I am going to get a whole house surge protector. But should I also invest in getting "good" surge protectors for my electronics (tv and related peripherals, computer and peripherals?). If so, could someone point me toward a good one. I wouldn't know what makes a surge protector good (and think just getting expensive is not the way to make the selection). I do have surge protectors in all those areas, but don't think we selected them with any real knowledge. Thank you. Lynn. PS - and my efforts to copy are delayed - bc. I can't find the replacement drive. We received so many packages last week - and during the power outage - so I was opening and putting things away by flashlight - and so far, I can't find it. have this scary feeling that my husband or cleaning woman thought the box was trash and tossed it out. Hope not.

Lotodig, that drive comes with backup software installed. Simply plug in the USB connector and power cord if separate. There will be an audible signal of recognition and within seconds a screen will pop up offering you choices. Click to view the contents and you will see the backup software. Double click to run it if you wish but I would suggest doing a clean up of the C: drive before saving any accumulated junk. Again, your choice. You can create your first backup then clean up and do another backup, deleting the first once the second has completed. If you have no desire to partition then just plow ahead. I fail to see a need to partition external drives, just me perhaps but what can it gain?

Try clicking Start/Control panel/Administrative tools/Computer management then click Disk Management on the left side to show all active drives/partitions on the right side. Does it show there? In case you do not know you can create partitions and format from this window - once you 'find' the drive of course. Is there room to place you fingers on top to see if it warms as it starts to spin? DO NOT touch anything else in there while the machine is running. If no room for your fingers bring the drive back out on the desk or a box if the wires are too short and restart, then it is easy to feel heat or sense it spinning.

I have stacks of old computers. All of them recycles, freebies, rescues. Somebody found one setting next to a dumpster and brought it to me. It was a throw-away. And it was PACKED with dust. No wonder it didn't work. After I cleaned all the dust out of it, it started right up. Still had all the previous owner's info on it. My mother uses that computer to play solitaire and do jigsaw puzzles. I looked at Raspberry Pi computers. They won't do everything I need. I want to be able to go to a network's web page and watch back episodes of my favorite shows. But they are in .swf and RPi doesn't do .swf. I have a set top dual tuner PVR provided to me by the cable company. But I have no way to move video from/to the PVR. I have been recording WAY more than I have been watching. I don't use premium channels. I just need to record an HDMI or RCA signal from the cable box. And then be able to play video on the TV, either HDMI or RCA. For now, I have a USB dongle that I can use to record. I looked at refurbished computers at Newegg.com I'm weighing options now. I really need to inventory what useable hardware that I have.