Windows Computer Manufacturer Comparision

This chart is based on High Tech House Call's experience in 
setting up and reloading thousands of computers.

Computer Manufacture	Cost	Value for the Money	Reliability	Ease of Reloading	Website Technical Support
Dell	Value Priced	High	High	High	High
Lenovo	High	Medium	High	High	High
Toshiba	High	Medium	High	High	High
Sony	High	Medium	High	High	High
Trend Micro	Low	Low	Low	Low	Low
Computer Vision	Value Prices	High	High	Low	Low

Comments:

Dell – If you cannot find a resolution for your problem on their website, forget the difficult to understand India based tech support.

Trend Micro – Website is useless on finding drivers for your computer or resolving problems

Computer Vision – Built with high quality components. Expect to do a lot of Internet legwork to find or reload drivers for this manufacturer. 

One important fact to remember is that computer manufacturers and car manufacturers have one thing in common: a computer or a car is built from many off the shelf components that their competitors also have access to. It is the selection process for the components and how the components are assembled together that determine the end result. Quality components assembled in a logical manner result in a superior computer. 

High Tech House Calls does not sell computers, but we can make recommendations on your individual needs for free. Call or email us for a custom recommendation.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Setting Up Your New iPhone 5

Here is a suggested checklist for your iPhone 5:

• Backup all your contacts, tasks, pictures and calendar entries from your old cell phone. If your previous phone was an iPhone and you set up iCloud, your backup is covered. If your previous phone was an Android, refer to this article on how to backup your phone: http://tinyurl.com/3vuetv3 If your previous phone was a Blackberry, make sure you were sync'ing your phone to your computer via Blackberry Desktop Manager.
• Activate your new iPhone. This can be done in your cell phone providers store, on their website or by calling their technical support line.
• Make sure you create an iCloud account on your iPhone and turn on the Find Me function. 
• Your iTunes Account is used to download application software for your iPhone. I strongly suggest making sure that the method of payment is set to "none". Fill in a credit card only when you are paying for applications. Once the purchase is made, change the payment method back to "none".
• Buy a good case to protect your iPhone. http://tinyurl.com/9xwej78
• The charging /sync'ing port on the iPhone 5 is incompatible with older iPhones. If the battery life turns out to be as bad as the iPhone 4s, buy a car charger. 
• I always have more than one sync cable for my iPhone. They get mislaid or appropriated. Here is a link to buy one: http://tinyurl.com/8um564e

If you have any questions regarding your new iPhone 5, please contact us at High Tech House Calls. We are here to help.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Shopping For A New Wireless Router? Here Are Some Things to Consider:

• There is more than one standard for wireless networks. From best to worst they are "N", "G" and "B". 
• Make a list of all the devices in your household or business that you want to connect to the wireless network. 
• Go back through that list and determine what type of wireless network they can connect to. Based on the age of the device, they may be able to connect to one or more of the standards. Google your device specifications to see which network standard it supports.
• If all your devices support the "N" standard, buy the best wireless router you can afford that supports that standard.
• If you have a mix of network standard needs, buying a dual channel wireless router might make sense because it will broadcast an "N" and a "G/B" network.

When will it be necessary to buy two wireless routers?

• If you buy a dual channel wireless router and setup an "N" and a "G/B" network, the "N" network may be incompatible with Apple iPhones and many Android Operating System Tablets such as the Amazon Kindle and Nook Tablet.
•  One way to solve this incompatibility would be to buy two routers. Neither router should be dual channeled. One router would be configured for a "N" network and the other router would support the "G/B" network.

What is the downside if my device cannot connect to a dual channeled "N" network?

• Most devices that support a "N" network will also support  a "G" network. The "G" network is less robust than the "N" in both speed and area coverage, but should be fine for your needs unless you download large amounts of data or stream large amounts of video or music.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Is Your Child's School Transitioning to Apple Laptops?

Some schools are utilizing Apple laptops to enhance the learning experience?

