Grundig Consulting

Decisions being made by computer owners or prospective owners are mainly being drive by price these days, for obvious reasons. Not everyone wants to spend a ton of money on a new PC, unless the return on investment is high enough. However, quality matters, too, as does the manner in which you will be using your machine.

So, here are the 4 choices which I see right now for most business or home computer users.

1) Netbooks (a new term which has arisen over the last several years to describe a sub-compact, notebook-type computer). Netbooks are small that notebooks and are ultra portable. The storage subsystem often has no hard drive. Instead it often uses flash memory, similar the the ultralight MacBook Air. Netbooks are good for surfing the web and email and still come with a regular operating system, so they can run Office applications, too. The best deals that I see on Netbooks are at RadioShack. The prices quoted online are actually higher than the in-store price. I saw a similar model to the ones displayed online selling for $100, provided that the buyer sign at 2-year contract for ATT wireless. The cost to get out of the wireless plan is $180 or $200, if desired.

Notebook computers can be a great deal these days. For an inexpensive, but useful notebook, check out the Dell Vostro line. Latitude and Precision laptops from Dell are also popular and are better for more demanding applications. I like HP, too, but Dell is what I buy for myself and my clients in most cases. When purchasing a notebook, ask yourself how much travelling you will do - how often will you be away from home. If the answer is ‘no’, choose a laptop with a docking station or port replicator or a desktop. This will enable you to attach a normal monitor, keyboard and mouse to your system and to easily pop in the laptop and remove it.

Desktops are the best choice if you are looking for a cheaper, fast PC and will not be moving around at all. Pay attention to the case size when buying, as some of the slim cases will limit how many extra goodies (hard drives, video cards, etc.) you can add to your desktop PC later on. For these types of add-on component, Grundig Consulting can help you choose or you may want to buy online from an excellent vendor, such as Newegg

The final option is to upgrade or repair your current PC or laptop. This can save money in some instances. Generally, upgrading the RAM (memory) will have the greatest effect on performance at the least cost. To find the right memory for your machine, use the tool at Memory Suppliers.

If you have any questions about the above or about any computing topic, do not hesitate to contact Grundig Consulting by phone: 925-528-9081 or email: tom@tomscomputerservice.com. You can also post a comment here and I will reply accordingly or someone else may respond, too, with a post of their own.

Many of us are considering the most effective technology investments that we can make to keep our systems happy and ensure optimal productivity in 2009. In previous post, I mentioned some free or nearly free items which have tremendous value.

Proper security on a PC or network begins with a firewall. Firewalls are designed to keep unauthorized or harmful network traffic outside a network or computer system. A good online port scanner, ShieldsUP!, which can be used to test for potentially dangerous ports (openings) on a computer system, can be found here. To use the scanner, first click the ‘Proceed’ button, then select to scan for ‘File Sharing’ or ‘Common Ports’. Result for individual ports indicating Stealth or Closed are generally good, while Open ports may warrant further attention. Please reply to this post or contact Grundig Consulting if you have any questions about deciphering the results. If there is a router installed between your cable or DSL modem and your computer, very few open ports should be available, as the router is probably acting as a firewall. Additional firewall locations are within an installed security software suite or in Windows Firewall.

Proper virus scanning software is important. For home users, an excellent, free anti-virus application, AVG Free Edition, can be downloaded and installed from download.com. Installation and configuration is pretty straightforward. Business users should download and install the pay version of AVG anti-virus. Licenses can be purchased and discounts are available for 5-user, 10-user or larger quantities. Again with any questions, please reply to this post or contact Grundig Consulting or your IT specialist.

For combatting adware, spyware and popups, recommended utilities include Adaware and Spybot.

