Have you ever heard the term Cloud Computing? This is a fairly new term in the world of computers. Cloud computing is the idea of having a wide area of which to access files, and run applications, all which usually run in your internet browser. For example, Google Apps is considered cloud computing because you open your web browser to access their word processor, spreadsheet applications, and presentation application and be able to create new documents, save documents, and upload previously created documents. All of the files that you save are saved to Google’s file servers and are accessible anywhere in the world that you have an internet connection.

Microsoft has also come up with their own Cloud Computing application called Sharepoint. Sharepoint is an application that is installed on one of a company’s servers and is fully customizable. It can be used like Google’s Google Apps or can be utilized exclusively internal to the company. It looks a little nicer than Google Apps but can be difficult to customize. Many companies are outsourcing as they move to the cloud because of the fact that most businesses are small to mid-sized and does not have their own internal IT department. Also, since it is still pretty new there are many IT professionals that are still unfamiliar with Sharepoint and don’t have the time to take the necessary training.

My suggestion would be that you, the reader, go sign up for a free gmail account and start playing around with Google Apps so that as the IT industry moves toward a decentralized type of information technology you are not left behind.

I’ll assume that if you are reading this that you have some sort of high speed internet (DSL, Cable, etc…) so I will go ahead and tell those users still on dial up that this article will not apply to them. A lot of people will have their ISP come and set up their internet for them at home. The only downside to that is they only install the modem and no router to go along with it. A lot of modems now have some built in security but not the amount of security that most professionals would suggest. Nowadays everyone that connects to the internet needs some sort of firewall between their computer and the outside internet.

The best and easiest way to accomplish this is to purchase router. Routers have a built in firewall that will protect you against hackers.  Here are a few routers I would recommend:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10730619
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320026 (My recommendation)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156001

If you live in my service areas of Carrollton, Dallas, Douglasville, Hiram, or Villa Rica then you could email or call me and we could schedule a service call for me to come out and set up a new router for you or give you an estimate on a home office set up.

The first step in making your own website is to decide on a domain name (ie pcbitsandbytes, google, yahoo, etc…). After you decide on the name you need to check and see if it is available. Once you have a unique website domain name you need to decide on where to have your website hosted. Most of the businesses that provide your domain name have an option to have your website hosted through them. Go Daddy is pretty competitive. If you are an experienced computer user then using software like Adobe’s DreamWeaver might work well for you. If you are somewhat experienced with computers then software like Microsoft’s Front Page would be good for making a basic website. I have tried using both of the website building software that I have suggested so far and have made working websites. For this website I wasn’t sure how I was going to make a professional looking website. I work on computers for a living and had no idea how to make a professional looking website.  I was introduced to WordPress by a friend and found it so easy to use.

There is also the option of hosting your own website.  I tried this option for awhile as well and I will tell you it was not easy. Finding the directions to set up IIS took a long time because there are not too many websites out there that give good, detailed, step by step directions on how to set it up correctly. Plus you have to make sure that you are keeping IIS up to date because of all the hackers out there that are trying to do harm to whomever they can.

So, my suggestion is you get with a website like WordPress or Blogger or something like those two if you are like me and have little to no website creating experience. The easier you can make it for yourself the less frustration you will face.

PC LOAD LTR! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!? -Michael Bolton of Office Space

My favorite printer fix of all time comes from that movie quoted above. The fix being taking their office printer to an open field and bashing it to kingdom come with a wood baseball bat. I can’t express to you my loathing of how complicated printers can be to try to fix. There are so many small fragile parts that are very intricately placed together in such a way that only a trained technician can perform any meaningful troubleshooting. The most any normal PC technician can do for a printer is to replace the consumable parts (ink, rollers, maybe a drum and fuser kit) and install the correct drivers and/or software that the printer comes with.

Here is a link of a place that might provide some good advice on how to fix your printer issues

If you are worried that your computer security has been compromised then I would suggest that you do all of the following:

• update your anti-virus definitions
• scan for viruses
• scan for spyware
• scan your firewall for leaks

By doing a firewall test you are checking to make sure that there are no security holes  that have been created by spyware or viruses that would allow hackers entry into your computer to steal personal information. I would suggest to check this regularly if you have gotten spyware or a virus recently.

Before you attempt to do anything in your computer Google it and make sure it can be done with standard household tools. I have access to non standard tools so if you need a special repair and you live around Dallas, Douglasville, Hiram, or Villa Rica then call me up or email me and we’ll set an appointment.

I do not claim to be a computer parts repair expert by any means, however, I will try to provide some helpful advice. First and foremost, if you are needing something like a monitor or television to be repaired then DO NOT try to open it up and repair it yourself. Chances are you will do more harm than good. Don’t justify trying by telling yourself that it is already broken because what most people do not know is how some of the older monitors and televsion sets can maintain an electrical charge large enough to put you on your back. Refer to a television or monitor repair specialist for that sort of work.

With that out of the way I will give you a basic knowledge of what you need to do before attempting to destroy…I mean fix your computer. Computers are very sensitive to ESD (electro static discharge) so please make sure to ground yourself before ever touching anything inside of your computer. The easiest way to ground yourself is to touch the metal from of the computer before you do anything. The next best advice I can give is to never touch the part of the hard that connects up to the motherboard. This applies especially to devices like RAM or expansion card pins. Most of the damage you can do to your computer is from ESD so I will try to not sound repetitive.  It would even be a good idea to wear an antistatic wristband that is grounded if you have it. Never blow into PC to remove dust. Use some compressed air that you can buy cheap at a local Wally World (again for static reasons).  

Pretty much the only tools you need for repairing your computer are some screw drivers and a sledge hammer and/or axe (just kidding!).  Your motherboard documentation should have almost everything you need to know about where everything is located and how to remove and install it.

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.