or, The Care and Feeding of Your Hard Drives
Updated January 29, 2012 in Italics
Before I address the subject of this blog, let me introduce you to part of my workspace. It is a stand-alone garage, about 50 feet behind our house, that we converted into a wonderful office for me. With his office inside our house, Arnie quips that he gets to stay at home, while I have to go off to work in the morning! And yes, I pass by those two faces in the banner several times a day as I trek back and forth on the stone path between the two buildings.
Along with the normal photographer’s fare, my office is filled with framing materials, bookcases full of fiction, non-fiction, and reference materials, and special things gathered from life and travels. Here is where I spend most of my time when we’re home. Here is where I do the bulk of my computer work.
There’s a little Pussy Willow mouse, tail wrapped around a feather and hanging over the monitor. The Raven that Arnie found for me in Bryce Canyon keeps quothing, “Nevermore.” A little box under the monitor to the left is one I decorated at age eight as a present for my mother. It has an enameled copper plate on the lid. And that little red racer with the feather (I collect special feathers) is a Ferarri given to me by a Porsche friend. The two little birds were created from branches by another friend who gave them deliciously irreverent names.
There is the Bermuda Sea Garden paper-weight that my parents brought back when postage there was a mere ha’penny. My great grandmother’s Birds-eye Maple stamp box sits in front by one of my mugs (ginger-lemon tea within to be replaced later by a nice glass of red wine delivered by Arnie). A real boomerang from Oz perches over the door. (Yes, I have flung it, and yes, it returned to me!)
It is a great place to work, and six-plus years after its completion, I am still really happy with my design.
Over the years, a number of our alumni have asked, “What do I do when my hard drive(s) get full?”
Excellent question, and one easily answered, but please don’t let it get to that point. And before you tackle anything to do with the hardware, check with your computer guru to make sure it makes sense for your computer. The age of the computer, the operating system, the processor, and a host of other things can determine what is best for the health of your computer.
- defrag (defragment) your hard drive(s) on a regular basis. This is important for PCs. Macs are based on a different system, so they work differently. That process cleans up deleted-file areas. Think of lifting the plant off the porch railing. It leaves a residue. Yuck! But when you get out the heavy-duty cleaner, poof! All gone! Everyone has her/his computer set up differently, but check with your help file, Google defrag computer, or ask your computer guru to help.
- Avoid letting your hard drive(s) get more than Continue reading
