My computer makes me nervous

[TehCamel]

Without having a look at your actual computer.. I suspect that many of the issues you alluded to in the OP, can actually be resolved by some occasional maintenance.

Every time I start Outlook it sits for ages "not responding" before it finally wakes up and does its thing

Again, dependent on your configuration, this could be due to the amount of email you have in your local storage files. Once they get too large, they become unwieldy. Even if you delete email, it doesn't reclaim the space. There's a relatively simple way to compress this.

Excel does the same occasionally and has crashed more than once, losing data.

A "repair" install of Office may help with this. It can be completed from the Add/Remove programs control panel.

And I've been keeping track of how much time I waste dealing with IT issues monthly, and it's steadily increasing, especially over the last 12 months.

I'd actually be interested from a research point of view, how long you've recorded, and also the rough age of your PC.

I don't like, as a business principle, being so dependent on these machines. If I was a builder and my air compressor died I could get another one and be up and running in an hour.

I'm a little off track here, but, this is the reason I recommend tier-1 vendors for business hardware. There's just piece of mind in buying HP, Dell or IBM, knowing it comes with an onsite warranty for 3 years, so if anything goes wrong, they'll come and fix it.
I'm working on a computer at the moment that has been built..... oddly.. by a previous IT person. I may not be able to find the parts I need to repair it, due to it's age. With a HP or Dell, they have the parts as long as I have warranty.

Are there particular kinds of backups that would mean replacing the machine would be smoother?

As others have suggested - Ghost might be a suitable option. Some HP laptops also come with recovery partitions.
Shadowprotect is another option, but I don't know if it's online-based at all.

[Normanby]

Thanks TehCamel,
I did what you suggested about repairing the Office install, we'll see if it behaves.
Re Outlook I'm ruthless about deleting emails; they stay in the inbox until i've responded and if the conversation is complete the email is filed elsewhere for my records, and I've set it to empty the deleted items folder on closing the program. Is that enough?
I looked at Shadow Protect but it seemed like overkill, Windows looks to have a Cloud back-up, what's that like? Any good?

Regarding Macs, i love 'em, great machines, but alas my preferred Tax Return software maker doesn't do a Mac version. Though i hear one can run a MS environment within the Mac OS?

[p4tricia]

Originally Posted by Normanby

...Though i hear one can run a MS environment within the Mac OS?

Yes one can.

1. Use VMWare Fusion ($49), or
2. Parallel (on promo as part of this bundle (http://www.macsuperbundle.com/) for $47 and get 8 additional apps.)

These are basically virtualisation apps (You ran a virtual computer in a window). You will still need windows license too. Once you installed windows VM, you can install windows software (Office, etc) in that VM.. just like using windows. Like inception, it's computer inside computer.

[TehCamel]

Originally Posted by Normanby

Thanks TehCamel,
I did what you suggested about repairing the Office install, we'll see if it behaves.
Re Outlook I'm ruthless about deleting emails; they stay in the inbox until i've responded and if the conversation is complete the email is filed elsewhere for my records, and I've set it to empty the deleted items folder on closing the program. Is that enough?

Ah, but it's not. It's kind of silly. Once it writes an email to the PST file, even after you delete it, it doesn't free up that space.
so if you put 100 emails in the file, and then delete 70 of them, and put another 100 in, it won't be the size of 130 emails.. but 200...

I looked at Shadow Protect but it seemed like overkill, Windows looks to have a Cloud back-up, what's that like? Any good?

I wouldn't know to be honest.. it is something I should look at. I suggested shadowprotect as it seemed very much a "bare metal" recovery, like Ghost. No need to install an OS, then recover your data - just run the restoration.

[/quote]Regarding Macs, i love 'em, great machines, but alas my preferred Tax Return software maker doesn't do a Mac version. Though i hear one can run a MS environment within the Mac OS?[/QUOTE]
Yes - you can. It's called parallels I beleive.

[gossipism]

imaging software is great but it will only recovery to the same hardware.

you cant take an image, then restore it on new hardware. in most cases it simply will not work, in others it may, but not reliably.

imaging your pc is only a safeguard against a failing hard drive.

if you have most of your services hosted (email, files, programs) then a total system failure, even a hardware one, will result in minimal downtime with your data being safe.

