Monthly Archives: May 2013

Acronis True Image Home: Supports RAID

Posted on by
Reply

Quote of Acronis True Image Home: RAID Support | Knowledge Base.

Knowledge Base

Home

11681: Acronis True Image Home: RAID Support

Created – Jun 22, 2010; Updated – Oct 24, 2011 Printer-friendly versionRAID support scheme in Acronis True Image Home and Acronis True Image Home Plus Pack

This article applies to:

  • Acronis True Image Home 2012
  • Acronis True Image Home 2011
  • Acronis True Image Home 2010
  • Acronis Backup and Security 2010
  • Acronis Backup and Security 2011

Description

The official support scheme for RAID configuration is the following:

More information

You can restore a backup of one RAID to a RAID of different type in the same manner as you would with a basic disk.

Here is the Acronis True Image Home RAID support matrix:

Hardware RAIDs Acronis True Image Home Acronis True Image Home Plus Pack
RAID 0 YES YES
RAID 1 YES YES
RAID 5 YES YES
RAID 0+1 YES YES
RAID 1+0 YES YES
Software RAIDs
Simple NO YES
Spanned NO YES
Striped NO YES
Mirrored NO NO
RAID 5 NO NO

Software Mirrored RAID can be created only in the following operating systems:

  • Windows 7 Professional
  • Windows 7 Enterprise
  • Windows 7 Ultimate
  • Windows 2000 Server
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows Server 2008

Software RAID 5 can be created only in the following operating systems:

  • Windows 2000 Server
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows Server 2008

See also Dynamic Disk Types Support in Windows Editions.

From: Acronis True Image Home: RAID Support | Knowledge Base.

 

HTML5 offline apps for iphone

Posted on by
Reply

there’s some special meta tags you can put in a webpage to make your web apps avable and full screenable to the iphone hard drive. (so it can work offline) Here’s an example : http://mrgan.tumblr.com/post/125490362/glyphboard2 [or view source of http://mrgan.com/gb/]

There’s also frameworks like phonegap that let you access cocoa apis from javascript, but it sounds like you don’t need that.

answered Jun 25 ’09 at 13:18

Breton

via ruby – Develop iPhone app without a Mac? – Stack Overflow.

Reference: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/AppleApplications/Reference/SafariWebContent/ConfiguringWebApplications/ConfiguringWebApplications.html

CHKDSK windows cmd line tool – Microsoft In-Depth discussion

Posted on by
1

Here is Microsoft’s in-depth discussion of what CHKDSK does. An overview can be found here.

This KnowledgeBase article claims to be about the new /C and /I switches, but the article goes on to say

To understand when it might be appropriate to use the /C and /I switches, you need a basic understanding of some of the internal NTFS data structures, the kinds of corruption that can take place, what actions CHKDSK takes when it verifies a volume, and what the potential consequences are if you circumvent CHKDSK’s usual verification steps.

So the article really winds up being about chkdsk in general.

Continue reading →

CHKDSK Windows cmd line tool – Microsoft overview

Posted on by
1


(cuz the yellow highlight color below was chosen for white (light) chars on black background)
Here’s microsoft’s overview of the CHKDSK Windows command line tool.  An in-depth discussion can be found here.

Quote microsoft:

Chkdsk

Creates and displays a status report for a disk based on the file system. Chkdsk also lists and corrects errors on the disk. Used without parameters, chkdsk displays the status of the disk in the current drive. Continue reading →

How to Stop “Magnifier” from Starting When Windows Starts (ie at boot time)

Posted on by
Reply

The Magnifier, in Windows Vista and 7, zooms in on a part of the screen to make it bigger.  But you dont necessarily need it starting when windows starts.  To prevent it from starting when windows starts:

Open the Control Panel. (Start>Control Panel).

Click on “Ease of Access”.
Under “Ease of Access Center”, click on “Optimize Visual Display”.
Make sure that the box next to “Turn on Magnifier” is unchecked.
Click “Save”.
The magnifier should no longer automatically run at startup.

Widows Vista was similar, but a little different.