Here are some things you may need to know regarding your student's use of the laptop:

• More than likely, your student will not be able to install software or apply patches because the school has restricted the use of the laptop. This means you may not be able to install the software to use a printer.
• When something goes wrong with the laptop, the school will normally erase the entire contents of the hard drive and load a new copy of the laptop software. If you don't backup your personal files, those files will be gone.
• Don't load your entire iTunes library onto the laptop. The chances of filling the hard drive to capacity are high. When you ask the school to fix the problems with the laptop associated with a full hard drive (such as crashing, or not booting) the universal fix of erasing the hard drive and loading a new copy of the laptop software will be applied, wiping out your iTunes library.
• The laptop should be able to connect to your existing wireless network with no problem. Once the wireless network is detected by the laptop, select your wireless network name and enter the encryption key associated with that network. When you successfully connect for the first time, the  network information is stored on the laptop. The next time the laptop needs to connect to your wireless network, it will be done automatically with the data stored from the last successful connection.
• Put a label with your student's name taped to the laptop. This will make it easier to find your child's laptop in a sea of similar looking laptops and will minimize the chance of your child picking up the wrong laptop.

If you cannot install the software for the printer on the laptop, how do you print out school work?:

• Use a USB Flash Drive to copy from the laptop and then plug the USB Flash Drive into another home computer that can print. 
•  Email the document to a computer that can print.
• If your printer is an HP printer, does it support HP ePrint? http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/us/en/ep/articles/eprint-mobile-printing.html Using ePrint, you create an unique email address with which your HP printer is associated. When you want to print, send an email to the printer with the content embedded in the message space of the email. An added benefit of ePrint is that your iPhone and iPad can also use this technology.

How do you backup personal files?

• Use an USB Flash Drive or external hard drive to backup your personal data.
  

How do you manage your iTunes library without filling your entire laptop hard drive?

• Buy an external hard drive and set the library location in iTunes to use the external hard drive. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449  This solution has the added advantage of making your iTunes library portable. The iTunes library is accessible from any computer to which the external hard drive is connected.

What happens if you don't know the encryption key necessary to connect to your wireless network?

• Worst case, the wireless router can be reset to the factory settings wiping out all your customized information. At this point, the wireless router would need to be re-programmed. Refer to the documentation for your wireless router or go to the vendor's website for help.
• If you know the username and password for the administrator's account for the wireless router, you can access the administrator's control panel and see the encryption key or change it to something else. Refer to the documentation for your wireless router or go to the vendor's website for help.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Moving from Blackberry to iPhone?

Here are some pointers to help you move from Rim's Blackberry Smartphone to Apple's iPhone.

• I get plenty of text messages, many of which are presented with just a phone number. I cannot identify the sender because they are not in my address book. I add a signature to my texts so that my recipients know the text is from me, in case I am not in their address book. There is no easy way to do this on your iPhone. Try creating a shortcut and name it sig which expands into your signature. At the end of your text, type sig to get your signature as part of the text message.

• Want your ring tone to stand out from the crowd of other similar phones? If your ring tone is already in your iTunes library, syncing your Blackberry via Blackberry Desktop Manager gets the ring tone onto your Smartphone. On your iPhone, getting anything other than the stock ring tones provided by Apple can be a little more tricky. If you don't want to pay for a ring tone from the iTunes store, here is a link that documents the process to use an existing song you have and convert it to a ring tone: http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/10/26/ios-5-how-to-create-custom-ringtones-and-alerts-for-the-iphone/

• Battery life on my Blackberry Smartphone got me to the end of the day without charging my phone. My iPhone is charging via a cigarette lighter adapter in my car when I'm driving. Without this charge, the iPhone is dead before 8pm.

• I was unable to print from my Blackberry, but  I can print from my iPhone using the Print Central app. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/printcentral-pro/id426362921?mt=8 I will warn you that the installation is more involved than you would think, but it does work. An easier way to print from an iPhone is buying an ePrint enabled HP printer. Using ePrint, you create an unique email address with which your HP printer is associated. When you want to print, send an email to the printer with the content embedded in the message space of the email.

• In a nonscientific sampling, I have not come across a shattered Blackberry screen. This is not the case with the iPhone, for which the screen cracks much more easily. I never bought a protective case for my Blackberry and all three of my Blackberrys survived without being serviced for breakage. For the iPhone I spent the $50 for an OtterBox. http://www.otterbox.com/apple-iphone-cases/apple-iphone-cases,default,sc.html

•  The Blackberry was always a work in progress to get it to sync with multiple Windows and Mac laptops. Syncing is a breeze with iCloud for your iPhone. The only glitch is that the iCloud control panel does not run on Win XP or on Mac computers that don't run Lion.
 

