August 12, 2007 by AC.

I have been using, and loving, the Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Hard Drive.  The size is perfect to fit inside my laptop case and the device is powered and connected using one USB cable.  Simple and lightweight:

Maxtor OneTouch III Mini 160GB Hard Drive - USB 2.0 Interface - External Hard Drive

I purchased mine after troubleshooting a problem for a customer.  I loved the size and simplicity of the device and ran out and bought one after fixing a problem locating the device.  Recently that same problem popped up with a different customer so I thought it would be worth noting and providing two important links in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

In both instances the device would connect but be unrecognizable to the PC.  There was no error or problem noted, just no way to access the device once plugged in.  The device itself has built-in software that installs on any PC the first time you connect the device.  Included within that software is a security feature to encrypt and password protect the drive.  In both cases with the customers the device was setup with the password protection.  In one case the user deleted the Maxtor software and in the other a damaged machine needed to be re-imaged.  In both cases the software was gone and the device concluded this was a foreign machine, thus the hidden data/drive access.

Both cases were solved by downloading and installing copies of the Maxtor software on the PC to get access back to the drive and/or change passwords for the device.  This was no easy task because the software is not easily found.  Below are two links, one for Windows XP machines, the other for Windows Vista.  If you find yourself in trouble like this with a Maxtor Mini try reinstalling the software below:

For Windows XP

For Windows Vista

Posted in Hardware, Microsoft | No Comments »

August 12, 2007 by AC.

I have been exploring the features of GrandCentral a little more and they have a WebCall button feature that you can incorporate into your website, blog, etc. The feature allows the perspective caller to enter their name & phone number (which can be kept private) and then the system, GrandCentral calls their phone and connects to my number. Nice service feature for people to contact you via phone direct from a website. I am testing the service below before adding it to the ACE Computer Services site.

In testing the service myself it does work fast and it was very easy. The call shows up as “unknown” on both phones - the one I entered on the website and the phone my GrandCentral account dials.

I did notice that the script does not work on every site I use.  This one for instance, is a blog created through WordPress offered by my Hosting Site, 1and1, and the script will not run.  Ditto my content page at Natuba, the script is taken out.  My blog at Blogger had no trouble showing the script, but no surprise since both GrandCentral and Blogger are Google companies.  To see the script in action please visit:

http://mytechstartup.blogspot.com/2007/08/testing-grandcentral-webcall-button.html

Posted in Internet, New Products, All Platforms | No Comments »