Launch – Here and Gone – HTPC’s

Since the “launch event” is done with Windows 7 seems to be here but quiet and little fan fare. No raging bulls calling for its dismissal and threats of removing it from systems. In all likely hood that is how it will be. Even Apple has nothing to say and its MAC vs. PC commercials are more boring than ever.

The PC World is Changing:

1. Lets talk about Migrating or moving data. How about storage?
2. Media and things done since Windows 7 launch to make the Home Theater PC (HTPC) a reality.
3. Quiet Power and AMD has a new chip that helps.

Migrating and Storage

No matter what type of computer you have the workhorse in the system that is likely to have a mechanical meltdown and that is most sensitive to physical damage is the hard drive.

Hard drive technology is great and an inexpensive and quick hard drive is available to the consumer. So new computers with 500 or more gigabytes of storage are more and more common. The size of the hard drive is a selling point with the consumer thrilled at all the pictures, movies and videos that they can now store.

The risk however is great. The operating system uses a hard drive as a big part of its working memory management, temporary storage and just general scratch pad. Sit for just a few minutes and watch just how much the HD light flickers or remains on steadily. Even when you are doing nothing, the hard drive is hard at work.

While the new designs are safer and better built they are very much overworked by the operating system. So your five hundred gigabytes of pictures, movies and music are at great risk when something goes wrong.

Two approaches help reduce the risk. One is that the operating system only needs space of only a hundred gigabytes or so for a modern system. Give it a nice 160 gig to be nice. Still not spending much money. Then install a five hundred gig or larger drive as a second drive. Then when the main drive crashes; your system is backed up on the secondary drive and your pictures, movies and music are all safe. The added cost to your build is usually less than about $75 at today’s prices for the second drive.

A second approach (which I like) is for you to purchase a USB drive of the size and design that is right for you. It is easy to get a portable drive at 500 gig or more for less than or right at a hundred bucks. I prefer the smaller (2.5 inch) drives like the passport or similar. They fit in my pocket and away we go. The large drives run cooler, are more stable and sit nicely like a book somewhere on the desk. Usually they require a separate cord and power supply.

With this secondary storage you can take your movies,  pictures and music to what computer you want without the hassle of disks, burning software, scratches or just a bunch of shiny disks that seem to grow in an endless pile. If Grandma likes the pictures when you visit, just copy them from your portable hard drive and she is set.

The computer’s hard drive is the heart of the system. Viruses can damage it, malicious software can damage it. Losses of power or power surges can kill them. They are sensitive to electrostatic discharges and sometimes freak accidents. In many cases when the system hard drive fails all data is lost – period.

The only protection is separate and independent backups and storage on a drive that is not the system’s main drive.

New Media Options

Streaming Video is here to stay. Two major players in the streaming market have added plug ins for Windows 7 media center. Hulu (www.hulu.com) and Netflix both have introduced integration to Windows 7 Media Center.

Since their introduction I have been testing both and let me say they are very good additions to the streaming market. Easy to control using an IR (infrared) remote that comes with most HTPC’s they allow control of what goes to the TV easy to manage. Not only that, they handle the playback quality very well to. In most cases an HTPC connects to its respective TV using DVI or HDMI and these new managers support the HD quality very well.

Why would you even consider an HTPC? A reasonable question indeed. The answer is simple. Cost and savings. At prevailing prices a custom built HTPC can easily be built for less than say a thousand dollars. With a good integrator such as Boxee or Windows Media center to manage the choices an HTPC can easily replace any satellite or cable box.

When connected to a 6 mbs or higher internet connection and an on air digital tuner – an HTPC can supply all your viewing needs, provide DVR (TIVO) service where you need it and you control it all from your favorite chair with a IR remote control or a keyboard and mouse (of course designed with the HTPC in mind)

Streaming means fewer or no commercials. Watch the show when you want and most of all turn off the cable/satellite TV bill. For me that would be a 100+ dollar a month reduction in payments. So in the first year the HTPC will have paid for itself.

