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The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla., Lonnie Brown column: So, How Is Your Hard Drive?
Nov 14, 2009 (The Ledger - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
How's that blood pressure of yours?
It's what? ... Oh ... You don't say? Your temperature's probably normal, too. Or you might feel a cold coming on and you've found it to be a bit elevated.
Say -- how's your computer hard drive with all those programs and valuable data on it?
Ah! Just as I suspected. You haven't a clue, do you?
I, on the other hand, know that my hard drive is running at a pleasant 104 degrees -- well within its safety zone.
The drive also has the equivalent of one year, three months, 17 days and 15 hours of operating time on it.
It is a healthy drive with no looming problems and no bad information sectors.
Or so says LSoft Technologies' free Active@ Hard Disk Monitor. The free version can be used on one computer. A Pro version ($29.99) allows monitoring of network drives and can be used on up to three personal computers in one household. Products are sold by download only from the company's Web site: www.disk-monitor.com.
Hard drives employ a S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) to track their well-being. The system is used on most hard drives, and Hard Disk Monitor provides an interface to display the information.
In addition, the program also provides a simple way for scanning a disk to check for bad sectors.
The fact is: Hard drives fail. Having Active@ Hard Disk Monitor around might make users more aware of that fact. And perhaps that will encourage more of them to make copies of important files, and perform disk backups on a regular basis.
MEETINGS
From time to time, The Ledger publishes meeting times for computer clubs. If you would like yours added to the list, send the notice to The Ledger, c/o Lonnie Brown: Database, P.O. Box 408, Lakeland, FL 33802. Include the name and daytime telephone number for the presiding officer or club secretary for verification.
Lakeland Area Macintosh Users Group. Meets on the second Tuesday of each month, 6 p.m., at the Faith Lutheran Church, 211 Easton Drive, Lakeland. Web site: http://web.mac.com/lamug1. For information: Pete Grant, 853-5761.
Ridge Computer Users. Meets 5:30 to 8 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month at the Lake Wakes Public Library. For more information, visit the club's Web site (http://mysite.verizon.net/rcuinc). President Carol Moore can be reached at 863-676-8361, vice president Len Angel, at 863-676-4107.
[ Lonnie Brown is The Ledger's associate editor. He can be reached by e-mail at Lonnie.brown@theledger.com. ]
To see more of The Ledger or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.theledger.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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