Larry Spinak

SURGE SUPPRESSORS - Why You Need One, What They Do, and How To Choose One

There is an important tool for protecting your computer that is often overlooked. You’ve probably guessed by now that I’m talking about the Surge Suppressor. The title of this darn article spoiled my surprise. Before we discuss surge suppressors though, we need to talk about surges. What is a surge , and why must we suppress it? I’m vastly oversimplifying, but electricity runs... (posted by Larry 4 years 163 days ago.)

Leave It On Or Turn It Off?

One of the oldest unresolved controversies in the computer world is: Should you leave your computer on all the time, or turn it off when it is not in use? Compelling arguments have been made on both sides. I’ll try to sum up the important points on either side, and I’ll even give you my recommendation, but ultimately, it’s up to you. LEAVE IT ON: Constantly warming up and cooling down is bad for electronic equipment, and... (posted by Larry 4 years 224 days ago.)

Backing Up (Part 2) - External Hard Drives

This is the backup method I recommend for most people in most situations: Back up to an external hard drive, using specialized backup software. That’s pretty straightforward. Let’s define almost every word in that sentence. A hard drive is like a stack of phonograph records, except the grooves are magnetic instead of vinyl. Data is written in or read from the grooves by the equivalent of a needle that floats... (posted by Larry 5 years 87 days ago.)