Beware the Best Buy Optimization

Best Buy offers to do a "optimization" on new computers that claims to speed them up. This service is supposed to be optional for $39.95, but there are some stores that sell computers that are "pre-optimized." If they claim that they are sold out of the non-optimized computers, they will force you to buy one that is "pre-optimized" even if you don't want that service. Read more about this here: http://consumerist.com/2010/01/consumerist-investigation-best-buy-optimization-is-a-big-stupid-annoying-waste-of-money.html

25 Golden Rules of E-mail

Before there was the web, there was e-mail. Some people still haven't figured it out. Here's a list of 25 things that you should know about e-mail.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2344692,00.asp

Spring Cleaning your PC and other gadgets

Here is a series of articles that give some helpful tips to do some spring cleaning on your PC and other tech gadgets.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343264,00.asp

How To Buy a Cheap Desktop PC

Here is an article from pcmag.com that discusses how to buy a new PC for $500 or less. They also review some promising candiates.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343538,00.asp

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for Feb 14 2009

Youngstown Computer Show
February 14 2009

Valentine's day backgrounds:
http://youngstowncomputer.com/images/vd1.jpg
http://youngstowncomputer.com/images/vd2.jpg
http://youngstowncomputer.com/images/vd3.jpg

This week's poll: What would you like to know more about: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/025

Poker during the breaks today:
http://74.219.220.138:8087/
choose head-to-head to play JoeD.
password = 570

Caller 1
Q: I have a computer that has Fat32 on the hard disk, but XP is running on there
A: XP can run on both. it was probably upgraded from WinME.
There can be some problems upgrading, but there are some built-in tools to help you convert.

Caller 2
Q: Can you make MP3s into a regular audio CD?
A: very simple, just tell your burning software to make an audio CD

Caller 3
Q: Question about google earth, put my address in and it came up very good, then I put in my neighbor's address about a quarter of a mile away, and it keeps coming up to my address. Is there something I can delete?
A: it is possible that the mapping software is mapping two address that are close enough to the same point on the map


Segment 2

For the caller from last week, there is now an article about how to make better google searches: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=136861

Caller 4
Q: Running XP, I have a word document in Microsoft office word, and I went to "save as" and I put it there, and then I went to "My Computer" , and then when I click on the D: drive, where I normally store stuff, I get a message the says "The selected drive is not in use, check to make sure a disk is in the drive" even if there is a disk is in there it is not letting me record to the disk.
A: sounds like something has changes in the way the packets are sent to that CD drive, I'm wondering if something else is linking to the D: drive like a flash drive or a card reader or something like that. I usually try to make a test folder on the drive to make sure that the drive is receiving data. I would check and see that another removable drive is not kicking the CD-rom drive to another letter that Word does not recognize.

What is RSS? Really Simple syndication: It is a way for web sites to publish new items, like articles, or pictures, or audio files (podcasts) or videos (video podcasts or vlogs). You just use an RSS reader to subscribe to these feeds which will let you know when something new is available without you having to view the site directly.

Everyone make a blog. We will collect the feeds and show them on the youngstown computer site.

Caller 5
Q: got the virtuMonde virus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vundo
A: this is the one of the toughest to get rid of. you will have to bring it into the shop to have it cleaned up.

Caller 6
Q: any reccommedations for a new laptop? do tax work, spreadsheets, etc. no gaming, but like a fast computer
A: Alienware has great, top of the line laptops. look at dell, HP, and alienware, compare what you get for the money.

Caller 7
Q: problem with an external hard drive. have about 850Gb of data, but I can't see any folders, but in DOS I can
A: don't know, please call the office


Segment 3

Bad advice from salespeople and tech support people:
Looking for video driver from Dell was told: you will have to replace your motherboard
running the restore disk, and they lost all of their stuff

Caller 8
Q: put in a new motherboard, but the restore disk will not get windows started
A: you will need to install windows from the windows install disk and get the correct drivers for the new motherboard, try different memory chips

Caller 9
Q: I tried to change the ink in a cannon printer, is there someone that could fix it?
A: it is possible to fix, but it is probably better to buy a new one


Segment 4

To improve your clicking speed, improve your mousing skills, try playing games, like this diner game on Yahoo games.

