Priyam Vaidya's Blog

We’ve previously covered various ways to share files between nearby computers, but sharing between Windows and Linux can be a little more complex. This article will show you how to map shares across both operating systems for seamless file sharing. There are basically two parts to this guide: Creating the shared folder on Windows and configuring Linux to access it, and creating the shared folder on Linux and configuring Windows to access it. Depending on your situation, you’ll want to follow the appropriate set of instructions. If, for some reason, you want to set up shared folders on both systems, you can do that, too. This guide will cover Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu, but we’ve made it adaptable to virtually any version of Windows or Linux. Creating the Share on Windows To set up a shared folder on Windows for Linux to access, start by making sure your network settings are configured to allow the connection from the other computer by opening the Network and Sharing Cen

Hard drives use S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) to gauge their own reliability and determine if they’re failing.  You can view your hard drive’s S.M.A.R.T. data and see if it has started to develop problems. Unfortunately, Windows doesn’t have an easy-to-use built-in tool that shows your hard disk’s S.M.A.R.T. data.  We will need a third-party tool to view this information, though there is a way to check your S.M.A.R.T. status from the command prompt. Use CrystalDiskInfo CrystalDiskInfo is an easy-to-use, open-source program that can quickly display the S.M.A.R.T. status reported by your hard drive in Windows.  You can download it for free – however, be sure to uncheck the browser widget when installing it. Once it is installed, all you have to do is launch the CrystalDiskInfo application to view the S.M.A.R.T. status information for your hard drives.  If everything is working properly, you should see the status Good displayed