Dunwoody PC Blog

Microsoft Security Essentials

2009-10-09T11:11:00.003-04:00

MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS – If you remember, Microsoft has had a yearly subscription product for internet security called OneCare. Out of my 600+ customers, 2 have it, so you can’t really call it successful, unless you only interview those 2 people. Well, Microsoft has decided, smartly, to admit that it’s the fact that their operating system has security holes, and they would start giving away free antivirus and free antispyware software. I’ve replaced Windows Defender and Avast! Antivirus on my work laptop with Security Essentials to test the functionality. PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking has said “Not bad, not great” He still recommends a program like AVG or Avast. If you want to try Microsoft’s free product, you can go to: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ and download it. It will check to see if you have a legitimate license for Windows. Keep in mind that no solution will give you the ability to surf with impunity but it’s better than nothing or an expired antivirus solution.

How to Un-Expire (Reregister) Avast!

2009-10-09T11:11:00.001-04:00

AVAST EXPIRED WARNING – Avast!, the antivirus I’ve been installing for the past year or so, has to be registered yearly in order to continue to work. Some of you have started getting messages that it will expire in a certain number of days. DO NOT let it expire. Here’s what you do to make sure that you don’t expire, and by the way, IT IS STILL FREE AND YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY FOR IT (see above should you want to switch to Microsoft’s new product).

Right click on the spinning A (blue globe) in the bottom right icon bar
Left click ABOUT AVAST!
Left click LICENSE KEY in the bottom of the dialog box that popped up
Left click PROGRAM REGISTRATION
This will launch your web browser (AOL Explorer, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc)
Left click “My registration key expired, I need a new one”
Fill out only email (two times), name, where the product is used (home), and the three letter security code at the bottom and hit REGISTER FOR FREE LICENSE
They will send you an email to the email address you specified.
In that email, there will be a code between two rows of ------------------------------------------------. Copy that code down either by using your mouse and copying it, or write it down.
Go back to the Registration dialog window that had the Program Registration “Enter your license key” screen up. Paste or type into the dialog window and press OK

Should I Migrate to Windows 7?!?!

2009-10-09T11:10:00.003-04:00

WINDOWS 7 – October 22nd is the day! – Finally, Windows users get to catch up to Mac users again, instead of allowing Microsoft to embarrass itself like it did with Microsoft Vista. On October 22nd, Windows 7 will be released. This is a huge improvement over Windows Vista and XP and should be as popular as XP in home and work environments. If you’ve purchased a computer since late June, you are eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7. This “in-place” upgrade will allow you to pop the DVD in, click run, and an hour later you’ll have Windows 7, at least that’s what we’re being told. So, don’t forget to sign up for the free DVD for it because you won’t get it otherwise. The technical specifications are similar to Vista, so don’t expect it to run on your four year old desktop with 512 Mb RAM because it won’t. Stay with Windows XP.

Another plea for online backups...

2009-10-09T11:10:00.001-04:00

Online Backups – For $55/year you can back up the data on your computer to Carbonite online backup. I like them and feel confident that they will provide the piece of mind that is critical to the storage of your data.

You can get more information here: http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3341704-10570470

Tax Free Holidays are mostly a feel good political scam.

2009-10-09T11:09:00.002-04:00

Tax Free? No Thanks - I am getting a ton of questions because of the upcoming tax free holiday and my advice is if you don't need to buy a computer, don't buy one just because you save 6-7% (tax). I can think of positive things to do this weekend, and standing on line at Costco, an Office Supply store or an Electronics Box pusher is not one of them. If you play your cards right and buy off of the internet, you can save tax EVERY time, not just on these special days. Remember, if a retailer knows that you're all in a frenzy regarding saving tax, they might not discount the equipment as much as they normally would, so therefore the savings might not be as impressive. There will be deals so I will get the email “har har, Mr. Expert, you were wrong”. I get these emails after every tax free holiday and black Fridays. Usually though, the deals stink and only take advantage of the mob mentality of the shoppers. Stick to buying clothes and school supplies if you ask me. If you want a good deal on a computer, order online from companies like Tiger Direct or NewEgg, my favorite, where it’s always a tax free day.

