Storage
How to Burn Backup Dreamcast Games to a Disc
by Matt Fedje on January 5, 2010
The Sega Dreamcast was the successor to the popular Sega Saturn game console and was the last console manufactured by Sega. The Dreamcast, which was released in 1998 before the Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, and Xbox, offered a fantastic gaming experience but unfortunately was discontinued in 2001. Despite no longer being manufactured, you can still burn Dreamcast games to discs from digital... [Read More]
Dropbox: Take Your Files Everywhere
by Dustin Patterson on December 15, 2009
Methods of transferring and sharing files have come a long way from the days of 3.5″ floppy disks. Once limited to 1.44 MB at a time, we are now able to use flash drives to easily transfer around 32 GB (approximately 22000 times as much data) at greater transfer speeds than before. Although physical media allows for large data transfers, the internet itself offers great file sharing services... [Read More]
EeePC 900A: Add More Hard Drive Space with a SDHC Card
by Dustin Patterson on December 7, 2009
If you’re looking for a small, cheap, and powerful netbook, the Asus Eee PC 900A is a great buy. Included by default in the 900A is a 4GB solid state hard drive (called a SSD). Although the SSD is large enough to run the included Xandros Linux operating system, you may find yourself running into storage space limitations if you install a mainstream flavor of Linux. (Note: I am focusing on Linux... [Read More]
Coming Soon: The End of DVDs?
by David Carman on November 23, 2009
According to a new article on movies.com, Universal Pictures will no longer be selling stand-alone DVD copies of several of it’s movies as of January 1st, 2010. Instead, the movies will only be sold as Blu-ray/DVD bundles. This bundling is not new since Disney and other studios have already been bundling Blu-rays, DVDs and digital copies, but this is the first time a stand-alone DVD is not also... [Read More]
How to Partition Your Hard Drive with Easeus Partition Master
by Evan Wondrasek on September 25, 2009
Most hard drives come with multiple partitions – which can be thought of as individual hard drives within your main hard drive – to separate a hard drive into multiple sections. Partitions are very useful if you want to separate your operating system from your documents (allows for easier OS reinstallation), and most manufacturers include a recovery partition in lieu of a recovery disc... [Read More]
How to Install Windows from a USB Flash Drive
by Evan Wondrasek on September 16, 2009
Netbooks, which are ultra-portable laptops, have exploded in popularity due to their small size and ease of use. Unfortunately, that tiny form factor comes with some drawbacks – most netbooks don’t come equipped with an optical drive. This means that most users are stuck with the operating system that was installed by the manufacturer. Luckily, Windows 7, XP, Vista, Server 2003 and... [Read More]
How To: Securely Erase Your Hard Drive Using DBAN
by Reis Pritchard on July 2, 2009
It’s likely that at some point in time, you will either sell your computer or install a new operating system on your current machine. In either situation, it’s recommended that you wipe your hard drive clean of any and all information. Most people will tell you to format your computer because it deletes everything from the hard drive, but while formatting does in fact remove information and... [Read More]
How To: Check Your Hard Drive Health With A Linux LiveCD
by Dustin Patterson on May 4, 2009
Previously, I wrote a guide on monitoring your drive’s status with S.M.A.R.T. tools from a running system [see Check your HDD's S.M.A.R.T. Status]. Although these programs work well for checking the live status of your hard drive, you may run across a situation where you cannot boot the operating system to access these programs. If you system does not boot, it may be necessary to use a boot... [Read More]
How To Check Your HDD’s S.M.A.R.T. Status
by Dustin Patterson on April 17, 2009
As your hard drive begins to age, the chance for failure and resulting data loss increases. Today’s hard drives feature a monitoring system called Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology or S.M.A.R.T. for short. With S.M.A.R.T. and the appropriate software, it is possible to keep updated on the status of your hard drive and the important data that resides on it. To check the S.M.A.R.T.... [Read More]
