CrexTechs Blog

The average computer user with a USB port should be able to backup their photos, music and documents in almost no time at all and for so little money that it make no sense not to do it religiously.

I know I am guilty of not backing up my files regularly but then I am not creating new files or uploading music or photos to my computer that often.

When I get nervous about it, or when I have done a bunch of scanning of old photos or uploaded a bunch of new music, I pull out my thumb drive, plug it in to my USB port and drag and drop my My Documents file to the thumb drive, then go get a cup of coffee.  Keeping all my files in my My Documents file makes it easy to back up.  (I also save stuff to my desktop--not really a good idea as my desktop gets pretty cluttered--so I copy my desktop over as well).

After I've made my backup, I sit down to make a quick check to see how much got saved by checking the size of my My Documents file on my computer against the size of my My Documents file on my thumb drive. They should be the same though there could be a slight difference--not more than a few kilobytes.   I also check to see how full my thumb drive is by checking its properties.   It it's getting pretty full, I know its time to buy a larger thumb drive.

Thumb drives are very inexpensive and can save up to a 30 plus gigabytes for around $25.00 (or 100 plus gigabytes portable flash drives for around $80.00).  At these prices, it is wise and affordable to buy two or three thumb drives and backup to these in rotation--that is, backup to one then the next time, backup to the other.  That way you have two fairly recent backups--it is not unheard of for thumb drives to malfunction so if one goes kaput, you still have the data from the other.

If you have hundreds of, say, photo files at high resolution, you may want to make two good backups of your older files on portable flash drives that you store in a safe, dry, cool place.   You should not have to back up these files again.  Save any new pictures to a new file folder.  Copy the new file folder only when you do your  backup.  Files sometimes get corrupted on your hard drive unbeknown to you.  If you re-backup old files, you might find that you are backing up corrupted files.

CrexTechs always has a supply of thumb drives of various sizes and prices as well as higher capacity portable flash drives.  We also have external backup drives of 500 GB to 1.5 TB.    Come on in and we will help you decide what you need, how often you need to backup, and how to move files to your new thumb drive.

Reinstalling your operating system (Windows or Mac OS) can help you get rid of a lot of the junk that gets in the way of good performance.  You will need to have a good current backup of your photo, music and document files to restore these once you have reinstalled your operating system.  You will also have to reinstall any software you use such as Microsoft Office, PhotoShop and remote service software.

Why reinstall your operating system?

If you are experiencing any of the following, you may wish to reinstall your operating system:

• Various forms of malware or old remnants of deleted programs is slowing down your computer
• Files critical to the operation of your computer have become corrupt or inadvertently deleted
• You are running more than one operating system and experiencing conflicts
• Your hard drive is beginning to fail and you are replacing it with a new hard drive

If you know your way around a computer, this is an inexpensive way to improve performance.  If you don't know your way around a computer, you will want to check with your local computer repair shop for the cost of having this done.   (CrexTechs charges about $85.00 to reinstall Windows operating systems depending on the version you are running and the number of operating systems updates that have to be installed.  We are a small town shop so you will pay considerably more in an urban area for this service).

Improving performance when your machine is bogging down is a good reason to reinstall your operating system.  But again be sure you have a good current back up of your photos, music and document files and you have all your software disks for reinstalling.

To expedite backup of your files, keep a backup of old files separate from your backup of new files.  If you can, save newer files in their own folders so you won't have to backup everything every time.   If you are working on new documents and don't have time to run a backup, email them to yourself and leave the email on your service provider's servers.   Save copies of photos on line on Facebook or Flickr or other image hosting websites.

Remember, if you are backing up a lot of large photo files, be sure your media is big enough to handle everything or you may find your backup is only partial.

Disclaimer: The following quiz is not scientifically based.  It is intended as a fun tool to help you evaluate your risk of infection.

Answer these twenty questions and score as indicated to assess your risk factors for malware infection.

1. Do you use a Microsoft operating system on your computer? -2
2. Do you use Internet Explorer as your web browser? -2
3. Do you use Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or other local mail client as your email management program? -2
4. Do you run an anti-virus program with active protection enabled (such as Vipre)? +1
5. Do you run an anti-virus program with email protection enabled (such as Vipre)? +1
6. Do you scan your computer daily with an updated anti-virus program (such as Vipre)? +1
7. Do you have a secondary malware scanner program you use at least weekly (such as Malwarebytes)? +1
8. Do you visit adult only websites? -4
9. Do you visit sports or gaming websites? -4
10. Do you have children with unlimited access to your computer? -4
11. Do you employ blocking software to protect children in your household? +1
12. Do you have a Facebook or other social media websites? -1
13. Does your email service provider scan all incoming email? +1
14. Do you delete unknown emails without opening them first? +1
15. Do you open forwarded emails with attachments from friends? -1
16. Do you click on links provided in emails? -2
17. Do you panic and click on OK when a message pops up warning you that your anti-virus software is not working? -4
18. Upon booting up your computer, do you select to update programs as messages come up (such as Acrobat Reader, Microsoft updates, Vipre updates, Java, & Flash)? +2
19. Do you know how to quickly shutdown your machine or pull the plug should you become suspicious that a vicious download is taking place? +1

20. Do you use a Linux operating system on your machine? If yes, disregard 1-19 above.   You are always safe! Zero chance of infection.

If you answered yes to questions 1-19, your score would be -16. Despite doing a lot to protect yourself, you are engaging in highly risky behavior that will ensure
you will become infected at some point.

Scoring

>8 (greater than 8 points) almost no change of becoming infected
6 to 8 extremely low probability of infection
0 to 5 some risk of infection but still pretty low
-1 to -4 risk of infection but largely offset by preventative practices
-5 to -7 risk of infection, you can do more to protect yourself

-8 to -12 you will be in to see us for malware cleanup soon and need to take steps to protect yourself
<-12 (less than -12) you have been in for service, probably more than once, due to infection and should change your behavior or run a LINUX machine for your on-line activity.

Notice that all the positive steps you take to protect yourself does not ameliorate all the bad stuff. All we can do is be vigilant on a daily basis to reduce your risk of infection.

CrexTechs is now offering a limited  eBay sales service for our customers.

• Items must be clean and
• in very good to excellent condition meaning that they work as designed, have all their parts and are cosmetically in good condition. (Some items can be dismantled and sold for parts) Original packaging is a plus.
• Limit to 3 items per customer
• $10.00 non-refundable listing fee per item payable when item is brought in.  25% commission charged on net when sold.
• Large items may be rejected due to storage limitation and/or shipping constraints
• Other items may be rejected due to poor prospects on eBay
• Items are listed Buy Now only--30 days duration.  Relisting fee of $2.00.
• Items must be labeled with owner’s name, phone number, email address, description, asking price and minimum price.  Items may be rejected if the expected eBay final value is less than $30.00.

Call or email for more details on packaging, shipping, insurance and returns .