Backup of all important files should be made daily or at least weekly to a using a remote backup service or to an external hard drive, or both. Free backup service from Mozy.com is available. Unlimited backup is available for $4.95 / month. The free backup from Mozy allows up to 2GB free to be backed up from your workstation to a secure offsite location (2 gb is about the same size as a single, large Outlook email file.) Therefore, it’s best for backing up your email (Outlook or other) and financial data (Quickbooks, Quicken or other) in one fell swoop. Additional data files, such as Word Documents, Excel spreadsheets or similar can be added to the backup if there is space, which is often the case. Images and video take up lots of drive space, by comparison, and I recommend to backup these files locally to an external hard drive or similar device or if the $4.95, unlimited backup version of Mozy online backup is used.

As the holiday season approaches, more and more people are asking for my advice on which computer system to purchase this year? This pertains to home users as well as those in a business environment. In my opinion, there are two major choices which must be made: PC or Mac? Desktop or laptop?

PC or Mac? There are a lot of great systems available right now are very good prices, especially on the PC side, made by manufacturers such as Dell and and other. I recommend purchasing one of the midrange systems when shopping for a PC, whether a desktop or laptop. More installed memory, as always, improves performance. However, the extremely versatile lineup of Macintosh computers from Apple always begs inspection. The iMac, Macbook and Macbook Pro models which are available are suitable for most home or small business users. Keep in mind that by using Bootcamp, which is built into the newest version of the Mac operating systems, you can run Windows XP or Vista on a Mac without sacrificing any performance.

Desktop or laptop? These days, the price difference between laptops and desktops has narrowed, while laptops are are also nearing desktop systems in performance. Laptops can be used at home, at work or on the road. As a result, more laptops are now being sold worldwide than desktops. I recommend that you seriously consider a laptop in any debate between a laptop and desktop system. Port replicators, external monitors, keyboards and mice can be attached to a laptop systems to give it a more ergonomic feel which being used in the laptop or at home. The easy portability of a laptop is usually worth the extra cost.

What do you think are the best computer systems available this holiday season? We’d love to hear your input or answer any questions that you have.

Best wishes for a happy and productive holiday season.

Today’s slower economy is leading many people to consider free alternatives to services that they currently pay for.

Consider benefiting from the following applications, all of which I highly recommend. Please bear in mind that some or all of these products have licensing limitations which may restrict their use or prohibit it in a business environment.

• 2 gb of free, secure offsite backup from Mozy
• Free web hosting and email accounts from DotEasy
• Free remote access to your workstation from LogMeIn

The key to benefiting from these free applications is to understand their capabilities while keeping aware of the limitations imposed on the free version of these products. All of these products can be upgraded to obtain the full storage and feature set of their pay-version counterparts.

The free backup from Mozy allows up to 2GB free to be backed up on your workstation (which is about the same size as a single, large Outlook email file.) Therefore, it’s best for backing up your email (Outlook or other) and financial data (Quickbooks, Quicken or other) in one fell swoop.

Web hosting from DotEasy allows you to host simple webpages as well as providing for several email accounts. Email storage on the DotEasy server is limited, so it’s best to download email into an email program on a workstation, such as Microsoft Outlook or the (also free) Mozilla Thunderbird.

The remote access service from LogMeIn relatively easy to install and is a godsend for those who want quick access to their remote workstation, whether it’s at home or at work. Note that the free version of this product does not allow for File Transfer between the host and remote workstation.

For question or concerns about any of the above, please reply to this post, not directly to me. That way, your question and any answers that I provide will be available in the comments for everyone else to see.

Until next time, happy computing!

Tom Grundig

Windows Small Business Server 2008 will be released on November 12, 2008, at the same time as the release of the new Windows Essential Business Server 2008, a multi-server solution intended for midsize businesses. The release of this new Small Business Server is very significant, considering that it offer several advantages and improvements over Small Business Server 2003. Small Business Server 2003 has been an extremely successful product and has stong following among IT people and small businesses alike.

Like Small Business Server 2003, Windows Small Business Server 2008 will be offered in two version, Standard and Premium. Unlike Small Business Server 2003, the premium product will be implemented on a second, standalone server.

Grundig Consulting, having realized the power of Microsoft Small Business server and adopted it as a standard platform within its consulting enterprises, is hard at work preparing to take the required test to achieve Microsoft Small Business Specialist certification on the 2003 platform and hopes to achieve the updated certification soon.

