I finally received my hard drive enclosure from NewEgg. It’s a Bytecc 3.5″ Aluminum External Enclosure Model No. BT-380U2. It comes with CD, instructions and some screws. It seems to have a pretty solid casing and was heavier than I expected. It appears to be solidly constructed. I had read some reviewers mention the chrome trim being a bit cheesy with plastic but I didn’t have any issues with that. It has 3 blue penguins that light up during operation that some people complained that it was too bright .I think they were being a bit too sensitive though they are bright but unless your eyes are six inches in front of it I doubt they’ll be a bother. My one complaint though is the vague instructions. It told you how to install to computer but nothing on installing the drive itself. I would think that was an essential procedure.
Before installation.
Hard drive installed.
Installation is pretty much a snap. 1. You open the case. 2. Plug the hard drive cables onto the drive. 3. Mount the hard drive using the screws provided. 4. Insert drive 3/4 the way in and plug LED plug onto control board. Be careful I pinched the cables a bit when I pushed the drive in so just be aware of that. 5. Push drive rest of the way in. Be careful you may have manipulate the cables a bit to get it in. 6. Install screws to close it up.
Pretty blue penguins.
To install drive the instructions tell you to install while PC on I did it while it was off and it booted just fine. My Windows XP recognized it right away and it was working in minutes. I did install the CD software that came with just in case there is something I need on it. The whole operation took less than fifteen minutes. It has been working great ever since. Overall was a positive experience and I’d have no problem getting another of these.
I’ve used open source software from time to time with great success. Though sometimes it’s tough to sort through sites looking for the stuff. I came across this site called Open Source Alternative through this article from PC Mechanic. It contains a guide which will help you choose a piece of software for your particular application. It’s a great help.
This is what comes up on my desktop. I’m sure yours will be different.
I’m sure were all familiar with clicking on the left button but some people I’ve helped out were unfamiliar with the use of the right button of the mouse. What I’d thought I’d cover here today was the uses of the right button. Right-click anywhere on your desktop and you’ll get another menu to pop up. This is usually called the right-click menu(no brainer right?).It can also be referred to as the context menu or shortcut menu. What you click on will determine what type of choices you get. If you click on your desktop you’ll get different choices than if you say click on your hard drive. You can usually create new folders, create shortcuts, and look at properties etc. This was a quick look at the wonders of right-clicking on your mouse. I’m sure you’ll sleep better tonight. Now you’ll know at least what it’s called and give you an idea of the uses of it. I believe it’s an essential tool in using Windows. I don’t think Apple user’s got the second button until a relatively recently. Hey it took them awhile to catch up but they did. They were probably working on something that begins with i or something. Well have great day.
Well today I found that UPS rescheduled delivery of my hard drive enclosure which means I have to wait an extra day for it. Maybe next time I’ll pick Fedex. The last delivery was delayed a day too. I never had much problem before with NewEgg shipments when Fedex was the default shipper. I picked UPS because they were the cheapest. I guess the old saying “You get what you pay for” holds true here. Well while I was waiting today I did my daily 30 minutes of SpongeBob Squarepants Typing to hone my typing skills. It’s starting to get a little tougher now as I get more advanced. I have to admit I’m even look forward to typing more to get more practice. I’m between seven to eight words per minute now. Using the shift button is where I’m at now. I also started work on my next article regarding Mozilla’s Thunderbird and Gmail. A friend asked me too look into it for him so I thought it would make a good how-to piece. I should have that out by tomorrow. In the meantime I came across this video through one of favorite blog sites Geeks are Sexy and found it to be a hilarious bit about Star Wars. Warning it does have some adult language so you may have to turn down the volume if your around kids or at work. Have a great day!
Well I ended up purchasing a hard drive enclosure from NewEgg yesterday. It should be here in the next couple of days. I hate having my drive exposed to the elements but it’ll have to wait. In the mean time I’m working on my typing skills using SpongeBob Squarepants Typing software. It was originally meant for my son but he’s a little young for it. I decided to give it a try and it’s been fun. In fact I’m typing this out as practice using more than two fingers as my wife would tease me about. Another thing I’ve been looking into is VOip which is short for Voice Over Internet Protocal . I took a look at the Skype website. I thought would work out when I use Crossloop with someone to free up my hands rather than having one hand holding a phone. Of course I’d have to get a headset too. Well that’s all for now. How’s my typing so far? Any difference? It’s actually a bit slower than my hunt and peck method I’ve been use to for all these years but I suppose speed will come with more practice. Thanks for coming by.
