Storms & Computers

When strong storms hit it is always best to unplug your computer.  Power surges from the electric source, cable and phone lines can all travel to your computer causing damage from fried Ethernet cards (how you get on the internet) to Power Supplies (the part that regulates power to your PC) and worst of all to the Motherboard, the main circuit board of your computer.

 

The first two items are easily repaired and in most cases you can relax in our waiting room while we repair your PC.  With a motherboard it is a bit more expensive and depending on the age and quality of your computer; may not be worth fixing.

 

In most cases there is no data loss from power surges; but it is possible to lose data or have data corruption when your computer processing is suddenly stopped.

 

The best prevention is shutting down your PC during these storms and also removing the cable or phone line from the PC.  You can also invest in a quality Lightning Rated Surge Protector that includes surge suppression for cable and phone lines.  We use this level of Surge Protection on all of our equipment and all our customer’s equipment that is on-site.  In total I probably have more then ten surge suppressers in my home and office. 

 

If you home is frequently hit by power surges, consider a whole house surge suppressor available from an electrician or your power company.

Copy itunes from iPod to PC

Customers Asked

 

My old PC Hard Drive crashed with my iTunes library on it.  How do I get my iTunes library from my iPod to my new computer?
 
Until recently getting your music library from your iPod to your computer has been nearly impossible.  iTunes has a feature for recovering your purchased songs, but doesn’t have anything to recover the music from your personal collection that you copied to your computer library.

 

Now their is a solution for getting the library off the iPod and onto the computer.  If you are not computer savvy, you can always bring your iPod and computer to us.  For those who feel they can do it themsleves: follow this link for iPod to PC  free software download.  http://download.cnet.com/Pod-to-PC/3000-18545_4-10900147.html

Change the icons on your desktop

How 2 

-  change an icon on your desktop to something more fun or noticeable.

 

Did you know you can change the icons on your desktop from boring folders to other pictures that may stand out and be more efficient for you?  Here are the steps:

 

1.  Right click on the icon you want to change. 

2.  Select properties

3.  Select Customize

4.  Pick a picture from the list provided or browse your computer for file types .ico

 

For free and paid icons: you can visit iconarchive.com

Purchasing a new computer

Considering replacing your computer? This is one of those times when replacing a computer becomes even more confusing than usual. That is because Microsoft is about to come out with another Operating System, or what my dad likes to call the ‘traffic cop of your computer”, the new Operating System, (OS) is called Windows 7. Vista, Microsoft’s current operating system, was not well received by many consumers and Windows 7 hopes to cure many of those issues. Beta testing of Windows 7 at our shop shows it to be much less resource intense then Vista but with that more modern Vista look and feel to it. For those consumers who want Windows 7, but need to buy a computer before the fall, Microsoft is offering free upgrades to Vista 7 with an installed purchase of Vista. So if you can’t wait to buy that new PC, don’t worry – you will still be able to upgrade to Windows 7, free of software charges, when it is released. Your Computer Friends works with customers to purchase new hardware as well as service existing hardware. If you are technology challenged, here is some plain English talk about deciding on the right computer for you: Hard Drive – Think of this as your computers filing cabinet. It is where all your programs and data are stored. The more programs you plan on installing, the more pictures and videos you plan on saving, the bigger your hard drive should be. This is a place where we normally recommend folks go larger for two reasons. First, we don’t know how much bigger programs will be in the future, or what future applications for your computer might be. Second, Hard Drives have come down in price significantly over the years and the price difference between a 250G Hard Drive and a 320G hard drive can be as little as 10.00. Why not go bigger when the future is somewhat unknown and the price point is so small? RAM – Random Access Memory – Think of this as your desktop. Not your computer desktop, but a real wooden type desktop. You take ’stuff’ out of the file cabinet (Hard Drive) and put it on the desktop. If the desktop is too small, it will not function well. The more ’stuff’ you use at once, the larger your RAM should be. ‘Stuff’ includes pictures, email, internet browsing, the operating system, your antivirus program etc. For a new computer, don’t go with anything less then 2G of RAM. Also know that your computer has RAM Slots, so more RAM in one slot will allow you more expansion at a lower price later on. For example, if the PC has 2 slots, for upgrade options, it is better to have 2G in one slot then 1 G in 2 slots. Higher end machines are typically built with equal RAM in each slot. But if upgrade is in your future, less RAM sticks is better. Processor – The processor moves the data from the Hard Drive (file cabinet) to the RAM (desktop). PCs now offer dual and quad core processors which are much faster then processors of only a couple of years ago. Dual core processors are the common solution for home and small business users. Think of this as two lanes of highway instead of one. It moves the data much faster. You will want a 2.0 GHz or better Dual Core Processor on that new PC. Need more help? We would be happy to assist with your new computer purchase, taking into account your particular needs. And yes, we can still get you Windows XP Computers – but time is running out.