• Blackberry never had a very wide selection of apps. It was tiring to read about an app that I wanted and then find out that was not available on the Blackberry. I have not had this issue with the iPhone. Apps for the different devices are written in this order: iPhone, Android and then Blackberry.

• Rebooting by pulling the battery out was a daily occurrence with my Blackberry. Every time the Blackberry froze it required a reboot. The iPhone has not required turning it off and on due it freezing.

• The browser on the Blackberry was non functional. You did not browse the Internet on a Blackberry because of the slowness displaying web pages and the small size of the display. The iPhone addresses both these problem, making Internet browsing much more practical.

Find your old Blackberry a new home by selling it to Gazelle. http://www.gazelle.com/sell/cell-phones

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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July 2012 eNewsletter

July 2012 News From High Tech House Calls

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Top Five Things You Need to Know About Your SmartPhone

1. Buy a case such as the OtterBox. Insurance is a waste of money. Lets do the math: you pay your cellular company $5.00 a month for insurance on your SmartPhone. When you drop your iPhone, crack the screen and file the claim, you find the deductible is $100. The Otter Box is $50 and is guaranteed for life. Buy the OtterBox! http://www.otterbox.com/
2. Don't buy an OtterBox from a brick and mortar store. You must be careful encasing your SmartPhone in a OtterBox as you can rip the rubber case if you are not gentle. Many returns to brick and mortar stores are ripped cases that are put back on the shelf for you to buy. Good luck getting the brick and mortar store to exchange or refund your money for a ripped case you bought from them. Buy the OtterBox from the online site and if you rip it, they will replace it, no questions asked.
3. Update your iPhone to the latest update. Set up iCloud and turn on Locate Me. When you misplace your iPhone, you can use Locate Me to find it. If you cannot recover the iPhone, wipe it of all your personal data using Locate Me.
4. Install the Blackberry Protect Application for your Blackberry SmartPhone. This application has similar functionality to the Locate Me application on the iPhone.
5. Lock your home screen on your iPhone with a Pass Lock. If you iPhone is stolen, getting access to your personal date is much harder with a Pass Lock. To get around the Pass Lock, one can reset your iPhone to the factory default which will wipe your data off the iPhone. You may not recover your iPhone, but your personal data is no longer accessible.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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How secure is your computing environment?

What would happen if your  laptop or smartphone were stolen? 

• Can you replace the data? 
• Could the thief steal your identity by using the data on your laptop or smartphone?
• Could someone drive by your house and read the data on your hard drive, or intercept the data you send from your laptop to the Internet, from your wireless network?

Here are some things you can do to minimize your security risks:

• Password protect your computer and smartphone.
• Have a backup procedure in place for all your data. Test the recovery procedure to make sure your backups are working.
• Secure your wireless router by using the strongest encryption protocols your wireless router supports.
• Encrypt sensitive data so that only those who know the key can access it.
• Make sure your computing environment has up to date BIOS, hardware drivers, operating system and application software patches.

High Tech House Calls has achieved a  Comp Tia Security + certification. We can review your home or small business computing environment and suggest inexpensive and unobtrusive ways to minimize your risk.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Making Your Nook Tablet Usable

Do you want more than what a Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet or Color eReader delivers?

• Want to be able to read eBooks from Amazon, Kobo or other sources?
• Want a calendar application that syncs with your other computing devices?
• Want to be able to synchronize your address book with your other computing devices?
• Find the applications available from Barnes and Noble limited and wish you could download better Android applications from Amazon or Google?

The answer was "rooting" your tablet, but rooting had many problems and was neither easy to do or maintain.

A better solution is loading the Android Operating System on your MicroSD card and running the Android Operating System from there. You can have the best of both worlds, without modifying your factory installed tablet operating system.

High Tech House Calls can install the Android Operating System on your MicroSD card.

• Access to both the Amazon and Google Android Application Library is set up.
• Typical applications are downloaded and installed for you.
• You are taught how to boot to the Android Operating System and to the Nook Factory Installed Operating System.
• One on one training is conducted to get you comfortable with the Android Operating System.
• Answers to any questions you have after the training are just a phone call or email away.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Thinking of Buying a SlingBox?

