File Systems tell computers how to store and retrieve data. It does this by organizing data into different pieces and categorizing for fast retrieval. Different companies such Apple and Microsoft will use different file structures for their operating systems. Some Files systems are built for specific use such as cash registers. Others are built from and resemble standards put in place by the industry. Below is a list of some of the characteristics of the most common files systems found on personal computers. These File Systems are generally used with hard discs, optical storage, and flash media. It is important to understand file system structures especially when using systems and computers that must share data between different structure styles.

NTFS

NTFS (short for New Technology File System) is a modern, well-formed file system that is most commonly used by Windows Vista, 7 & 8. It has feature-rich, yet simple organization that allows it to be used on very large volumes. NTFS has the following properties:

• NTFS partitions can extend up to 16EB (about 16 million TB).
• Files stored to NTFS partitions can be as large as the partition.
• NTFS partitions occasionally become fragmented and should be defragmented often.
• NTFS partitions can be read from and written to by Windows and Linux systems and, can only be read from by Mac OS X systems (by default). Writing by Mac OS X systems can only be achieved through third party software by use of the NTFS-3G plugin.

It is recommended that NTFS be used for all media whose use is primarily with modern Windows systems. It should not be used for devices which need to be written to by Mac OS X systems or on media that is used in devices which are not compatible with NTFS.

FAT file system

The FAT (short for File Allocation Table) file system is a general purpose file system that is compatible with all major operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux/Unix). It has relatively simple technical underpinnings, and was the default file system for all Windows operating systems prior to Windows 2000. Because of its overly simplistic structure, FAT suffers from issues such as over-fragmentation, file corruption, and limits to file names and size. This section refers to the FAT32 file system. Some early versions of Windows 95 used the FAT16 file system, which had even more technical issues and stricter limitations. It is recommended that FAT16 is never used on any modern media. The FAT file system has the following properties:

• FAT partitions cannot extend beyond 2TB.
  • NOTE: Windows cannot format a disc larger than 32 GB to FAT32, but Mac OS X can.
• Files stored to a FAT partition cannot exceed larger than 4GB chucks.
• FAT partitions need to be defragmented often to maintain reasonable performance.
• FAT partitions larger than 32GB are generally not recommended as that amount of space starts to overwhelm FAT’s overly simplistic organization structure.

FAT is generally only used for devices with small capacity where portability between operating systems is paramount. When choosing a file system for a hard disk, FAT is not recommend unless you are using an older version of Windows.

exFAT file system

The exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) is a Microsoft file system that is compatible with Windows and Mac OS 10.6+. It is also compatible with many media devices such as TVs and portable media players. exFAT has the following properties:

• exFAT partitions can extend up extremely large disc sizes. 512 TiB is the recommended maximum.
• Files up to 16 EiB can be stored on an exFAT partition.
• exFAT is not compatible with linux/Unix.
• exFAT partitions should be defragmented often.
• exFAT cannot pre-allocate disk space.

HFS+ file system

HFS (Hierarchical File System) Plus is a file system developed by Apple for Mac OS X. It is also referred to as Mac OS Extended. HFS Plus has the following properties:

• Maximum volume is 8 EB (about 8 million TB).
• Files stored to HFS+ partitions can be as large as the partition.
• Windows users can read HFS+ but not write.
• Drivers are available that allow Linux users to read and writer to HFS+ volumes.

EXT file system

The extended file system was created to be used with the Linux kernel. EXT 4 is the most recent version of EXT. Extended file systems have the following properties:

• EXT4 can support volumes up to 1 EiB.
• 16 TB maximum file size.
• Red Hat recommends using XFS (not EXT4) for volumes over 100 TB.
• EXT4 is backwards compatible with EXT2 and EXT3.
• EXT4 can pre-allocate disk space.
• By default, Windows and Mac OS cannot read EXT file systems.

Hot keys allow us to quickly execute a computer task without having to go through multiple steps to receive the same outcome. A hot key, also known as a shortcut, can be many different combinations of keyboard or mouse strokes pressed at the same time to trigger the paticular command. Most people are already very familiar with shortcut commands like ctrl+c (copy) or ctrl+v (paste) and ctrl+s (save) but I’m surprised how many people do not use these wonderful shortcuts in their every day life. Many of my clients are public speakers who give presentations for a living and I usually try to provide them with these same quick shortcuts to use with PowerPoint. The below shortcuts are for Windows PC only. The Apple Mac equivalents are slightly different but most Mac users will know which key to substitute in the hot-key combination.

