Category Archives: Windows

Spring 2024 Computer Recommendations

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At least once a year I like to give my opinion on what type of a computer someone should be looking for if they’re in the market to purchase a new machine. Many times, there are so many computers on the marketplace that it’s hard to make a decision based upon the functionality you’ll need to use. Basically I break these into two categories, a minimum performance machine and a high-performance machine. If you are a high-performance user, you already know that. If you’re not sure, a minimum performance device is probably where you need to be working.

Often times in the big box stores you find machines that have some of the specifications but not all of them. Big box machines are typically built, particularly on the PC side, with a price in mind. Often times, the machine has specifications that don’t meet current use specs. This also shows up on many Internet sites. Be sure to look into the specifications you’re selecting for the machine that you’re looking to purchase.

In my opinion, brands do matter.  Seeing many machines with problems, I can say that Macintosh computers are generally the most trouble free and will maintain good performance for a longer period.

But some people need Windows for specific applications.  When it comes to Windows computers, my experience says that I would look for these brands (in order):

  1. Dell
  2. HP
  3. Lenovo

All three of these vendors maintain good support websites and make updating hardware drivers easier.  That doesn’t mean much when the machine is new but as it ages, it means everything.

Windows Systems

Laptop, Minimum Performance

Memory: 16 GB
Processor: Intel Core i5 (with at least 4 cores)
Storage: 256 GB SSD minimum
Graphics: Integrated graphics
Networking: wireless
Operating System: Windows 11

Laptop, Higher Performance

Memory: 32-64 GB
Processor: Intel Core i7 or i9
Storage: 512 GB SSD minimum
Graphics: Integrated graphics or dedicated if available
Networking: wireless
Operating System: Windows 11

Foe Macintosh Systems, a MacBook Air is the correct machine for entry to mid stream users today.  For more professional uses and MacBook Pro is great.  If you want a desktop the new M3 iMac is great and either the Mac mini or Mac Studio on the higher end make great sense.  Avoid the Mac Pro desktop.  It’s price vs performance is low for nearly all users.

Macintosh Systems

Laptop, Minimum Performance

Memory: 8 GB
Processor: Apple M2 or M3
Storage: 256 GB SSD minimum
Graphics: Integrated graphics
Networking: wireless
Operating System: MacOS 14

Laptop, Higher Performance

Memory: 16-32 GB
Processor: Intel Core M2 Pro, M2 Max, or M3 series
Storage: 512 GB SSD minimum
Graphics: Integrated graphics or dedicated if available
Networking: wireless
Operating System: MacOS 14

Computer Recommendations 2023

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A couple times a year I like to give my opinion on what type of a computer someone should be looking for if they’re in the market to purchase a new machine. Many times, there are so many computers on the marketplace that it’s hard to make a decision based upon the functionality you’ll need to use. Basically I break these into two categories, a minimum performance machine and a high-performance machine. If you are a high-performance user, you already know that. If you’re not sure, a minimum performance device is probably where you need to be working.

Often times in the big box stores you find machines that have some of the specifications but not all of them. Big box machines are typically built, particularly on the PC side, with a price in mind. Often times, the machine has specifications that don’t meet current use specs. This also shows up on many Internet sites. Be sure to look into the specifications you’re selecting for the machine that you’re looking to purchase.

In my opinion, brands do matter.  Seeing many machines with problems, I can say that Macintosh computers are generally the most trouble free and will maintain good performance for a longer period.  

But some people need Windows for specific applications.  When it comes to Windows computers, my experience says that I would look for these brands (in order):  

  1. Dell
  2. HP
  3. Lenovo

All three of these vendors maintain good support websites and make updating hardware drivers easier.  That doesn’t mean much when the machine is new but as it ages, it means everything.

The First thing you need to do with your New Laptop

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Protect your Battery

I certainly should have made this post along time ago. One of the things I tell people when I set up a new laptop for them is that it’s very important for them to “season” the battery so that the battery understands the full capacity and can recharge to that capacity.

The typical estimated life of a Lithium-Ion battery is about three to 5 years or 300 to 500 charge cycles, whichever occurs first. One charge cycle is a period of use from fully charged, to fully discharged, and fully recharged again. But long before the Battery begins to fail, the capacity of the battery becomes reduced.

Rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries have a limited life and will gradually lose their capacity to hold a charge. This loss of capacity (aging) is irreversible. As the battery loses capacity, the length of time it will power the product (run time) decreases.  There are some things you can do to a new laptop battery to ensure the battery works to its full capacity.  

Here are the simple steps to ensure you get the most out of that new laptop battery.

1
Connect your laptop’s power cord and allow it to fully charge.

2
Unplug the laptop once it is charged .

3
Use the computer until you receive a warning that the battery is nearly empty. Save any open documents to prevent data loss.

