On Sale Now!
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Aug 21, 2009
LOLCHRIS
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Jun 15, 2009
Free Time
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 24, 2009
When the sun is out and the weather is nice, it appears that our customers don’t want to be cooped up indoors with their computers, let alone worry about computer problems.
So, what do your friends at PCS do with their free time? Well, we find items like this on the ‘net:
Enjoy!
Bits and bits
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 23, 2009
The following question was submitted by our friends at Alexander Metals, Inc:
“I am looking at a laptop that has a 64 bit CPU, do you have to run a 64 bit OS? [The laptop] comes w/ XP and I have Vista Ultimate I want to put on it.”
The short answer to this question is that yes, you can run a 32 bit operating system (and software) on a 64 bit PC. Confusion comes in to play when trying to determine if an older, 32 bit system will run a 64 bit operating system.
As you can probably guess, there is a sizable performance difference between 32 bit Windows and 64 bit Windows, which is why a lot of power users eye the 64 bit grail when purchasing new systems and upgrades. If you would like to breathe new life into your existing system with a Windows Vista 64 bit upgrade, you would have to insure that your hardware is up to the task.
Outside of consulting your system manuals to verify your hardware’s capabilities, you can easily check your system’s ability to run Vista 64 bit in Windows Vista by following these instructions:
- Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Performance Information and Tools.
- Click View and print details.
- In the System section, you can see what type of operating system you’re currently running under System type, and, under 64-bit capable, whether you can run a 64-bit version of Windows. (If your computer is already running a 64-bit version of Windows, you won’t see the 64-bit capable listing.)
In closing, we have two final pieces of advice when considering the switch from 32 bit Windows to 64 bit:
- Make sure that there are 64 bit drivers available for your hardware. We’d hate for you to waste an entire day performing this upgrade and have it fall flat because there is no network driver available for you to load.
- Insure that your programs will run in a 64 bit operating system. A lot of progress has been made over the past couple years in getting programs “up to speed” with the 64 bit movement, but if your business runs an older piece of software that it can’t live without, a 64 bit upgrade may not be for you.
For more information on the topic, Microsoft has a FAQ available.
Welcome to the party Mac..
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 23, 2009
Macintosh computers are now being targeted by malware writers.
Welcome to the party Mac users. Your seat is right this way…
On April 1, Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli claim to have discovered the first Mac zombie botnet in existence. The botnet stems from a Trojan horse embedded in a iWork ’09 trial version that was making the rounds on file-sharing networks. The risk first came to light in January when security firm Intego warned of the potential threat hidden in the files.
I must admit that I am reporting this to you with a small amount of schadenfreude. I don’t have enough fingers on my hands to tell you the number of arguments I’ve gotten into with Mac users on how “stable and secure” a Macintosh computer is. Please allow me this opportunity to use this post as a soapbox for present and future arguments I may get into on this subject…
The real reason that Apple computers are more stable and secure with regards to viral and spyware attacks is for this reason and this reason alone: Mac users are small potatoes.
People lose sight of the fact that virus makers used to be kids in basements trying to see if they could program the next big inconvenience to the most people possible. Now, with the advent of spyware and pop-ups, the reasons are very clear: money and money. As long as there are web site marketers out there that will pay-per-click, there will be virus and spyware writers set on maximizing clicks by putting as many pop-ups in front of your browser as possible.
Now, if you were a virus/spyware writer looking to make a quick buck and you needed to strike as many people as possible in a short amount of time (until someone writes a tool that removes your handiwork), which platform would you choose? Would you choose a computing platform that has less than 3% of the desktop computing market, or would you shoot for the 90th percentile? The answer is obviously the highest percentage of computer users, and those are Windows users.
I said it before and I’ll say it again: Mac’s days of wine and roses are almost over. The bigger Apple gets, the bigger a target they will be for virus writers.
The worst part of all of this is when that day comes, the Mac faithful who have been computing in their iCoccoons won’t know how to avoid infection when it comes looking for them. They won’t be prepared for all of the pop-ups and all of the lost productivity hours that a serious case of spyware can manifest.
Don’t fear, Mac users – PCS will be ready to provide assistance when the day of reckoning approaches. We’ve been in the trenches, we know what you’re in for, and yeah, we can help.
See this scar? Yea, this big one right here? I got that back during the Sasser invasion of 2004…
Too good..
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Dec 10, 2008
