Many still believe that each computer system needs every attachment and accessory for that workstation to complete the tasks it has been purchased to do.  There are ways to save time, space, and money that are now much more affordable.   Networks are not just for office buildings anymore.

With the drastic increase in broadband coverage and the drop in technology prices, networking equipment for the home is mass produced and more affordable than ever.  Powerful home networks already exist in broadband connected homes everywhere.  These networks can be used  for more than just sharing the plentiful internet connection.

In this article I am going to touch on some of the advantages of networking the different kinds of retail printers.  There are basic printers with just a USB connection, wired network capable, wireless capable, and bluetooth printers.  A common misconception is that you need to purchase a wireless printer (more expensive) to print wirelessly from a laptop.  As long as the printer is connected to the network there are options to print wirelessly even if it is not a wireless printer.  In fact if you would like to have your printer in the same area as your broadband connection and router I recommend to use the wired network connection for a faster, interference free link.  It is the computer you are printing from that needs to be wireless to print over the network from the couch, not the printer.  Granted there are some situations where the wireless printer would be preferred as if you need to put the printer on the opposite wall from the router and would like to eliminate running wires around the room or if you would like to put the printer in a more centrally located area because your new found ability to share this printer has family members coming from all reaches of the house to gather their prints.  If you have an older printer that just has the usb connection you still can print wirelessly, but it requires some configuration to share the printer across the network from the computer to which it is attached.  Aside from the extra configuration, another negative would be that the attached computer or host would have to be powered on and functioning for the wireless clients to print.  Bluetooth connected printers can be shared in a similar manner where the host would have to be on and within the bluetooth pairing range to the printer for others to print.

The overall advantages to networking your existing or purchasing a network capable printer in my opinion are costs.  In the past consumers would attempt to purchase all the same printers to only have to buy one type of ink cartridge.  Networking solves this by all users sharing one set of ink.  With the rise of ink prices and the lowering of printer prices a household can wait untill all of the ink is depleted in the various printers around the house (may only be one or two).  Calculate the cost of replacing all that ink and use that amount to purchase a new networkable printer that comes with some ink.  Also, it seems as though there is a trend that the higher price the printer is the lower the cost per page on ink it runs.  Sharing one slightly more expensive multifunction printer will save on overall ink purchases in this way.  Even the amount of household clutter can be reduced by having that many less printers and desks to put them on.   Some laptop users may remove the desk from the picture all together.

There is a good chance you can do more with the technology you already have…

RSL Tech may be the place you finally learn how.

Posted in networking - 1 Comment

Complete factory system restore is a valueable feature for today’s branded systems.  Some of the new machines don’t even come with restore discs.  They make you create them yourself with your own blank media.  Many of them have built in restore methods to return to factory without the discs.   The problem is that the built in restore can become corrupt or if the hard drive needs to be replaced the built in restore is no use.  That is when the disks need to be found.  If the discs can not be found and the machine is out of warranty then new discs need to be ordered or a new liscense of windows needs to be purchased.  When the manufacturer is contacted to inquire about restore discs they will often try to transfer you from parts ordering to technicial support so they can attempt to charge you an hourly rate to tell you what you already know.  Then they charge you for the discs also.  The other option, purchasing windows, is even more expensive since to properly purchase windows you will need to buy a retail copy from a store which costs $2-300 depending on the version.   Usually after the frustration of calling the manufacturer and the annoyance of the price of new windows the next step is taking it to the repair shop or starting to look for a new computer.
This can all be avoided by keeping the restore set safe when you purchase a new computer even if you have to make it first.

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Initially when I saw all the many names of what I still call XP AntiVirus2008 I thought that every time it was blocked by all the major protection companies the makers just tweaked it a little, changed the name, and sent it back into the world winding its way back to popularity.  I no longer think this is the case.  It seems as though this is an intelligent self-updating program.  I believe the makers place a patch in some location that the program checks periodically and the copies of the virus still in circulation update themselves to survive another day.   These copies could still be in circulation because the operators of the computers where they have installed themselves have not updated their virus protection or have no protection at all.  The program not only patches its vulnerability to the protection programs it also seems to change appearance and name to appear different to the end user.  From what I have heard these creators of turmoil are making tons of cash for the people who believe their program has magically appeared on their system to help them and they pay $50 to register for the full protection.

So spread the word when you see a new name for these doom laced supposed helpers.  Maybe when the money train slows to a crawl these people will leave us alone.  Oh, and Happy Birthday AV2008!

Here are some links:
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2008-050906-3727-99
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antivirus_2009

Posted in Virus Removal - No Comments

When I think about rainbows, I think of something very beautiful to behold, but very out of reach indeed. You know you can’t touch a rainbow, so why chase it, right?

