Forum Moderators: phranque
I hope the "urgent" isnt too bold, but my PC has given me trouble since yesterday (shut down automatically yesterday twice after I removed an USB stick, connected a printer(exp?)). Today it wasnt going to launch at first..
So Ive gathered all the files on my home pc, that I need to save, have converted them to a RAR file which im now trying to upload to my shared hosting account (which will take another 10 hours..........if it doesnt stop, which it first seemed to do - could have just been the browser window, though).
Should I split the files or is uploading such a huge file no problem, at all? If the upload stops would it be possible to resume that upload and restart where it stopped?
Could it be faster to sign up for an e-mail account at gmail, yahoo or msn (or any other provider with > 1GB) and upload it there? Or could I expect their servers to be equally slow?
Needless to say, I'll appreciate any kind of advice, I'll receive here!
thanks!
my hosting provider suggests I get an ftp client (wanted to upload it with file manager which has a limitation) and then upload it. Is this the way to do it?
The upload was at 40KB/s (would take 5-10 hours to upload). Is there a way to upload it faster (like getting a gmail account and uploading it there?! or would theyh ave a limitation for uploads, too).
Uploading is typically much slower than downloading (for no very good reason). Also, I've seen reports of problems when attempting to upload huge files. Some ISPs seem to have decided they don't like it (maybe its a filesharing concern - I don't know). This being the case, what you're attempting may not work.
Incidentally, except for this comment "Today it wasn't going to launch at first" it doesn't sound like your hard drive is failing so there's maybe no need to panic. Indeed, it sounds like it may be a software issue (bad drivers - that sort of thing) so you should perhaps look at that. However, you would need to describe the problem in more detail for anyone to offer reliable advice.
If it's a desktop PC (not a laptop) one thing that's easy to check is whether there's a dust buildup in the CPU heatsink - if it is blocked with dust, I recommend a vacuum cleaner with a crevice tool (provided you have good access) but others would doubtless throw up their hands in horror just thinking about that.
Kaled.
Thanks for your suggestions so far - and yes it is a desktop PC. Unfortunately I do not even have the right software installed to burn a CD or a DVD (ridiculous, I know :-)), plus I'm very careful right now to touch the PC at all as it shut down when I was trying to connect the printer/remove the USB stick (so Im afraid the same could happen if I start burning a CD/DVD).
Is there any decent free software online to burn CDs/DVDs, btw? Or would I have to restart the PC after installing it anyway (ha-ha ;-))
thanks for your help so far!
Guess Ill have to split it up and start with the most important stuff, now..
Any idea how big those files can be so that it wont be treated as file-sharing?
Any idea how big those files can be so that it wont be treated as file-sharing?
Could I burn it to a CD or a DVD without installing new software?
Agree with kaled ( writing that more and more often these days :) ..
Dont try to upload or ftp or similar..takes way too long ..and raring files doesnt compress all files as much as the inventor nor the P2P networks like to beleive ..
go here [imgburn.com...]
get it ..install
Then go here [ubuntu.com...]
and download and burn it
Also here [linuxmint.com...] ..do the same ..
check the checksums ..
Then if you do find that doze wont start later ..you can get back in and recover your data ..( linux does that and much more ) and both ubuntu and mint will run live so you can get back here ( for advice ) and get your mail etc etc ..
Mint is like ubuntu ..but prettier and comes preloaded with things ( sorry clem ..but to a paniced doze newbie thats a good description :)..and is easier to set up than ubuntu if you are used to XP ..it's easier than XP ..and unless you are really running some esotheric wi fi cards its will autodetect your net access and so on ..
And live booting any linux ..wont affect your windoze installation at all ..it all runs from RAM ..
Your heat sink may be ( as kaled says ) full of dust bunnies or even an entire flock of dust merino sheep ..so yes open the box ..dont go scuffing your nervous feet on the polyfibre carpet in your /home ofice first or you may build up static and zap your MOBO or your RAM ..
To avoid static ( the quick way without a bracelet )..leave your machine plugged in but switched off ..take off the case ..
When you can see a bare metal case edge ..touch it ..it wont bite ..now unplug the machine either at the mains or pull the cord outta the back ..
