GLASGORMAN Computer Services » Laptop

Mother’s Laptop and “A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing”

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:07:36 +0000

While visiting my Mother over the weekend, she complained that her Laptop was painfully slow. I thought it was just my Mother, but she reminded me that it worked fine when I first set up the Laptop and that my brother, sister and nice had all been using it and installed various things. To cut a long story short, here are some of the things I discovered and how I fixed them.

Automatic Updates were Turned Off. The system runs VISTA and had no updates for a year and a half. While VISTA can be very slow at the best of times, the updates (particularly the Service Packs) have a huge impact on speed and resources. So TURN ON AUTOMATIC UPDATES and install all updates form Microsoft when asked. It took me a day to apply all updates that have been released over the last year and a half.
Three different versions of Microsoft Office were installed. When there was a problem with reading Word attachments at least two different people tried to reinstall Office without uninstalling previous versions. If you have a problem with a program, DO A COMPLETE UNINSTALL FIRST BEFORE YOU TRY TO REINSTALL.
The Laptop had never been Defragemented. When I checked, the system was set up to run a Scheduled Defrag on a weekly basis (at 3:00am on a Wed morning) , but the problem was that my mother never left her Laptop on at night. So if you have an Automatic Schedule for Defragmentation, make sure you leave your PC on at night and that your Power Saving features don’t turn off the PC before it has a chance to do a Defrag.

The final point I would make, is that it is much easier to sort out a problem if three well meaning people, have not tried to fix the problem. Call in somebody in the computer business straight away. The good guys will have a quick look and let you know what the likely costs are before they do any work.

Dishwashers, Laptops & Netbooks

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:02:14 +0000

The dishwasher finally put up the white flag and after a sustained and relentless attack from three teenagers, finally surrendered after 10 years. While in Gorey shopping for a replacement I came across some fantastic deals for Laptops and Netbooks in Dominic Smith Electrical. Not that I wasn’t enthusiastic about the the new dishwasher, and lets face it, it costs a hell of a lot more than a Netbook Computer, it’s just that height adjustable trays don’t quite do it for me!

Four Simple ways to Speed up your PC

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:27:27 +0000

I often come across PC and Laptops that appear to be good well specified computers and yet their performance is terrible. So here are some simple common sense things you can do to help speed up your computer.

Close Programs that you are not using. The most common thing I find when somebody complains about performance is that they have a massive number of windows/programs open at the same time and they are not using most of them. The maximum number of windows you should have open is 4 or 5. I regard myself as a fairly heavy user and most of the time I have 3 windows open, my email, my calendar and either my browser or office. I regularly come across people with 10 plus windows open and wonder why their computer is running slow. Remember even if you are not using an open program, a significant amount of resources are allocated to it anyway.
Clean Up and Organise your files. On most computers at least 50% of the files are either no longer required, temporary files, out of date or simply rubbish downloaded from the Internet. Each time you try and open a file the computer has to search through all those files. That’s why you will see your disk light going mad for ages when you open a file. So do a bit of spring cleaning and get rid of files you don’t use and if you haven’t accessed them in ages put them onto backup cd’s.
Defragment your Hard Disks. OK, sorry about this but I have to get a little bit technical here. When you first save files on the computer they are stored in a very logical sequence that best uses the hard disk space and allows them to be retrieved very quickly. As you use the computer and create more files, delete some and edit others the hard disk gets very disorganised and eventually the computer has to go around the world for sport just to open a simple file. The answer is to every now and then to reorganise the hard disk so the files are in a logical sequence again. The process of reorganising the hard disk is called Defragmenting. Here are some links to show you How to Defrag Windows XP and How to Defrag Windows Vista.
Upgrade your Memory/RAM. By far the most effective way of speeding up your computer is to increase the amount of memory or RAM. Memory is thousands of times quicker than the hard disk and if you have a lot of memory more files can be stored there which means the computer runs much quicker. Memory is relatively cheap these days but you will have to consult your local retailer unless you have somebody you can call on for computer expertise.

Buying a Computer for Christmas.

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:21:25 +0000

Ok, it’s getting close to that time of year again when I get bombarded by people asking me for advise about buying a computer for Christmas. So here are some of the main points to consider when buying a computer that will mainly be used at home for leisure activities.

The first bit of advice that I always give is Don’t buy a computer at this time of year! I know that’s not what you want to hear and it’s probably not practical for most of us, but if you can hold off until the end of January then you will get Twice the value for money. It’s not that the computer will necessarily cost half the price, but from the end of January until the end of March most of the manufacturers have promotions where they will offer things like Double Memory, Double Hard Disk Size and Better Graphics Cards at no extra cost.