I can see CLEARly now, the rain is gone...

2009-10-09T11:09:00.001-04:00

Clear Wireless – Have you seen the green advertising for Clear? It’s extremely fast mobile internet, called 4G or WiMAX. It is going to replace the telecommunications companies 3G data cards for speed and reliability. It is funded by Sprint, and it may become a huge chunk of Sprint’s revenues moving forward since people are leaving Spring in droves, bad service, no phones other than the Palm Pre, etc. It will allow you to be anywhere in Metro Atlanta and 9 other cities by the end of the year. It has potential, but as any other high cost infrastructure, tiny revenue company (like Vonage for example), I would be careful because no telling how long they will be around. Target about $50/month.

Should you get a mac?

2009-10-09T11:08:00.000-04:00

Macintosh Negatives – I really like the Mac. In fact, I was fortunate enough to have a Macintosh in 1984 and loved it. There are two huge negatives to switching to a Macintosh right now, 1 has to do with Blackberries and the other has to do with Activex. If you have a Blackberry phone, you will quickly notice that there is no good Blackberry software for the Mac. There is a program called PocketMac, and should you get it to work, you will amaze all of your friends as well as the staff here at Dunwoody PC. RIM is promising Blackberry Desktop Manager for the Mac soon and have been for some time now. The second big problem with Mac is that they don’t support Activex, which is the programming/scripting language by Microsoft that powers certain web sites. I see problems among my realtor clients because FMLS requires Activex and won’t run in Safari or Firefox on a Mac. Microsoft used to support Internet Explorer for Mac but hasn’t in a few years. The Apple Store will tell you “Just run Bootcamp or Parallels – they will allow you to run Windows programs”. Yah. Then ask them if they’ve ever installed it themselves and they will give you the royal blow-off and use their genius brain to help someone else. Mac people don’t like Windows people and vice versa. Not me. I like both.

What happens when you get canned?

2009-05-25T17:59:00.001-04:00

The danger of having a single computer for personal and business. (Or what I like to call techno-cross-contamination) What happens when you work for a company and lose your job? The attached Wall Street Journal article talks about people who work for decades for a company only to find out that when the IT staff is given the go-ahead, they cut off access to a computer at a moment’s notice before the now ex-employee had a chance to get their data. We can help migrate data (most importantly contacts, calendar, personal emails and browser favorites) from your work computer to another computer or to a safe data storage device like a flash drive, CD, etc. before it’s too late.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124105119428271155.html

Netbook with 3G Cell Phone Support

2009-05-25T17:58:00.002-04:00

A NetBook with 3G?!?! – OK, I’d love this deal if it was with Verizon Wireless, but I still might bite. Now through May 31, buy the Acer Aspire 10’ Netbook (1 Gig RAM, 160 Gig HD, Windows XP) for $429 - $250 instant rebate IF you sign up for $60/mon AT&T wireless data service on their 3G service for 2 years. Which means, for roughly $69/mon, you get a laptop that you can use anywhere that there’s an AT&T network. Your limit is 5 Gigs of downloads a month. Apparently more laptops and deals are to follow, but this seams pretty cool. Even though $69/mon sounds like a lot, when you start analyzing the last $1,000 laptop that you purchased, it’s not that much more expensive.

Update Your Antivirus Program

2009-05-25T17:58:00.001-04:00

Antivirus Updates. Make sure your antivirus program is updated. If you use any of the ones I recommend, AVG or Avast!, make sure that you’re on AVG 8.5 or Avast! 4.8.1335. Even though AVG might have popped up saying, too bad, you need to pay, it’s not true, and every time they do this it annoys me. Go to www.filehippo.com and search for AVG. Download the most current version. For Avast!, there is a green box that will appear on your desktop that says “A new version of Avast! is available, click here to download”. Go ahead and do it, and then follow the instructions to reboot. If either product is saying that you are expired, or you don’t see their icons in the bottom right, do something about it!

