Question If PC is faulty, how to continue work immediately?

[smalltech]

Hello,

How do people recover from a faulty pc immediately to continue their work?

For example, if my PC is faulty (e.g. black screen stuck at windows logo etc...) I usually need to spend at least one day or more to troubleshoot/windows repair/replace faulty hardware/restore from backup/run repair or reinstall windows etc.

I have never heard of doctor/lawyer...etc office closed down for the day because their windows stuck at windows logo or black screen etc....and they need time to troubleshoot and repair hardware etc.

I was thinking even if they have another pc on standby I think they would need to spend time on the working pc to transfer data from the faulty pc or install software needed or do updates etc...

How do they setup their system so there would be no interruption even when the pc suddenly becomes faulty?

I was thinking maybe it would be something like PC A and PC B could access exactly the same data, if PC A is faulty then just switch on PC B to immediately continue working, but I think I never see any PC B (PC B for use during PC A is faulty) in doctor/lawyer office, I guess if PC B was store away in storeroom for a long time it will still need time to do windows updates when it is first switch on (during the day PC A is faulty) and also waste a lot of time to setup, and it seems a waste of space and money to prepare a PC B just to use for the day PC A is faulty.

Thanks

 

[Dj0gany]

I have never heard of doctor/lawyer...etc office closed down for the day because their windows stuck at windows logo or black screen etc....

Thats so true when i think about it lmao xD
They get issue's very rarelly since they usually put little to no load on the pc,, i guess.
Office, Browsing the internet, etc... are nothing compared to lets say rendering or gaming for example, so there is little risk for a BSOD or some crash happening, since there is little to no load on PC.
Their PC's run into problems way more because of the dust and dirt, simply because they dont clean/maintain them xD.
I rarelly get a windows crash or a BSOD on all my systems, but when i do, the worst thing that can happen is windows forcing you to reinstall, so i guess its best to have things backed up on some drives. All your important documents, files, etc... should atleast be saved on some USB or any storage device that doesnt depend on windows to be stored somewhere.
So, yeah, make some backup files for ur importnat stuff, so in the worst case scenario atleast u have them saved.

 

[stonecarver]

How do people recover from a faulty pc immediately to continue their work

I can't speak for others but I always have a back up machine. same exact parts as well as back up of fully working Windows system in two forms.

1 virgin clean install with all updates and programs on SSD but never used beyond that x 2 sitting on the shelf. Ready to clone back to system if the SHTF.

2 same as above but clone once a month my working daily system and that clone sits on the shelf depending on need or emergency later. x 2

So depending on future issues say my Windows takes a dump I'm back up and running in the time it takes me to pull the wonky hosed SSD and put a ready to go hard drive back into system.

What ever I lost when window crooked I drop that pulled SSD put into an external caddy and plug it back into my now working system find what I need and move it back over.

This take me about as long as it takes to cook a pizza in the oven.

If it turns out to be my machine that took the dump. I pull the hard drive and put into computer #2 and again up and running while I have time to fix computer #1

 

[smalltech]

I can't speak for others but I always have a back up machine. same exact parts as well as back up of fully working Windows system in two forms.

1 virgin clean install with all updates and programs on SSD but never used beyond that x 2 sitting on the shelf. Ready to clone back to system if the SHTF.

2 same as above but clone once a month my working daily system and that clone sits on the shelf depending on need or emergency later. x 2

So depending on future issues say my Windows takes a dump I'm back up and running in the time it takes me to pull the wonky hosed SSD and put a ready to go hard drive back into system.

What ever I lost when window crooked I drop that pulled SSD put into an external caddy and plug it back into my now working system find what I need and move it back over.

This take me about as long as it takes to cook a pizza in the oven.

If it turns out to be my machine that took the dump. I pull the hard drive and put into computer #2 and again up and running while I have time to fix computer #1

During the days that your PC is working fine, do you use your backup machine or leave it switched off everyday?

How much time do you spend on the backup machine every month? (cloning, update...)

During the day you set up your backup machine on that day your PC (the PC that you use daily) is faulty, does the backup machine need to spend time auto installing windows updates during windows loading startup screen, therefore delaying setting up second identical system? (sometimes I encounter windows loading startup doing updates for many hours, no way to stop it.)

Why do you need to prepare the backup machine? I am thinking you would need to spend a lot of money to have same exact parts as your PC that you use daily and need some space to store it, just to use it for a while during the PC that you use daily is under repair.

Thanks

 

[stonecarver]

Once I have taken yes a chunk of time making my clones and there are 4 of them now its almost free sailing.
The clones are fully working ready to drop in working windows and all programs

And no the back up machine is being used daily as well but if my MAIN #1 goes down and I need system # 2 I pull it into MAIN use and it becomes the master per say but using the cloned drives from system #1

I always make sure #1 gets switched back to MAIN when all is working again. I could just leave #2 as the MAIN but I'm just set in my ways and I'm always up and running.

