Symons Says!
Questions & Answers
Basics

Q.  "The kid at the store tried to sell me something called a UPS.  Is it really worth spending the extra $$ on or was he just loading the sale".

A.  "The Kid" was trying to do you a favour.  He just sold you a sensitive electronic device (computer).  Power surges/spikes and brown outs can actually damage the microscopic circuitry in the computer.  The UPS device will protect your computer as well as that long winded email to Uncle Bob your were working on when the lights went out.  It's just plain smart and right to protect your investment.   Sorry no no no an $8.00 "power" bar is not protection.  Do not cheeeeeep out!  Unless you like buying new computers on a regular basis.  I am still running just fine on a 6 year old box that I bought used.  These are not that important if you are only using a laptop device.

Q.  "No matter what I do I cannot get it to turn on.  - and yes it is plugged in"!

A.  Well you might think its plugged in but remember that the cord on a desktop has 2 ends.  Are they both firmly plugged in?  If you have been paying attention you should have it plugged into some kind of decent surge protection device.  Is it turned on? on and plugged in?? Is there actually power in the outlet or has the breaker been tripped???  Notebook computers have three points of potential problem.  The main power cord plugs into the source, a transformer and the transformer then plugs to the computer.  Try unplugging and re-plugging all these before you holler for help.  I always tell people that if I "come over" and plug your computer in and it works - I want $100 cash and a good shot of scotch.  You would be amazed how many times folks call back and say oops - how did you know?

Q.  "My computer is going sooooo sloooow these days.  What is wrong"?

A.  First of all how old is it.  If you bought it when you still had your own hair/teeth then perhaps its just time.  If it is fairly new -  Have you installed any new and fancy software lately?  New software sometimes requires a whole lot more memory to run properly.  You need at least 4 gigs these days to run anything and even 8 Gigs is the current standard on the newer systems.  Pay attention and read the screen every time BEFORE you say yes.

 Free Performance and Security Scan, Scan Now!

A. Computers do not actually slow down.  They are still working hard but the software we install over the years just places more and more demands on the system.  That combined with the fact that very often the internal files get all messed up (very technical term?).  Click here and run a free scan of your system and you will get some idea of just how clogged up and out of date things are.  Its worth the $$ so go ahead and buy it at the end of the scan and let it do its thing.  Then run it again and possibly a third time and you will see a huge difference.  After this run it about once a week or 10 days to keep things running at peak.

A.  Have you been visiting sights you should not have been visiting.  I often find when I go out and respond to a problem that when I check the browsing history I have to give my "naughty naughty" lecture.  Unless your system is seriously protected with the latest software these "sites" can plant all kinds of spyware on your system and glean all kinds of information you would rather they did not know.  I have spent up to 6 hours cleaning up systems like this in the past.  Now I check the history first and if I see the "naughties" I just wash my hands, walk away and say "good luck".  Do you feel like spending $400 to clean up the mess just because decided to check out that link your buddy sent you.

A.  Is your kid into gaming on the system or on line.  These programs take up huge space and the kids themselves get into places that plant all kinds of spy ware.  This stuff again will slow the system down. 
The following link will detect spyware and deal with it.  I strongly urge/push/cajole you to never never let any kid do gaming on your computer.  You are just begging for a nightmare.
 Free Performance and Security Scan, Scan Now!

Q." I have three different anti virus software packages running so I could not possibly get infected, right"?

A.  It is a wonder that your computer will even start under a load like that.  NO NO NO.  One good quality anti virus package that you actually paid for "should" protect you just fine without grinding the system to its knees.  You must totally uninstall all traces of every antivirus package except the one you are using or it will cause problems.  I once worked on one with 6 packages because the guy gave me the computer since "it was a piece of junk".  No it was not.  It was still fairly new but he was/is a collector of anything free.  It took me almost 8 hours to make a usable computer out of it and it was just fine in the end.  I passed it along to a local school here in Panama where it has been working now for about 4 years. :-) 

If you follow the links provided above you can install some of the best and most affordable, up to date protection available.  If you are not interested in protecting yourself right from the start then the rest of my advice likely will not be of much use.

That's enuf for this month.

Bill

Send your questions to bill@geezeraid.com

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