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try   (a tech dictionary)

This page was designed to be used as your browser's home page.  It has search features and  links to tested web solutions to many common technical issues. like:

Tech FAQ:

These solution topics are sorted by frequency.  Look for a relevant topic and review that area.  Each section contains links to tools or references that may be relevant.

1. My computer has gotten slower or has pop-ups or both. What should I do?  In short you need to clean it up.  A good place to start is to run some good anti-Spy ware programs.  We have found that  LavaSoft Ad-Aware free version and Spybot Search and Destroy are effective Safe and FREE.  We've had great results cleaning up hundreds of computers which were so overloaded with up to 2500 incidences of spy-ware, ad-ware, and even mall ware that they were frozen up.  Once we installed, updated, inoculated, scanned and cleaned with those and a major brand antivirus program like McAfee Virus Scan (about$15 bucks) the systems were fast but better protected and more stable.  Viruses can also slow down your computer.  Everybody should be running a current Anti-Virus Program.  And it must be updated, and scanning regularly.  While we routinely install 2-4 anti-spy-ware programs simultaneously, you must be careful not to install two antivirus programs.  They will fight.  Some ISP's include Anti-Virus subscriptions in your monthly fee.  However you must install them to work.   Comcast includes McAfee while AT&T yahoo DSL includes Norton Internet Security (which requires an uninstall of Spybot)  Free is good, however do not be

2. Is my Internet connection slow?  Could be.  Best thing to do is check with an ISP speed test like: CNet's Bandwidth Meter ISP download speed test or Audit MyPC's Up and down Speed Test  or  SpeekEasy.net's Flash up and down ISP Speed Test.  While internet service can be slow often the problem is a slow or overloaded database server from that website.  Popular sites like my yahoo and facebook etc. can get over loaded and there is not much you can do about it. 

3. I think I have a virus.  What should I do?  Ok so you  still got infected?  Update and scan with your anti-virus or install anti-virus and anti-SpyWare using the links above.  If that is not enough then use Trend Micro's Virus Encyclopedia to look up a fix for your particular virus. You can often start with a free scan from Trend Micro HouseCall    Finally check your own security with Audit My PC's Firewall Test Scan or 1056 ports with Gibson Research's  ShieldsUP! (Just ignore the failure message about port 113 being closed not stealth).  Still failing it is probably time to me live at (630) 445-1586 before you risk loosing your data or putting your fist through a wall.  Speaking about frustration.  Please do not chastise you family members because they got you a virus.  It is easier to prevent viruses with routine maintenance practices than to super screen every email or website you go to.  Plus a problem like this can lurk for quite a while before it becomes obvious.  It is generally much easier to get rid of a virus than to figure out who done it!

4.  Does my computer need an upgrade?  If you are running windows 95 or win 98 then your money will go further with a $200 replacement (see "Best Computers" below).   If you are running XP then I would like to see a minimum of 512-1GB of RAM for most users.  Lots of sources of parts but what you really need is compatibility information.  I use:  Crucial, Tiger Direct or  PNY  to scan or search for compatible memory upgrade configurations etc.   Scan you computer for processor Upgrades with Power Leap Scanner or Manually at Power Leap Manual Search (may be limited to their products) In general these may be better tools for identification than tools for shopping.  But you can shop for lower prices on Google product search or Ebay  after you identify the specific part you need.

5. Where can I get fair buys on GADGETS and Technology?

I often start with CNet Reviews  or ZDNet Reviews because they get us great comparative research info and helps us find good pricing and reliable Tech info.  We often start with Google Product Search for product info and as a baseline for pricing values.  We rarely buy new stuff on eBay anymore because we often find better values and customer service through CNet or directly in favorite retailers like www.costco.com (great warrantees) on electronics  NewEgg (computer parts)  Fat Wallet  Cellphoneshop.net has great prices but ships slowly and has hit and miss quality. I have also posted a whole section below on Digital photography and Camcorders (if you scroll way down).