AMD helps make HTPC better.

On the technical side of things just this week AMD released a low power quad core chip for the AM3 socket. At 2.6 and 2.8 gig Hz for the respective price ranges of 100 and 130 dollars they are a nice addition to the market. Low power means less fan noise and smaller cooling requirements. Making that slim HTPC case that sits in place of the cable box easier to achieve.

Right now I have an HTPC bench build that I am testing but so far the new chip, Windows 7 and media center integration seem to work well. People who have seen the video have been well pleased with the quality and where it is coming from. This week will test the digital tuner aspects.

Later on when I have finished playing with my bench build I will post its specs and estimated cost. I do know already that it will pay for itself if I were to use it to replace my cable box in less than ten months.

Give us a call and let us help you replace your cable box. Save yourself some money and in the process get rid of some of that remote clutter.

Windows 7 – DO IT

Okay – the point here is if you are still on the fence about upgrading your computer and need a push then here are some things to help:

1. If the machine you have is running Vista now then upgrade. You will not regret it.
1. Speed
2. Features
3. Looks
4. System efficiency
2. Hulu and Netflix
1. Hulu has the Hulu Desktop for Windows 7. A stand alone Media Center based player that plays your selected show, allows you to build a queue of shoes to view and remembers where you left off. Not to mention that the quality of the stream is greatly improved.
2. Netflix is using the integrated approach to Media Center. It is actually operating in side the program and becomes one of your selections to view movies. The benefits are pretty clear: better quality picture, remembers where you are in the movie, and keeps track of movies in your queue so that you can better see what your choices are.
3. Media Player now plays all windows media files. Included in the codecs is legacy support for many files – including .avi – that past versions of the operating system has discontinued. Now play your DVD’s and other video mediums without third party programs in most cases.
4. Direct DVD authoring has never been offered but with Windows DVD maker you can turn your family pictures and videos into a DVD for family and friends.
5. Last but not least is that Windows is now able to maintain security with Microsoft software. With Windows Essentials Virus protection, Spam blockers, Popup blocker, and antimalware tools in IE8 you are able to safely surf the internet without security concerns. Best yet – It is all free.

While there will always be detractors and nothing is perfect. With Windows 7, Microsoft has you the best operating system possible. Perhaps even stop those apple gurus from complaining and win a few over.

If you need help with the shift – contact us. We will upgrade your computer to Windows 7 and match the Bestbuy advertized upgrade cost of $40.00. Plus for $25.00 more we will protect you from virus and malware with our exclusive 12 month guarantee.

 

The Weak Link

One of the most common questions we get in the shop is how a computer gets infected. It is simple enough but not always because someone is visiting bad sites or doing questionable things with thier computer. The big no no is porn and not so often it is NOT the culprit.

The truth is that good people get hooked into situations that get thier computer hacked, stolen, hijacked, slowed down – pick one. It happens at one time or another to all of us. There are rare occasions these days that the alarms and whistles go off and I have to remember to follow the rules.

Microsoft released their version of Antivirus software this month. I have been testing it on the home unit to see how it works. The install went well and it was simple enough. It is pretty slender in that it does not bog down the system and remains very much in the back ground. Later I will actually launch an attack and see how it handles it. Right now though it is doing one thing I like and that is to protect quietly and not be a pain in the tail.

Time will tell how the software works. It seems good so far. Microsoft seems willing to offer it for free while saying it is not competing with other software. The company says it is targeting people that normally do not install software for virus protection after the trials run out. There is no announcement that Microsoft will push the software by making it part of the new PC package. I think that would be a good idea but I am not in Microsoft’s loop.

Rules

The number one weak link in the virus process is the user. With user account control and other features built into the system it is harder and harder for malicious software to do damage by itself. Time was that all I had to do was get the software on the machine and tell it to run. Now I cannot do that. UAC requieres that for certain add-ins and stuff that the User has to approve the operation. Hence the operator has to say YES.

