Me and My PC

Return from the almost dead

2009-11-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

I'm back!

I had a bit of a health scare way before Haloween and it wasn't at all fun or funny.

Windows 7 is out and I am busier than I can ever remember being, working 7 days a week from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed about 18 hours a day.

Windows 7 takes a VERY LONG TIME to install on an XP machine if you are saving your files and folders. See my web site for more information. Also, I will be producing an eBook to help you do the upgrade yourself, watch for it in the coming week.

Windows 7 Rollout

2009-10-09T08:43:00.001-07:00

Just 13 more days before the official public release of Windows 7, are you going to upgrade? Are you ready to upgrade? If you are running Windows XP you've got a lot of work to do in order to be ready for Windows 7. Over the next 13 days I'll be posting instructions on what you should be doing to get ready and I'll be posting step-by-step views to help you along for both XP and Vista users. Keep watching http://mvanert.com for these helpful hints.

2009-10-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 Advice

Get another view of the upcoming Windows 7 by reading a Tech Republic article by Debra Littlejohn Shinder titled "10 questions to consider when planning a Windows 7 upgrade". It's a great way to learn more about Windows 7 without having to spend 3 hours reading a techno blog that will leave you cross-eyed.

2009-10-02T06:51:00.001-07:00

Newsletter Released

The newest edition of my newsletter, 'The Byte-Line', is available by just clicking on the 'Newsletter' link at the top of my web site, http://mvanert.com, for this month's thoughts and reviews on all things computer.

2009-09-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

October Newsletter

Look for the new issue of 'The Byte-Line' tomorrow. If you haven't subscribed yet you can do so my going to my web site http://mvanert.com .

2009-09-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

New eBook
I wrote an eBook a couple of years ago but never did anything with it. It is all about keeping your computer and, hence, your data (read photos) safe. It has two sections, 1. The programs I use to avoid viruses, malware and trojans in the first place and 2. How to recover from a really bad infestation, saving your files and restoring your computer. These books will be available on my web site for just $12 each. They should be ready for Monday, watch for it.

Tip -

2009-09-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

If you're like me there are times, too many for me, when the print size on a web site is too damn small. Oh, the joys of uh-hmmm, middle age. What to do? Well, with both Internet Explorer and Firefox there is a quick and easy way to increase the font size, just hold down the key marked 'Ctrl' (bottom of your keyboard) and press the '+' key (top right of your keyboard) and you'll see the font size increase 25% every time you press the '+' key without increasing the image sizes. Very handy.

My Favorite Win 7 'thing'

2009-09-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

I've been using Win 7 for about, oh, 9 months I guess and the 'thing' I like most is the Snip Tool. In the past there have been so many times when I wanted to grab just a part of the screen and I've had to do a full screen capture, paste it into a graphics program and then cut out the part I wanted and save it. About six steps more than now using the Snip Tool. It's great.

What's your favorite part of Win 7?

What to do?

2009-09-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to do.

I like to put videos together but hate having to wait while they are trans-coded. With my current machine(s) it takes awhile even for a small file.

So, what I want to do is to upgrade one of my two machines with a faster cpu and video card.

Machine 1 - I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.4 GHz cpu, 3 GB of PC2-5300 RAM memory, nVidia GeForce 9400 GT video card and a ASUS P5B motherboard. I'm running Win 7 Ultra (RTM), Adobe Premiere Elements and PhotoShop Elements 7.0 among other programs. I have a number of hard drives installed, all SATA. For normal operation I don't wait on the computer, I click, it goes, no worries.

Machine 2 - AMD Athlon 7750 Black Edition (not o/c ed), Foxconn MCP61M01 motherboard, 3 GB PC2-6400 RAM memory, and a ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series video card. Again, I'm running Win 7 Ultimate and the two Adobe products, Office 2007 etc. Just like the Intel machine, I don't wait for it to perform normal operations, I click, it goes.

My condundrum is do I upgrade? If so, which machine? Go all out with an Intel i7 cpu, new motherboard and DDR3 RAM and a workstation class video card? Or do I go part way by keeping my existing A2+ motherboard and get a (much) less expensive AMD Phenom II Quad 920 or 940 CPU and stick with my DDR2 RAM and get a better workstation video card? What to do, what to do.

Any ideas out there?