From: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-windows_programs/how-do-i-stop-magnifier-initialising-at-startup/b014e91d-8f89-4c8e-a487-d92e1feb3699

Intel® Rapid Recover Technology

Posted on by
Reply

Intel Matrix Storage Technology is a RAID system that uses firmware (bios) rather than hardware (on drives and/or on motherboard) or software (either within Windows or LInux, or in a driver or application program).

It has a disk-image like recovery feature:

Intel® Rapid Recover Technology (Intel® RRT): With the ability to instantly boot off a clone, Intel Rapid Recover Technology (part of Intel Matrix Storage Technology) provides a fast, easy-to-use method for the end user to recover their data and return their system to an operational status.

Whole Article: http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/matrixstorage_sb.htm

 

Fixing “Access is denied” on a foreign drive

Posted on by
Reply

If you have an old drive you’re trying to use in a new computer, you might get an “Access is denied” error. The reason might be that the users on the old disk might be unrecognized by the current computer. (There are other reasons, eg, the file might have permissions set to disallow access. Also the file might be in use, in which case see “Unlocker” as described in Best Free Undeletable File Remover at techsupportalert.com But if not, read on:)

Say you’re trying to access folder “Pete” in the “F:” drive (an external drive, say, from an old computer).

00_and_14_pete_folder_highlited_ed

You might get an “Access is denied” error:

01_access_is_denied

To fix it right click on the folder you want to access, and click “Properties”:
02_and_07_properties_right_click

The “Security” tab might be missing:

03_properties_no_security_tab

If the “Security” tab is missing, there’s an intermediate step. Click Tools -> Folder Options :

04_open_tools_folder_options_edited

In the “Folder Options”, click the “View” tab:

05_folder_options_click_view

In the View tab, UNCHECK “Use simple file sharing (Recommended)”.  It may be “Recommended” but is it nevertheless sometimes not ideal.

06_uncheck_simple_file_sharing

Click “OK”.

Back to the folder you want to access (in the example “Pete”). Right click and select “Properties”:

07_and_02_properties_right_click - Copy

Now there should be a “Security” tab:

08_properties_with_security_tab

Click on the “Security” tab.

Note the Group or user names. If this is your problem, some will be missing, and some might be unrecognized or look strange. That “S-1-5-…” is a user from another PC (most likely the pc the drive came out of).  We want to add some here. Click “Add”:
09_properties_security_no_administrators_ed

In the text box, add the user that needs access. On most Windows XP computers, it is sufficient to add “Administrators”. It is a user Group. Or, you might want to add your username on this computer. Or another user’s username. Click “Check Names”:

10_properties_security_add_type_administrators_check_names

If there’s no typo, Windows should change your text into a recognized username. In the example “PETE\Administrators”. In this case “PETE” is the computer name (happens to be the same as the user name and folder name in this example):

11_properties_security_add_type_administrators_name_found_click_ok

Click OK to get back to the Properties dialog box. Now the new username should be shown. Now look at the lower half, the Permissions. Some in the “Allow” column might be un-check’ed:

12_properties_security_with_administrators_click_full_control

If so, click the check box for “Full Control” to enable all permissions:

13_properties_security_with_administrators_with_full_control_on

Click ‘OK’ to return to the list of files.

14_and_00_pete_folder_highlited - Copy

Now double-click on “Pete” and you will have access! 😀
15_pete_folder_accessible

Hooray!

 

Entry Level Desktop PC Comparison

Posted on by
Reply

click to go directly to comparison table Loading …




You can find PCs for as low as $299 and $399. These PCs use updated versions of old microprocessors, eg Pentium 4, or Centrino. Or they use laptop microprocessors–in a desktop. They’ll work just fine, but they’ll be noticeably slower.

For a while…

Such PC’s i predict will usable for 2 years (it’s 2013 now, so til 2015). By 4 years (ie in 2017), i predict they will become unusably slow, taking 2-4 minutes to boot, with surfing the web requiring a significant wait (30-60 seconds) per page.

OTOH, for about $500-$600 (or, $100-$200 more) you can get a 2G or even 3G Intel Core-i3, i5, or i7 processor or equivalent AMD processor. These CPUs should last 4-6 years (so until 2017-2019) and i would not expect to reach that grind-to-a-halt state until 6-8 years (2021).

So that’s like 2x the life for 25% more cost.