4
Continue to use the laptop until the battery is completely drained .

5
Reconnect the laptop’s power cord and allow it to recharge to full capacity. You may use the machine while it is recharging, but do not unplug it until it is finished.

Once you do that, you can now recharge and use the battery on your laptop as you normally would.  But, to avoid premature reduction in your battery capacity, be sure to use it on battery at least once in a while.

Maximum Battery life is achieved if you charge the laptop fully, then use it on battery until it tells you it needs to be charged.  While we cant use our devices in that way all the time, letting the laptop fully discharge, at least some of the time, is always the best way to avoid early battery problems.

Antivirus for Windows

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One of the questions I get asked quite often deals with which Antivirus to use for Windows 10. The fact that the market for paid antivirus software in Windows is so vast should lead you to one very important conclusion.  Antivirus software makes a lot of money for the developers.

So often you see articles describing how one antivirus software is so much better than anything else on the market. In fact, most of these articles are all just spam. Antivirus software has gotten to the point where I don’t believe it makes any sense to pay for it any longer. Microsoft includes antivirus software built into windows 10 that is actually quite good. Other antivirus software such as McAfee, and Norton can slow your machine down so much, particularly if it’s older, that you may not be able to effectively use the computer.

More than once, I have run into a situation where a user will subscribe to LifeLock and get the free included Norton antivirus installed on their machine only to find, their machine no longer functions well, runs very slowly, and continually pauses due to the high resource requirements from the Norton antivirus software. On the other hand, McAfee runs better, but McAfee’s incessant use of trickery to get it self installed on your computer, basically popping up messages telling you that your machine needs to be updated, just doesn’t sit very well with me.

So my recommendation is, uninstall all of this superfluous software, and let windows take over the task of managing your antivirus checking. Your machine will feel faster, it will be updated when windows updates, and many of the compatibility issues that you see with other antivirus programs will go away.

So resist the old idea that you need to pay for antivirus software. If any antivirus software comes preinstalled on your new computer, uninstall it immediately and use the Microsoft software that’s built-in.

So what about Malware Protection

Malware testing is one of those things that is also included in Microsoft software. But in this case I find that there is a better solution. I fully recommend Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes is a free software program that will test your machine for malware that’s been installed. This software does about the best job of any thing I’ve ever seen. While there is a paid version of it, the paid version difference is that it just runs automatically in the background. As long as you have the wherewithal to run it every couple of weeks to test your machine, I don’t recommend the need to pay for it.

Scan Your Computer Using Malwarebytes

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Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a tool that allows you to scan your computer to find and remove malware like viruses and spyware.

To start your first scan, click [Scan] after it opens.

The scan may take several minutes.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now start scanning. When the scan finishes, a screen will show any malware that was detected, if any was detected.

What Do I Do if MalwareBytes Finds Threats on my Computer?
If malware has been found on your computer, you may remove it by following the prompts within MalwareBytes once the scan is finished to view the report and to quarantine the threats. To manage them quarantined threats after a scan has already been completed, click [Detection History] on the main page. Once the scan has been complete and the threats have been quarantined, the system may require you to reboot the computer. When the computer restarts, do another scan to verify that there are no continuing threats.

Update Malwarebytes
To update Malwarebytes once it has already been installed, do the following:

Launch Malwarebytes.
On the launch page, click the gear icon in the top-right corner to view the settings. Click the [About] button on the far right corner. The currently installed version of MalwareBytes will appear on the left. Click the [Check for Updates] button to check for updates. If no update is found, you currently have the latest version installed. If you are prompted to install an update, install the update and do another scan on your computer.
After Malwarebytes has been updated, scan your computer.

Scan Your Computer
To scan your computer with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware after your initial scan, do the following:

Launch Malwarebytes.
Make sure Malwarebytes is up to date (see above).
Click the [Scan] button.
Let the scan progress. If threats are found, follow the prompts to quarantine the threats.

You now have successfully scanned your computer using MalwareBytes.

And Now, The End is Near……

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Beginning this week users of that venerable old operating system Windows 7, willl begin seeing prompts such as this at random intervals. Microsoft has been clear that the day of Windows 7 has passed and its time to begin to plan for the end.

As I work with users of Windows 7, I have certainly heard it all.  “I just like Windows 7”; “I don’t want to learn anything new”; “I heard Windows 10 had lots of bugs”; “I don’t want to change”, the list of excuses in endless.  But the time for excuses is gone.

