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Welcome to High Tech House Calls
Greetings!
We are Experts in Integrating Apple and Windows Based Systems!
Got bugs and spyware on your mind?
Is your system down?
Work behind?
Did your child download a virus... or worse?
Do your network problems make you feel cursed?
Call High Tech House Calls at 404.229.0839 to schedule an appointment.
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Small Business IT Support
Do you want to save money on your IT costs? High Tech House Calls can design a solution to support your 1 - 5 person business.
- We have been doing this for 8 years.
- We are a small business and focus only on other small businesses. If a solution works in our business, it probably will work in yours.We are probably using and supporting business solutions inhouse than you need support for.
- We are risk averse. We do not believe in cutting edge solutions. We implement and support well established business software solutions.
- We are well rounded. Over 30 years of experience means we have learned a thing or two. We support both Windows and Apple based systems. We also support all the major Smartphones (iPhone, Blackberry, Palm).
Call High Tech House Calls today to see if we can save you money at 404.229.0839 or email us at carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com
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Skype: Keep in Touch With Your
Away-at-College Children  Skype is a computer application which runs on both WinTel and Apple computers and allows you to call or video conference using the Internet
for free or a very low price. Many parents use Skype to keep in touch with their away-at-college children via video conferencing. What do you need to use Skype? - Each Skype user must have the Skype software loaded on his computer. www.skype.com
- You must have created a Skype account to use Skype.
- Each Skype user needs a WinTel or Apple computer that is connected to the Internet.
- If
the computer has a built in microphone, this can be used for the voice
part of your Skype conversation. No built in microphone? Headsets that
have a mic and an ear piece will easily plug into a USB port on your
computer. If you are not interested in using the video portion of
Skype, these are all the requirements for a Skype voice-only
connection.
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Many laptops and monitors have
built-in web cams. These may work with Skype. Only testing with Skype
will tell. If your existing web cam does not work, review the list of
approved web cams on the Skype website before buying a new one.
Installing a web cam is no more complicated than plugging it into a USB
port and loading some software. A web cam can be shared among many
computers by just plugging into another compute'rs' USB port.
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When Your Computer Needs Retirement 
Here are some points to consider when evaluating the "fix" versus "buy new" question.
Average Life of Computers:
The life of a laptop computer is three years.
The
life of a desktop computer is five years. A desktop computer has a
longer life because they are stationary and their components are not
crammed into a small case.
What components fail on laptops?
- Battery. Average life is two years. Batteries are easy to replace, but have a high cost ($100-$160).
- Power adapter. Universal power adapters are ~$100. Buying one from the computer vendor can cost much more.
- Hard
drive. Three years. Lets hope your pictures of baby's first step are backed up
before this happens. A failing hard drive may not give any indication
of problems before it fails totally. Watch for missing or corrupt files
or your system running slow. A new hard drive is $100 and up depending
on its capacity. Re-loading the system software and applications can be
very expensive if you cannot find your installation disks and have to
re-buy software you already own. On a WinTel computer, usually one
screw will remove the drive. On a Apple laptop, you might have to take
the entire case apart.
- Keyboard. $100 for the part. On
a WinTel computer, this is pretty easy to fix. On an Apple Computer there may be as
much as 45 screws of different sizes and 1 1/2 hours of work.
- Broken screen. This part can be very pricey and usually makes the repair of the laptop uneconomical.
Many of these repairs will greatly extend the life of your older laptop, Remember an entry level Dell laptop starts at $550 and an Apple entry level laptop at $1000 when comparing the cost of repairing the computer versus buying a new computer.
- Power
supply. $40 - $100 depending on capacity. This is easy to replace, but hard to find
a matching replacement for the existing power supply. The new power
supply must be of the same size and the same or more capacity. This
part can be easily damaged due to an electrical storm.
- Cooling
fan. $40. Your computer may have more than one. One fan is part of the
power supply. This is a relatively easy repair. If you computer shuts
down for no apparent reason, it may be overheating due to a cooling fan
failure. Placing your hand where the fans are located on the case should
detect air being circulated
- Sound card. This is easy to
replace if you are comfortable putting your hands inside of the
desktop. ($20 and up for the replacement card.)
- Video
card. $100 and up. The most complex thing about this replacement is
determining what to replace the broken card with. There are current 2-3
"standards" for the interface for a video card. You must purchase a
video card that conforms to the interface standard of your computer.
