Holiday newsletter sent! Money saving coupons included. Did not receive one? Send email to carlthorne@htcatlanta.con to request o...
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Electronic Recycling Day - Cobb County, GA
Electronics Recycling Day Keep Cobb Beautiful Electronics Day and Shoe Collection Saturday, November 14, 2009 9am – 1pm Jim R. Miller Park - 2245 Callaway Road Marietta, GA 30008 Piedmont Church - 570 Piedmont Road Marietta, GA 30066 Items AcceptedComputer Monitors/Microwave Ovens/Computer CPU's Stereos/ Toaster/ Laptops/ Copiers/ Printers/ Video Machines/ Alarm Clocks/ Disk Drives/ VCRs/ Can Openers Floppy Drives/ Camcorders/ Telephones/ Test & Networking Equipment/ Camera (Digital too)/ CB Radios Modems/ Mouse/ Record Players/ CD Players/ Circuit Boards/ Portable Radios/...
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Free Upgrade to Norton Anti Virus 2010?
Do you currently have installed a current (not expired) version of Norton Anti Virus or Norton Internet Security?You may be eligible for a free upgrade.Click on this link and follow the directions. (http://updatecenter.norton.com/)Why upgrade? The newer release should have improvements from the previous one. Those improvements might include:Using less resources on your computer.Detecting viruses quicker.Detecting viruses better.If you have the installation CD for the Norton Anti Virus Product you are currently running, you can always de-install the 2010 release and re-install the 2009 release if you think the older release is the better release of the t...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Webmail vs. Outlook - Time to Change?
What are the differences between using webmail (email accessed via an Internet Browser) and Outlook (email application part of the Microsoft Office Suite)?Where is your inbox, sent and user created email folders located?Webmail: On the Internet Service Providers' mail server.Outlook: On your computer.If you email is on your computer, you can back it up. Is it is on a web server, your email probably is not backed up.Where are your address book (contacts) and appointments (calendar) located?Webmail: On the Internet service providers web server.Outlook: On your computer.Same note as with email.Will my Smart Phone (iPhone, Blackberry, Palm) synchronize with my email application?Webmail: No.Outlook:...
Monday, October 12, 2009
Moving to an Different Email Address
You have decided to change from your current email address to another. How do you inform everyone that you communicate with, your new email address?The easiest way is to create a list of all your corespondents' email addresses by entering them into a distribution list.Once the distribution list is created, you can send an email to the distribution list that states that your email address has changed, what it has changed to, a request for your corespondent to update their address book with the changed email address and a cutoff date when your old email address will no longer be valid. Once the email is sent out, you might get messages that one your email is undeliverable. More than likely this...
Time to Get Rid of Your AOL Software?
Are you using AOL Software to access your email?Put your computer on a diet by getting rid of all the AOL Software and using an Internet Browser to access your webmail or receive your AOL email through an email application such as Microsoft Outlook (part of the Microsoft Office Suite).Why get rid of AOL Software?The spyware scan is not effective. See http://hthcatlanta.blogspot.com/2009/06/computer-running-slow-part-ii.html for advise of a better software solution.The virus scan is not effective. See http://hthcatlanta.blogspot.com/2009/06/computer-running-slow-part-ii.html for advise of a better software solution.The AOL Software slows your computer down. It takes resources away from your computer...
Friday, October 2, 2009
Blackberry News You Can Use
The Blackberry Desktop for Mac Application was available for download on October 2nd. (http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/desktop_mac.jsp) This installation was tricky, but sync'ing with Entourage 2007 worked! The folks at High Tech House Calls suggest you make the change from PocketMac (current Blackberry Application used for sync'ing on a Mac) to Blackberry Desktop for Mac. We would be happy to assist you the installation. Call High Tech House Calls at 404.229.0839.Texting is a way of life with a Blackberry, but it is easy to delete a received text before you have copied down the information you need from it. A free application automatically sends your text...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Books to Add to Your Reading List
For Your Health: Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy Until You're 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley, Henry S. Lodge M.D. M.D.I'm not interested in ending up in a walker. Following this book NOW allows you to plateau health-wise instead of a gradual decline. I can see a difference from the couple of months I have been following the advice.For Networking: Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl RazWhy did I spend 25 years consulting idiots and doing their work? How did they get the CEO job when it looks like they needed help getting dressed in the morning. This book was an eye opener.Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Disaster Recovery Plan - Prepare for the Next Flood
Gather all your software installation CD's into one place. If the pile is overwhelming because you have kept software for computers you no longer own or the software is outdated, now is the time to throw out the old and keep the current. If you want help culling through all the software, please call High Tech House Calls (404.229.0839). We are here to help.Store your software CD's in a safe place. At the very least, store your software in a different room from your computers. A safer option would be a fireproof media safe or a bank safety deposit box. Plastic (what CD's are made of) will melt before paper will burn, so getting a fireproof media safe is a must.To ensure your the safety of your...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Snow Leopard - Worth the Cost of Admission?