8/25/2014: i can find 4G i5’s for only as cheap as $750 at best. Thus that’s now $250-$350 more.

Example of processor variations from Intel

  • Intel Core i5-4430 – lower number, lower cost, lower perf
  • Intel Core i5-4570 – lower number, lower cost, lower perf
  • Intel Core i5-4670 – standard, neutral
  • Intel Core i5-4670S – ‘S’ means low power
  • Intel Core i5-4670K – ‘K’ stands for “unlocked” meaning hobbyists can “overclock” it

I don’t think the average user needs 2 of 5.25inch bays. All these low end PCs come with DVD-writers. Eventually, you are probably going to want a blu-ray reader, and/or writer. But this will be a $50-$100 upgrade plus installation 2-4 years from now. If you want to watch blu-ray movies now, you’ll have to make that upgrade immediately after purchasing.

USB 3.0 will be big soon. (update 2014: “soon” is now.) Almost all USB is 2.0 right now. USB 3.0 is available now and good to get now. There’s a faster version of 3.0 coming out very soon in 2013, but even today’s USB 3.0 is 10x USB 2.0.

The 11 Places I shop:

  • TigerDirect
  • newegg
  • Best Buy
  • Staples
  • CDW
  • hp.com
  • Walmart
  • Costco
  • OfficMax
  • OfficeDepot
  • JR.com
  • overstock.com
  • Beach Audio
  • b&h photo video

Here are the choices available from different vendors in this price range for this performance. Note date of price check for each PC listed.

Table Notes:


Loading …

hilit
choice number
as_of
price
shipping
product
vendor
OS (home/pro 32/64bit)
processor
chipset
Motherboard
memory
memory pre nstalled
max memory
mem type, speed
mem slots total
disk
disk size
disk rpm
disk SATA speed (II 3Gb/s, III 6Gb/s
disk SSD
disk 3.25 bays total
disk 2.5 bays total
optical drive / 5.25 bays
optical drive (blu-ray rd/wr? / dvd-wr?)
5.25 bays total
usb 3.0
usb 3.0 – front
usb 3.0 – rear
usb 3.0 – top
usb 2.0
usb 2.0 – front
usb 2.0 – rear
usb 2.0 – top
ports slots net power
hdmi
dvi
pci slots
sata ports
Ethernet RJ45 100Mbps or Gigabit 1000Mbps
power supply
Warranty
Small Form Factor (SFF)?

Loading …

Notes

    Processor

    The difference between 3rd Generation and 2nd Generation intel processors is not that great:
    EG,

    Feature 2nd Generation 3rd Generation
    Graphics HD 2000 HD 2500
    Graphics – HD 4000
    Mem Speed 1333MHz 1600MHz 20% faster

    Office Depot & Office Max & Staples

    Office Depot had nothing <$600 with intel processor.

    Office Max had a p7-1410 and p7-1510 both have H61 chipset.

    Staples lowest price intel was envy h8-1430 $799

    10/24/2013: newegg didnt have any non-small-form-factor (SFF) hp pc’s. They had very few, but did have 400 or so refurbished hp pc’s.

    10/25/2013: OfficeMax only 2 refurbished PCs with windows 7 according to their search

    10/28/2013: completed search for win7 32bit on TigerDirect, newegg, best buy (with marketplace), walmart, staples:

    • Genuine Windows 7 Professional (17) (DONE)
    • Genuine Windows 7 Professional Upgradable to Genuine Windows 8 Pro (15) (DONE)
    • Genuine Windows 7 Professional Upgradable to Genuine Windows 8 Pro (English) (1) (DONE – was an AiO)
    • Windows 7 Professional (121) (abort-have to click on every one to see os version, too inefficient)

    office max, office depot, beachaudio (could not search) or is it beach camera? jr.com, next bhphotovideo.com?

