Topic: !!!FILE MAYHEM!!!

[Alieo]

Oh, dear Jesus... here we go! The whole point of me getting an external hard drive was to avoid file loss. So when "Beta1115," my 2005 Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop with Win XP got infected by malware, I quickly unplugged the external and switched it over to "Gamma1216," my 2009 HP G61 laptop with Win 7. It accessed the external hard drive just fine from 4/17/11 through JUST NOW... it can't read it, it says it "can't read the USB device," and that it could be "damaged. Please reconnect the device and try again or replace the device." WTF???

I am totally convinced the evil Microsoft conglomerate intentionally sabotages files to up sales of their products! A lot of you may looooove Windows, but I am fed UP with it!

I don't need this I don't need this I don't need this! Did I mention I don't need this? I have a LOT of sentimental photos, music files, and most importantly..... PAID PORN (LMAO) on this thing!!! (Also, some nice pics and vids of my ex's, which are !!!IRREPLACEABLE!!!)

I am soooo fed up with Windows right now. If I lost all my files, I'm going to "scrub" my shuttle launch plans for June and buy me a MAC tomorrow! And then, every 6 months, I'm going to purchase a new external hard drive and transfer the files over. Do externals just up and die?

And what to do with Beta1115 and Gamma1216? Two perfectly functional machines? DESTROY THEM before they destroy my history again. I SPIT on you Microsoft! *PA-TOOIE*

I smell a "Delta426" in the making.

[Alieo]

Tee-hee-hee...

Sooooo.... I unplugged the external hard drive from the power source and reconnected everything and it worked. Yep... just like that!

 

But wait! Now I'm mad! I want to sue Microsoft for an hour and a half of my life back!

I think it would be wise for me to purchase a new external as a backup plan because I don't EVER want to lose files like that anymore. Do externals have a lifespan before sh*t starts going down with them? This one is like one of the first 1TB hard drives from WD. Any suggestions?

[TechPro]

My suggestion:  A computer to use as a file server.  Might not be do-able option for you.

As for what you just described with your USB external drive... That's actually fairly common.  Over time, the USB interface may 'go to sleep' and not 'wake up' which then requires the device to be power cycled.  The only time that behavior becomes a concern is when it starts happening a lot or if it happens too quickly to be due to entering low power mode.

Just turn it off from time to time.

[Alieo]

Alright. Thanks. Sorry for panicking. I hate it when I do that.

[Matthew]

When my USB drive died I pulled it from the enclosure and put it directly into my computer and it worked again.

[VANGUARD]

Trust me. I don't love Microsoft. Windows XP, and their internet keyboard was all I ever liked about them. Everything else, bah!

I bought my iMac on the 3rd of February, and I still love it. I have used Linux since 2006 and find no desire to use Windows.

Hopefully everything will get resolved for you soon.

[Foil]

Come on, Alieo. 

You can't blame MS for hardware issues like a third-party external drive not waking up.  The same exact thing would happen with a Mac or Linux box.

I'd also suggest running some checks on the external drive.  If it's starting to die, you'd want to know.

[VANGUARD]

foil as a point. I just like to blame Microsoft for everything 

[Scyphi]

Just like how in America that when something goes wrong, people like to blame the president, even when (surprise!) it's not always his fault.

[VANGUARD]

sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

What I see a lot too is always blaming one side and never the other.

In all honesty, I don't like pointing the finger on people per se, I like to fix things.

[Scyphi]

If only the government believed that. Or the rest of the nation for that matter. Personally, I see way too much blame-pinning than actually trying to DO something, whether it be good or bad.

But we're not here to talk politics.

[VANGUARD]

politics? I thought we were talking about operating system. lol

I am sooooooooooooooooooooo bored right now. hence the reason I keep replying when someone else does. in 45 minutes, I will be done for the day

update: 10 minutes to go and then you probably won't hear from me until tomorrow.
does Alieo even mind us being so off topic?