Soon to have a branch of Youngstown Computer in Austintown.

Caller 10
Q: converted my old movies to DVD, is there software to take an image from a DVD movie and just turn it into a picture that I can use for like a cd cover?
A: most capture software can do this, search download.com for programs that capture images from video. Adam recommends using Alt-printscreen to capture the image {however this might not work because video players usually use directX to play video, and those images will not show when you use the printscreen button -- JoeM}

Internet Cache - most internet browsers save pictures and all parts of web pages on your local computer to make loading of the web page faster the next time. Sometimes, if the site changes its pictures very often, to force your browser to ignore your cached data, use Ctrl-F5 to refresh from the internet.

The Ruckus service, which served lots of university campuses, has closed its doors.
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-college-online-music-service-ruckus-closes-down/

Bargain All-In-One Printers (via PCMag.com)

PC magazine has a list of some great savings on some all-in-one printers, if you are looking for a new one:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2340851,00.asp?kc=BG021209N-2

The 20 Best Free PC Games (via ExtremeTech.com)

Looking for some cheap entertainment? ExtremeTech has a list of 20 free games for your PC. I'm going to have to give some a try.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2340696,00.asp

External Hard Drive Reviews

I just talked about getting on a backup schedule, and a good idea is to get an external hard drive and use it for backups. Here are some links to reviews of external hard drives from PCmag.com:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339037,00.asp?kc=BG012909N-1

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2294019,00.asp?kc=BG012909N-2

Bargain Hunt: Mainstream PCs (from PCmag.com)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2338981,00.asp

The Best Free Software for 2009 (via PC Magazine)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2338803,00.asp

Steps to Re-install and Restore Your Windows PC

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/155995-1/reinstall_and_restore_your_windows_pc_in_eight_easy_steps.html

Some Great PCs under $500 (w/no monitor)

PC Magazine reviews some good, some not so good PCs that are good for simple email and web surfing. And they are all under $500. The best of the lot is the Dell, which packs 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard disk, and a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip. Not bad for $499. Check out the reviews at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335136,00.asp

New PCs for trying time

PC Magazine reviews some new computers that give surprising performance for not that much money. Check it out at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2333554,00.asp.

PC Magazine tests 2009 security suites

Security suites have a bad reputation for slowing down your system when they are installed. PC Magazine has added some new tests to help show how much or how little the latest security suites affect typical PC operations. Check it out at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2333448,00.asp

IE7 Tips

This is my first YouTube video. I hope you like it!

Bloatware free laptops

Over at PCMAG.com I found this article about some laptops that are bloatware free. Check out the article at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329282,00.asp

Clarifying My Stand on Vista

I wanted to clarify my stance on Vista. I know I got excited last night, because it hurts me to see so much unjustified bashing of Vista when I and many others have had a very good experience with it. However, I wanted to make some things clear.

I don't recommend you to upgrade your present machine from XP to Vista. Even though I really like Vista, and it worked well on an older machine I had, installing Vista on older hardware can be problematic. Please, don't go and think you have to upgrade to Vista. You don't have to.

However, if you want to live dangerously and try upgrading to Vista, I highly recommend that you first download and run the Vista Upgrade advisor. It analyses your present machine and tells you what will and what won't work in Vista. You can download it at this location.

The best experience is to buy a new PC with Vista already installed. If you do, I suggest getting a machine with a Intel Core 2 chip, at least 2 GB of RAM, and a dedicated graphics card. Don't be confused by all the different versions of Vista; get the Home Premium edition. If you want to use older devices with your new computer, please check out the Vista Compatibility Center or the manufacturer's web site to see if there are Vista drivers available for your older devices. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my several-year-old HP PSC 2110 printer was supported out-of-the-box, I didn't need to download any drivers.

I hope I didn't give you the wrong impression that Vista was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is not perfect, but it is not an embarassment or the worst version of Windows ever, as some in the press might lead you to believe. Don't be afraid of getting a new PC with Vista, just do a little bit of homework by checking out the Vista Compatibility Center to see if your older devices work ok.

Check Urban Legends at snopes.com

I know people are trying to be helpful when they pass on that email that has been forwarded ten times all around the planet. Before you act on any data that gets passed on you, try looking it up first at http://snopes.com.