6. How Can I save money on Software? Of course the most appropriate software depends on your individual needs; but low prices are always good.   We like the site DirectDeals and  Google Product Search as we find great pricing and access to OEM software here  We generally save about 30-60% here if they have what we need. If you have a student in the family you are probably also eligible for huge Educational discounts on Software.  Great Prices on  Ebay Software but 1st read BEWARE of USED Ebay SOFTWARE... 

7. Free software; is it safe?  Some times, yes. Often not. For example we recommend LavaSoft Ad-Aware  Spybot Search and Destroy and Open Office to almost everyone.  Meanwhile, although some of it is really a great value free software scares us in general.   It often contains spy ware etc that slows down your computer and creates annoying pop up ads.  Be careful loading free software even from reputable sources like Yahoo, and AOL (AIM).  These free products can include optional software that will slow your computer.  A good source for software reviews is Download.com or more specifically for software  Cnet Software Reviews   We like to read the reviews of software to find out the possible pros and cons here before we install it.  For example here are reviews of a file sharing software:  Read about Limewire.

8. I have broadband.  How do I protect myself form Hackers?

I always recommend a Router firewall to keep your LAN and computers secure.  If it is wireless you should make sure you turn on WPA security.  If you do not have a hardware firewall is is essential that you turn on Software firewalls like the one built into MS XP SP2.  Broadband leaves your computer on line 24 hours a day as a target for all hackers. Hackers can scan thousands of internet addresses for all computers that fit certain criteria that are able to be hacked.  Sometimes the hacker will use your computer to hide behind and hack other computers.  Other times a hacker will just give you a virus or something destructive.  We recommend that broadband users protect there computers with a good antivirus like  McAfee Virus Scan  or  Norton Internet Security and that you protect your computer network with a hardware Firewall Router.  This kind of device is cheep and effectively  hides your computer from the hackers using NAT.  As a general rule keep your MS XP Service Pack 2 Software Firewall turned on).  Check this in: My Computer, My Network Places,  View Network connections, Change Firewall settings

For security as well as eliminating other common computer errors you should run your Windows Updates Just open Internet explorer, click on tools and select Windows Update.  Run your updates often.   Many of them are very important and they are free.  Broadband users should set the computer to download the updates automatically and Alert you to before you install them. This will keep you up-to-date without much hassle.  If you have never run your updates before there are dozens of updates you need.  As a matter of habit, we would install all updates and all security updates from Microsoft.  One small warning though.  Microsoft began pushing Internet Explorer 7 in late 2006.  I love it personally however if you are running older software like QuickBooks 2004 it will interfere with the intuit updates.  The good news you can easily rectify the problem by uninstalling ie7. 

9. Do I need to keep my Internet Service provider's email address?  No.  Lots of you are still afraid to dump AOL or your ISP because you do not want to change your email address.  For online web mail I like GMail from Google while I am not a big fans of free hotmail, msn or yahoo because they seam to lead people to spam, pop-ups and other software issues discussed on this page.  They also like to charge for things like using a more functional pop3 email clients like outlook express.  Further they are constantly promoting or tricking you into upgrades or unnecessary service fees.  One of the best features of a pop3 email client is your ability to use Outlook or Outlook Express.  This way you can keep a calendar, maintain an address book and save your email in folders on your local PC for offline access and back up to CD etc.  If you depend on Email for your work you should not risk using AOL, hotmail or Yahoo.

Better yet just buy your own Email domain.  You can probably own www.yourname.com with 1 email address for about $10 a year or $60 a year including web-hosting and email forwarding.  We often use www.godaddy.com as a Web Hosting Provider.  You do not need to maintain a website to own an email address like bertha@smith.us   In fact we have unlimited free email aliases so if you want we can set up an email account for you for free like yourname@endorfan.com or yourname@naperthrill.org  we can work it out in trade.   We would auto forward this email to your current ISP email address.  If you use outlook or outlook express nobody has to know your ISP or how often you change it.  Then later when you change ISPs we just change the forwarding and berthaSmith@naperthrill.org email still gets to you at your new ISP.

