New computer or not

I am the owner of a computer repair shop in Meyers lake plaza in Canton ohio. http://insta-tek.com for more info. I have been doing IT for 15 years now. I hear people tell me all the time they need a new computer. I have collected some information that you should know.

Most people only use about 1/4 of what their computer is capable of. What does this translate into? You may be spending a lot more on a computer than you actually need.

Hard drive - this is storage. Think of it like a filing cabinet. The bigger the more things you can fit in it. Hard drive space. Just about every new computer comes with at least 500gb of hard drive space. Any sales rep will try and tell you that for just a little more money you can upgrade to 1tb or higher. I personally have never seen a regular user come into my shop with over 200gb worth of data on their hard drive. I will get a user that has more every once in a while but not that often. You can store lots of movies/mp3s/pictures on a hard drive with 500gb of storage.

RAM - or Memory. Your computer can only use information stored in RAM. Your hard drive is too slow to use for this. EVERY program takes up RAM. Windows XP uses about 75-100mb of RAM to boot up. Vista - around 500. Then every program will need more and more. The more you have the better. There is overkill though. MOST normal users for XP 1gb of RAM is plenty. VISTA you need about 2-3gb of RAM. Windows 7 is about the same as VISTA although windows 7 can run faster than VISTA with less RAM. 2-3gb is where you should be.

Processor - This is the brain of your computer. Just like the animal kingdom has many types of brains so do computers. There are 2 major players in the Processor field. Intel and AMD. AMD is pretty easy to figure out. A 3200 processor is slower than a 5000 processor. Intel is a little more difficult to figure out so I am going to take some time here.

Intel has several different lines of processors. I am going to jump back in time just a little to fill in some blanks you would have if I just skipped to today. Intel released the Pentium processor. I am sure you have heard of it. What you probably don't know is that the same time the Pentium was released they also had out the Celeron processor. Now a 2.4 Ghz Celeron processor is NOT as fast as a 2.4 Ghz Pentium processor. The Celeron is a lower end processor. It's like buying a car that comes with either the 4cyl engine and a 6cyl engine. There is a big difference. As far as I can remember I have never seen a commercial for Intel advertising the Celeron processor. With that in mind I see about 50% of the computers that come into my shop with Celeron processors. Why you ask? Celerons were cheaper to buy. Most people would go into a store and see 2 comptuers both 2.4 Ghz and 1 of them was $100 cheaper. So they buy it.

In todays market Intel has once again mixed things up. They now have the I3, I5, I7 and the I9 is on the way. Again if you think about it like a car. You can go buy the exact same car with different engines in them. The I3 is the 4cyl and the I7, I9 is the 12cyl Lambourgini version.

So what does all this have to do with buying a new computer? A quick (very quick) look on bestbuy.com shows the following.

Toshiba Satellite Intel® Celeron® processor 900; 3GB DDR3 memory; 6-cell lithium-ion battery; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.6" widescreen; 250GB hard drive; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Cost - $349.99

New! Toshiba - Satellite Laptop / Intel® Core™ i5 Processor / 15.6" Display / 4GB Memory / 640GB Hard Drive - Slate

Cost - 1,149.99

See the difference here? 1 more gb of RAM .. not that big of a deal RAM is VERY inexpensive. Hard drive is bigger.. but do you REALLY need that space? Heres the biggest difference.. we jumped from a celeron processor to an I5. That is the only differences listed on the site. I would hope the more expensive one would have a better warranty but I would not hold my breath.

So when purchasing a new computer keep these things in mind. Also keep in mind that when you got your current computer. You were amazed at how fast it was. Did your computer needs change since then? Probably not. You are more than likely doing the exact same things now as you were 5 years ago. So why dump a ton of money into that new computer??? Maybe just a little cleaning and tune up for $40 - $75 would get you by for a while.

If you have any questions and you are in the Canton Ohio area stop in and ask. I don't sell computers so I have no reason to try and talk you into the $1200 computer with $400 in extras.