• Ctrl+Z: Undo the last action

• Ctrl+E: Centers the text in the selected shape

• F5: Starts presentation from beginning

• Shift+F5: Starts the presentation from the current  slide

• B: Blacks the screen (while presenting)

Google Drive is great in all aspects except for the fact that you can’t just email out a direct download link. It’s nice to be able to send files to someone and only have the option for download rather than having it render in the browser.

Most people prefer to use Dropbox or a file transfer site like Hightail, WeTransfer, or DropSend which are all great options but if you’re already utilizing Google’s services doesn’t it make sense to just send a download link directly out of drive? Hopefully this is a feature that Google will someday add to it’s user interface but until then we have a quick solution.

For this to work properly you will need to share the file publicly and allow anyone with the URL to view/access the files. Creating a quick edit of the URL will essentially force the browser to automatically download the files.

The below examples work for files that have no Drive equivalent such as .zip, .mp3, .mp4, and .jpg. All you have to do is make note of the FILE_ID in the original URL and use it in the modified URL.

Force Direct Download from Google Drive share

Typical Drive Share URL:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/FILE_ID/edit?usp=sharing

Direct Link Format:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=FILE_ID

Google services such as Docs, Sheets, and Presentations require a slightly different modified URL. Check the quick edits below to force a direct download of those particular file types.

Google Docs

Typical Docs Share URL:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/FILE_ID/edit?usp=sharing

Direct Link Format:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/FILE_ID/export?format=doc (to download Word file) https://docs.google.com/document/d/FILE_ID/export?format=pdf (to download PDF)

Google Sheets

Typical Sheets Share URL:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/FILE_ID/edit?usp=sharing

Direct Link Format:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/FILE_ID/export?format=xlsx (to download Excel file) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/FILE_ID/export?format=pdf (to download as PDF)

Google Presentations

Typical Presentations Share URL:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/FILE_ID/edit?usp=sharing

Direct Link Format:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/FILE_ID/export/pptx (to download PowerPoint) https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/FILE_ID/export/pdf (to download PDF)

Google is a powerhouse when it comes to email services and Outlook has been a business staple since the beginning of time. Google’s mail services are a popular choice with virtually unlimited online cloud storage, lighting fast speed and reliability. Many IT departments are letting Google handle their email servers all together and noone is blaming them. It’s a good choice and helps clear up those old office closets that hold the office email servers. Web interfaces are also now the norm. That means that you can directly check your mail through a browser rather than in a “mailbox” program such as Outlook, Thunderbird, or MacMail.

Although you can set Outlook to fetch and send mail using Google servers you may find a benefit to using the web user interface. After-all, that’s what it’s built and designed for.

Google Labs offers great features

You’ll find advanced features, sorting and organizational options that Microsoft could never offer you in Outlook products. The Google GMail web interface is also free to use so no more shelling out the big dollars for expensive Outlook software. Some of my clients have grown up using Outlook for 15+ years and GMail tends to be a little foreign and confusing. Just like everything, it will take time but after you learn the interface you will be glad you did. I routinely get asked if there is a way to make the web interface of GMail feel more like Outlook. The short answer is “Yes!” but only on a limited scale. If you truly cannot give up that Outlook operation style and fear learning something new then staying with Outlook or similar mail program is your best bet.

To make your transition from Outlook to Gmail as seamless as possible you can enable a few features in your settings that will make your inbox look a little more like Outlook. All setting can be adjusted by going to the gear icon in the upper right corner and then by selecting “settings” in the drop down menu.

ENABLE PREVIEW PANE

1. Open Settings and select the Labs tab at the top
2. Search for Preview and the Preview Pane lab will appear
3. Check the Enable box & click on Save changes
4. Return to your inbox, a Split Pane button can be seen at the top.
5. Select the Vertical Split option from the drop-down menu.

Click on any email in the list and you’ll see it previewed in the side pane just like in Outlook.

DISABLE CONVERSATION VIEW

Gmail groups messages together by default based on the subject line. If you have used the newest Outlook then you might have some experience with this view, but most old school users find this feature annoying and would rather turn it off.

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down to the Conversation View and check Conversation view off
3. Click on Save changes

ENABLE GOOGLE CALENDAR GADGET

1. Open Settings and navigate to the Labs tab
2. Search for Calendar and the Google Calendar gadget will appear
3. Enable it and Save changes

RETURN SETTINGS TO DEFAULT

If you want to revert back to the default Gmail look go: Settings>Labs>Disable Preview Pane>Save changes

It’s important to backup your wordpress site on a routine basis. Sometime files become corrupted, infected with virus, or accidentally deleted. There are plenty of plugins that can make these tasks easy but I feel like it’s important to know how to do this if those tools aren’t available. Below I’m going to cover the steps required to backup your word press site manually.

