If the phrase “running as an administrator” is greek to you, you should probably listen up. On your computer (doesn’t matter, Windows, Mac, or Linux) you have an user account. It’s probably named after you, after all, it is your computer. Well each user account has specific privileges, what we call rights, or permissions. If you operate your computer with administrative privileges, it means you can make changes to some very important system files as well perform what seem to be valid tasks as installing software or hardware. However whether you know it or not, the programs you run (and the ones you don’t) also have administrator access (generally speaking) and this creates an opportunity for bad things to happen.

Example 1: You accidentally make some changes or deleted important system files – now how do you get them back? Oops…

Example 2: A virus is downloaded without your knowledge and now has access to delete or infect the core files of your computer. It’s going to be very difficult to clean that computer and the safest bet is to reload the operating system which means time and money…Oops.

Example 3: Nothing tragic here, just some thinking. When you need administrator privileges for a task, installing software, hardware etc, you may be able to authenticate with your administrator account right then and there, or you simply have to logout, login as administrator, perform your tasks and log back in as yourself. This isn’t the end of the world and it actually got you to stop and think about why you have to put in your administrator password. “Do I really want to make these changes? Could there be any significant repercussions for my actions?”

So you’ll find a lot of people run as the administrator, however I do not and it hasn’t killed me yet. Think about it.

See you next time
Matt

Today’s post will hopefully make our readers aware of the needs of their computers. Now that summer has rolled around and your office is nice and cool, are your computers? If your computer isn’t needed (on the weekends) be sure to turn them off as they do produce some heat. This will save your air conditioner from working extra and in turn save some dollars on your electric bill. Second, be sure to keep all servers nice and cool. I would recommend around the 60-66 degrees area. Of course cooler is better, but to a point. If your computers/servers get too cold condensation (condensed water vapor) can really reck havoc on your equipment.

Now that we have your equipment nice and cool, did you know if your electrical panels can handle the load? Most homes won’t have a problem, and any newer buildings should be fine too. However if your office is in an older building and say using window unit air conditioners in every office… it could cause a problem. A circuit can only hand out so much power and if too much is being drawn, a breaker will trip and stop the flow of electricity which could bring your computers and servers crashing to the ground.

This brings me to the importance of a UPS. A UPS is not a delivery guy in a brown truck, but a battery backup, the acronym stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply. These devices have a battery and will supply a few minutes to a few hours of electricity to your devices allowing you time to safely shutdown any equipment. A desktop level UPS costs around $50-$75 and will supply a desktop computer with about 40 minutes of power depending on the age of the battery. Server level battery backups are a little more expensive, but so is the equipment they protect. How will you know if you loose power to your computer? Your battery backup will start beeping like a smoke alarm to let you know you have limited time on battery. If you aren’t using a battery backup on your desktop, please at least use a solid surge protector, like the ones made by APC, also my brand of choice for a UPS. Click here for their website. A surge protector will protect against surges in electricity that often come with the brief power outages during summer thunder storms.

Until next time,
Matthew

Enjoy, see ya next time,

Matt

I came across a TechRepublic post the other day with tips on keeping your keyboard clean. I’d like to mention their ideas and some of my own

1. Use compressed air in a can to blow away dust and grime
2. Use a vacuum cleaner carefully. Make sure the computer is turned off, repeated keystrokes can cause your computer to do some wacky things
3. Use screen wipes to clean grime – alcohol wipes work too
4. Try the dishwasher – I don’t personally recommend this option, but I’ve heard of people doing it successfully.
5. Use a cover – I’m not a fan because of the way it changes the feel of the keyboard but it’s up to you.
6. DO NOT EAT over your keyboard. I don’t know how much gross food I’ve removed from laptop keyboards.
7. Don’t brush your hair over your keyboard
8. Don’t let your pets on your keyboard, especially cats
9. Go easy on the hand lotion, this tends to give keyboards a greasy feeling and helps dissolve the letters
10. Keep liquids away – slide that coffee cup, water bottle etc a little further from your keyboard

Thanks – see ya next time

Ever wonder what to do with that old computer, monitor or other outdated, broken electronic equipment?

One of the best options is to recycle it. First, recycling keeps it out of the land fills and second, it can be used for making new electronics.

So the next logical question is where do I recycle such equipment? Take a look at the EPA’s site here, to find resources near you (a quick Google for “electronic recycling” will get you a good start too). If you are located in Connecticut, see The Computer Recycler located in Cromwell for drop off times. Oh and by the way, IT IS FREE!!

Solution Innovators is looking to host an eWaste Drive in the future but for now, please see the gang at The Computer Recycler click here for directions in Cromwell.

One last item to mention is the security of tossing old computers. The hard drives in computers store a lot of information about the people/business who used the computer. We offer a hard drive destruction service to gurantee your data is safely destroyed, complete with destruction certificate.

Thanks, see you next time and think green

So this a long over due post, work got busy and the blog got pushed to the back burners, something I’d rather not have to do again. Some of the latest breaking news in our industry is the new iPhone due out later this month. The iPhone 4 will feature a new operating system available to iPhone 3GS, and with limited features, 3G. Apple boasts of increased security among several other features. One of the “coolest” features is both a front and rear camera for use in their Facetime app, allowing video conferencing over WiFi. Check it out at Apple.com/iphone

To counter the iPhone, I’ve gotten my hands on some HTC phones running the Android operating system made by Google. Needless to say, I love my iPhone, but the Android OS was quite impressive.

Stay tuned for more posts, I plan to keep this a bit more updated!

See you next time,

Matt

Check it out at w3schools.com!

Check it out at Paint.NET

What is an operating system? The operating system is the Microsoft XP, Vista, 7 or Mac 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Pros and Cons

Some of the pro’s of Ubuntu are: it’s free, with patience and some learning you can do almost anything you can do in Windows. It also runs on low-end hardware, a good way to re-use a computer for the kids to play on.

On the other hand, it can be difficult to learn, it won’t run most business software (no .exe’s) and you’re pretty much on your own if it breaks.

Check it out, it’s something different. Here’s Ubuntu’s website.