Softlink Computer Systems

Softlink Computer Systems A one stop shop for IT support, telecoms, broadband, office 365, IT hardware, and cloud services. Business and domestic support available.

27/07/2026

Backup to the rescue again! My brother has a really nice MSI laptop with 64GB of memory, an Ultra 9 processor and nVidia graphics card. I put the 64GB of memory in (it came with 16GB) but there has always been an issue with a boot-up "memory fault" every other time he used it. He lived with that OK, because it never failed once inside Windows. Memory testing never found a problem. Anyway, he did an update to it using the Intel tool and also had a Windows security update. It failed immediately on a restart. So he brought it here. He had a restore point so I tried that.. it booted ok, but then immediately installed the security update again. On the next restart it failed again. So, I tried an earlier restore point. The same thing happened and now there were no restore points left. He had a backup and I was able to restore it using that, so all is almost OK. While I was updating I installed a BIOS update which seems to have fixed the old memory error, but I still can't install the security update. I just get the something has gone wrong, undoing changes message. I have tried everything and cannot fix this. My plan is to wait a few months and then use the in-place upgrade to write a new copy of Windows keeping the programs and data.
By the way, we are now an official Sangoma telecoms installer. Dave came top of the class in the course he went on!!

16/07/2026

Just a follow up on the last post.. Well, we changed the RAID card and our array failed again, so we assumed it was a marginally faulty backplane. We got a replacement and the array failed again. We tried switching from RAID 5 to RAID 10 but that also failed. We had 2 pairs of SSD's in RAID 1 that worked fine. Changed the disks to mechanical disks and no further problem. Our final conclusion is that the backplane was designed to work with mechanical disks and ssd's are just too fast, when in more complicated RAID arrangements. So, a weird example of how SSD's are not necessarily a straightforward replacement for mechanical disks in a complicated set-up.
By the way, we are looking for new businesses to support, so if you work for company that is paying a lot for support, get them to try us. We only charge for what we do. There is no monthly fee.

09/04/2026

Unless you are a techy, this post will be meaningless!! One of the businesses we support has a Dell T430 server using the standard H730 RAID card. Unfortunately, this card isn't happy with modern SSD's. BUT, you can upgrade the card to H750 (which is 2 generations later). Unfortunately, Dell don't make a cable that connects card to the T430 backplane because they probably prefer you to buy a new server. But we were able to find a seller on eBay who could supply a suitable cable. So, šŸ˜...... we saved our client having to replace the server.

18/03/2026

Oh No! It's happened again. Failed SSD with no backup, and the freezer trick didn't work. I only trust one company to recover the data from it, and I am pretty sure it will be at least Ā£600 to do it. It is a very difficult job. Just about every computer now has an SSD in it because they are massively faster than mechanical disks, and massively more dangerous because of what happens when they fail. My PC is backed up every day. Our server is backed up every day... So....

13/03/2026

My old iPad Air (original version) has finally been pensioned off, because it doesn't work with a lot of websites anymore. BUT, I am getting Dave to try to jailbreak it and install a lightweight copy of Linux. This isn't easy because Apple designed it all to exactly match what they wanted at the time and don't feel inclined to help anybody to re-use this out-of-date kit. Anyway, let's see how Dave does, and if he is successful, how well it works. I will keep you posted. Meanwhile, pop that old iPad in the draw... just in case we come up with something....

24/01/2026

Well its happened again. This time a 5 month old NVME solid state disk failed. No backup since the customer's previous computer more than a year ago. Fortunately, we were able to recover the data by putting the drive in a freezer and reading it using a USB NVME adapter and a long USB cable passing through the freezer door seal. The customer was lucky!! All you need is an external USB disk, free software from the internet, and some the determination to do it every week.

Address

Stroud
GL51LQ

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

01453765927

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