New laptop questions

New laptop questions

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I am a sole practitioner. I currently use a Toshiba Satellite Pro lap top which was a relatively high spec machine when new but must be 5 years old now. Having reviewed the risks in my practise I have decided that I should have a spare computer ready loaded with the software I use, Iris, Taxshield, Excel and Word. This would mean that if I had a computer problem I could load my data only back up CD into the spare machine and off I could go again.

At home we have a recent wireless network with one machine for my wife and one for the children. The idea is that my current lap top becomes the spare machine and when I don’t need it the children may use it if they both need a computer for home work at the same time.

While I use my computer all day I do not consider myself to be a demanding user. My application software is quite standard. The only non standard feature being that I use a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse when in the office.

Why should I not just buy the cheapest lap top available from Dell as my new machine?

If I go for Vista will I get any compatibility problems and will I still be able to use my cordless keyboard and mouse. With Vista will I still need third party security software like Norton?

I am tempted to go XP but I am concerned that I might regret it in a couple of years when the rest of the world is on Vista. What do you think?

Looking down the brief specs for lap tops they do not seem to mention network cards these days. Is this because they all have them built in? (I use a hard network connection in the office as my internet access is via the landlord’s network.)

David James

Replies (9)

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By listerramjet
07th Feb 2007 12:52

reconsider your objectives
if this is really about a back up machine then it should be exactly the same as the main one, or at least you should confirm that it will run all the software that you use, and that you would be able to switch over to it with little hassle.

Don't believe the cheapest laptop from Dell will run Vista - there are minimum memory requirements that the cheapest machine is unlikely to have. There may be similar issues with your application software. And I have been reading of problems with drivers for mundane things like printers (and itunes!). Perhaps Vista is not for you yet?

If you let the children use it then you should expect that if you actually need to use it chances are it will fail - children have a habit of installing all sorts of machine clogging stuff!

If your business is so dependent on a PC then the model you have is probably not appropriate - remember you can probably get a working replacement laptop in less than one working day.

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By deanshepherd
07th Feb 2007 14:24

If back-up is your main objective..

..my hard drive crashed and burned recently (aargh!) so I heavily researched various back-up media and I now use the following set-up:

Firstly, online back-up of critical data using zuuBackup.com. They are the second online backup service I have used and they are very cost effective and their console is easy to use. The data can be accessed from my computer using their console or from anywhere using web access. I believe this costs around £50 per annum whereas my previous provider was £10 per month for 2 gB of space.

I actually retrieve data fairly regularly - particularly when my assistant saves over my templates!

This used to be my only form of backup, however, if your hard drive crashes then you have to reinstall windows, all your programs, all your settings and then restore the data - time consuming!

So now I have installed a second hard drive and a program called Casper XP. This software will clone your system hard drive overnight, or as often as you would like. This means that if my first drive crashes I can just turn off and reboot from the second hard drive. No data lost, no settings lost, nothing to reinstall!

This can be a real time saver. The added bonus is that if you develop a virus/spyware/trojan (as I did a few weeks back). You can reboot from the spare drive, format the virus ridden drive, and then reclone - problem resolved very quickly and painlessly. I cannot recommend this program enough and it's only about £30. First backup of an 80gB drive takes around 50 minutes. Subsequent backups only add changed data and take around 5 minutes.

I also looked into external hard-drives which, again, can be set up to back up overnight or at the touch of a button. For me the only advantage to an external is that you can then physically move the drive away from the computer each night in case of fire or theft. You cannot boot a computer from an external hard drive and that is a major disadvantage to me so I do not use one.

(Just to add: I work from home with one part-time assistant so this set-up may not be ideal for your particular circumstances.)

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By AnonymousUser
08th Feb 2007 09:25

Vista vs XP
Only get Vista if all your programmes will work with Vista. Check. Some of your accounting and tax specialist software may not have that capacity yet.

How frequently do you back up your data? Your plan is only as good as the frequency. I hope it's at least daily.

You can get a new computer very quickly. Have in mind what machine you'd like, but don't buy it until you're actually ready to use it. Do your research now, and update it every six months or so.

I like IBM. It's got shock absorbers for drops, fingerprint login, and fast wifi connection. Also looks nice 'n' sleek, if that's of any interest (it wasn't to me).

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
08th Feb 2007 10:26

Online back up?
Dean ... and anyone else using online backup!

As I understand it, you are sending client data over a public network to a hard drive on an unknown computer (or computers) which could be anywhere in the world and over which you have no control. You cannot prevent unauthorised access to your client data and it is probably being stored under a foreign jurisdiction.

How do you reconcile this with your duty under the Data Protection Act to maintain the confidentiality of your clients' data? At least, David is trying to keep his backups under his direct control.