Check us out http://insta-tek.com

What are the risks of using Facebook Myspace and other social sites

I have been asked this 100 times over recently. I have read many many articles on the subject and with my own experiences. I think I have a few tips for users.

1. Social site accounts are VERY easily hacked. Just because your "friend" sends you a link or posts something on your "Wall" does not mean they actually sent it to you. Their account could have been compromised and an attacker could have sent the link to you. NEVER click on links emailed, IM'ed, or posted to you. There are several ways for attackers to hide where the link is actually going. You could very well be clicking on a link that is going to install something malicious on your computer.

2. Hide your account information from those who are not on your "friends list". I like to give this reason for an example. I had a user ask me if it was safe for her 18 year old daughter to use myspace. All I asked her was he daughters name. I googled for her name. The first link showed me her place of employment. This was a hair cutting solon. I found her hours that she worked from that site. I then looked for her on myspace. I found her account and pictures of her and her car. Just 2 minutes of searching now allows a violent type person to know that she works till 10:00pm on Tuesday nights. That person also knows what kind of car she drives what she looks like and her name. They also "know" lots of her friends. This is a bad combination.

3. A recent study (although I have friends that work at temp agencies and have known about this for years) shows that 70% of Human Recourse departments use the internet to "check up" on prospect employees and have admitted that they have rejected potential applicants due to "Life style concerns", inappropriate comments, unsuitable pictures and videos. This is even before you go in for the interview! It's hard enough in this economy to find a job. You don't want to post or be "tagged" in a photo of you doing something that someone might consider wrong.

2010 Computer Resolutions

I have been trying to figure out what resolutions I am making this year. I figured my computer resolutions would be the easiest so I will do those first.

1. Upgrade my computer - I have a DELL Dimension e520 It's been a good little machine for the past 3 years but I want a newer faster computer. What I am looking at is the best "Bang for the Buck" This is usually an AMD processor. Everyone Knows Intel but AMD is right up there with them. In fact in most peoples opinion AMD has always made a better chip. I ran Intel chips for many years and switched to AMD when I bought my DELL. I want a quad core phenom. Every processor has a core. This is the "Brain" portion of the processor. Intel and AMD now have multi-core processors. This allows your computer to do more thinking. Making your computer faster. I have no need for the Intel i7 processors. They are a bit overkill for what I do. I am not a hard core gamer so an AMD Phenom quad-core will do just fine.

2. Purchase more flash drives. If you call them flash drive, thumb drive, pen drive or something else. I would tell you to get as many as you can hold. I currently have 4 @ 4gb, 1 @ 16gb and 1 @ 32gb flash drives. The 4gb drives are for the shop http://Insta-TEK.com, The others are for personal data. They are great for backups of your pictures and what ever else you want to store. In the 6 months in 2009 that Insta-TEK was open. I recovered over 10 damaged hard drives to get customers images back for them. BACKUP PEOPLE!

3. RAM RAM RAM All of my personal computers need more RAM. My wifes computer has 1gb and the kids have 786mb. Both run Windows XP. I want at least 2 gb of ram on both computers. RAM will make your computer faster better than anything else you can do. Here is MY recommendations for RAM for the "Normal" Computer user. Power users will need more.

• Windows XP at least 1gb of RAM
• Windows Vista at least 3gb of RAM
• Windows 7 at least 3gb of RAM
• Ubuntu at least 2gb of RAM

4. Setup a NAS server at the shop. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. Basically it's a computer that sits on your network that does nothing but hold files. FreeNAS is a FreeBSD (Linux) based NAS server. It has a ton of features like streaming audio/video so if you have an Xbox360 or PlayStation3 you can connect to it and play your movies over your TV. It has a built in webserver. It also handles Torrents. I want to put in 2 @ 1tb hard drives. Thats 1024 GB of storage. The drives will be mirrored. That means if 1 drive dies the other still has a copy of the data. This will hold my MP3's and all my important work documents.