[Alieo]

LOL no because the problem is fixed and the topic is dead as far as I'm concerned. I always love the entertainment! But yeah, operating systems, politics, what's the dang difference? They're all in it for THA MONAY... and I was actually conservative like I usually am with my money and did NOT buy a MAC like I was edging towards. I was doing some research on linux and I like what I see. I like how the folks at wtf it's called, ugubugu or something or another, have made their OS open source. That shows me that they're in it for the humanity and the betterment of society!

Now, I would LOOOOVE to get away from Windows, but I need to know if Linux does the following essential things that I use Windows, or even would-be MAC for. Here are some essential needs plus a few technical questions about Linux systems:

E1) MS-Paint - I'm using this to create some kind of sick Super Mario Bros. 3 calendar maps. Even the Win 7 version of paint is SUCKY SUCKY SUCKY so I dug into my XP's system files and brought it over to WIN7 and works fine. I wonder if Linux has a similar program to MS-Paint that allows me to:
 - cut and paste selected items and shows me my pixel dimensions of my crop sizes
 - "paste from" so I can paste the individual 32x32 pixel files into the appropriate map grids
 - Rotating, increasing and decreasing sizes of objects by degrees and percents respectively
 - I dunno, something similar to MS-Paint.

E2) Sound Recorder (or similar) - I use Windows Sound Recorder (also transferred on over from my XP unit because the WIN7 Sound Rec. does NOTHING). Basically I need a program that will record "what my computer hears" in a high quality format. That's how I get a loooot of my songs from YouTube, etc. If I hear it, and it is good quality, and it does NOT have a download link, it's MINE!

E3) Ability to transfer music files from my smartphone or mp3 player to the computer, store music files, etc.

E4) Will my existing picture and audio files be readable as is if I switch to Linux? Will it be as easy as drag and drop or will I have to do some kind of conversion process?

E5) Will my printer work on Linux?

E6) If I attach an external hard drive to my Linux computer, what kind of file format should it be?

E7) Can the hard drive on my current Windows 7 Home Edition laptop be converted entirely to Linux, or just some half-assed file system allocation where it's still partly windows?

E8) How prone to viruses are Linux systems?

E9) Last and MOST importantly, PLAY DESCENT!!! Will D2X-XL work? Could I get such LOVELY graphics for a linux version of Descent? And how would I install Descent? I have both the MAC and Windows version of D1, but of course, I want D2 and D3 as well, which I only have the windows version of. (I only have the MAC D1 because of the music of course! hehe.)

C'mon, Moses! Part the Red Sea of impossibility and get me free from the land of big brother Microsuck and Windope!

[VANGUARD]

you may mean Ubuntu. A lot of Linux systems, if not all are open source. I used to use Mandriva, but now I use an iMac. just google Linux and you'll get a ton!

E1 - I think there's stuff for you. But I am not big on graphics/art.

E2 - I believe there is some sort of a sound recorder.

E3 - I was easily able to transfer MP3 music from my PC to an MP3 player or even the droid, and visa versa. Basic plug it in and copy/move the files into the "music" folder.

E4 - Almost everything will still be read. Linux can read mp4 files, ogg, etc, as well as mp3, and various picture formats.

E5 - Depends on printer, some will be a basic plug in, and automatic installation.

E6 - no clue

E7 - You should be able to COMPLETELY clean out Windows, like what I have on my laptop. It doesn't know Windows >

E8 - Linux RARELY gets hit. I have had mine for 5+ years, not one single virus.

E9 - It played Descent 3 pretty well. Not sure about the other two yet. I just got the other two when on the iMac

[Scyphi]

E1- You may want Paint.NET then. Runs very similar to Photoshop, except it's free. At the very least, it'll easily be able to do the things you'd want.

E2- One word. Audacity.

E8- Just want to point out though, that just because Linux isn't a target for viruses frequently (as I understand it, they have to be geared up for a certain operating system in order to work) doesn't mean it can't happen, so don't think you're immune.

E9- Both D2X-XL and Rebirth should have Linux compatible versions available for download.