That is why you must pay attention to popups, email, download buttons and those kind of things. Most people just click and assume that it is what they think it is. Now the software lies to you making you think it is what you want. That makes it harder because partly the user has to be smarter and develope trust issues. If something asks to be installed, ran or allow access and you the user did not do something to start the request then the answer is always NO or CANCEL. ALWAYS.

Aunt Maybell may be on your friends list but that attachment she sends you may not be what you really want to see. I only open attachments from people I know and that usually I am expecting.

A Royal Pain

So when customers tell us how dumb they feel, how much they do not know – we listen. That is why on our card we give not only our phone numbers but our emai. If there is something that you want an answer to, write it in an email and we will let you know if we think something is safe or is not. If it is okay we will tell you. REMEMBER – we are the one that guarantee that your computer will not get infected. So if we say yes then we accept the risk with you and we will fix it. That may make the pain worthwhile and the little bit of time delay while you verify information with your technician.

User Account Control (UAC) is not any fun when it nags you about starting programs and we know this. In Windows 7 the UAC feature has been fine tuned to keep you safe and not nag you all the time.

Do not be afraid to say no, cancel or delete suspect files. If you need them then they are there. If you want them then there are safe ways to get them. Even if it means we have to teach Aunt Maybell about viruses and malware and spyware.

Where is my mail?


What - no mail client in Windows 7.

The answer is yes there is no mail client in Windows 7 and there is reason to be glad. That reason is Windows Live Mail. A separate software suite that the user has to decide to download and install. In the package comes the mail client, movie maker, photo email, Silverlight and a few other bells and whistles to choose from. Yes - I did say choose. You can download all or none.


Many of our clients are involved with their families and the advent of social networking sites have made the number of pictures available to me - the budding grandpa - simply amazing. So many that keeping up is tough and finding a way to share them with others tougher yet. That is but one of the reasons that Windows Live Mail is so much fun. Yes I said fun.


The auto connect feature pretty much makes setting up the account a breeze. Better yet is so far it handles all eight of my email accounts in one client. All I did was click add. Insert email address provide password and then click finish. Email accounts added and Windows Live Mail syncs all the clients and presents me with the unread mail in a straight forward easy to find list. So every email I used to access different ways each time are each right there at my fingertips. Read, reply, forward or save.


Contacts are just as easy. Each email client tends to collect its own contact list. My yahoo mail is my main one and has all my family and many friends. Along with each email client it is just as easy to import the contact list into Windows Live Mail. Now yahoo still wants to be converted to comma separated values and the option to build the contact/address book is not as easy as setting up the email. But pretty close.


Mail - who to send to from where and how. Windows Live Mail keeps track of it for you. Each of my mail accounts are designed to help me. Yahoo is friends and family. The address rarely changes and makes it easier to keep up with them and older friends. G-mail is more modern and I tend to use it for the business stuff I do on the web like registering software and the like. Of course AOL has been with me as long as the internet has and it is a throwaway address I just use to track things and junk mail. The cool thing is that when you reply to an email, Windows Live Mail sends the reply via the mail address you received the mail from and in the same format - that means your friend can get your email from an address they know and in the format they are used to reading it in. Previous clients assume a default mail server and all outgoing mail is processed thru that server. Only new mail - that you generate is automatically sent via the default client. So with this new feature, the bells and whistles associated with your mail are still there. Your signature, footnotes, emoticons and stuff automatically stay with the client.


The fun in this is that everything you save is there on your computer. You can save password emails, license keys, inspirational thoughts - whatever category you choose, you can save the email and it is there. In Windows 7 - it is automatically backed up and so if a crash happens those emails are still safe. Many of these features were included in Microsoft's Office Product but face it what average person buys Office for their home PC. Live Mail incorporates the best of all Microsoft email clients into one place.


Let's talk about Photo Mail. Attaching photos to send to Aunt Rae or Me Maw was a daunting task. If you made the pictures too big they might not go through. If you sent too many then they might get lost. Then of course on the receiving end there is the question of how to open them, why can't I see them or how do I save them. Way too many questions. Sometimes you felt lucky if you got to see the pictures at all. In Photo Mail you can select the pictures you want to send. Live Mail makes it easy to decide what size you want to send. If you want to send print quality then big is better. If you want to show and tell then something smaller will work.


