denlem

I got a Mediasonic from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816322004

Once I have enough drives i'll set it up for Raid 5. I'll put critical files there but it will be mostly for the media center PC to store pics, movies and shows to watch.

I don't purposely back up, but I do make copies of critical files here and there. I store them all over the place and can never find them!

cdynaco

I have the simplest method in the world.
I create my own 'directories' (yes I'm that old) off of C: and label them so they are at the top of the list - one for data, one for pics, one for vids, etc.; with as many sub-folders off of those as I choose to categorize stuff.
>So anytime I save a file it is saved in one of my locations vs the software default location.
When I backup, I just copy my 4 'directories'. Boom! Done! No hunting. I have all my stuff since late 80's!
And I don't even have the geek gene.

denlem

I do that for some stuff. I have one directory (I'm old too) and sub dirs for doc type files, spreadsheets, Outlook, and anything else that a program will let me store data to. I tend to label these dirs with a dash (-) as the first character to force them to the top.

I try to keep as much changeable data as possible off the C drive. This way when I decide to do a restart, I can pretty much just format drive-c without having to worry about missing backing something up.

Going back to the DOS days, there was a program I loved called X-Tree. Great file manager back then instead of doing things on a command line. That was discontinued but someone created a clone for windows called Z-Tree. It's one of my favorite ways to move files around. It's not always the best, but it let's you see more than what windows will let you sometimes.



http://www.ztree.com/

stupidgenius36

I got my drives in today. The replacement is, of course, refurbished. But aside from an extra sticker saying that it's refurbished, it's as good as new. It even has the protective plastic, as it would if it were new.

I also got a Samsung D3 3TB external, which uses a Seagate drive as well. Only gripe is the included USB 3.0 cable. It's only about 2ft. long, at most, which isn't even long enough to reach my desktop from the floor. On the plus side, it does come with interchangeable power connectors for other countries...I think 5 of them.

Now to begin slowly rebuilding my files... :/

denlem

My raid box came in on Saturday along with one drive. Now to work on getting 3 more drives for it!

I also want to move everything into a HTPC case. The one I liked the most is obsolete and I can't find one anywhere. The two others I kinda like have pros and cons with each.

Both will probably need a new power supply since my 1000 watt is too big.

The case with the better looking front only holds 4 drives and a mini dvd, which I would also need to buy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811204044

The other case has acrylic on the front which would scratch easily, hold 6 hard drives and takes a full size dvd that is said to not fit some drives properly. Plus it has a larger ugly power button on it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811204037


Decisions, decisions.

stupidgenius36

Come on, go all out...



JK. I'm confused though...You just got the RAID box, and you already plan to move the drives into a HTPC? Or you're gonna attach the RAID box to the HTPC?

denlem

I'll attach the raid box to the HTPC. I already have an HTPC set up, I just want a different footprint and to put it on a shelf. The case I have now holds six 3.5 drives and five 5.25 drives, so it's pretty big. I have 7 drives in it now and two external. All totaling around 13 or 14 gig. The raid is add more space with bigger drives and go down to a smaller case. Plus I don't backup, so i'll "homegroup" it to the regular PC for backups so i'll have a bit of security.

stupidgenius36

Oh, ok. I'm always looking for ways to improve my setup, but my big weak point is my network...I wish all houses and apartments were wired with Ethernet. What OS do you run on the HTPC?

denlem

I run Windows 8.1 with the media center add on. I use a Ceton InfiniTV 4 tuner card with a cable card and tuning adapter. I can record up to 4 shows at once. It's easy to fill up hard drives that way!!

shurtual86

yup, most new houses and apartments ( the nicer ones at least. ) now are. It would definitely lower my work load and stress level too!

stupidgenius36

Ah, yeah. I think I've asked you that before. I use an HDHR Prime, so I know what you mean...those wtv files are huge. Do you convert them or leave them as is?

denlem

I leave them as is. I have more stored than i'll ever watch. That's why I need the space!

