Yes Size Matters - What are Bytes, KB’s, MB’s, GB’s, TB’s, PB’s or EB’s?

What do all these “measurements” mean that we see for both RAM (Random Access Memory) or the space on a hard drive, portable hard drive, flash drive or memory card/stick?
The smallest unit of memory storage is called a BIT. A bit either contains a ONE or a ZERO. That's it.
• Eight bits is one BYTE ("bite"). That's enough storage for about one letter of the alphabet.
• 1,024 bytes is one KILOBYTE (KB) or about one page of text.
• 1,024 kilobytes is one MEGABYTE (MB) or about 1,000 pages of text (short novel).
• 1,024 megabytes is one GIGABYTE (GB) or about 1,000,000 pages of text (pickup truck filled with books).
• 1,024 gigabytes is one TERABYTE (TB) – and that is equal to about 50,000 trees made into paper and printed
Today, the most popular form of measurement that we hear about is Terabytes (TB) but on the horizon and in some publications we are already hearing about PETABYTES (PB) and EXABYTES (EB) - we've come a long way baby since the Commodore 64's....and we wonder where it will end..

To give you an idea of how much data a TB is or how much it can hold based on a document: It is said that The U.S. Library of Congress Web Capture team claims that "As of April 2011, the Library has collected about “235 terabytes of data" and that it adds about 5 terabytes per month.

System Restore & Backup for Windows 7

System restore, a great feature in earlier operating systems since Windows XP, is a little different in Windows 7, with lots of improvements, so that it quickly and easily back-ups and allows restoration for not only our system but all files & folders, so you're always prepared for the worst …

First, understand the difference between backing up the system and backing up our “files”:

SYSTEM IMAGE BACKUP: Windows Backup in Windows 7, provides the ability to create a system image, which is an exact image of a drive. A system image includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard drive or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it is a complete restoration; you can't choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced. Although this type of backup includes your personal files, we recommend that you back up your files regularly using Windows Backup so that you can restore individual files and folders as needed. When you set up scheduled file backup, you can choose whether you want to include a system image. This system image only includes the drives required for Windows to run. You can manually create a system image if you want to include additional data drives.

FILE BACKUP - Windows Backup allows you to make copies of data files for all people that use the computer. You can let Windows choose what to back up or you can select the individual folders, libraries, and drives that you want to back up. By default, your backups are created on a regular schedule. You can change the schedule and you can manually create a backup at any time. Once you set up Windows Backup, Windows keeps track of the files and folders that are new or modified and adds them to your backup

Windows 7 can choose what to back up, or you can pick individual folders, libraries, and drives yourself. Windows 7 can back up files on whatever schedule you choose, so once you set it you can forget about it. You can also back up to another drive or a DVD.

Note-for those of you who are using Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate editions, you also can choose to back up your files to a network.

TO BACK UP YOUR FILES:

Open Backup and Restore by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore.

Now you will do one of the following:

If you've never used Windows Backup before, click Set up backup, and then follow the steps in the wizard. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

If you've created a backup before, you can wait for your regularly scheduled backup to occur, or you can manually create a new backup by clicking Back up now. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

TO RESTORE FILES:

You restore files using the Restore Files wizard. You can restore individual files, multiple files, or all files in a backup. You can also restore just your files or files for all people that use the computer

Computer Maintenance Tips

Just about everything needs to be “maintained” on a regular basis to stay “healthy” including our computers… Here are a few simple things to do, to be sure that your computer lives a long healthy and happy life and stays out of the “computer hospital”…

1. First and foremost, make sure you back-up your computer system and data on a regular basis. This is critical in case your system ever crashes or is infected with a major virus… Whether you back-up manually or automatically, whether you use a 3rd party (such as carbonite.com or mozy.com) or you back-up to a DVD, CD, flash drive, portable hard drive or external hard drive, making sure your system is totally backed up is one of the most important maintenance steps to ensure that you don’t lose valuable information including your data, photos, videos, music etc.


2. Make sure your computer is up-to-date on it’s “shots” which means making sure that your computer is protected with anti-virus & spyware software. And just as important, you want to be sure this software is “current” meaning you must accept and allowing the updates for your anti-virus, adware, spyware and malware program on a regular basis. It’s also highly recommended that you protect your privacy by using a firewall… Together, all of these help to protect your computer, the information on it as well as your personal information.


3. Updates are important not only for your anti-virus, but also for your operating system – application programs and drivers for your peripheral hardware, such as your scanner, printer and other hardware…


4. Know the specifics about all your equipment and programs – it helps to create a list of your equipment including mfg, model #’s, serial numbers, when they were purchased, and other important data, such as cartridge #’s; specifics about your digital cameras, camcorders, cell/smart phones and programs – and in one place along with the receipts, so that you can quickly and easily access the information when you are talking to a technical support person. It also helps to keep the basic information for all on a small card in your wallet, that you can refer to when you are shopping or asking for technical advice


5. Protect your computer (and all electronics in your home) from “power surges and drops”.. Use a surge suppressor, which contain technology that prevent excess amounts of electricity from entering your computer – Computers especially, are highly sensitive to electrical fluctuations a surge protector that help “even out” power spikes… So whether you have a desktop or laptop, you need surge protection…If you have a home office, you may want to consider also using a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) which often times has a built in surge suppressor/protector.


6. For those of you who carry around laptops, notebooks or netbooks – portable devices should be carried in “protective/padded cases” and if you are leaving your desktop for a long period of time, consider covering it when it is off and not being used……


7. Ventilation is important. It’s never a good idea to cover the back of a desktop – the vents & fans - with anything that could prevent airflow. Some people, often those with pets or live in areas that tend to be dusty, thinks it’s beneficial to protect their computers and stop animal hair, dander & dust from entering their fans & vents, by covering them with pantyhose, cheesecloth etc., but they only cause more problems by preventing proper ventilation.. Laptops, notebooks and netbooks should be raised slightly from the surface-many new ones have small feet built in, or just add little Velcro furniture tabs under each corner, or use a small rack like those used in kitchen cabinets...