How about a slide show. How about an interesting frame or enhancement. What about captions and descriptions, not just a file name. All neat things to include with a picture. Now Live Mail will now do all that and more. In a matter of minutes you can send two to twenty pictures to Me Maw and she will get to see them - exactly how you intended. Even if you choose to send slideshows and the receiving computer is not able to do slideshows, your recipients can still see them the way you intended. If the computer on the other end needs help to do the slide show then the help is there. If the receiving computer needs help then the slideshow you worked so hard on is automatically ported to an open browser window using Silverlight and your slide show is right there ready to go.


Better still Windows Live Mail does not run on just Windows 7. Windows XP and Vista are supported too. So your email friends and family can also use Live Mail while accessing all those wonderful features you are discovering.


Windows Live Mail is just this: The advantage of a web based mail client that is not limited to one email address. Give Windows Live Mail a try and I bet you will be sending a link to Grandma in no time. If nothing else click the link and read the headline - like they stole it from me.

Everything in one place!

Just so you know - I don't get one cent from saying this. What I do get is that if you try it, like it, and bring a smile to someone's face with that cute picture that is lurking in your My Pictures folder then it is all worth it.

Is Software in the OS Important

Officially the website is up and running a week now. The good part is that the basics are done and now there is just the details to fill in. Thankfully things on the internet tend to hang around so you can likely find us anytime you want. The question for the day is what to add to the tips blog.


How about the answer to a simple question that has no simple answer. That is: Do I want to move to Windows 7?

The simple answer is a resounding YES!!!

In the three years since Vista hit the market and lots of people snubbed it (thier mistake) for what ever reason - things have changed dramatically. Unless you want to stay in a ten year old world where the new technology and hardware options are not even on the radar. When XP was written there was so much stuff that we could not imagine that are available today. I am not even going to waste time with why you may still be with XP and not in Vista. While what is under the hood is great it is what you see on the screen, how fast it gets there, how safe you are and how much fun you have that are important.

Media

When we first saw Media Center as part of the Windows operating system it was hard to imagine a day when it would become something to embrace. Today we can stream virtually any video content anywhere we want it. Our complaint with Media Center was that it was slow and cumbersome. Today I can set in front of my 42 inch plasma, infared remote in hand wisking through menus to find the photo, song or video I want to play. Stream from Netflix or Hulu with the click of a remote.

In todays world the media is there but can you get it. The answer is yes, but at a price. Processing video to display on a monitor, HDTV, Projection System, or even to a cell phone requires some power. Memory and graphics processors come to mind. New hardware is using new technology such as DDR2/3/4/5/6 memory, GPU's with one gigahertz speeds, Multicore processors are the normal now, and we have yet to address 64 bit technology.

None of the hardware features listed above are addressed by Windows XP. They just begin to be touched on with Vista. Windows 7 embraces each and everyone of them and more that are yet to come. With hardware costs spiralling downward software becomes more and more important. When someone comes to me and wants to build an new computer for them. Requesting all the latest in hardware technology along with the sleekest case and displays only to add: "But I don't want Windows Vista (Windows 7).

WOW

To be honest I am no Microsoft fan. I did not even use Windows until Millenium Editon. It was DOS all the way. I came to realize that progress meant change and the old stuff was going away with the old hardware technology. So I could stay a dinosaur or move with the times.

So the question is really this. Why buy eight gig of memory when only three of it will be used by software. Why purchase a 3.0 SATA drive when the software was written to support IDE and only later updated to SATA 1.0. So you want a BluRay reader or maybe even a burner. Was blue ray even on the radar when Windows XP was the rage.

You need that one gig DDR4 memory graphics card with a 750 mghz gpu to run that new game. You are a smart person so you buy it. Then run home plug it in only to learn that the frame rate you expected is not there. Only to find out that your new technology is hamstrung by a decade old 32 bit operating system.

