There are a lot of great free downloads nowadays and one that I often don’t recommend enough is the Open Office software. Open Office is software that has almost all the feature of the Microsoft Office Suite. There is a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, database, and email program within the Open Office suite just like in Microsoft Office.

If you would like help installing this software then please give me a call at 678-720-4288 or email me. I can make a service trip to any of the listed places: Dallas, Douglasville, Hiram, or Villa Rica.

Trying to decide between a desktop and a laptop really has more to do with the reason why you want a computer than anything else. If you want to just have a computer for home use and have no reason to leave the house with the computer then it would obviously be better to get a desktop computer. Desktop computers are less expensive on average and perform better on average than a laptop. I have also noticed now that more and more tech stores are making desktop computers cheaper and cheaper by the quarter. Hardware prices have gotten less and less so it is easier to find better deals. If you live in the area, I build computers and actually building your own PC is even cheaper than buying it from a company like Dell, HP, etc…

Laptops are good for users who are going to school, does business on the go, pretty much anything mobile. A lot of people like to have laptops at home so they can sit in front of the tv, lay in bed, eat, or whatever and work or play on the computer. There is nothing wrong with that. A laptop would be a good option for that person. Like I said before, though, laptops do not perform better than desktops that have comparable hardware specifications. All computers produce a lot of heat and when you compact the area of which that heat can escape then there is always a chance of overheating leading to hardware failures. Laptops have a shorter life span than desktops mainly for that reason.

I have been using Windows Vista for almost two years now and I have had Windows 7 Beta installed for about 5 months. Vista to me was has done poorly mainly because the operating system came out too early compared to the price of the hardware that it required. A PC running Windows XP more than likely could not run Windows Vista. The graphics are too heavy by default and the amount of RAM it uses to run the OS made it really hard for the average person excited about upgrading to Vista. On a machine built for Windows XP Vista feels very bloated.

Windows 7 seems like Microsoft finally got it right. The difference seems to be in the way that Microsoft developed the way Windows handles the desktop graphics. Windows 7 still feels a lot like Vista. A user that has never been on Windows Vista will have the same trouble getting used to 7 as if they were to go to Vista. The option menus are almost identical and the administrative portions of Windows 7 are basically identical to Vista.

If you are trying to figure out when to buy a new PC or laptop I would suggest waiting until you can get a machine that comes with Windows 7 pre-installed. It will cost you more if you buy a machine now and then upgrade later on. Plus as Windows 7 comes out there will be less and less support for Vista so the sooner you can get it the better.

This link will help you troubleshoot your machine for issues with your computer freezing up while on the internet. These suggestions are more for an advanced user so if you would like assistance then email me. If you live in the Hiram, Dallas, Villa Rica, or Douglasville area then I can come out to your machine and help you out.

MagicJack is a nice home phone alternative to the monopoly phone company. It doesn’t matter where you live as long as you have an internet connection you can use magicjack as your source of a telephone. It is only $20 a year and $20 for the device and works with pretty much any standard home phone. I have a wireless phone hooked into mine. I have heard of sound quality issues with the phone which I would attribute to people using PC microphones and speakers as their source of sound. As long as you have a normal home phone connected up to it the sound quality sounds like any other land line phone call. Like any other computer device it can malfunction but 95% of my issues have been easily been solved by either rebooting my computer or removing the device and plugging it back in. The only issue I had to have help with was logging into my magicjack page on their website. Their support is all instant messaging and they were able to fix my issue in about 15 minutes. Their call forwarding is something I am not too impressed with because when the call is forwarded rather than getting the voice mail in the magicjack inbox it goes to my forwarded phone’s inbox. I do like their voice mail though because if you have an email address associated with your account then you can get emails with the attached voice mail if one is left.  There is also the fact that if your power goes out then your phone will not work unless you keep your modem, router, and computer all on a UPS (uninterrupted power supply). Others have complained about their 911 service but if you follow their directions when you first are installing MagicJack then you should not have a problem. They strongly suggest that you do not depend on their product for emergency use. So, on a scale from 1-10 I would give magicjack an 7 because of the call forwarding, the fact their is no phone support for their product, and the small 911 issue that can be avoided if set up properly.

If you live in the Dallas, Hiram, Villa Rica, or Douglasville area I will be able come to your house and help you install the product (standard rate applies). If you want to try it out for free then just visit their website and sign up for the free trial.

80-90% of all the computer problems that I encounter with machines seem to all have the same fix when it comes to minor errors and issues. The most common fix when troubleshooting your own machine is to reboot. Yes, that does sound like the typical tech support response when tech support doesn’t want to talk to you anymore but that is because it is the most common fix for PC errors. Typically I tell my customers that rebooting weekly in Windows Vista is all that is needed. In Windows XP and earlier I would suggest rebooting at least 2 times a week and sometimes more if the installation is over 2-3 years old.

Getting some annoying error messages recently? The best way to try and fix your machine at home is to research the error you are receiving. There is about 100% chance someone else has already had the same issue you are having and there are a lot of people out there that report their errors to forums. More often than not I find the solution to the problems I encounter.

While reading through some forums I found a website that compares anti virus software. So if you are not in the Dallas, GA area then check out the anti virus software that is compared on that site. Right now the top rated anti virus software is BitDefender. Like Trend Micro (see my page on Self Help Services) BitDefender has a free online scanner. I will warn that you should not rely on free online virus scanners as your virus protection. Every PC that is connected to the internet needs realtime virus protection.

Not in the Hiram, GA area and need to recover files on your harddrive? No problem! Just read through this post and learn how you can do it from home!

One thing most people don’t know about “dead hard drives” is that in my experience 90% of the time or better the hard drive is not actually dead. It more than likely just has a problem with the Windows boot sequence and all the data is still recoverable. The only trouble comes in getting laptop hard drive data. This is because there is difficulty in getting the hard drive out of the laptop and into another computer. There is a special converting tool that allows you to connect either PATA or SATA hard drives via USB to another computer. If it you have a desktop hard drive then all you would have to do is plug the hard drive into the mother board and power supply, while the PC is off, and make sure the jumper settings are set to slave. When you turn on your computer you should see another hard drive in My Computer (probably drive letter E:). After you get your laptop hard drive or desktop hard drive you can navigate to your profile folder and copy and paste the data onto your working hard drive. From there you can either try to run a chkdsk /r from the Windows Recovery Console or just format the hard drive and reinstall Windows and all your applications. That is sometimes a good option especially if your computer was moving rather slow.

If you live in the surrounding Dallas, GA area (Hiram, Douglasville, Villa Rica) and are looking for advice on fixing your own machine then take a look a some of these suggestions in my blog posts (see right panel under recent posts).

This is probably not exactly what you are expecting with this title of a post, but it is the best way to describe this article. The best time of the day to fix your PC is when you are completely awake and in a calm mood. There are no words to describe the frustration you will have if you attempt to work on a slow computer when you are exauhsted. I can’t count the times that I have wanted to put a sledge hammer through my machines when I was working on them in the middle of the night. Don’t attempt to work on a PC when you just wake up either. In my experiences I have noticed I make more mistakes or miss a few steps when I have just woke up and started troubleshooting my PCs. Be awake. Be alert. Be careful. Most of all, be calm.