Home Computing

Windows 7 Update….

2010-02-23T21:31:00.000-05:00

Okay, it has now been 4 months since Windows 7 launched on October 22, 2009….and how are things going? Well, perhaps the lack of Apple advertisements bashing Windows lately is a hint. I have been using 7 for some months now and have upgraded and installed many new systems for customers since the launch and I am happy to report that Windows 7 seems to be very stable. Not only is it stable but on newer systems it seems to perform quicker and smoother than previous Windows releases.

Bottom line, Windows 7 seems to be worth the hype we heard last fall. Read my previous blog on upgrading for my recommendations….

Online Backup Update......

2010-01-17T15:38:00.002-05:00

Since I wrote my blog entry - Online Backup....it’s time has come, Finally! - I have been doing a lot of testing of these services....conclusion...Carbonite seems to be the real winner for most users. I have been using the Carbonite service for a few months now and it has been a real set-it and forget-it experience. I have also tested restoring of miscellanous files and it has been very smooth and easy to use. Full disclosure...I have been so impressed that I have signed up and am now a Carbonite reseller and recommending it to my customers. As I mentioned in my previous blog, important files should be backed up in multiple places, so a local backup for important files and a remote backup for ALL files is the way to go....don't be caught with a failed hard drive and no way to recover your data, you don't know how important your data is to you till you loose it....don't wait until it's too late. Backup now!

Do it Yourself – System Tune up!

2009-11-11T23:32:00.000-05:00

It is very rare that I find a system utility that I would recommend to novice computer users....but I have found one! I have been using this one for a while and it is truly easy to use and not only does it work but it's free! Advanced System Care Free is the program and is available at

http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html

In my last post about upgrading to Windows 7 I recommended that if your current computer is running a bit sluggish then a tuneup and adding memory is a good first place to start. Well Advanced System Care is a good do-it-yourself tuneup utility and I would advise you to download and give it a try. I have been using this on a couple of my systems, an XP Pro system and a Windows Vista laptop (the one I am typing on now!) and I must say that I am impressed. Besides the tuneup tools Advanced System Care has, there is also another good utility it has and that is a tool called SMART RAM. One way to determine if your system is in need of some extra RAM is to run this tool. It puts an ICON in your system tray and shows you how much free physical RAM is available, it turns red when you are dangerously low, this is a good indication that your system is in need of some more RAM. So, give this tool a test run on your system and hopefully you will see the same good results I have.

Windows 7….What should I do???

2009-10-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

With the upcoming launch of Windows 7 later this week, I have gotten many calls asking if they should upgrade now or wait or ??????? So here is my general recommendations regarding Windows 7 for home users.

If you are going to puchase a new PC, my recommendation is to wait and purchase one with Windows 7 pre-installed. I know PC makers are offering free upgrades, but it is always cleaner to install a fresh copy of any operating system rather than going through the upgrade path….so wait and order one with Windows 7 already installed. Oh, and don’t forget to install the latest maintenance once you power your new system up…there are some significant security patches already available that need to be applied. This is something I always do for my customers who order their systems through me.

For you people that are not in the market for a new PC and are wondering weather or not to upgrade, my general recommendation is not to upgrade. Of course, as with most technology recommendations there are always exceptions. The exception in this case is that if for some reason your system is in need of a reimage (that is a reload of the operating system, programs and data) AND your current system is powerful enough for Windows 7 AND you have or are willing to install enough memory, then a Windows 7 upgrade is a possibility. Again, general recommendation for older hardware is to stay where you are and install all the current maintenance that is available via Windows Update. Remember, if your system is running sluggish, a tune-up and adding memory is usually the first place to start if your system is a P4 or above. Anything less than a P4….perhaps a new Windows 7 system is in your future!

A Free Phone....It's Magic!