I’m sure many of us know of the built-in calculator Windows has. Need something a little more powerful? Need to do more than balance your checkbook? Windows also has a built-in Scientific Calculator too. Hears how to find it.
1. Go to your Start button->All Programs->Accessories->Calculator
2. On your calculator go to View. 3. Click on Scientific.
Now you have a nifty scientific calculator. This could be handy for the student on a budget. I have to admit I had no idea that was even included until just recently or I had just over looked it. Thanks for coming by!
While waiting outside in the car for my wife come out of a store I heard over the radio an ad for Freelaptopnation.com. It reminded me of the ordeal I went through this past summer for one of those “free” laptops. I did cover this in a previous post several months back but I thought it was worth another look. I believe it’s even the same website. I remember hearing it on the radio thinking well maybe because I heard this on the radio it has some legitimacy to the claim. Being an experienced internet surfer and computer user for several years I thought I was going in at least with some smarts. Boy was I wrong on both parts.
It began innocent enough going into the website. On the first level are some free or almost free trials or subscriptions you must sign up for. I remember trying to pick ones that would be easy to cancel or the least expensive. Then your on to the next level. Again I try to do the same thing and it gradually gets harder to do. You have to sign up for so many for each level. When you finish one there is no hint that another level is coming so when you click done they give you another level to go through which gradually gets more expensive and harder to find good deals. Many of them have you signing up for memberships or trials for things you really don’t need. To be honest I got kind of wrapped up in what I was doing and didn’t keep track of everything I signed up for. They even name levels like the “Gold” or “Platinum” to almost tease you into thinking your almost done. I think I spent at least two hours filling out forms and signing up for stuff and I think I got to about the third or fourth level before calling it quits. I finally said to myself what the heck is free about this? Along with a few other choice words my mother wouldn’t be proud of. I wish that was the end of the story. I tried to cancel what I could remember I signed up for before I got charged for them. Unfortunately I missed a few and almost a month later I noticed some extra charges being drafted from my bank account. It happened at least two or three times. I usually called them up and tried to sound ticked off and asked as civilly but firmly that I cancel whatever service or membership I signed up for. It wasn’t really there fault after all. In all cases charges were reversed and I did eventually get my money back.
Are these laptops really free? Not in my opinion. Though I didn’t add up all expenses I’m sure it wasn’t a super deal and if your paying for other items or memberships to get the laptop how is that free. I could save my money not buying into those things and buy a laptop for less hassle. Also I believe if you go in thinking you’ll just cancel everything after signing up for stuff you might get burned . Many of the items require you to at least complete the free trial period or at least one pay period. So if you cancel something before meeting the requirement you get no laptop.
My suggestion is to avoid these if at all possible. They are not free. Should you try it write down every offer you sign up for and make note of the terms and requirements needed. Don’t make my mistake and forget about them a month later when they start bouncing checks in your account. Though I don’t think they are a total scam they do tend to leave some details out or at least make them hard to find. I just wanted to share my experience and perhaps help others avoid the same mistakes I did. There is a lot of truth to the saying “Let the buyer beware”.
After a late night of adventurous web surfing have you ever had your significant other ask where did this picture come from. She then shows you a picture from that would make your mother be very disappointed in you. How the heck did she find that? She was smart enough to check out My Recent Documents and you weren’t smart enough to erase them. Not that it ever happened to me of course. Honestly I swear! Well anyway. How do you turn this sometimes annoying and embarrassing Windows feature off? Here are the easy steps:
1. Right click on your Start button and then click onProperties.
2. You then click on the Customize button.
3. Then you click on the Advanced tab.
4. You then click the Clear List.
5. You can uncheck the List my most recently opened documentsbox to stop this sometimes embarrassing feature.
This might save you from some quick explaining and some headaches in the future. Well good luck and be more careful next time.
Well I was unable to get the new hard drive to boot on it’s own. I decided though to use as extra storage on my PC as I able to use it that way. I think it’ll work out fine now. Now I have to find a hard drive enclosure for it. I’ve been busy organizing my files all morning.
Well my stuff came in from NewEgg on Wednesday. I was very excited. I didn’t actually get to work on it until Thursday morning. First thing that went in was the video card that went in relatively easy and it works great. The hard drive has been another matter. At first I try and clone it over using XXClone. I ran into an error the first time . Tried doing it a different way over still no luck. I was getting very frustrated and ticked off. To top it off Windows had a hard time recognizing the drive through a usb cable. I realized I tried to rush things too much. I was able to re-format the drive again and now I’m in the process of cloning it. We’ll see how this turns out. have a great day!
Front view.
Top view.
Rear view.
