In my opinion, whatever gains that you might get from them wouldn’t be any different than following my tips to keep their PC running in tip top shape. The only difference is that my tips are free and PC Speed-Up programs cost money. Thus I would not bother to pay the money for any of these programs. Instead, I’d just put in some work (which isn’t a lot) to do what I’ve suggested to get the same result. Your bank account and your PC will thank you for it.
Archive for PC
Hey IT Nerd! Do PC Speed-Up Programs Work?
Posted in Tips with tags Maintenance, PC on July 16, 2013 by itnerdHey IT Nerd! Do I Have To Reinstall Windows To Keep My PC Running Fast?
Posted in Tips with tags PC, Windows on November 9, 2012 by itnerdI’m really not sure where this came from, but there’s a bit of computer lore that says that you have to reinstall Windows from time to time to ensure that it runs at maximum speed. In all my years of supporting computer users, I have never seen the value of doing this with one exception that I’ll get to in a second. If you follow the maintenance tips that I posted earlier this week, there’s really no practical need to reinstall Windows. It also helps if you run an anti virus solution that is CPU friendly such as AVG 2013 (which I’ve reviewed before) or Microsoft Security Essentials (which I’ve written about before) which I recommend because they are so CPU friendly.
Now, the one exception is someone like me who tests software and hardware either for customers or for reviews on this blog. That might slow down your PC because of all the installing an uninstalling. But I have a way around that. I use virtual machines for that purpose. Since I run Parallels Desktop on my Mac, I’ve created three VMs. A Windows XP VM, A Vista VM, and a Windows 7 VM. The great thing about VMs is that I can test something and then easily revert it back to a “virgin” state. You don’t need a Mac to do this as Parallels has a version for PCs called Parallels Workstation. Not to mention solutions from VMWare called VMWare Fusion for Mac and VMWare Workstation for PC.
Hey IT Nerd! What Do I Need To Do To Maintain My PC?
Posted in Tips with tags Maintenance, PC on November 7, 2012 by itnerdContrary to popular belief, not a whole lot actually. Here’s a list of things that I recommend that you do once a month in the following order:
- Update Windows: If your copy of Windows is up to date with all of the latest patches, then it’s going to be reasonably secure. Not to mention that any bugs that are out there are going to be fixed.
- Use Crap Cleaner: There’s a great freeware tool out there called Crap Cleaner. I use it to clean all the crap that Windows seems to want to create, such as temp files and the like. Plus it will also clean up your registry. I highly recommend it.
- Run Windows Disk Error Checking: You want to make sure that you find out about any problems that may be lurking on your hard disk early enough so that you can fix them or take more evasive action. Fortunately, Windows has built in tools for that. Simply right click your hard drive in My Computer and click Properties and then Tools. You’ll see the option for error checking your hard disk and it’s pretty straightforward to use. You will need to restart your computer to make it happen though.
- If you have Windows XP, defrag your hard disk: Unlike Windows Vista and Windows 7, XP users need to defrag their hard disk from time to time to make sure that everything on it is accessed in an optimal manner. You don’t need to buy any extra tools to do this. Simply right click your hard drive in My Computer and click Properties and then Tools. You’ll see the option for defragmenting your hard disk and it’s pretty straightforward to use.
- Uninstall any programs that you don’t need: If there are programs on your hard disk and you don’t use them, at the very least they’re taking up space. At worst, they’re stealing CPU cycles that can be better used elsewhere. So if you don’t use it, remove it. After you uninstall, it might be handy to run Crap Cleaner again to make sure that everything is gone.
- Back up your PC: You should always have your data safely backed up in case the worst happens. I’ve got tips on that here.
That’s pretty much it. It doesn’t require anything more than that and you’ll find that your PC will run as good as it possibly can.
Mac Sales Drop…..PC Sales Rise…..Fanbois Crap Their Jeans
Posted in Commentary with tags Mac, PC on March 18, 2009 by itnerdIt seems that the party is over for Apple in terms of gaining market share on their PC competitors. It looks like the PC empire has finally decided to strike back and according to eWeek, the February numbers pretty much speak for themselves:
U.S. retail Windows PC unit shipments rose 22 percent in February, despite the weak economy. By comparison, Mac unit sales fell nearly 17 percent. Apple’s stronger category, notebooks, could no longer defy gravity. Windows laptop unit sales jumped 36 percent year over year, while Mac notebooks declined 7.5 percent.
The author of this article does suggest a good reason why this might be the case:
The obvious answer is upfront pricing. Consumers and small businesses pay more to join the Mac club because the entry-level prices are higher. Perhaps Apple sells computers for more than most consumers or small businesses are willing to spend right now. Apple’s iMac starts at $1,199 and MacBook at $999. In February, the average selling price for Macs was $1,500, down from $1,628 a year earlier but up from $1,482 in November. By comparison Windows PC selling prices continue in a downward direction from $668 to $555, February to February, and $572 from November.
True, the price is higher up front for something from the Apple universe. But fanbois many would argue that you get much more for your mone in terms of hardware and software up front as well. But given the times that we live in, that may not be enough to sway people to the Mac. A companion article written by the same author has some additional reasons:
I see three factors benefiting Microsoft and its OEM partners. In order from least to most important:
- Some cost-conscious would-be Mac switchers are choosing cheaper Windows PCs.
- Netbook sales are rising, giving additional uplift to Windows laptop sales.
