| Are we Biased? |
You will see a lot of references to Linux at our site, as it is the future of PC's (sorry Microsoft!), but we realize that it is not for everyone. All systems are available with MS Windows, or Linux.
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| Welcome to PCstability! |
Specializing in Computers and Networks for the home and small business
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• PC Upgrades, Trouble-shooting, Service and Repair
• Android Upgrades, Trouble-shooting, Service and Repair
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• Local Area Network Installation, Wireless Configuration
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• Turn-key sites, or we can help with your existing site
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We provide solutions for all of your computer needs
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| Editorial |
| 2011-09-06 - Is the PC era over? | | Posted by admin. | 
Is the PC era over?
Yes, and... No!
There are a lot of articles lately proclaiming that the PC is dead. Smartphones and tablets (or "pads") are here and you no longer need a PC.
If everybody already owns a working modern PC, then this might be a true statement, at least concerning new purchases.
Everybody buys a PC with the intention of doing those things that they show on the commercials:
• Scanning all your old family photos into the PC and making a DVD with a slideshow and music track, then burning copies and giving them to all your family members.
•Make a spreadsheet for the family budget that covers everything and keep it up to date.
•Play all old home movies into a video capture setup and edit them all into one DVD with a narration audio track.
•Start a home business with the PC, and eventually make an infomercial, retire at 45!
•Buy a digital piano, Steinberg Cubase, and write the songs that make the whole world sing...
Well, there's no doubt that a computer can do all of those things, and we all have the best intentions, but the reality is, all of those things are HARD! It takes time, knowhow, perseverance, and, ultimately, just maintaining your interest in these projects is difficult. In the end most people shelve these ideas and surf on over to Youtube to watch cats play the piano.
So we end up doing the daily doable stuff like opening an invoice template, changing the date, customer name and dollar amount, and printing that. I do that pretty much every day, and I always will. I will likely do it from a PC, too, even though I could do from a tablet or smartphone (as long as I could actually print it).
What we ALL do, though, is internet, email, and all the various aspects of that; Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Skype, shopping... Tablets and smartphones can do all that very well. I think this will come full circle for each person in their own time. You get an iPad for $500 (instead of a new PC), and you use it for everything you used to do on the PC. Everything is gravy for a while until you need to type something REALLY long, or you need to make a serious spreadsheet, or edit some photos beyond what the tablet photo apps can do, and suddenly you realise you DO need a PC. Maybe you miss your 23 inch monitor, or the full-size keyboard that you came to take for granted... So you'll buy another PC, we all will, but will it be 5GHz, or 6? No, but it will have 8 cores! (sigh). The shine is off the diamond, folks, PC's are no longer flashy but the are necessary.
The "space-race" part of the PC industry is pretty much over now, we hit 3GHz 8 or 9 years ago, and now $350 3.5GHz machines are commodity. Hp is getting out of the PC business and they are the Number One Seller! Dell will become the top dog again, but for how long? What is the future for retail PC sales? Down, that's the future. Mobile devices and giant TV's are all the rage now, and that will drive electronics for the next few years.
Yes, your Windows load may get a fatal virus, but don't buy another PC for $350-500 (or more), typically we can reload windows for $90. If you have a normal amount of data, add maybe another $30 for data backup (some customers have 50-500GB and that will run at least ANOTHER $30). If the hardware can be replaced or significantly upgraded for $150-200, thats worth doing, but if you need a new PC, you might just consider a new tablet or killer smartphone...
You'll still need a PC!
| | 2010-02-15 - Having problems with 1tb - 1.5tb - 2tb hard drives? | | Posted by admin. |
Having problems with 1TB - 1.5TB - 2TB hard drives?
We can help...
Aside from the larger capacities, these new generation hard drives can be very different, physically, than older drives. If you are having slow read speeds, and VERY slow write speeds, or the drives are not partitioning or formatting, we can do this for you.
Even experienced shade-tree do-it-yourself types that have built their own machines for years have been hitting a wall with some of these drives. We feel your pain...
Windows Vista and Windows 7 should be able to handle these drives correctly (as long as you create a single partition), however, Microsoft's workaround is less than elegant.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP are the real problem for most users. Neither of these can properly partition some of the new drives. If you install either of them, and Windows boots and runs, although with poor disk performance, we may be able to fix your installation, but re-installing may be needed anyway, especially if you created more than one partition during installation.
IntelMac machines using EFI should have no issue, but this remains to be seen.
Linux is mostly immune as well, but some old-school distributions such as Slackware or Gentoo may get you in trouble, as many of these users will manually partition the drive using (UNIX) fdisk. You must use the "--align optimal" option with Gparted to correctly assign the starting sector. If you use modern mainstream distros as SuSE, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS or Fedora, you should be OK.
The biggest area of potential problems is multiple partitions. We do this frequently with machines dual-booting Windows and Linux. The starting sector of each partition must be divisible by 4096.
Disk cloning utilities like Acronis or Ghost will definately cause problems, unless you take technical measures.
Again, we can help!
| 2009-10-25 - Windows 7 Still Needs Antivirus! | | Posted by admin. |
Windows 7 Still Needs Antivirus!
A recent study by antivirus firm Sophos demonstrates that Microsoft's UAC is no barrier to the typical attack on the newest member of the Windows family. 80 percent of viruses still plague the newest iteration of UAC. Dont get rid of that antivirus yet... Read more here.
These days, I'm advising Avast antivirus. I no longer recommend AVG, unless you have a very fast machine. AVG has become a system hog, like Norton, and it routinely cannot find, or remove, new threats. Frankly, AVG has been deteriorating since Intel bought it.
Sorry AVG.
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| 2009-10-22 - Windows 7 now available, is it for you? | | Posted by admin. |
Windows 7 now available
Those of you that have had conversations with me know where I stand on Microsoft. I am no advocate of software, especially Operating Systems, that come with a price tag. Linux is free, and it raises the question, Why pay for ANY Operating System?. If you are a Windows user, you don't have a (legal) choice. Among all the Windows versions, 7 is the new kid on the block. It's actually Vista Second Edition. For those of you that ended up with Vista, I advise that you upgrade to 7, no question. 7 is what Vista should have been... If you still have XP, and you don't want (or need) to upgrade your hardware, specifically RAM, then by all means, stick with XP. For now, at least. The time will come when some application or gadget will force the issue, and require that you install Vista or 7. There are many users that would still be happy with Windows 2000, but gadgets like the iPod/iPhone require Digital Rights Management, forcing them to get XP or Vista. That will be case before long, some software or device that you want will eventually need the underpinnings of Vista/7, making XP the obsolete platform.
Speaking from a perspective of Microsoft Windows only (ignoring Mac and Linux) I actually like Windows 7. I know that most of you will be shocked that I would say that. As always, I have to acknowledge that many computer users will never want anything that isn't Microsoft Windows, and I actually have no problem with that. I just want everyone to know that there IS something else.
Windows 7 is actually pretty good...
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