Features

Saftey, security and stability. The old Microsoft left those parts to third party software and for the user to be smart enough to keep things safe. After a few rough falls Microsoft finally realized it could not rely on third party software to keep IT'S operating system secure. The customer does not want to be boggled down keeping up with and endlessly changing field of rules.

Windows 7 backs itself up - in background. The only time you notice is when you need it. Not only does it back up files, but it backs up a complete system image. Adding spam filtering, pop up blocking, script blocking and many under the hood tweeks. The Windows 7 system is the safest yet. The biggest (in shear numbers) operating system in the world will surely come under attack by those who engage in such things. With modern update proceedures and software operations that do take some getting used to the only unsafe way to get infected is for you to open the door and invite them in.

No longer relying on hardware manufacturers to write drivers, Microsoft Update now updates and posts its own drivers to correct problems up front. To help with this the user can elect to send crash data to Microsoft what allows for faster recognition of software/driver issues and subsequent correction.

Out of the box, add a good antivirus program, Windows 7 is the safest and most secure ever. No trial periods for the end user to forget about and leave the system secure.

Snip it. Now that one little tool is the coolest yet. In this media age we see pictures, texts and other stuff on our screen that is not just a simple picture we can cut and paste. Snip it will let you capture anything - yes I said anything - that you can see on your computer screen. No matter what it takes to make that screen snipit will copy the selected area and save it to any file format you select or to the clipboard to paste where you might choose. No more print screen or screen caps that you have to work around to get to work. Snipit is easy. Simply open the program, draw the box and save. Done

Out of the box Windows 7 plays more media without extra software. Windows 7 will play a retail DVD without installing third party players. Or purchasing a driver pack. If you are one who uses Windows Media Center Classic to play certain files - not now. Windows 7 can do it.

Sum it up!

Give that new computer dream of yours a chance. Go find you a reliable technician who will build your computer from the gound up. If he or she says avoid Windows 7 then I suggest you move on. If you put a high tech fuel injected V-8 engine in a Model T -- It is still a Modle T.

Still have an issue with Windows 7. Hey drop me line with the problem you have or the question and I will answer it. In the end let me help you match the software with the hardware and make your computing experience the best it can be.

That is what it is all about here at Computer Associates of Abilene.

Welcome

After a good long time we finally launched our website. What self respecting computer store would not have a website for its customers. As part of our launch I thought it would nice to provide useful information to our customers as a blog.

There are many blogs and other sources of information out there to choose from but we hope to provide information that is useful to our clients and help them achieve the maximum results from their computing experience.

Some questions to address in our roll out:

1. Costs are important to you our customer and help us to make money. Finding the best value for the money spent is every customer's goal. A frequent question we get asked is how our cost is kept so low. The simple answer is our low overhead. We have a very good deal for this location. The other part is to understand our fair pricing philosophy. We believe the customer deserves the best service for the dollar. You the customer is happy and we make a profit. Why should you pay a repair cost that we would not pay. In the end everyone wins.
2. Warranty is a big part of our business model. Over the years more and more manufactures offer long warranties on their products. From motherboards, CPU and other add on's; the manufacture is offering one, three, and five year warranties. We are proud to offer these products and service the warranties. Because of our experience we have found that we can also extend a twelve month warranty on the work we do. From repairs to builds we offer a twelve month warranty for the parts and labor.
3. Mal ware, spy ware, and virus protection are important to everyone. Over the years we have developed a protection plan that is second to none. Our use of a three prong approach and strong software selections mean you can safely surf where you want and not be worried about infection. If you do become infected then we will clean the infection at no additional charge. When you do become infected we will be able to see exactly what the offending software is and give you alternatives to becoming infected again.

So there you have it - the welcome blog. I hope you find it helpful and interesting. Please feel free to comment as you wish. Remember that we provide outstanding email support so if you have a specific question then send it to your favorite technician.