15 great gadgets for the back-to-school crowd

Okay, I admit it, I've been lazy about trying to do a new post each day. It is SUMMER, after all!

I never recommend anything I haven't at least tried once, so I am not recommending any of the items in this Computerworld article. I just thought that those of you with college-aged kids might be hearing about some of these, so forewarned is forearmed.

15 great gadgets for the back-to-school crowd

Memory

I continue to be amazed at how many customers I help out who complain about a sluggish PC and who have 256MB of memory or RAM (Random Access memory) on their machines. 256MB worked for the early versions of Windows XP, but we have come a long way since then. We have had SP1, SP2, and many other security and other improvements since then, and 256MB just does NOT cut it any more.

Some also think that when I bring this up I am talking about the size of the hard drive. I am not. Hard (or disk) drive space is not usually a problem as long as one is careful and runs defragment (for space) and check disk (for health) once in a while.

Nowadays you should be thiking about having 1GB of RAM to run Windows XP and the other programs you run on it. Anti-virus and spyware programs, while free in the sense that there is no charge for them, also take up some valuable RAM.

Memory (RAM) has never been less expensive than it is today. Please revisit my post of April 2, "Thanks for the Memory" to see how you can find out if your machine can support a memory upgrade. Most can.

How much memory or RAM do you have on your machine now? Check my post of March 2 to see how you can find out.

Questions? Write or call me.

AVG Free Version 8

In case you missed it, in my blog post of July 12 I recommended migrating to AVG Free Version 8. If you have not yet made the conversion, you have until August 31 when updates to Version 7.5 will cease.

I have found that Version 8 is a fine product. I have it on all of my machines, and I have been installing it on all of my summer customers' machines.

Thumb Drives

I was in Costco last week and saw my same Cruzer Micro 8GB thumb drive now sports a price of $37! This is down from the $48 I paid just a short time ago. If you don't have a thumb drive and have a Costco membership (or know someone who does), this is a terrific buy.

AOL

Okay, sometimes I get a little grumpy about some products, like Vista and any fee-based security product (like Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, etc.).

Now I have to admit that I have just about had it with AOL. I do not understand why anyone would still be using it. I'm not just talking about the AOL 9.1 client, but even AOL Webmail.

I recommend giving it up. Get yourself a Google e-mail account and put all the fuss and muss about AOL behind you. Go ahead and write that note you have been putting off writing informing your friends and family that you have a new e-mail address, wait a month or two, and never use AOL again.

In the past week I have had to reinstall AOL 9.1 on a customer's machine because the current copy had somehow gotten corrupted. The reinstall eliminated the problem.

I have had a customer on satellite who was unable to access her AOL e-mail in any way, could not even access a plain aol.com home page, whether AOL Desktop or webmail. Checking online blogs we found several other AOL users, also on satellite, who had the same problem. This had been going on for about 3 days starting around July 20. I don't know if the problem is fixed yet, but come on, why satellite users only AOL? She could access her e-mail on another computer not satellite-linked. Weird!

A customer who switched from using the desktop client AOL 9.1 to AOL Webmail discovered that on Webmail she could not (and AOL confirmed this on the phone) access her saved e-mail that was saved on her own PC! Yes, any e-mail saved on AOL could be accessed on webmail. Go figure!

And, hard to believe, but some people are still paying for the privilege of using this bloated, problem-prone, program. It turns out that unless you are a paying customer, you can't call for help!

So who needs it? Bite the bullet! Cut the cord and experience freedom from AOL!

Spybot 1.6

There is a new version of Spybot, Version 1.6, available now, and compared to V1.5 it is as fast as lightning! They have somehow drastically improved its runtime speed.You can get it (free as always, but they do welcome donations) at download.com.

In a couple of days I will detail here how to set this up to run automatically, including getting updates, immunization, and a check for problems, automatically deleting all of the items it finds.

Skin Vista to Look Like Windows XP

Okay, some of you (those with Vista) may be a little tired of me bad-mouthing Vista, so I apologize to those who may feel that way. The plain truth is that I do not like Vista. I invested some $800 in a Vista laptop a year and a half ago. I needed it for teaching and for supporting my customers who had Vista, but I never said I liked it!

Years ago I heard of a company investing millions in a system with a name like Corporate Manufacturing Information System, or as it was called, CMIS. Users soon came to call it Corporate Mistake on an Incredible Scale. To me that is what Vista is, and Microsoft has only itself to blame.

So today I see this article on pcworld.com, and I had to smile. I have already made some but not all of the suggested changes. I think they are all fine but you may want to be sure you can return to the original before making any of them if, like me, you yearn for the good old days of XP!

Skin Vista to Look Like Windows XP

Buying a new Dell PC with Windows XP

I assisted a customer of mine 2 days ago with the online purchase of a new Dell PC that comes with Windows XP loaded and ready to go. We simply went to the Dell web site, clicked on Office (not Home), and then selected Small and Medium Business. We selected the machine we wanted and then customized the configuration. On the Ship To screen, we simply put the person's name, and when asked for the Company Name, repeated the customer's name. That's all there was to it. The new machine will be delivered within 3-5 business days. Oh, forgot to mention that it comes with a Vista installation disk so that should the customer ever want to migrate to Vista that can be done at no additional cost.

