Zatz Not Funny!

When Disaster Strikes

As we recently read, Mari’s beloved Asus netbook gave up the ghost. As they are wont to do. After a short period of some basic troubleshooting, she went the practical and conservative, perhaps costly, route of having a technician recover her data. It’s inevitable. Hardware will fail. And we’ve talked backup here several times over the years, so I’d rather now focus on a few (PC) disaster recovery tips.

Assuming you (or your mom, spouse, brother) don’t have a recent disk image or file backup from the impacted system for whatever reason, the top priority is to recover personal data from the drive. If it’s operable. OSes and software can be reinstalled. While videos of your kid are probably irreplaceable.

As Mari’s hard disk was still functional and she had an external optical drive handy, I had suggested booting into some other OS as a means of mounting the original drive and copying her data onto a USB stick. My first thought was for Mari to bring her laptop up with the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD), which contains a variety of useful tools for these situations. However, we were both a bit discouraged when we learned it had to be built off a local Windows XP disc. (I keep a copy of UBCD in the closet for emergencies, along with a few other tools, and I don’t recall how I built or acquired it.) So my next suggestion was to download an Ubuntu .iso – not to install, but to run as a Live CD. I wasn’t certain if it would automatically mount NTFS file systems, but figured it was worth a shot given the zero cost and minimal investment of time to try. But, at this point, Mari was ready to move on to other projects and we never went down this path. I also know there are a few custom recovery/technician sort of Linux builds out there. Possibly including the (skinned?) Geek Squad OS that Best Buy ultimately used to dump her data.

If Mari didn’t live about 2.5 hours away, I would have offered her a variety of drive enclosures and docks to take the Asus hardware entirely out of the equation in recovering her data. My latest addition, the Thermaltake BlacX SATA dock, was acquired about a year ago to recover a family member’s docs from a harddrive containing a corrupt Windows OS install. The dock connects to a good computer via USB and supports both desktop (3.5″) and laptop (2.5″) drives. For $30 or less, it can’t be beat. Optionally, there are a variety of cables that provide the same functionality. (Either would also come in handy for DIY TiVo drive replacement/expansion.)

DivX, Coming Soon To A Store Near You?

I’ve been critical of DivX’s efforts to woo Hollywood in the past, but I’ve also got to give them credit for a win when I see one and I think they knocked it out of the park when it comes to Paramount. Recently, Paramount announced that they were going to be distributing content on USB … Read more

Tales of a Geek Squad Recovery

Geek Squad data recovery

There are so many lessons to take away from my recent experience in netbook hardware failure, it’s hard to know where to begin. A resounding vote for cloud computing and distributed risk? How about, beware of irony and over-praising your gadgets? Or simply when it rains (first the washing machine breaks down, then the car…), it pours. No, here’s the moral of the story I like: when your computer dies on a weekend, it’s good to know the Geek Squad is around for data recovery.

My beloved Asus Eee 1000HA has served me well for eleven months, but last Friday everything changed when a system config error popped up my screen. I couldn’t even boot in safe mode, and every attempt to break away from the error screen resulted in a cycle that landed me right back where I started. Miraculously I had the Windows XP recovery CD and an external CD/DVD drive on hand, but even after I figured out how to re-order the boot sequence, it became clear to me I would lose all of my data if I ran the recovery disk. A call to Asus tech support also confirmed that an F9 reset would wipe my files, and that I would need to get a full back-up before attempting the process. (Tech support would not provide any advice on how I might accomplish such a back-up with no working operating system.)

At this point you may be wondering whether I have ever considered backing up my data on a regular basis to avoid this type of disaster. I have backed up in the past to one of our Western Digital external hard drives, but even with the help of the Clickfree back-up solution I picked up in January at CES (it runs a differential back-up every time you plug it in), I’ve never managed to get into a regular routine. Before last week, it had been several months since I’d run a back-up, and I was panicked at the thought of losing the many files existing solely on my Eee PC.

Installing Google Chrome OS as a Virtual Machine

I’m not quite sure what prompted Google’s Chrome OS briefing yesterday, as we could be up to a year away from retail delivery of their Linux-based cloudbooks. It’s also a bit puzzling that Google would simultaneously pursue two distinct mobile operating systems. (see Android) However, I was looking for a project at 4AM and fired … Read more

What’s next for TiVo?

Over at EngadgetHD, Ben Drawbaugh lays out a case (and wishlist) for the imminent release of new stand-alone TiVo DVR hardware. Given the recent TiVo price drops, upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, and long gestation period since the last hardware refresh (Summer, 2007), it’s not an unreasonable proposition.

However, when it comes to tru2way, the cable industry as a whole isn’t quite there yet. CableCARD separable security was federally mandated, whereas the vision of a universal tru2way infrastructure is merely an unenforceable memorandum of understanding amongst many industry players. Who blew right on past their self-imposed deadline. So any new (imminent) stand-alone TiVo box would either need to forgo tru2way capabilities or remain operable in non-tru2way cable environments.

As far as CES is concerned, I get the sense that TiVo fears any big product announcement would be overshadowed amongst thousands of other companies vying for attention. In the years I’ve been attending, TiVo’s CES presence is usually understated — they’re tucked away off the show floor, in a back room conducting mostly invite-only briefings/meetings. Also, if TiVo isn’t prepared to begin shipping new hardware within a few weeks of a show product announcement, they’d potentially cannibalize TiVo HD sales while customers wait it out. And given timing of the new, super-powered Broadcom chip announcement, I don’t foresee it being implemented anytime soon. (Not that this is/was known to be a TiVo Series 4 component.)

Look Ma, No Batteries in my Remote!

We’ve looked at quite a few remote controls in our day, but this is the first hand-powered one — no batteries required! The remote is a concept design by NEC and Soundpower, which obtains its power from the vibrations of your hand pressing the buttons. Sort of a self-sustainable electronic device if you will. Unfortunately … Read more

The Nokia Netflix App and $5000 Giveaway

Last month, Nokia published an official Netflix app to their Ovi store for a variety of Symbian handsets. (Joining the official Windows Mobile Netflix app, developed with Microsoft.) Of course you can manage your DVD rental queue, search for titles, and receive recommendations. But, using Flash Lite, movie trailers can also be streamed to Nokia’s … Read more

DISH Network next up with an App Store

Looks like DISH Network is next in line with an app store offering, following in the footsteps of rival DirecTV. EchoStar’s repeatedly delayed Slingbox-loaded 922s DVR, now slated for delivery “early next year,” will provide access to a variety of home grown and third party apps. The SDK and API has already been made available … Read more