- “Windows. Life Without Walls” marketing is doing what it’s supposed to.
I’ll buy into the first two points, but I’m skeptical about the third. Maybe the cute little kids do make some sort of difference in terms of making PCs/Microsoft look better. But from talking to my customers, the cute kids aren’t making Vista any more appealing to them.
But then again, numbers don’t lie…. much.
Mac Vs. PC – Transformed!
Posted in Commentary with tags Humor, Macintosh, PC on December 23, 2008 by itnerdJust watch the video, you’ll see what I mean.
Backup! Backup! Backup! [UPDATED]
Posted in Tips with tags Backup, PC on February 23, 2008 by itnerdTrue story.
I once worked in a computer repair shop and a guy came in with his iMac saying that his computer wouldn’t boot. I took a quick look at it and discovered that the hard drive had malfunctioned and that was keeping his computer from booting. When I told him this, he then asked “What about the stuff on my drive?” I told him that I could do nothing to recover his data and that unless he went to a data recovery place, he has lost his data. He burst into tears at that point and then told me that he had digital pictures of his mother on that drive and she just passed away in the last couple of weeks. He was desperate to get those pictures back as “that’s all he had left of her.” I disassembled the computer on the spot (something I don’t normally do) and got the drive out and gave it to the customer along with referrals to several data recovery places (which he took advantage of).
The most important thing that you can do if you have a computer is to BACK UP YOUR DATA on a regular basis. Chances are, you have pictures, music, financial records, and all sorts of important data on your computer. What happens if your hard drive has some sort of problem? One of two things usually happens:
- The data is gone forever.
- You have to go to a data recovery service to TRY and get your data back. If they succeed, expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
To avoid either of these, you should make backups on a regular basis. Here’s how I do it:
- I use Acronis True Image 10 as my backup program. It has the capability of making an exact copy of your hard drive (including the hidden recovery partition that some computers have) and if you make a boot CD, you can use it to do what is called a “bare metal restore” to a blank hard drive. It backs up to CD, DVD external hard drives, or network attached storage drives. The best part is that you can schedule backups and forget about it as it will backup your data on the schedule you set. You may be asking, why am I not using Acronis True Image 11 as that is the latest version. I tried it and found that it had a serious bug. Namely, it didn’t always backup on the schedule that you set. People on the Acronis message board have been talking about it in posts like this, this, and this and nobody seems to be happy. So I will avoid True Image 11 until this is fixed. Seeing as the application has been out since the latter half of last year and there is no fix for this yet, it doesn’t enhance my confidence in Acronis and their ability to fix this issue. It is likely that I will be looking at a new backup program shortly, which is a shame as Acronis True Image is very easy to use. But at the end of the day the program has to work and right now that’s questionable with their latest version.
- I back up to a D-Link DNS-323 Storage Enclosure. Basically this is a enclosure that holds two SATA hard drives (in my case, two 500GB Seagate Barracuda hard drives) and plugs into your network via a 10/100/Gigabit Ethernet connection. You can configure the hard drives to mirror each other for extra security. The unit seems solid and their latest firmware seems to have cleared up any issues the product might have had.
With this setup, all my Windows computers backup via my network every night between midnight and 7AM. Since all of my computers have Gigabit Ethernet ports, it only takes about three hours to backup each Windows computer. The other important thing is that I have tested the restore capabilities. I made a boot CD using Acronis True Image and I was able to do a full restore to a blank hard drive. That’s important as backups mean nothing if you can’t restore it.
Now you don’t have to do what I’ve done to have secure backups. A much easier thing that you can do is to get an external hard drive and use that to backup your computer. My personal favorite are the Seagate Free Agent Pro Drives as all you do is plug it into your Windows computer, install some software and it does the rest for you. Plus Seagate make the best hard drives in the industry and back them with 5 year warranties.
So in closing, I say it again: The most important thing that you can do if you have a computer is to BACK UP YOUR DATA on a regular basis. Don’t assume that your computer will always work and that you won’t have a problem that will cost you your data. After all, you don’t want to end up like the gentleman at the start of this post.
Oh yeah, as for that gentleman and the photos. He did get the photos along with the rest of his data. But it cost him $1500 (Canadian dollars that is). It also cost him $300 to have the computer fixed (I installed a new hard drive and did a restore of the original operating system and applications that came from the factory). He also bought an external hard drive to backup his data so that he would never be on the brink of losing his data again.
P.S. If you’re looking for advice in terms of backing up your Mac, click here.
UPDATE: I should note that Acronis True Image Home 2009 is out, but judging from this post and the fact that PC Magazine recently posted a rather negative review, it doesn’t seem to be stable enough to switch to. That’s a shame because True Image used to be a great backup program. I am still using True Image Home 10 and I have been recommending to my clients that they use this version as it is rock solid. I am currently evaluating several alternatives and I will post my recommedation when I find something that I feel comfortable with. At the moment, I am leaning towards ShadowProtect Desktop as a viable replacement.
Hey IT Nerd! Why Are PC Sales Dropping So Much?
Posted in Commentary with tags PC on July 12, 2013 by itnerdThat’s a good question. The way I see it, there are three reasons:
This is why it’s not a shock that Microsoft is trying to reinvent itself to make sure that they can survive this change. Expect others to do the same. And expect the decline of PC sales to continue.
Leave a comment »