Backup your goods before it’s too late

Ever wonder where you’d be without a backup. Probably not, unless it’s already happened to you. But for those of you that would backup if you could, you can. Enter SyncBack, a free tool that lets you backup your stuff to any other place. We recommend picking up a flash drive (the biggest one they sell) or an external hard drive (even better). If you’re not sure what we mean, just leave a comment at the end of this post.

SyncBack can either synchronize the files in 2 folders, like the My Documents folder on your computer with a My Documents folder on your flash drive, or it can perform a straight copy from one folder to the other. Even schedule it to run automatically. Check it out. You’ll thank us.

Download SyncBack from Download.com

Geiger Computers

What do you think about Vista? Should I upgrade?

If you’re buying a new computer you don’t have much choice. Every major computer manufacturer is shipping their computers with Vista already installed. And if you’d like them to switch it to XP, they’ll tack on another cost to install it for you. So stick it out, you’ll be fine. Eventually.

But anything Microsoft puts on the shelf for us to gobble up won’t be ready for at least 6 months after they say it is. Something important to know is that Microsoft doesn’t make anything inside your computer. In most cases, each part of your computer is made by a different company. Microsoft hopes that all these different companies are ready for Vista like Microsoft is. If they’re not, you have a problem. Not them, you.

On the other hand, the problems people are facing today with Vista will be gone in time. Windows updates are being sent out constantly to all the hungry Vista chics, throwing fixes and patches at all the issues people are experiencing. And one by one, every hiccup will be calmed. Besides, there’s no avoiding Vista altogether. Even we’ll be running it sooner or later.

But if you can wait, then we suggest you do. In our opinion, Windows XP is a great operating system. And that’s because it’s been around long enough to handle anything we throw at it. If you don’t have problems with your computer, consider yourself lucky! Try to hang on to that state as long as you can!

Geiger Computers

What is SAFE MODE and how do I find it?

We get this one a lot. Your computer comes with a certain way to start called Safe Mode. This is a stripped down version of your computer with no frills. No fancy wallpaper or settings, no startup programs, nothing runs unless you say so. For this reason it’s a great way to find out what’s wrong with your computer, and in most cases help you get rid of spyware.

To start your computer in Safe Mode, turn off your computer and perform these steps in this order:

1. press the power button
2. start tapping the F8 key on your keyboard while your computer is starting
(you’ll find it along the top row of your keyboard)
3. Stop tapping F8 when you see this screen:

4. now use the arrow keys on the keyboard to get to Safe Mode, or my personal choice, Safe Mode with Networking. This will start the computer in Safe Mode.

If you’re trying to get rid of spyware and adware, try running a scan in safe mode first. It just might do the trick.

Geiger Computers

How much memory does my computer have?

It’s a good idea to know how much memory is in your computer, and what those numbers mean. For example, is 512 MB a lot or a little? Let’s find out:

First, right-click on your My Computer icon (either on your desktop or in your START menu). This will open a menu, and at the bottom, click Properties.

This will open the System Properties window. Under the General tab you will see a section called Computer: This shows you what kind of processor or CPU you have (mine says Pentium 4) the processor speed (mine is 2.66 GHz) and the amount of memory (mine is 992 MB).

Since this question is about memory, lets look at that for now. A computer running Windows XP is going to need at least 512 MB to run smoothly and respond quickly when you tell it to do something (like open your email). Doubling the amount of memory in your computer makes a big difference in response time. So if you think you’re computer is running too slowly, adding memory might be the solution.

A computer running Windows Vista will need at least 1000 MB (or one gig) of memory to be highly responsive. I’ve found that whatever Microsoft states as their required amount of system resources needed to run their software, I have to double that.

And that’s it. Feel free to add a comment to this post if you need any more information.

Geiger Computers