Save Money And You Will NEVER Buy A New Battery Again

I came across this site on battery reconditioning and I thought I would pass it along. I kept thinking about all the components associated with desktops and laptops these days and reconditioning a battery could come in very useful. As the title says, you will save money.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Is Microsoft Security Essentials a worthwhile antivirus program to keep those nasty viruses out of your computer. I would have to say it has come along way since it was placed in windows vista. Yes for being a free antivirus software it does a pretty good job. The problem is it will not protect you from every virus that rears its ugly head these days. The unfortunate problem is no antivirus program will keep you safe and free of computer infections.
 If any place of business says their virus protection is 100% or that you will never get a pc virus, they are spreading false information. The only way to say 100% that you will never get a computer virus is to unplug your computer, put it in the attic and never use it again. I always hear customers say oh I don't go on the internet, so I can't get infected. So how did your computer become infected ? Oh wait you bring home data from work on a usb flash drive or external hard drive and copy it to your computer to work on. Well then most likely your work computer is infected and you passed it on to yours when you copied that data to work on at home.
 So the question is should I use free Microsoft Security Essentials or better known in windows 10 as windows defender. I would better advise you to go with a paid antivirus like Kaspersky, Mcafee, Webroot or Norton Antivirus. The free antivirus programs do not have the full protection and technical support that you as a consumer computer user need. Honestly you best course of action is to have a back up plan in action in case disaster strikes.
 Okay so what is the best back up plan ? I usually advise all my customers to take one of a couple paths. I would either use carbonite, their middle package and back up to the cloud. If you prefer to have the control of the back up, I would use an external 2tb hard drive and the back up program in the control panel in windows 10. I would also create some folders on the 2tb external hard drive and copy data, such as pictures, documents, music and whatever else you want to save. Remember the back up programs in windows 7 and 10 are only meant to be used on the computer they are running in. In windows 8 and 8.1, you can only perform a manual back up and use file history. I have seen various technicians try to run the back up and restore it to a different computer only to fail at some point in time.
 Yes some individuals think that windows 10 can just be cloned to a new hard drive or the drive installed into a completely different computer and it will work.  Yes it will most likely see the different hardware and set it up. The problem comes in with the changes in the registry as well as the system. Chances are it will fail at some point and then you have an unhappy customer and that's bad business. So the best course of action is to save all the data and go with a completely fresh install of windows 10 on the new system.
   

Microsoft Says I Am Infected

 I was on the internet and went to a website to read an article. All of the sudden this message comes up supposedly from Microsoft saying I am infected and I should call this number. DO NOT CALL THEM IT IS A SCAM. I have had quite a few customers that called them and wanted them to pay a certain fee for protection and to clean their system. This is simply not true as Microsoft does not call people.
 Okay so what should you do if this happens ? Well first don't call them. Next do not click anything to close out there garbage. If you do it may trigger their infection and it can do all kinds of damage to your software. I had one customer where they changed the user name and put a fake start up password. There is no way to remove this from your system. The only choice is to save your data, reformat your hard drive and reinstall all your software, then move the data back in place. It can be very costly if done by a certified computer service center.
 So basically hold the power button in for 10 to 20 seconds and the computer should shut off. If you are going to check your system I would use some programs like, rogue killer, Free Malwarebytes, Junkware Removal Tool, ADW Cleaner and Combox on windows 7 or 8. The best way is to enter the Safemode With Networking. Run each and reboot when necessary. Once back in the normal mode check programs and features in the control panel to look for anything that was installed at about the date this happened.
 If the virus installed the start password, then your only choice is to save any data, reformat and reinstall windows. Then reinstall all your software programs as well as printers. Just remember to save your data first. You can save your data to an external hard drive using something like hirens repair disk with programs on it like unstoppable copier.

            

The Best Computer ?

