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55 Minute Uninstall

Wow, it would have almost been faster to backup the data, reformat the hard drive, and reinstall everything from scratch. The long install was of the grossly over programmed Norton Internet Security Suite. Here's the breakdown of my appointment:

8:26am Arrive at customer's house. He tells me that his computer is running extremely slow.
8:32am I sit down and hit the power button on the computer.
8:36am
Still staring at the Windows XP startup logo, I ask the customer to bring in the laptop since he wants me to look at it also.
8:40am
The laptop is booted up and I'm already looking it over.
8:41am
Desktop is finally up…9 minutes!! Yikes!
8:46am
Add/Remove programs is finally up and the list populated. I find Norton Internet Security and click the Remove button.
9:41am
 55 minutes later, I can finally work on the computer. The actual uninstall procedure took about 50 minutes and then another five for it to reboot after removal of Norton.
10:07am
 		I installed and updated both AVG Anti-virus and anti-spyware, tested the Internet connect, tested MS Word (which wasn't working at all an hour earlier) and started the AVG scans all in this past half hour.

The moral of the story is that Norton products slow down even the fastest computers significantly more than any other security product. The installs are long, the updates are long, the uninstalls are long, and the protection is mediocre. Please, save yourself money, time and grief and don't buy or install Norton products on yours or other people's computers.

Gadgets yield more gadgets

I have helped several people buy new computers lately. I don't sell computers or any other hardware so I am more of a personal shopper than a salesman when it comes to guiding people through their purchase.

I think it's funny how gadgets always seem to yield more gadgets. Here is a short flowchart of how this process works.

1. A client calls and says that they need a new computer. They ask my advice on what they should get for just basic stuff like email and word processing. "I don't need anything fancy."

2. I suggest a basic system that will handle all of their needs and a little more.

Using your solitaire skills (Drag & Drop) – Video Tip

Believe it or not, Microsoft put Solitaire in Windows to help new computer users get comfortable with the mouse and its functions. After years of playing solitaire, this tip will help you put the skills to use. I like to call this technique the "ol' 8 or hearts on the 9 of clubs trick." In computer talk, what you are doing when you move one card to another in solitaire is the "drag & drop."

Drag & drop ( " the ol' 8 or hearts on the 9 of clubs trick") is an extremely helpful and time saving skill to use in other computer activities. One of my favorite places to use it is moving files (pictures, documents, etc) from one location to another. For example, if you open a CD or memory card full of pictures up in one window and open another folder on your computer (like My Pictures) in another window, you can then drag files from one window to another.

Options and Preferences

I had a brief epiphany today as I helped two of my customers. When I'm setting up a computer or troubleshooting one, I am constantly in an out of the Options or Preferences of many programs. Almost all programs, from Quicken to Word to image editing software and of course Internet and email software, contain a section that allows you to customize the experience. For example, in Internet Explorer, I always click Tools –> Options, then the Settings button to lower the amount of saved temporary files to 4 or 5 megabytes. Sometimes this setting is set as high as 3000 megabytes! That's a lot of temporary files.

We don’t charge $100 per hour!

I will write another shotgun article later, but I quickly wanted to get the word out to our clients in Grand Junction, CO that Rick and I do not charge $100 per hour. Our rates did go up, but only slightly. Today two people said that they had heard that our rates have gone up to $100 per hour, last week I had one other person say it. Rick also had a client this week who thought that we were charging as much.

I don't know who is spreading that rumor, but I just thought I should correct it here since most of our clients use this website as a source for computer help.

For the record, Rick and I run separate businesses, but much of our pricing is the same. 

Don’t try to keep up with the Jones

To often anymore, we want to get the newest computer, printer, TV or other tech gadget simply because it seems that it will work better, faster, or easier. Unfortunately that kind of thinking is seriously flawed. You've heard me say it before and I will continue to say that a huge majority of tech users don't fully utilize the power in their current gadgets. That includes guys like me as well.

The reality is that with cars, we still use them to get from Point A to Point B. Do we need a new car because the new models can go from 0-60 a half second quicker? When computers first entered homes in mass 12 years ago we primarily used them for email, word processing, and solitaire. Do we need a new computer that can flip the cards a little faster? You get my point. Upgrading for the sake of upgrading is absurd.

You can’t transfer programs – only data

I have setup as many new computers over the past couple of months as I have the entire five years I've been an on-site computer guy. I have become very good at backing up data and moving from the old computer to the new system.

Before I setup the new computer I explain that I can easily transfer data files from one computer to another, but I can't transfer programs.

Typically, this doesn't appear to be a problem. That is, until I have setup the new system and moved the data. "Where's my Microsoft Word?" or "How do I get into my AutoCAD?" are examples common questions I get after the work has been done.

“We had a computer glitch”

I often try to remember what life was like before computers. I can barely remember what I did with my time before email, web surfing, word processing, digital photography, PowerPoint presentations, MP3 players, YouTube.com, and all the rest. I also find myself longing for the times that businesses couldn't use the excuse, "our computers are down" or "our computer had a glitch".

As much as I enjoy technology and of course make my living from it, I think that we too often use it as a crutch to either procrastinate or an excuse that we hide behind when others ask questions or request information. After all, we all know how frustrating and unpredictable computers can be so questioning the "glitch defense" is futile. We have all thought it, and I will document here and now that I think way more than half of these tech excuses are bogus. Excuses made by lazy or unqualified people buying time or passing the buck.

Why I don’t like the bleeding edge

Cutting edge technology is great. I love to see the newest trends in technology.

Cutting edge is one thing, bleeding edge is a totally different story. Bleeding edge is a term used for techno test pilots, those who adopt a new technology before it is ever around long enough to be considered a new trend or standard.

For example, cutting edge people are just now adopting HD TVs, hybrid cars and websites like YouTube. Bleeding edge people are buying BluRay DVD players, computers with two dual core processors and buy their groceries on the Internet.

Some technology that I consider bleeding edge has been around for a long time.