Snow Leopard is the newest release of the Apple Mac Operating System. This update is only available to Intel Processor based Apple computers. Power PC processor based systems such as the iBook cannot use this upgrade. Power PC systems are basically frozen from upgrading beyond Leopard. With this limitation in mind, it might make sense to start saving for a new Apple computer with an Intel processor.Installation was straight forward; I did not encounter any problems.Is it worth the $30?No!This release offers no new functionality that most users will be able to use or see. The core basis of this release is an improvement in computer speed. The benchmarks I have seen show that the casual user...
Vista 64 Bit Version - Is this the version you should be running?
Many Microsoft operating systems come in 64-bit and 32-bit versions (Win XP, Vista, Windows 7). Many Dell and HP systems are coming pre-loaded with 64-bit versions of the operating system. If you bought a 64-bit version by mistake or found out that a 64-bit version will not work in your computer environment, you will have to buy a 32-bit version of the operating system and load your computer from scratch your computer.What are the major differences between the two versions?A 64-bit version of the operating system allows you to utilize more memory space. More memory means the computer and its associated applications should run faster.The 64-bit version of the software is more expensive than the...
Monday, August 24, 2009
HP Computers - Recovery Nightmare
We do not recommend buying HP computers. Here's why:How much time did you spend setting up your computer when you took it out of the box?If you are like most people, you plugged the computer into the wall, turned it on, and pressed the enter key a couple of times.Did you notice which software CD's came with your computer? If it was an HP computer, there were not any CD's. Why?CD's cost money. To minimize the price of the computer and maximize the profit, hard copy manuals and software installation CD's are typically not included with HP systems.One of the pieces of cardboard that you probably did not read indicated that you needed to make a Recovery CD Kit for your new computer. Such a kit would...
Friday, August 14, 2009
Browsing the Internet with Safari v8 Revisited
Safari v4 just came out. I gave up on it once, on previous releases when I started using an Apple laptop for my business about 4 years ago. I just gave it another test drive. Here are the results:It still does not work well with many sites. I could not edit my newsletter at ConstantContact or view my daughter's eBill at college (not sure that was a bad thing!).It loaded more quickly than Microsoft Internet Explorer v8, but what doesn't?I loved the new Top Sites tab feature (see http://www.apple.com/safari/whats-new.html for more information on this new feature), but many of my favorite sites did not work with the browser.Conclusion: I am sticking with Mozilla Firefox. www.mozilla.comWant to...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Windows 7 - Countdown to Nirvana?
The newest operating system offering from Microsoft, called Windows 7, is due to ship October 22nd of this year.Here are a list of early insights gathered from computer magazines:Benchmarks indicate that Windows 7 is no faster than Vista.Recognition of a device you plugged into a USB port is supposedly to better. Devices like cameras and camcorders should have slick wizards that assist in transferring your pictures and movies.Have you tried to save some money by sharing a printer among various computers in your house? This process has been difficult in the past. Windows 7 implements something called HomeGroup that makes it easy to share printers, files and folders.A feature called Libraries...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Your Next Must Have Purchase For Your Computer
And the answer to the question is: An External Hard Drive!Why?:To stop you from filling up your hard drive with photos and your iTunes library. Your hard drive must have unused space in order to run the operating system efficiently. Filling up your external hard drive does not cause your computer to hang, slow down, crash or not boot.Backup your hard drive. Hard drives fail and laptops get stolen. If you have backups of key files on your external hard drive, the pain of getting your new computer back to where you were will be minimized.Save some money on your next computer by buying the one with the smaller hard drive. 2TB (yes, terabyte!) external hard drives exist. Why spend money for a big...
Backing Up Your Blackberry
Would your business or social life be over if your Blackberry address book or calendar was corrupted or missing?The "data conservative" folks at High Tech House Calls back up their Blackberry more than one way to ensure that an up to date calendar and address book are always available.Is Blackberry Desktop Manager loaded on your Windows based computer? It should be. This piece of software is necessary to synchronize and backup your Blackberry. When you decide to get a new Blackberry, Desktop Manager can copy all your old Blackberry stuff to your new Blackberry. na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/Is PocketMac loaded on your Apple computer? It needs to be. This piece of software is necessary...