 Many customers ask on a daily basis what is the best computer. Well there are many brands to choose from and they all have pluses and minuses. I constantly hear other technicians complain that Dell Computers are junk. Well I have used Dell Computers for years and I never had a problem with any of them. The problem is that the technicians making these observations fail to realize that there are millions of dell computers out there and they only see a very small percentage of them. Plus they are a small company and put out a tiny amount compared to dell. They need to see that they have quite a few failures and in a small company, that's bad.
 I have been looking at some other brands of desktops and laptops lately. In fact Acer and Hewlett Packard are putting out some nice computers as of late. My advise is if you can buy an extended warranty on any computer for a reasonable amount, do it. I have seen desktops and laptops fail just outside of warranty. If it's a motherboard gone bad, it can be a very costly repair from a computer service center. I have found that most repairs are not too severe and could be repaired by the customer.
 The best thing that any customer should do is make a back up of their system. I mean make a system image and back up the documents etc....  This can be accomplished by using the back up program in the control panel of windows 7 and windows 10. Just remember that this back up is only for the computer it has been run on. I would suggest saving data like pictures and documents to a usb flash drive manually on a daily basis. There are other methods of backing up to the cloud using carbonite. Just remember the basic choice only backs up data, the middle choice and business make a system image as well as the data.
 So as for brands for the best computer, I would look at Dell, Acer, Asus, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Sony. Toshiba's are okay, but seem to be lower end sometimes. There are also off brands that work as a basic computer, but are terrible at getting repaired under warranty. Just remember that any computer can fail at any time. It's just the unfortunate part of Electronic Components. I would always suggest checking out the reviews and ratings of the desktops, tablets and laptops you are looking at. The more the number of reviews, the better the information. You can then make an educated choice in buying a computer.
 Okay the last point on whether to have a computer built locally or buy from somewhere like Amazon. Yes there are plenty off excellent choices of dell computers at Amazon. Locally is nice, because the technical support is right there and you don't have to talk with someone on the phone. Now I have seen some companies that don't want to give a lot of support and want you to pay a good buck for it. I have also seen places of business use underhanded ways to get things repaired. For example getting a used piece of equipment off of say Ebay to replace a part. They also switch serial numbers to make you think it's the same computer, because the model is the same. I have also seen them use used parts from recycled computers in their repairs and new computer builds.
 My advise is to check out all the reviews on any company, before you buy something from them. So what is it like dealing with a manufacturer like Dell. Well you can end up playing phone tag with support. The best thing is to make sure you know what you are trying to get the person on the other end of the phone to realize. In other words thoroughly explain what is wrong with your computer. It will make it much easier for you and the technical support person. Also be prepared, because you may have to send it in for repair. That's why it's a good idea to have a back up computer in case yours has to sent out for repair. I have seen this happen and it's know fun for the customer.
 So do plenty of information shopping and get all the reviews, then make an educated choice.
 

Computer Repair Made Easy

 Is it easy to repair your own computer ? The simple answer is yes and no. Confusing isn't it. It all comes down to what kind of computer you have and what it's doing. In other words if it is acting slow, not going to where you tell it or locks up, you just may have a virus. Those are usually the tell tale signs that an infection has gotten into your computer.
 It is possible that a component in your computer may be failing. The most common is the defective failing hard drive. If you want to test your hard drive I would suggest downloading Hirens and burning the iso file to a cd disk. You can then boot off it and run the western digital software to test it or you can run the check disk program with the repair choice. If you have errors it's time to replace the hard drive. You may be able to clone it with programs like acronis or partition magic.
 If you can boot the system, I would recommend downloading rogue killer, free malwarebytes, junkware removal tool and adware cleaner. These all should be run from the safe mode with networking. Once they have all been run go through the programs list in the control panel. Look for anything that was recently installed and then uninstall it. Keep an eye on how the computer runs. If it's still having problems then save your data and reinstall windows fresh. Next you can reinstall your programs and move your data back in place.
 If you have a laptop computer or tablet, this is a whole different story as far as replacing components goes. With laptops you have many plastic parts and lots of little screws. Some manufacturers make accessing your hard drive or memory easy with a trap door on the bottom of the laptop. Now there are others where you have to disassemble the laptop to get at these parts. Replacing some lcd displays can be very difficult and they can easily be damaged. If you ever try to replace a lcd make sure to look for videos on youtube. There are plenty of excellent videos on a variety of computer related repairs.
 If you not at all comfortable with repairing your own computer, don't do it. Take it to a computer repair service center and let a professional do it. If you get good at working on your computer why not start your own computer repair service.

             

Dell

Boy this word dell often makes most computer technicians shake. They tend to see so many in for repair that they write them off as one of the worst computers out there. Yes there were problems with the dv series and failing motherboards. Besides that they are right up there with all the other brands of laptops out there. As for my self I have been running dell computers since back in the 80s. I can truly say I have not had any problems with them.
 I believe that most of the problems with dell computers are how the average customer takes care of them. One of the things that most procrastinators of dell computers fail to realize is there are millions of dell computers out there, so the failures are going to look like more than other brands. I am a computer technician and have been since the 80s as well as an electronic technician. I see some dell desktops and laptops come through for repair, but this averages out with all the other brands like lenovo, asus, acer, msi, sony, gateway and apple.
 So what are the most common problems with dell and other brands of computers these days ? Well I would have to say failing hard drives and viruses as well as corrupt windows 10 computers. Yes windows 10 seems to be easily corrupted. Sometimes it can be repaired by the reset choice or a good system restore point, but the majority of the time it has to be reinstalled fresh after saving the data.
 I have seen some technicians try to roll the registry back to a previous backup. The problem with this is either things were installed previous to that or there could be some corruption in it. I have had technicians do this only for the customer to come back and say this is missing or that email is gone. I had one technician do this on a computer for me and it failed the following day. I therefore ended up doing the saving of data and then the fresh load. Basically it was just a waste of time, so I don't recommend it.
 Okay back to the subject at hand. What should you do if you purchase a dell computer. My advise is to look into a extended warranty. This way if something fails after the first year you can at least get it repaired under warranty. Yes I have seen this happen and recommended to the customer to call dell and they offered the extended warranty at a fair price and the customer did not have to spend thousands on a new laptop.
 So would I recommend a dell computer ? The answer to that is yes I do recommend dell computers, unless you would like to search for parts to repair it.