Well, for me chasing rainbows is like chasing technology. Beautiful to behold, but you can never reach the end of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a technology freak. If I could afford to have every gadget that comes along, I would. I want to buy a new computer, but I know that inevitably within the next year, there will be faster processors, more storage, and more RAM. But I need the computer NOW, so I can’t wait until next year, or the next, or even the next few months.

So you see my frustration. I want to spend money on the best there is, but the best is always changing. That’s the good news, though. Technology is getting better and better, so we humans are able to accomplish more in less time.

So is chasing technology like chasing rainbows? You bet it is. But it is well worth the endeavor.

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It’s not just a vaccination anymore. There are too many terms for the problemware invading your computer nowadays. I think the industry finally settled on just Virus and Spyware, but for a while there people were using terms like Adware and Malware also. I would have thought they would have settled with malware instead of spyware because malware covers anything malicious while spyware is a term for a program installed in your computer to gather and return information or spy.

Anyway, so how about all those choices out there. Even after you pick a brand by asking that relative that is supposed to be a wiz and that elder shopper showing you the latest consumer reports you still have to choose a package. It seems like the major players have settled into a small/medium/large scaling system. Most consumers will base their choice by price at this point. If they really want to be protected and they have the extra cash they will buy large etc. This choice should be made based on the computer it will be installed on and not the price. If you are protecting an older computer that does not have much memory or speed and you are not planning on upgrading either of these statistics than you don’t need large. Yes, large will protect you more, but at what expense on performance. It may use what little resources you had left just to keep running in the background and then when you want to actually use the computer you have to wait much longer to complete a task. My advice for the older computer is buy the small option for basic protection. It will prevent a total crash by detecting and removing most baddies. If you are running at least 1GB RAM with XP or 2GB RAM with Vista then you can go for medium or large. Some software companies don’t have a large, but the difference between their medium and large are usually minimal.

Right now I am trying out Microsoft OneCare which I would think to be a ‘meduim’ even though Microsoft does not have a full line of choices like Symantec or McAfee. Another medium that I would recommend would be Kaspersky. They have a internet security package that is about the same price as its competition and boasts a couple bullet points that outweigh the others. The next one I want to try out is made by a company called eset. They say on their site that they were awarded by some major publications, but I think I found them through a google search and not by reading one of the reviews.

Thats all for now. Hope the info helps.

Posted in Software, Virus Removal - 1 Comment

The Vundo Trojan (aka Virtumonde or Virtumondo) as been the focus of my detestation for a little while now. Whenever I am researching symptoms there is always someone out there who says, ‘Could be Vundo. Run Vundo removal programs.’ In the worst cases I have found that this trojan or at least one of the strains of this trojan will cause a PC to run extremely slow. I am talking get coffee and drink it all during startup. Its purpose is also to download other baddies to spatter ads in your face and some of them can be quite a nuisance to remove. Norton has made a removal tool/scanner for vundo and there is at least one private source for another scanner/cleaner. Depending on what variation of the trojan and how long it has been burrowing in your system feeding off your bandwidth these scanners may not completely remove it all.

Anyway, the real reason I wanted to write this post is while I have been researching this problem and its removal I found a cause. The good folks over at atribune.org say on their instructions that one of the main ways vundo can get into your machine is through exploits in older versions of java and java runtime environment. This makes sense to me because when you are redirected to the java web site to download a updated version it will download and install the latest version, but it will not remove the past version during the installation. So if you go into your Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs you should see all the different versions of this program that you have had on your machine. You should remove these leaving only the latest versions.

The latest as of this post is ‘Java 6 Update 5′ and ‘Java SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1′. When in doubt just remove them all and go to Java.com to download the latest.

Well thats all for now. Keep safe. If you need protection check out rsltech.com/ads.php

Posted in Virus Removal - 2 Comments

If you aren’t using an online map to find businesses then you should be. A simple search on google maps and you can find a business, its location, directions, and satellite photos (great for scoping out parking). I use this site daily even if I just need a phone number.

Just the existence of such a service is great for small business, but the best part is that the listing is free. If you haven’t already please go to maps.google.com and search for your business (ex: ‘RSL Tech in 27870′). You may already be listed by information found by google in your phone book listing. Either way you can edit your existing listing or create a new one for free complete with a description, hours, method of payment, and even printable coupons. You can create a login for google if you don’t already have one for their many services and claim an existing listing as your own or add your own business. You can even drag and drop the pin on the map to be more accurate for customers trying to find you.

After you are done you can do the same thing for local.yahoo.com and superpages.com. If you are listed on these pages and in the phone book you should automatically show up on mapquest.com, but I haven’t found a way to edit that listing yet. I believe it is powered by the new aol local search.

Anyway… thats all for now. More to come.

Posted in Marketing - No Comments