tag:ask-leo.com,2011://3/tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328- 2011-11-22T22:49:34Z Comments for Yes, it happens to me too. Movable Type 4.32-en tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31549 Comment from Ravi Agrawal on 2008-12-02 Ravi Agrawal http://unspecified This is related to the "it happens to me" part of your newsletter dtd 02/12/2008 when you upgraded RAM on a server which would simply not accept & you had to remove the additional RAM.

Well, hardware particularly RAM is probably the hardest part to diagnose next to PowerSupplies & Hard Disks. I faced a similar situation & had to finally remove my upgraded RAM.

Following was the situation-

I had a very quiet & smooth running PC (at home) with 512MB Ram. I own 2 PCs one at work and the other at Home. When I upgraded the Work PC, I had a 128MB module left in spare which I decided to use in the home PC to make it up to a total of 640 MB. All said & done, I fitted the RAM in PC which the Bios detected well & Windows XP too.

Now comes the fun part. My PC started to lockup randomly (within 5 minutes or 2 hours or maybe never until I shut it down) with the screen display becoming distorted. Like you break the whole in small bits of 1x2 cms & all the pieces get scattered overlappling each other. At times, I was presented with a Blue Screen & at other times a continous beep from the PC speaker. I was facing this problem since the last 6 months or so until it finally dawned on me to remove the RAM (yes it was 6 months & I completely forgot the change in Hardware done by me).

Following were the extreme measures taken by me.

1. Removed Nokia PC suite which I thought was causing the issue.
2. Updated the motherboard drivers with the latest ones.
3. Updated the display drivers (from Intel) with the latest ones.
4. Tried with a different monitor (but the problem would not appear on the other monitor). In ambiguity that the monitor also could be having problems.
5. Checked the RAM with MEMtest for more than 3 hours (passed happily without problems).
6. Added a USB PCI hub to the motherboard feeling that something might have gone wrong with USB circuitary on the motherboard.
7. Disconnected the CD Rom from the motherboard.
8. Checked the Hard Disk for errors.
9. Moved the Pagefile to a different partition of the Disk.
10. Fiddled with Bios to change the memory allocated to the Display adapter.
11. Checked the Fans if they were running (well, they were) & downloaded a temperature utility to monitor unnecessary heating.
12. Last but not the least, a complete reinstall of Windows XP.
13. I thought it could be SP3 which was causing the problems but I ruled that out too. (LOL, I too believe in keeping Windows updated),
14. Ofcourse, I searched the Internet for Clues but nothing related caught my eyes.

The problem would simply not go away, Until I felt that it was a dying motherboard. but if it has to die, it has too.

I just could not recall when I upgraded the RAM & that the issue was because of RAM. Since RAM had passed the MEMtest, I thought I could safely rule it out.

But things don't work that way & at times, it is only a hit & trial that works despite all the geeky measures you take.

With that extra 128MB module removed, the PC is working fine as before.

Ravi.

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 2008-12-03T06:20:48Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31548 Comment from Ken Crook on 2008-03-29 Ken Crook http://unspecified "I know you're a fan of Acronis True Image software (which I have also installed), but I don't think Acronis offers a verify facility - any other views?"

Acronis does have a verify option. I don't know how it works but every time I do an Image backup I do the Verify Backup to make sure what I just did is good.

About a month after I bought Acronis True Image I installed a program that added something to the IE toolbar to allow capturing video from Youtube. It messed up my system and the only way I could find to correct it was to do a restore from the Image I had done a couple days before. Acronis True Image saved me! It is a great program and easy to use.

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 2008-03-30T04:39:27Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31547 Comment from Bruce Watson on 2008-03-29 Bruce Watson I don't know if this is standard for everyone, but backing up the .PST Outlook file requires the program to be closed. I, too, found this out the hard way. I now have a backup tool (http://www.cobian.se/) than can close programs, do the backup then reopen (if desired). Like Leo said, check to be sure what you want to happen IS happening.

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 2008-03-29T22:54:46Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31546 Comment from Betty on 2008-03-29 Betty http://unspecified Wow, at least mine was only a system problem which was quite a learning experience, after I discovered my image was no good. Actually Acronis True Image does have a verify option but I had not used it. I learned, the hard way, to use it. It's now set on automatic.

