A Pipe and a Keyboard

I like Linux, but it has one inherent problem.

If you want to install Linux on a PC that already has Windows installed, there are two opions – you either have to install Virtual Machine software, or you have to partition the hard disk.

I have a natural fear od repartitioning a live hard disk. If it goes wrong at all with even the smallest error, you can end up losing your entire operating system and you end up with a dud machine.

Installing a Virtual Machine is a safe alternative and is very simple to install. However, the drawback to VMs is that unless you have a massive memory installed, they tend to be fairly slow. Also there can be difficulties in tying the VM to the master operating system, so your Linux install may not be able to access the Windows partitions.

I recently came across a new system of running Linux on a Windows machine, and it works extremely well.

A friend recommended Linux Mint so I went to their site and downloaded the latest ISO. I burned it to a DVD and inserted it in the drive. I was given three options. I could run Mint directly off the DVD, which isn’t much use as I wouldn’t be able to write any files, including settings. I could allow the DVD to repartition the hard drive and do a full install.

The third option intrigued me though. It offered the option of installing Linux as a virtual program within Windows. I chose this option and the only real decision I had to make was how much space to allocate. I chose 20Gb.

The installation was completely painless,

I ended up with a fully functional operational installation of Mint. It is a dual boot system, and by booting into Mint, the OS has full access to all the PC’s hardware, and the only drawback is a very slight degredation in speed, as all disk reads and writes have to be translated into NTFS.

For anyone interested in trying out Linux without compromising their current setup, I couldn’t recommend Mint highly enough.

Filed under: Linux on September 14th, 2010 | 3 Comments »

I mentioned that I had bought a new external hard drive.

Within days, it failed.

I went into eBay which is where I bough the drive to contact the vendor, and to my disgust I noticed that he had a no-returns policy.  More in hope than expectation, I wrote to him anyway.

I didn’t get a reply, so I marked the failure down to experience, and as I needed a backup drive, I ordered a new drive off a different vendor.

A day later, I got two mails.  One was from the new vendor to say that my drive had been dispatched, and the other was from the original vendor to say that he would replace any faulty components, which he proceeded to do.

I now have two new external drives, and one somewhat flaky old one,  I have just hooked them all up to this laptop.  It now has a total of 4.8 Terrabytes of storage!

I remember back in the 90s when Microsoft introduced their Terraserver project (now apparently renamed MSR Maps) which was a precursor to Google Earth.  Everyone was aghast at the amount of storage required to host the project.  How could anything be so big as to require terrabytes of storage?  yet I could probably store the whole project on my laptop now!

Naturally, I am not going to lug the drives around with the laptop.  What I intend to do is to mount them on the network so they are accessible at all times without having to physically move them. 

As for the amount of space I now have, I would imagine that it is about right.  I will mirror the two 2Tb drives so that in the event of failure, I will still have a backup.  The 1Tb drive will be used as an auxiliary dump which I shall probably use as a media server.

Overall, I should have enough storage?

Filed under: Tech stuff on September 11th, 2010 | No Comments »

I can’t remember exactly when I bought my first desktop computer, but I think it was around fifteen years ago.

Boy, how things have changed!

My first machine was a Tandon 386, with 1Mb of RAM and a massive 40Mb hard disk.  It had the standard 5.25” floppy drive, but I spent a little extra and got a 3,25” floppy as well.  I was forward thinking!

I have just taken delivery of a 2Tb external drive which is hooked up now to my laptop, along with a slightly unreliable 1Tb drive.  I have just been doing the maths on how this humble little laptop compares to my first machine.

The memory has grown from 1Mb to 4Gb, which is 4,000 times more.

The storage has grown from 40Mb to 3.35Tb which is an increase factor of 83750!!

The laptop has a 2Gh dual core processor compared to my old 16Mh Tandon which is the poorest improvement – a mere 128 times faster.

I haven’t seen a floppy drive in years, nor have I seen a floppy disk.  This yoke is DVDs (and CDs) only.

Of course the display and sound have improved beyond recognition too.

But by how much has the price increased in the fifteen years?

I actually paid about half the original cost on my current setup.  Allowing for inflation, I have spent considerably less.

Not bad. huh?

Filed under: General, Tech stuff on September 2nd, 2010 | 2 Comments »