2009-10-01T00:06:00.001-04:00

Well, not exactly magic....it's MagicJack, and well, not exactly free, but pretty darn cheap! So, I have a phone in my office that I use for outgoing calls, mostly toll free numbers for conference calls. It was costing me about $35 per month, just for basic phone service, taxes, and more taxes. So basically we are talking about $420 per year for this extra line. I have just canceled this line with my local phone company and replaced it with MagicJack. I paid $40 for this ingenious device, which includes the device, software and 1 year of free local and long distance calling. When you install the device, which is nothing more than plugging it into a USB port on your computer, you go through a registration process and you get to pick an area code and exchange for free and the registration assigns the last four digits of your new phone number. For a small fee you can also pick your last four digits.....I opted for the free number. So this MagicJack uses the Internet to make your and receive your calls, this means you need to connect it to a computer that is on all the time if you want this phone available all the time....Oh, did I mention that there is free voice mail also with this device? I have not used the voice mail yet and probably never will, but as I mentioned, I will be using this to make outbound calls only, a worthy option non the less.

Bottom line....I am saving $380 for the first year and $400 for the second year, since renewal is of the service is only $20. The device is simple to install and use (since you hook up a normal house phone to it). I haven't used it enough yet to cancel my home or business phone....but stay tuned, if it works reliably day in and day out, which I don't see why it wouldn't, who knows, that may be my next step!

Online Music at it’s Finest!

2009-08-05T09:47:00.000-04:00

Ever wish your radio station only played music you liked and was commercial free? Well your wish is here! With Pandora, (http://www.pandora.com) you tell them what your favorite artists and/or songs are and Pandora will play only songs of similar characteristics, all for free and commercial free. Another feature is you can add Pandora to your mobile device and listen on the go! I have turned several of my customers onto Pandora and have had nothing but rave reviews. Check it out and see what you think….Until next time…..

Put your Calendar in the Cloud.......

2009-07-26T16:39:00.001-04:00

Another post on cloud computing....as promised. Need to organize your time better (and who doesn’t?), using an online calendar may be just what you’re looking for. There are many of them out there, both free and fee based. For many, the free ones work just fine. One that I like is Google Calendar, I use a computer based calendar system called Time & Chaos, I have used this for years and have found it to be very helpful and has many fine features. Now they also have a web based or cloud based version also, one that there is a monthly fee for. So when they introduced a synchronization tool to synch up with Google Calendar I had to try it and it works very well. Not only can you synch up the calendar but also all of your contacts as well. So now I have my local based calendar tool, which does many other things like print labels, envelopes and more, AND I have the ability to access my calendar and contacts from any computer after I synch it up with Google! The best of both worlds. There is a one time charge for Time & Chaos $49.95 but the web access is now free if you use Google….give it a try, there is a 30 day trial for Time & Chaos, you have nothing to lose and organization to gain!……Until next time…

Browser Wars, who wins....You do!

2009-07-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

The browser wars continue, there is the newly released IE8 (Microsoft’s Internet Explorer), FireFox 3 (the open source browser), Safari (Apple’s Web Browser) Chrome (Googles entry). The jury is out on who wins this war, but one thing for sure is this competition is bringing you and me new looks and features that we can all enjoy. I started out years ago, like most of us using Internet Explorer, it does the job and it’s back by Microsoft, so it must be good....right? J. Well, move over IE, there are other choices available, and these days they are highly competitive if not better than the Microsoft offering. I have been using FireFox for quite a while now as my browser of choice, it seems to be faster as well as a bit more intuitive to use. Lately though, Safari, Apple’s internet browser has been getting some good press, so I am trying it now. So far, it too seems faster than IE and has some good features as well. In a later post I will get into the specifics as to features of each of these browsers and perhaps come up with a new recommendation. Google’s Chrome is also promising, very fast, some nice features and….well, it’s from Google!. As of now, FireFox is still my browser of choice, but who knows, perhaps after some more experience with Safari or as I checkout the new feature of IE8 and Chrome, my recommendation may change. In any event, whatever browser you are using, my absolute recommendation is for you to ensure you keep up to date with maintenance for it. After all, we are using the browser to access important personal data, including our banking information. By having the latest maintenance on ensure the latest known security holes are plugged, which is my most important recommendation. Until next time..........

