Unfortunately, files become lost or corrupted due to malware or hardware crashes. It’s times like these that you have to be extra careful.
Backing up your computer is the solution to these issues. Microsoft Support shares on their blog how to back up and restore your computer. They also state the importance of backing up on a separate hard drive.
“Do not back up files to the same hard disk that Windows is installed on. For example, do not back up files to a recovery partition. Always store media used for backups (external hard disks, DVDs, or CDs) in a secure place to prevent unauthorized people from having access to your files; a fireproof location separate from your computer is recommended. You might also consider encrypting the data on your backup.”
Don’t wait until the worst happens on your computer. Keep your privacy safe and secure.
If you have any computer-related questions, please give us a call at 1-800-620-5285. Karls Technology is a nationwide computer service company with offices in many major cities.
Browsing the internet has become one of the fastest way to gather information for personal and work use. It can, unfortunately cause problems to your computers performance.
That’s because browsing utilizes CPU and memory resources at multiple levels. Any kind of program being used can have an affect.
According to Mashable, “A single web page with video may use 20-30% of your CPU. A few of those, or any one more than 50%, will clearly affect performance. If the memory used by all of your browser processes combined exceeds one-half of your computer’s memory, your browser is likely affecting performance, too.”
Some browsers, such as Chrome, offer up handy tools in their Settings, sharing details about processes and possible culprits. Extensions added to your browser could also cause problems, and may have to be removed and added back on again.
For inquiries with slow computers, call us at 1-800-620-5285. Karls Technology is a nationwide computer service company with offices in many major cities. This blog post was brought to you from our staff at the Frisco Computer Repair Service. If you need computer repair in Frisco, TX please call or text the local office at (469) 299-9005.
If your Macbook has updated to Catalina OS 10.15.4 and you’ve experienced crashes, you’re not alone.
Yesterday, many users blew up Twitter about their issues. Since the update release, many Macbooks have crashed after being woken up from sleep mode. Although they have reached out to users on Twitter, Apple Support has yet to respond to this bug in an announcement.
One Twitter user stated, “Brand new 64gb macbook Pro and same issue. Nothing installed vanilla just got, instantly crashing. One thing open was Safari on BBC homepage. Left 15 mins came back crashed. Continously since. Installed stuff same. Reformat same. Big problems unusable.”
However, after scanning through Twitter feed, one user said that they were able to disable automatic graphics switching.
It’s completely unclear if that will work for every Macbook user who is currently experiencing issues. But it may seem like it’s worth a try.
If you have any questions regarding Apple OS, call us at 1-800-620-5285. Karls Technology is a nationwide computer service company with offices in many major cities. This blog post was brought to you from our staff at the Phoenix Computer Repair Service. If you need computer repair in Phoenix, AZ please call our local office at (602) 445-9862.
Last month, Microsoft warned users that their computers may be unprotected. While they released fixes back on the 14th of May for a ‘Remote Code Execution vulnerability‘, Microsoft explains that it’s ‘wormable‘ and could cause a handful of issues to your computer.
Simon Pope, the Director of Incident Response, Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) includes, “It’s been only two weeks since the fix was released and there has been no sign of a worm yet. This does not mean that we’re out of the woods. If we look at the events leading up to the start of the WannaCry attacks, they serve to inform the risks of not applying fixes for this vulnerability in a timely manner. “
Their fix to this vulnerability: simply update your system as soon as possible.
Better to be safe than sorry.
For help updating, restoring or dealing with any Windows 10 issues, call us at 1-800-620-5285. Karls Technology is a nationwide computer service company with offices in many major cities. This blog post was brought to you from our staff at the Denver Computer Repair Service, if you need computer repair in Denver, CO please call or text the local office at (720) 441-6460.
Updated on May 17th, Windows Support posted on their forum, explaining that, “you cannot restore the system to a restore point after you install a Windows 10 update.” This occurs when you install Windows 10 on your computer and turn on System Protection, then adding a R1 point to reinstate the system. A Stop error (0xc000021a) then shows up on your monitor. And restarting your computer only does nothing to fix the issue.
Windows claims that this is a known issue, including the following information on how to recover:
“During the system restore process, Windows temporarily stages the restoration of files that are in use. It then saves the information in the registry. When the computer restarts, it completes the staged operation.
In this situation, Windows restores the catalog files and stages the driver .sys files to be restored when the computer restarts. However, when the computer restarts, Windows loads the existing drivers before it restores the later versions of the drivers. Because the driver versions do not match the versions of the restored catalog files, the restart process stops.”
It’s possible to force a shutdown of the computer (this might have to be done a couple of times) and then enter the WinRE if a glitch occurs.
