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I have a NEAT desktop scanner that says to plug it into ONLY a USB port on the computer, not to a USB hub- and this is USB 2.0! I’ve heard of other users that have had problems with external HD’s plugged into USB 3.0 hubs getting only USB 2.0 speeds. So there DOES seem to be some distance and/or intermediate port issues with at least some USB 3.0 hardware. You may be facing such an issue- or it just may be that your cable is of poor quality. USB 3.0 speed is great, when you can get it, but the hardware-software still seems to be a “work in progress” with some glitches still present.

All I can suggest is to use what works. If your device works only with a short cable, then just use the workspace closest to your computer for these devices. Alternatively, try a different, brand-name, more-expensive USB 3.0 cable and see if that works. If you need more USB 3.0 connections than you have USB 3.0 ports on your computer, get a USB 3.0 hub that has the shortest-practical wire between it and your computer, and be sure that you buy a hub with its own AC power supply, and use it! Some devices still may not work with even such a hub, but you can switch your connections around until you find the ones that will function at USB 3.0 speeds on the hub, and plug the others directly into the computer..

I still have a laptop running Wn98! However, I use it only to play older, compatible 16-bit and 32-bit old favorite games, and NEVER connect it to the Internet!

My wife’s desktop runs XP. For her uses, there’s no reason to upgrade, especially as it’ll still be supported through mid-2014 by MSFT, and there will be AV programs out there well beyond that to protect your system, which is the main need for running a safe OS with an Internet connection. You’ll only need to upgrade when you want or need new hardware or software that won’t run on XP because of the lack of XP drivers for it.

I would also advise that you get a hard copy of Win7, especially when it starts selling at closeout prices after October. I held off Win7 until I had to get it to avoid Win8 as my only option for the future- at least until that OS proves it’s not a Vista redux. I had little complaint with WinXP, but I can tell you Win7 has a shallow learning curve, and runs WAY more stable- not a single crash yet! Support here lasts until 2020 and, if you need to give up WinXP for driver or other issues, you may want to go to Win7 instead of Win8. If you elect to do this, however, be sure to download Win7 drivers for your XP hardware ASAP. You’ll find that the majority of XP hardware does have drivers for Win7, but be sure to graqb & copy them from the manufacturere’s websites, as some may disappear by the time you may finally decide to go to Win7.

P.S.- I realize my post was focused on the individual user, not the small business with multipe computers/workstations. Still, I would wait to install Win8 until there’s real-world experience with this OS to reference, and the triple backup before upgrade would still hold.

I would install Win8 as a dual-boot program, until you’re sure you’re happy with it. If you have a desktop, or the rare mega-laptop with 2 HD’s, and keep your OS/programs on 1 drive and your data on another, I would buy a new HD and install Win8, and your programs, on the new HD, and swap them out when & if you want to go from one to another.

I would NOT go to Win8 by upgrade until the very end of the opportunity period, until there’s a base of users out there with some initial experience with the OS. Make sure it’s not “Vista II”, and that using the OS fits better- or at least as well- with your daily user experience than Win7 which, as others have noted, will be supported until 2020, and which seems, at this time, to be better optimized for the keyboard/mouse user. Even if you do, backup-backup-backup (yes, 3 diffeerent modes, in case one corrupts) so you can go back to Win7 if you become disenchanted with Win8.

Also, if going with Win8 eventually, why not wait and get a new device optimized for this radically-different OS, such as Windows Surface, or the new laptop designs coming out with either rotatable or detachable touchscreens? (Assuming you have the money to make this an affordable option.)

I think ALL form factors have their place. What percentage each occupies will vary as products- and the needs of the individual consumer-change.I myself just bought a new laptop- mainly to “lock in” Win7 which seems more copacetic to my usage than will Win8- but also to get a more-portable unit than my old 15″ laptop weighing over 5 lbs., in view of recent shoulder and hand surgeries. It has a 13.3″ screen, DVD drive, and still weighs only around 3 pounds! Great option at the lower end (in terms of “light”) of the “thin and light” category, and weighing only a little more than the less-capable “ultrabook” category. After a long mental struggle, I opted for the larger-capacity standard HD over the SSD because of larger drive capacity- but made sure it had accelerator-sensor protection in case of an accidental drop. Also got the business model with a true DOCK- not the personal model that can only use a USB-link port replicator.

How this plays into the current discussion- at home, I can hook in all my peripherals to the dock, and it acts like a desktop computer. When I travel, I now have an easy-to-carry device that does everything my home computer can because it IS my home computer- even haqve a near-no-weight portable USB-poered scanner for scanning in receipts, documents, etc.. Thus, when I’m away for more than an overnight, I have all my computer power and a reasonable screen real estate, can do anything I can at home, and have no need to sync multiple devices. The weight, function, and convenience combination top anything I can get from a tablet, much less a smartphone. I’m not a gamer, so I don’t need the extra power of the desktop.

I love some of the new-concept laptops coming out with detachable or rotatable screens that can function as a tablet, but unless Win8 turns out to be a non-Vista, and find that a touch-screen interface is usable for me for more than the occasional program, I see no reason that they would be more functional for my personal needs than would my current laptop.

