My 5-year old desktop pc appears to be getting slower and my budget is limited, should I be looking at a replacement pc or possibly a server for remote access?
By: Ed Fox
My 5-year old desktop pc appears to be getting slower in spite of a recent disk cleanup/defragmentation. My budget is limited, but should I be looking at a replacement pc or possibly a server for remote access? What do you suggest in terms of data backup? What is the best means to store records & files and remotely access them without travelling with them?
Answer: 5 years is well beyond the useful life of a typical PC. We suggest it is time to upgrade. If you travel, we would suggest you consider a laptop.
In addition to the weight and cost, you should make a list of features that you want and compare various laptops. Making DVD, PowerPoint, and other business presentations, processor speed, memory capacity, DVD drives, peripheral attachments, and screen size can be important considerations. You can compare laptops at your local computer stores and at Internet websites like the following:
- Shop for Laptops: cnet.com
- Product and Software Reviews: pcworld.com
- Dell Laptops for Business: dell.com
- Top 10 Laptops: cnet.com
- Best Laptops: consumersearch.com
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Regardless of your operating system (Mac or Windows), doing regular backups is a very important task. Flash drives or memory sticks are a valid method of backup if you do it regularly and store in a secure place. Since these devices can be relatively inexpensive and can store large amounts of data, they can be a good method of archiving your data.
No matter which method you choose, backing up your data is critical. It is your insurance policy for valuable data and must be done on a regular basis to have any value. It is also an important consideration, regardless of the method, that back up data should be taken off-site for safe storage.
External tape and digital storage devices are available for this purpose, but we emphasize that you must do your back up on a regular basis. You should have each personal computer back up to the server and then use one external device to back up the server. There are many companies that now offer backup services over the internet. We are not sure of the speed of your internet service provider, but you may find that online backing up data may be prohibitive depending on the speed of your transmissions. You can use your local business directories and a search engine like Google to find services and products like the examples below:
Archiving Services:
As to accessing data remotely, the simplest method would be using an internet data service provider for your backup and storage:
In addition to the weight and cost, you should make a list of features that you want and compare various laptops. Making DVD, PowerPoint, and other business presentations, processor speed, memory capacity, DVD drives, peripheral attachments, and screen size can be important considerations. You can compare laptops at your local computer stores and at Internet websites like the following:
- Shop for Laptops: cnet.com
- Product and Software Reviews: pcworld.com
- Dell Laptops for Business: dell.com
- Top 10 Laptops: cnet.com
- Best Laptops: consumersearch.com
Regardless of your operating system (Mac or Windows), doing regular backups is a very important task. Flash drives or memory sticks are a valid method of backup if you do it regularly and store in a secure place. Since these devices can be relatively inexpensive and can store large amounts of data, they can be a good method of archiving your data.
No matter which method you choose, backing up your data is critical. It is your insurance policy for valuable data and must be done on a regular basis to have any value. It is also an important consideration, regardless of the method, that back up data should be taken off-site for safe storage.
External tape and digital storage devices are available for this purpose, but we emphasize that you must do your back up on a regular basis. You should have each personal computer back up to the server and then use one external device to back up the server. There are many companies that now offer backup services over the internet. We are not sure of the speed of your internet service provider, but you may find that online backing up data may be prohibitive depending on the speed of your transmissions. You can use your local business directories and a search engine like Google to find services and products like the examples below:
Archiving Services:
As to accessing data remotely, the simplest method would be using an internet data service provider for your backup and storage:
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