Blogs like Consumerist and Crunchgear continue to question services they don’t think our clients need. Our recently launched $29.99 eReader set-up service, for example, is under attack because some believe that no one really needs help getting these devices up and running.
Here’s what I see: eReaders are one of the most popular gadgets of the year. Many people are perfectly content activating these devices themselves. That’s great. We love to see well designed devices that people are able to just pick up and use. We’re happy those people can walk out of Best Buy and start reading.
But we have a lot of other customers who want help so they can enjoy the content on their new devices as fast as possible, without having to update firmware. Still others come to us to make sure they’re getting all the functionality from their eReaders. That’s why our eReader set-up service includes things like helping clients connect their eReaders to their smartphones so they can get to the “who done it” faster by reading their favorite mystery novel across both devices.
Geek Squad operates with one mission and one mission only: to help people make the most of their technology by providing a broad array of services and support. Most of our offerings come straight out of consumer demand, such is the case with this eReader service, and we’re proud to deliver on their needs.
One of the more popular complaints about the home computer that we run across is “My computer is running slow. Why?” Today we are going to go over the top ten reasons your computer may be running like molasses.
Nothing is substitute for getting an expert to sit down and look at it for you, but perhaps this will bring into focus a few possible causes for your computer acting lethargically.
1) Too many programs running at the same time. Over the lifespan of a computer it is common for users to download programs, applications, and other data that is running in the background. The more things that run in the background, the less “attention span” your computer has to do other things you are asking it to do.
Try to avoid downloading too many web browser-helpers like internet-search bars, programs that claim to “speed up” your internet or your computer, or multiple anti-malware programs. One or two may be fine, but too many will result in slow performance. Uninstall programs that you do not use that you see icons for in the lower right-hand corner of your screen, down by the clock. Once this is trimmed up you may notice a speed improvement.
2) Not enough free RAM. “RAM” is what your computer uses for temporary working and thinking space. The more you have the merrier your computer can be! If you look back to reason 1 in this article and have determined you need all those programs running, perhaps your computer doesn’t have enough RAM to do so. The hard drive inside your computer may make a lot of noise, accompanied by slow operation, if you are out of RAM.
RAM is a piece of hardware that can be added to your machine. Four gigabytes or more is recommended in newer computers, but the rule of thumb is to add as much as is affordable for you.
3) Virus/Malware infection. Quite often virus or malware programs running in the background can divert your computer’s attention away from what you want it to do. Internet slowdowns and general slow operation of the entire computer can be one of the symptoms of an infection. You should have the computer scanned for a malware infection to determine if this is the cause.
4) Low hard drive space. This generally applies to older computers. Hard drives, which store all of your computer’s information, only have a finite amount of space. Once filled up the computer no longer has the ability to manipulate your files. The computer will slow down, eventually becoming unusable.
Generally windows will alert you to “low disk space” if this is the case. Moving some of your less-used files such as pictures, music, and movies to an external hard drive would be a viable solution to regaining hard drive space. You can usually install a bigger hard drive as well. Deleting temporary files and performing a disk cleanup are also good ways to reclaim wasted space.
5) Due for a restart. Computer has not been restarted in…um, I don’t know how long? Yes, every once in a while it is a good idea to restart your computer. Some updates cannot be completed until you restart. In addition, restarting your computer can free up some resources that could be getting hogged up by buggy programs.
6) Sharing a wireless network. “My internet is slow but the computer is running fast!” There are many possible reasons this can be happening. Should you have a wireless network check to see if anyone else on your wireless is streaming video, downloading music, or playing online games. You should also make sure your wireless network is secure so someone else isn’t stealing your internet bandwidth. Wireless network security should be at the top of your important things to check.
7) Too many bells and whistles. Sure, that animated pointer and super hi resolution image of your favorite supercar look nice, but unfortunately these can also slow your computer down. These animations and images must be loaded into memory every time you start your PC which leaves less memory for other more important tasks.
8 ) Scanning programs running. Check to make sure your antivirus program, anti-spyware program, or automatic backup program is not the reason for the slowdown. If it is, I suggest you wait it out. Usually this type of activity is a necessity. Manufacturers of these types of software try to make everyday operations unobtrusive to you. There are times, however, when an update must be done or scanning must take place. Your computer will be a little slow to respond to you when this is happening.