What do you think of Microsoft Small Business Server? Please keep all the question in the comments so that others may see them and reply.

Within the last several days, Google has released a beta version of their new browser, Chrome, which can be downloaded and installed by anyone running Microsoft Windows. Versions for Macintosh and Linux are still in the works but will be available soon.

I’m using Chrome now to edit this post and will continue to switch between Chrome and Firefox as my most-used browsers. I would encourage everyone to download and try Chrome for yourself. It appears that there are several features and security enhancements beyond what Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari have to offer. Please respond with your thoughts regarding Chrome or your favorite browser.

Well, everyone, I’ve discovered what I believe to be the best and most productive Outlook add-in ever. At least it’s the best that I’ve used. This tool XOBNI, makes analysis, searching and navigation of email much easier. Download the program for free at the above link. Feel free to respond and let others know what you think of XOBNI.

A frequently-asked question by my clients is whether a DSL connection, cable connection or fiber-optic connection is optimal for their home or business. In the Central Contra Costa County service area which I service regularly, the choice for DSL is ATT, while Comcast and Astound offer cable connections. The phone company, ATT, is also beginning to roll out and offer fiber optic-based services.

In most cases, I prefer the reliability and stability of the DSL connection. While DSL connections can be somewhat slower than cable, the speed is constant and is not affected by other users in the neighborhood. All three of these companies, though, do offer some attractive bundles which include phone service, high-speed internet, and, in some cases, TV. Advanced TV from ATT is the newest addition to the its lineup. Comcast and Astound pricing to cable high-speed internet is higher that the phone company, but may make sense for businesses, especially of multiple users on on the system at once and they are sending and receiving large attachments or watching a lot of online video.

In the end, there is always a tradeoff between price and speed. Please contact your IT service provider or tom@grundigconsulting.com if you have any questions. It is highly advisable to have someone to help you select the right service for you or your business which will work now and in the future.

Using a slow computer workstation is one of the must frustrating things for anyone trying to get something done on a computer, particularly with the mounting list of tasks that each of us must accomplish during the workday.

A common request with by small business owners and managers and computer users is “. . . Speed up my workstation.” Usually, one can do any of the following, and in the following order (Reply to this post with a questions or talk to your IT consultant if anything is unclear.)

1) Disable startup applications using the Microsoft system configuration utility. Each application thinks it’s really important, but they don’t all have to load when the workstation is started up.

2) Add memory - memory is used by the operating sytem and also by running applications. Increasing memory allows on to run more application at the same time while also increasing performance

3) Defragment the hard drive - After years of use, files on the hard drive are not necessarily stored in a continuous space on the hard drive. Defragmenting will rearrange the files more efficiently and should result in a performance improvement.

4) Replace the workstation and transfer data and possibly, applications, to the new workstation. Most expensive of the options here, but often the most effective. Most companies and organizations have a 3 or 4 year replacement cycle for workstations. Options from Dell for Small Business are outlined here.

There has been plenty of debate regarding the relative merits of Window XP vs. Windows Vista in residential and business environments since Vista was released in early 2007, as evidenced by many discussions and articles which are available on the Internet and in trade journals. Microsoft continues to tout their latest operating system and points to the number of Vista licenses which have been sold, a figure in excess of 100 million licences.

Now, with over 1 year to assess Windows Vista, and following the recent release of Vista Service Pack I on February 4th, 2008, it is clear that many of the problems which initially plagued vista have been resolved, particularly driver and hardware compatibility issues. However, this does not mean that Vista is ready for business at this time, and indications are that many professional IT people are waiting for the release of the next client operating system from Microsoft. The debate rages on in Tech forums online and trade publications.

If you purchase an new computer in a retail outlet today, it will have Windows Vista pre-installed, meaning that you can stick with Vista or or try to load XP on it. Online, manufacturers such as Dell.com and others allow one to purchase a workstation which comes with a Windows Vista license but has Windows XP pre-installed. If you are in a business, I recommend that you contact your IT professional if you are not sure which operation system to purchase and use.