12-06-2008, 11:24 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 4
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Two Questions...new here.
Hello to all...
My number uno question is: I don't have a backup for my HD...is there a safe/reliable place to backup on the internet? If so, is there a cost connected or is it free?
Number duo is: I have a very, very slow dialup connection. Does anyone know of a fast/cheap dialup? I am totally disabled since 1992 and don't have a lot of money to spend on computers, connections, yadda, yadda....in other words, I have a lot of nadda. When I need to download an update...like Open Office...it takes two days at the speed my connection goes and I can never connected through the entire download. Is there another way to do this...say from a zip file or something?
Hey...any help in these areas will be greatly appreciated.
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12-07-2008, 03:17 AM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
Hello to all...
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Welcome to the forums. 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
My number uno question is: I don't have a backup for my HD...is there a safe/reliable place to backup on the internet? If so, is there a cost connected or is it free?
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There are plenty of services out there: Live Mesh (free), Windows Live SkyDrive (free; 25GB), Box.net (free up to 1GB; small cost for extra storage), SugarSync ($2.49/month and up), among others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
Number duo is: I have a very, very slow dialup connection. Does anyone know of a fast/cheap dialup?
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Whereabouts are you located?
Dial-up is limited to 56kbps, which is very slow for today's Internet. It has the potential to be faster with the aid of compression, but it's unreliable in the presence of a noisy line. You could opt for ISDN, although it's not that much faster. These days, both are largely being replaced by ADSL, cable, and wireless broadband services.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
When I need to download an update...like Open Office...it takes two days at the speed my connection goes and I can never connected through the entire download. Is there another way to do this...say from a zip file or something
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If the host of an update is able to offer it in chunks, then that could assist you; but, it rarely happens. You're better off looking at some sort of broadband service. Depending on your location, you may find it to be priced similarly to your existing dial-up service.
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12-07-2008, 07:42 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 202
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I recently got away from Dial-up about a year ago, and man, I feel your horrible pain.
I did a ton of research on ISDN... Er... tried. IDSN seems to be pretty outdated these days, when I made phone calls to the local phone company, they barely seemed to know what it was and when they did, they made it sound like it was going to be very very expensive.
We then tried cellular internet. Our very rural connection connects at 120kbps, which means about 20 kb/s actual transfer rate. Latency was high but the downloads were far faster. Through Edge Wireless (Now AT&T) it was about 50 dollars a month added to our cell plan, and it was just a little USB adapter. My only complaint is that the dialer software was buggy and frustrating, but I was able to make Windows dial in for me. If I took the adapter the nearest major town, Coos Bay Oregon, it jumped up to like 3.6mbps, with 400kb/s transfer rates! 
Can't you get Verizon DSL for like $15 a month now?
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Joel Crane
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12-08-2008, 09:30 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 4
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Thanks...one more thing Darius.
To Joel:
Thanks for the sympathy Joel. As for your comment
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Can't you get Verizon DSL for like $15 a month now?
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Unless the planets line up just right, I stand in the perfect spot in my yard and it is the right time of day...I get no cell service out here. We are about the fourth house from the end of Qwest's high speed Internet service (or a mile). Qwest might get here in '09 if they relist most of this property as residential rather than industrial. I can get Dish blue ray satellite Internet...big price tag though. Out of my reach.
I guess I will just struggle along until something better pops in.
To Darius:
Hey thanks for the info...I'll try looking some of those backup sites up and get my info moved. Are these places a safe haven or do I have to worry about my pictures, files, being hacked and put on U-Tube?
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12-09-2008, 03:19 AM
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Swami
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,396
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Verizon DSL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
Unless the planets line up just right, I stand in the perfect spot in my yard and it is the right time of day...I get no cell service out here.
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I think Joel was asking about Verizon (the phone company) DSL, not Verizon Wireless (the cellular company).
Before we try playing guessing games, though, telling us two things would probably help -- where you live and how much you can afford per month.
Steve
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12-09-2008, 05:46 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 4
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Location...location...location.
Hey Steve...
Well, isn't that just what it's all about? Location...I was raised in Chicago...grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during my summers as a child (my mom called it "God's Country")...at 18 I left the city and have lived in the Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota for the most part since then (my little corner of Heaven). We now live several miles up a canyon, Maitland, leading to Deadwood, South Dakota (Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, etc.).
Qwest is the only phone service out here that I know of and they quit with cable modem Internet about a mile short of where we live. The only satellite service available (once again, that I know of) is Hughes Net, Dish, or the other Dish (can't think of the name now...you know what I mean). Hughes Net is $60/month and up with about $200 set up fee. I have Dish TV but to set up satellite Internet I have to go to BluRay. Once again, very expensive. The "other dish" is the same story.
Qwest doesn't even offer DSL at this address, nor does VCN or Blackhills. Like I said earlier, I am totally disabled so my income is limited too. I tried a couple of those add on's that claim to speed up your connection and downloads...what a joke. I have a log file posted on another site with my HiJackThis file so they can try to see if I have some problem areas and what I can clean up. Other than all that, I may just have to simply tolerate things until my finances improve...if they ever do. Hey, maybe Barrack will give me a 10 or 15% cost of living raise on my Social Security this January instead of the usual 2% we been getting...Lots O' Luck on that, eh?
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12-09-2008, 06:29 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
Hey thanks for the info...I'll try looking some of those backup sites up and get my info moved. Are these places a safe haven or do I have to worry about my pictures, files, being hacked and put on U-Tube?
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They're generally safe and reliable services.
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12-10-2008, 12:34 AM
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Swami
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,396
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BluRay?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
I have Dish TV but to set up satellite Internet I have to go to BluRay. Once again, very expensive. The "other dish" is the same story.
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I'm confused by that BluRay comment. BluRay is a high-definition DVD format, so I don't understand what satellite Internet has to do with BluRay (unless their software is distributed on a BluRay disc, which would shock me).
Also, you didn't mention what your maximum monthly price for Internet service is.
Steve
P.S. I think the "other Dish" is DirectTV. 
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12-11-2008, 01:55 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 602
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hipster60
I don't have a backup for my HD...is there a safe/reliable place to backup on the internet?
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It should be safe, better than not having a backup at all, which today, will the digital life we lead, is kinda "living on the edge" if you ask me.
I have all my photos, serialcodes, many reciepts and official documents, etc. only in digital form, so a disk-crash (that can statistically happen at any time) without a backup would be catastrophic for me.
I don't have patience for those online backup solutions and I like to have controll of the backups myself, so I'm using an external hard drive (and an extra copy on DVD-R's for the most important stuff), and have bought a small fireproof safe to keep it in.
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Photo: Canon Eos 20D
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