Win7 RC Pre-Expiration
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Feb 4, 2010
Beginning March 1, the Windows 7 Release Candidate will start to shut down every two hours in preparation for the product’s expiration on June 1, 2010. What this means is that you will need to backup and migrate your data to a RTM (released to manufacturing) version of Windows 7 or your system’s previous operating system.
The Windows Team blog has a post where you can find more information on this topic.
Win7 Business PC
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Jan 22, 2010
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PCS Windows 7 mR Business Workstation Intel G41RQ Motherboard Intel Dual Core E5300 CPU Kingston 2GB DDR2 RAM (2 x 1GB) Black Mid-Tower Case w/ 350 Watt PS Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD 36 in 1 USB Internal Card Reader Sony OptiArc 24X SATA DVDRW Drive w/ Software Integrated Sound/Video/LAN Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) Logitech PS2 Keyboard and Mouse $649* *Sales Tax, Shipping and Delivery/Installation not included in price |
Win7 Entry-Level PC
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Jan 21, 2010
Win7 High-End PC
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Jan 21, 2010
MS Office 2010 Pricing
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Jan 7, 2010
Microsoft revealed pricing on its various Office 2010 retail lines this week. So, without further ado..
The Product Key Card will only be available for purchase via OEMs and electronic retail outlets. The Product Key Card is a single-license card with a key that lets users unlock Office 2010 software preloaded by the PC manufacturer. Please note that this option does not come with media (IE: a DVD install disc), which accounts for the lower price tag.
MobileMe Outages
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Nov 10, 2009
Today multiple customers reported issues with Apple’s MobileMe service in that they could either not get their emails or emails happened to get “stuck” in their accounts and never juggled properly to their mobile devices.
PCS confirmed that there was indeed a problem with the service as reported on the MobileMe web site.
If you own an iPhone or Macintosh system and experience issues with MobileMe from time to time, we invite you to check MobileMe’s status page at..
http://www.apple.com/support/mobileme/
..before making any changes to your personal configurations. If problems persist, feel free to contact us for assistance.
Display Cleaning
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 18, 2009
A long-time customer and friend asked PCS for advice on the best way to clean his computer displays:
..what should I use to clean monitor screens? Is Windex OK? How about on my laptop, which is covered with fingerprints?
Our first response is to NEVER USE Windex to clean LCD displays. Windex contains a substantial amount of ammonia, which over time will damage the protective coating that lies on top of most LCD displays.
Another reason not to use Windex for display cleaning is that a lot of people like to go hog-wild with it, allowing it to collect on the display and “drip down” before wiping. If the Windex happens to reach the bottom of the display, enough could collect and damage the LCD’s electronics, causing distortion and pixel-loss.
Another “do NOT do” is to not use paper towels to clean a display. Paper towels contain a lot of fibers and particles that could scratch a display, especially those displays with anti-glare surfaces.
So what is the best way to clean a display?
- Grab a microfiber cloth and gently wipe your screen to free it of dust, fingerprints and any other smudges.
- If cleaning solution is required, sometimes wetting one side of the microfiber cloth with water and gently wiping the screen will provide enough moisture and allow you to clean the screen with the dry side of the cloth. If your display is really “gunky”, you can make your own cleaning solution using a half-and-half mix of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol and distilled water.
If you have any questions, feel free to post comments on this post by registering on our site.
Smelly Phish
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 14, 2009
This week e-mail users have been getting bombarded with messages that read like the following:
Dear user of the phoenix-now.com mailing service!
We are informing you that because of the security upgrade of the mailing service your mailbox (your@emailaddress.com) settings were changed. In order to apply the new set of settings click on the following link:
The above is a phishing attack, meant to get you to divulge private information to someone that definitely does not have your best interests at heart.
If you receive something like this and are unsure whether it is valid, please contact us, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or the mail service provider you use.
Will My PC Run Win7?
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 12, 2009
The questions of “should I or shouldn’t I?” related to a Windows 7 upgrade on existing hardware have already begun, and hopefully we at PCS are doing a good job of providing appropriate answers. Since computer companies and PC resellers are expecting their copies of Win7 this week and the official retail roll-out happens October 22nd, we figured it would be a good idea to provide a simple outline as to what types of systems can and cannot be upgraded to Windows 7.
Please use the following points below to help you determine your upgrade path to Windows 7. If you have any questions about what is touched on, please feel free to post your comments and questions or drop us a line here.
If your PC is already running Windows Vista…
You should be able to upgrade your system to Windows 7. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you that all systems that currently run Vista can run Windows 7 due to one of the reasons that Vista got a bad name in the first place: low-end hardware.
When Vista was first released by OEMs and put “out there” for consumption, system manufacturers would put Windows Vista Basic on hardware that barely ran the fledgling OS. If you have one of these systems, you may want to consider either a memory upgrade to at least 2GB or a total system replacement. Windows 7 is a great OS, but it’s no miracle-worker and will only run as well as the hardware that it’s on.
If you purchased your PC in the last two years..
Windows 7 is right up your alley. You should have the CPU and the memory necessary to run new new OS efficiently and effectively.
If your PC is more than three years old..
A hardware audit to know for sure if your system is “up to snuff” is in your future, with the primary focus being on (a) processing power and (b) RAM memory available. Keep in mind that the minimum requirements for running Windows 7 are:
- 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
If your PC came with WindowsXP and it’s more than five years old..
Forget it - it’s time for a complete system upgrade. You’ve gotten a LOT of use out of your old system and you should feel good about that, but the truth is that you’re rockin’ an 8 year old operating system and its days are numbered. Sooner rather than later, Microsoft will discontinue support for XP (Windows 2000 is already on the chopping block) and we’d rather see you upgrade because you want to, instead of upgrading because you have to.
Gunned Down
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 12, 2009
Over the weekend, my oldest son and I attended the Machine Gun Shoot at the Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Kentucky.
During the exhibition (and when the firing line was not active), visitors were allowed to go onto the range and witness the result of the firepower unleashed on appliances, old cars, refrigerators, and in this case, a PC that someone was obviously fed up with:
