The Computer Doctor of Richmond

If you’re considering buying a new windows based PC you really should wait.  Windows 7, the successor to the battered and bruised Windows Vista, is on the horizon.  Windows 7, for all intents and purposes, is what Vista should have been.  Win7 is a faster, stronger and more backwards compatible than Vista.  With any luck, perhaps it can cool down the fire that Microsoft got burned with from Vista.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not bagging on Vista.  But let’s be honest, the world hasn’t exactly been thrilled with it.

But that may come to an end as soon as October.  Windows 7 will officially be released for sale to the public on October 22nd.  It is currently on the verge of being released to the manufacturers (Dell, HP, etc..) for them to start developing new systems with Win7 on them.  So if you can wait until the new systems come out in the fall, you’ll be in good shape.

However, if you can’t wait until then, perhaps you can wait about a week.  A leaked Best Buy memo outlines details about the upgrade plan.  It says that if you purchase a new computer after June 26th, you’ll receive a certificate for a free upgrade to Win7 when it comes out.  However, this program may vary from reseller to reseller.  This is very similar to the upgrade program Microsoft did with Vista prior to its official release.

For more information on the upgrade program see this Computer World article.

One of the common things we see amongst our customers is the use of internet history in place of using favorites/bookmarks for regularly accessed websites.  They will click on the little down arrow in the address bar of their internet browser to get a list of sites they have been, and then hunt through that list to find the place they’re looking for.  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that method, there are more efficient methods.
For instance, favorites in Internet Explorer or bookmarks in Firefox and Safari are great built in tools to allow you to save the sites you go to on a regular basis.  Then instead of trying to remember all the sites you like to visit regularly, or hunting through your history you can simply click on the link in your favorites.  Moreover, if you do have a number of sites you regularly visit, you should use your Links toolbar (Bookmarks toolbar in Firefox).  This is a little toolbar, typically located below the address bar that has a list of the favorites/bookmarks you put in there.  For example, this is a picture of a very common Internet Explorer setup with the Links toolbar located directly below the address bar.  Notice how there is several links including The Computer Doctor of Richmond, CNN and so on.

Now take a look at the picture below of another bookmarks toolbar with the text labels gone.  Notice how this gives tons more space to add in even more bookmarks for all the sites you visit on a regular basis.  This is because most sites nowadays have favorite icons that identify themselves to your browser with a little icon.  You will typically notice this immediately to the left of the address of where you are visiting.  Take a moment and look at your address bar currently, you should see a little picture of our Computer Doctor of Richmond logo.  These favorite icons also show up beside the link for your bookmark.

So how can you start saving favorite links in Internet Explorer?  There are several ways to do it, you can simply use the keyboard shortcut “CTRL + D” or you can select the “add favorite” button as seen in the picture below as indicated by the highlight in the lower left corner.  Or you can select the favorite menu and then select add to favorites as indicated by the highlight in the middle of the screen.

Also notice how we highlighted “tools” in the bottom right of the picture.  Click this to get a list of tools and how you can customize Internet Explorer.  To turn on the Links toolbar you may need to select Tools > toolbars > and select Links to turn it on.  After turning Links on, if you don’t see the links toolbar below the address bar, it may be to the right, directly above tools.  If you want to move this over like we’ve shown it, you may need to first unlock the toolbars (also found in tools > toolbars > if there is a check beside “lock toolbars” then select it to unlock) and then hover your mouse over the little adjustment dots (as seen in the picture below) and click and drag it to where you want it.

You can also click on the favorite icon in the address bar, and drag it to your links toolbar.  To get rid of the text, right click on it and select properties, then select the general tab, now delete the name of the link and hit ok.
So you’re now likely saying one of two things “wow, this bookmarks/favorites thing is great, tell me more!” or “I already use bookmarks/favorites, what do you have for me in that fancy bag-o-tips?”  Well, stay tuned there is more coming in our next post in a few days…..

Do you have an HP dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 or Compaq Presario V3000/V6000 or similar model?  If so, be aware that your computer may suffer from a manufactures defect.  If your computer suddenly one day fails to boot up, but will partially power on then your computer is likely suffering from a result of poor manufacturing and poor quality control.

The symptoms are typically when you press the power button, the blue media buttons above the keyboard light up, the fan turns on but that is it.  Nothing will show on the screen, nor if you connect it to an external monitor.

The bad news is that the only way to fix it is to replace the motherboard.

The good news is that we can likely get this problem fixed for you at minimal cost.  Do exercise caution of other shops that tell you they will replace your motherboard for $x-hundred dollars.  Also, the good news is that 99.9% likely your data is still intact on your hard drive.

For more information and assistance with this repair, contact us and inquire about our warranty facilitation program.

Are you trying to figure out a way to keep certain files in sync on two or more computers?  For instance, do you have a folder that you save school/work documents in at home?  But then have to also save them to a flash drive, or even email them to yourself so you can continue to work on them at work or on your laptop?  If so, then keep reading!!!

Microsoft has a product that may solve all your needs for keeping your digital life in sync.  Live Mesh is a program that you install onto your computers that you’re trying to keep in sync.  You simply create a free “live” account, install the program Live Mesh and then tell it which folder(s) you want to sync.  Then you do the same on the rest of your computers that you want to sync (you only have to create one free account).  Now, Live Mesh will sync the contents of this folder.
So you’re saying “how does it work?”  Well, magic of course!  It will send your data up to the clouds that is your “Live Mesh desktop” that gives you 5GB of online storage, then syncs your data back down to the rest of you computers that you have setup.

Snazzy aint it?

However, in big government fashion they have a redundant service called “Live Sync” that does something very similar.  It installs like the Live Mesh and does syncs like Live Mesh.  However, with Live Sync you do not get the handy dandy cloud storage of 5GB’s.  And you’re probably saying, “well what’s the point of Live Sync then?  Why don’t I just go with Live Mesh and get the handy dandy cloud storage thingy?”  Well, if you’d keep your questions till the end of our presentation we’d tell you, and next time raise your hand!

Live Sync gives you virtually unlimited amounts of data it can sync, but just not a single file larger than 4GB’s.  So you can have 200gb’s of data it syncs, as long as none of those files are singularly larger than 4GB’s.

I use this one since I need to sync more than 5gb.

So, which one is the right one for you?  Well, Live Sync is great for simple, quick sync across multiple computers.  Live Mesh does that too, but limits you to only 5GB’s of constant file syncs.  Live Mesh also is more resource hungry and thus requires more horsepower from your computer.

The really cool thing is both of them sync between Windows based PC’s and Macs!!

Live Mesh

Live Sync

Folks, please don’t let your computer get like this.  Below are just a few examples of what we see on a regular basis here at The Computer Doctor of Richmond.  This much dust and dirt will definitely cause overheating which at a bare minimum will rob you of performance.  More than likely though, left untreated this will cause premature hardware failure.

The best defense is to simply get a can of compressed air sold at all Wal-Mart’s and office supply stores and blast out all vents.  If it is a laptop, it is best to do it when it is turned on, and make sure you get all of the vents on the sides and underneath.  With desktops, don’t hesitate to open the tower up and blast it out.  And if it needs it, you can use a vacuum carefully to suck up that junk.  With towers, it is better to do it when they are turned off.

All of these customers below had hardware failure that may have been prevented if the computer could just breathe.

Dell tower Before:

This is the front of a Dell tower with the front cover removed

Dell tower After:

Now we have cleared out the sinuses of this computer

Its a dirty job….

This is the vacuum after cleaning out the tower above

Laptop with a dead fan

Now you know why the fan was dead

We’ve even seen roaches living inside a computer tower