What is a SlingBox? 
Here is what SlingBox website has to say:
=============================================================
Never miss your home TV shows regardless of where you are. With the Slingbox SOLO take your TV with you on the road. Easily connect the Slingbox SOLO to practically any one of your home theater sources and watch your standard-definition (SD) or high-definition (HD) TV shows, sporting events or special programs on your laptop, tablet, smartphone or connected device over the Internet from anywhere in the world.

EASILY CONNECT

Connect to one HD or SD source in your home theater, such as your DVR, digital cable set-top box or satellite receiver.

 

 

 

 

TAKE CONTROL

Take complete control of your TV via the web with the comprehensive and easy-to-use on-screen remote control and electronic program guide (EPG).

SIT BACK AND ENJOY

Watch your favorite shows in crisp SD quality over the Internet via
your Mac or PC laptop, tablet, smartphone or connected device—
from anywhere, anytime.

=============================================================

What you need to install a SlingBox:

• A router connected to the Internet with one available wired port.
• The knowledge to assemble various stereo components together.
• An understanding of wireless routers and the knowledge to forward a port.
• The knowledge to extend wired networks.

Things you will need to get a SlingBox working:

• Know where the infra red sensor is on the cable box.
• Have a Plan B, if you cannot run a Cat5E cable from the wired port of the wireless router to the back of the SlingBox?

Plan B

• Purchase a PowerConnect wired Internet adapter. Using your electrical outlets and the wiring that connects to them, you can plug an adapter into an electrical outlet near the SlingBox. A Cat5E cable can connect the adapter to the back of the SlingBox. The other adapter is plugged into the electrical receptacle near the wired router port. Another Cat5E cable connects the adapter to the wired router port. This completes the connection from your SlingBox to the wired router and then to the Internet.
• Two Cat5E cables that are long enough to connect the SlingBox to a PowerConnect Adapter and from the wired router port to the other PowerConnect Adapter. The two 6' in length Cat5E cables that came with the PowerConnect Adapter will be too short. You will probably need 10' length cables.
• The distance between the two PowerConnect adapters determines the data transmission speed. If the distance is further than two adjacent rooms, the data transmission speed may be too slow to support your SlingBox's needs.

Additional components you will need to buy to make your SlingBox work:

• If you don't access your SlingBox from a web browser, the iPad and iPhone App will cost $30.

How long will it take to install a SlingBox?

• It took me 2 hours from start to finish, but times may vary depending on your situation.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Updating Your Computer, iPad and iPhone

How do you know if a message about an update for an application on your computing device is valid or an attempt to infect you with a virus? 

One of the things applying valid updates does is fix security holes that viruses use to infect your computing device. To protect you from viruses, it is critical to apply updates in a timely manner.


iPhone: Go to Settings->General->Software Update. This will check to see if you are up to date. You also need to update any Apps you have installed on your iPhone. Go to App Store. Click on Updates (lower right corner of the screen).


IPad: Use the same directions as the iPhone.

Windows XP: Go to Start->All Programs-> Windows Update. Once the screen opens in the Internet Explorer browser window, select Custom. If you have not done this for a while, it can take an hour or more to complete the search for updates. Once the list of updates comes back, select them all. Reboot your computer and go through the same search/selection/reboot process again and again until you do not find any more updates. You should go through this process weekly.

Vista and Windows 7: Select the Start button and click on Windows Update. Select Check for Windows Updates. Select all the updates presented, including the optional ones. Reboot as required and go through the process repeatedly until no more updates are found. You should go through this process weekly.


Applications on a Windows Computer: Applications such as Adobe Reader will have a Check for Updates option under Tools or Help. Follow the directions.


Apple OS: Click on the Apple Icon and select Software Update. Follow the directions. You should go through this process weekly.

Microsoft Office on Apple OS Platform: When any Office Application is loaded, click on Help and then Check for Updates. Follow the directions.

Apps Store Applications on an Apple Computer: Click on the App Store icon. Once the App Store has loaded, click on Updates (icon is on the top far right side). If an update is available, click Update to download and install it.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Apple Lion OS Hints

The newest release of the Apple Operating System for laptops and desktops is called Lion (10.7). Which version of the operating system are you running? To find out, click on the Apple Icon in the upper left hand corner of your screen and select About This Mac. If the version displayed is 10.7.x, you are running Lion.

• What happened to the scroll bars? Lion, by default, made scroll bars invisible until you click on where they are hidden. Want to make them visible again? Select System Preferences > General  > Show Scroll Bars Always.