Then look for dust bunnies/ IT merinos ..dont be tempted to spin the fan on the CPU ( the square finned box with a fan on it ) or the power supply ( unmistakable ..loads of yellow and black and red wires coming outta it ) ..nor the video card ( if its separate from the MOBO ) ..the video card , if seperate looks like a robotic snail welded to some circuits and has a fan on it too ..usually some bright color to impress the gamers that like to see the insides of their machines ~:o..
Actually dont touch the fans with anything ...either hoover them from about 3 inches away ..or blow at them with compressed air but at no more than 28 psi or 2 bars ..else you'll make em spin and make a noise and then they'll wobble and make a worse ( not so cute noise later when you have it all back together again ) how do I know this :)..
BTW we are all on different time zones here so dont worry if you dont hear from anyone for awhile ..it's late here in Europe ( after midnight ) where kaled and I at least are based ..Gary is ..I beleive ? your side of the pond
[edited by: Leosghost at 12:05 am (utc) on Aug. 2, 2009]
but I was writing while you guys were talking ..at 1 gig burning to a dvd via the inbuilt XP prog ..it cant do much to mess up ..so go with gary's advice ..then get linux iso's from where I linked to ..burn them with XP's inbuilt ..( does it "verify" ? ..I have it on many boxes ..never used it ) ..then download imageburn ..freeware ..less than 3 mb's ..burn everything ..first the iso's then what on your maybe flaky drive ( including your data ) again with it ..
you use the "build" option to burn your files ..and the "write iso from disc" option to burn the downloaded iso's that you get for ubuntu and mint ..
ubuntu and mint will each fit ( burn )on a 700 mb standard cd ..they expand live in Ram ( real and virtual ) to over 2 gigs each by doing linux magic stuff ..
do this ..then open the box and look for dust ..then get back to us
I've just looked at the files (I wasnt aware of the fact that trying to upload a big file could cause problems when I gathered those files), and realize that the files that take up 90+% of those 1,3 GB are those that I have the lowest priority to secure (if I can great, but if not Ill get over it).
So, I'll still try to upload - but only the real important stuff (its really mostly html/css designs & a loooooot of notes in word files and similar)..hopefully 100 MB.
and then see what I do with the rest.
Anyway, thanks for all the input & help so far! I might come back, because admittedly I havent understood everything you described leosghost :-)
I would sort what is important and burn it to cd or dvd though ..
not try to upload ..
you may get cut off multiple times during an upload ..
and you have only one way to see if what you uploaded is corrupted or not and that is to download it yourself and to do a bit for bit compare ..
that all takes way longer than burn to CD or dvd and compare on your own machine
The way I see it is that if I upload files of 10-20 MB (will need 100MB or so I think) it shouldnt be a problem (as for getting cut off).
However, what do you mean by "if what you uploaded is CORRUPTED"? What do you mean by corrupted? So far nothing I have ever uploaded and downloaded again was corrupted (mostly done through my own e-mail accounts hehe)? What is a bit forb it comparison? Could I not simply download it on my notebook, extract it..and see if it has worked?
Im really a bit afraid, because yesterday it seemed that whenever I touched the PC it would shut down lol. Plus I dont even have blank CDs/DVDs here (or well I might have some upstairs - I havent burned anyhting to a CD in over 5 years or so), and its 2 AM (am in Germany)...
Damn...lol
When does the PC seem to shutdown unexpectedly? Is it only when you unplug some USB device?
PS: First language = German ;)
It's not that unusual to have problems when you plug or unplug some USB devices. It's very important that you go thru the proper disconnection process instead of just yanking the plug out.
For now let's focus on getting your discs burned just in case something bad happens. Afterward we can focus on finding what the problem is with your computer.
bit for bit ..means that your machine doesn't say "whats the name and size of the file, and what is it's type ..ie pdf or exe or jpeg " ..but that it compares all the 1's and the 0's that go to make up the file ..and that they are all in the same place as they were in the original ..
you could upload it ( all your data )and then download it and see if it worked via an app that compares bit for bit ..xp doesn't come with one out of the box however ..( there are some freebies that do ..we can deal with them another time ) ..