    Example Decision : 2014-05-27:

    e1z75ut HP ProDesk 600 G1 Core-i5–4570 Q85 w8 alt
    f4j95ut HP ProDesk 600 G1 Core-i5–4570 Q85 w8.1 alt
    f4j92ut HP ProDesk 600 G1 Core-i5–4670 Q85 w8.1 alt
    f4k88ut HP ProDesk 600 G1 Core-i3 Q85 w8.1 alt
    e1z94ut HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Core-i5 Q87 w8? alt
    e1z89ut HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Core-i7 Q87 w8? alt

    Example Decision : 2013-12-10:

    core i5
    C6Z98UT TigerDirect $714.55 = $699.99 + Ground (2 to 6 days) [$14.56]
    C6Z98UT TigerDirect $730.94 = $699.99 + Second Day (2 days) [$30.95]
    C6Z98UT best Buy $722.30 = $722.30 + free shipping 6-9 days
    C6Z98UT CDW $753.00 = $729.99 + UPS Ground 2-3 business days $23.01
    HP D8C53UT Desktop PC, Core i7-3570 (really i5) Stpales $692.07 = $728.49 – $36.42 free shipping
    HP® D8C57UT 6300 i5-3470 Staples out of stock
    HP® D8C57UT 6300 i5-3470 newegg discontinued out of stock
    HP® D8C57UT 6300 i5-3470 jr out of stock
    HP® D8C57UT 6300 i5-3470 overstock.com $???.?? = $739.18 + ???? $??.?? BUT OUT OF STOCK
    HP® D8C57UT 6300 i5-3470 office depot $???.?? = $658.90 + ???? $??.?? BUT OUT OF STOCK
    HP® D8C57UT 6300 i5-3470 beach audio out of stock
    HP® D8C57UT 6300 i5-3470 CDW $700.00 = $676.99 + UPS Ground 2-3 business days about $23
    core i3
    D8C62UT Staples $639.99 = $639.99 + free shipping 3 days
    D8C62UT Office Depot $645.95 = $645.95 + free 3-5 days
    D8C62UT CDW $671.24 = $649.99 + UPS Ground 2-3 business days $21.
    D8C62UT $ = $ +
    D8C62UT $ = $ +
    D8C62UT $ = $ +
    D8C62UT $ = $ +

    Loading …






    DRAM

    Posted on by
    Reply




    Chips and modules

    For use in Desktop computers, DDR, DDR2, DDR3 SDRAM is supplied in DIMMs (Dual Inline Memory Modules) with 240 pins and a single locating notch

    Laptop DDR, DDR2, DDR3 SO-DIMMs, sometimes written without the dash: SODIMM, have 200 pins and often come identified by an additional S in their designation. The “SO” in SODIMM stands for “Small Outline”.

    DIMMs are identified by their peak transfer capacity (often called bandwidth).

    Standard name Memory clock(MHz) = 1/cycle
    		 Cycle time(ns) = 1/clock Data rate(MT/s) = 2x clock Module name= rounded transfer rate Peak transfer rate(MB/s) = 8x Data Rate (8byes per Transfer) = 16x clock Timings[2][3](CL-tRCD-tRP) CAS latency(ns) = Timings * 1/2 * cycle
    DDR
    DDR-200 100 10 200 PC-1600 1600
    DDR-266 133⅓ 7.5 266⅔ PC-2100 2133⅓ 2.5-3-3 18.75
    DDR-333 166⅔ 6 333⅓ PC-2700 2666⅔
    DDR-400A
    DDR-400B
    DDR-400C    		 200 5 400 PC-3200 3200 2.5-3-3
    3-3-3
    3-4-4    		 12.5
    15
    15
    Standard name Memory clock(MHz) = 1/cycle
    		 Cycle time(ns) = 1/clock Data rate(MT/s) = 4x clock Module name= rounded transfer rate Peak transfer rate(MB/s) = 8x Data Rate (8byes per Transfer) = 32x clock Timings (CL-tRCD-tRP) CAS latency(ns) = Timings * 1/2 * cycle
    DDR2
    DDR2-400B
    DDR2-400C    		 100 10 400 PC2-3200 3200 3-3-3
    4-4-4    		 15
    20
    DDR2-533B
    DDR2-533C    		 133⅓ 7⅓ 533⅓ PC2-4200* 4266⅔ 3-3-3
    4-4-4    		 11¼
    15
    DDR2-667C
    DDR2-667D    		 166⅔ 6 666⅔ PC2-5300* 5333⅓ 4-4-4
    5-5-5    		 12
    15
    DDR2-800C
    DDR2-800D
    DDR2-800E    		 200 5 800 PC2-6400 6400 4-4-4
    5-5-5
    6-6-6    		 10
    12½
    15
    DDR2-1066E
    DDR2-1066F    		 266⅔ 3¾ 1066⅔ PC2-8500* 8533⅓ 6-6-6
    7-7-7    		 11¼
    13⅛
    Standard name Memory clock
    (MHz)    		 Cycle time
    (ns)    		 Data rate
    (MT/s) = 8x clock    		 Module name Peak transfer rate
    (MB/s) = 8x Data Rate (8byes per Transfer) = 64x clock    		 Timings
    (CL-tRCD-tRP)    		 CAS latency
    (ns)
    DDR3
    DDR3-800D