What does the end of support mean to you

Ending support means Microsoft will no longer provide updates or security patches for Windows 7. So, as time passes, Windows 7 will likely become the main target of hackers.  More and more malware will be targeted at Windows 7.  If you are a user of Windows 7 at home, it likely may not mean much to you.  If a hacker destroys your operating system you may only lose your music library and all your pictures of your kids.  That’s not a problem because you have a good backup, right??  But if you are a business user, the elimination of security patches is critical.  You may end up exposing your customers data to hackers, cause a network wide infection, or have your computer crash at the wrong time.

There was a point in time when Microsoft made Windows 10 available for free to Windows 7 users but that time has past and Microsoft has shown no direction to give it away for free again. Your options are clear:

  1. Update to Windows 10 on each machine for a cost of between $139 and $199 depending on the version you need.  And don’t forget the labor cost to install it.
  2. Replace your computer with a new Windows 10 machine (or maybe a Mac)
  3. Take the risk that you won’t have any problems

The choice is yours…. Well maybe.  If you work with data that must be kept secure such as HIPPA information or SEC data, you may not have any choice at all.  Regardless, does it really make sense to update a machine that is a minimum of 5 years old when new replacement office machines may cost between $500 and $700 dollars?

So plan now and beat the rush. January 14, 2020 is the date and the clock is ticking.  It’s time to face the final curtain for Windows 7.  It was a long run but all good things come to an end.

 

 

Bottom Line: Don’t Update Flash Player

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OK folks, it’s worth saying again, there are no dancing kitties or laughing dogs worth the risk of accepting an update to flash player. This specific post is going to cover updating your Mac flash player, but the same goes for flash player on the PC.  The only way to ensure that you don’t get caught from a scam flash player installer is to not update flash player.  

Analysts say that the the number one way that computers, particularly Macs get infected with malware is through flash player updates.  It usually happens like this. 

You’re surfing the web, perhaps looking for entertainment or searching for a product you want to purchase at a great price. All of a sudden you get a prompt that pops up telling you that your flash player is outdated and needs to be updated. This prompt looks completely legitimate. It looks just like the prompts from Adobe that you seen in the past.  But what you don’t realize is that it is truly a phishing scam it’s designed to look like a standard update.  If you click update, guess what? You’ve just infected your Mac with malware. Very likely you won’t even notice for a while because these type of infections typically download what’s called a “stub“.  This small program will run in the background and download other malware on to your machine. Perhaps it will change your homepage in your browser, maybe it’ll change your search engine to a search engine that looks just like Google but isn’t.  Maybe you’ll begin seeing pop-ups every once in a while. These are all signs that one click has infected your computer. 

This process is very similar on a PC. But typically, malware installed on a PC is much more advanced and can often search your computer for personal data and send it off to some website in the sky.

The answer is simple. Eliminate flash from your life. Resist the idea of installing, or updating flash on your machine. It just isn’t worth it. The risk of being infected from some of these flash player update prompts is much greater than any value you get from a little flash video.  You see the truth is, developer is no longer develop legitimate applications in flash. It’s old technology, it’s far from secure, and there are much better tools to develop anything current. 

But, there are millions of existing flash developed apps still out there on the web. Many of these are games that were developed 15 years ago when it was the only technology that would allow you to move things around on the screen easily. Even more might be ad platforms that allow people to use a JPEG and a link to purchase placements on legitimate websites. Whatever they are, the ability for you being able to see these is nowhere near worth the risk of problems installing flash player updates can cause.  

If you ever see prompts similar to this, ignore them. Move on.  There is plenty of content on the web for you to be able to see that doesn’t require flash player.

Often times, I finish a discussion such as this by describing the correct way to update your flash player. But I’ve recently seen so many of these infections on peoples Macs That I just can no longer recommend using flash at all. I’m sure you can search the web and find the correct way to do flash updates but my recommendation to you is to forget about flash, and forget about those puppies and kitties that often times lure us into clicking on things that hurt us.

Look folks, it’s just a scam!

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I have heard from a number of people this week that they have gotten calls, mostly on landline phone numbers, from someone reporting to be Apple  telling them that their computer was infected and their accounts with Apple were being discontinued. We’ve seen this happen before and like times before this is just a scam.

The interesting thing this time is those people with caller ID say, this time the Number calling is a local area code. Scammers these days are making it harder and harder to screen your calls.

Let me make a pretty bold statement. Apple, Microsoft, and Google will not call you on your phone to tell you you have a computer problem. They just don’t do that! Anytime you get a call to tell you there’s something wrong with your computer it is someone trying to scam money from you. You can count on this. Ignore those phone calls, Hang up the phone, or cuss the collar out if that makes you feel better but do not allow anyone to connect to your computer remotely unless you know who you’re talking to.

Likewise, if a screen pops up on your computer while your web browsing and tells you your machine is infected and you need to call a phone number, it is a scam. Again, someone is trying to get you to call them and allow them to infect your computer. Sometimes these pop-up screens are hard to get rid of, and often times require you to force quit your browser, but they are not real.