               
  

Microsoft Is Calling You In 2017

Microsoft Called And Said I Was Infected

 It's 2017 and we get customers all the time that call and say Microsoft called me and said I have a virus. Most unsuspecting customers do not realize that this is a fake call. It especially is not Microsoft calling you. It is a person who is trying to gain access to your computer. Generally once you give them the okay to remote into your computer the damage is already done. One of the first things they do is turn off the restore in windows. This way once you find out what they were doing you have no way to restore your computer to a previous good date before they were in there. They also remove any image backup you may have in a system.
 So what else do these scumbags do to your computer. Generally they have installed a password so you can not enter your system. They may demand some money to have the password. They have also generally infected your computer with some kind of virus, malware, spyware and adware. There are some individuals that believe they can get back into the system. I have seen some websites out there having a person change and copy various statements into the registry. This may seem to work for awhile, but I have heard of the password problem coming back after a period of time. This is because it is sitting dormant in the system.
 Okay so what do you do now ? Well the only course of action is to clean the hard drive of any infection you find. The next step is to save the data to another hard drive. Next re-install windows on your hard drive, activate, re-install all software, set up printers and copy all your data back to the system. Yes this is a tedious mess and will take some time. The worst part is if you had a windows 8 system originally. You will have to re-install windows 8, activate and install all drivers and updates. Next you will have to update the system to windows 8.1 as well as all windows updates. Then finally you will have to re-install windows 10, drivers and updates plus activate it depending on your windows 10 installation. All I can say is oh boy what fun. This takes alot of time and labor and on a older system may not be cost effective.
 Okay so what should we do in the first place. First you should always have a back up of your system and data. That can change depending on your operating system. Windows 7 has it's back up in the control panel. You would have to have it set up and run previous to this infection. Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 have the file history for data and a manual image back up of the system. Always run the back up to an external hard drive and only connect it when the back up is due to run. This way if disaster or Murphy's Law appears you have a way of getting back to where you were.
 The Moral Of The Story Is NEVER LET ANYONE HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR SYSTEM UNLESS YOU KNOW THEM !!!
 MICROSOFT DOES NOT CALL ANYONE ABOUT INFECTIONS !!!

How To Back Up Your Computer

Back Up That Data Or You Could Lose It

 I get customers asking all the time what do I do so I don't lose my data. Well there are two main ways to save or back up your data. The first is using the back up program in the control panel. You should have a external hard drive to run the back up to. I would recommend a 1tb or 2tb external hard drive. They are fairly small and are pretty reliable. Windows 7 and windows 10 have the same back up program in the control panel. It works very well for the computer it's on. It is not meant to be recovered to a different computer.
 The second way of backing up your data is to the cloud. The most common way is using carbonite. Just be aware of your particular package. The cheapest package only backs up data, so get second package that make a system image as well as backing upon data. It's very difficult to use and it takes the pressure off you on running your own back up. Plus your data will not become infected and is safe.
 There is a third way and is just doing the copy and paste routine to a external hard drive or to a usb flash drive. Just make sure your usb flash drive is big enough for all your data.
 So remember to back up your data and stay safe.

                 

Best Two Ways To Keep Your Computer Data Safe

 Every day I see multiple computers from customers that have had their computers infected with viruses, malware, spyware and adware. When I call the customer to let them know what is wrong with their computer and how much it will cost, they always ask me the same thing. Why didn't my antivirus software catch the infection and get rid of it it. The next question is did I lose my data.

