TrickyNicky

Thanks to you both. This sounds perfect. I'm away for the weekend but will have a look at this next week. I really am grateful for your input.

Thanks zonebtec. Checked the link. There are more storage options than I realised. I also know PC World sell two - a basic and a bells and whistles one which allows sharing. Has anyone any experience of these at all. Thanks again

Hi KenB Ended up taking printer to a repair centre. They have tried to fix it for me but no joy. No point spending lots of money repairing this one when new ones are relatively cheap these days. Thanks for your input/suggestions.

Hi KenB Have been away on holiday, hence the delay replying. Very grateful for your continued interest. My computer is now working fully in normal mode, however, it had to be re-set to Factory settings so we lost a lot of the programmes that were bundled with the computer when we bought it. I also need to re-load all the additional programmes that we had added which is a pain. Finding the time to do all these things when it all takes longer because I don't know the best way to do it, often means stuff gets left until it is next needed. I need to set up some kind of back up to be sure this doesn't happen again plus put stuff in some kind of cloud storage. I am reading up both at the moment before I make my move...! Need another holiday so can dedicate some time to it.........! Any ideas on the best/easiest way to back-up would be very helpful. Thanks again

Thanks Ken I'm pretty sure my friend tried the 'Repair your computer', he certainly tried to get into Safe Mode a few times with no success. Good thing is I have now learned a bit more so next time might have the confidence to give some of these things a try myself. Also seems my hard drive is still sound as the programme my friend ran found nothing corrupted apart from the USB controller. So far, all seems to be working fine - just looks totally different as icons are still missing from things I haven't reloaded yet. My husband tends to use the desktop most and he is away till next week. Until he gets on and tries things we won't be fully sure it is back to normal. I do appreciate your help. Thanks

Hi Nev Thanks to for your input. I wasn't aware of accessing the safe to remove from the Windows explorer window so thats good for again. I usually click the icon bottom right but occasionally it isn't there. Learning all the time. Thanks

Hi Synapse Thanks for your interest. I believe my husband did click the safe to remove icon and was told it was safe to remove it but he admits he was a bit quick off the mark and that is probably why it failed. Strange though how sometimes you can remove things without using 'safe to remove' and its still okay afterwards and other times, like this, it causes problems. Again, thanks for your interest.

Having just had major issues with our desktop and nearly losing all the data and pictures, my husband and I urgently need to find a backup solution. We can purchase an external hard drive for desktop and another for my laptop but wonder whether we would be better using Drop Box or Cloud and Share type subscriptions instead. What are the pros and cons of each? Ideally we could do with something which automatically backs up when we use either computer rather than having to spend time transferring stuff manually. Either that or a simple one click solution if such a thing exists. Any comments gratefully received and digested!

Thanks KenB We can access this screen but when you highlight and click on any option it just goes round in a circle back to the original screens re Startup repair without doing anything. I don't have a recent back up of my files/photos etc (I know, silly me) so didnt want to do anything that might result in losing them. My friend eventually managed to do a backup and reinstall to factory settings as it was the only thing that worked. Still transferring everything back. Seems to be working okay again now and can access internet again. Any idea what caused this to happen as don't want to go through all this again? Was it a fault with the USB stick? I'm just worried if I try and download the photos on the stick will it cause the same problem again. Will the USB ports be safe to use again now? Sorry if these are silly questions? Many thanks

Hi Ken B Unfortunately my computer has now failed and I can't get it to start up (It never rains but it pours = or should that be snows!). Will try as soon as I can.

Hi My Desktop failed a couple of nights ago after removing a USB memory stick. Startup repair couldn't resolve the problem. Came up with a message saying if you have recently attached a device to this computer etc etc, remove it and re start but if continue to get message (which I do) contact computer manufacturer or system admin. A friend ran a diagnostics disc today to check out everything. All passed except USB Controller Failed. He tried to get in by using Safe Mode but it wouldn't let him. It just cycles back to the same screen suggesting Startup repair. Any suggestions as to what has happened or how to fix it. Computer is an ACER, 3 years old, Windows 7 Home Premium. Don't have Windows 7 discs as this was installed when bought new. Many thanks

Hi KenB Sorry not to get back before. Have been away and not had chance to give your suggestion another try. Will look at it tomorrow night and update you. Do appreciate your input. Many thanks Nicky

Hi KenB Thanks a lot for above advice, especially at Christmas! Why is things like this always happen at the most inconvenient times!! I have tried your suggestion twice but sadly it still reverts to 7 orange and 1 green flash whenever I switch the printer back on. I did manage to print something in the middle of all this but the chart I chose came out with a grid of squares across the top of it all. I got a couple of error messages too. One just advising me it was an Operator errror and to Press Resume and if it doesn't clear, cancel and switch off etc. The second error message was a Service error 5200. Cancel and turn off printer. Not sure what that was all about but it is now back to square one again. Any thoughts? Maybe there is someone in Scotland (north of Forth Road bridge) who might be able to fix it to save me posting it to Cannon in Sussex? Happy Christmas and thanks again.

Hi My Canon i950 printer gave up working the other night, right in the middle of printing something. I now get 7 orange flashes and a green flash before repeating. Does anyone know what this means? Canon say I have to send it back for fixing. This might be more expensive than buying a new printer by the time I've paid postage, insurance etc. Any suggestions gratefully received. Many thanks

I'll stick with the external hard drive as you suggest. Will have to copy important files to match on both computers first though. Many thanks again Jelly Bean.