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 2008-03-29T19:50:00Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31545 Comment from Dave on 2008-03-29 Dave I recommend a minimum of 2 independent backups!
Checking the capability to recover before a failure is very important. I have had issues with
both the built in M$ Vista backup and with True Image using Vista. I suggest using online backup as one of the solutions.

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 2008-03-29T12:55:47Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31544 Comment from David Hawkins on 2008-03-29 David Hawkins http://unspecified A while ago I installed CrapCleaner which unfortunately cleaned out more Cr*p than was intended. so much so my PC would not boot up and I had to use my backup which worked fine but as the last back up was three months previous I lost 3 months of e-mails. If I was to use "Restoration" as Leo did, would I be able to bring back those lost three months of e-mail?

David

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 2008-03-29T12:42:01Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31543 Comment from Simon Brew on 2008-03-29 Simon Brew Many thanks Leo for this sensitive and revealing article. I'm delighted that you managed to recover the situation..

As for checking that backups actually work, there's a useful feature in Norton Ghost called verify or integrity check. This goes through the motions of restoring a backup image onto a specified hard drive, but doesn't actually change anything or transfer any data. You can use this to check that your restore images are OK.

I know you're a fan of Acronis True Image software (which I have also installed), but I don't think Acronis offers a verify facility - any other views?

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 2008-03-29T09:53:11Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31542 Comment from Colin on 2008-03-29 Colin http://unspecified Hi Leo a big thankyou and allso a pat on the back for printing this article and letting the rest of the world know that we are all human and not infallable, even the gurus we look to for help, and for pointing out that PC's dont allways behave as they should. Its no good saying "yes i regually backup",but do we allways check the backup.... i think not. You could have kept quite on that one but choose not to Top Man..

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 2008-03-29T07:40:50Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31541 Comment from Mike Williams on 2008-03-28 Mike Williams http://unspecified To answer Diana's question above, the only way to check is to do a real test: restore the data and see if it works. Better to practice now instead of when you really need it, right? Note that this requires some care and some knowledge of the files you're restoring, so you don't trash your system. I have 2 recommendations: 1) read the documentation that comes with the tools you're using, and 2) start out by restoring a simple file or directory that you can afford to lose.

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 2008-03-29T03:57:34Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31540 Comment from Frank Lee Doobyus on 2008-03-28 Frank Lee Doobyus http://unspecified Leo, that is one of the best - and most effective IT columns I've ever read! Absolutely outstanding!

We're all so bloody sharp, and so "in synch" with IT ... and then something very simple reminds us ... we're also HUMAN.

Seriously - Congratulations on one of the most "human" IT columns/lessons ever.

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 2008-03-29T02:55:00Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31539 Comment from Margaret Louk on 2008-03-28 Margaret Louk http://unspecified I back up regularly to my external Maxtor, but I also burned all my music and photos to DVD just in case. I also have taken to ordering the cd when I purchase a new game. My friend's computer just crashed and took all their games with it.

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 2008-03-29T02:21:48Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31538 Comment from Diana on 2008-03-28 Diana So how do I know if my backup harddrive is really backing up what I need? I did finally buy one and have it running, but have no idea how it works etc or how to check it.

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 2008-03-29T02:08:19Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31537 Comment from Ross Cherednik on 2008-03-28 Ross Cherednik As we all eventually learn, the biggest mistake is presuming no mistake will be made. Welcome to the club. You have lots of company.

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 2008-03-29T01:20:45Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31536 Comment from Big Dan on 2008-03-23 Big Dan That's the problem with backup apps you never really know if they're working until you actually need the backup. I got burned by one I thought was backing up my whole C:\Documents And Settings\Dan\ directory it left me with a 2 GB zip file which I thought was everything unbeknown to me it wasn't backing up hidden folders, bye bye Thunderbird profile and all my application settings.

Of course because I ASSUME it was working I never checked.

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 2008-03-23T16:15:10Z tag:ask-leo.com,2008://3.3328-comment:31535 Comment from Matt on 2008-03-22 Matt It's interesting because I used that same program to recover my progress from a game called N. http://thewayoftheninja.org/

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 2008-03-23T01:09:44Z