Online Backups

2009-05-25T17:55:00.002-04:00

Another plea for online backup. Dunwoody PC still believes that an online backup is the safest place for your data. We recommend Carbonite. They back up, automatically, all your personal data to the internet. Unlimited storage capacity for 1 computer, $54.95/year. Only two negatives, no video file backup and you can’t back up your external hard drive should you already have one. As my client Diego Montoya found out (name, sex and ethnicity changed to protect the formerly unprotected), not backing up stinks. We even tried the company that I recommend to restore the unrestore-able, and they didn’t have any luck bringing Diego’s data back. Kids pictures, videos, checkbook and tax data, all gone.

http://carbonite.com/aff/cj/cj/buy1.aspx?cmpid=BA_CJAFF_BUY1

Preventative Maintenance -

2009-05-25T17:51:00.001-04:00

Residential Customer Preventative Maintenance (or “Pay Dunwoody PC a little now, instead of a lot later”) – For $99/year for the first computer, $49/year each additional computer, we will come to your home 2 times a year and provide the following services:

Check Antivirus, Windows Updates, Wireless Encryption, Backups, Clean Temporary Files

Recommend Product Updates, additional software, computers, peripherals, internet services

Legal fun with compressed air cans including keyboard and case cleaning

At that point, additional services can be scheduled should they be necessary. And, if you are taking advantage of this promotion, we will provide a 20% discount on all repair work (not including parts) during the year that you are a member. Restrictions do apply. Please call with any questions. Keep in mind that this promotion is for preventative maintenance and does not apply if your computer issues are already crippling! Call us at 404-702-3726.

Offer valid for Dunwoody and the surrounding areas only.

How To Disable Gmail Spam Filter

2009-05-25T17:47:00.003-04:00

I, and a few of my clients use Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows mail to frontend Gmail. One of my clients said "hey, why can't my wife email me?" I did some searching and found that Gmail had filtered the emails and marked them as SPAM. Here's how to fix it.

Log into your gmail account.
Click on Settings
Click on Filters Tab
Click on Create a New Filter
In the "Has the words" field, type in:spam
Click Next Step
Click OK through their warning message
Click Never send it to spam
Click Apply Filter

If you already have emails in the filter, click on your SPAM folder
Click Select All
Click Not SPAM

You're Done!

Circuit City is a Waste of Time

2008-12-17T22:12:00.002-05:00

I went to the Dunwoody Circuit City over the weekend. Between the inflated retail prices and the misleading signs (40-60% off and in small print, lots of exclusions). Don't waste your time. I saw a 500 gig internal hard drive for $225 AFTER DISCOUNT where this part is roughly $75 at MicroCenter any day. Just because something has an amazing discount doesn't mean you need to buy it.

Add the old Office 2003 Menus to Office 2007

2008-12-17T22:09:00.002-05:00

The #1 question I hear from people who have installed Office 2007 is how they can get their old menus back. Well, you can visit www.addintools.com and purchase menus for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Access and Powerpoint! I've had a client install the Word and Excel versions, and they were very happy with the outcome!

Install Your Windows Updates!

2008-12-17T22:07:00.002-05:00

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard that Windows has announced a scary bug in Internet Explorer that can be exploited by the bad guys. They released a patch today and can be downloaded and installed by clicking on the little yellow Windows shield in the bottom icon bar and clicking install!

Circuit City and Liquidations

2008-11-27T19:29:00.001-05:00

As you probably know, Circuit City is closing all of their Atlanta locations and is declaring bankruptcy. They are liquidating their inventories with signs of up to 30% off as of the other day. I don’t think this is any great shakes. Their sales are being run by Hilco Trading, a restructuring firm; it’s not even 100% Circuit City’s original inventory since Hilco will bring in their own products. Imagine buying something that isn’t even a true Circuit City product. Plus, those discounts are up to 30% off the original list price of the product. Sometimes, this discounted price is not better than Circuit City’s (or Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Costco etc) regular price. Also, I have a rule that I don’t buy from a place that won’t be there to back up their product if there’s an issue separate from having to fight with the manufacturer. The next ones to go, I predict, is Borders and/or Barnes and Noble.