• If you created your username on your computer without a password, you will run into problems installing software. Add a password via System Preferences >Users and Groups.

• When you first boot your computer, do you see a new account called Guest? The Guest account does not require a password and once logged in, starts the Safari Internet Browser application. This account is required for the Find Me function. Once Find Me is turned on, you can locate where your computer is by logging into iCloud.com and selecting the computer you are looking for. Therefore, don't disable or delete this account.

• Make sure you keep your operating system software up to date. Click on the Apple Icon again and select Software Update. If updates are found, install them. Timely installation of updates will ensure your computer is not infected with nasty viruses like the Flashback Malware.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Sending SMS Text Messages to Emails on iPhone

My business uses SMS Text Messages to interact with clients. Keeping track of commitments I made via SMS Text Messaging on my Blackberry was not a problem because all SMS Text Messages automatically forwarded to my email. The email copy could be stored in the client's folder in Outlook and printed out for their hard copy folder.

Unfortunately, this is not the case with my new iPhone.

Here is my solution:
You can send an SMS Text Message to someone from email. Each cellular phone company has a format to embed the cellphone number into it to create a valid email address. For Verizon that format is xxxxxxxxx@vtext.com where the 10 x's are the cell phone number. Using my cell phone number as an example, if I wanted to send myself an SMS Text Message and a copy of that message to email, I would put in the To field of the email, 4042290839@vtext.com and carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com. The vtext.com address directs the SMS Text Message to the SMS Text Messaging Application on the recipients cell phone and hthcatlanta.com email address sends the SMS Text Message to their email inbox.

Admittedly, this is a clumsy solution and it only captures one side of an SMS Text Message dialogue, but it does allow you to capture important SMS Text Messages without cutting and pasting message elements into an email that I send to yourself.

Here is a link that documents many cell phone provider's formats for sending SMS Text Messages from an email program: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-to-sms/

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com

web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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May 2012 eNewsletter http://ow.ly/1jFqL6

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May 2012 eNewsletter

News From High Tech House Calls

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iPad/Tablets Must Have Accessories Part II http://ow.ly/1iVd9K

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iPad/Tablets Must Have Accessories Part II

In one of my last blogs concerning iPads and Tablets,  I suggested cleaning supplies and styluses to buy. Here are some other accessories that you might find helpful: 

If you are a fan of playing audio books or music on your iPad or Tablet, there is a simple way of playing the sound through your car's stereo  speakers.

1. If your car stereo has an AUX port, the solution is to buy an AUX cable. Connect the AUX cable from the iPad/Tablet headphone jack to the car stereo AUX port. Select AUX from your car stereo and you're done. http://www.kensington.com/kensington/us/us/p/1485/K39202US/aux-audio-cable.aspx
2. If your car stereo does not have an AUX port, but has a cassette deck, you can buy an adapter that looks like a cassette tape with an AUX cable attached to it. Insert the cassette tape adapter in the cassette desk and the AUX cable to the headphone jack of the iPad/Tablet. Select play on your car stereo and you're done. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=631469&Q=&is=REG&A=details
3. If you don't have a cassette deck or an AUX port, you still have an option. An FM transmitter will allow you to "play" your iPad/Tablet over an unused radio station frequency. Here is an example of an FM Transmitter: http://www.griffintechnology.com/ipod/in-car

Sync cables

A sync cable allows you to connect your iPad/Tablet to your computer. This cable allows you to share documents and photos between your computer and your iPad/Tablet. You can never have enough sync cables. It seems that I am either misplacing mine or they are being "borrowed" by my children. Apple accessories are expensive, so using non-Apple sync cables can be an easy alternative.

At present, if you have a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, you must buy sync cables from Amazon and Barnes and Noble directly because there are no alternatives available.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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iCloud Revisted

iCloud was launched October 4, 2011. How is iCloud doing for you?