I was intrigued by your comments on a duplicate hard drive and cloning software. It sounds a really good approach, although as it is stored on the same computer, the backup is vulnerable to natural catastrophes like fire and flood (hence, the standard advice to remove your backups from site). However, I am not so sure about it as a defence against virus infection; to work, the virus would have to manifest itself on the same day before you clone your infected drive to the duplicate drive.

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By deanshepherd
08th Feb 2007 10:58

Euan..

The concerns you have raised about online backup have been publicised by others before.

My feeling is that the risk of my data being accessed by my offsite backup provider is equal to the risk of an external IT support guy coming to repair my equipment - how far do you go to eliminate the risk?

The backup provider is UK based and uses UK based server space so I am not sure where a jurisdiction problem arises. Although I agree this may be applicable to others.

As for the sending of data, not least for being encrypted, I understand it is far more secure than the sending of emails to my clients on a daily basis. Are you suggesting I should go back to snail mail in order to eliminate this risk of unauthorised access? Perhaps I should hand deliver all my mail to prevent unauthorised access by unscrupulous postmen?

Where do you draw the line?

With regard to cloning, you are right about it being susceptible to natural catastrophes - hence online backup. You are also correct about the requirement to identify that you have a virus before it gets cloned. For this very reason I now only clone weekly, which seems to be a happy medium.

What are your preferred data backup methods?

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
08th Feb 2007 11:30

Dean
... with apologies to David for hijacking his thread.

You have obviously assessed the risks thoroughly.

We are old-fashioned. No data goes out of our hands. We have a small office network and the server has a DDS tape drive. We keep the daily overnight backup tapes (one for each working day) at the office and take the weekly tapes (4 of them) off site (aka home). This combination works for us. And, yes, we do sometimes have to restore from the previous day's tape or perhaps from one a couple of months earlier, so we know that the restore procedure works.

We use McAfee AntiVirus, and update it daily; incidentally, it has been reporting a big increase of malware and downloader attacks recently. If a virus were to get through, I think I would probably panic!

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By AnonymousUser
09th Feb 2007 19:37

cheap as possible
its not worth buying the all bells and whistles

go for a cheapie , but not the cheapest , just make sure you have enough ram and gig , dell were doing some good deals recently (just remember to deselect the 3 year on site and other add ons that the system build order procedure sets as default)

do you really need a laptop ? they are all crap in terms of ergonomics, bad keyboard position , no numeric keypad , etc .. you end up buying a load of add-ons with wires everywhere.. and they are expensive to repair (try getting a cheap new screen or keyboard)

why no go for a desktop workhorse and buy a hard-drive front mounted caddy to put the hard drive in - a couple of £ from at ebuyer.com) - slot the hard drive in it and the enclosure slides into a spare dvd drivebay - you can then just slide out the hard-drive at night and take it home (it comes with a key).. of course you need an enclosure for the pc at home as well otherwise it wont fit :)

for other back up , and depending on the size of your practice and data , why not just use a usb back-up hard-drive in an external enclosure ? they are cheap , and its easy to just copy and paste folders onto it

(i'd avoid cd/dvd as backup media.. there really is an issue with the long-term stability of the dies used , stick to hard-drive , they are still very reliable)

as for vista ....... do you really want a load of grief just so you can see pretty 3d pieces of paper and images flying about on your screen ?

for networking , have you try the e-connect "homeplug", ...they look like 3 pin mains plugs and plug into the pc by network cable, you need min. of two of course (one for each pc) and you can network through your existing electricity ring mains , much more reliable than wireless and very fast , with a router/modem you can of course share broadband also

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By User deleted
12th Feb 2007 14:49

Well I have spent my money now.
Thanks for all the feed back.

I have now bought a Dell laptop and I did deselect the 3 yr option. I went for their 2nd cheapest laptop model.

All the comments about vista backed up my own feeling so I have gone for XP. Same price.

Why a lap top? Well there are a few job that I do on the clients site so I need to take my computer with me. Other than that I agree that desk tops are far better value for money and the screens are much better.

I had wondered about getting an external hard drive for backing up and a number of people have mentioned that here. I assume that with the external hard drive I could either cut and paste the relevant folders or I could use something like Norton Ghost

Does anyone here use Norton Ghost? Is it easy to restore from? If I used it could I just copy individual files from it in the normal way if I wanted to or would I have to go through a restore routine?

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By deanshepherd
12th Feb 2007 17:13

Many external hard drive..

..providers include the relevant software to set up a regular back up.

As well as the back up measure I listed below I have now also purchased a Maxtor One Touch external drive to keep stored separately from my main machine. This has software included to back up at the touch of a button at the end of the day and/or at stipulated intervals.

If you were looking at using software such as Norton Ghost then I would recommend choosing Casper XP. It is effectively the same type of program but easier to use and better functionality.

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