Even secure devices like iPads, iPhones, or chromebooks, are susceptible to this same type scam. These people are using a webpage pop up, many times coming from an ad on that webpage, to make you believe there’s a problem when there really isn’t.

All of these efforts, are called social engineering. Computers have become so secure that it’s very difficult for a nefarious person to get access to your computer on their own. It is much easier to do something that convinces you to infect your self. That’s what they’re trying to do. Don’t let them be successful.

If you are troubleshooting a problem, and you call Apple  or Dell for assistance, sometimes they will ask to connect your computer to look at what’s going on. The big difference here is you initiated the call to Them. It was at your choice and not as a result of some pop up message on your screen or a phone call coming into your home. In this case, it’s likely all right to allow them to connect but if you’re not sure you are much better off consulting with someone who can assist you locally rather than taking the risk.

And so it goes…

Windows 7 forever! – Don’t Be that guy

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Windows 7 was a terrific operating system. In fact for many things you do today Windows 7 is still preferred over windows 10. Many people continue to use Windows 7 machines very efficiently and insist that they’ll never move to windows 10. To be quite honest, I completely understand that feeling and in many ways think they areright on the money. But there comes a point of time when you need to face a few facts and I believe the recent ransomware hacking that were seeing may be one of those first early facts that you might want to make note of.

Microsoft says it still supports Windows 7, and in fact Windows 7 is still the promenade operating system being used in business today. If you have a Windows machine running Windows 7 and are happy with it I think continuing to use it is the right thing to do. The real issue becomes when it’s time to purchase a new computer and have to decide what to purchase. Do you buy a windows 10 machine and move forward, or do you drag your feet in the dirt, insist on Windows 7, and join the window 7 forever crowd?  This is a decision many people will be faced with and I want to tell you a few things that I’ve seen in the past that make that decision pretty clear.

Of course, I use a Mac much of the time and I’ve seen the same thing on the Mac side. People don’t want to move to the new operating system because it’s different, because it may slow their machine down, or for many other seemingly valid reasons. But Apple does a good job of forcing you forward. It provides the new versions of operating systems for free, it provides updates for most of its apps for free, and it tries to ensure the new releases of the operating system make your machine run at least as fast as it did prior to installing the new release. But there still are a few machines that I run across still running old Mac operating system like snow leopard, an operating system that’s at least seven years old.  It’s many of the same people that then wonder why they can’t update their applications, or why new printers don’t provide drivers for them, or things just don’t quite work when connected to their brand-new iPhone.

Well people I’m here to tell you windows is going that same path. Windows 7 today may still be very viable, but a new machine you purchase today needs to be usable for at least five years, and I think that may be a problem. The recent ransomware attack, targeted Windows XP users. These people also believed the Windows XP was going to be the operating system they used forever. It was fast, and it was thin, so it didn’t require a lot of resources on older computers. But Microsoft ended support for Windows XP. So the XP operating systems quit being updated leaving holes open for attackers to go after. Sure, Microsoft did issue an emergency patch for Windows XP related to this outbreak, but we can’t depend on that and in fact in my opinion it provided a disservice to all computer users.  It’s just encourages people to stick with the old and not move to the new. Now Windows 7 today is not in that same situation, but it’s time must be coming.

I remember one time that OS2 was the operating system used by most banks. Many of those banks held onto that operating system as long as they possibly could until it got them to a point that there systems were in serious trouble. At that point they were forced to make an upgrade rather than making an upgrade in a timed and planned fashion.  In fact many believe it was that decision, that kept many banks from providing electronic banking and Internet-based technologies to their customers for a long time. In hindsight, they made a very poor decision.

Last week I set up a new machine for user that purchased Windows 7 on that machine. They didn’t want to go through the learning process to learn windows 10 so, they bought a brand-new Dell computer with a six-year-old operating system. Well that certainly works well for them today, I don’t believe we can depend on that continuing to be the case.

So what’s the point of my anecdotes this morning?  The point is, when you buy new hardware get an operating system that is new also. Resist the thought of trying to run on the old release. Bite the bullet and pay for those software updates that you’ll need for the new operating system. Move forward, don’t drag your feet in the dirt.

Just remember, a week ago many businesses were still running Windows XP thinking, “it’ll be fine “or “we don’t want to have to upgrade our operating systems yet “. But today, in the midst of these hacking attacks, I believe there are many government agencies, many hospitals, and many businesses, that may be rethinking their thought of staying on the old operating system.

Don’t make that same mistake. If your in the market to purchase a new Windows machine, go with windows 10. Microsoft has declared it’s their future, so it needs to be yours too.