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702 Weekend , 8 September 2001 | |
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Posted 19 September 2001
With the collapse in hardware prices and the impending release of Windows XP
a lot of people are looking at upgrading their computer. There are a number
of factors to look at when upgrading but the two most important are whether
the upgrade is going to be cost effective and the age of the computer. We discuss
this in the August 30 problem of the week.
One important thing to remember is not to be the first on your block. If you
buy the latest, flashiest equipment and software those of us who know computers
will admire you: For your courage. Don't buy the latest hardware or software
until it has been on the market for a few months, by then any bugs should be
ironed out.
When a CD drive fails it generally isn't worth repairing. It is much more cost
effective to get a new one. If you have plenty of time on your hands you could
dismantle it and try to repair it, but if you are paying for repairs then just
buy a new one. It will be faster anyway. The usual warnings about spending too
much on an old computer apply as well.
Graham has a hard drive that the computer can't see. Generally this indicates
the drive has died and usually it isn't worth repairing. If the data on a dead
hard drive isn't important then you could repartition the drive, reformat and
see if it was just a partition problem. Even if the repartitioning works you
can never fully trust that drive again, hard drive problems have a nasty habit
of returning. Continuing the subject of drive partitioning, Nick wanted to know if dividing
a drive into three partitions was a good idea. It is, having separate partitions
for the operating system, applications and data makes maintaining the computer
easier. Some programs insist on installing themselves onto the C: drive and other
programs insist on installing all sort of files in the operating system's folder
(Microsoft are one of the worst for this). So you will never completely be able
to totally isolate the drives, but having separate partitions will help. Once again we had a lot of callers we couldn't get to. We will be back on again
next month at 11.30. In the meantime visit our tips pages for useful help on
getting the most from your computer. Happy computing.
CD-Drive Failure
The vanishing hard drive
Partitioning a drive
PC Rescue Pty Ltd
Suite 236, 4 Young Street Neutral Bay NSW 2089
ABN 082 635 765
ŠTechnology Publishing Australia, 2011