Youngstown Computer Show notes for July 25, 2009

Segment 1

Joe D starts the show.

Joe D got an iPhone 3GS. It is faster than the 3G. Haven't yet used some of the new features. Likes the new camera.

Adam is here. Asks about the new focus system.

New poll: what things do you think will be hooked to the internet next?

Joe D was looking at TVs and they now can be hooked to the internet. You can stream Netflix movies on the internet-enabled TV.

Ian wants to see Media Center extender tech in TVs.

Caller 1

Q: where do you think the digital tv is going to go? Are they going to increase the number of channels? I see that there are sub-channels on digital tv.

A: Joe D sees the demise of local TV.

Q: I'd like to see more range on digital TV. You can't get 45 or Pittsburgh or Cleveland.

Adam speaks up for digital tv. The needed to free up some bandwidth for emergency broadcasts. Joe D thinks that the airwaves are becoming clogged. {Joe M: actually, the digital channels use the same bandwidth as the analog channels, using data compression, they can broadcast up to 4 standard definition broadcasts in the space of one analog channel. }

Segment 2

Joe D saw a big uptick in the requests for having their data backed up.

Caller 2

Q: about an application for viewing powerpoint on iPhone and on a blackberry

A: there are about 4 apps in the app store that should handle that on the iPhone

Joe D talks about all the different types of apps for the iPhone.

Adam asks if anyone can make their phone as popular as the iPhone.

Michael pops in to say that you can convert the powerpoints to quicktime.

This wednesday, at the Youngstown Sports Grill, there will be a fundraiser, we will have gift certificates if you win at some Wii games. For JA.

For MDA, Joe D will be locked up in August.

Mike had a story about "cyber-warriors" that can protect us from cyber attacks from foreign countries.

Segment 3

Caller 3

Q: can I buy a computer where I can put my fingerprint on it and only I can use it?

A: yes, there are some laptops where you can log in with just your fingerprint. You can buy keyboards with fingerprint readers, or just stand-alone fingerprint readers.

Story about free content. Free internet content is coming to a close, it is not sustainable. Joe D thinks that the end user won't see the costs, it will be part of internet access. Ian and Adam both think that ad-supported news will always be available and wont go away. Newspapers wish it would, though.

Caller 4

Q: is it better to have an external hard drive or on-line backup

A: Joe D thinks that the on-line backup is too slow to have a total restore. doing a big restore is faster from a local drive

Q: my external drives failed, so I can put up with the download speeds

Ian was trying out carbonite, it seems to jump in and slow down your stuff when you least expect it. Joe D really doesn't like that it will back up a corrupted file, and not keep multiple version. Ian thinks the best way is to do both.

Segment 4

chat room question: you said to turn off auto updates? should we turn them on now?

What you should do is turn off the full auto operation which automatically installs updates without asking you sometimes at the worst moments like rebooting without asking, but set it to the setting right below to automatically download, but let you choose when to install them.

Caller 5

Q: is there a place that sells used computers?

A: no, sorry

Caller 6

Q: turned on my computer, the wireless card doesn't work, the touchpad doesn't work, and some of the keys don't work on the keyboard

A: sounds like a bad motherboard or corroded connector. might have had a spill of liquid?

We set up a multi-display computer this week. Most laptops allow you use another monitor in addition to the built-in monitor. Adam wonders if you have to keep the laptop monitor on all the time? Ian says that there are special keystrokes to turn off the laptop screen to only use the external screen.

Youngstown Computer Show notes for July 18, 2009

Segment 1

Joe D opens up the show. Adam seems not to be there.

Ribbon cutting yesterday at the new Niles store. Joe D was playing Rock Band.

Caller 1

Q: about the internet connection. When I turn on the cable modem, the hard drive starts going like crazy. What could be going on?

A: When you firs turn on, the network card gets an address, then you'll have to log in. Ian thinks that McCaffe might be slowing things down when it loads the firewall, see if you are too low on memory

Joe tells of an article where Apple is a little irritated with Microsoft's latest ads about people buying computers. Apple did lower their prices a little. Ian is replacing his old Powerbook.

Caller 2

Q: a repeat problem, he is getting messages that the Virtual Memory is low, what is the problem?

