Problem: Windows XP Media Player computer from 2006 having trouble hanging at boot up. Error message from backup software that temporary backup files 'unable to be written over 2 hours'. After some investigation, determined that the computer worked normally without the USB connection to the external hard drive connected. Conclusion: Although the external drive USB enclosure still seemed to function (loads and unloads with plug in and out), the external drive itself has failed. When the computer tries to boot with the defective drive connected it hangs trying to talk to that device. The computer itself is surprisingly powerful for its age with 2 x 250GB setup with hardware RAID .. the external drive was purchased with the computer .. 13 real years ago (which is about 117 in computer years old).

Mr Robbie Ferguson is amazing. I love to listen in on his weekly videocasts - particularly on topics pertaining to Ubuntu .. but with over 280 weekly episodes there is probably something there for everyone. They just keep getting better and better, eh. 

I originally found him on Miro but now-a-days he can just as easily be viewed from his website or even via youtube. The hour long format may seem daunting for some, but I find it time well spent. Recommended! Website(s): category5.tv and youtube.com/user/category5tv or linuxtechshow.com

I liked this @YouTube video http://youtu.be/aqAaScYVeRQ?a on GnuCash absolute basics. GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

"Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible,GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports." source: www.gnucash.org

So .. I decided my old fileserver needs some TLC and since it is currently hosting my ssdirect.com website, well, I thought  it best to see if I could move it off the old server and out on the cloud somewhere.

The old version ran under SME Server and Joomla. The new version was put together using Weebly. It took a day or so to cut and paste the old content into the News postings .. could not find a way to automate the migration, unfortunately. The resulting website is to my liking and easy to update online. Joomla required you to sign on to administrator and needed some HTML skills. Weebly is all drag and drop, granted - not quite as much flexibility, unless you have some HTML skills .. so.

With the websites off of my old server, I can play with some other options .. perhaps the new version of SMEServer or Ubuntu Server version. We will see.