Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Windows 7
Windows 7 is the name currently given to the system that will replace Windows Vista. Microsoft hopes to deliver Windows 7 in 2010, perhaps earlier. That means that Windows 7 could be delivered in time for Christmas NEXT YEAR! PC World gives us a look at the pre-Beta version in an article worth perusing.
Those of us who will be able to stay with Windows XP and avoid Vista should be able to jump from XP to 7 directly - should we decide we want to or need to. Remember that Windows XP will be supported until 2014!
From the article: "Windows 7, successor to Windows Vista, is slated to ship in early 2010 (although rumor has it that Microsoft hopes to get it out even earlier. But aside from saying it will refine Vista's kernel, Microsoft hadn't released many details about the new OS--until now. Pre-beta code distributed at the Microsoft Professional Developers' conference suggests that Microsoft is serious about creating a less in-your-face OS."
Read the article and view screen shots from the pre-Beta version:
Those of us who will be able to stay with Windows XP and avoid Vista should be able to jump from XP to 7 directly - should we decide we want to or need to. Remember that Windows XP will be supported until 2014!
From the article: "Windows 7, successor to Windows Vista, is slated to ship in early 2010 (although rumor has it that Microsoft hopes to get it out even earlier. But aside from saying it will refine Vista's kernel, Microsoft hadn't released many details about the new OS--until now. Pre-beta code distributed at the Microsoft Professional Developers' conference suggests that Microsoft is serious about creating a less in-your-face OS."
Read the article and view screen shots from the pre-Beta version:
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
PC Security
It seems strange to be repeating a post I just wrote two weeks ago, but in these past two weeks I have been very busy fighting fires on customer machines with serious problems. As said earlier, just because you are not paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you! There are lots of bad guys out there just looking for vulnerable systems. Unfortunately, several of you know exactly what I mean.
Once again, the best defense is a good offense. You have to take action to protect your systems. I use and recommend all 6 of these, and they are all absolutely free:
CCleaner
AVG Free Anti-virus
Spybot
Windows Defender
Hosts File found at http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
AdAware
These help me to keep my systems running virus-free and spyware-free. In spite of what I said on October 14 about AdAware, I still keep it on my systems and will run it periodically.
Keep in mind that these programs have versions, and you may not have the latest. Examples, Spybot is Version 1.60, Adaware is AdAware 2008 7.1.0.8, and so on. Check yours and make sure you have the latest, as well as all updates to the latest versions.
Once again, the best defense is a good offense. You have to take action to protect your systems. I use and recommend all 6 of these, and they are all absolutely free:
CCleaner
AVG Free Anti-virus
Spybot
Windows Defender
Hosts File found at http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
AdAware
These help me to keep my systems running virus-free and spyware-free. In spite of what I said on October 14 about AdAware, I still keep it on my systems and will run it periodically.
Keep in mind that these programs have versions, and you may not have the latest. Examples, Spybot is Version 1.60, Adaware is AdAware 2008 7.1.0.8, and so on. Check yours and make sure you have the latest, as well as all updates to the latest versions.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Ronald McDonald House
Those of you who know me or who have been reading my blog know that I have been asking for donations of used laptops since the Spring of this year. My idea has been to clean and tune these machines and make them available to people who are residents at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Burlington, VT. People, usually parents and families of premature babies or cancer patients or others, can stay at the RMH. The RMH has one desktop PC and a wireless network that those who bring their laptops can use. Many families do not have laptops and I saw this as a need I wanted to try to fill. With a wireless laptop they can then have easy access to e-mail and the internet, or perhaps even online classes for their co-resident kids while staying at the RMH. More importantly, in my vision of this over time, these folks can carry the laptops up to the hospital and access e-mail and the internet from the patient's room. This vision requires cooperation from the hospital in allowing the users to access the hospital's network. I am happy to report that I have already had one successful situation with the hospital doing just this.
So where am I now with this project? I have met with the RMH management and they support me in this. I have 3 usable laptops I have cobbled together from your donations. Starting in November I will make these machines available to the RMH by leaving them at the RMH with the local team of staff and volunteers, and they in turn will make them available to residents who have a need. This is a good news situation and I am really excited about moving forward with the program. As stated elsewhere, I think, this will be done at no cost to anyone, and I will maintain the laptops and provide support to users, again at no cost to anyone.
What can you do to help? I have an urgent need for laptop carrying cases. Most people give me an old laptop along with its power cord, and that's about it. If you have a carrying case you are not using, please contact me and I'll gladly pick it up. I also need more donations of used laptops. It would be great if they work, but I realize I can't be fussy about this. I will do my best to make parts from broken machines into whole working machines. Also, I really only want machines that have run or are running Windows XP. This is a statement about age of the machine more than anything else.
Finally, I want to carry this further. The RMH may not have a great need in terms of numbers, so any machines I have more than the RMH needs I will begin to use at other charities that have residents who can make use of the technology.
So where am I now with this project? I have met with the RMH management and they support me in this. I have 3 usable laptops I have cobbled together from your donations. Starting in November I will make these machines available to the RMH by leaving them at the RMH with the local team of staff and volunteers, and they in turn will make them available to residents who have a need. This is a good news situation and I am really excited about moving forward with the program. As stated elsewhere, I think, this will be done at no cost to anyone, and I will maintain the laptops and provide support to users, again at no cost to anyone.
What can you do to help? I have an urgent need for laptop carrying cases. Most people give me an old laptop along with its power cord, and that's about it. If you have a carrying case you are not using, please contact me and I'll gladly pick it up. I also need more donations of used laptops. It would be great if they work, but I realize I can't be fussy about this. I will do my best to make parts from broken machines into whole working machines. Also, I really only want machines that have run or are running Windows XP. This is a statement about age of the machine more than anything else.
Finally, I want to carry this further. The RMH may not have a great need in terms of numbers, so any machines I have more than the RMH needs I will begin to use at other charities that have residents who can make use of the technology.
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