Regardless of when you buy a computer there are two main things to consider;

What type of computer should you buy.
Where should you buy a computer.

What type of computer should you buy.

The first thing to decide is between a Laptop or a desktop. A laptop can give you much more flexibility but laptops are more expensive. If you are upgrading from an existing desktop then if you buy a new desktop you may not need a new display which would save you money. This brings us to the fundamental question you have to ask when deciding what type of computer to buy and that is; What do you want to do with the computer? If you just want to do some Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Email, Surf the Internet and play the odd game, then it doesn’t really matter what type of computer you buy. If on the other hand you are a student going to college then you would be mad not to buy a Laptop as you will be moving around a lot and will need your computer with you. Finally if you are a gadget person and like to try and attach everything to your computer then a desktop would be more flexible as it will connect to more gadgets and support more options. If I had to make a recommendation, I would say buy a Laptop. The price difference between a Laptop and a Desktop is not that great any more and the greater flexibility is well worth it.

Once you have decided between a Laptop and a Desktop you are going to be confronted with a whole new set of terminology such as Processor, RAM/Memory, Hard Disk/Storage, USB Ports, Firewire, etc.. While I can’t go into too much detail, I will try and give a brief explanation and what you should look for.

Processor: I am not going to go into all the different types of processors. The thing to note is that the Core Duo, Core 2 Duo and Xenon are among the bigger/faster processors. Processors speeds range from 1.6Ghz to 2.8Ghz (Ghz=Billions of instructions per second). The type and speed of the Processor is only relevant if you are running graphics intensive applications like CAD, Professional Video Editing or High-end Graphical Games.

RAM/Memory: This is the single most important component that influences the speed of your computer. If you double the speed of your processor you will NOT double the speed of the computer, however if you double the amount of RAM/Memory in your computer you WILL double the speed of your computer. Your computer should have at least 2GB and have expansion room to at least double the memory, but the motto should be the more memory the better.

Hard Disk/Storage: The hard disk is where you store all your files, so as the quality of Digital Photos, Music, Video etc.. gets better you need more disk space. For a Laptop you should look for at least a 150GB Hard Disk. 250GB is very good, but again the more the better.

USB Ports: These are the ports that you use to connect printers, cameras, phones etc.. to your computer, so you should look for at least three on a Laptop.

Firewire : The only reason I mention Firewire is because quite a number of quality Video Cameras support this type of connection, so if video is your thing then a firewire port is very useful.

Before you get on to me and say there are many more options available. I know there are, but these are the most important to consider and the ones the sales people will quote to you.

Where should you buy a computer.

Now that you have waded through the technology and decided what type of computer to buy, you now have to decide where to buy.

Online : Most manufacturers allow you to buy online either directly like DELL of indirectly through online shops like Elara, DABS or Komplett. The big issue with these online shops is that you really need to know what you are looking for to get good value for money. So if you decide to use an online shop I would seek help from somebody with a bit of technical knowledge, (NOT your teenage children). The second issue with online shops is that they can sometimes be difficult to deal with if you have problems like shipping, returns or technical issues. You could end up dealing with customer service people based in a different continent. The final issue is to make sure the price quoted online includes VAT and Shipping. Sometimes when you add in these type of charges, you find you would have been better to buy locally.

Large Multiples : As you wander around your local Tecso, Aldi, Lidl, Dunnes etc.. you will see that they also have computers for sale. Again the quality of the computers is good but like buying online, if something goes wrong you will end up dealing with customer service in Head Office, wherever that is.

Your Local Computer Retailer : In my opinion this is by far the best place for a home user to buy a computer. I’m not just saying that to “Support Your Local Sheriff”, I say that for several reasons;

Your local retailer has a vested interested in giving you value for money and good service. They need you to come back and a reputation for bad service spreads very quickly in a small town.
Having compared prices from all sources I found that there was very little difference when you take all charges into account.
Generally your local retailer will know you or of you, so you tend to get good practical, advice.
If something goes wrong you are dealing with local people. This is by far the best reason to buy locally.

Having checked out all prices, Click and in particular Redmond Electric, both of which are based in Gorey Shopping Center have some very good deals at the moment. Redmond Electric have some very well specified Laptops for around €400 to €450. Astor on the Gorey Main St also have some good deals.

Now, before anybody accuses me I have no personal or business relationship with any of the organisations mentioned.

Finally I know this will probably have prompted other questions, so if you post a comment I will try to respond as time allows.