5. Start a new training session at the Insta-TEK. I have had over 50 people attend my 4 week long classes. I have 1 more 4 week long class I want to do. Then I want to pick a day of the week and hold a different class from 6-8pm every week. I want to cover things like Ebay, Google, Torrents and much much more. Keep an eye out on our site here for updates on when the classes will be and what we will be covering.

6. Keep up with this blog. I started off good and have slowly fell into a slump on it.

Windows 7 after 2 months of use

I first reviewed Microsoft's latest and greatest Windows 7 two months ago today. After 2 months of use here is what I found.

I continued to run Windows 7 on my kids computer. Let's face it. If anyone is gonna break it. It would be a 5, 10 and 15 year old.

PRO:
I like the parental controls with the ability to lock out users after a certain time and day of week.

CON:
If the user does not log out when the parental controls kick in. There is NO WAY to log the user out. If you only have 1gb of RAM as I do. Windows 7 runs out of steam real quick.

PRO:
Interface is pretty easy to use and the kids were able to navigate basic functions without any instructions from me.

CON:
It looks like VISTA! (and works like VISTA)

PRO:
After the initial installation the computer ran just as fast (slightly slower) than XP.

CON:
After continuous issues with network connections. I replaced the onboard NIC with a 3com. The problems never went away. I would be connected and working then no internet. I would have to shut down to get it to work again. The disabling and re-enabling of the network card would not do it. It would see the connection but have issues with getting an IP address. (if I plugged in my netbook with Ubuntu on it into the same plug. It worked fine) only after a reboot would it start working again. There are only a hand full of programs installed. Firefox, notepadd ++, OpenVPN, and Open Office. The computer seems to run slower and slower every day.

I was trying to VPN into my office and edit some html pages for a customer. Notepad++ kept freezing (so did windows explorer) I assume this might be due to internet connection but it should not FREEZE.

I also had issues with programs disappearing from the task bar? You had to alt+tab to the application since it was missing from the task bar.

My final word on Windows 7? I will stick to XP. Windows 7 offers nothing for me. I have a lower end computer (p4 with 1gb ram) XP runs great on it. 7 crawls after 2 months of use. What exactly does Windows 7 bring to the table? Direct X 11? Dont even have a new enough video card to run 11. Not to mention the fact that there still are no games for Direct X 10! I was able to infect windows 7 with several viruses so there is no new security features that are going to make it worth my while. I think Microsoft took VISTA tried to "re brand" it as Mojave when that failed they slapped the Windows 7 name on it. All the praises I have read so far about windows 7 are from people who just installed it and used it for a short time. I too was ... Well impressed is too strong of a word. But after 2 months.. YEP XP FOR ME!!!

Things under $50 everyone should own

This is a list of a couple things everyone should own.

1. USB Flash drive - Some call it a thumb drive some a pen drive. What ever you want to call it. You should own many of these. You can get an 8GB drive for under $20 from http://newegg.com At that price get 3! These are great for backups. Copy all your images to it then put it in a safe place. Remember backups mean MORE than 1 copy of something!

2. Laser mouse. If you are still using a mouse with a ball in it. STOP! Laser mice are so much nicer. No more click click click click noise when you move the mouse around. No more taking the ball out and trying to clean off the rollers (if you have ever done that). You never realize how in accurate the ball mouse is until you get a laser mouse. This is a purchase you will want to get a name brand mouse though. Get a Microsoft intellimouse or a logitech. You don't want a no name mouse. The lasers don't track well and will just jump around the screen.

3. DVD Burner. Easy to install and for under $30 at walmart you might as well get one. I just got a 50 pack of blank dvd's at biglots for $15. That combo there allows you to backup just about everything. Not as easy as a flash drive and DVD's scratch but worth every penny. You can also make your own video's to play on your DVD player. Microsoft Movie Maker is quite easy to use. If you have XP. You should already have it. If not you can download it from http://download.live.com/

4. Avira Antivirus. I have talked about this before but it is worth mentioning again. If you are running antivirus or not. I highly recommend Avira personal edition for every computer. It's fast and very reliable. Those with Norton Antivirus will notice a huge speed increase in their computers. You can find Avira at http://download.com You can purchase it for around $25 or use it for FREE! The free version is the same as the paid version only you get a popup on your screen 1 time a day. Just click on ok and it goes away.