Want to email or text your kids?  People under 30 are not as tied to email as those 30-70 are.  They IM, text and post on facebook or  myspace  The good news is that those programs have built in email programs so you can just find their AIM or myspace login and email them at login@aim.com etc.  If you want to send a text message to a cell phone but do not know the email address you can do that from IM programs like MSN Messenger

Spam and Hoax Problems:  Spam has many causes.  Most email addresses are actually harvested from all those chain letters and bleeding heart stories that tell you to pass the letter on to 10+ friends.  The reason these little gems get written so well is so that they can harvest all your addresses and send you spam. They prey on emotions so they focus on topics in safety, religion, politics, love, friendship, health, charity, national security, terrorism etc. so you feel compelled to forward them.  If you forward  these little gems to me you risk getting my response.  When you get a chain letter your find incredible it is probably not credible.  Look it up at: www.snopes.com , CIAC Hoax Busters or Urban Legends from About.com 

Anyway, if you have too much spam you could change your email address but that is not your only option.   If the spammer or company is somebody you trust but just accidentally signed up for their spam Click the links that say "remove."   However my favorite tool for dealing with Spam is upgrading to Outlook 2003 (also included in MS Office 2003) for your email client.  It's spam filter is amazing.  Some also like to filter with Norton Internet Security.  Go Daddy Web hosting and others have good email filters available on their Webmail solutions.  They may protect you from other scams like phishing:

What is "phishing"?
Phishing schemes are attempts to steal sensitive personal information – such as passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc. – through the distribution of fraudulent email messages.

A phishing scheme typically consists of an email message that appears to originate from a trusted source, but in fact is an attempt to obtain and exploit sensitive user information, such as login credentials for the targeted user's online bank account. Often, the message asks you to "update" account information (including credit card and checking account information, social security numbers, addresses, and telephone numbers). Most phishing scams instruct you to do so via a form in the body of the email. Sometimes, you will be prompted to click a link that appears to lead to an authorized Web site that belongs to a legitimate, trusted company.   As more and more communication and transactions are taking place online, phishing schemes and other attempts to steal sensitive personal information have become increasingly prevalent and innovative.  Phishing attacks against online consumers have become so widespread that an estimated 57 million Americans have received fraudulent email messages and 1.98 million may have fallen victim to the subsequent scams, resulting in approximately $1.2 billion in direct costs to U.S. banks and credit card issuers. (According to a study by research firm, Gartner, Inc).

For inexpensive simple Web Hosting we like: www.GoDaddy.com   See examples at: www.GlutensenReactivity.net www.ChallengersSoccer.com   http://blog.challengersSoccer.com  www.CentennialBeach.com  www.HonorRollcolleges.com   www.ppfac.com  www.belgios.com  www.premiumdrywall.net and www.kbellertson.com  www.SRSaints.info www.HuntingtonPool.org

Best Computers to Buy

We are not hardware suppliers but do often guide purchasing decisions.  If you are buying a new home computer we recommend you wait WAIT.  Yes, WAIT as long as you can before you buy.  Prices go down quickly a few months after the latest thing is released.  It will take you (or somebody) dozens of hours to tweak out your computer install the software and updates, move your data, configure your email and phone sync and make your printer work etc.  By delaying until you really need a new computer you buy less often and you will save lots of time and and money each time you delay.  Another version of the same concept is to not buy the latest, newest fastest untried technology.  Let somebody else work the bugs out of Windows Vista.  If an OS, motherboard, or any new technology does not have service patches or updates then you may be trying a product before it has the benefits of real world testing.

