Computer hardware issue

[Mazin]

Just a heads up I have had funky issues with usb's before as well just before the motherboard goes out. Keep doing you backups and check them. If you start to have HW issues or even driver issues I'd suggest getting a new system.

[Hummer]

I have SSDs that are about 5 years old and they have plenty of life left in them. Mechanical drives are cheaper per GB, but SSDs are pretty tough to wear out unless you're doing a ridiculous amount of writes. If you're really concerned about losing data, setup regular backups to an on-prem NAS or to 'the cloud'.

$99/year for O365 with 6x1TB accounts (there's a way to nest them together for a larger namespace if needed).

You get all the standard O365 desktop apps, O365 apps for the mobile devices. I tried to get by with OpenOffice and just couldn't stand the lack of real Excel formula/vb code support. Having Excel and word on my personal PC is great.

The sync and versioning is great. Easiest one I've found since Sugarsync (which went pay) to put the Onedrive local folder location where *I* want it, etc.

I back up local and everything critical goes to the cloud as well. I can get to it from anywhere and selectively get data/folders on my work PC, etc.

Run the utilities to keep an eye on the wear rates- but of course backups are essential.

<snip>

How is this done?

I have O365 as well. My Synology NAS also supports synchronization of files to OneDrive. Even if the house burns down, I can still get to the important stuff.

Fire is a real concern as we're at greater risk here. I haven't used or trusted cloud services but I know it's universal now so I will look into everyone's suggestions. My wife puts certain files on OneDrive from her office. At home our web service is too slow for cloud backup--our cell phone hotspots are our only access (we need them for travel). I suppose I should put one SSD backup in the truck and keep it there.

Just a heads up I have had funky issues with usb's before as well just before the motherboard goes out. Keep doing you backups and check them. If you start to have HW issues or even driver issues I'd suggest getting a new system.

Good advice I'm sure, thank you.

About SSD's, what brands/models do you all recommend? Any that you like best, and maybe more important, any that one should avoid?

[Hummer]

A look at the inside of the PC prior to cleaning. Not as bad as I've seen in other units. The fins behind the fan on the circuit board held the most dust and I suspect this was the source of the off and on fan surging.

Notice that there's a 2032 button battery on the circuit board. I wouldn't expect it to hold much juice after 6 1/2 years. What would this be for and should I replace it?

[FoxtArt]

A look at the inside of the PC prior to cleaning. Not as bad as I've seen in other units. The fins behind the fan on the circuit board held the most dust and I suspect this was the source of the off and on fan surging.

Notice that there's a 2032 button battery on the circuit board. I wouldn't expect it to hold much juice after 6 1/2 years. What would this be for and should I replace it?

CMOS battery. It powers the BIOS, which is the initial operating system that loads when you turn the computer on (e.g., not Windows, the power-on-self-test stuff). In short, if the battery dies, nothing happens except it doesn't remember what time it is and will give you a notice to that effect. I wouldn't worry about swapping it, it may outlast your desire to use that computer.

[brutal]

How is this done?

SMART mentioned above is built into every new HDD and SSD. The vendor will typically include a utility specific to their product to accurately report the drive health and stats. Generic utilities can be used but aren't always accurate across all vendor products.

Fire is a real concern as we're at greater risk here. I haven't used or trusted cloud services but I know it's universal now so I will look into everyone's suggestions. My wife puts certain files on OneDrive from her office. At home our web service is too slow for cloud backup--our cell phone hotspots are our only access (we need them for travel). I suppose I should put one SSD backup in the truck and keep it there.




Good advice I'm sure, thank you.

About SSD's, what brands/models do you all recommend? Any that you like best, and maybe more important, any that one should avoid?

Samsung 850/860 or Crucial MX500 (those are model numbers not size) for internal consumer SSD. Samsung, Seagate or WD, whatever you can get a good deal on for external. I prefer spinning for external but there are pros/cons to each. Environment, longevity, durability, etc.

I've had issue with the Crucial copy software so Samsung may be best for a neophyte.

I catch them when they're on sale. Use camelcamelcamel to check and watch price history.

Once Onedrive is sync'd, there's not so much traffic to be concerned with and you don't have to retrieve files from the cloud to use locally, it just keeps things in sync. It also does versioning so if you do get hit with a virus or cryptolocker, your versioned files in Onedrive should be safe and recoverable.

[Gman]

I just have the one home license, so I haven't had to play with multiple accounts. I did check the Synology CloudSync package and you can setup multiple tasks that interface with multiple providers (22 different cloud storage services), so I would imagine you can create multiple tasks utilizing multiple OneDrive accounts. It also supports OneDrive and OneDrive for Business. FYI, I didn't see any support for iCloud.

[Circuits]

Of the first five SSDs I bought, going on 8 years ago, 2 have died outright, and others started throwing errors so I nipped them in the bud and replaced them.

SMART can give you clues and reviewing their use logs can let you plan. Just sayin'...

Tape is almost forever, magnetic spinners are very durable, SSD is deliriously fast and potentially short-lived. Even with a system optimized to minimize SSD write operations through proper caching, SSD writes are a known finite quantity. For now, at least.

[Circuits]

That's called the CMOS battery, and maintains your BIOS settings and system clock. If it's dead, your computer clock will need to be reset after a cold boot, and if you changed any BIOS settings from default those changes will need to be remade. It used to be much more important back when you had to manually program your hard disk settings and CPU settings and memory timings and card interrupts in order to boot. That's all automatic now, and if it's network connected the OS can set the clock automatically, too, so the CMOS is basically redundant if you just use standard settings.

[Hummer]

Thanks! I won't mess with it....

[Gman]

The fan and fins that had the most dust is the CPU cooler. That's pretty normal to get build up there and cleaning that out will help keep it cool without the sensor sending more RPM to the fan to reduce temps. The higher RPM was probably under load. More work = more watts = more heat.