The Blue Screen of Death is cozier, now

A fatal Windows error, one that keeps Windows from running, used to be a blue screen with a stark text message.

This has been improved in recent Windows to be the following.

It means that a Windows file is corrupted or missing, or something about your computer security has gone wrong. John Engelbrecht has a computer with TPM and BilLocker encryption, Secure Boot, and Storage Spaces (a form of software RAID), and he has been surprised by this screen, and allowed a refresh, five times in 18 months! But his computer is for experimenting and he has gotten past being anguished when he sees this screen. He has not yet had to do a reset, so he hasn't lost data files. Even if he has to do a reset, his two Storage Spaces, which are on three hard drives that are in addition to his “system” drive, would be recognized after a reinstall of Windows, and their files would be preserved.

Most people have only one hard drive in their computer and don't have the flexibility of doing Storage Spaces. Mainly businesses have computers with TPM and BilLocker.

Computer security, with some of the features mentioned on this page, is one thing, and backups (backing up your data) is another thing. CD-R, a writable CD, and DVD-R, a recordable DVD, can back up files. Capacities are 640 megabyte and 4.7 gigabyte, respectively. A $40 optical drive that can write CDs and record DVDs is a great thing for tower (desktop) computers. But smaller computers don't have an optical drive. However, you can purchase an external optical drive that has a USB connection. The more practical backup device is a USB Flash drive for at least $10, or an external USB drive for $70 to $150. All the backup devices mentioned so far are susceptible to malware; your backup disk or drive may inherit any malware that is on your hard drive. Cloud storage such as a Carbonite subscription is an alternative.

Whatever your backup medium is, the safest thing to do is make two and keep one of them in some place that will survive flood or fire.

Beware virus propagation via USB Flash drive. If you have antivirus, it is able to scan the Flash drive.

If you want to add a second or third hard drive to your computer, as a data drive or for Storage Spaces, there has to be physical room inside the case, the motherboard has to have SATA outlets, and the power supply may have to be replaced by one with higher power. If you want the best flexibility and longest service life for a computer, a larger case is the way to go.

computer tips seminar handout June 22 2015.odt ©John Engelbrecht 2015