Copying files

The time has come for some more storage for my PC, which involves the inevitable movement of files from the existing drives to the new one and backups.

Currently I have two RAIDed 500GB drives as a single 1TB drive. This contains a partition for the OS and software, and another partition for storage. So the first job was to copy all the files from the storage partition to my new 3TB drive (and 2 backups). But just copying to the first drive took up most of the day!

When the copying is all done to the three new drives, they will then need to be verified against the existing backups. So this is all going to take rather a long time.

And when that's done, I'll then need to look through the OS partition in case there is anything in there (e.g. program settings, plugins etc) that I want to keep). Then it will be a case of adding the new drives (one 3TB for storage and a 120GB SSD for the OS) and removing the old drives. Reinstalling Windows, installing the ten billion windows updates, and installing all the software I use again will likely take longer than a day.

While I could probably use some software to mirror over the OS partition to the new drive, I'd rather start from scratch. Yes, installing everything again is a pain, but I find that a fresh install is generally faster than an older install where many programs have been installed and uninstalled.

So it wouldn't surprise me if the process of what is effectively upgrading from a 1TB drive to a 3TB drive will take me about a week.

I don't actually have an SSD drive for installing the OS on yet. I was looking at prices, and they've come down quite a lot from even a few months ago, when I bought my Sandisk SSD (which I use for VMWare VMs and Photoshop scratch disk). I did order the Samsung 840 EVO 120GB drive today, but even with my Amazon Prime trial it wouldn't be delivered until Tuesday. So I cancelled the order. I think I will wait and see if I am granted membership of Flubit over the weekend. If I am, then hopefully I can get a better price on the drive. If not, I'll just have to order on Monday and possibly wait a day longer for delivery then if I'd ordered it today.

While I've been waiting for the first copy to finish, I've been going through some of emails. I receive a lot of spammy emails offering me SEO and website design services. However, one that stood out was one that has a subject line of 'Creating Mobile Apps!' and came from 'soccer babe babe' (actual email mobile.apps.services04@gmail.com). The to field was also some other email address, not mine.

Usually these emails have a proper from address, and are addressed just to your email address. But it seems these guys didn't care about making their email as spammy as possible. This is the email content:

Hi,

I am Picke– Marketing Executive (iPhone & Android Apps)

we are a web development company specializing in development of iPhone and Android applications. We have more than 3 year of experience in developing custom mobile applications. Each application is reviewed and designed especially for each customer to fit the specific requirements and objectives.

We help your business combine two modern business directions: wireless devices with web-based applications. High quality and customer-oriented approach are guaranteed.

Why iPhone Apps?

• Instant gratification
• Ease of use as it can be accessed anywhere
• Attracting new customers
• Increasing Revenue

For business, finding the right iPhone apps developer could be a key factor to adapting their product to the marketplace and for the right audience.

Give us an opportunity to serve you. I assure you would like our solution and services

Thanks

Picke- Marketing Executive

India

The stupid thing is, most of these emails (including this one) are sent to an address for a website that is quite clearly not a business and does not sell anything.

Something random I found recently was this modification that mates a torch, slide holder, and camera lens to become a projector: Guerilla beam. Seems very expensive to me, but a clever idea.