Here is a list of some of the bumps in the road:

1. It is not supported with the Microsoft Win XP Operating System. Win XP is an old, unsupported, operating system, but it is stable and reliable. If you want your laptop or workstation to be part of  iCloud, you will need to change to Windows 7. Remember, you cannot upgrade from Win XP to Windows 7 directly. You will need to do a clean installation meaning all your applications that you were using for Win XP will need to be reloaded for Windows 7. Run the Windows 7 Advisor to see if your current hardware can support Windows 7. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor If not, you need to buy a new computer. Start searching for your installation media now and remember to have a good backup of all your users data (documents, pictures and emails).
2. If your Apple computer is not running Lion (10.7), you will need to upgrade. You must be running Snow Leopard (10.6) to upgrade to Lion. If you are not running Snow Leopard. So you will need to upgrade to it first. Snow Leopard software DVDs were withdrawn from retail outlets by Apple. You will need to buy a Snow Leopard software DVD from Apple's online store.
3. Many of my clients were not able to upgrade to Lion because Intuit's Quicken for Mac 2007 release did not work on Lion. Buy Intuit's, released last month, Quicken for Mac Essentials instead, which does run on Lion. http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/mac-personal-financial-software.jsp
4. Running Microsoft Office for Mac 2004? It is incompatible with Lion. You will need to purchase Microsoft Office for Mac 2011.
5. Lion also requires that your hardware be running an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor. Find out if your current Mac has one of these processors by clicking the Apple icon at the top left of your screen, then choosing About This Mac. If you're not running any of these processors and you want to run Lion, you will need to buy newer hardware running one of the above mentioned Intel processors.
6. Do you have multiple Apple computers you use to access email? Here is a newly discovered scenario. You have a G4 Laptop and a brand new Macbook Pro. The G4 is running the Leopard release of the Apple Operating System. The G4 cannot be upgraded to Snow Leopard or Lion because it does not have an Intel CPU chip. You migrate from MobileMe to iCloud successfully on your Macbook Pro. Email works on the Pro and your iPhone, but not on your G4. If your G4 was able to run Snow Leopard, you could change the email profile in Mac Mail or Outlook to get it to work without being part of iCloud, but don't meet the requirements for the upgrade. Therefore, your .MAC and .ME email not longer works on your G4. One way around this is to forward your iCloud email to your Gmail account and use Gmail on your G4 laptop. This is a less than desirable solution, but may be the only one available if you want to use iCloud and still use your G4 laptop.
7. If you use either Entourage or Outlook on your Apple computer, you will find that neither of these applications works with iCloud directly. Syncing Entourage/Outlook is complex and requires additional third party software.
8. If you iPhone or iPad is not running at least iOS 5.0, you cannot support iCloud on your iPhone/iPad. iOS 5.0 is available as an upgrade when you sync with iTunes.
9. If you share an Apple ID that you use to buy media from iTunes, this may cause problems when using iCloud. iCloud uses the Apple ID to identify devices that are part of that iCloud. iCloud will merge all contacts and all calendar events for all devices that are using the same iCloud ID. If you were keeping separate contacts and calendar events and want to continue keeping them separate, you will need to create another iTunes ID. Expect complications with purchases made with the old ID on devices using the new ID.

Do you need to be using iCloud?

1. Do you currently have a way of syncing your contacts and calendar events across all your devices? If you are happy with this solution, why change to iCloud?
2. The only email address iCloud will sync is a new iCloud email address. If you were using a .MAC or .ME email address through MobileMe, please be aware that MobileMe is being discontinued June 30, 2012. You  must change to iCloud to continue using your .MAC or .ME email address.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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When Computer's on the Frtiz, Know When to Quit by Bill Husted/AJC

When Computer is on the Fritz

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Fix Up Computer, But Don't Get in Fix by Bill Husted/AJC

Fix Up Computer

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Tired of Reading the Same Email Message Over and Over Again?

You are one connected person. You have access to email on your laptop, desktop, iPhone and iPad. Unfortunately, you are "seeing" the same emails over and over again on all these devices. How do you "fix" this?

There are two major ways of accessing email:

• IMAP - email that is deleted from one device, is not downloaded to the other devices.
• POP3 - all email is downloaded to all devices regardless of being deleted on one device or another.
  

POP3 is the default protocol for email. The majority of email providers support POP3. Your email probably has been set up this way on your various email devices and is why you keep seeing the same email over and over again.

IMAP is not supported by all email providers, nor on all email devices and email programs. You need to do your homework and search your email providers website to see if the IMAP settings for your email program (Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.) or email device, (iPhone, iPad, etc.) are supported.