Anti Virus Tips

2009-07-11T22:46:00.001-04:00

There are many facets of computing security that one needs to be aware of to provide a safe online experience. One of the most misunderstood is anti-virus software and keeping it up to date. Often when I have customers that acquire a virus I am asked, how could this be, I have the anti virus software that was on my system when I bought it? You need to be aware that along with the AV software comes a timed subscription to updates that if you don’t renew or upgrade, expire and leave you open to any new virus’s that born. You see, as virus’s are created and start to spread, the AV companies are busy finding them and writing detection routines to prevent them from infecting your system. Without these updates, new virus’s can and do infect systems that you may think are protected. So it is important to pay attention to the expiration notices that appear warning you to renew your AV subscription. Another important and often asked question is how do I know if these notices I receive are for real or just a ploy to get me to buy something? This is actually a good question and one that is not easily answered. You see, there are many companies out there that produce pop ups or windows that make them look like legitimate requests to either upgrade software or messages that your system is infected and you MUST take immediate action. The safest thing to do is to always click on (X) in the upper right hand corner of the window to close it and never click on anything inside of the window as it might be one of these phony offers. First of all, Windows is not going to tell you that it is infected with a virus, so if it looks like Windows is providing the information it is most likely bogus. Best thing to do is close the window and run a complete virus scan of the system, one that you initiate. You can launch your AV software and check to make sure your virus definitions file is up to date and your subscription is valid. So if in doubt, you initiate the scans and you initiate the program to see status, that is the only sure fire way to tell if you are protected, don’t reply on unsolicited pop up messages. It’s always good practice to periodically launch your AV software and check to ensure it’s fully active and up-to-date, most have an easy to read status screen that give a good summary of your AV protection.

There are many free anti-virus options to protect your system, so having to pay for subscriptions is not necessary. There are many out there, my favorite has been AVG, they have been around for years and are highly rated. A newer free offering is from Panda, another highly rated company. The twist with Panda is they are using some new technology that loads a small client on your machine and offloads a lot of the detected to their systems in the “cloud”. As cloud computing continues to the be hot topic, this seems like a great alternative, especially if your computer is always connected to the internet (cloud). Panda’s offering can be downloaded from http://www.cloudantivirus.com and the AVG free offering can get downloaded from http://free.avg.com. Until next time........

Online Backup....it’s time has come, Finally!

2009-06-25T14:11:00.000-04:00

So, back in 1999 I was looking to enhance my business services and wanted to offer an online backup service to my customers. Well at that time high speed internet was not as pervasive, nor was it as high speed as today, the online backup software market was in its infancy and it was a fair expensive proposition. Fast forward to today and all of a sudden, high speed internet is really high speed, more data is being lost by not backing up or backing up incorrectly, we are much more dependant on the computers and more important the data they contain about our lives and our businesses. Cloud computing (there’s that phrase again!) is coming of age and online backup is a perfect application to take advantage of it. Now in 2009, ten years later, it’s time to backup online. These services are relatively inexpensive (and for a modest amount of data, the’re free!) and very easy to use. In fact the ones I recommend are truly a set-it-and-forget-it type. I have been testing several of these services and each has their strong points. The one thing I look for in a backup service is that it has to be a reputable company. If they are going to store my personal or business data, they need to be a company I can trust with my data, and oh, a company that is going to still be there years down the road. So I eliminated local backup providers, the mom and pop businesses (like mine!). I want to be sure that not only my data is backed up, but my backup provider also backs it up, and even more important, my privacy is maintained. Something that a “mom and pop” backup service may not be able to guarantee.
I had to narrow down my provider selection, so I picked Carbonite, Mozy Home and Syncplicity.

