter of using some compressed air once in a while.
Then you have something like a SanDisk, which is completely sealed off, so you don't really have to worry about dust getting inside at all.
1. An external drive basically works just like any other USB flash drive. 2. Lifespan of what, exactly? The data on the disk? Honestly, nobody can guarantee that or even give you a straight answer. I’ve got drives that sat untouched for over 10 years and I could read the data without a hitch. Then again, I've had drives die after just two weeks of use where recovery wasn't even worth the cost.
If you actually care about your data—and if you're willing to trade off some privacy—you might want to look into cloud storage. In my opinion, it's probably the "safest" bet right now when it comes to avoiding hardware failure.
For a DIY home setup, you could consider running drives in a RAID array (mirroring) if the data is really important to you.
3. Is Seagate the best based on specific specs? Personally, I'd probably go with Western Digital. Most drives these days are pretty much mass-produced, so the brand choice isn't a huge deal—unless there's word that a specific series is prone to defects, then you'd want to watch out for that.
4. Room temperature is fine. Even the heat we've been having lately should be okay. If you're going to keep the drive disconnected most of the time, you could tuck it away in a pantry or a storage closet; a slightly cooler environment won't hurt, but there's definitely no need to put it in the fridge. 😁
5. I'm not sure what kind of cleaning you mean, but if you're talking about physical cleaning, the only thing you can really do is wipe off any dust that settles on the outside. 😁
The speed you actually get from your ISP is what really matters here. For example, AT&T is currently capping things at 50 Mbps for downloads, so a 100 Mbps card will handle that just fine—no issues there. Your router isn't actually hitting 300 Mbps toward the internet either; that’s just the wireless speed between the router and your laptop, but you're still ultimately limited by whatever your provider gives you.
When I mentioned pushing large amounts of data, I was talking about your local network, not your internet connection. If you're planning on moving terabytes of data across your local network every single day, then yeah, you should definitely grab a 1000 Mbps card.
The 10/100/1000 numbers represent the interface speed in megabits per second—Mbps. Most cards being sold these days hit 1000 Mbps, or basically 1 Gigabit.
If you're just plugging this into something like a standard broadband router, then a 10/100 card might be fine for your needs. But—if you're planning on moving massive amounts of data constantly—like gigabytes or terabytes at a time—you’ll definitely want that 1000 speed.
Honestly—those network cards used to be everywhere in older PCs—so I’d probably suggest checking with someone here on the forum to see if they have any spares or would sell one cheap. Or maybe just look on Craigslist or some local flea market.
That price of $22 isn't exactly outrageous, so... judge for yourself, I guess.
I think you can probably just let those sticks go—it looks like you’ve already tried everything they’d typically suggest. Maybe you could try some specialized formatting tools, but I guess it might not be worth the hassle.