5. Mozilla Firefox web browser. This is a replacement web browser for Internet Explorer. What makes Firefox great is the add-ons you get for it. If you are already running Firefox and don't have adblock plus GET IT NOW. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865 All the annoying ads will vanish from your screen. Weather you just cruise the net or hang out on myspace the little stupid smiley face ads that scream "Hey over here" as your surfing will no longer be there.

6. Router - Sometimes called a residential gateway. You can pick up a cheap router for under $40 all over the place. Even if you only have 1 computer. You should never plug your computer right into the internet! Windows has open "ports" by default. Ports are like little doors on your computer. Even running the Microsoft firewall doesn't cut it. Viruses can get on your computer and either turn the firewall off without you knowing or it can tell the firewall to allow access on certain ports. Routers will help with this issue. Also it's very nice when other computers end up in the house and you want to get them on the internet also.

7. If you have kids I also recommend KidZui found at http://www.kidzui.com KidZui is a web browser that only allows your kids to go to certain websites and access certain things. All of your kids have their own log in. They can chat with their friends with the messenger built it. They take GREAT security measures to make sure that your kids can ONLY talk to people they already know. You even get an email every week with your kids surfing history. This is a free product that you can pay for if you wish. You get more features if you pay for it but the free version works very well. My 10 year old and 5 year old both use it every day.

8. More memory. RAM RAM RAM RAM can't say it enough. If you have a computer with under 3GB of RAM upgrade now. Keep your eye out on http://newegg.com I got 2GB of PC5400 OCZ RAM with heat sinks for $27 with a $10 mail in rebate! You will hear that the limit for a 32 bit operating system (most of you have it. If you don't have it you have 64 bit and probably know it) the limit is 4GB of RAM. This is true but it's not going to use 4GB. You need the 64 bit operating system to use all 4GB of RAM. So 3 GB is a good stopping point. You will DEFINITELY notice the speed increase in your computer. Make sure your computer can use this much memory. http://crucial.com has a tool you can install to tell you what kind of memory you can use and how much.

Networking 101

How does a computer get to the internet?

I have been asked this several times. We have to fill in some gaps before I can explain the whole thing.

What is an IP address?

For your computer to run on a TCP/IP network (Internet Protocol) you need a few things on your computer. First and foremost is a network interface card or NIC for short. A network cable plugs into the NIC. It looks like a phone cable but has 8 wires inside it with a bigger connection. The other end of the cable plugs into your router, cable modem or DSL modem. That is the physical connection to the internet. Now for the complicated stuff.

Internet Protocol requires the following. An IP Address, Gateway, Netmask and DNS Servers. I like to use a little analogy when explaining this. Think of your house. Your ip address usually looks something like 192.168.1.100 The first part the 192.168.1. is your street name the last .100 is your house number. (this is only an analogy keep this in mind. It DOES NOT really mean your street) your gateway is the entrance ramp to the highway and your DNS servers are like a phone book.

If you are trying to get to another computer on your own network (another computer in your house) you would stay on the same street. So your other computer would be like 192.168.1.101 Your computer can just talk down your network home network to the 2nd computer.


The moment you want to get out on the internet you have to know the name of the place you want to go. Let's say google.com for example. When you type in google.com in your browser. Your computer looks this up in DNS (phone book) Steps 1,2,3 DNS says googles IP Address is 74.125.127.100. Steps 4,5,6 Your computer does not know where this is. So it goes to the Gateway (the on ramp for the highway.) Your gateway is your router, cable modem or DSL modem (most of the time) for this example we are going to say it your router. Step 7 So your computer asks the router if it knows where 74.125.127.100 is. Your router then looks at its IP Address. This will not be a 192.168.1 number since your router lives on a different street.. it live on your internet providers network. Your router checks with your ISP's gateway and says do you know where 74.125.127.100 is and so on until the request makes it to the correct location. Steps 8,9,10 For the google page to load the google web server has to send the data back in the exact same way it came. Although it may take a different path (road) to get back. It all depends on what routers answer first. Steps 11,12,13 and 14