    DDR3-800E

    		 100 10 800 PC3-6400 6400 5-5-5

    6-6-6

    		 12 1⁄2

    15
    DDR3-1066E

    DDR3-1066F

    DDR3-1066G

    		 133⅓ 7 1⁄2 1066⅔ PC3-8500 8533⅓ 6-6-6

    7-7-7

    8-8-8

    		 11 1⁄4

    13 1⁄8

    15
    DDR3-1333F*

    DDR3-1333G

    DDR3-1333H

    DDR3-1333J*

    		 166⅔ 6 1333⅓ PC3-10600 10666⅔ 7-7-7

    8-8-8

    9-9-9

    10-10-10

    		 10 1⁄2

    12

    13 1⁄2

    15
    DDR3-1600G*

    DDR3-1600H

    DDR3-1600J

    DDR3-1600K

    		 200 5 1600 PC3-12800 12800 8-8-8

    9-9-9

    10-10-10

    11-11-11

    		 10

    11 1⁄4

    12 1⁄2

    13 3⁄4
    DDR3-1866J*

    DDR3-1866K

    DDR3-1866L

    DDR3-1866M*

    		 233⅓ 4 2⁄7 1866⅔ PC3-14900 14933⅓ 10-10-10

    11-11-11

    12-12-12

    13-13-13

    		 10 5⁄7

    11 11⁄14

    12 6⁄7

    13 13⁄14
    DDR3-2133K*

    DDR3-2133L

    DDR3-2133M

    DDR3-2133N*

    		 266⅔ 3 3⁄4 2133⅓ PC3-17000 17066⅔ 11-11-11

    12-12-12

    13-13-13

    14-14-14

    		 10 5⁄16

    11 1⁄4

    12 3⁄16

    13 1⁄8

    * Some manufacturers label their DDR2 modules as PC2-4300, PC2-5400 or PC2-8600 instead of the respective names suggested by JEDEC. At least one manufacturer has reported this reflects successful testing at a higher-than standard data rate[4] whilst others simply round up for the name.

    Note: DDR2-xxx denotes data transfer rate, and describes raw DDR chips, whereas PC2-xxxx denotes theoretical bandwidth (with the last two digits truncated), and is used to describe assembled DIMMs. Bandwidth is calculated by taking transfers per second and multiplying by eight. This is because DDR2 memory modules transfer data on a bus that is 64 data bits wide, and since a byte comprises 8 bits, this equates to 8 bytes of data per transfer.

    To clarify 2 similar acronyms:

    SRAM – Static RAM – this type of memory is used in various places in various chips in the PC (but not main memory, nor hard drisk drive main storage). It is used in caches and register files.

    SDRAM – Synchronous Dynamic RAM – this is the type of memory people mean when they say “my pc has 4GB of memory” (4GB is typical in 2013).

    Even tho they both start with ‘S’ one is Static and the other is not. In one case the ‘S’ means “Static” and in the other it means “Synchronous”.

    Another memory term:

    SODIMM – Small Outline DIMM. Ie laptop memory.

    Also begins with ‘S’ but in this case the ‘S’ means “Small”.

    2 other terms:

    “Volatile” means memory that is lost when power is applied. Examples are the memory (not the hard disk drive) inside your computer.)

    “Non-Volatile” means memory is still store when power is turned off. Examples are flash, as in usb drives. Eg usb drive retains its storage when unplugged.)

    Reference: Random-access memory on Wikipedia