Easy Fix for Computer Freezes
An easy thing to try for a computer that keeps freezing is making sure your BIOS (Binary Input Output Software) is up to date. The BIOS is the first operating system that starts when you turn your computer on. Once it is loaded, the operating system you are used to seeing (Win XP, Vista, etc.) starts.BIOS is specific to your computer. To obtain the lastest BIOS upgrade, go to your vendors' website and look for support or drivers. You should be able to specify your model computer and the operating system you are running. A list should be presented and you should see a catagory for BIOS. Follow the instructions on downloading and installing the BIOS. Cross your fingers. Maybe this fixed your...
Monday, August 3, 2009
Skye - Keep in Touch With Your Away at College Kids
Skype is a computer application that runs on both WinTel and Apple computers that allow you to call or video conference using the Internet for free or a very low price.Many parents use Skype to keep in touch with their away at college children via video conferencing.What do you need to use Skype?Each Skype user must have the Skype software loaded on their computer. www.skype.comYou must have created a Skype account to use Skype.Each Skype user needs a WinTel or Apple computer that is connected to the Internet.If the computer has a built in microphone, this can be used for the voice part of your Skype conversation. No built in microphone? Headsets that have a mic and a ear piece will easily plug...
When Your Computer Needs Retirement
Here are some points to consider when evaluating the fix versus buy new question.Average Life of Computers:The life of a laptop computer is three years.The life of a desktop computer is five years. A desktop computer has a longer life because they are stationary and their components are not crammed into a small case.What components fail on laptops?Remember an entry level Dell laptop starts at $550 and an Apple entry level laptop at $1000.Battery. Average life is two years. Batteries are easy to replace, but have a high cost ($100-$160).Power adapter. Universal power adapter are ~$100. Buying one from the computer vendor can cost much more.Hard drive. Three years. Lets hope baby's first step...
Monday, July 27, 2009
Georgia Sales Tax Holiday
From Thursday, July 30- Sunday, August 2, 2009, Georgians will be able to take advantage of a sales tax holiday. The holiday applies to:Clothing under $100 Computers/computer equipment under $1500 School supplies under $20Points to consider:If you are buying anything online, your purchase probably will be charged Georgia sales tax. If you call and place the order, the sales representative probably will be aware of the holiday and will be able to make the appropriate credit for your sales tax. This has been the case when I have ordered computers from Dell.Please take advantage of my free configuration advise for computers early in order to take advantage of the sales tax credit. Email me at...
Windows 7 - Good Thing or Bad Thing?
The newest operating system developed by Microsoft to run on a WinTel platforms is called "Windows 7". It will be available in mid October 2009. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Click here to visit the "Windows 7" home page to review the features of this new operating system.Remember how bad "Vista" was when it came out? I expect "Windows 7" to have the same rocky start. I do not advise being an early adapter."Windows 7" cannot be installed as an update to "Win XP". You can buy the less expensive upgrade license, but all user installed options (such as programs) will need to be re-installed.Upgrading from "Win XP" to "Vista" and then to "Windows 7", is an option but a costly option in both...
Netbooks - Time to Buy?
What is an Netbook? A Netbook is a small laptop computer.Typically, a screen no larger than 10". My current Dell laptop has a 15.4" screen.The keyboard is 80%-92% the standard size.The price point is $200 -$400.Why consider a Netbook?Easy to transport. Small size and weight.Low on price.You want a basic computer to access the network and not much more.Downsides to a Netbook?Not enough power to use standard Office applications such as Outlook and Word.Poor experience when surfing web. You are constantly scrolling left and right, up and down to view a web page. Viewing a web page on an iPhone is a much better experience.No optical drive. You cannot load software from a CD, or play music CD's....
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Computer Running Slow, Part III
You probably understand what a computer virus is.What is malware or spyware? In the context of your computer running slow, they can be considered the same. Remember the free ("fill in the blank") that you downloaded? As part of the agreement that you electronically signed, software that tracks what websites you visit was also installed. Besides this data collection being an invasion of privacy, the software is taking resources away from the applications on your computer you want to run. Another performance side effect is that the software can be written badly so that it causes your computer to "freeze" or "crash".What should you do if you think you have been "infected"?If you are running only...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Computer Running Slow, Part II
If your computer is running slow, the cause can be one or more of the following: Virus/Spyware/Malware infection Your applications needs have outpaced the amount of memory you have available. Your hard drive is too full.Part 2, will focus on not having enough memory.In general, more memory is better. Here are some general guidelines for the minimum amount of memory you need.For a Windows system (before Vista), anything less than 750MB of memory will make your computer sluggish.For Vista systems, consider at least 2GB of memory.For Mac OS X, consider at lease 2GB of memory. If you are going to use Photoshop or other memory intensive applications, double the amount of memory to 4gb. Also,...