When backing up your wordpress site there are basically two areas that we need to focus on. The two areas are the Site Files and the MySQL database. Both section together encompass your entire website and a full backup can restore you website completely. Within the site files there are several different components that may be backed up independently, although I always recommend doing a full backup of files at the root of your site in the public_html directory.  There are many reasons for why one would want to just backup certain sections of the site. Web developers commonly backup only the needed areas to keep backup sizes small. For simplicity sake I always backup the entire site so you have more than enough to work with in case a recovery is needed. Lets take a look at what is contained within the “Site Files“.

Site Files

Core WordPress Files -These files are the backbone of every wordpress site and are essentially the foundation blocks of you website. They are the coding structure of the way everything runs. These files generally never change and a fresh copy can always be downloaded at www.wordpress.org.

WP-Content Folder – This folder is where wordpress stores all of your images, media, uploads, theme files and other critical files that are unique to your site. Plugins are also contained within this folder. Sometime a plugin might be causing an issue with a site and there would be reason to exclude files from your backup or restore.

Configuration files – These are important files that contain settings information. They  tell your website how to load and where to find your files. Some of the more important are your “wp-config.php” and you “.htaccess” files.

MySQL Database

Your WordPress Database is stored in a MySQL file and contains all your pages, posts, comments, and user data. You can think of this as most of the text data that you enter into your site. It is the data that is updated most frequently and therefore should be backed up more frequently than your site files.

Backup Procedure

Site Files

The best method to backup your site files is to use an FTP client such as FileZilla. You can also download the files directly from your host site or server where your files are stored. When downloading the files, remember that it is best practice to just grab all of the files on your server. These can then be saved to a USB flash or external harddrive. Login to the FTP client using instructions supplied by your host. Navigate to the root of your site usually contained within the “public_html” folder. You will see a list of files and folders including WP-Content, wp-config.php and others as previously discussed. Make sure you highlight all the files and then drag them to your desktop. This process of downloading can take some time. If you have a lot of pictures and media rich pages than this could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. After you have your files downloaded, back them up to external hard disks or optical media such as burnable DVD’s. Checkout my post on Quick and Safe Data Transfers to learn how to more efficiently backup data of all types including your website and multimeda project files.

WordPress Database Backup

There are many methods to backup your database including using your hosts’s control panel, a popular platform called cPanel or by the use of backup plugins. I suggest doing it from directly within phpMyAdmin which is a program that will be running on your web host. We can usually log into it at your web host provider such as GoDaddy or HostGator and find it under the database sections. Downloading the database will render a small SQL document which will look like a text or notepad file. It contains very important code which will include all of your pages, posts, comments, and user data. It is recommended that you backup this file at least once a month or more frequently if you consistently update your site.

1. Log into phpMyAdmin on your server
2. From left side window, select your WordPress database. In this example, the name of database is “wp”.
3. The right side window will show you all the tables inside your WordPress database.
   Click the ‘Export’ tab on the top set of tabs.
4. Ensure that the Quick option is selected, and click ‘Go’ and you should be prompted for a file to download. Save the file to your computer.
5. Keep the .sql databse in a safe place along with your site files.

that’s It! Your website is now completely backed up. Make copies of these files and store them on external hard disks or optical media such as burnable DVD’s. Checkout my post on Quick and Safe Data Transfers to learn how to more efficiently backup data of all types including your website and multimeda project files.

File backup is a must nowadays. Sometimes I find myself transferring gigabytes of data between different hard drives and folder locations. I’m going to cover some of tools I like to use when transferring large amounts of data from one location to another. This is a different process than hard drive cloning which I’ll cover later in a separate post. Transferring files is the process of dragging and dropping or copying and pasting from one location to another within your operating system environment.

When it comes to transferring multiple files in Windows, the built-in file copying feature can at times be unreliable by missing a corrupting data. In fact, the tool is pretty much worthless if you need to copy anything over 2GB and should be avoided at all costs if intend on making functional backups. Microsoft has a excellent rather unkown alternative that runs from the command line called “Robocopy,” which is short for “robust copy”. Robocopy is built into the Windows file system and can recover from data faults and copy interruptions. The downside is that it runs completely in command line and is not very user friendly to your everyday computer user.

I have used Robocopy for years but recently discovered a nice alternative called TeraCopy. I have heard of this program before but never really gave it a shot. I was always scared away by its paid version but I must say that the free version is a great tool. This integrates with Windows Explorer’s right-click menu and can be set as the default for copying files. It skips over bad files instead of terminating the whole transfer like the built-in copier functions. It can also run checksums after it’s done to check for errors.

For Apple device I have never really needed a robust file copier. Apple systems seem to be built better at the root which has never really showed issues with file transfers. There are plenty of options out there such as XFile and UltrraCopier.