Netbooks

2008-11-27T19:28:00.005-05:00

The recommended life of a laptop is only 4 years. This is due to two factors. First, laptops suffer from wear and tear issues at an accelerated rate compared to desktop computers. Second, there’s the concept of technological obsolescence. Let’s say you spent $600 on a laptop. That would average to $12.50 a month. A lot of people who buy laptops are only looking for basic capabilities, like web surfing and email. A new category of computer has starting taking off. They are called Netbooks. They are smaller than a traditional laptop, usually with a screen size of 8-10”, webcam, wireless and a weight under 3 lbs. They have an Intel ATOM or equivalent processor. They run either XP or Linux (don’t be scared, it’ll still do email and web surfing!). The most regarded model on the market is the Acer Aspire One. This model is available everywhere including Target and Walmart. The XP version sells for $400, the Linux version for $50 less. If this computer lasts for only 3 years, the monthly cost is still less than a traditional laptop. After Christmas, this will be an oversaturated market and you might be able to get the same computer for 25% less than today’s prices.

Overheating Sony Laptops

2008-11-27T19:28:00.003-05:00

If you have a Sony VAIO laptop, click on the following link:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?template_id=1&news_id=272

Why Buy New?

2008-11-27T19:28:00.001-05:00

Delta Computers on Tilly Mill Rd next to the Home Depot have a great selection of used computers, with very low prices. Most of these computers run Windows XP. They stand behind what they sell. I have heard bad stories about their service. It’s cheap but really slow and may need several visits to get right. But, the computer selection of desktops and a few laptops may be a better alternative than buying new with the unpredictable economy. Also, Microseconds on Roswell Road near Johnson Ferry Rd is another good choice for used computers, but I think their prices are a lot higher at last check.

Problems with Vista x64 - Positives for Costco

2008-11-27T19:27:00.003-05:00

Although not as scary as the previous topic, but more prevalent is Microsoft Vista x64 SP1. This is the latest and “greatest” (only using the word greatest because latest and “not as good as Windows XP” doesn’t rhyme) version that has hit the streets. When Vista first came out, it was built for a 32 bit processor and called Vista. Then Service Pack 1 came out. Then, Vista x64 Service Pack 1 which require updated drivers for the hardware in the computers. The problem arises when the drivers to support sound, video, etc are not fully x64 tested. I had a client in Wynterhall who every time he rebooted his brand new Costco HP Vista x64 computer, the sound drivers would cease to function until he reinstalled them, rebooted, and then he lost them again. This wasn’t Microsoft’s fault, it was Realtek, who made the faulty software drivers. That’s why I like Costco. 90 days no questions asked return policy, which he took full advantage of.

Is Illegal File Sharing Worth It?

2008-11-27T19:27:00.001-05:00

Don’t let your kids install peer to peer file sharing programs on any of your computers that have sensitive information on them. Don’t believe me? Click on the following link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/08/AR2008070802997_pf.html

XP Aint Dead Yet

2008-11-27T19:26:00.001-05:00

Microsoft just extended the date where you can get a Windows Vista computer downgraded (Microsoft-speak for we’re going to charge you for this capability) to Windows XP Professional. It’s now next July. Therefore, if you need a new computer but don’t want Windows Vista, you can still go directly to the computer manufacturer and get what you want.

Airborne is a SCAM

2008-09-18T18:32:00.002-04:00

Did Oprah con you into buying Airborne fizzy health tablets? Did you know that the company just admitted that the tablets do absolutely nothing? Did you know that you can go to their website, make a claim – WITHOUT HAVING PROOF OF PURCHASE? Go here, http://www.airbornehealthsettlement.com/ and claim your money!

Ebates - Shop and Make Money!

2008-09-18T18:32:00.001-04:00

For several years, I have been telling you about Ebates. Basically, if you go to Ebates.Com, and link from Ebates to a web site that they are affiliated with and purchase something, you get a percentage kicked back to you. Every three months, you get a check from Ebates. My latest check was for $50.89, for shopping at Expedia, Apple, Dell, Sears and Buy.Com. I totally recommend the service. If you decide to try it out, please let them know that Adam@DunwoodyPC.Com referred you. We both get a bonus for doing so. My total is $522 since I started.