Almost every visit we make, we get asked “how can I make my computer run faster.”  There are many things you can do to make your computer faster.  By far, the cheapest thing to do is add more memory.  A desktop or a laptop with at least 2 gigs of memory (4 gigs for newer systems) will give you up to a 30% increase in speed.   You can find memory for just about any computer on www.Kingston.com

If you want truly insane speeds, look into buying a SSD Hard Drive or a Hybrid Hard drive.  Some SSD Drives will give you over 150% boost in speed.  Remember though, SSD drives ONLY work with Windows 7, but a Hybrid Hard drive works with Windows XP and Vista.  If you would like help installing any of these drives into your laptop or desktop, please feel free to contact us.  You can read more about these here:

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Vertex-2-5-Inch-Solid-VTX3-25SAT3-120G/dp/B004Q81CKY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1309797453&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-7200RPM-Hybrid-ST95005620AS-Bare/dp/B003NSBF32

It’s inevitable, you WILL get a virus or a spyware program on your computer.  It might come from a website that you just visited that was recently hacked,  maybe your Outlook or personal  email had an “important” link from your friend that you clicked on , or who knows, you were on FaceBook when you got a popup and you clicked on it.  Or better yet, your kids get on your computer, and they click on everything they see on the screen.

Whatever the case is, here are a few FREE programs we recommend:

1.  SpamFighter.  This is for your Outlook email, and it does a great job in stopping spam emails.  http://www.spamfighter.com/Download_Download.asp

2.  Keyscambler Personal – This plug in encrypts your keystrokes when you are typing, so potential hackers cant see what your usernames or passwords are.  You can find it on www.Download.com

3.  AVG Free Anti Virus and  Microsoft Security Essentials – Two great free Antivirus Programs.  Remember, you only need 1 Anti Virus program on your PC, or your system will slow down.  Also available on www.Download.com

4.  Super Anti Spyware Free Edition – A great program to run about once a month.  It will search for spyware, malware, and various other infections on your hard drive.  Also on www.Download.com

5.  CCleaner – A MUST HAVE.  This really doesn’t protect you from spyware or viruses, but its a great program that removes all that extra junk on your hard drive, after surfing the web.  Also on www.Download.com

If you have a virus now, and nothing seems to work, please contact us, and we can assist you with removing it.

 If you can’t remember the last time you opened up your computer and cleaned it out, well when you are done reading this, you might want to. This is a video of a client’s computer that had never been opened or cleaned in 3 to 4 years.

Overtime, your computer gathers dust, dirt, pet hair and other household particles. If you don’t clean these out, then the dust clogs your power suppy fan, CPU fan, and Video Card fan. The heat from inside your computer can not escape, the inside of your computer gets too hot and then…. well you know the outcome. Freezing up, crashing, all the bad things

I know its hard to remember to clean out your computer, but I would recommend picking a holiday once a year (like Christmas), and give your computer the gift of being clean. DON’T buy those cans of air at your local Staples, use an air compressor to clean it out. If you don’t have a compressor, just take your computer down to a Gas Station, and use theirs (you know, the one that you use to put air in your tires with). And as you can see from my video, its fun for the whole family

This will ensure that your computer is running at an optimal temperature.

Hello everyone, Marcus here.  Recently I’ve been seeing more and more clients that don’t have a back up program for all their data.  Its hard for me to express how important this is. 

So ill tell you a little story.  This happened to me last week.  A client called me in a panic saying “I cant get the computer to turn on, the screen is black.  I have all of my kids pictures from 2006 until today, my Quickbooks, and at least 10,000 songs we uploaded from our CD library.”  So I get there, and immediately I know the hard drive is dead.  What’s the solution?  (And this is no joke) send your hard drive to a data recovery company and pay between $500 to $2500 for them to recover all your data.  If you think I’m joking, I’m not.  So what should a home user or small business do INSTEAD of buying an external drive?  Get Carbonite.

Let me say this.  I DONT get a dime from Carbonite to promote them.  I promote them because its the easiest way to back up your hard drive.  PERIOD!!!   Do you really have the time or can you remember to back up your hard drive to an external drive on a weekly basis?  Of course not.  But Carbonite does it for you every day, and every minute you are connected to the internet. 

I love when I go to a client and they say they have an external drive, and then say “Oh yeah, I back everything up to that.”  When I ask them when the last time you did that was, they say “I don’t know, maybe 6 months ago.”  Remember, an external drive is also a hard drive, and it can fail too.

So people, if you get Carbonite (www.Carbonite.com) and spend a whopping $5 a month (for a home user, and a little more for a small business) it will AUTOMATICALLY back up EVERYTHING on your hard drive for you.   Can we all say “no brainer?” 

Please take 30 seconds and watch this clip of Carbonite.  Feel free to call or email me with any questions.

I get a lot of calls from customers that say they hear a “clicking sound” coming from their computer.  Most of the time its the hard drive, and its getting ready to die.  So I thought Id show everyone what a clicking hard drive sounds like. 
When you can a sound coming from your computer like a whining, spinning, clicking, grinding or high pitched sound, chances your hard drive is getting ready for hard drive heaven.   Don’t wait too long to replace your drive, because if you haven’t backed it up, and it fails, your in HUGE trouble.  Most companies charge a minimum of $1000 to try to recover data. You can get a 500 gig hard drive today for less then $75. Isn’t $75 better than spending $1000 or more to recover data? 

So run out (don’t walk) and buy a new hard drive.  And as always, please feel free to contact me if you need my help.

Here is a great question I get asked at least 3 times a week.  “Marcus, I’m getting this error, I’m getting that error, it takes FOREVER for my computer to start.  I cant print, or burn CD’s or access my Outlook.  Can you fix that?”  The answer is YES.  But first let me explain a few things. 