PC World - What Does It Take to get a PC with XP

Are you in the market for a new PC but concerned about Windows Vista (which you should be!)?

Online today at PCWorld is this article that explains how to get a new PC with Windows XP from any of the major vendors. Those of you in the market for a new PC may try one of the tactics featured in this article. I, for example, should be able to buy one for my business, the PC Doctor. I am sure most people have some sort of in-home business and could probably do the same.

PC World - What Does It Take to get a PC with XP

Time to migrate to AVG V8. Here’s How!

I migrated from AVG Free V7.5 to V8 yesterday on my desktop. I have done this several times (back and forth) to make sure I got it all right. I have documented this in detail if you want some help, but it really is fairly straightforward. I have also done this on several laptops, both my own and my customers. If you have been a customer of mine this summer, chances are you already have V8. Here's how to tell. First of all. the icon in your system tray for V8 looks like a patchwork quilt, with the 4 colored pieces forming the quilt. V7 and earlier icons are simple squares containing the 4 colors. Second, if you open up AVG to its Control Panel or User Interface as it's now called, click on Help up on top, and then About AVG, it will tell you the version. If it says V8, you are all set.

The detailed installation is captured in the attached pdf file. It's about a 2.7MB file, so give it a few seconds to download (on a high-speed internet connection).

The installation of V8 will also uninstall V7.5, so you do not have to go through that extra uninstall step. Note that the scene in the attached begins with a double click on the install file you downloaded to your desktop per the previous post.

Also, although you can delete the downloaded install file on your desktop, I'd recommend keeping it. Move it to a folder where you can find it if/when needed.

 Time to migrate to AVG V8. Click Here to See How!

Migrating to AVG Free Version 8

Okay, it's time to move forward. In the past few days I have tried Avast, another free anti-virus program, but have to say that I like AVG much more.

This is meant primarily for those students and customers of mine who may already have AVG Free Anti-virus Version 7.5 installed. However it may work for others who want to stop paying for their anti-virus program, those who may have Norton or McAfee or Trend Micro or other anti-virus programs installed.

The first step you should take is to download AVG Free V8 ( Version 8 ) to your desktop. It's a good idea to do this again now even if you have done it before, because AVG V8 had its share of early install problems and is already on about its 4th version, so it pays to download the latest.

You can download the program, and remember it's FREE, from this web site:

Download AVG Free Version 8 here

When you go to the link above, click on Download Now and note that the file is about 46MB in size, so this is really an exercise for high-speed internet users and not dial-up users. (If you are a dial-up user at home, you might consider going to a place that has high-speed internet, like your local library, downloading the file to the desktop there, and then copying it to your own thumb drive so you can take it home with you.)

What you are downloading is AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0.138. If you do this sometime in the future, the version number may well have changed by that time, and that's okay, just go ahead and download.

When you are finished, you will have the AVG Free V8 install file on your desktop.  Stay tuned for more.

 

 

AVG Free Version 7.5

From the AVG Free Forum July 9, 2008:

"AVG 7.5 Free - Support ends 31/08/2008

Posted by: michaelhd - AVG Team (IP Logged)

Date: July 9, 2008 04:07PM

Support for AVG 7.5 Free Edition is planned to end on 31st August 2008.

No more virus updates are planned for after that date.

Note that no more 'program' updates are due! Only virus updates will continue until the end date.

AVG 7.5 Paid version will be supported until 31/12/08."

 

It looks like it is time for us to move on now to AVG FREE Version 8. Over the next few days I will post steps you can follow to install Version 8.

Microsoft sets XP SP3 automatic download for Thursday

If this article is correct, you have until 1 PM Eastern time TOMORROW to take the action I prescribed in this blog on May 7. That action will let you avoid the download of XP SP3. I still believe XP SP3 needs another few months before I will download it willingly.

Microsoft sets XP SP3 automatic download for Thursday

HAPPY 4th ALL! HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!

 

 

Mission Accomplished!

On June 23 I wrote "I am planning to replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive. To do this I will need to make an exact copy of my current C drive on the external 250GB drive. For this I will use Norton Ghost. After making the copy, I’ll physically replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive and hope I can then reboot my machine from the new internal 250GB drive. I will hold onto the 80GB drive, probably inserting it into the enclosure now housing the 250GB drive. The 80GB drive will be a good place to carry another backup copy of MY DOCUMENTS (all of my data)."

Two days ago I completed this task, though not exactly the way I had planned. Not surprisingly, Norton Ghost did not do the job for me. I have become accustomed to being disappointed with Symantec products over the years, and Norton Ghost didn't let me down! It did not perform as advertised, and after two days on a Norton Ghost  forum where the best Norton Ghost minds tried their best to help me, I decided to download and try Acronis True Image Home Version 11.0. This program was hyped as one which would do exactly what I wanted to do, and was available on a 15 day free trial. It did the job very quickly (15 minutes) and smoothly and had an intuitive user interface, one even I could understand (unlike Norton Ghost).

