The Raging Tech

Prepare for Disaster Recovery: Rebit Data Back-Up

If you think you’re exempt from the cataclysmic eventuality of computer hard drive failure, think again. Hard drives are only meant to last for a few years, tops! Maybe you’re one of those people that feels the best back-up solution is to burn everything to a CD, or e-mail your important files to yourself.

The problem comes when you do experience a failure, and you are fortunate enough to be able to afford a new hard drive to put in, and then you have to spend hours and hours putting things back where they used to be. Did you remember to back-up your web browser bookmarks? Did you remember to back-up your e-mails? Did you remember to back-up those important family photos?

Take a little stress out of your life and purchase a hassle-free all-inclusive back-up solution like a Rebit USB hard drive backup device. Plug it in and it will automatically back-up all of your important data, Windows, applications, e-mails, music, documents, you name it. It will do periodic backups to make sure you have the latest versions of all your files in case of an emergency.

The beauty of backing up everything, is that when recovery time comes (God forbid) you’ll be back up in record time. Or, you could spend hours and hours and get a migraine from sitting in front of the screen dragging and copying files and switching out CDs or DVDs or downloading your files that you e-mailed to yourself.

Get the Menu Back in Internet Explorer 7

I know this is a completely dumb Windows tip, and most of you have probably already figured this out. I was helping a lady today who was not familiar with Windows because she normally uses a Mac. She had accidentally hidden the menu bar (File, Edit, Tools, etc.) in Internet Explorer 7.

It’s really quite simple: Just right-click on the open space beside your open web page title, and select “Menu Bar” from the pop-up menu.

You should now have your menu back that you’re used to from IE 6 and previous versions. Also note that the only menu I ever use is “Tools,” which is now located on the right even if the Menu Bar is disabled.

Encouraging My Co-Workers

Recent changes made to a server on campus has played havoc on our Mac users because [another department] saw the projected impact as “minimal” and “there aren’t that many Mac users on campus.” The sixty-plus support tickets related to this issue say otherwise.

So, today I found a picture I liked and sent it to two of my co-workers, and now I’m sharing it here:

Dear Other Department,

Sincerely,

The Raging Tech

Tuesday Turmoil

It’s about 2:30pm as I write this at my desk, and I am kind of restless. I’m bored today. I have things to do but I really want to be entertained. I feel highly unproductive today, I think my meeting this morning ruined me.

Lots of crazy calls at the Help Desk, more people not following the directions in the letter that got sent out to our users about setting up their e-mail. We’ve been on this new system for more than 6 months now, and there are still users that haven’t bothered to login and change their password from the default.

So this girl I’ve been seeing, Kylara, she’s pretty awesome. I sometimes wonder why on earth she’s dating me, but then I just think about how I’m glad that she puts up with me. Things were kind of nervous and awkward at first, but still very good. Now things are even better, a lot of the awkwardness is gone, and we have a lot of fun and good times. It’s nice to have someone in your life that makes you happy this way.

I can get off work, go home, and then later go see her and it’s like the work day just melts away from me. I don’t have to tell her that I had a bad day or if I do, I don’t have to talk about it, and she’s okay with that.

She made spaghetti for me and my roommate last week. She likes that I think of her when I plan things like putting movies we both can watch in my Netflix queue. And tonight she made breakfast for dinner. I like her. I think I’ll keep her around.

Tune Up Your HDTV

While not all of us are fortunate enough to own a big screen High Definition Television, or HDTV, we did just have a holiday season and many families purchased new HDTV sets for their homes. Also, many businesses are purchasing plasma and LCD screens for lobby displays or statistics monitoring, such as stock tickers or performance charts.

Whether you’re shopping for a new TV now, or you’ve already got one in place, keep in mind that all new TVs purchased after 2009 must be digital-ready due to federal regulations set in place recently.

But let’s say you purchase this behemoth entertainment device because it looked crisp and awesome in the store, but now in your home it looks less than perfect? You’d likely be disappointed, especially with the cost involved in purchasing one of these items. Forbes has an article plus a picture gallery on ways you can fine tune your television for best picture quality in it’s end-user location. Now you can make your television look as good at home as it did on display in the store.

Get Help With Your Home Theater

If you either received or bought for yourself a new home theater system this past Christmas and still haven’t hooked it up, maybe it’s time you got some help. Nowadays, you have DVD, surround sound, speaker wires, video game systems, DVR, satellite or cable boxes, cd-changers, and sometimes phone or internet connections to your television. There are many cables and converters and input/output switches involved, and can get really confusing even for people who know what they’re doing.

I remember helping a friend who just wanted to use his TV and DVD/VCR player with sound coming out to a small stereo he owned. Getting the inputs straight was kind of crazy, but we managed to get it all working. Fast-Tek offers not only IT-related solutions for your home or business, but also can help you with your home theater installation. Give them a call or check out their website today to receive fast, professional, high-quality service on-site at your residence or place of business.

Well the Weather Outside is Frightful

Not really. It’s actually pretty beautiful outside. All this snow all over the mountains and my yard this morning remind me of why I love to live in the mountains. It’s just so pretty outside. It sucks to drive in - not to mention all the cold weather preparations that have to be made in order to leave the house in the morning. Last night at about 1am when we finished watching “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” from Red Box, I went outside and saw about 3 inches of snow on top of my car.

So, I got all layered up and warm, borrowed my roommate’s gloves, and then went outside and brushed most of the snow off the car. Then, I used the plastic that used to cover my new mattress and foundation to cover my front and rear windshields. That ended up working pretty well, as this morning I just had to pull the plastic off and brush off a little snow from the side windows and I was able to leave.

The roads weren’t too bad this morning on my way into work. Mostly, the roads had been plowed earlier in the morning, and they salted the roads last night. My tires didn’t slip once on the way in to the office. Classes are canceled this morning and delayed the rest of the day.  Of course, they still need us - IT is considered “essential personnel” and has to be here if anyone is here, it seems.