I bit the bullet a little while ago and ordered 3 more drives for the raid box. Now it will be full and I can use it. That wipes me out so i'll hold off on the new case for now. They should be here Friday or Saturday. Should be interesting setting this up. Hopefully it goes smooth and no drive failures. Newegg tends to have quite a few of them.

stupidgenius36

I don't think I've ever had any issues with Newegg. Although, along with one of the drives that they just sent me...I got someone else's invoice in addition to just mine. Not a huge deal, but I don't really like the thought of someone else having my invoice/info.

denlem

I've had a motherboard come in once with a bent pin for the CPU. Not their fault, but still had to RMA it and send it back and wait for another one.

If you read the reviews on hard drives, you'll see a lot that complain about them arriving DOA. I think it has more to do with the shipping and getting banged around.

I've had drives fail, but don't remember any DOA. Yet. I have a 1.5TB drive now that's failing and WD's site is giving me a problem creating the RMA. Once that gets replaced it's going on ebay.

stupidgenius36

I try not to read too many negative reviews on newegg, since half the time it just sounds like the customer didn't know what the hell they were doing. I, too, would bet any DOA hard drives were damaged in shipping. Anytime I get a package, the first thing I do is take pictures of the box before I open it. My packages are almost always beat to hell or crushed.



Funny story that happened to me at work yesterday...a customer called my helpdesk because she wanted a tech to come out and unplug computers, move them to another room, and plug them back in. I explained to her that that is beyond the scope of our services. We won't physically move the computers. And if they really can't figure out how to unplug them and plug them back in, then it is absolutely dead last on our priority list.

She then starts telling me that she's disabled, and can't be lifting heavy computers. But the part that blew my mind...She said that they don't have that kind of training to be plugging in and unplugging computers, and none of them are A+ certified to be doing that kind of work. :blankstare: I told her as nicely as possible that unplugging computers really doesn't have anything to do with being A+ certified. She gave me a sarcastic laugh, and said "well that's hardware, so yeah...It does." That's where I ended the call. It still just surprises me how lazy and stupid people are.

denlem

The drives are in! All set up and testing with copying some files over.

stupidgenius36

This is why you should clean out your computer more often than I do...yes, the dust is burned onto the heat sinks.

kcoTiger

wow. I take a can of compressed air to it every month. That would drive me absolutely insane.

stupidgenius36

Well the fans don't have to work anywhere near as hard. I forgot how quiet this laptop is supposed to be. I'd clean it more, but this thing was a ***** to take apart...**** Dell.

stupidgenius36

I'm working on a new project lately, and ran into an issue. I figure the odds are slim, but maybe one of y'all had seen this problem before...

The size of the drives I recently bought for my server (WHS 2011) caused an unforseen issue with backups. Meaning that they are completely incompatible.

The incompatibility seems to be corrected in Windows Server 2012. So I installed 2012 Essentials...No problems. Then I realized there is already 2012 R2 Essentials, so I figure I'll install that instead before I start setting things up and get to far into the one I already installed.

Well the problem is trying to boot into the R2 installation disc. It starts out at the black/white "loading files" screen. Then shows the Windows logo. Then quickly flashes a couple of error messages and restarts. That's as far as it will get.

I was able to get a look at the errors after a few tries...It seems like they're linked to an incompatible processor and/or one that doesn't support Intel XD. However my processor DOES support XD, and I made sure it is enabled. And I already installed 2012 (non-r2) just fine. So I don't understand why non-r2 would work fine but not r2 at all, since the XD issue is related to all Windows 8 kernel products and not specific to r2.

I've already ruled out the possibility of a bad ISO or a bad flash drive. I've tried booting to USB and DVD, which was the same. I've checked the ISO and it boots fine on other computers.

I know it's an old processor (P4 HT), and if I can't figure it out then I'll just stick with 2012 (non-r2). It's just frustrating the hell out of me, because I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work.