How do you do this? Windows can help:
“In the Windows Recovery Environment (or WinRE), follow these steps:
Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > More recovery options > Startup settings, and then select Restart now.
In the list of startup settings, select Disable driver signature enforcement.
Note You may have to use the F7 key to select this setting.
Allow the startup process to continue. As Windows restarts, the system restore process should resume and finish.
These steps restore the computer to its “R1” state.
After WinRE starts, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System restore.
Enter your recovery key as it is shown on the screen, and then follow the instructions in the System Restore wizard.
For help updating, restoring or dealing with any Windows 10 issues, call us at 1-800-620-5285. Karls Technology is a nationwide computer service company with offices in many major cities. This blog post was brought to you from our staff at the Denver Computer Repair Service, if you need computer repair in Denver, CO please call or text the local office at (720) 441-6460.
A security flaw in the DellSupportAssist that comes preinstalled on all Dell computers could allow a remote hijack of your computer. The attack exposes a vulnerability DellSupportAssist has with remote code execution.
How the remote hijack works
A Dell computer user would have to go to a web page where the attackers would place compromised Javascript. The Javascript can trick the DellSupportAssist into thinking Dell is trying to remote into the computer to fix a problem. The attacker has to be on your same network to then take control of your computer. Attacks on home computers are unlikely (unless other computers are already compromised). Attacks emanating from public wifi (coffee shops, large public venues), hotels and on corporate networks are much more likely.
Proof of concept attack already published
A proof of concept showing how to implement the attack was published on Github several days ago. The attack and vulnerability, called CVE-2019-3719, is already live and can now be reproduced by anyone.
What Dell Computers are affected?
All recent and old Dell computers that have not disabled the built in DellSupportAssist are vulnerable to this attack. Dell is working on a security patch / update for DellSupportAssist but we would recommend that you disable the DellSupportAssist service for now.
If you have a Dell computer and would like to have a professional computer service company verify your system is secure, call us at 1-800-620-5285. Karls Technology is a nationwide computer service company with offices in many major cities. This blog post is brought to you from our staff at the Lakewood Computer Repair Service, if you need computer repair in Lakewood, CO please call the local office at (720) 441-6460.
If you are a mobile computer user that uses a Roaming User Profile look out for the new update of Windows 10. Roaming Users that customize your start menu settings or any operating system settings will be reset after updating to May 2019 Update of Windows 10.
The last day of support for Windows 7 is January 14, 2020. After which, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs running Windows 7. With over half a year until END OF LIFE day for Windows 7 you should start making plans now. All Windows 7 computers can be upgraded to Windows 10 and as of today, Windows 7 keys are still authenticating for Windows 10 installations.
The other option is to replace your computer and have all your data migrated to your new system. Give us a call at 1-800-620-5285 and talk with one of our support specialists to figure out which is the best option for you.
Nearly all hard disk drives have two air filters. One filter is called the recirculating filter, and the other is called either a barometric or breather filter. These filters are permanently sealed inside the drive and are designed never to be changed for the life of the drive, unlike many older mainframe hard disks that had changeable filters. Many mainframe drives circulate air from outside the drive through a filter that must be changed periodically.
A hard disk on a PC system does not circulate air from inside to outside the HDA, or vice versa. The recirculating filter that is permanently installed inside the HDA is designed to filter only the small particles of media scraped off the platters during head takeoffs and landings (and possibly any other small particles dislodged inside the drive). Because PC hard disk drives are permanently sealed and do not circulate outside air, they can run in extremely dirty environments (see Figure 1-6).
FIG. 1-6 Air circulation in a hard disk.
The HDA in a hard disk is sealed but not airtight. The HDA is vented through a barometric or breather filter element that allows for pressure equalization (breathing) between the inside and outside of the drive. For this reason, most hard drives are rated by the drive’s manufacturer to run in a specific range of altitudes, usually from -1,000 to +10,000 feet above sea level. In fact, some hard drives are not rated to exceed 7,000 feet while operating because the air pressure would be too low inside the drive to float the heads properly. As the environmental air pressure changes, air bleeds into or out of the drive so that internal and external pressures are identical. Although air does bleed through a vent, contamination usually is not a concern, because the barometric filter on this vent is designed to filter out all particles larger than 0.3 micron (about 12 µ-in) to meet the specifications for cleanliness inside the drive. You can see the vent holes on most drives, which are covered internally by this breather filter. Some drives use even finer-grade filter elements to keep out even smaller particles.