I still use a dumb phone. As a man, having a phone that’s small and fits in my pocket easily and is light in weight is more important than the occasional desire to check e-mail during a day trip while waiting in a doctor’s office, while my wife is shopping, etc. I don’t WANT to be in constant contact or availability with ANYONE! My private time or time with my wife is PRIVATE, and only people who might have an urgent need to contact me immediately have my cell phone number. (Full disclosure- 66 years old.) The reason younger folks, non-working wives, etc., go for the smartphone and/or tablet is exactly that- THEY’RE NOT WORKING! If they need computer power to produce something other than surfing the Internet, tweeting, or the occasional short e-mail, they’d find the smartphone/laptop platform(s) inadequate rather quickly.

IF the job picture in this country ever recovers, and more youth move into the workplace, it’ll be the smartphone/laptop market that stagnates, and the laptop/desktop market that expands.

If you’re having any power management conflicts, including screen saver probles, go into your BIOS at powering on, and make sure it is set so that Windows, not the BIOS, is doing your power management. If the two are in conflict, this could be causing your problem.

I may be admitting to dinosaur status, but I mainly use my computer for bookkeeping functions, including Quicken & spreadsheets, other Office applications, online financial transactions, research on the Internet, and e-mail. My primary reasons for sticking with the XP OS is that I know how to navigate it well, it doesn’t have significant glitches, it’s reasonably secure, and I’ve already paid for it! Of course, if I buy a new computer, I’ll go with the most current system. The one exception was when I bought my current system at the last moment, while OEM’s still had XP, SPECIFICALLY to avoid Windows Vista. Should I need or desire to buy a new computer before XP support runs out in 2014, I will, of course, embrace Win7, as is seems an excellent OS. I’ll also be looking at Win8 and Windows Phone iterations as they develop. If Win8 hits the sweet spot of an OS that operates seamlessly between smartphone and laptop, I’ll go for it whole hog. If it sacrifices laptop function to maximize smartphone function, however, I will once again buy my new system “early”, to be sure to get a Win7-compatible system, as I’ll then wish to avoid Win8 as much as I wanted to avoid Vista.

I also apologize for the lenght of my post, but I wish to be thorough. I use several backup strategies:

1. I use Acronis TrueImage 11 (henceforth TI 11) to make images of my laptop hard drive to an external HD AT LEAST monthly, prior to Patch Tuesday and the corresponding Adobe updates. I usually make a second similar backup after several days, when I am reasonably assured that all updates are working well & have caused no glitches. I try to do intermediate backups whenever I make other major program changes. I used to do a TI 11 backup to DVD once monthly- although this occasionally is more like bimonthly- in case a surge fries EVERYTHING connected to a power outlet, but now do this rarely, as I have a 2+ year old computer running XP Pro, and, in such an instance, would have to replace the computer and reinstall all programs, anyway, and would only be replacing my data.

2. Instead, I have a pair of portable external HD’s. Every month, I do all of the following to this HD- a TI 11 disk image, a TI 11 D drive backup, AND an actual copy of all the contents in my D drive. (My laptop HD is logically partitioned, with OS and all programs on the C partition, and all data (documents, pictures, music, Quicken files, DYMO LabelWriter address books, etc., all placed on the logical D partition.) I also have TI 11 set up to make an incremental backup to the TI 11 D drive backup automatically in the early morning. Nomally, I’ll delete the TI 11 initial and incremental D drive backups every 1-2 weeks and start anew, so there won’t be too many incremental backups to restore, should I need to. (I usually do the incremental backup manually every evening and shut down the computer and power to peripherals before bedtime to be “green”, very easy to do manually in TI 11, but have this set for those nights when I forget to do this, so the backup gets made, regardless) I also update all backups immediately before a trip, so that if my HD fries along the way, I can order a new HD, get it express-delivered in 1-2 days to my hotel, and restore the bakup & be up & running quickly. This happened TWICE with my prior laptop, but fortunately not yet with my current machine.

3. The reason that I have TWO external HD’s is that I switch tem out monthly, keeping one in my safe deposit box and one at home. This gives me a readily-accessible offsite backup in case of a home disaster.

4. I also have a 64GB flash drive plugged in to my computer. Whenever I do ANY major work in Quicken, I back up the account to this drive. I also back up any document I change, photo I add, new video or music file, new address in DYMO, etc. This way, if I mess up a file, I don’t even have to go back to my backup of the evening before, but can immediately restore the immediately-most-recent copy, and not even have to do a partial day’s file reconstruction, download, etc. I realized while writing this that I should be unplugging that flash drive every evening when I shut the computer down to protect it from any power surges that may occur during the night, and shall do so starting tonight.

5. As another lounger mentioned, HD crash is not the only reason to do a backup. Two days ago, I fortuitously did a drive image in the early afternoon- just felt I hadn’t done one for a while. That evening, something glitzed in IE8, and I couln’t access the web with it- although Firefox & Chrome had no problem. After a few fixit tries- System Restore, IE repair tool, & IE8 reinstall didn’t fix the problem, I reinstalled the C drive portion of the backup (not the D portion, too- another advantage of drive partitioning) and was up and running again in less than an hour.