Eliminating the BUGS in Colorado Backup II

Before you do anything else go to this HP page and download the appropriate driver for your WINDOWS machine.

Load the appropriate driver into your machine and then turn off the computer.  Hookup the external TAPE DRIVE drive according to the directions.  Restart the computer and it will find a TAPE DRIVE and install the driver.

Now do the tweaks: click START, click SETTINGS, click CONTROL PANEL, click SYSTEM, and click the DEVICE MANGER tab, and then scroll down to TAPE DRIVES and click the + sign and then highlight the tape drive and click PROPERTIES and then click the SETTINGS tab and deselect everything except SYNC DATA and then click the SPEED tab and deselect everything except SLOW.

Close the DEVICE MANAGER but do not restart the computer at this time.

From the CONTROL PANEL click DISPLAY and then click the SETTINGS tab and select 16 COLORS.

Close the CONTROL PANEL but do not restart the computer just yet.  First, uninstall any anti-virus program on your computer and then restart the computer.  You are now ready to use the tape drive without getting ERROR MESSAGES.

Why this works can be explained by the fact that most computers obviously do not have enough OOMPH to operate COLORADO BACKUP II at its maximum setting.  Going to SLOTH MODE with SYNC DATA and with only 16 COLORS in the display overcomes this problem by putting more resources available to the tape drive.

Download the TAPE DIAGNOSIS TOOL and run it using a tape that had previously given error messages to see if the above tweaks corrected the problems you have been experiencing with the tape media. Some of the error messages I was getting before making these tweaks implied that the tape media itself was no good and suggested getting new tape media.  But even a new tape didn't help.  But after making these tweaks, the tapes that had previously given error messages worked just fine.

If these tweaks were helpful to you, I would appreciate an email letting me know how much they helped or didn't help.

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