Easy Upgrades and Free Advice

The fast pace of computer technology means there may be an investment you can make that will pay for itself in weeks, and keep on paying. The trick is knowing which upgrades are worthwhile.

Here is just one example. Many computers have too little memory, which makes them run slowly.
All computers running Windows XP should have at least 2 GB of memory. Windows 7 should have 4 GB or more. Memory upgrades are very easy and quick, once you find the correct type.

Everyone should be using at least a 17 or 19 inch LCD monitor. These cost as little as $100 in 2009. They are sharper, cause less eye fatigue, and take up much less space than the old CRT monitors. Even bigger LCD monitors, 20 to 23 inches, which were recently very expensive are now quite reasonable. A big monitor can display more work. The time you save by not scrolling, or the cost of not seeing something, can pay for the monitor in a few weeks or less.

One nice thing about a monitor upgrade is that it can often be installed and set up in ten minutes.

Computers Need Regular Checkups

To maintain their health and reliability computers need regular checkups. Especially after they reach middle age (2 years for a computer). New computers begin life in a healthy state. However, after a year or two of heavy use, many things can go wrong with the configuration on your hard disk even if the hardware is working perfectly. The reason is the erroneous, sometimes dangerous junk that accumulates on your disk from the following:

• Internet use can cause involuntary, secret installation of software, usually for advertising.
• Installing, upgrading, and uninstalling software.
• Multiple re-configurations of your network.
• Printers and other peripherals coming and going.
• Latent viruses and trojans.
  

It is a little-known fact that when you uninstall applications, they usually leave undesired files and entries in the Windows Registry. Sometimes good files are overwritten by bad. The consequences of this can be crashes, applications behaving badly, or very slowly, or it may prevent the correct installation of new hardware or software.
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Replacing Your Unhealthy Computers?

One remedy for an unhealthy middle aged computer is to replace it with a new one. That is effective, but often wasteful. There are other costs, in addition to the purchase price.

• The new computer needs configuring for your network, and for any peripheral equipment.
• You must bring forward your existing data, software, and e-mail accounts and the like.
• You must adjust to any differences in using the new computer, or reestablish all your preferences.
• You pay for a new license for your operating system. Your old one goes to waste.

At this point in the evolution of computers (2009), their speed and performance has gotten ahead of what most businesses and home users actually need. This means that one, two, or even three-year old computers are often quite capable enough for today's uses. And if not, simple upgrades of memory or hard disk can usually make them so. But they also need a good check-up and tune-up to be reliable. That's where the Computer Doctor can help. Regular check-ups will greatly reduce the chance that your business will be brought to its knees by a computer failure.
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Backups

Ever since there were computers, users have been warned to back up their data often. Yet a shocking percentage of users do not, or do a poor job. The traditional backup methods left a lot to be desired.

• Tapes were slow, fragile, expensive, and cumbersome. (See * below)
• Diskettes were slow and much too small.
• ZIP drives were clunky and expensive.
• CD-ROM's and DVD's are tricky to write, although easy to read and very cheap.
• All methods interrupted work and if you ever had to recover data, you needed good luck and lots of time.

Now we have better solutions.

• Keychain memory sticks are the easiest solution. They plug into a USB port and behave like a hard disk, but fit on your keychain. The newer ones hold 2 GB to 16 GB and cost $10 to $50.
• External hard disks also plug into a USB port and serve as a large, fast, backup device. They used to be too expensive for this use, but are now about $100. An external hard disk can be attached, a backup done, and removed, all without stopping the computer.
  
• Mirroring data over the local network can back up and recover data painlessly.
• A Network Attached Storage Device is a computer and disk system, some as small as a hardcover book.
• You can get software that will do backups without any effort on your part.
  

The Computer Doctor can design a backup plan to meet your business needs with the least effort.

(*) In the bad old days, a technician had to set up a tape backup run, daily or weekly, which could take several hours, slowing any work the computers might be doing. The tapes had to be catalogued and stored under controlled conditions. Even worse, the tape suppliers specified periodic maintenance of the stored tapes! Tapes were expensive, and if you reused them, they would wear out, besides erasing your old data.
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Not Like TV Sets

Computers are not like TV sets. They are enormously more complicated. A TV set can be expected to run without maintenance or checkups and without problems for years. A computer's complexity makes it a little bit like the human body, and it needs regular checkups to find and fix small problems before they become big ones.

Hidden Time Bombs

There are many computers in use in small businesses today that are ready to have a serious failure. The failure will waste time, lose work, cause delays, and possibly even spoil the customer's confidence in the business. To make it worse, most of the people involved are unaware of the hazards.

Large companies have people on staff to care for their computers and networks, but small companies tend to leave themselves exposed to problems they aren't aware of.

There are some simple things that can improve the reliability of computers.

• Unless they are very new, computers need regular checkups by a professional.
• An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) protect against power failures.
• Redundant arrays of hard disks (RAID) can protect against hard disk failures.
• Mirroring of important data across your network can protect against data loss.

UPS and RAID used to be quite expensive, but are now so cheap it can be irresponsible to not use them. They require skill to configure, however.
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Health Issues

It is not only the health of your computers at stake. Computer use can affect human health. For example, I often see video monitor setups that cause eye strain, headaches, and fatigue, without the user knowing anything is wrong. There is no need to suffer.

Cost-Effective Problem Solvers

The technological progress that has made computers so powerful and cheap, also has made products available that solve the problems related to computers, at a low cost. Examples are:

• External hard disks for backups and off-site storage.
  
• Uninterruptible power supplies. (UPS)
• Redundant arrays of hard disks. (RAID)
• Software to guard against intruders.
• Software to enforce privacy.
• High quality monitors and printers.

Copyright (c) 2009 Adrian Hlynka

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