Click Me Now

 Well the first thing I explain to them is that no virus program is going to be 100%. In other words there is no magic antivirus program that will stop everything from getting into your computer. I will tell you most customers are not very happy at this point. So the first thing is to let them know if their data is intact and second is what to do in the future to protect yourself from viruses, malware and all the other nasty pests out there on the internet.
 So for your own protection make sure you have good antivirus software and make sure it is up to date. I can't count any more of the people that have virus software that expired a year or two ago. So what is the best antivirus software in 2017. Well I do like Kaspersky, Webroot and Mcafee Antivirus. The only drawbacks with them are one that Kaspersky is very picky and may block certain programs and functions. Webroot Antivirus has been around a long time and still does very well. No as for Mcafee Antivirus I had some concerns in the last year or two. Mcafee was very good back in the 90s and early 2000s, but dwindled for  awhile. The newest versions seem to be doing much better.

Like Gaming Click Me

 There are other programs that you can also use that do very well at helping remove infections from your pc. One of my all time favorites is the Malwarebytes program. There is a free version that works very well for a free version, but if you want better protection I would suggest the paid version of Malwarebytes. There are others such as spybot and super antispyware that do a good job. Just make sure to only have one antivirus program running or the two will fight each other and slow the system down or crash it.
 There are some programs that you can run to cleanup infections that may have wormed their way in. The first would be roguekiller, second would be junkware removal tool  and finally adwcleaner. All of these can be downloaded from their website or from bleeping.com and are free. If you find any other programs check on google.com or yahoo.com to see if there are any problems with certain programs. Some are just not as good as they seem. If you do run these programs use them in the safemode with networking. There are other virus removal tools available that do a good job as well.
               

How To Avoid Computer Viruses In 2017

Help From Bigfoot PC

 Yes in 2017 we still have the problem with computer viruses, malware, spyware and adware. It certainly is not getting better, no unfortunately it seems as though things with computer viruses are getting worse this year. It seems that the majority of repairs on the computer service bench are virus cleanings. Many of them are at a point where they have corrupted windows 10 so bad that the only course of action is to save the data and then reinstall windows 10, then move the data back in place.
 So what are we supposed to do to avoid getting a pc virus or some malicious infection in our computers. Well the only way to totally avoid it is to unplug your computer and take it to the recycling center. Now I do not believe that is the way to go, no the best course of action is to have good antivirus protection and have a good back up plan. You could either use the back up program in the control panel or go with something like carbonite where it backs up to the cloud.
 There are a few things to consider if you plan to use the back up program in the control panel. First I would recommend using at least a 2tb external hard drive. This will give plenty of space for the back up and provide space to save other data like pictures or documents. Just remember to disconnect it from the computer when the back up is done or when you are not using it. This will prevent it from being infected by some nasty computer infection or maybe from being encrypted if you happen to get a ransomware computer virus.
 The other back up plan is with carbonite where it backs up to the cloud. The best advise I can give is to be aware of what carbonite back up plan you have. The basic plan only backs up the data and may not be sufficient. I would suggest to get at least the middle plan as it will make the system image and back up all data. This way you can get back to where you were when the last back up was performed. I have seen way too many times where all is lost and there is nothing more heart breaking seeing a family lose all their cherished pictures of their families.
 Okay before I go customers always ask what is the best antivirus protection or program out there. Well the first thing I explain is no antivirus program will be 100% in protecting your computer from becoming infected with a virus or malware or spyware or adware. I prefer brands such as Webroot, Kaspersky, Mcafee and Norton Antivirus. Now there are many other excellent brands to choose from, but these seem to be priced well and do a pretty good job. The key is to keep it up to date, so it does not expire and remember to keep your back up running so it is up to date as well.
  Thank You for stopping by from Bigfoot PC.

 

Best Laptop Computer

 One of the most popular questions I always get asked by customers is what is the best laptop computer. Well I really don't think there is really one best laptop pc out there. Yes there are many that claim to be the best, but it simply not true. Now I have seen runs of laptop computers that had problems in the past. One that comes to mind were the dv series of hewlett packard laptops. They always seem to have a failing motherboard. Now I have seen many hewlett packard laptops that do an excellent job.
 Okay so what laptop should I go with ? Well I would choose one that fits your needs and is in your budget. In other words if you want a business class laptop computer, go with a Lenovo Laptop. If you want a multimedia laptop, then a hewlett packard, sony or acer may just do the trick. Now if you are playing games on the laptop pc, then look at the gaming laptop computers. The choices are just endless, so remember to check out all the reviews and then make an educated decision.
 Some other important things to consider is what size lcd display do you prefer, how much hard drive space will you require and how long is the warranty on any given laptop computer. Most laptops have a 1 year manufacturer warranty with a life expectancy of 18 months. I love the expression on customers faces when I tell them that one. So my advise is to pick up an extended warranty and you won't be disappointed. Believe me I have seen many many customers that were very upset when their laptop computer is just out of warranty and the manufacturer will do nothing. The place that sold you the laptop is saying oh well.
 So if you are looking for a new laptop check out the search ads below.