I also find it is not necessary to scan your entire computer every single day for viruses and spyware. Once per week should be fine. The same applies for data backups. A complete system backup doesn’t need to run every single day for the average home user.
9) Not meeting software requirements. Software usually has a list of requirements on the box. Things such as processor speed, operating system, memory (RAM), hard drive space, and minimum video card requirements are usually printed somewhere on the box. Please note that this says minimum “requirements.” These specifications are the absolute minimum to make the software run. Run it will, run well it may not. Try and meet or surpass the system “recommendations” of your software, not the bare “requirements.”
10) A “fragmented” hard drive. This is becoming less of an issue with newer computers, but if you have an older PC it is worth a mention. Perhaps your hard drive needs a “defrag.”
Imagine a jigsaw puzzle. Computers like to store pieces of a file together, like a completed puzzle. Over time, with normal use these pieces can get scattered all over the hard drive; Similar to when your puzzle first came out of the box. The computer has to look to find all the pieces before it can access the file. This is not a problem if only a few files are fragmented. Once multiplied over several thousand files, however, we have a cumulative slowdown of your computer. Defragmenting your hard drive organizes all these pieces and puts them back together again.
The World Cup has officially begun, and civilians around the world have caught the fever. If you're among them, you're probably disappointed that you aren't able to watch all the matches because of work. Geek Squad is here to help.
Below you’ll find a very handy excuse note. Use it to free up a day to take in the action on the pitch. Simply fill in the fields as directed and send to your boss. Enjoy.
Keep these 'socially safe" tips in mind the next time you're logged into your favorite social media site.
Social networking websites are one of the fastest growing website genres on the internet. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. Connect, chat, and let people know what you are doing with just a click of the mouse or punch of the cell phone button. This is “the thing” to do nowadays, the way we keep in touch. With this easy of communication comes the possibility of exploitation. Today we are going to talk about the possible safety hazards of letting your guard down when socially networking via the internet.
There are a couple of set-in-stone ground rules that everyone needs to know about social networking websites. Let me share with you the same information I tell most of my clients:
• Social networking websites themselves are generally safe; The content people put on them, however, may not be. It is the human element you need to worry about.
• Always remember that any content you post on the internet will be there forever, for anyone to read, store, and republish
• Just because the screen says your friend John has sent you information doesn’t mean John is actually the person who did
• If it doesn’t “seem right” it probably is not right
• Things free or too good to be true, are. Just like in the “real world.”
Now that we are armed with those rules, let us run through a few possible scenarios. For instance, you hop onto a popular networking site to update your status and you see you have a message from your friend. We are talking about someone you know but does not frequently message you. You open the message and there is a link to what is described as a ‘cool video’ or some super-duper product that you should “check out.” The link doesn’t work, or for whatever reason it doesn’t seem to work. Or perhaps it is such as stupid thing you are wondering why your friend was even wasting your time. “No biggie” you may think. A week later, however, you find that you are getting popup ads left and right and your computer is slowing down.
What happened? Well your friend probably had a virus or spyware infection that spreads itself via sending messages to everyone who his is ‘friend,’ telling them to click on the link. When the link is clicked the spyware is installed. (Please remember that antivirus and antispyware programs are not always 100% effective) The spyware has been watching what you are typing, trying to steal credit card numbers, or otherwise is up to no good. Bam, you’ve been socially hacked.
Another scenario popping up lately involves micro-blogging websites. One of the most popular is Twitter. (Micro-blogging is posting status updates or information in only one to two sentences). There are several excellent micro-blogger humans out there reporting everything from celebrity updates, news hot off the press, and even your latest television show character developments.
However, there are also those micro-blogging accounts where it seems that some “person” is following the status updates of 5,000 people yet only 10 or 20 people are following them. This seems odd…who has the time to follow 5,000 people yet is not popular enough to warrant anybody ‘following’ what they are doing? Yet this random person just ‘followed’ or ‘added’ you to the list of people they listen in on? Weird! So what in the world is going on?