BTW is the machine which is going flaky a desktop or a laptop ? do you have both ?
third ..if you have no cd's nor dvd's to hand ..then from where you are ( and your previous postings ) I presume you know and can access rapidshare dot com ..dont upload to the rapidshare dot de ..?
if so ..
put your files into as near as 100 meg folders as you can ..below 100 megs is better ..90 is OK
( I have permanant premium account at the dot com so know the limits better there ..although they do change from time to time )
then rar them
if you need bigger files ..( "spanned files" in the winrar dialogue ) then
rar your files into 100 meg chunks ( choose "with recovery record" ) that are "sequentially spanned" ( win rar explains all of this as you are doing it ..
connect to it ( rapidshare dot com )..open a free account ..create a file list ..or link list ..then upload to it ( you dont need an ftp client ..rapidshare site will explain what to do ) beginning with your first file and finishing with your last ..save the exact url of your link list ( write them down on paper carefully ..and the password to them and to your rar files ) that way if your machine stops you can get them back with another machine ..
when you've uploaded all of them ..
start to download them again and copy them to another folder on your macahine ..dont overwrite the originals ..then unrara ..see it they are all as they should be ..ie bnot corrupted ..just open them and see if they work or your html pages show like you'd expect in the browser of your choice etc etc ) ..
if they do ..and the shops are open in your part of germany sundays ..go buy a a pack of good cd or dvd media ..for wht you need a pack of 5 of each is more than enough ..then come back and ask "whats next" ;))
BTW ..if your machine stops then you may not have access again to winrar to unrar the files ..so when you make them aswel as choosing "with/create recovery record" and "spanned for thsoe files or folders bigger than 100 megs ..also choose to make each and every rar file that isn't "spanned" as a rar .exe ( that means that it will unrar without the need for winrar to be present on the downloading machine ..and choose for your spanned rar files "archive" to also be made a a spanned rar .exe ..and even if it is multi gig file it will un rar without winrar needed on the downloading machine ..
HTH
As for the need to create multiple chunks of 100MB files/folders - I'll really be able to do without that. The 110mb (Im finished selecting whats important by now) of the original 1,3GB are like 99% of what's important to me. The other 1,19 GB are really of no priority, at all. I'll try to burn them on a CD later, but now now...as Ive said the other 110mb (that ive selected by now) are 99% of what c ounts to me, if the rest does get lost I'll cry for a couple of days, but probably get over it quickly hehe ;-). j/k they're really unimportant.
So I have 2 folders of approx. 55 MB each, now. And I'll upload them to my shared hosting account (I assume the suggestion of using rapidshare was simply b/c you thought Id need multiple 100mb files, right?).
So I do have to choose "with recovery record" - I'll make sure I do that!
Maybe it would be better using .zip than .rar? I can do both, but my brother (on the phone some hours earlier) suggested to me that I use rar not zip (though it didnt seem like he thought it'd be important).
Oh and yes it is a desktop PC, and I have both (though the notebook doesnt belong to me, but i can use it for this).
So Ill upload that stuff, then download and extract it on the notebook PC and see if I can open all those files, right? and if I can then I should be completely fine (and wont really have to do a bit for bit comparsion ..as...if it works then it works?). I think compressing those files has saved about 10% of the original size, btw...lol - but it seems easier to handle as I cant copy every single file, etc.
Or is there a way to copy folders (with files and other folders inside) without compressing them/conveting them to rar? I Mean like Ive said...it hasnt really compressed them much, only reason Im doing this is to be deal with it as one single file (or well two) instead of hundreds of files.
I could still always get winrar and install it on another machine to unrar it, right? Is zip a better idea? If I can create rar .exe files (?) then rar will probably be perfectly fine if ive understood correctly?
"BTW ..if your machine stops then you may not have access again to winrar to unrar the files ..so when you make them aswel as choosing "with/create recovery record" and "spanned for thsoe files or folders bigger than 100 megs ..also choose to make each and every rar file that isn't "spanned" as a rar .exe ( that means that it will unrar without the need for winrar to be present on the downloading machine ..and choose for your spanned rar files "archive" to also be made a a spanned rar .exe ..and even if it is multi gig file it will un rar without winrar needed on the downloading machine .. "
or you may find that next time you plug the key in ..windows says it cant find the key ..or some or all files ..or they are "weird" and have strange signs in place of their names or file typse ..this can lose you data ..
( I have one business - amongst others - just for recovering data from sticks , cards and hard drives etc ..formatted or whatever ) people snail mail us the key , card whatever or we arrange for the PC or laptop to be picked up ..what we cant sort we send on to trade only "clean rooms" ..if the customer wants to go to that expense ..