Here is a list of common email providers and whether they support IMAP or not:
BellSouth IMAP is not well documented, but I have implemented IMAP
Gmail IMAP supported and documented on Gmail website
ATT IMAP supported and documented on ATT website
Comcast IMAP support is not documented
AOL IMAP supported and documented on AOL webiste

Downsides to IMAP:

• Synchronizing IMAP folders using Outlook can be slow. You may need to shutdown and restart Outlook occasionally to get this to work.
• Outlook will not show one integrated view of all your email accounts. Each IMAP account will have a separate inbox and user created folders. Your POP3 email accounts will share one IBOX and the same set of user created folders. This can make finding an email difficult if you are not consistant on how you file emails.
• Make a mistake and delete a message that you want, that message is gone and cannot be retrieved. The POP3 protocol is much more forgiving. If you delete a message and empty your wastebasket, that message is probably available via webmail.
• IMAP may not be supported on all your email devices. Unless all your email devices support IMAP, it may not make sense to implement it.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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iPhone, iPad or Mac Book Stolen? Now what?

We hope this never happens to you, but preparing for this event beforehand will make things a little bit easier after the robbery.


Recovery of the device:

Record all the serial numbers for your devices and keep them in a safe place. If you devices are recovered by the police, they can identify them as belonging to you.

Deny access to your personal data:

Find Me
Is the "Find Me" function set up and turned on for your device? A while back, there was controversy concerning your privacy because Apple knew where you were by knowing where your device was. Many people saw this as an invasion of privacy and turned the function off. If you want to find your missing device, simply turn the function back on. Remotely, you can lock the device, wipe the device or send a message to be displayed on the device.

It is not hard to turn this feature off. Once the theft has occurred, you need to act fast while you still have remote control over your device.

Passwords to Access Device
Did you create a passcode for your iPad or iPhone?  Do the user accounts on your Mac Book require a password to access them?

The only way to use an iPad or iPhone without knowing the passcode is to reset the device to the factory settings. This process will wipe out your personal data.

If you have an installation disk for your MacBook, you can reset the password for a user account. Once the password is reset, access to your personal data is not restricted. Unless your data is encrypted, anyone who has access to your computer can read your data. The Mac Operating System has built into it, the means to encrypt data. Details on encrypting data will be covered in a future blog.

Did you create a document called passwords that contains all the username and passwords to your online accounts. The thief now has access to that list. I hope you backed up the password document so that you can access a copy. As fast as you can, access all your online accounts and change the passwords.

Summary

1. Record serial numbers of all your devices and store them in a safe place.
2. Turn on "Find Me" for all your devices.
3. Create and use a "Passcode" for your iPad and iPhone.
4. Create passwords for all user accounts on your Mac Book.
5. Encrypt sensitive personal data on your Mac Book.
6. Store your online access passwords in more than one place so that you can change those passwords quickly if your accounts have been compromised.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Survival Tips for College Kids Computers

Here are some time tested suggestions on getting your college student's computer to survive the school year.

• Buy a Apple Mac laptop instead of a Windows laptop. Mac's currently are not a target for viruses and the Mac Operating System is more stable and reliable than Windows 7. 
• Buy a Mac Book Pro instead of a Mac Book. The case is aluminum and protects the display better. As laptop computers get lighter in weight and screens get larger and thinner, it is more likely that the lid of the laptop will flex causing the screen to shatter. The aluminum case of the Mac Book Pro is less likely to flex than the Mac Book.
• If you are using a Windows based computer, buy Norton Antivirus. This is one of the best preventative measures against virus infection.
• Buy an external hard drive. Use the external hard drive to store iTunes and as a backup for pictures and photos that are stored on the built in hard drive of the laptop. iTunes music libraries grow like kudzu and will consume all free space on the built in hard drive. If no free space is available, your laptop will not boot. Move the iTunes library to the external hard drive. Here is a link with instructions: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
• Never stuff a laptop into a book bag. Books packed next to a laptop will cause the screen to flex and shatter. Buy a back pack that is made to protect the laptop with cushioning or simply carry it around separately.
• Backup all your personal files with the external hard drive on a regular basis. Use cloud backup programs like DropBox as another means of backup; two backup methods are better than one.

 
Carl Thorne 
Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com

web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Communication With College Students Tips

Here are some truisms regarding how college students communicate:

• They do not leave voicemails. A missed call on your cell phone from a college student indicates they want you to call them back. 
• Nor do they listen to voicemails. Don't bother leaving one. 
• They never answer a phone call from a parent.
• They do not read emails nor do they send them.
• If you are not up to speed on text messaging, you will not be communicating with your college student much. 