Used Computers yes it is true that not everybody is crazy about Vista yet.  SO it can be much more efficient to buy a refurbished Dell Optiplex computer.  They are inexpensive, fast and reliable for 200-$400 depending on options.  If you buy wisely your savings can be so significant that you can keep a spare in waiting so it can be the most economical way to own a computer.   In keeping with this strategy, Endorfan generally has a loaner if you ever get in a pinch.  Our pick for the most reliable used computers we have supported are the Dell Optiplex Desktops.  These are corporate business quality computers just off lease by Dell financial services.  The Gx260's and Gx270's cost $200- $350 (plus monitor $5-250) depending on size and resolution.  I run a fast Optiplex Gx270 3.0 GHz HT SMT for my video editing. If I was looking for a used Laptop I would look for a Dell Notebook n600 or N640 for about $400 with Win XP Pro+ and 512 MB ram or more.  They can have good onboard wireless and you do not have to budget for a monitor.

An alternate place to find reliable pricing on Refurbished Dell Products is www.dellauction.com  I used to look for dell auctions on eBay because of their clean refurbished machines and lack of trickery like unreasonable shipping costs.  However, now they have their own auction site to bypass the middle man. Unfortunately they also bypass the pressure to sell low based on the  fact that they are the only vendor.   While eBay computer buying is tricky because it is riddled with lots of scammers Dell Financial Services sites are a no brainier.  So just click the links above and buy freely with confidence.  However if you are more skilled you will find better prices on  Searching eBay for Dell Optiplex HT  These computers all work nicely for most any home or business uses, including: email, word processing, photo editing, photo slideshows, graphic design, and with a few additions the SMT desktops even work for editing DV videos, playing educational kids games, or even the home entertainment system.  I hooked a $100 Optiplex gx150 computer to my 50" HD monitor and can watch all my media collection across my home LAN.  If you buy one of these baby's and it dies we usually have a loner while yours is being serviced.  Feel free to order it on you own but when yours comes in you will save allot of expense and aggravation if you let us set it up, tweak it out, and burn a restore image before it gets all screwed up.  The Optiplex line comes in a a Standard Mid Tower (SMT) or the Small Form Factor (SFF) case.  While the SMT can costs slightly more up front it is easier to find parts and upgrades at lower prices.  The SFF is great if you have limited space or know you will not upgrade internal PCI cards, Video cards or optical drives.  The low profile cards required for the SFF upgrades can be hard to find at low prices.

Today monitors and TV's are rapidly converging.  If you are getting a new monitor we have found excellent values at  Tiger Direct, Costco, or Fry etc.   However if cost is important you should know that any used monitor manufactured in the last 10 years  will be compatible.   Be sure to test it and make sure the colors are not too dark and double check the label on the back for the manufacture date.  You can usually pay <$10 for an old basic monitor.   However, if the spirit moves you, buy a nice new wide thin 20" for under $300.  (Be advised that buying a monitor online costs you over $30-100 in shipping so it is usually prudent to find a local deal.  Finally I do not think that now (11/07)is a really great time to buy a monitor.  I think that in 2008 you will be able to get a 20-24" HDMI input for HDTV compatibility.  It will have  computer monitor with 1920 x 1080 pixels or more resolution in the $2-300 range.  This may would allow your monitor double as a full HDTV.

New Computer purchases, Speed and Performance:  Rather than focus your budget on speed and performance your 1st dollars should go towards choosing manufactures who support their systems.  Long term your operational costs will be more dependant on a manufactures service, support parts compatibility and your downtime than speed.  Of course top manufacturer offer top speed computers too.  So it just is a matter of prioritizing your budget and considering your long term costs of ownership.   Compare a manufacturers and retailers in your area based on their support services, warrantees and wait turn around time for service before you choose your computer.  New computers can be pretty cheep if you are not buying the fastest available.  Laptop computers are only about as good as your service warrantee.  We always buy at least 3 years of hardware warrantee on a new laptop.  Software warrantees vary widely in value.  There are many good computers out there but the difference is mostly in service.  We have had the best luck with www.Dell.com customer service. They are not perfect but they also have very competitive pricing on new computers. 

