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Q: I was recently on a business trip and I could not get a wireless connection even though the hotel wireless was up and running. Upon returning home, I have been unable to connect to my home wireless. The wireless icon in the task bar shows wireless is not available. The computer is not in airplane mode either. I am afraid that I might have messed something up trying to connect to the hotel wireless. My son’s computer will computer will connect to our wireless, so I know our wireless is working. I have tried the FN PrtScr/wireless keys with no luck (other than getting an airplane ICON where the wireless icon was).

– Ray D.
Baker, Florida

A: It sounds to me like you’re confusing Airplane Mode with merely turning off Wi-Fi, Ray. Let’s see if I can help you get that cleared up.

Although the term “Airplane Mode” has been around for a while, it really came into common use after October 2013, when the FAA changed its rules to allow the use of electronic devices aboard aircraft as long as certain radio transmissions from the devices are inhibited. Turning on Airplane Mode disables (usually) all radio transceivers in a given device, including cellular telephony, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. In this mode, it is safe to operate the device aboard any aircraft.

Airplane mode is a convenience. You can achieve the effective equivalent by manually turning off the individual radios yourself. In fact, the Wi-Fi radio is so commonly disabled that Windows gives you a separate way to do just that without even having to go to the control panel or Device Manager. If you click on that “wireless icon in the task bar” that you mentioned, you should see two buttons at the bottom; one labeled “Wi-Fi” and the other “Airplane mode”. These are toggle buttons, and will be highlighted (brighter) if turned on. Hopefully, you’ll find that Wi-Fi has been turned off, and you can click-it turn it back on. If you simply cannot figure out by looking at the button whether it is on or off, click the “Network settings” link instead. It has a sliding switch at the top that performs the same functionality, but is much easier to tell the current setting.

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Q: What is your preferred way to Back Up all Data Files? I am considering an external disk drive vs. “Cloud type Back Up” if safe. I currently run Windows 7 and Windows XP on 2 computers and attempt to keep the Windows 7 computer backed up to the XP Computer. In past, I have used external disk drive with Software for version updates, the drive still got full even after attempting delete of older copies, maybe fragmention, and eventually the drive quit working anyway.

What is your preferred method to Back Up the Operational part of my Windows System, the Operating System, my downloaded files, my programs? It would seem if data is backed up, then I can just reload data if the hard drive has to be reconstructed 1st.

– Sherry C.
Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

A: It appears to me that you’ve put quite a lot of thought into this issue, Sherry. In fact, except that you asked for “my” preferences, you sort-of answered your own questions. The only thing you’re missing is a clear delineation of the pros and cons. So, I’ll explain a few, and hopefully you’ll firm up your own opinion.

Pros that favor using an external drive include no recurring monthly fees, reduced privacy risk, faster data access, and no ISP data usage to perform back-ups or restores. Cons include the initial startup cost of the drive and backup software, and the knowledge that your backup device is just as vulnerable to failure as the devices it is backing up. Note that if you are backing up multiple PCs, you’ll need either a single LAN-accessible device, or a separate device for each PC.

Pros that favor cloud storage include no worries about devices getting full or wearing out (the remote data center will keep a back-up of your back-up to protect against device failure), simplicity and reliability. Once it’s configured, it should pretty much just work. Cons include monthly fees, usually on a per-computer basis. If you’re using an ISP that limits your data bandwidth, back-ups will consume part of your allotment. Backups are usually programmed to take place in the middle of the night, which minimizes the impact for most people, but if your home has someone who is a night owl, or who has a tendency to binge watch streaming TV or movies all night, there may be bandwidth collisions.

Regarding the latter part of your question, I don’t tend to back-up Windows or my software at all. I prefer to do re-installations if it should become necessary. You are absolutely correct in saying that as long as your data files are backed-up, you can re-construct everything in the event of a data disaster. That’s not to say full-system backups are “wrong” – they just aren’t “necessary”. For more on back-ups, see I.G.T.M. Issue #471, which published just a few weeks ago.