When life is working I use system# 2 as a test bed.

I will add this that everyone of my computers has a "D" drive for the saves and a "S" drive for games so the clones take care of the OS Windows and Programs.

If I go down I'm back up and 99.9% working again in 20 min

Come to think about it I made about 5 yrs ago this same setup for my older Windows 7 machine fully working with Steam games and all. If I ever wanted to use that computer off line ONLY I could clone that Windows 7 back on to that machine and play all my games in off line mode. It's like a time capsule fully updated with a clean copy preserved.

 

[TripleYoThreat]

I would say this, in the large scheme of things, isn't or shouldn't be a concern

Generally, a computer shouldn't give you BSOD or stuck at Windows logo.

I ran a Windows 10 installation for nearly 8 years, on my previous computer, with little to no downtime.

A properly built computer won't give these issues, at least not to the point that files would be gone, or excessive downtime

& as others have said, yes for the most part, they do not crank their PCs to that extent. and they often keep files on something like dropbox.

Their computer needs are all day, but not so heavy, so they can just reinstall acrobat, MS office, & log in to their email and dropbox, and that's pretty much all law or financial or other offices need. I've worked there.
Dentists and doctors are completely different stories. They have all data stored on clouds, and they do have backup systems if needed, which is essentially just WIndows and a few softwares.
Yes when they load it up it may update its softwares. There may be some downtime, that office / room might not be used for a few hours while the computer updates - that's reasonable.

 

[smalltech]

I have thought of a simple way to immediately continue work if my PC is faulty as written below, let me know what you think, is it a good way or any better suggestions.

I use a desktop PC daily and windows is installed in internal SSD (C: drive) and data files are saved in another internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk (E: drive).

If the desktop I use daily is faulty suddenly, I will immediately unplug the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk from my desktop PC then connect the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk to my laptop via an external USB hard disk reader docking station so I can continue my work immediately on my laptop and access data files that was used in my desktop.

I will frequently update windows in my laptop (so it will not suddenly waste time updating windows during startup) and also install most of the software that I use frequently.

Laptop can be a cheap low end model if I only intend to use it for emergency purpose during the days that my desktop PC is faulty (because I need time to repair my desktop PC).

Maybe a used Surface Pro or Surface Go is enough? or minimum a Thinkpad?

Thanks.

 

[TripleYoThreat]

I think this is largely fear driven.

What if the drive has the issue?

If it doesn't, you could boot on it from almost any Windows 10 computer.

But if it does, cloud storage would be better.

It seems your main concern is files. Use some cloud storage. Backblaze is a good cheap option. Dropbox is decent. Google Drive is pretty solid

 

[CountMike]

I have several safeguards in place. One is a laptop with same main programs installed as in main desktop. Other than using it when I need portable device it also a "Spare PC" taking little space in case of Desktop's total HW failure.
Other one is same OS and same main programs installed on separate disk. In case of OS failure simply entering BIOS and switch to that disk is matter of couple of minutes. SSDs are pretty cheap nowadays.
My favorite is actually keeping and daily updating full OS disk backup and I can have it back running in 15 minutes flat. When I was actively working with CAD and companion programs, I set automatic incremental backup to 2-4 times during work time. It's done invisibly in the background without interfering with work and could loose minimal work. All data and work finished or in progress is stored on another disk(s) and backed up separately.
But.......
Most important thing is to have reliable and well maintained computer (including OS) with reliable UPS. Most professionals like doctors use some of brand name reliable PCs with warranty, manufacturer's or other professional support while programs that they rely on set to "Kiosk mode" so only program running is only one running and that takes human factor out.

 

[smalltech]

I have several safeguards in place. One is a laptop with same main programs installed as in main desktop. Other than using it when I need portable device it also a "Spare PC" taking little space in case of Desktop's total HW failure.
Other one is same OS and same main programs installed on separate disk. In case of OS failure simply entering BIOS and switch to that disk is matter of couple of minutes. SSDs are pretty cheap nowadays.
My favorite is actually keeping and daily updating full OS disk backup and I can have it back running in 15 minutes flat. When I was actively working with CAD and companion programs, I set automatic incremental backup to 2-4 times during work time. It's done invisibly in the background without interfering with work and could loose minimal work. All data and work finished or in progress is stored on another disk(s) and backed up separately.
But.......
Most important thing is to have reliable and well maintained computer (including OS) with reliable UPS. Most professionals like doctors use some of brand name reliable PCs with warranty, manufacturer's or other professional support while programs that they rely on set to "Kiosk mode" so only program running is only one running and that takes human factor out.