I know this can be a lot to take in. It was very difficult to try and squeeze it into 1 blog posting. We do offer FREE computer classes where we can take a little more time to explain.

http://insta-TEK.com/cal.html

Spyware and Anti-Virus

What is spyware:

Spyware is software that installs itself onto your computer and captures data about you. It could be something as mundane as sending the websites you visit to someone or sending your credit card or bank information to someone.

What is a virus:

A virus works just like a virus that a human would contract. It is a piece of software designed to infect your computer and spread itself to other computers. Lots of Spyware is spread by virtuses. Viruses usually have something bad that they do. Either delete files or they can be used to attack websites from your computer or something similar.

What is Malware:

Malware is all the above. It is software that either you chose to install or that tricked you into installing it or worked like a virus to install on your computer.

How did I get it?

Most people seem to think that the only way to get a virus is to surf the net on "those" kind of websites. This is untrue. If the website you are visiting has a flaw in it. People can change the site to infect you. Most of the time something comes up on the screen and you have click to install it. Sometimes this is not the case. I cannot tell you how many times I hear "oh my kids must have downloaded something" or some other kind of blame displacement. Everyone can get infected. Statistics show that a computer connected directly to the internet (no firewall) can get infected within 10 minutes of being connected. It takes many times longer than that to download the latest patches. two of the BIGGEST issues I see with most of the computers I work on are. 1 The computer has not had the latest Microsoft patches installed. The little yellow shield that is blinking at you every day is telling you something. 2. no antivirus software or it expired over a year ago. 3. Limewire is installed. Every computer I see with limewire installed is infected with many viruses. This is a GREAT place to get infected.

I have antivirus so I am ok!

NO! Antivirus programs can only detect viruses that it "knows" about. If your antivirus is not up to date. It cannot know about the new viruses. Even if it is up to date you are still at risk if you were infected with it before it updated. Many viruses can hide from antivirus or just turn them off. If your antivirus quits working that is a big sign you have a virus. Also your antivirus should be set to run a full scan every night. Most of them are not setup to do this automatically. You have to go into the software and tell it to do so.

What the heck are Cookies?

Some people will argue this but to me cookies are a problem of the past. A cookie is a little file that gets created when you access a website that uses them. Cookies can contain all sorts of data. Used correctly they do not keep any personal data. Back in the day companies were keeping usernames and passwords and even credit card info in cookies. So if you went to a malicious website they could read the cookie and get your information. This flaw was so big and so widely used that now it is almost obsolete to hear of anyone getting information from a cookie. Some other hazards are that malware can get on your computer and look at cookies to "see" where you have been surfing. The last thing I will say about cookies is this.. NO DELETING COOKIES WILL NOT SPEED UP YOUR COMPUTER. I have had hundreds of people tell me they deleted their cookies and their computer is running slow.

What are the chances I have a virus or spyware infection.

If you have a windows computer connected to the internet. You have a HIGH chance you are infected. It is VERY VERY rare that I hop on a computer that is not infected with something. I am not just talking about computers that customers bring me to fix. This is ALL computers.

How do I get rid of them?

A great program for malware is malwarebytes. You can obtain it from http://download.com you do not have to purchase it. You can use it for free to remove malware. If your computer is already infected with lots of malware. You may not be able to even get on the internet to download it. This is were I come in ;) A great antivirus program is Avira Antivir personal edition. This is also free at http://download.com make sure you get personal edition. There is a popup that appears 1 time a day that asks you to pay for it. If you want the popup to go away you can purchase it for something like $30. Avira is very good at finding viruses, keeping off viruses and it is also really fast. ALL antivirus programs will slow down your computer. Some way more than others. I have found Avira to be very fast.

If you have any questions about this subject. We can be found at Insta-TEK.com