Carbonite and Mozy Home are comparable, they work basically by copying new and changed data daily to the “cloud” backup center. They work as advertised and are very reliable, either of them in my opinion would be a cloud computing application I would use. Then there is Syncplicity, they take a slightly different approach, as files are added or changed they are immediately backed up. So no need to wait until the witching hour to have your files backed up, they are done so immediately, which seems to me to be an advantage. Also an added feature of Syncplicity is that it can keep your files in sync with multiple computers. So if you want to keep your desktop and laptop in sync with your latest pictures or word processing files, this service can do this for you and it really works smoothly! I really like this because it give you a local backup copy as well as the remote copy, something I recommend as well, having a local and remote copy ensures your data is protected with multiple copies. Syncplicity also give you access to your files via the internet as well, another nice feature. All the services work in the background and don’t seem to interfere with the performance of your computer, which is another very important factor. The only disadvantage is that Syncplicity is not a public company but is a startup. Will it survive? Time will tell, and to one of these larger more established companies that want to enhance their backup services or provide new ones, this is a perfect company to look at partnering with or possibly acquiring. The software is solid, the idea and implementation is great, the demand for this is growing.....what are you waiting for you well established companies....look into this.

Other known players in this space is Idrive and SOS. I haven’t yet tested these yet, but both seem to have the features and backing needed to get the job done. SOS also has the local synching capabilities that I like with Syncplicity.

Bottom line…..backup your data! Using these tools will make it easier and it will also give you an offsite copy for true disaster protection. Oh, and did I mention that most of these (if not all of them) have free options for limited amount of data? If you don’t have a lot of critical data or if you just want to test before you buy, this is a perfect option. Until next time.......

New Use for that old PC!

2009-06-17T23:00:00.000-04:00

Don’t throw away or recycle that old PC yet....

Have an old computer you replaced that was slow...outdated...HOLD EVERYTHING!! Before recycling your old computer, if you have a place for an “internet only” PC in your residence...then perhaps you can recycle the computer in place. I am talking about a new, inexpensive software product called Presto!. Presto! install’s as a second boot partition on your windows PC and provides almost instant access to the internet. Presto! is Linux based, the free open-source operating system combined with FireFox. After you install Presto! you reboot into the Presto! partition and shazam...you’re on the internet. So if you have the need for the convenience of having a second (or third) PC that boots quickly and use it only to access the internet and email (remember by recommendation of web-based email....this seems like a good idea now, doesn’t it?), Presto! may be just what you’re looking for. Check it out at www.prestomypc.com or if you want some help setting it up, let me know and we will be happy to assist......until next time

Where is your EMAIL?

2009-06-11T22:21:00.000-04:00

If you read my post on cloud computing, perhaps you have seen my hint that I am recommending the use of a web-based email product. For you people that are still using “computer based” email clients, it’s time to think about either switching to web-based email or you can have the best of both worlds...that is you can still continue to use your favorite email client AND web-based email. You just need to make sure you have the option to keep a copy of your email on the server set....and don’t use the option to delete off the server.

I have used many email services and email clients and I always come back to GMAIL as my favorite. For the longest time I stayed away from web based email, and then when I started testing them, I really liked Yahoo Mail, that is until I really understood and fully tested GMAIL. GMAIL really does seem to have the best interface and functionality. Once you understand labels and see it’s spam detection at work, I thing you will also conclude the GMAIL is the best email application. I know there are those AOL users who are used to the AOL interface and don’t want to switch, I have plenty of customers who still use AOL. These are the customers that call me the most with problems with their email and how to manipulate attachments! I know it’s a pain to switch email services and letting everyone know your new email address, but there are plenty of ways to get the word out and even some tools to help smooth over the transitions, like auto forwarding email to your new ID.

Some of the advantages of cloud computing (there’s those words again) email are:

1.Accessible from any computer connected to the internet (and what computer isn’t?)
2.No need to backup your emails and address book, leave that to the pro’s, besides backing up and restoring email and address books can be tricky depending on the email client you are using.
3.Switch, discontinue, move, whatever...never need to change your email address anymore.
4.Can integrate with your favorite email client...for you die-hard’s who want the best of both worlds.
5.Its’ FREE!!!!

The one disadvantage.....you must be connected to the internet to see your past emails...that is if you don’t integrate with and email client....but wait...there may be new news here, google has an offline viewer in the labs which you can try if you like!

