I finally took the step of fixing my Sky+ at the weekend. I’ve had it for over 3 years now, and with the hard disc in constant usage, its pretty good going that it lasted this log. It picked up a dodgy sector about a year ago, but I was able to live with that. However over the last month, it deteriorated further and further, until most of last week’s recordings were knackered.

So, I decided it was time to sort something out. I contacted Sky about a replacement, but I was worried about receiving one of the notoriously bad Amstrad boxes (my current one being a Pace V2 - one of the best makes available). Instead, I opted to take a chance, and upgrade my current one. I purchased a new hard disc, and cracked open the casing.

(Image from http://www.morlocks.co.uk/disc-change-v2.htm)

It was pretty worrying. Its difficult to imagine for non-Sky+ (or equivalent) owners, but once you’ve got one, it really does alter your TV-viewing habits. I’d be lost without mine. Fortunately it was a complete success. The new hard disc appears to be operating fine so far, and while the original hard disc was a mere 40Gb (about 20 hours of recording), the new disc is a far more meaty 250Gb. The extra space being very appreciated

For reference, I used this excellent site to talk me through the upgrade. While I was a bit worried about the outcome, the actual process itself was a doddle, thanks in no small part to people who’ve researched this kind of thing thoroughly and put these handy guides on the web. Certainly, if you’re not too bothered about the prospect of opening your Sky+ box and swapping a hard disc, then its a really good alternative to a whole new box.

http://www.morlocks.co.uk/sky.htm

Bit of a panic yesterday when a hardware failure knocked over the forums me and my mates use. Its all back up and running now, but minus the last week or so’s posts. It did make me stop and think though. I’ve never really bothered backing up any of my online stuff. Granted, my online stuff is largely for me to muck about with, but still, I’d be annoyed if I lost my blog or something (since its meant to be something I can read back through in a couple of years time).

The joys of Wordpress though, I found a nice, easy plugin which will automatically backup the MySQL databases and email me the backup. Easy Now I just have to remember to backup the actual files now and again, so I’ve got a copy of any images or videos I attach to the blog.