A: you can adjust the virtual memory higher, or add some more real memory.

Since memory is cheap, make sure you got enough memory. 2GB is good for Vista, 1GB is ok for XP. Remember that 32-bit operating systems, like XP cannot even see more than 4GB of RAM, so it is possible to put in too memory that your computer will not even use.

Segment 2

Joe D ran into a new Malware called Personal Antivirus, it pretends to be an AntiVirus program. It is pretty difficult to remove. It will ask you for money to install it. If you see this, give us a call to get it removed as soon as possible.

Caller 3

Q: got a Dell, about 5-years old, has ZoneAlarm, also got Norton AV, all of a sudden I can't get online, so I disabled Zonealarm, I tried to get rid of Norton, so now every time I want to go on, I have to disable zonealarm, why does it do this?

A: you only want to have one AV/security program running at a time. Just us a good AV program like Norton 2009, and Windows does have a good firewall.

Talking about some technology flops. Things that were hyped up, but didn't sell. Like the CueCat to scan barcodes. Ian's G1 phone has a program to scan barcodes. WebTV was also on the list. Laserdisk is also on the list. Zip disks are also on the list. and Packard Bell.

Segment 3

Joe D tells that NASA discovered that they lost the original moon footage.

Caller 4

Q: has a acer laptop, has time/warner, have a long wait to get on the internet, they came in to check, and they said the cable and modem were ok, but they said the laptop was "overloaded". what does that mean?

A: We will have to come out and inspect the machine and see exactly what is causing the slowness, we then give you an estimate.

Caller 5

Q: got a Dell laptop, about 3-years old, when online, the fan seems to speed up, is that normal?

A: yes, the fan speed is automatic to keep the CPU cool, so it could be clogged with some dust, or depending on what you do on line, the CPU could get more busy and get hot, and then the fan gets faster. try downloading a program called SpeedFan.

Caller 6

Q: was doing a windows update, it said to download activex, got a security warning, should I do this?

A: windows update is itself an activeX control, so you do need to use activeX when using windows update. if you get activeX warnings on other sites, you will have to be aware

Caller 7

Q: I was looking at getting a new laptop, should I hold off for Windows 7, is there a lot wrong with Vista?

A: windows 7 does look good, though Vista is running fine now on new machines, you can get a free (or low cost) upgrade to win 7 when it comes out.

Caller 8

Q: my spyware program expired, so I got a warning, so I clicked on it, and it offered several different ones, I chose a 90-day trial for Trend Micro, and I hear that you should buy the disk instead of downloading online?

A: we recommend to do a fresh install each year, it doesn't have to be from disk or online. just uninstall the old version, and install the new version, don't do a upgrade. we choose one that works best for a particular situation.

Segment 4

Caller 9

Q: got several old computers, like commodore 64, 128, etc. how do I get rid of them?

A: try selling them on ebay, there are lots of people that like those classic computers. Look for the green team to have a recycle period to take computers for recycling.

Caller 10

Q: I got my daugher a macbook, but she doesn't get the amount of problems we get on the home computer. is that normal?

A: yes, there are not that many viruses and malware that are targeting for macs. So, you do pay a bit more, but you do not have to worry about the level of malware.

Caller 11

Q: leaving my computer on all the time, pros or cons?

A: well, it does use power, so make sure that you set up power-saving modes to shut down the system if it not in use.

Q: do you turn it off at night?

A: Joe D does not say what he does. {Joe M says turn your computer off at night}

Q: I have problems seeing. Are there some programs to magnify the screen?

A: IE can make the text bigger, if you use it.

Q: I downloaded a screen magnifier, but it makes it too big.

A: Joe D recommends IE to zoom in.

Caller 12

Q: had my computer in for cleanup, on the desktop I have an icon on the desktop, like firefox, it takes like a half a minute to come up, is there a way to speed that up?

A: it is tough to tell what could be slowing that down. Firefox has been getting slower and slower with each version.

Q: any search engines you recommend?

A: Ian just uses Google.

There is an add-on called User Agent Switcher to make your firefox browser look like different browsers.