So now I have my 250GB drive as my internal system drive and my 1TB drive as my external drive for backups and for my ever-increasing libraries of videos, music, and photos.

Windows XP Departs: Good Riddance or Sad Farewell?

June 30 has come and gone, and so, for the most part, has Windows XP. You can read the pros and cons of this departure in this PCWorld article.

Windows XP Departs: Good Riddance or Sad Farewell?

AVG Free Edition Version 7.5

The updates keep rolling in. I got one on 6/26 and one on 6/27. I am hopeful that the bulletin board post that I have posted herein earlier is correct, and that 12/31/2008 is the correct end of updates for us.

It is terribly annoying that AVG continues to send those pop-ups warning of the end of updates on 6/25.

I am planning to create a video, or several smaller videos, of the Version 8 installation process. I have been installing Version 8 on customer machines as I service them, and I have had no problems to date. I will keep you posted.

Redundant?

Okay, I am being redundant I know when I ask you to be redundant or, in other words, to have a backup plan for your data. So many times I hear from customers that they have a problem with their PC and, when I ask them if they have their data backed up, the answer comes back as "no" probably 90% of the time!

PLEASE, do yourself a big favor and create a plan for backup. The data you should be backing up includes most everything contained in your MY DOCUMENTS (XP) folder or your DOCUMENTS (VISTA) folder. Included therein should be all of your digital photos, music, and movies or videos. If you have an office product (MS Office or Open Office, etc.) all of the documents, spreadsheets, presentations, publications, etc. that you have created and saved will also be there.

It is not terribly difficult to learn how to back up this data to a CD or a DVD or to an external hard drive or even, on a somewhat temporary basis, to a flash or thumb drive.

So make a commitment to do this on a regular basis, but at least quarterly, PLEASE!

If your e-mail is important to you, you can easily back that up as well. The method used will depend on how you process your e-mail (Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.). If you have questions about this, please write.

Migrating from Firefox Version 2 to Version 3

Okay, I'm trying something new, and my first foray into the world of video is only mildly successful. It would be better if I could better capture the screen so that you could actually read it. However, as I look at it, I find that maybe my narration will somewhat make up for it - at least in this simple case.

If you are a Firefox user, or even if you are not, you may find this helpful. For you current users, you will find this a very easy upgrade. It is fast and straightforward. Even if you don't want to upgrade at this point in time, you may find the video useful. The bottom line is that this is an easy upgrade and one you can implement without worry. The new version looks very much like the old.

If you have never used Firefox as your browser, you may want to install it even if you later decide not to make it your default browser. You can also follow the video's instructions. Firefox will copy all of your Internet Explorer (IE) Favorites so the end product will look much like IE.

I welcome your feedback, so please write with comments.

 Migrating from Firefox Version 2 to Version 3 Video

1 Terabyte Hard Drive

A terabyte (TB) is 1000 Gigabytes (GB). A GB is 1000 megabytes (MB). A MB is 1000 kilobytes (KB). A KB is 1000 bytes or characters in computerese. (In actuality, a KB is 1024 bytes, but normally rounded off to 1000 for ease of computation.) I used to teach this stuff at SeniorNet, and never felt that the magnitude of these numbers ever sank in.

A TB is 1,000,000,000,000 bytes or characters! Now that's a lot of zeroes, and I have gone over that string several times to make sure I have it right! :-)

I have been waiting for what seems like a long time to buy a hard drive with a 1TB capacity. They have been around for a while but rather costly, and I had decided that when they were priced lower than $200 I would buy one. Well, thanks to Costco and one of their coupons, I purchased one last week for $199!

It is a Western Digital My Book Home Edition External Hard Drive. It comes in its own enclosure and attaches to a PC via a USB cable (it can also attach using FIREWIRE or eSATA).

I have plans for what I am going to do now that my desktop, with its internal 80GB hard drive and its external 250GB hard drive, have this new capacity available to me. Both my internal and external drives have been pushing the limits of their capacity. I have used the 250GB drive for backups mostly, maintaining several backups of my data at any one time.

I am planning to replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive. To do this I will need to make an exact copy of my current C drive on the external 250GB drive. For this I will use Norton Ghost. After making the copy, I'll physically replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive and hope I can then reboot my machine from the new internal 250GB drive. I will hold onto the 80GB drive, probably inserting it into the enclosure now housing the 250GB drive. The 80GB drive will be a good place to carry another backup copy of MY DOCUMENTS (all of my data).

I have already moved my My Documents folder to the external 1TB drive. To see how to move the location of your My Documents folder, see this handy Microsoft link:

How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder

Below is what my 1TB drive looked like after I formatted it, getting rid of all the annoying "management" software included by Western Digital:

You can click on that image above to see the full sized version.

More on this subject as I progress with the above plan. If you have any questions, send me an e-mail.