Well, it is completely feasible that this person is waiting for you, and the 5,000 other people, to post something that could be personally identifying. Maybe you don’t post revealing information all at once. Perhaps without realizing it you do it over the course of months. Like pieces of a puzzle to be assembled into a greater picture at a later time. Maybe you uploaded a photo revealing your address or house number in the background of your family picnic? Did you post something with your name on it, or tied to your name like the picture of the new car you bought? Did you just update your status about the burger joint on the corner of Main St and how you are eating there?
Believe it or not just with that simple information above a person can cause you a big headache. For example: With that house number, nearby the burger joint address, the make/model of your car or license plate number in a picture (and personal information tied to this plate number), or anything else you posted, someone could do something as simple as fill out a credit card application in your name. With the free credit card application they stole out of your mailbox. Or perhaps they could use this information to impersonate you in other ways. Ick, who the heck needs that sort of trouble!
That whole scenario seems like a lot of trouble for someone to go through, but it really is not that hard. There are freely available programs on the internet that can scour social networking websites for certain keywords multiple times per hour. When they hit upon this keyword, the program marks that post for future review by human eyes. That person who was following you now has all the information they need from your three months of blogging posts to paint an excellent picture of you. They could possibly step into your shoes if they wanted to.
So what can you do to protect yourself? Remember the set-in-stone rules I mentioned above. What appears to be, may not be true. Ask your friend you do not speak to often if they really sent you a funny video about a cat climbing the Christmas Tree before you open the message and follow the link.
Do not post anything on the internet you wouldn’t want someone to see no matter how innocuous it seems to be. Personally identifying information such as license plate numbers, house numbers or other addresses, specific names, how you went to Johnny’s High school and still live in the same town…things like that. Remember that this information is stored somewhere, likely in multiple places, for almost all eternity. Information can be used like pieces in a puzzle to paint a bigger picture of you.
Do not accept “friend requests” from people you do not know. Do not allow people to “follow” you if you do not know who they are. If you are unsure as to the authenticity of the person on the other end, ask them a piece or two of personal information that only the true person would know. Watch your children and make sure when they are on these social sites that they adhere to your rules and guidelines.
Trust your gut feeling. When a scenario seems odd it could mean someone is up to no good. In addition, remember when you cannot see the person on the other end of the internet connection you have no proof they are who they say they are.
I truly hope this information helps steer you towards trouble-free social waters. The internet is certainly an awesome way to connect and stay in touch at the speed of light. We need not be afraid of the web, but we do need to respect the power it can have over us if used incorrectly.
Now I think I will go post on Twitter that I have finished writing this blog…
The 2009 blockbuster movie Avatar arrives in retail stores this week. While this version will not include the 3D features the film is known for, it does support the latest techniques in audio and video recording. That means some Blu-ray players may require a firmware update to play the disc.
Firmware, if you have not encountered the term before, generally refers to the programs and files used internally in many devices to control that device’s functions. Think of firmware as something similar to the operating system (such as Microsoft Windows) that a PC uses.
Some devices, such as game consoles, MP3 players and Blu-ray players were designed so that their firmware could be updated in order to resolve hardware issues or use new features added to content after the hardware’s manufacture.
There are a few different ways to update the firmware on most Blu-ray players. One method is to visit the manufacturer’s website for your particular model player and download the updated firmware via a home PC. From there, you will use that PC’s CD or DVD burner to write the firmware to a blank disc. Inserting that disc into the Blu-ray player allows the device to read in the new files and update itself appropriately.
If your Blu-ray player is setup to access the Internet, such as through your home’s wireless network, you can download the firmware update directly using the internal tools in the player’s setup menu. This method is the easier of the two, and in some cases, can be configured to automatically happen when new firmwares are released.
Making sure that your Blu-ray player has the latest firmware prior to Avatar’s release on April 22nd will help avoid any playback problems on the day of release. If you have a Blu-ray player that does not have the capability to connect to the Internet, you can bring the device into your local Best Buy. Geek Squad Agents can get your device up to date and ready to go with our in-store firmware update service.
If you have a network-capable player, but don’t have it hooked up to the Internet, we have on-site networking services to add that device to your existing home network, or setup a new one to allow your Blu-ray player and other devices to share access to all the Internet has to offer.
If you have questions, contact your local Geek Squad for answers.
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Friday, August 6, 2010