Youngstown Computer Show Notes for June 13 2009

Segment 1

The computer show will be at this year's air show at the Youngstown Air base.

Apple dev show was this week. the 3.0 iPhone software will be out next week, new iPhone 3GS in July.

Price drop on some Macs. Snow Leopard will be $29.

Storms will happen, and your electricity will go out. To protect when the power flickers, get some power conditioning. And maybe a battery backup.

Consider unplugging all electronic devices when you go on vacation.

Caller 1
Q: get a message about wanting to download a p.exe file when I start firefox.
A: could be an addon for amazon, or perhaps try resetting your user profile, make a new user and log on and use firefox to see if it still works

You can reset your profile in firefox in the tools menu, you will use all your favorites, so make sure you backup what you want.


Segment 2

Caller 2
Q: I seem to have a lot of hard disk crashes, I just got a new drive, and it crashed. Why?
A: try to keep the disk away from heat
Q: how hard is it to replace drives?
A: just make sure you unscrew it, get the data and power cables connected.
Q: how to reload the data on the disk?
A: it is easiest to use a restore CD rom and boot fromo that. otherwise, you will need to find an install disk and use the key on the computer to reactivate it

question from the chat room: using CA anti-virus, it is not rated well, should I get something else?
A: Joe Danyi does not like CA anti-virus, it slows down the system

Joe Danyi talks about backing up to memory sticks, or external drive. Every version of windows has the "breifcase" folder. Does not explain how to use the briefcase however.

When reinstalling the operating system, you will probably need to either use a driver disk that came with your computer, or go to the web to download. sometimes you don't know exactly what components you got. For Dells, you can go to the web, put in your service tag, and it will tell you the drivers for your specific computer (as it shipped).

NIC = Network Interface Card


Segment 3

Talking about Domain names and domain squatters. Joe reads a list of the most expensive domain names.

Adam talks about installing the Vista SP2 upgrade. He noticed that the sound driver got changed. His settings for default audio in and out got changed. There is always a chance that a service pack install might mess up your settings.

Caller 3
Q: ati2eva2 gives me a blue screen
A: ATI has some buggy drivers. The best bet is to go to the laptop manufacturer's site to get their latest version customized for your laptop.

question from the chatroot: what is the best encryption for his wireless?
A: just use WPA, with a personal shared key. However, it depends on what devices you have, like the Nintendo DS only supports the WEP

Joe Danyi talks about SAAS (software as a service). Each install of software used to be per machine. Now they are thinking about licencing per user instead. Panda anti-virus brings this up with its new cloud anti-virus. Joe does not seem to like this type of licensing.


Segment 4

No computer show next show.

Adam talks about the NHL finals. He is now a fan.

The Niles store is open. The door to go in is the middle door in the suite.

Caller 4
Q: do you teach computers for old people?
A: there are weekly classes. They are all in our office. Contact Nick to get on the mailing list to get a list of the classes.