SecGuy

It is totally safe, Dell might include software that allows you to keep the battery at 70% which is of course better. But laptops today have software that prevents them from 'over-charging'. However, this will degrade the battery. But so will using it without keeping it plugged in all the time. In general, don't worry about it. If you are really fussy you can keep in between 30% and 70% but that would be inconvenient. Just use it how you want to, and in 5-6 years get a new laptop if you even have to keep it that long. Chances are the screen or trackpad will die before the battery does.

Hi, my suggestion for a build would be to go small, microATX if possible, definitely an SSD if possible, and I'm not listing any specific specs because someone in here is probably better than me at finding the latest specs and I'm not up for a flame war. About your second question though, I've been a Senior System Administrator at an organisation for 3 years and am currently persuing further education, hoping to eventually get a Masters Degree. My suggestion to you is not to really worry about it, but if you want to become a system administrator it's a very user support role. A systems engineer is more of a hardware/software technician role. A lot of server infrastructure is now hosted in the cloud, even firewall systems can be cloud based. My personal advice is to use Windows because that's standard, defenitely invest in the pro version for Hyper-V, if you don't know what it is, that's fine, you'll learn what it is and the importance of it for Windows + Linux labs. Try to invest less in GPU and more in RAM and CPU because virtualisation is a fantastic learning tool nowadays. I don't think you are going to be able to build a powerful computer you can carry in your bag. Even if you can, what about monitor etc etc. I personally believe you should go for a high-spec laptop. Try to get one with an Ethernet port because no doubt sysadmins learn about Cisco routing & switching, which most often requires a serial to ethernet adapter. Good luck.

Very good post. I can remember I think LTT helped me out of a bad spot too. I can remember never wanting to leave the house, thinking my life was a failure. And I started to get into technology and just found a bit of passion and through they gained my confidence because I wasn't the best at computers but I was better that most people my age and actually gave me a purpose. My advice is to keep going, and keep experimenting. IT might not be your true passion in the end, but it was a start. So stay positive, stay open minded, and keep productive. Wish you the best

So, I'm at college right now and I was looking over at the person next to me who just finished a networking degree. We chatted a bit and he was looking at certification options. I told him about LPI (a Linux cert line) and he is someone who double clicks on EVERYTHING and so there was one of those drop down things on the website. He kept double clicking the dropdown and it wouldn't do anything. Must've been at least 5 minutes and he couldn't figure out it was a link and he should only click it once. I could see the frustration on his face and so just did it for him. He had MCSA and I'm not sure how. He couldn't figure out he HAD TO ONLY CLICK ONCE. Just kept trying the same damn thing expecting a different result. That's halarious! You should drive to your old house and give them the other end of the power line adapter lol.

It's like on those movies where the sailor is like "I can taste a storm brewing" I've tasted a war coming for a while. There is a cycle of years before humans in power turn into hungry pigs and huddle together selfishly arguing politics until they implode and cause a world war. Perhaps this is not just the UKs governments plan to have a giant firewall but NATOs? Because the GCHQ could spy on you guys freely, and would also have a lot of protection from outside threats. It could be a test, perhaps the US government will make a China like firewall next?

Why not? Provided the company allows it I don't see a problem with it. It's secure, and easy to setup. Sure, it might not be as customizable as setting up your own OpenVPN server but it's also not as complicated and still has the security associated with it.

You can use something like Hamachi. Which is an easy solution to setting up a VPN to do this kind of work. It supports 5 users for free and I don't believe it requires port forwarding in most cases. I would do more research into it though. You also have another option which is more complicated, but it would also work. You could use Git with a service like GitLab which gives you the ability to make private repositories for free. And use git to keep the computer at the office and home synced up. You also have other benefits since git is a version control system. I would use git regardless unless your company doesn't want you to.

The backup states it's backing up a system image. "Files in libraries and personal folders for all users, selected folders and system image" It's important to note a system image can take a while to make depending on how big the image is going to be. it also takes up a decent chunk of disk space. I suggest remove those from the backup if you want it to be faster.

