Test station down!

This had to happen at some time, computers do not last forever.
My harddisk in a computer from 2012 just got very noisy and slow. :cry:
The computer has been running 24/7 since I bought it, i.e. that harddisk has run for many hours. It has never really gone into sleep, because it has always been logging data.

The computer was a fairly cheap laptop and I have ordered a new one. I will be interesting to see if there are any problems getting my usb serial devices to work again.

I could also have ordered a new harddisk and tried copying the old disk, but my confidence it would work is rather low (Due to the noise).

As long as I get the test station up and running within a few weeks it will not affect my battery reviews.

There are 2 kind of people. Those who make backups and those who willā€¦
Sad to hear that HKJ.
Mike

Thats no good HKJ. All the best for the recovery.

Get an SSD :slight_smile:

I did not have any data loss.

The only potential trouble is the usb serial ports (I did have some trouble with them when I updated my main computer recently, but the hardware is not the same).

The only software I install on the computer is backup software to my NAS and my logging software.

But I am going to have one serious problem with windows 10, I cannot accept random reboots, they will slow down my battery test and lower the quality of the tests.
I wonder if windows will work if I switch it to manual IP address without a router.

Yeah if you keep a W10 computer from accessing the internet, that should prevent unsolicited updates and reboots.

What do you mean by random reboots? If you mean auto updates, you can turn that off, or notification only, or set it to only install updates at a certain time.

When windows reboots due to an update. On my main computer the desktop also crashes at regular intervals (maybe once a month), I do not hope it is common for Win10.
If you use the computer it may be possible to postpone the update to a acceptable time, but my test stations are running unattended and I only start the logging program every few days.

Linux would probably be a much better environment for my test stations, than windows. But before I could do that I would need to add serial port support for linux to my logging software.

Auto updates, can be turned off, or notification only, or set it to only install updates at a certain time. I have a Dell with i7 processor, and it has never crashed, not even once. Just strip all the unnecessary software off it.

In Win7 you could turn auto update off, I have not seen that possibility in Windows 10.

My main computer was a clean Windows installation (That is not that clean in Win10) and I only installed the software I need.

Iā€™m a pretty much 100% Linux user, so I would of course recommend you switch your new rig to that. But with that being said, I do have a Windows 10 Professional installation in a VM, and in the Professional and only the Professional edition, you can indeed disable the Windows Update service completely and you wonā€™t get any unexpected updates/reboots.

I donā€™t know how hard it is to do this. Seems like it would be less hassle than using Windows in general, but Iā€™m biased. :wink:

I cannot see any settings to disable updates in Win10 pro. There may be a service that can be disabled, I have not looked at that.

It takes time to changed my software, but linux may be easier when it is done. I do not have any experience with connecting usb serial devices to linux.

What were you running on the PC that crashed. If 7. Install that on the new machine
If you have problems with new machine get a new drive and just reload windows on old machine Iā€™d do that anyway for a backup machine unless itā€™s running some outdated cpu

You have to use the Local Policy Editor or RegEdit to change the update settings for W10 but either way you cannot disable them permanently unless you take the computer off the internet or figure out how to firewall where the updates are coming from. You could firewall at the router level.

Stability-wise, though W10 is rock solid. Itā€™s on all of my computers now and none of them ever crash. If you have crashes, itā€™s a software or hardware problem unrelated to W10.

Hereā€™s what Iā€™ve done:

Again, from what Iā€™ve read, this is a permanent fix to prevent it from installing unexpected updates, but it only works with Win 10 Pro.

Should be pain-free. I have a USB programming cable for Baofeng radios that I believe actually has a USB-serial converter chip inside. Works on the first try every time under Linux.

I hope everything works out.I have no suggestions because I am not computer savvy!

You would have to call my brother who has the talent to completely rebuild computers,and cars!

You do update it manually every few weeks I hope, right?

You can also go into ā€œsettingsā€, ā€œwifiā€ select your network and turn ā€œmeteringā€ on. Works like your cell phone that wonā€™t update apps unless wifi is connected.

Yep, good point, Iā€™m not recommending to never update it, but just to take control of when it happens. Then again, in my case my only usage of Windows is a VM that I occasionally boot up for one single task and donā€™t use for Internet browsing and donā€™t install additional programs, so itā€™s pretty safe either way.