All Q&A Session – July 2007

I don’t do it too often, but this month I decided to hold an all Q&A (2 hours) user group meeting. It truly is amazing how many questions 30 or 40 ravenous computer users can generate. Sometimes one question leads to another, and an entire “topic” can take up a half hour. You have to be at one of the meetings to truly experience the type of knowledge and information that gets shared and explored. Some of...

Learning a new computer

I have spent more than 10 years helping computer users get the most out of their computers. Without hesitation, I can say that the biggest obstacle any computer user encounters is change (which is precisely why I can’t figure out what Microsoft was thinking with Vista and Office 2007). One of the most common services I provide computer users is setting up new systems. No matter how much I try and duplicate the old...

New computer does not equal faster Internet

I believe that I’ve written about this before, but since I ran into this phenomenom at least three times over the past week, it bares mentioning again. Many dial-up Internet users using Windows 98 or Me buy a new computer and after taking it home setting it up and jumping online with their dial-up systems find that the Internet and email are just as slow as their hold systems. I then get the question,...

Turns out that real tech guys follow the same advi...

I worked with a business client today who runs their cash register computers from a "server" computer in the back of the store. Their server is really a normal computer that just shares the data about the stores customer's and products. The actual program exists on each of the register's computers. In larger businesses like banks, Home Depot's, etc, true servers deliver the program and data to the cash...

Used computers & friends

I believe Adam or I have written on this topic before, but I worked with a situation yesterday that was disturbing enough that I needed to bring this topic up again. We continually talk about friends or family members who like working with computers and then like to help out your computer. IF the help revolves around something mundane like plugging the power into your power strip or maybe changing an ink cartridge, then by...

Should you just get a new computer?

I have seen a lot of power supply failures lately. This seems to happen every summer but I don't keep detailed enough statistics to prove it. I am not sure why it happens either. It could be that people turn off their computers for summer vacation and it is the first time the computer has really been turned off in a long time. This might give things a chance to cool down and become brittle. Maybe it is just a...

Take a break …. Physical Therapy Advice

Many of you know that I started out as a Physical Therapist, but switched careers almost twelve years ago. I notice that many computer users (including myself) can get absorbed in reading online news, working with pictures, researching, learning a new computer program, or just playing a game. Unfortunately, when we get absorbed, we also lose track of time and thirty minutes can quickly become two hours! We have all been...

I’m sure it’s something simple…

Several times each week I will receive messages with the phrase, "I'm sure it's something simple…" What is ironic is that these are usually the calls with problems that are the farthest from simple. I was thinking about this last week as someone left a message that said something like, "Hi I was given your name by a friend who said you might be able to help me. I have a computer that is shutting...

512mb is not enough

512mb of RAM is not enough for Windows Vista…any flavor. Vista has been out almost three months now, and I have setup almost a dozen Vista machines. Thankfully, they are rolling out slowly. All the machines I setup, until today, came with 1 GB (1024mb) or 2GB of RAM. And although not blazing, the computer's ran at an acceptable speed. I just finished spending nearly 2.5 hours setting up a laptop with Vista Basic and...

AOL and Vista

Two of my favorite whipping horses, but today I want to provide some information to help AOL users who might be moving to Windows Vista. I discovered today that a standard AOL disk will NOT work in Windows Vista. Most disks available at your local retailers or that you may have received via US Mail were minted in 2005 or earlier. That was the last time a major revision of AOL was released. Unfortunately, this version is not...

A Faster computer does not equal faster Internet

Just as Rick mentioned that people often expect the computer to run faster once they have faster Internet, the opposite is also expected. Often people on dial-up or slower DSL ask me once they have a new computer whether their email will go faster or their websites will load quickly. Typically the difference between a new computer and a Windows 98 machine with sufficient RAM will be barely noticeable. It may take longer for...

Do you really have that much time on your hands?

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I need to know. One of the most common responses I get from people who don't have a high speed Internet connection is, "I have plenty of time to wait and am in no hurry." While I admire the Zen like focus and calm nerves of these folks, I have to ask the obvious. "Really?" Today, I worked with a customer who lives literally in the middle of the mountains…the...

Rethinking “old” computers

With Vista now being the only main stream choice for a new computer, I have stared to develop a new strategy to look at "old" computers. Computer users who have late model Windows 98 machines (bought in 1999-2000), they might be able to get a few more years out of their systems and get a more updated operating system by switching to a Linux based system. I plan on doing some testing over the next few months of...

True Vista capable machines are just now being ann...

If you bought a brand new computer with Windows Vista on it, you can probably expect your next computer to also have Vista on it too. The first generation of Vista powered computers has mostly been under powered. Even with dual core processors and a gigabyte of RAM most computers with Vista perform at an acceptable speed at best. This week Intel and AMD each announced new processors that will run at speeds double that of...

Is it not ok anymore to be content with what we ha...

I have had Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 sitting on my desk for more than three weeks now. I spent nearly $300 buying the stupid products so that I can install them on my machine, but I haven't. It's not because I haven't had time…I just have no burning desire to go through with the change yet. My Windows XP machine is running awesome, I like the configuration of my system and just don't want...