***Windows says you can hot plug and play ..dont you beleive it ..sooner or later not following safely unplug ( which is the same as unmounting in linux ) will bite you in the rear ..and sometimes we and the others who do this cant get absolutely 100% of your vital data back ..so follow proceedure ..
also ..plugging in printers whilst any OS is running is a bad idea ..even epsons may require the drivers first..other printers also ( or you may just get twain ..and or crashes ) even in XP and vista you may need drivers to be loaded first and then reboot the machine before it can see the new hardware ..
or the machine will get antsy
..linux doesnt use "drivers" in that sense so it's different ..but you still connect your hardware and then boot ..ya dont just plug it in and hope ..
BTW ( used to be known in doze as plug and pray ..back in the day ;)..
[edited by: Leosghost at 1:24 am (utc) on Aug. 2, 2009]
And then I'll try to burn the rest on CD/DVD - if it doesn't work out (computer shutting down or w/e) it'll be absolutely no problem, because the other 1,19 GB really are low priority.
I fixed on rar because you mentioned it ..reason to make rar .exes ( self extractors ) was it saves you having to pay winrar twice if the install files are on a bricked machine ;))
All of this has been a bit confusing, so just to make it perfectly clear: Ive gone through all the files and have selected those which are actually important for me - they account for only 110 mb (2 folders of 50-60 mb each). I want to upload only those to make sure they are secure before I try burning everything to CD/DVD.And then I'll try to burn the rest on CD/DVD - if it doesn't work out (computer shutting down or w/e) it'll be absolutely no problem, because the other 1,19 GB really are low priority.
that will do for now if you dont have any cd's to hand ..still get some in the morning ..
Just to make sure Im doing it perfectly right..this is how I'll "compress":
I right click on the folder and I can choose between 4 options where there is this winrar icon (compress and e-mail, etc.) one of them being "add to archive" (it actually is in English not German).
So I click add to archive and then I can choose:
rar or zip
Should I go with rar or zip (see my questions above ;))?
and then there are many, many additional things I could click on, one of them being "put recovery record". I assume this is the little box, I should make sure I mark, right? And the others are not of any help to me, I guess..?
However, I cant seem to find the option of converting it into an .exe file?
thanks...!
So if I use zip, I'll be less likely to have such issues?
"zip will work fine ..I and most who work with this stuff ..tend to use winrar because it compresses better than zip .."
So the only advantage of rar over zip is that it c ompresses better? (which for me is not a big advantage because using rar has *hardly* saved me any space lol)
Whereas the disadvantages of rar in comparison to zip are:
- I might not be able to open rar again on another PC if it doesnt have winrar (and id have to buy it)....whereas zip can always be opened 'for free' on any PC that has windows?
- rar could give me more issues b/c the data might have changed a little bit, which is less likely to happen with zip?
Thus for me Zip is a better idea that Rar?
I went with rar thinking it would be of higher quality (= less likely to cause issues), because my brother said something like that on the phone, but he probably just meant that it compressed better(?).
PS: Shops aren't open on sundays here, but Ill probably find some blank CDs from back in the day in my room, and if not will try to get some from a friend - Ill need to do that to burn the rest to a CD (or two) anyway...
but is there any other reason why I should do this (other than for burning my files to a CD)? what you said sounded a bit like it..lol
OH and...thanks A LOT!
However, I cant seem to find the option of converting it into an .exe file?
choose you files ..click the add icon
on dialog box select "tick" "create sfx archive ( this is the .exe option ) read the help files when you are all done and you'll see
and tick also "put recovery record"
and tick also "test archived files"
dont know what the interface says in german
but in english version
onec you have clicked "add..icon"
..first icon on the left on the winrar interface
looks like a pile of books
the dialogue / gui that opens has first tab "general"
thats the only one you worry about :)
archive name ..you choose one
next it asks below that on the left panel
to choose via "radio buttons" between rar or zip
the in the right panel to tick boxes ..
you tick the second one down ( not the first one )
and you tick the fouth one down ( not the third one )
and you tick the fifth one down and the sixth one down ..
then you hit the go button :)
both rar and zip can be corrupted ..as can nearly any other file during tranfers or compression / decompressing ( thats why you use recovery )
..rars have more options and compress most files a little or alot better than zip ( depends on the file type ..some files compress better than others ..rar algos have the edge over zip )
other super compressors leave both rar and zip in the dust ..