Hard Disk Temperature Acclimation
To allow for pressure equalization, hard drives have a filtered port to bleed air into or out of the HDA as necessary. This breathing also enables moisture to enter the drive, and after some period of time, it must be assumed that the humidity inside any hard disk is similar to that outside the drive. Humidity can become a serious problem if it is allowed to condense — and especially if the drive is powered up while this condensation is present. Most hard disk manufacturers have specified procedures for acclimating a hard drive to a new environment with different temperature and humidity ranges, especially for bringing a drive into a warmer environment in which condensation can form. This situation should be of special concern to users of laptop or portable systems with hard disks. If you leave a portable system in an automobile trunk during the winter, for example, it could be catastrophic to bring the machine inside and power it up without allowing it to acclimate to the temperature indoors.
The following text and Table 1.3 are taken from the factory packaging that Control Data Corporation (later Imprimis and eventually Seagate) used to ship its hard drives:
If you have just received or removed this unit from a climate with temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C) do not open this container until the following conditions are met, otherwise condensation could occur and damage to the device and/or media may result. Place this package in the operating environment for the time duration according to the temperature chart.
Table 1.3 Hard Disk Drive Environmental Acclimation Table.
Previous Climate Temp.
Acclimation Time
+40°F (+4°C)
13 hours
+30°F (-1°C)
15 hours
+20°F (-7°C)
16 hours
+10°F (-12°C)
17 hours
0°F (-18°C)
18 hours
-10°F (-23°C)
20 hours
-20°F (-29°C)
22 hours
-30°F (-34°C) or less
27 hours
As you can see from this table, a hard disk that has been stored in a colder-than-normal environment must be placed in the normal operating environment for a specified amount of time to allow for acclimation before it is powered on.
This is an archive of Alasir Enterprise’s MicroHouse PC Hardware Library Volume I: Hard Drives by Rhett M. Hollander (alasir.com) which disappeared from the internet in 2017. We wanted to preserve Rhett M. Hollander’s knowledge about hard drives and are permanently hosting a selection of important pages from alasir.com.
The basic unit of data storage on a hard disk is the sector. The name “sector” comes from the mathematical term, which refers to a “pie-shaped” angular section of a circle, bounded on two sides by radii and the third by the perimeter of the circle. On a hard disk containing concentric circular tracks, that shape would define a sector of each track of the platter surface that it intercepted. This is what is called a sector in the hard disk world: a small segment along the length of a track. At one time, all hard disks had the same number of sectors per track, and in fact, the number of sectors in each track was fairly standard between models. Today’s advances have allowed the number of sectors per track (“SPT”) to vary significantly, as discussed here.
In the PC world, each sector of a hard disk can store 512 bytes of user data. (There are some disks where this number can be modified, but 512 is the standard, and found on virtually all hard drives by default.) Each sector, however, actually holds much more than 512 bytes of information. Additional bytes are needed for control structures and other information necessary to manage the drive, locate data and perform other “support functions”. The exact details of how a sector is structured depends on the drive model and manufacturer. However, the contents of a sector usually include the following general elements:
ID Information: Conventionally, space is left in each sector to identify the sector’s number and location. This is used for locating the sector on the disk. Also included in this area is status information about the sector. For example, a bit is commonly used to indicate if the sector has been marked defective and remapped.
Synchronization Fields: These are used internally by the drive controller to guide the read process.
Data: The actual data in the sector.
ECC: Error correcting code used to ensure data integrity.
Gaps: One or more “spacers” added as necessary to separate other areas of the sector, or provide time for the controller to process what it has read before reading more bits.
Note: In addition to the sectors, each containing the items above, space on each track is also used for servo information (on embedded servo drives, which is the design used by all modern units).
The amount of space taken up by each sector for overhead items is important, because the more bits used for “management”, the fewer overall that can be used for data. Therefore, hard disk manufacturers strive to reduce the amount of non-user-data information that must be stored on the disk. The term format efficiency refers to the percentage of bits on each disk that are used for data, as opposed to “other things”. The higher the format efficiency of a drive, the better (but don’t expect to find statistics on this for your favorite drive easy to find!)
One of the most important improvements in sector format was IBM’s creation of the No-ID Format in the mid-1990s. The idea behind this innovation is betrayed by the name: the ID fields are removed from the sector format. Instead of labeling each sector within the sector header itself, a format map is stored in memory and referenced when a sector must be located. This map also contains information about what sectors have been marked bad and relocated, where the sectors are relative to the location of servo information, and so on. Not only does this improve format efficiency, allowing up to 10% more data to be stored on the surface of each platter, it also improves performance. Since this critical positioning information is present in high-speed memory, it can be accessed much more quickly. “Detours” in chasing down remapped sectors are also eliminated.
This is an archive of Charles M. Kozierok’s PCGuide (pcguide.com) which disappeared from the internet in 2018. We wanted to preserve Charles M. Kozierok’s knowledge about computers and are permanently hosting a selection of important pages from PCGuide.