As you all know, you are downloading “stuff” all the time on your computer.  Maybe you got a new printer and forgot to uninstall the old one, maybe you bought some new software, maybe you updated a driver from the Microsoft updates page, download pictures, new ITunes songs, updated your Java,  uninstalled and reinstalled software.  The list goes on and on…

What’s happening is that each time you do this, your computer is gathering files on your hard drive and in your registry.  And then all of a sudden, WHAM, you start having issues.   

THE SOLUTION:  Spend hours trying to trouble shoot the problem.  You can download even more software programs that will scan your computer for errors, or just do this…. Make sure you back up EVERYTHING you have to an external drive or a third party website (like Carbonite www.Carbonite.com)  wipe out your hard drive, and reinstall Windows XP or Windows 7.  This will eliminate all errors and you will start loving your computer again.  Notice, I didn’t say to reinstall Windows Vista.  If your computer came with Windows Vista, now is the time to get rid of it.  DON’T go back to Windows XP, move up to Windows 7.  In my opinion (and most people’s opinion) Windows Vista slows your system down.  Avoid it like the plague. 

If you need help with doing this, please feel free to contact me.  If you want to try to attempt this on your own, here is a link that will walk you thought some of the steps.  It’s for XP, but also applies to Windows 7 and the dreaded Windows Vista.  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348

I get asked this question all the time… Marcus, I need a new computer, and there are so many choices, what should I buy? 

Before you go spend $500 to $1200 for a computer, you need to know the answer to THIS next question…. What will I mainly be using this laptop or desktop for?  Answer?……  65% of my clients tell me that they will be checking their Email, Facebook, Quickbooks, and doing some “various” Internet Surfing.  Now think about this, do you really need to spend $500 or more on a computer to do that?  If you answered YES, are you crazy?  LOL!!!   BUT… if you are a computer user that does high end graphics, designs websites, plays online Video Games, does major photography, edited movies,  or is a user like me, who needs to run multiple software applications at once, then YES, you need something in excess of $500. 

Unfortunately today, when you go to Best Buy, Staples, Costco or wherever you see computers on display, they cost right around $599 and up.  They boast 500 gig hard drives (the majority of home users never use more than 40 gigs of hard drive space), dual core and Core 2 Duo  processors, 4 to 8  gigs of memory, Windows 7, 20 to 22 inch LCD monitors etc… and then you get home, and what do you do?  Check your email and Facebook. 

Now what do you do?  For one thing, you can talk with me (shameless plug) and I can find you newer or off lease laptops and desktops for a much better deal.  You can also look on sites like www.DellOutlet.com that show various New, Refurbished, Scratch and Dent or Returned laptops and desktops that come with Dells 1 to 2 year warranty. 

So here is what you need in a desktop or laptop if you are like most users and  just do “normal” computer stuff (that’s my professional term).  These are the minimum requirements that are perfect for the normal home user:

1.  Intel Dual Core or AMD X2 processor with a speed of at least 2.0GHz or faster (for example Intel Dual Core 2.0Ghz processor or AMD X2 4800+)

2.  2 gigs of memory

3.  80 gig hard drive (or larger)

4.  Windows XP or Windows 7 (if the computer  has Windows Vista, get rid of it before you start using it.  Vista is very slow and makes your computer run like, well, crap.  Put on either Windows XP or 7.  Contact me if you need me to help you with that)

5.  Built in Wireless (this is if you are buying a laptop).  Just an FYI 95% of all laptops that were built after 2005 have built in wifi.

6.  DVD player CDRW writer

So if you are JUST going to be checking your Emails, Facebook, doing some light accounting and web surfing, please (pretty please with sugar on top) don’t be tempted to buy a computer off the shelf that will set you back $700 after taxes.  Be a smart consumer and shop around.  EBay is also a great place to find deals on used computers.   

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Have you ever put your laptop, well, on your lap? Thats what they were made for right? Well… sort of. You will notice today that manufactures don’t call them laptops anymore, they are called either notebooks or netbooks. They did this because consumers were complaining that their laps were getting to hot, and the manufacturers decided to change the name to notebooks so people (lawyers) wouldn’t sue. Ahhh… the wonderful world we live in.
What makes a laptop get hot, is that inside the laptops are 1 or 2 fans. These fans (over time) sometimes get clogged with dirt and dust. The way they work is that they pull air in from the outside and blow it out of another vent. Thus this is the reason they get clogged up with dust. Also NEVER place a laptop on the carpet while its on. Carpet wont let the laptop fans blow out the hot air, and will sooner or later cause your laptop to overheat and fail.
There are ways to clean out the dirt and dust, but check with the manufacturer of your particular model to find out how to do this. For most laptops, you buy a cans of compressed air from the office supply store. It’s made for this exact purpose. Then blow the compressed air into one of the vents on the laptop and the dust and dirt comes flying out of another vent. BE SURE to check with your manufacturer in order to know which vent to blow the air through. If you blow it through the wrong vent you could damage the laptop.
If done correctly this should keep your laptop (or shall I saw notebook) a little bit cooler and happier.

I just wanted to show everyone a clients computer that I picked up today that had this fake virus warning.  As you can see, it looks pretty convincing, telling you that you have multiple infections.  REMEMBER, the only Anti-Virus program that will ever “run” on your computer, is the one that you have installed.  For example, if you  have AVG, Norton, Symantec or any other Anti-Virus program installed, and you see a pop up from another company claiming that you have a virus, ITS FAKE.  You need to IMMEDIATELY hold down on the power button and shut off the computer.  Yes, you will lose all of your work, but thats much better than having to wipe clean and reinstall Windows and all the programs associated with your computer. 

If you have any comments, please feel free to post them.