Arguing with a college student that the world uses voicemail and email will not move them to use either. This is a problem because your college administration will be using both to signal them that something is wrong and requires their attention. I have not yet devised a way to get your college student to use email and voicemail except after a negative consequence. The day you and your child have a meeting with the dean and the dean asks why your child did not answer the repeated voicemails or emails, may be the day your child starts to check this voicemail and email.

Text messages are very hard to communicate complex subjects, as well as very hard to keep track of. I suggest one text message per topic. Once messages have gone back and forth, get out your day timer and make a reminder to follow up on your college student on the commitment they made to you via text. So far this is the only way I have come up with to ensure that to do's committed to by my college student are done. Withholding money ensures completion of to do's. Text messages on the iPhone can be copied via the cut and paste function. I suggest copying text messages and dropping them into an appointment in your calendar. On the Blackberry Smartphone, the Cortado SMS2 Desktop application software will send your text message to your email. Here is the link for this software: http://www.cortado.com/euen/EN/Solutionsfor/BlackBerry.aspx

In this age of privacy and personal rights, you as the parent have no access to information such as whether the tuition has been paid or if there is an outstanding balance because of a change in the meal plan or parking tickets for parking violations. Your student needs to grant you access to the student's account dashboard for you to see these things. During the parent orientation class you attend, do not leave the campus until access has been granted by your student to the student's account.

Getting your college student to call you when they have a problem is key. They don't want a lecture when they ask how to get their towed car back. Take a deep breath and tell them how to solve the problem without making other comments on how you have never had your car towed.

College is a learning experience for both the student and the parent of the student. Enjoy the ride.

Carl Thorne
Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com

web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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March 2012 eNewsletter

March 2012 eNewsletter

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To Do's Managed Across All Your Computing Devices

My memory isn't the best. I am always looking for a methodology or tool to help me capture tasks and to make sure they get done. With Windows and Apple Laptops, an iPhone and a Nook Tablet, I was looking for a way to be able to access and maintain a task list across all these platforms.

Wunderlist is the application I have been using the for last month, successfully across all my computing platforms. Click here to go to their website: http://www.6wunderkinder.com/

Adding, changing or deleting a task on one platform automatically adds, changes or deletes the tasks on all the other platforms. The tasks themselves are not created as events on your calendar, but the application does allow you to display all tasks with a particular date.

Carl Thorne

Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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Your Summer Vacation at the Beach: Reading ebooks From the Library on Your Kindle

You are the proud owner of an eBook reader such as a Kindle or Nook. Previous vacations at the  beach involved buying paperback books to read that got donated to Good Will after you finished reading them. Now you can download eBooks from your library onto your eBook reader for free. Think of all the money you will save!

Here is the reality check: remember when you tried to check out books for the beach and found out that book was not available at the library or was only available after waiting three months when you were put on the waiting list. You will encounter the same situation with eBooks at your library.

Once you are at the top of the waiting list for an eBook from the library, how do you download the eBook to your eReader? Download the eBook to your computer via some software you need to download and install. Once the eBook is on your computer, connect your eBook Reader via the sync cable and drag the eBook from your computer to your eBook Reader. Here is a link to directions on getting eBooks from the library to your eBook Reader: 
http://beingruth.com/tutorial-library-books-nook-overdrive/

I think the eBook Reader is a great idea, but like anything else, the more you pay for something, the more the item is easier to obtain.

Carl Thorne
Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com

web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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New: Software Organization Servce

Spring is around the corner. Are you ready for High Tech House Calls to help you with a little spring cleaning?

If you need to reload your computer from scratch, do you have all the software required?

Buying a new or replacement computer? How much of the software you currently own can be used on that new or replacement computer?

How long would it take to go through all the software stuffed in that drawer or box and find the right software for your computer?

Let us organize your computer software for you.  We will identify the current software for your computer and software you can throw away. We will also identify missing software you need to reload your computer.

This service is free to existing clients! 

Carl Thorne
Expert Computer Consulting 

voice: 404.229.0839 email: carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com

web: hthcatlanta.com blog: hthcatlanta.blogspot.com

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February 2012 eNewsletter

February 2012

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