Tele-Communications, VoIP and Web Hosting

One of 2007 biggest opportunities to save money is on your telephone services.  VoIP piggy backs your phone service on the bandwidth of your internet service (preferably cable internet).  There are many options reviewed at VoipReview.com   Couple a cheep VOIP phone service with your cell phones and many may choose to eliminate the old home phone lines all together.  Further, free service like  Skype which allows you to call or video conference any computer to computer.  If you want to add unlimited local and long distance calling to US phones that costs just $30 a year.  Our home phone bill used to be $80/month but we had lots of features.  Yet there are voice over internet protocol (VOIP) providers that offer unlimited long distance and local calling for $10 a month.  Last year I was determined to find one of these companies so I started my search.  I found one that advertised lots of features I wanted for just $18 a month.  I paid for a year of service and I thought I was home free.  This is when I learned how bad customer service can be.  Customer service is the down side of the VOIP industry.   Read my story about Sagevone aka Sage Communications

I have not found low prices or good features from our local ISP's or Vonage who heavily advertise and gained early market share with their VoIP Solutions.  I have found that many of these great marketers charge well over $30+ a month and can to afford lots of marketing money.  I have also have found that many services bundle hardware in with their monthly bill or charge a set up charge to cover hardware.  Unfortunately the hardware is often not easily used for a competitor's VoIP Service.

Voice Quality: Most consumers report better sound quality with VoIP in general.  However others have Quality of Service (QoS)  issues resulting in dropped calls or lack of service especially when their computer takes the band width for popping an email account etc.  We were initially impressed with the sound quality and freedom of the packet8 business phone systems.  However, others experienced that the ISP and the installation and networking hardware makes a huge difference in (QoS)   When reading reviews of the VoIP system consider that Tech Support is a huge variable in that industry.  There are routers and configurations that will solve many QoS problems.  Give the tech support people at your VoIP provider a call BEFORE you buy!  If they ignore you and you are still having trouble give us a call at 815-377-2380 or send me an email here.

VoIP Hardware:  You will need some hardware to make VoIP work.  You could choose an one of these 4 strategies:

1. Just a microphone and speakers or a headset attached to the sound card of your computer.  Costs $3-40 unless you have them.

2. A Webcam with mic  (costs $15-90) for Skype's free video calling.

3. You can bye a Skype phone. Through: Skype, NewEgg or eBay (Costs $20-80)

4.  I bought this VoIP gateway which connects my existing old analog phones to my network's router.  (costs $60)

5.  Wait until somebody wises up and retails an "all-in-one Cable modem/router/ VoIP gateway print server."  This should offer the best QoS and the best automatic recovery from internet and power outages.  Unfortunately I have had to install 4 separate devices to do the jobs.  It will probably happen in the next year

Telecommunications Time and money Savers

For enhancing your phone service you might consider getting a free phone number for a free unified communication number called Grand Central  which is offered through Google.  You can not beat the price and may use it to add Cadillac services to your existing bargain phone services.  Grand Central includes: One number that rings different other existing lines based on who's calling Know who's calling. allows you to create a business line, screen unknown callers, Hear why someone is calling before taking the call, Record calls on the fly and access recordings online, Block Callers. Receive voicemail notifications via email or SMS. Greetings, Personalize your voicemail greetings by caller or group. Choose ringback tones for your callers WebCall Button lets people call you from a web page without showing your number. CallSwitch Switch phones, say from your home to your cell in the middle of a call say from your home to your call. Click2Call from your address book and Mobile Access Visual voicemail for your mobile phone.  Or use Grand Central to forward to another Bargin service for voice mail and faxes called Max email.
 

For eliminating your fax or voicemail lines we use MAXEMAIL.COM. It is an awesome $15/year fax and voicemail which gives you an 815 phone number that connects to your email and text messaging.  MAXEMAIL allows you to eliminate your fax line and get instant notifications of your faxes and voicemails.  If you use a fax through web or email service you may consider installing any old cheep scanner for sourcing your fax from paper. However, if the document you want to fax is on your computer you do not need a scanner to send it.

