computer problem

[katfiche]

Or better yet, get a copy of Acronis True Image. Ghost ceased to be relevant the moment they were acquired by Symantec; the great bloater/destroyer of utilities.

[mbpark]

Originally Posted by katfiche

Or better yet, get a copy of Acronis True Image. Ghost ceased to be relevant the moment they were acquired by Symantec; the great bloater/destroyer of utilities.

Ghost is one of the few products that Symantec hasn't completely screwed up when they bought it.

I will give you Systemworks, Symantec AV (now Endpoint Protection) and PCAnywhere as examples of how they have really screwed things up, but Ghost actually is not that bad. We use it with Altiris to build our images. Ghost and RDeploy make image deployment really quick!

[lumberjim]

• Stand-Alone Version (x86)
• Stand-Alone Version (x64)
• Stand-Alone DVD ISO (x86, x64, ia64)
• Stand-Alone Version (ia64)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/w.../dd262148.aspx


which one?

[lumberjim]

this!

[zippyt]

Yes

[mbpark]

TW,

You're asking a consumer electronics company that does not have the emphasis on quality that they did 25 years ago to do so. The batteries in laptops don't last as long as they used to. My wife's lasted all of 2 years on her Dell. This machine was a 2008 purchase.

When a laptop battery dies, it's often too quick for the BIOS to even give the warning.

[tw]

Originally Posted by mbpark

When a laptop battery dies, it's often too quick for the BIOS to even give the warning.

In an earlier post, lumberjim left SpinRite working. Then discovered it was only on batteries - did not shutdown immediately. That would be more than enough time for the normal shutdown function to see low battery and shutdown the machine.

Batteries in laptops were never intended to portable operation. Their purpose is temporary power - just like a UPS.

Laptop battery live expectancy is 300 cycles. A technology challenge that has major attention - was even a cover story article in the IEEE Spectrum. Getting batteries to 500 cycles is the new challenge.

From what I read, those batteries had sufficient life expectancy to operate the machine so that a normal shutdown could occur. It implies why the failure happened - ie the setting were corrupted or do not exist. Or some other reason for the failure exists. Or combination.

I would be looking viewing those normal shutdown settings. And, due to technical numbers is paragraph three, laptops should shutdown before battery drops below 30%.

(Same reason why the Prius does not let NiMHds drop below 50% charge.)

[lumberjim]

Looks like it's working. I went to bed after getting the SP2 put on, and connecting it to the interwebz. Jinx was resetting her settings and stuff..


thanks a BUNCH, everybody!

[classicman]

and you didn't even get to use the sledgehammer -

Very impressive!

[mbpark]

Tom,

Spinrite usually runs on top of DOS, which is instant.

I've seen batteries go from 50% to 0% in one second. No PC can keep up.

A laptop battery can go through 300 cycles in less than 2 years. After that, the batteries start having major issues.

Batteries in laptops these days have their own little "OS" and RAM to report information such as charge and number of cycles. They can get corrupt too.

The battery crapped out, the laptop did not shut down right, and took the file system with it.

[tw]

Originally Posted by mbpark

I've seen batteries go from 50% to 0% in one second. No PC can keep up.

A laptop battery can go through 300 cycles in less than 2 years. After that, the batteries start having major issues.

Batteries in laptops these days have their own little "OS" and RAM to report information such as charge and number of cycles. They can get corrupt too.

1) All which is relevant to the still unanswered question - why did that failure happen and what should be done to avert it? Not just for lumberjim. For all other laptop users.

Conclusions that imply defective battery replacement is critical to protect disk drive data.

2) I did not find that IASTOR.sys update. How old (how long ago) were those four 'bugs' corrections?

3) This laptop battery is seven plus years old because batteries are not used as the main power source. And why that automatic shutdown should be 30% or higher.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by mbpark

A laptop battery can go through 300 cycles in less than 2 years. After that, the batteries start having major issues.

So do you have any tips for battery management to get the longest life possible?

Should the battery be allowed to discharge fully before recharging? Typically I have mine on battery power for an hour or so before I plug it back in to be charged for the next day. So I only drain it halfway before recharging. Does that matter?

[tw]

Originally Posted by glatt

So do you have any tips for battery management to get the longest life possible?
Should the battery be allowed to discharge fully before recharging?

NiCds once had memory problems. The solution was to completely discharge and then recharge that technology. And then the problem was eliminated with newer chemistries. But the myths live on.

Discharging a battery down simply reduces its life expectancy by one. It does nothing useful.

Leaving a battery discharged (any technology) decreases its life expectancy. This is especially true of sealed lead acid batteries in UPSes.

Better chargers can be left connected to batteries - and not shorten life expectancy. Some chargers left recharging a battery too long can be harmful. That would not be the case (a problem) for laptops. Still, it is better to power off a laptop if the battery does not need recharging due to extremely rare events - because that minor energy consumption has no advantages.

In jinx's case, the battery should be (and can easily be) replaced maybe for something between $40 and $120.

Operating a laptop on battery power for an hour means you will be replacing that battery soon. Laptops used that way means replacing batteries - probably a few times. Laptops are intended to be used from AC power (not batteries) most of the time.

[lumberjim]

I just want to point out that it is jinx's computer. Mine (HP-- the POS model) had a whole different kind of issue much earlier.

[jinx]

The battery crapped out, the laptop did not shut down right, and took the file system with it.

It would not be hard for me to not ever let it run on the battery, I almost never do... but should I get a new one?

And I really do want to send you (and Pete!) some cookies. How about those addresses?

(and jims HP really is a POS, he threatens to throw it at least once a week, usually because it's doing some update or another for long periods of time and/or becomes unresponsive. Takes about 10 minutes to restart. Simply refuses to install new software. And he says "wow, that looks so much better on your your screen" frequently.)