Why the TechByter is an Evangelist for Backup
On Wednesday of last week, Windows Update offered a new version of the drivers for my graphics card. Foolishly, I accepted the offer even though I've experienced problems previously when Windows updates certain device drivers. This time there was a problem. A big problem and the computer was rendered unbootable. This is why we have backup.
I tried rolling the change back by booting first to Safe Mode and then to DOS. Nothing doing.
So I brought home from the office the disk drive that contained an image backup of the C drive. The backup was a bit less than a week old and because I store only the operating system and applications on the C drive (no working files) a week-old backup isn't a problem. During the week I had removed Rapid Drive and installed Microsoft's SkyDrive so the backup would restore Rapid Drive and I would need to remove it again.
Last September, I wrote about Macrium Reflect Pro and said that it was a 5-cat application. Here's the proof.
Macrium Reflect Pro optionally inserts itself into the boot process so that at boot time you have the option of running Reflect to restore an image or files, or of running Windows normally. I selected the Reflect option, which starts Windows PE, the Windows Preinstallation Environment. This is a skinny version of Windows that's used for troubleshooting. Essentially, it replaces the old MS-DOS boot disks but provides a graphical interface.
Next, I attached the USB drive that contained the C drive image from a month ago and several incremental backups, the last of which was made last Sunday. After selecting the Restore tab on the Reflect interface and browsing to the last incremental backup file on the USB drive, I told Reflect to restore the image. Fifty minutes later, the computer was back to normal. And yes, it is that simple.
Actually, that's the way it should have been. In my case, the process took more than two hours because I thought that Reflect worked like so many other backup applications in that the user is responsible for restoring the full backup and each incremental backup in order. Had I simply selected the most recent incremental file, the related full backup and all incremental backups would have been processed automatically.
Still, a couple of hours isn't a bad trade-off to bring a damaged computer back to life.
So What Happened?
I downloaded the new video drivers with the intent of installing the update manually but when I opened the Windows Update section of the Control Panel to turn off the video updates there, the video update was no longer on the list. Nvidia has its own application that checks for updates and when I had the Nvidia applet in the Tray check for updates, it reported that the latest version had already been installed. So the Nvidia application had updated the drivers after I restored the operating system.
What I saw during the failed Windows update suddenly made sense.
The update process had been proceeding normally when the screen blanked a few times (normal during a video driver update) and then the computer rebooted without warning (not at all normal). So I believe that both Windows and Nvidia somehow managed to run the update simultaneously. Nvidia should write its installer applications so that one instance will recognize that another instance is running but I believe that's what happened here. Either Nvidia or Windows completed the update, which was then clobbered by the second process. Attempts to roll back the operating system reported "missing files", which seems to suggest exactly that kind of conflict.
But what happened matters less to me than being able to recover from the problem. That's what backup is for. And that is why I continue to be an evangelist for backup.
AMUSING:
I sent a copy of this article to several people last week. One replied: Too bad you cannot get away from Microsoft and use Ubuntu or Apple. Because you have the technical expertise, you can figure things out. For the rest of us who are knowledgeable and follow procedures, when there is an operating system, application, or update issue -- when it happens it is a painful experience.
I have used computers that run Ubuntu Linux and they are subject to technical problems. I have used Apple computers and they are subject to technical problems. I have used Windows computers and they are subject to technical problems. I have used DEC computers running RS/TS and they are subject to technical problems. I have used Atari computers and they are subject to technical problems. I have used Zenith computers running MS-DOS and they are subject to technical problems. I have used IBM/360 mainframes and they are subject to technical problems. You may notice a certain similarity there. Any mechanical device (such as a computer) that is operated by systems written by humans (firmware, operating systems, & applications) will be subject to failure. The types of failures differ (slightly) between the various operating systems but there are more similarities than differences. In fact, I have probably had more serious problems with Ubuntu and with OS X than I have had with Windows.
Yahoo Once Again Goes its Own Way
At a time when many large and successful companies are actively seeking opportunities for employees to work at home, Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer, says there will be no more of that at Yahoo. Citing speed and quality problems caused by employees who work at home, Mayer says you have to show up at the office or find work elsewhere. The incident has created a lot of chatter.
I have spent several decades working with people who are comfortable allowing employees to work from home, when appropriate and, until a few years ago, I usually worked at least one day per week from home. Once, when I was working on a project that required fairly intense concentration, I spent a month working at home. Every day. And although I spend most days in the office, I get there at 6am and leave at 3pm because that's the schedule that makes me most productive.
In the 30 years that I've observed people working from home, I've rarely seen a situation in which speed or quality suffered. If anything, people gave the company extra time by working when they would otherwise be commuting and productivity increased. Maybe Yahoo is full of slackers who lounge around their houses all day. Mayer will find out, if that's the problem she's trying to solve, that having every employee at a desk won't improve things. People who want to loaf instead of work can find highly creative ways to look busy.
Some people work from home because they enjoy the freedom to work in their underwear or to play loud music or to take a few moments away from work to check on a child instead of taking the child to a day care center. Mayer doesn't have to worry about day care because she paid to have a nursery constructed next to her office. It's easy to be critical of her in a case like this, but it's also important to remember that Mayer comes from Google and regardless of what you think about Google, it's an incubator for smart people.