8. For many years when your system began to run slowly the first recommendation made was to “clean out your cookies and temporary internet files” – although this isn’t as important now that the computer hard drives are so large, but there are still advantages to cleaning them out periodically..…


9. Before you just hit the power button, be sure you have properly and completely closed all programs. Shutting down your operating system properly will ensure that you don’t corrupt any of your files, making them inaccessible in the future…


10. Find a good technical support person that you trust – so that when you aren’t sure – you can call them. The last thing we want to do is touch something that could void our warranty or further damage our system…

BACKING UP YOUR COMPUTER AND INFO? Part 2 of 2

Our last blog posting stressed the importance of "backing up" our computer hard drive - losing a document or one photo can be upsetting - but if your computer crashes and you lose everything that can be overwhelming and costly... Believe me it's not pleasant - as much as I preach the importance of backing up, I know how busy we can all get and it's easy to forget, so the last time I lost information I decided it was time to do something where I don't even have to think about it... So for me - an outside company - was the best choice and I choose carbonite.com which offers unlimited storage...

HOW CARBONITE WORKS – IT’S EASY & GREAT ADVANTAGES..
Install Carbonite – then your Back-Up is done each time you are on your PC/Internet ; Relax it’s secure; Restore lost files easily & Remote Access

WHAT CARBONITE IS AND WHAT IT ISN'T...
Again, with Carbonite you get unlimited backup of the irreplaceable files on your computer. That said, your Carbonite subscription does NOT include some services often confused with backup.

• Online/offsite file storage. Carbonite is NOT a place to move files from your hard drive, to free up space on your hard drive. If you remove any file from your hard drive, Carbonite waits 30 days for you to recover it, and then we delete that file from our servers, too.
• Program or system backup. Carbonite backs up the irreplaceable files on your computer – user-generated content such as photos, documents, music, etc. Carbonite does not back up software programs, temporary files or system files
• External Hard Drive backup. Carbonite consumer products does not allow you to back up your external hard drive, unless you purchase their external hard drive support with as a small business
• Archiving. Carbonite does not keep every version of every file you’ve ever created. Carbonite's PC product offers versioning, which allows you to recover some versions of your files, going back up to 90 days

Check them out www.carbonite.com

BACKING UP YOUR COMPUTER AND INFO? Part 1 of 2

A great New Years Resolution when it comes to your computer – is to “back-up” your information on a regular basis so that no matter what happens – all your data is protected…

Whether you back-up using CD’s, a Large Flash Drive, Portable or External Hard Drive or use a company like I do “carbonite.com” or Mozy.com or use your internet provider (many offer back-up services) – Backing up on a regular basis is critical. This is especially important for those of us with older computers or if you have large document, photo, music or other media files…

If you use one of the services – remember to ask how much space is included and what the charges are for additional storage (personally that’s why I like carbonite.com-it offers unlimited storage)

If you decide to use an external hard drive – there are many on the market, so watch the sales flyers – this one was recently advertised and has more storage than most of us would ever use… so a great investment:

• Office Depot’s “Clickfree" HD1035 Backup External USB Hard Drive, 1000GB”, which Automatically backs up your computer without any confusing software to install
• Back up your computer in just 1 step-No software to install or set up and incremental backup lets you save only the files changed since the previous backup – About $135.00

Our next blog will talk about using a company, like I do… www.carbonite.com

BACKING UP YOUR COMPUTER AND INFO

It's very important to back up your computer as well as your important files - documents, photos, music, videos and movies - often. Today more and more of what we do is on our computers and we want to be sure we don't "lose it all" if our computers crashed...

When you back up your files - you can use a CD, Large Flash Drive, Portable or External Hard Drive or a company such as Carbonite.com; Mozy.com or your Internet provider (many offer back-up services)

Backing up on a regular basis is critical – especially for those of us with older computers or if you have large document folders, photo, music or other media files… If you use one of the services – remember to ask how much space is included and what the charges are for additional storage (personally that’s why I like carbonite.com-it offers unlimited)

External Hard Drives-Such as Office Depots “Clickfree" HD1035 Backup External USB Hard Drive, 1000GB”, which Automatically backs up your computer without any confusing software to install - These allow you to back up your computer in just 1 step ~ No software to install or set up and incremental backup lets you save only the files changed since the previous backup – About $135.00

Or use a company, such as Carbonite.com,which is easy and has great advantages..
Once you install Carbonite, future back-ups are done each time you are on your PC/Internet, so you can relax and you can Restore lost files easily and you will have Remote Access to the data on your computer...

What Carbonite is – and what it isn’t: Carbonite offers unlimited backup of the irreplaceable files on your computer. That said, your Carbonite subscription does NOT include some services often confused with backup:

• Online/offsite file storage: Carbonite is NOT a place to move files from your hard drive, to free up space on your hard drive. If you remove any file from your hard drive, they wait 30 days for you to recover it, and then they delete that file from their servers also.
• Program or system backup: Carbonite backs up the irreplaceable files on your computer – user-generated content such as photos, documents, music, etc. They do not back up software programs, temporary files or system files.
• External Hard Drive backup: Carbonite consumer product does not allow you to back up your external hard drive, unless you purchase their external hard drive support with as a small business.
• Archiving: Carbonite does not keep every version of every file you’ve ever created. Their PC product offers versioning, which allows you to recover some versions of your files, going back up to 90 days
• Carbonite costs $54.95 per year-check them out at http://www.carbonite.com/