Do yourself a favour

Are you superstitious? Maybe by taking precautions, nothing will ever go wrong? Wistful thinker?

Here are two things you should do while your computer is working properly that will ease the pain if something bad happens later. 

 

CREATE RECOVERY MEDIA

If your computer will actually boot into Windows, you will *probably* have access to built-in tools that can help you recover from problems. 

But if Windows won’t start, the only way you’re going to get to the tools is with a Windows installation disc or with a recovery drive that you’ve already created.

Once you set up a new computer or successfully accomplish an upgrade to Windows 10 on an old computer, you should use the built-in Windows tool to create your recovery drive. You only have to do this once. It’s not a backup (which you should do often), it’s a toolkit to recover your computer from serious failures.

 

In Windows 10:

Type recovery into the Search box.

Click on Create a recovery drive.

Answer yes to any User Account Control prompts you get.

The Recovery Media Creator opens, offering a brief explanation and a choice. Put a check in the box that says Back up system files to the recovery drive.

Put a 32 GB flash drive into a USB port, and then click Next.

You’ll see a warning that everything on the drive will be deleted, and it will be. So make sure this drive has nothing on it you want to keep. If you have more than one external drive plugged in, make sure you’re selecting the one you want to use as a recovery drive. When you’re ready, click Next.

You’ll get another warning. When you’re ready, click Create.

This will take some time. When the drive is ready, you’ll be notified. All you have to do then is click on Finish, safely remove the drive, label it, and store it someplace where you can get to it in an emergency. (Helpful hint: If your computer is a laptop, take the recovery drive in the bag with you. It won’t do you any good if you’re in a hotel and your recovery drive is in your desk drawer at home.)

 

Still using 8.1? Your instructions are here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-usb-recovery-drive. Windows 7 was different. You should make a system repair disc. See this Microsoft article: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/create-a-system-repair-disc.

 

WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORDS. ALL YOUR PASSWORDS. FOR EVERYTHING. IN ONE PLACE.

A great thing about email programs is that they remember our email passwords so we don’t have to enter the password every time we want to send or receive email. Same thing with browsers. We can teach them to remember our banking passwords, our Facebook logins, and our library cards.

That’s really convenient until you move to a new email program, browser, or new computer. Want to get that new laptop onto your wireless network? Easy peasy. Just enter your WiFi password. We can easily set up your wireless printer with that password, too. All we need is the password.

I’ve spent many hours with my fingers hovering over the keyboard while my customers sort through piles of Post-It notes, scraps of paper, and cocktail napkins (yes, really). People, please write down your passwords, and write down what they’re for. Some of those scraps of paper just had passwords on them, but no indication as to what the password was for.

There are plenty of systems for keeping track of passwords. The easiest one is a pen or pencil, a piece of paper, and a place to put the piece of paper. 

My Little Password Book

WHAT FOR?	SIGN IN	PASSWORD	NOTES
Email	[email protected]	Perfectstorm	Changed May 2015
Facebook	[email protected]	IllNeverTell
WiFi	My_Network	Ph0neh0me4$$$$	Home network

You can get as fancy as you want but simple is better. Whatever you use, keep it up to date.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in Canada, and to Canadians wherever you are. I hope you have a wonderful holiday doing what you want to be doing with the people who mean the most to you.

 

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along.

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna, a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone 250.764.7043.

Cate welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected].

You can read previous columns here: http://rlis.com/column.htm .

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Links

Create a USB recovery drive (Windows 8.1) http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-usb-recovery-drive

Create a system repair disc (Windows 7) http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/create-a-system-repair-disc 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.