Posts Tagged drive

My iPhone, Pandora Radio, and 305 Miles of Turnpike

Oct 10

Posted by Digitally Insane in 1. Ramblings | 1126No Comments2009-10-10+13%3A10%3A49Digitally+Insane

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Columbus day weekend, one of the many 4 day weekends during the year, marks a routine trip to Baltimore, Maryland, to visit the in-laws.

This particular trip however was slightly different then those of the past, as I completely forgot to load up music on my iPhone!

We were already running late and I did not want to delay our departure any further, so my wife and I got the dogs in my trust 2003 Honda Accord, loaded our bags in the trunk and pulled out of the driveway.

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Tags: 2003 honda accord, 3g network, amp, Baltimore, baltimore maryland, Cable, car, Columbus, columbus day, columbus day weekend, country, day, delat, departure, Dixon Line, dogs, drive, factory radio, honda, honda accord, Hour, interface adapter, iPhone, iphones, iPod, local radio station, Maryland, Miles, music, Ohio, ohio turnpike, Pandora, past, Pennsylvania, q104, radio, request show, routine trip, time, trip, trust, USA, usa spec, weekend, wife, year

Windows 7 Maintenance Tools Part 2 – Disk Defragmenter

Oct 8

Posted by Digitally Insane in 2. Windows 7 | 1039No Comments2009-10-08+12%3A43%3A13Digitally+Insane

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The Disk Defragmenter at Work

Another valuable tool to keep your computer running efficiently and smoothly is Disk Defragmenter. This tool tidies up fragmented files on your hard disk drive.

What are Fragmented Files?

As your hard drive gradually fills up with stored files, there comes a time when you need to delete redundant files to make more room. This leaves empty spaces from the deleted files scattered over the disk.

So, when you download a large file, or install more software, there may not be enough room in any single space on the disk to fit the entire file. Windows has no choice but to store the file fragments in several places. This makes for a fragmented file.

The more fragmented the files are on a drive, the more your computer’s performance and reliability suffers as the hard drive has its work cut out searching for these scattered pieces files. Hence it is slow loading your data.

Terminology

A large file with the scattered parts is called a non-contiguous file.
A file, not broken up into pieces, is called a contiguous file. System files are always contiguous. They should never be deleted or moved as they are necessary for the system operations.

Windows Defragmenter in Earlier Versions of Windows

In the earlier versions of Windows, the Disk Defragmenter was a vital tool. When you ran it, Windows displayed a graphic image of a fragmented drive showing the before and the after.

In Windows 7, the graphic display previously seen in the earlier versions of Windows is no longer visible. Instead, all the action happens behind the scene so you miss out on the graphics.

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Tags: button, click, computer, defragment, Defragmenter, Disk, disk defragmenter, drive, empty spaces, file, file windows, fragmented files, hard disk drive, redundant files, scattered pieces, tidies, tool, vital tool, Windows, windows defragmenter

Windows 7 Troubleshooting, part 1

Oct 5

Posted by Digitally Insane in 2. Windows 7 | 896No CommentsWindows+7+Troubleshooting%2C+part+12009-10-05+14%3A46%3A17Digitally+Insane

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In part one of this (hopefully) two part series, we’ll examine the Troubleshooting control panel in Windows 7, specifically its program compatibility wizard. Don’t want to use Windows XP mode? Maybe this tool will help.

Troubleshooting in Windows has always been a mixed bag. The operating system’s error messages typically range from unhelpfully ambiguous (Windows cannot eject this drive, one or more applications may be using it) to downright cryptic (my personal favorite is the Windows 9x-era “Your computer has performed an illegal operation”). In the vast majority of cases, users are stuck with puzzling out the problem on their own.

Microsoft has taken a step toward changing that with the new Troubleshooting applet in the Control Panel. Let’s see how useful this addition to Windows really is.

You’ll find the Troubleshooting panel in the Control Panel, or by typing “troubleshooting” into the Search bar in the Start menu. The first time you launch it, the applet may ask you if you’d like to keep it up to date using the Internet – I see no reason not to, and so this guide assumes that you’re keeping the Troubleshooting panel updated.