Uses for an Old PC or Laptop
We get the question nearly every day, "Do you want this old PC?". People are doing their best to get rid of an old clunker of a computer (or even several at one time). Here are some of the things you can do with them besides throw them away.
DONATE THEM:
There are some places that will take them off your hands if they are still in working order. Try a local Salvation Army or thrift store. You can also ask local schools. Once again though, they usually want them in working order.
FREECYCLE THEM:
There are plenty of people who still want your computer and peripherals even if they don't quite work. We know several individuals who have made some money taking free, unwanted computers and parts and then fixing and re-selling them.
REUSE THEM:
Have a young child who might benefit from a computer, but your old clunker can hardly run Windows anymore? Not to worry, there are many small versions of an Operating System called Linux that runs like the wind on old PC's and even comes with built-in Office software and games! Free! Check out http://www.puppylinux.org
UPGRADE THEM:
Well, there are some folks who get a virus or can't play a certain game and suddenly decide they computer is too old and slow. Often times, a memory upgrade and a cleanout of old programs can fix the issue and make the machine feel brand new.
Call us if you need some help! 603-528-5858
Google for Business Rocks
MindFire decided to go with Google Apps for Domains (Google Business) when it first came into being years ago. We absolutely loved it then for a "cloud" version of Email, Tasks, Calendars, and online Document storage. In those years to now, it has done nothing but get bigger, better, and faster.
We have converted several clients from a traditional Microsoft Exchange or simple email environment to Google Business Apps. The addition of Android phones and the massive savings of Google Apps compared to Microsoft-based products made this switch a very easy one to make.
This year we saw a newer version of Google Docs that allows us to work almost COMPLETELY in Google Docs, getting rid of the need of offline Office programs completely. We have also seen so many of our favorite 3rd Party programs making connections to Google Business by way of their "Apps" market such as integration Wave Accounting and many others.
"The biggest problem to overcome was unlearning bad habits from many Microsoft products such as Outlook. Besides that, this works so much better than what we were using. We have saved so much money on server hardware and software licensing that it has paid for itself in just a couple months. The integration with our phones has been a game-changer!" said one of our clients.
We still do a lot of work with Microsoft products including "hosted" Exchange server setups. The future, though, is with simpler, faster, leaner technologies that have better integration abilities with other packages. Like Google Business.
Antivirus for 2012
2012 is a new year full of new and old threats to your home and business computers. Virus makers (not to be confused with hackers) are hard at work to exploit whatever hole they can find in your computer security. What do we recommend to keep you safe?
MindFire is not a fan of some of the "well-known" software packages such as McAfee and Norton. We have seen many systems come into our shop or on business networks that were infected despite having these packages.
Instead, this year, we highly recommend the following:
The Full Monty for Powerful Machines
If you have a Windows 7 or Vista computer with plenty of disk space and memory, meaning there is no fear of a computer slowdown, our recommendation is F-Secure.
F-Secure is not to be confused with the well-known F-Prot that has been around for a while. F-Secure is a robust, monstrous defense machine. It's about $60 per year, like most other "paid" programs. I have seen it catch some recent and difficult infections where Norton and McAfee failed or were too late to stop a problem.
Middle of the Road
If you have a machine that you want to not even NOTICE it has Anti-virus or an older machine that needs something effective, but lighter in weight, I recommend Avira.
Avira has one of my favorite free antivirus programs. It's pretty light weight and does an excellent job. There are many others on this level though as well including AVG, our favorite from last year.
Free and Freaking Awesome
There are more and more free antivirus programs available and they get better every year. These are for home use only, but their "pay" versions are just as good, if not a little larger in size (meaning, slows your machine a bit).
Our favorite free antivirus for 2012 is Avast! Antivirus. We have really, really liked Avast for a while and we used it last year to insall on machines that had a problem with AVG for some reason. Avast just works and works extremely well.
AVG 2012 is quite good as well, though not our favorite.
