Any Windows user has had their system crash at one point or another. Far more often that Microsoft would like to admit, a crash leads to the inability to start the computer back up. Short of reformatting your PC, a recovery disk could be the only chance of saving the data on the computer and getting back to work.

The catch is that the majority of users never make rescue discs and can’t access the commands needed to try and repair a faulty system. Kingston and Symantec have announced a new flash drive that puts software needed to try and repair a Windows PC on the flash drive.

Say RAID to some people and they think you are trying to kill ants or other bugs in your home. To the geek, RAID a way to make data access faster or more secure. When it comes to backing up important data, RAID mirroring is one of the best ways to do it.

Addonics announced a new enclosure called the Portable Dual Drive Enclosure that gives RAID capability to the portable user. Addonics says the enclosure can be powered by the USB port alone or can be powered with an AC adapter. The enclosure can hold a pair of 2.5-inch SATA drives up to 9.5mm in height.

When camcorders first launched decades ago the image quality was bad, the cameras were huge, and lots of tapes were needed to record anything. Today camcorders are very small, image quality is now often HD, and tapes are mostly a thing of the past.

Canon introduced three new camcorders that all record to internal storage in full 1080p HD resolution. The camcorders are all in the VIXIA line and record in 24Mbps bit rate in AVCHD format. Canon says that 24Mbps is the highest bit rate that can be used in the AVCHD format and makes for more detailed and smoother video recordings.

As technology marches on, even our alarm clocks are becoming feature laden. It seems like every other alarm clock that comes out today has an iPod dock for charging the iPod and playing music from it. The good part is that you can often wake to your own music.

Waking to iPod music is much better than waking up to an annoying buzzer or a fuzzy radio station. The pair of new alarm clocks from Memorex both feature iPod docks and can wake you to tunes from the iPod, AM/FM radio and the dreaded buzzer. The basic Mi4019 clock has a snooze function and comes in pink, black, and white colors.

I usually shoot pictures with a Nikon D80, but I still like to keep a nice, small point-and-shoot around for the times I don’t feel like hefting the behemoth D80 around. A thin point-and-shoot that can be slipped into a pocket or backpack is a welcome addition for most people who like to shoot with more advanced cameras typically.

Sony announced a pair of new cameras this week that are perfect for those looking for thing cameras. The DSC-T77 is very thin at under 5/8-inch thick — making it perfect to complement my DSLR. The T77 may be thin, but it still packs in lots of features including a large 3-inch touch sensitive LCD, Smile Shutter, face detection and ISO sensitivity up to ISO 3200.

If you use one of the small notebooks that fall into the ultraportable category, you may not have an optical drive onboard. Some cheap computers could lack a DVD burner as well. When it comes time for a new DVD drive or an upgrade, an external USB DVD burner is the way to go for many users.

Buffalo has a new external USB Super-Multi drive called the DSM-SL20U2. The drive does what you expect a DVD burner to do — like burn DVDs and read them. It also adds a feature that you don’t expect from a PC DVD drive — upscaling for DVD movies.

I am not much of a music fan. I like music well enough in the car or on long flights, but in my home, I don’t generally listen to music. Some people I know always have music playing in their homes, even when they are watching TV or movies.

If you are one of the types who always have music, playing in the home Sonos introduced a pair of new network music players that will send music all around your home wirelessly. Sonos has introduced the second generation of its network music players and a new dual room bundle. The bundle is called the BU150 and the new players include the ZP120 and ZP90.

When the diNovo Edge first launched for Windows PCs, I grabbed one up and really liked using it for my day-to-day computer needs. It wasn’t quite up to gaming so I ended up changing between the Edge and my gaming keyboard frequently. After several months that got old and I ended up just leaving my gaming keyboard connected all the time. You gotta have priorities, right?

With all the time I used the Edge, I can say that it was the best general use keyboard that I have owned. Mac users can now enjoy the diNovo Edge as well with Logitech’s new diNovo Edge Mac Edition. The Mac version of the Edge shares the same looks and design of the original Edge. You get the thin 0.5-inch profile, black semi-translucent Plexiglas frame, and orange backlighting.

Convergence has never been more apparent in the computer world than it gets for USB devices. I have seen some odd things that are designed for a multitude of strange uses over the years. Boynq has a new device called the Iris that rolls three items into one package that looks a lot like the lamp that crushes the “I” in the Pixar logo.

The Iris has a one-piece speaker, LED light, and webcam rolled into one device. The webcam has a mic as well and uses a VGA CMOS lens. Around the webcam are a 5W RMS speaker and eight LED lights for lighting up your desk or the face of the person doing the web chatting.

In an effort to sell more computers Dell has started offering more customization offerings for its computers. We are not talking simply letting a person choose what CPU or how much RAM their notebook comes with — Dell has done that for years. What Dell is doing is going after the user who wants the computer to look as good as it performs by choosing from multiple different colors.

Many of Dell’s new notebooks come with some bright colors and for some users finding accessories to go with the bright colors can be hard. Dell has teamed up with several aftermarket accessory and peripheral makers for a line of “Designed for Dell” accessories. The latest addition to the line is from Creative with custom colors for its T10 speakers and EP-610 headphones.