Yahoo has been in crisis for years and mismanagement may have created the mess that Mayer inherited. There's no question that interactions in the office, sometimes ones that aren't planned, can lead to new understandings and new projects. But totally eliminating the remote-work option, while easier to manage than deciding on a case-by-case basis, is unlikely to be well received.
The messages that employees have received certainly seem mixed: After providing smart phones for everyone (a signal that remote working is good), Mayer then made Yahoo's cafeteria free for employees (a signal that people should stay in the office). And now the ruling that nobody can work from home.
Later, Mayer released a statement that said her decision "isn't a broad industry view on working from home” and that it is "about what is right for Yahoo right now." Does that leave open an option to return to allowing employees to work from home someday?
A New York Times article by Claire Cain Miller cites anonymous Yahoo employees who say that the work ethic has deteriorated. "If some of the least productive workers leave as a result, the thinking goes, all the better." The article notes that "some employees have abused the former policy permitting work at home to the point of founding start-ups while being on salary at Yahoo."
The new policy takes effect in June and, by then, all work-at-home employees will need to have made arrangements to work in Yahoo offices.
Short Circuits
Downloading Illegal Content? Your ISP May Soon Reach Out.
What's called the Copyright Alert System has been put into operation this week. Created by the recording and film industries, the system targets Internet users who share files using peer-to-peer networking applications.
If you're one of those people and you use any of the top 5 Internet service providers, you may soon receive a message from your provider. The participants include AT&T (SBC Internet Services, BellSouth Telecommunications, Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell, Illinois Bell, Indiana Bell, Michigan Bell, Nevada Bell, Ohio Bell, Wisconsin Bell, and the Southern New England Telephone Company), Verizon, Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner.
The Copyright Alert System is also known as the Six Strikes Anti-Piracy Program. When you're caught downloading illegal materials from peer-to-peer networks the first time, your ISP is supposed to send an e-mail that tells you what you're doing is illegal. Do it again and you'll receive another e-mail that asks you to confirm receipt. In some cases, the ISP may have someone call you. Third and fourth infractions will require that you watch a video about copyright before you're allowed to go back online. ISPs have different policies for the fifth and sixth incidents
It's worth noting that this is not a government program. Initially, at least, the ISP won't even tell the recording and motion picture industries who you are unless they're compelled to do so by court order.
If you're innocent, good luck. You'll still have to pay $35 to appeal the ISP's finding although the fee will be reimbursed if you win. That process is explained here.
The new process has been in the works for 3 years and if you're wondering who you should thank, here's the list: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios LLC, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Universal Music Group Recordings, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI Music North America.
Incidentally, ISPs like to think of themselves as "common carriers" because of legal advantages that status provides. By implementing the Copyright Alert System, they might inadvertently be forfeiting common-carrier status.
Remember When Instagram Was Being Abandoned by "Everyone"?
Apparently "everyone" came back and the service now reports 100 million members. When Instagram changed its terms of service in a way that would allow it to do anything it wanted with users' photographs, those users began leaving. Apparently, promises to play nice have convinced users to stick around.
Co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom says Instagram has created a community in which the world is "more connected and understood through photographs."
Instagram started late in 2010, became popular with smart phone users, and was acquired by Facebook (for $1 billion) in 2012.
In December, though, Instagram changed its terms of service to read: "A business or other entity may pay us to display your user name, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."
"Foul!" shouted users and took their case to various social networks. Systrom, who much have been paying attention in public relations class quickly responded to point out that Instagram didn't want to claim ownership of users photos and rescinded the new terms of service.
Although 100 million users is a lot of users, Instagram is far behind Facebook with 1 billion users. Both Twitter and LinkedIn say that they have at least double the number of subscribers Instagram does. Google Plus is ahead of Instagram, too, but "only" by about 35 million users.
Worth Reading: The Enduring Myth of the 'Free' Internet
An article by Peter Osnos in The Atlantic provides a worthwhile perspective on "The Enduring Myth of the 'Free' Internet." In the article he points out that information may be free but people still must spend a lot of money for access to the Internet in order to obtain the free information.
"Monthly charges for broadband Internet service, plus cable television fees and smart phone bills that together comprise the range of household pleasures and obligations as well as work-related communication that are so embedded in our lives amount to hefty sums," Osnos writes. Often, this is money people really can't afford.
Osnos talked to friends and co-workers. One said that she and her boyfriend spend $100 per month on cell phone service and $150 per month on cable for phone, television, and Internet.
Osnos and his wife each pay $85 per month for smart phone service. Their cable charges total about $225 a month so annually they pay nearly $5000 just for access. On top of that, they must buy the devices that use the "free" information.
Who wins? Osnos says "the leading beneficiaries of all these charges are the big multi-platform companies" such as Comcast, Time-Warner, Verizon, and AT&T. "With postal delivery in permanent decline and the inexorable shift to online management of family and business finances, the role of the broadband Internet is reaching a stage where anything less than total availability at minimal prices is a matter that deserves far more attention than it is currently getting."
Osnos points to one promising initiative, "at least as it applies to speed and access." Google Fiber is being used in Kansas City as a trial of how fiber from end to end would provide a far faster broadband network than what we have now.
The people who provide the content see very little of what people pay for access to the Internet.
Osnos is a journalist who spent 18 years at The Washington Post and then became an editor and publisher of books. His company, Public Affairs Books, is a member of the Perseus Books Group.