Its easy to replace if you are comfortable putting your hands inside of the
desktop.
- USB ports. $20. It seems every new computer
component requires an usb port. You can never have enough. This is a
pretty easy replacement as long as you have a place to plug the new
card into.
- NIC (Network Interface Card. Connects
your computer via a cable to the Internet.) $20. This is easy to replace if you
are comfortable putting your hands inside of the desktop. A replacement
that uses an usb port can be used instead of a internal card. The usb
replacement will be more expensive and take up a valuable usb port.
- Keyboard.
$10 and up. As easy to replace as unplugging the usb connection to your
computer and plugging the new keyboard in to the usb port. Depending on
the keyboard features, a CD with software may need to be installed. A cheap keyboard should be replaced with a keyboard that is more to your
liking. Go to a geek superstore such as Micro Center (www.microcenter.com) so that you can touch-test prospective keyboards.
- Monitor.
$200 and up depending on size and quality. The monitor plugs into the video
card on the back of your desktop. An easy to obtain adapter may be
required if the plug for your monitor is different than the plug on
your video card.
- Hard drive. $100 and up depending on
size, speed and interface type. Physically replacing the hard drive is
relatively easy . The hard part is reloading your system and restoring
your pictures, photos, emails, etc. If you cannot find the software
that came with your computer, you will need to re-purchase it in order
to reload your computer. Software costs can easily run to $400. A new
entry level Dell desktop starts at $400.
- Mouse. $10 and up. A cheap mice should be replaced with a mouse that is more to your
liking. Go to a geek superstore such as Micro Center (www.microcenter.com) so that you can touch prospective mice. Installation is as easy as unplugging the old mouse from the sub port and plugging the new one in.
Many of these repairs will greatly extend the life of your older desktop, Remember an entry level Dell Desktop starts at $400 before you add a monitor when comparing the cost of repairing the computer versus buying a new computer. |
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Have a Charity That is Near and Dear to Your Heart?
We cannot write you a check, but we can 
donate our services. If you
have a charitable event that involves a silent auction, we would like
to donate a certificate for our services. We will also highlight your
charitable event on our website with a description of the event and a
link to your event website. Please contact us for more details.
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Computer Running Slow, Part III
You probably understand what a computer virus is.
What is malware or spyware?
In
the context of your computer running slowly, they can be considered the
same. Remember the free ("fill in the blank") that you downloaded? As
part of the agreement that you electronically signed, software that
tracks what websites you visit was also installed. Besides this data
collection being an invasion of privacy, the software is taking
resources away from the applications which you want to run.
Another performance side effect is that the software can be written
badly so that it causes your computer to "freeze" or "crash".
What should you do if you think you have been "infected"?
If you are running only the Apple Mac OS, do not bother reading the rest of this article.
So far, the Apple platform has not been infected with a major virus.
You do not need to
install an anti virus solution on your computer. The same
recommendation stands for a malware/spyware detection and removal tool.
Let 's all hope these recommendations still hold for the future.
No
matter what product you use for a Windows platform, the three most
important rules regarding its use are:
1) making sure the virus definitions are
up to date, 2) the subscription is not expired and 3) the weekly virus scan
did occur.
Running a virus definition update once a week ensures you are scanning for the most currently know viruses.
Make sure you have installed a "current"
anti virus software product and a malware/spyware detection and removal
tool. Current means that if the product required a payment from you,
that the license has not expired. Expired products usually result in
pop up windows informing you to renew your virus definition
subscription.
Once a week or on an as needed basis, you
should be running anti virus scans and a malware/spyware detection
scan. Check the log of the product you selected to make sure the scan
occurred.
Most anti virus software products will
remove or "quarantine" viruses that are discovered during a scan.
Most
malware/spyware detection and removal tools require you to validate the
results of the scan before the tool will remove the malware/spyware.
Do not install more than one anti virus software product. Each product will see the other product as a virus attack. Your computer will be brought to a standstill.
Please
refer to the software vendor's manual or website for specifics on
running their products. If you still have questions, email High Tech
House Calls at carlthorne@hthcatlanta.com. We would be happy to help explain things.
If
you are more comfortable with a purchased solution, we recommend
Symantec Norton Anti Virus or Kaspersky Anti Virus. We recommend buying
a copy from the store and not from the online site. This ensure that
you have a CD that you can use to re-install the software if the need
arises.
Recommendations for Malware/Spyware Detection and Removal Tools:
SpyBot Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html) |
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