[OneArmedGraphics]

Paragon offers this:

Restore your system to completely different hardware and boot it immediately.

[gossipism]

Originally Posted by OneArmedGraphics

Paragon offers this:

Restore your system to completely different hardware and boot it immediately.

theyve been around for a while and ive only managed to make it work half the time and i wouldnt put the house on it.

it is a solution of sorts, but you dont want to find it doesnt work when you actually need to do it

[Uncomplicating]

Matt, I hear your pain, and I understand, but I think your expectations of computing are perhaps a little unreasonable.


Comparing a computer to an air compressor is somewhat inaccurate. Comparing it to ALL of the tools in the back of a builders yute is perhaps more appropriate.

You rely on your PC for your business. It is as fundamental to your day to day existence as a yute is to a tradie. If you don't know where the discs are, WHY!? They're a fundamental part of the TOOL.

You may not think they're "set and forget", but most are, provided you buy a quality brand, don't tinker, and don't let the kids use it.

I buy a laptop every 3 years and so far the only issue I've had is one mother board going boom. I rang the support guys and it was fixed the next day. I've been in the industry for over 20 years now.

The rules for IT in business are simple.
1) Buy a good brand - it means the component pieces have been tested together.
2) Get a comprehensive 3 year next business day on site support contract for hardware and premium software support (means you get to talk to an aussie generally).
3) Have a structured back up policy that you adhere to!!!!
4) Save, Save Save. If in doubt, save your work as you're going. Software fails at the most inconvenient moments. Don't get caught out.
5) Hire professionals to do the job for you. If that means getting a geek-2-go or similar, pay a few hundred bucks and get sorted.
6) After 3 years, upgrade or take out a new support contract.

If you're not doing the 6 points above, you're flirting with danger and great expense. Computers wear out over time. They just do. They get cluttered with bits and bobs and sometimes just need formatting and a new start.

A computer is a tool. It's no different to a drill or a chisel. Buy a good one, keep it maintained, and accept that it's going to need replacing eventually.

This is my line of work. I've watched 100s (1000s?) of users fall foul of these simple, although slightly more expensive, rules because they ASSUMED that a computer would "just work".

Again, I do understand your pain, but there's no silver bullet, no perfect solution. Just good old fashioned common sense and business strategy.

[TehCamel]

Originally Posted by UncomplicatingIT

I buy a laptop every 3 years and so far the only issue I've had is one mother board going boom. I rang the support guys and it was fixed the next day. I've been in the industry for over 20 years now.

The rules for IT in business are simple.
1) Buy a good brand - it means the component pieces have been tested together.
2) Get a comprehensive 3 year next business day on site support contract for hardware and premium software support (means you get to talk to an aussie generally).
3) Have a structured back up policy that you adhere to!!!!
4) Save, Save Save. If in doubt, save your work as you're going. Software fails at the most inconvenient moments. Don't get caught out.
5) Hire professionals to do the job for you. If that means getting a geek-2-go or similar, pay a few hundred bucks and get sorted.
6) After 3 years, upgrade or take out a new support contract.

spot on here - if your IT tools are an essential part of your business, why would you skimp on them?
If you're a chef running a cafe, you'd buy good knifes, not cheap ones.
You make sure that you have a warranty, or service contract, on your walk in fridges, so if they break down, you get them fixed.


It's definitely 100% important to get proper, tier1 hardware, with support. I wrote a little about this on my website..

[p4tricia]

Originally Posted by UncomplicatingIT

...This is my line of work. I've watched 100s (1000s?) of users fall foul of these simple, although slightly more expensive, rules because they ASSUMED that a computer would "just work"...

LOL.. That's my ex-boss' favourite line.

"It's HP it should work. It's over three grands, it should work. I bought it from David Jones, it should work...etc etc etc"

*sigh*

Although, I think it's fair enough. They paid a lot of money. Especially if they know nothing about computer, they tend to spend extra, simply because they don't know what they need or where to shop. Salespeople will usually don't care either. They promise you the world, and you have high expectation.

A more IT-friendly person knows that computers fail (usually at most unfortunate moment), so we're a bit more accepting towards it.

It goes for any product, not just computer. Any product that just works, always works and works as expected will sell very well. Apple stuff (e.g. iPads and iPhones) are good examples of these. They work very well for people who doesn't know how to 'work' them.