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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 revamping older systems with Linux and of course will post my findings here at the site.

For Windows XP users (computers bought between 2001-2006), XP should work fine for most people for many years to come. Early models of XP machines and later bargain models, however, came with only 256mb of RAM. With the early editions of XP, 256 was adequate, but with the 100+ updates that have subsequently been released and larger need for security software, 512mb is now a minimum for XP and I encourage my customers to strongly consider 1024mb (1 GB). If a computer user isn't careful about security and updates, a reformat and reinstall is necessary, but the computer will be running top notch again afterwards. 

Is it not ok anymore to be content with what we have?

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 to upset the apple cart yet. I still occasionally turn on my backup machine that is running a beta version of Windows Vista, but I have only used it about ten times since I installed the beta version last September. 

Today I found a print screen utility that I had forgotten about….

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away computer users used to be able to push a single button on their keyboards and get a printout of whatever was displayed on the screen. When Windows took over computers, this function was lost. Pushing the Print Screen key on keyboards did nothing…seemingly. It actually does something, but I wrote a tip about what it does many years ago (click here to read it again…maybe for the first time) .

Today, I want to share with you a discovery I made while helping a customer. I had helped her setup her new computer a few years ago and she wanted a print screen utility…that was free. After some searching and experimenting, I came across a neat little utility called PrintDesktop (click here to download) . After I installed it for her, I completely forgot about the little gem…until today.

Copy Shortcut for a program to other Windows’ Users

Caller, Marvin, needed to have a program he installed in his user account be available to his wife and daughter. Here's the solution:

1. Make sure that when installing a program if the program gives you the option to install to just you or all users, choose All Users.

2.  IF, that doesn't bring up the icon to the other users, RIGHT click and choose Copy on the program's icon, then Click My Computer, double-click "Shared Documents", Click Edit –> Paste. Now you can log into each of the other users, and copy that shortcut to the desktops of the other users who need access to the program. 

Turn off file sharing when connecting to wireless while travelling

Disable unprotected File Sharing on Windows XP Home

If you use Windows XP Home Edition, then you should avoid sharing files over the campus network and make sure that file sharing is disabled on your computer. NOTE: File sharing is enabled by default when Windows XP Home is installed onto your computer. Since Windows XP Home does not support password-protected file sharing, any person or virus will be able to access your computer without your knowledge if file sharing is enabled. Follow the instructions below to disable unprotected file sharing.

Microsoft Uninstaller Cleanup Utility

When you have a program that won't unstall, read through this page , install the program it links to and follow the directions.

This program removes all of the install information from the Windows registry. From this point you should reinstall the program and then unstall it the normal way.

My Vista install: Updated often

I am installing Windows Vista on my laptop. Since the laptop is brand new and the hard drive is not partitioned, I am installing the OEM version of the program. So far, it has been a nightmare.

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. It is a full version of windows but it is sold at a better price because Windows limits their support since it is only for computer manufacturers.

I haven't even made it to the part where I open the package and insert the disk to install it. The back of the OEM package gives a few warnings. The one I am currently struggling with is: If the Individual software license is for a desktop operating system or application software it also must be preinstalled on the drive of the fully assembled computer system using the OEM Preinstallation kit (OPK).

Don’t confuse Updates with Scans

Many of our Castellini on Computers listeners are well versed (we hope) in the dangers of an unprotected computer. We preach constantly about the importance of keeping updated anti-virus software, anti-spyware and even firewalls on your computer. However, those not savvy to the show yet, find themselves kneed deep in computer problems often times because of one small mistake; thinking that a weekly virus scan is equivalent to computer security.

Some computer users know enough to check their anti-virus programs for a scan date (which is often very current), but overlook the date of the "last update" in their program. ALL anti-virus software must be updated via the Internet at least weekly, and preferably more often. The updates teach the software what to hunt for the next time it scans. If the software does not know what new threats exist, the subsequent scans are almost worthless.

Does anyone remember easy printer installs?

One trend happening in technology over the past three years or so is bloated printer software. By bloated, I mean printer installations that require nearly one gigabyte (yes almost 1000 megabytes) of hard drive space! Call me old or nostalgic, but I miss the days where printers could be installed from a floppy disk and took less than three minutes ton install. The worst offender today seems to be HP. Their popular all-in-one printers can take up to thirty minutes to install on a NEW computer and even longer on old computers. And after spending all that time, it may still not work correctly! 

Downloading programs is like buying a program package at the store

My analogies are usually pretty bad and often more confusing than the original idea that I'm trying to explain. However, I think that I have come up with an analogy for downloading and installing files that might make a few light bulbs go off above computer users' heads. Let me know if this makes sense to you:

Install from CD
Install from Internet
(download)
Buy computer program package
from retail outlet.
 Download installation file from Internet
to a known location on your computer
Insert CD from package into your
computer
 Double-click the file you downloaded
from the Internet
Follow on-screen instructions to
install your program
 Follow on-screen instructions to
install your program
Take CD out of computer and
store in case you need to reinstall.
The disk is no longer needed to use
the program.
 		Once the program installs, you can either
copy original download to a CD or delete it.
The program is now ready to use.