Tech Support Help Desk

If It Is Geeky - You’ll Find It Here!

September 28th, 2007

Do You Halo?

Well, Halo 3 is out, and it’s breaking all the sales records.  Microsoft should be very pleased, although there have been reports of issues on their Xbox Live service, with so many new users flooding the online gaming servers.

If you have an opinion about Halo 3, let me hear it!  What do you think about this new addition to the Halo collection?

September 13th, 2007

Remember This?

Okay, I just found this video over on YouTube, and I just had to share it with you. This is all about the MS-DOS 5 upgrade … yes, you heard me right. This would have been a few years before Windows 95 (although it mentions windows, I believe they are just referring to the GUI shell program you see towards the end of the video). MS-DOS 6 was the final version of DOS before full-scale implementation of Windows 3.1 with networking, then Windows 95, … and you know the rest. One interesting note: 60 million users who “need to upgrade”! M$ was already stuck in the space-time-to-upgrade continuum. Okay, so let’s take a look at this great MS-DOS 5 promo video …


September 1st, 2007

Outsource Your Headaches

Have you ever thought it might be nice to have someone worry about your online business for you? Outsourcing has become a very popular buzz word in today’s business marketplace. A company that specializes in Canada web hosting, Momentum.com, is also in the outsourcing business.

Momentum’s collaborative IT specialists thrive on your business challenges. We can augment your in-house teams or provide assistance on a per-project basis. We offer tailored Internet outsourcing solutions specific to your budget and requirements, providing a single point of accountability. We align our managed services to your business objectives. Check out Momentum today!

September 1st, 2007

Mahalo Ups The Ante

Well, I’ve told you before about the start-up human powered search engine Mahalo! In fact, I’m working as a part-time guide for Mahalo, which means I write search engine results pages for them. It’s very interesting work, as I get to research topics that I’m interested in, as long as it is something they are looking for.

That brings me to my latest post. Initially, Mahalo was looking to hand produce the top 10,000 search engine results and make a run at the top 30% or so of the search engine market. However, they have recently changed the goal on their site to reflect a new target: the top 20,000 searched terms on the ‘net. I’m assuming they’ve changed their goal because they have hit the 10,000 mark, or they are very, very close. Either way, I’m up for the challenge!

If you haven’t downloaded the Mahalo Follow tool for your browser (Firefox only at this time, sorry IE fans), you can do so by clicking on the link in the upper left hand column here on my blog. Well, that’s all for now! Until next time … Mahalo!

August 28th, 2007

IBM AS/400 & iSeries Support

Anyone looking for product support for the IBM AS/400 and iSeries servers has found that a good source is hard to find. If you are in the market for support of your IBM AS/400 iSeries equipment, you should take a look at Perfdata.com. This company has the resources to provide support and equipment to meet your needs.

From hard to find parts, new parts, refurbished and mid-range parts - they provide a full range of services. They have been in business since 1991, and are an Authorized IBM Business Partner for the AS/400 and iSeries platform. They even provide free UPS ground shipping to anywhere in the US for any product under 50 pounds.

August 27th, 2007

The Dangers of Modern Technology

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this announcement…

'Big Brother' ... is he telling YOU how to think?

In this day and age, most people fail to understand the inherent dangers in technology. As human beings, we pride ourselves in being so much more advanced and superior to all of the animal life forms on Earth. We are convinced that we are special. Could it be that we have really lulled ourselves into a place where agencies are taking advantage of us through technology. It’s hard to fathom, but take a look at the image above, and really think about what it is saying. Then, contemplate some statistics quoted by Pat Williams on a show recently while promoting his newest book. He states that over 50% of American homes don’t own a single book (including the Bible), over 60% of the world is illiterate. Now look at the picture again, and tell me how close we are to George Orwell’s novel 1984, or perhaps Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451? Just some food for thought. Now, we return back to your regularly scheduled programming …

September 3rd, 2006

PC Cooling and Airflow

Most people don’t realize that there is a method to the madness when it comes to cooling off the components within their computer systems that are getting overheated.  The CPU puts off a lot of heat, as well as some other components like the memory, video card, etc.  All of these need airflow (or other cooling systems - some PCs actually use a water-cooled setup) in order to keep thing running right.  One way this is achieved is through the use of the exhaust fan, and the power supply fan. Read the rest of this entry »

August 21st, 2006

Memory Lane

A while back I posted some nostalgic information about computers, hard drives, prices and more. There are some of you who probably will never know what the heck I was talking about (too young to remember), and some who are just now learning about computers since they have invaded every facet of our lives (baby boomers).

For those of us in the middle (the thirty-something crowd), you can probably remember what I was talking about. This post is for you…

While reading my various sources of technical jargon last weekend, I found some interesting articles that relate to our trip down memory lane. The first one was found in PC World, as they chalk up what they consider to be the top 25 PCs of all time, in honor of the IBM PC’s 25th birthday. You can read this article (and fondly remember your childhood vicariously through the pictures) here.

The other article that peaked my interest this last week was over at Tech Tips, a blog by Computer Geeks (one of my favorite sources for hardware). This article was in honor of the 30th anniversary of Apple Computers, and recounts the ups and downs of the only real threat to the M$ evil empire. You can read the entire article here.

These articles are great reading, and again, will take the average thirty something down memory lane. Enjoy!

April 16th, 2006

Computer Help - Coming Soon to an E-book Near You!

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better … ok, that’s probably not what you thought.

But, that’s OK!

Tech Support Help Desk will be launching our first e-book soon, and we wanted to give everyone a head’s up. This e-book will be a do-it-yourself computer help guide. These will be the problems we hear about the most …

Some of the things we will cover will include:

  • How to speed up your computer
  • How to get rid of viruses
  • How to find and get rid of spyware
  • How to get the most out of your internet connection
  • How to get upgrade information for your PC
  • Where to find the best prices on parts for your PC
  • Simple maintenance techniques to keep you out of trouble
  • How to put your PC maintenance on auto-pilot

Help make online tech support obsolete! This e-book will take the mystery out of how to fix computer problems, and give you the tools you need to make it happen. The secrets of the tech support industry are finally revealed!

Stay tuned for more information … and visit our site, Tech Support Help Desk, as we will be changing the format VERY SOON!

Until Next Time,

Michael

March 21st, 2006

Is your Registry fried?

If you are experiencing problems with your PC, or it’s no longer performing as it used to, the likelihood is your Windows registry is overloaded with redundant entries created by the Windows operating system or other software. Windows communicates with its registry dozens of times every second and broken registry keys can make that communication difficult and slow.
Even moderate use of a PC running Windows could result in numerous registry keys and files spread across the Windows registry. Many of these entries are no longer needed or used by Windows and may well disrupt the smooth running of your system. After just a few days these Windows registry keys and files can begin to accumulate and, over time, will cause your PC to slow down, trigger ‘missing’ .exe or .dll files messages and finally stop running altogether.

If you’ve had your system for some time then you’ll be astonished at the number of unnecessary Windows registry keys and files hanging around, just waiting to strike. Deleted programs often leave a few Windows registry keys and files littered around and these are potential problems in the making.

So what’s the answer for getting rid of your problems? Well, the next best thing to me coming over (and that’s not likely since I don’t do housecalls, except in my local area) is Error Nuker. Error Nuker is a program that you can download for FREE and find out how many ‘time bombs’ you have waiting to go off in your registry!

Don’t take my word for it … C/Net’s Download.com has also rated Error Nuker as a top rated download! But why stop there? Try it for yourself today by clicking on the link below:

Error Nuker: Find and Fix Windows Registry Problems