Computer Slowing Down? Part 1
If your computer is running slow, the cause can be one or more of the following:Virus/Spyware/Malware infectionYour applications needs have outpaced the amount of memory you have available.Your hard drive is too full.Your hard drive contains both the operating system (Windows, MAC OS X, etc.), your applications (Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc.) and your user data (iTunes library, photos, documents, address book, etc.).The operating system and applications running on your computer require a scratch pad in order to function efficiently. That means at least 15% of the total capacity of your hard drive must be free to act as a scratch pad. In other words, your hard drive is totally full...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Teenage Boys and the Internet
I am asked all the time how to protect children from accessing or seeing stuff their parents would find objectionable.Deny access to your wireless network for your children. Make your child's access the Internet under your supervision. It is pretty easy to add a WPA or WEP key to your wireless network that a computer must have entered in order to access the Internet. Your wireless network should be WPA or WEP key enabled to protect your network anyway.Add parental control software that attempts to prevent access to undesirable features of the Internet. Software such as Net Nanny (www.netnanny) or SafeEyes (www.internetsafety.com) can be installed. Software as provided by High Speed Internet...
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Fix no cell signal in your home or office
My last three homes did not get a cell signal unlessI was on the top floor, went outside or walked up the driveway. So much for the convenience of a cell phone!T-Mobile has a solution that works for T-Mobile subscribers. If you get new cell phones from T-Mobile that are Wi Fi capable, have a home wireless network, and sign up for the plan, your cell phone will be able to send and receive calls using your wireless network.Here are some of the advantages:Since you are not using T-Mobile's cellular network, these call are not charged against your cell phone plans minutes.No noticeable degradation quality of service.Cell phone works where ever your wireless internet network connection works.Easy...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Real Cost of "Cheap" Computers
In this economy, who can afford to spend more money than they have to on a new computer?Here is a list of things to consider when evaluating a deal:Does the computer come with CD's that let you re-load the operating system and hardware drivers? In an attempt to penny pinch, many computers take up space on your hard drive with a recovery partition to restore your computer to its factory settings. If your hard drive crashes, all your software you would use to restore your computer with a replacement hard drive is gone. You are faced with re-buying an operating system and any other application software that was bundled with your computer. You may not be able to find the correct drivers for your...
Monday, June 15, 2009
Backup and Recovery
Notice the term recovery. If you don't test your backup by trying to read it, the backup is useless. Did the backup succeed? Can I read the files from the backup? Are the files I need, part of the backup?Is the backup stored in a safe place? If your laptop is connected to the external hard drive you are using for your backup, do you think the thief that steals your laptop will take your external hard drive too?Are you sure that your emails, calendar, address book, tasks and notes from Outlook are backed up? Copying the outlook data file (*.pst), is not the way to go. You should export your files to a backup file using the built in Outlook export utility and make sure your backup procedure copies...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Virus Protection Pointers
I have preferred anti-virus software I use, but whether you contract a computer virus comes down to these factors:Keep the virus definitions up to date. If definitions are not downloaded automatically, manually download them yourself once a week.Keep your subscription to virus definitions up to date. An expired subscription means that you are no longer protected from newly created and discovered viruses.Never update a subscription online. Buy a new copy of the software from the store. Something always seems to go wrong when updating your subscription via the Internet. If you need to re-load your anti-virus software, it is much easier from a CD than trying to download the software again. Also,...
Going Green At What Cost?
Do you want to help same energy? Here are some factors to consider before you turn off the switch:Printers need to remain on all the time. When the printer is not in use, the printer "exercises" the print heads so that the ink does not dry out clogging the print nozzles. It is next to impossible to clean out dried ink from the tiny print nozzles. A new print head always seems to cost the same as a new printer.Turn your computer off at night to safe energy? If your weekly virus scan or your daily windows update download is schduled for the time when your computer is turned off, do these scheduled events get run when you turn your computer back on? No! Make sure your virus scan and windows update...
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Your High Speed Internet Choices
What are your choices for High Speed Internet in metro Atlanta?Some providers may not be available at your location. Go to the various provider websites to determine this.ATT - best solution when compared to Earthlink and Comcast. ATT still smells bad, but it does not smell as bad as the other solutions. Support will drive you crazy. Grab a cup of coffee, a magazine and a tranquilizer when you call.Earthlink - uses ATT copper line to get to your house. If the problem is with the ATT line, be prepared for some finger pointing. Getting Earthlink to call ATT to fix the problem is difficult at best. You cannot call ATT because you are not an ATT customer. ATT repair techs do not care if your problem...