Q1. Do you think my method will work? > "If the desktop I use daily is faulty suddenly, I will immediately unplug the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk from my desktop PC then connect the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk to my laptop via an external USB hard disk reader docking station so I can continue my work immediately on my laptop and access data files that was used in my desktop."

Q2. If your main desktop is faulty and you use your laptop "Spare PC", during using laptop how do you access the data files that you are inside the main desktop? Where are are the desktop data stored, is it internal 3.5 hard disk?

 

[USAFRet]

Q1. Do you think my method will work? > "If the desktop I use daily is faulty suddenly, I will immediately unplug the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk from my desktop PC then connect the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk to my laptop via an external USB hard disk reader docking station so I can continue my work immediately on my laptop and access data files that was used in my desktop."

Q2. If your main desktop is faulty and you use your laptop "Spare PC", during using laptop how do you access the data files that you are inside the main desktop? Where are are the desktop data stored, is it internal 3.5 hard disk?

Q1: This may run into permissions issues. Circumvented with 'TakeOwnership', but not seamless.

 

[USAFRet]

I was thinking maybe it would be something like PC A and PC B could access exactly the same data, if PC A is faulty then just switch on PC B to immediately continue working,

This is exactly what a NAS is for.
Central storage place, accessible from any system on the LAN.

 

[USAFRet]

What if the drive has the issue?

If it doesn't, you could boot on it from almost any Windows 10 computer.

That is absolutely not a given outcome.

Plugging an OS drive into some random set of hardware and expecting it to just boot up is.....a recipe for failure.

 

[smalltech]

Q1: This may run into permissions issues. Circumvented with 'TakeOwnership', but not seamless.

Just to be clear, the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk only contains data files (e.g. docx, xlsx, txt, pdf...). Windows is installed in SSD drive and still in the desktop untouched.

"If the desktop I use daily is faulty suddenly, I will immediately unplug the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk (contains data files only) from my desktop PC then connect the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk to my laptop via an external USB hard disk reader docking station so I can continue my work immediately on my laptop and access data files that was used in my desktop." > Will it run into permissions issues? Will my method work fine?

 

[USAFRet]

Just to be clear, the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk only contains data files (e.g. docx, xlsx, txt, pdf...). Windows is installed in SSD drive and still in the desktop untouched.

"If the desktop I use daily is faulty suddenly, I will immediately unplug the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk from my desktop PC then connect the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk to my laptop via an external USB hard disk reader docking station so I can continue my work immediately on my laptop and access data files that was used in my desktop." > Will it run into permissions issues? Will my method work fine?

Depends on where the files are, exactly.

If you've relocated the default "Libraries" (Docs/music/video/etc), and these files live in there, then yes.

Those libraries carry permissions of the User.

But if these files are just in regular folder somewhere, no problem.

 

[CountMike]

Q1. Do you think my method will work? > "If the desktop I use daily is faulty suddenly, I will immediately unplug the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk from my desktop PC then connect the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk to my laptop via an external USB hard disk reader docking station so I can continue my work immediately on my laptop and access data files that was used in my desktop."

Q2. If your main desktop is faulty and you use your laptop "Spare PC", during using laptop how do you access the data files that you are inside the main desktop? Where are are the desktop data stored, is it internal 3.5 hard disk?

Q1, No, Windows don't work like that, Data files you can access but all depends on reason you had to do that. Most of the time reason is either faulty disk or file system.
Q2, I keep backup of data on external disk so I can connect it anywhere.
PS.
Forgot to mention, I also have a USB with a live Linux loaded with tools including tools for rescuing files from failed disks.

 

[smalltech]

Depends on where the files are, exactly.

If you've relocated the default "Libraries" (Docs/music/video/etc), and these files live in there, then yes.

Those libraries carry permissions of the User.

But if these files are just in regular folder somewhere, no problem.

In the PC desktop the default location of C: drive [Documents] folder was changed from C: drive to the WD 3.5 internal hard disk E: drive (by following option 2 method http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html )

Q1. What will happen when I am using the laptop to open (use mouse to double click) the file in [Documents] in the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive via an external USB hard disk reader docking station?

Q2. In my laptop if I change the the default location of [Documents] folder from laptop C: drive to the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive by following these steps (by following option 2 method http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html ) will it work fine when I am using the laptop to open (use mouse to double click) the file in [Documents] in the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive via an external USB hard disk reader docking station?

 

[USAFRet]

In the PC desktop the default location of C: drive [Documents] folder was changed from C: drive to the WD 3.5 internal hard disk E: drive http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html

Then that WILL be a problem.

The permissions for that Documents Lib are for the user in the Desktop.
It will give you access issues.