Photo and Streaming Video Sharing  

SnapFish  is great for printing photos at about $0.15 per 4x6 at your local Walgreens.  I have a SnapFish  account for sending photos to anybody’s local Walgreens but use www.costcophotocenter.com for my own printing.  I like the SnapFish feature called “Group Room” that allows several people with different passwords to upload to the same place.  For example: http://prairiesaints.snapfish.com.   If you get another user to join with your invite you get another 20 prints free (so please use my link above).  There is no space limit so you do not have to compress or reduce photos before you upload them. As I said it is great for printing photos but if you want to share the photo files they charge $0.50 per photo!  So if you want to download then browse 200 original photos files Ouch!

Other services are more cost effective for file sharing.   I have had good results from Photo Gallery Web Sites like FotoPic.net which has more functions but is therefore more complicated.  At FotoPic.net the 1st 250 MB per email address is free.  For a few bucks you can increase space. See example galleries:  http://nnhsgt.fotopic.net http://nngcc.fotopics.net  http://challengers.fotopic.net   There are other reputable “free” photo gallery websites including:  http://photos.msn.com, http://www.kodakgallery.com/ and http://www.photoaccess.com.  Finally don't forget that a blog author can probably upload a few photos for free on your blog.  Sometimes less is more when you have a couple of really good photos"

For a small budget I see impressive things done with a  ".Mac web gallery" Just $100 bucks a year includes 10 GB of storage, advanced web hosting functions like automatic web back ups and a lot of cool features.  A great example is:  Saints football photos by Alex Metzen   Also several people can share an account (with your permission) so that brings the cost down.  Dot mac also offers lower cost options and free trials. 

One of the most surprising values is the free streaming video services offered through OurMedia.org to post free streaming videos Click for Samples.  They have features for photos too.  

Software to manage edit or slideshow your Photos.  Some such software probably came with your camera and some came with your CD/DVD burner or computer.  For burning Music photo slideshows to DVD I prefer PhotoDex Pro Show with Nero Vision Express in second place but some friends use Roxio.

For photo editing we like ArcSoft PhotoStudio 5.5 because it comes free with most Canon optical products and it has a simple one page under help that tells you how to use all the tools.  Or you can also use one or more of the following:

·         Nikon View: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/19659

·         Picasa: http://picasa.google.com/index.html

Digital Cameras: Digital Camera's are a specialty category that change constantly and require research.  We like www.dcresource.com because they offer independent in-depth expert hands on reviews and sample media on most popular digital cameras.  Our second source is CNet Reviews.

Camcorders:  Start research at C-net Camcorder Reviews   If you are looking at a low cost and small webcam for YouTube a new the Sony flip.  Looks interesting but cheep and low res.   On the expensive side, if you want a high end HDV camcorder look for a CMOS or 3ccd optical sensor and HDMI connection.  These match a high end HDTV nicely so they will be the next standard for color and clarity.  They cost the $1500-4000 but are better than the $100K TV cams from 15 years ago.

For a balance between cost and price any highly rated Mini DV camcorder is easy to edit with its standard ieee 1394 firewire connection.  I have a cannon ZR830 was about $200 at Costco and works OK.  I wish I had the better photo options of the Canon Elura line It  that way it is an adequate digital camera in case you bring just one camera and want to shoot video and stills.  My older canon camcorder had better still features like a 1 mega pixel burst mode that help you capture the right frame and delete the bad ones that missed the perfect split second.  (kid with eyes open and a smile or kid with ball on the end of the bat).  Those fleeting moments make the photos way better.

Finally on the older camcorders that are used most have 4:3 aspect ratio while today’s TV’s are all 16:9   This is also important to consider as memories will out live the older 4:3 format.

More?  Wow you are a glutton for punishment!  If you have a great tip or a question?      at (630) 445-1586 or boost your performance by writing  boost@endorfan.com

Note: Endorfan does not own any trademarks or logos or have any ownership or tie to any of the linked logos, products or companies represented on this page.  We therefore have no means to offer additional warrantee's of their services. We do however, guarantee many of the the services we sell. Endorfan is a service company only.  We do not sell software or hardware. We do guide clients as they select vendors and/or shop for technical and marketing products.