Youngstown Computer Show notes for July 11, 2009

Segment 1

Joe shares a story. He was driving behind a driver that was veering across the center line and was driving slow. He finally passed him, and Joe saw he was texting on his phone. Joe D is now an advocate for stopping texting during driving. Adam asks about hands free things? Joe is ok with that. Adam however took three calls on the way to work today.

YoCo week, grand opening of the Niles store this week. Because of the news this week of denial-of-service attacks this week, YoCo will have an amnesty week. YoCo will check for infections, and check that your computer is running ok. You will save between $25-$75 off of the service if you mention you heard this offer on the radio show.

Ribbon cutting at 4pm Friday and then party starting at 5pm.

Caller 1

Q: After getting my computer cleaned at YoCo, when I go to bring up my email from my Favorites, I used to go right in, now I have to log in every time.

A: You will have to turn on the autosave option and let it save your login info once and then it should remember. Joe D recommends password management software to stop this from happening again when YoCo cleans your computer.

Come and meet all the employees on Friday

Segment 2

Joe D talks about the recent cyber-attacks. They are starting to include self-destructing elements, so that it will destroy all data to cover their tracks.

Be sure to always backup your important data since your drive will crash at some point. Ian was trying Carbonite, an on-line backup and likes it. Joe D does not like it since it will take forever to restore it. Also, if it is not able to get all our your stuff uploaded in the time you give it, some things might not ever get backed up.

Caller 2

Q: I left the computer on, and it shut itself off, but then it could not boot again, and then I could not run the recovery disc.

A: we'd have to look at it in the shop to see if it overheated, or the hard drive just crashed

Q: now I bought a new computer, but it is not as fast as the old one.

A: Joe D thinks that it might not have enough ram, Ian says that there might be some crapware programs loaded and YoCo can get rid of them if you bring it in for us to look at it.

Segment 3

questions from the chatroom: servicehost is crashing, you'll have to troubleshoot what service is crashing

a friend is planning on getting a new computer, what should he spend more money on? Joe D says more ram, 4GB. Get up to a 1TB drive, perhaps use an external drive for backups. Don't have to worry about the CPU.

What operating system to go with? Now is a bad time to make a decision. Joe D does not want to use Win 7 right out of the gate. XP is at the end of life, so the only choice is Vista right now. If you can hold off until Win 7 is out for a while, do that.

They think that they will need to keep XP support because of the all the netbooks that are being sold with XP.

Patch tuesday is coming on July 14.

Ian talks about XP vs Vista. If your really need the laptop now, go with Vista, since the differences between Vista and 7 are far less than the differences between XP and 7.

Adam asks about the Google OS. Joe D thinks that it dumbing down your computer, so that most of the smarts will come from the internet instead of using the full power of the computer. Ian does not like the idea just because they already have a OS right now: android.

Caller 3

Q: having trouble with a virus scan, it says it got a virus when I accessed a web site from a Westmorland Library, it keeps coming up and it does not get rid of it.

A: it is probably best to bring the computer in to check it out to see what is really happening.

Segment 4

Caller 4

Q: windows xp, older computer, author DVDs, if I open a video file in media player the computer crashes, but I can play it in the authoring program

A: Ian thinks it is a video card driver problem, try both the newest version, or roll back to a previous version. Joe D suggests reinstalling media player without addins

questions from chatroom: toshiba laptop keeps eating powercords, what is the problem?

If they are burning up, check your room wiring to make sure it is correct

Caller 5

Q: normally I get windows, now I get a black screen saying press F1 to continue

A: something before the system boots is affecting the system. try to shut the computer down, then unplug the computer, hit the power button to release any stored energy, then plug it back in, sometimes the bios gets messed up

Caller 6

Q: reading about on-line backup, read in the paper about Acronis imaging software.

A: the imaging software takes an exact copy of the hard disk, it allows you to recover faster from a crash, you can restore the image onto a new disk, you don't have to re-install everything. it can take a long time to image.

Caller 7

Q: downloaded a large file, ubuntu, 739MB, but it wont fit on a cd?

A: the ubuntu image will fit, no problem. the ISO image is slightly bigger than it will be on disk

Whole week of amnesty checks, if you mention you heard the offer on the radio.

Thursday is movie night at Mauthy park. Friday is grand opening in Niles, 25 Main St.