Bottom line is my recommendation is GMAIL as the best “cloud computing” email service for the greatest flexibility and protection. Not having to worry about backing up email and address books alone is worth the switch......until next time.

Friendly SPAM?

2009-06-08T11:07:00.001-04:00

Is there such a thing as friendly SPAM? Sure there is, friendly SPAM are those emails you receive from friends and relatives sending jokes, political or religious content, phony virus alerts, get rich quick schemes……well you get the idea. I get plenty of SPAM without having to go through “friendly SPAM” from people I know. I consider myself lucky, my family and friends don’t bombard me with this emails (anymore), I do get some, but these are usually ones that the sender thinks I would real interested in reading and fits my sense of humor. If you are receiving “friendly SPAM” from some of your friends or relatives, send them an email and tell them nicely to take you off their mass mailing email list and only send you ones that they think you would enjoy. Remind them about email etiquette, basically not for forward emails to a mass mailing list, rather hand pick emails and send them to a select few that would enjoy them. Then you can also send them the following link, it is a humorous video recapping some of the notorious SPAM from the past, check it out, I think you will enjoy it!

http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf

Cloud Computing

2009-06-06T10:41:00.000-04:00

Ok, now that we all have high speed internet (right?....get with it!), the time has come to fully embrace “cloud computing”. Cloud Computing is a term that means many things to different people, but the main idea is applications and data reside in the “cloud” or internet. So how should you be using cloud computing? Chances are you already have been! If you use an email service, you are using cloud computing to an extent...and my recommendation is to use it to the fullest to gain the most advantages. Check back to read my “Where is your EMAIL?” post, coming soon for details....but now back to cloud computing. With the wide spread use high speed internet capabilities, you now have the ability to fully exploit applications such as webmail, online storage and backups, document creation, online calendaring, reminders and so much more with more to come as cloud computing is fully embraced. Many of my upcoming posts will explore some cloud computing applications, which ones are worth using and which ones are....not.
Check back soon........or catch my blog announcements on Twitter. Until next time...........

Welcome

2009-06-05T23:24:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the Home Computing Consultant’s blog. For those who are not familiar with blogs, the main idea of a blog (weB LOG) is to provide a vehicle to post thoughts, comments, or just about anything to share with other users of the web. In this case, my HCC blog is mainly used to convey information to our customers and the community on Home Computing issues and will be updated weekly. In future posts I will be commenting and hopefully providing some educational information on computing topics of interest to help make your computing experiences more rewarding and enjoyable. Some of the topics on the agenda (in no particular order) are:

* Cloud Computing

* Computing Security
- Wireless Networking
- Firewall
- Anti-Virus
- Spyware
- Malware

* Email systems – Webmail vs Email Clients
- AOL
- Gmail
- Yahoo
- Optonline / Verizon
- Outlook / Outlook Express

* Web Browsers
- Internet Explorer
- Safari
- FireFox
- Chrome

* Free Software Downloads
- The Good ones!

* Backup your system(s)!

* PC vs MAC

These topics and more are planned. Don’t worry, they will be straight forward and in easy to understand terms, this is not meant for geeks, but more geared toward the novice home computer user, information you can use. I get a kick out of people when they describe themselves as computer illiterate. This simply is not true, if you can send and receive an email, your already are computer literate. Just because you don’t understand the inner workings of a computer doesn’t mean you are computer illiterate. Do you understand the inner workings of your cars engine and drive train? Does this mean you can’t drive? Do you understand how your TV and phone’s transmit images and voice to your homes? Does this mean you don’t know how to watch TV or call someone on a phone? You just need to understand how to use the devices to achieve a desired result, such as sending an email, or looking up a web page, or paying a bill online. Don’t let the technology scare you, if everyone did then we would all be huddled around the radio in the evenings....which may be better than some of the reality shows I have heard of lately.

Don’t forget to check back often and read my newest blog entry, I hope you enjoy them!
An easy way to ensure you don’t miss any of my blog entries is to follow me on Twitter, that’s hcomputing on Twitter! Until next time...........