Thinking about Upgrading your old system?
Here is what you need to know...
Upgrading your system can be an interesting adventure. Technology
keeps advancing at a very fast past, and much of yesterdays technology can not
be adapted to current systems. There will be some new terms to learn as well.
The current generation Intel Duo Core systems and AM2 AMD systems have different power requirements , which necessitates
generally a more powerful power supply(24 PIN ATX). Newer boards are phasing out
the old AGP standard, for the more advanced PCI-Express standard. Although your
hard drive may be adequate for your needs, the most current hard drives are all
very affordable, much larger, and are based on the very fast Serial ATA standard. If your
system was purchased within the last year, you may be able to find an affordable
upgrade path. If your system is three or more years old, perhaps the best
option for you is a simple RAM upgrade or video card upgrade until you are ready to purchase a new
system.
Computer Bogged down? Tons of Popups?
You could potentially have viruses or spyware/adware. We all know the dangers of
viruses; however, spyware/adware is getting to be very insidious. There
are various ways you can get infected, but if you are getting many popup
advertisements or your system is taking a long time to boot, i'd suggest running
some of these free for home use utilities.
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Microsoft Antispy
Spybot Search and Destroy
CCleaner
Tech Note 1: Trying to send a really long website address to someone? If it keeps cutting off into multiple lines, tinyurl it! copy the address and paste it into www.tinyurl.com and they can abbreviate it for you!
Tech Note 2: Data gets corrupted on hard drives every day. Sometimes it
is the hard drive malfunctioning, most often times it is a software product that has corrupted the data. Don't go looking for people to blame when you loose important data
to corruption.
There are many affordable options for data storage: CD and DVD Burners, as well
as Memory Sticks (USB) are perfect for storing your data!
do the smart thing: BACK UP YOUR DATA REGULARLY!
Tech Note 3: Tired of Internet Explorer? Try Opera! It comes automatically with tabbed browsing, skins, and mouse gestures..and It's free!: www.opera.com
Tech Note 4: Camera pictures too big too send? Try Easy Thumbnails! It can clone a whole directory of pictures quickly/painlessly to a smaller size in a separate directory. Try it here: http://www.fookes.com/
Tech Note 5: Caught without antivirus protection? Grisoft offers a free version of it's antivirus software to home users, and of course, don't forget to visit Trend Micro's Housecall!
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Vista
Microsoft Vista was released early this year. The requirements to run Vista
are steep compared to Windows XP. Foremost, you will need a good quality video
card, and lots of ram (1GB). If you are thinking of upgrading a previous system
to Vista, you should use the Microsoft Vista Advisor found
here.
There are several versions to choose from for the average user:
Home Basic: Lacks the new Aero interface, but is fine for the average
home user looking for an affordable option. It includes Parental Controls for
greater safely.
Home Premium: Has additional features such as the new Aero interface,
Backup Utilities, and can be compared to the previous Windows Media Center
Edition.
Business: Includes IIS, Windows ShadowCopy, Multiple CPU Support, Tablet
Suport and more.
Ultimate: As it's name implies, this is the Vista with everything, but is
quite pricey.
More detailed information can be found on the
Microsoft Website.
Of course, moving to a new operating system has both it's shares of ups and
downs. Some of your old software will not necessarily be Vista-friendly.
Which version of Microsoft Office is for me?
There are several different versions of Microsoft Office 2007 to meet your needs:
Home And Student includes , Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Basic includes , Word, Excel, and Outlook.
Small Business adds Account Express and Publisher.
Professional adds Access.
More detailed information can be found on the
Microsoft
Website.
Top Free Software (For Home Users)
Open Office Great Alternative To
Microsoft Word
Opera Web Browser Includes Tabbed Browsing
Firefox Web Browser Another Great Internet
Utility
Lavasoft Ad Aware Spyware/Adware
Program
AVG Antivirus Free Antivirus
CCleaner Removes
Temporary Files
Standard Edition 2003 includes Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Small Business Edition 2003 also includes Publisher as well.
Office Professional Edition 2003 includes Access in the package.
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