 

[smalltech]

Q1, No, Windows don't work like that, Data files you can access but all depends on reason you had to do that. Most of the time reason is either faulty disk or file system.
Q2, I keep backup of data on external disk so I can connect it anywhere.
PS.
Forgot to mention, I also have a USB with a live Linux loaded with tools including tools for rescuing files from failed disks.

Just to be clear, the internal WD 3.5 inch hard disk only contains data files (e.g. docx, xlsx, txt, pdf...). Windows is installed in SSD drive and still in the desktop untouched.

In the PC desktop the default location of C: drive [Documents] folder was changed from C: drive to the WD 3.5 internal hard disk E: drive (by following option 2 method http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html )

Q1. What will happen when I am using the laptop to open (use mouse to double click) the file in [Documents] in the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive via an external USB hard disk reader docking station?

Q2. In my laptop if I change the the default location of [Documents] folder from laptop C: drive to the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive by following these steps (by following option 2 method http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html ) will it work fine when I am using the laptop to open (use mouse to double click) the file in [Documents] in the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive via an external USB hard disk reader docking station?

 

[USAFRet]

Q2. In my laptop if I change the the default location of [Documents] folder from laptop C: drive to the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive by following these steps (by following option 2 method http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html ) will it work fine when I am using the laptop to open the file in [Documents] in the WD 3.5 internal hard disk drive via an external USB hard disk reader docking station?

Doesn't change anything.
You'll still run into issues. That Library belongs to whatever user is in the oriinal desktop..

 

[USAFRet]

One step on the way to a Solution...
Don't use the default Libraries. Either in their original space, or relocated.

 

[smalltech]

Doesn't change anything.
You'll still run into issues. That Library belongs to whatever user is in the oriinal desktop..

Would the steps in any of these video work to overcome the issues?
How To Get Files from your Old Hard Drive

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sciON4DvGpY

Get your data off your old hard drive

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0xDIBgfST8

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Hello,

How do people recover from a faulty pc immediately to continue their work?

For example, if my PC is faulty (e.g. black screen stuck at windows logo etc...) I usually need to spend at least one day or more to troubleshoot/windows repair/replace faulty hardware/restore from backup/run repair or reinstall windows etc.

I have never heard of doctor/lawyer...etc office closed down for the day because their windows stuck at windows logo or black screen etc....and they need time to troubleshoot and repair hardware etc.

I was thinking even if they have another pc on standby I think they would need to spend time on the working pc to transfer data from the faulty pc or install software needed or do updates etc...

How do they setup their system so there would be no interruption even when the pc suddenly becomes faulty?

I was thinking maybe it would be something like PC A and PC B could access exactly the same data, if PC A is faulty then just switch on PC B to immediately continue working, but I think I never see any PC B (PC B for use during PC A is faulty) in doctor/lawyer office, I guess if PC B was store away in storeroom for a long time it will still need time to do windows updates when it is first switch on (during the day PC A is faulty) and also waste a lot of time to setup, and it seems a waste of space and money to prepare a PC B just to use for the day PC A is faulty.

Thanks

In every hospital, doctor's office, lawyer's office, etc. I've ever serviced, all PC's in a department have a single common image containing all required applications, and all data lives on a server, nothing is allowed to be saved to local storage. Desktop, Documents, Pictures, etc. are all redirected to server with appropriate policies in place to prevent non work related files from being stored on the server.

In the event of a crash a new PC is driven into place and reimaged using the appropriate master image from server. This takes on average 20 minutes start to finish. When the login prompt returns the user simply logs in and continues as if nothing happened. The PC is then diagnosed and repaired in the shop and returned to the shelf to act as a replacement for the next failure.

 

[USAFRet]

Would the steps in any of these video work to overcome the issues?

Yes, but those are exactly what I was referring to before.
The access to that is tied to the original user, on the old system.

A hurdle you can get over. But, it is totally prevented by not using those Libraries at all.

 

[smalltech]

One step on the way to a Solution...
Don't use the default Libraries. Either in their original space, or relocated.

In the PC desktop the default location of C: drive [Documents] folder was changed from C: drive to the WD 3.5 internal hard disk E: drive (by following option 2 method http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html ) because I wanted the [Documents] folder to be on the WD 3.5 internal hard disk so that all data files in WD internal hard disk E: drive (this is the disk that I only save data, only contains data). [Documents] folder have some files that are automatically saved to this location [Documents] folder by some software default save location.

If I am manually saving a data file I created myself (e.g. txt, docx, xlsx...), I would save it into a folder I named myself in the WD 3.5 internal hard disk E: drive. I was thinking if one day I were to format windows C: drive (in ssd), I could just reinstall windows and the data in on the WD 3.5 internal hard disk remains intact untouched.