It depends on the backup software, the compression, the data it is backing up. Some third party backup software will compress the data more compared to just zipping it up. You also have what it's backing up, some software like the default Windows Backup (not file history) will by default, backup a system image as well as all the files in your user directory. The best thing to do in my opinion is either to write a small program or script which compresses the folders you want to be backed up and moves them to a drive. Or to just get some different backup software... ooooorrr to change what your curreent backup software backs up.

The only thing I can think about is maybe you should make sure all your drivers are downloaded or it could be the processor, Sandy Bridge is a bit old, it doesn't matter about the cores because Windows only uses 1 to boot I believe. I overclocked my processor and found a decent speed bump in windows start up time. One thing you could try which 'might' make it boot faster is going to msconfig > boot > advanced options and make sure you are using all cores to boot up (so, in this case 4 processors). Unless there is something wrong with the OS or the hardware it's probably just a slow computer. This is the only conclusion I can come up with because unless the laptop is booting up a 30 seconds to a minute slower after reinstalling or something (that would be an issue, because it's on the same hardware). But if you mean you desktop computer is booting up in 10 seconds and your brother's laptop is booting up in 30 seconds, then that's not necessarily an issue you can unless you replace the whole thing most likely.

Best programming software? It depends on what you want to program, for interpreted languages like Javascript or Python all you need is a text editor that edits in plain text like Notepad, and an interpreter. If you want to program a compiled language like c# or c++, all you need is a text editor like notepad and a compiler, and to compile the program after you write it. For Windows, arguably the best IDE is Visual Studio, and for plain text Visual Studio Code I like a lot, or you can use Atom, both of them have a lot of similarities. Just make sure you actually know some basic computer science concepts before you start writing code, there are many great free courses for these online. I advise them. They will hopefully teach you about basic programming concepts, what an OS is, algorithmic concepts and how a compiler and interpreter actually work.

Linus has some videos which highlight everything except a couple pointers that I will give you, make sure you don't bend the CPU pins, it's common for new builders but don't worry because as long as you pay very close attention you are fine, essentially line the CPU up with the socket as best as you humanly possibly can. And make sure it slides in perfectly. Try not to scratch the motherboard when putting it in, but don't be worried if you do just try not to as much as possible. Don't be paranoid about building on carpet, just ground yourself often and handle components in the correct and safest manner. Check everything you put in to make sure it lines up. Don't take shortcuts, and most importantly be calm and just focus. I know this probably isn't much help, but if someone told me to calm the fuck down when I built my first computer I would have been a little more calm about it. And everything went fine. Also, if you ever feel stuck READ THE FUCKING MANUAL. Wish you the best of luck dude.

Probably won't, if the 8350 overclocked is too underpowered then an i5 probably will be too.

Just keep your current processor, in my opinion overclocked it really isn't that bad. I know it can seem enticing to get a better processor because you think Intel is faster, want to be a part of the Intel club, or you think Intel will just be better it really won't be this huge jump. My advice is to keep your current setup, it runs fine and just wait for new Intel CPUs to come out or stay an AMD guy and get the new Zen processors when they come out, they look pretty cool! That graphics card might be a little overpowered for your processor but it might overpower an i5 too, not sure. So wait for Zen, upgrade to Zen if you want, or get a nice keyboard, mouse or monitor those are pretty good upgrades too. Until recently I only upgraded my computer thinking performance is everything. After upgrading my keyboard, mouse and chair I realize I was wrong, the whole experience is more important. Good luck with your rig dude. No matter what option you choose you will be doing something good because both options have one good outcome, so don't worry too much. But my advice is to save.

Are you connected through Wifi?, if so what is your wireless adapter model? Are you connected directy?, if so what is your nic model? What is your router model? or are you connected to another wireless network like a school or library? When you restart your computer, ping 8.8.8.8 again and tell me your ping to the server. It could be a bunch of issues, from a hardware network card problem or a network driver problem, malware or just a problem with the nic and the router, I know my Intel Nic constantly cuts out on my school's network, so knowing those details can be important to troubleshooting the problem.