Quote:
Originally Posted by pip08456
This could perhaps have been avoided if Windows had a native HDD S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) monitoring app. Unfortunately it doesn't.
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Windows doesn't have a native S.M.A.R.T. app, but it does support S.M.A.R.T. I've seen warnings from Windows advising that a hard drive is likely to fail soon, and that I should back up the data and replace the drive.
---------- Post added at 10:45 ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Maximus
cool, I have learnt that lesson as well over the years. Back in 2001 ish it was more of a case of having to download everything again and even 120mb for the latest NVidia drivers was a chore. I don't worry at all these days because I have got all my documents, apps, pics, favourites and anything else that isn't easily replaceable backed up on two hdds in my pc and in the event that everything dies for whatever reason, there is a third copy on a NAS in a room on the other side of the house.
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I'm in a similar position.
I don't actually have a lot of personal data to keep, but my Photos are backed up to iCloud. Other personal documents and data are backed up to either iCloud drive or Google drive. Work stuff is backed up to Microsoft Onedrive, which I have access to through work's Office 365 subscription, and I am not supposed to use unapproved cloud services for work data (which is fair enough). I do play a lot of games, but these often use either their own cloud system for saves, or Steamcloud or Xbox live.
I am currently trialling Amazon for data storage, as it's cheaper than Google. Google charge £9.99 a month for 1TB, and IIRC, Amazon charge £65 a year.
I've gone for a paid-for solution because, apart from the fact it gives you more storage, also entitles you, the consumer, to various legal protections that you do not get with free software (Sale of Goods act etc).
It shows how technology has changed though. A few years ago, if I had to set up my PC again, I would ensure everything was backed up to DVD, which would take hours. I would then need to wipe the machine, re-install everything, then restore my data. It could take a couple of days to get the machine back to where it should be.
Now, even though the apps I am using are far larger, and I am dealing with far more data, thanks to online distrubution of software, external HDDs, and cloud backups, I can have my machine back to where it should be within half a day. Less, if I follow my normal practice of only installing an app when I first need it.