The new school semester is about to begin. I’m sure all of your pencils are sharpened, pens at the ready, books bought; you’re ready to take on the world.  But one underlying question remains…is your computer ready? Perhaps you just got a brand-spankin’-new laptop for Christmas, or you’ve had one since you started college.  As you begin every new semester, you’d better make sure that your computer is up to the task as well.  Here’s a little helpful advice.

If you don’t already have a computer and are in the market to buy one, I’m not going to recommend any particular brand as one being better than the other.  What you’re going to have to look at is the hardware.  Simply put, any PC you buy is going to have VISTA running on it.  Whether you love it or hate it, you’re stuck with it as Microsoft isn’t planning on continuing support for Windows XP for much longer (sad though that may be).  VISTA is a resource hog, so you’re going to want a decent processor and AT LEAST TWO GIGABYTES of RAM (or MEMORY, dependant upon the wording of your local bigbox store).  By all means stay away from anything running VISTA BASIC as it will most assuredly be running 512 MEGABYTES of RAM which is essentially useless (though the laptop or desktop may be cheaper, assume it’s the plague and run).  VISTA HOME PREMIUM is generally what you’ll be getting, and with SERVICE PACK 1 to boot, so you’re already ahead of the game.  Hard Drive space is relative to what your personal needs are, so I won’t quibble about that.  That’s a decision that’s going to be entirely up to you (though Desktops these days have way more than your standard college co-ed’s going to need in so far as HDD space goes, but most of you are probably going to be getting laptops, so let’s stick with that thinking).  You can get more RAM if you choose, but 2GB should do you unless you plan on doing a little gaming on the side, but that’s a whole other post.  VISTA HOME PREMIUM will only see 3.5GB anyway at the 32 bit level of the OS.  If you choose to go with the 64 bit version, you can pop a great deal more in.  Laptops these days vary as to whether or not you’re getting the 32 or 64 bit versions of the OS, so take a look at the specifications when buying.  At this point, most hardware is working with the 64 bit version and it’s a great deal faster and a bit more stable than the 32 bit, but no so much that it should make too much of a difference upon your buying choice.  While out buying, if you want to get a printer (as some professors still require you turn in paper copies of your, er, um, well, papers), I’d go for a laser printer over inkjet.  The quality is better, and though toner may be pricier than ink, you’ll run out in less time.  Laser printers are also a bit pricier than inkjets, though the extra dollars are worth it in that laser printers tend to, you know, work, whereas inkjet printers are generally slower, clunkier, and tend to break down more often.  I’d also suggest purchasing an external Hard Drive. Seagate and Western Digital are two of my favourite brands, but, once again, it’s up to you.  The reason for this is that, as I always say, BACK UP EVERYTHING.  You never know when your machine is going to crash or catch a nasty Trojan and you’ll have to wipe it, so it’s good to back up all of your documents.  While I’m on this subject, having a USB flash drive or two around will also be handy, not only for limited backup capability, but for transportability of your papers and projects they’re essential.

Now you need to understand that the computer you are purchasing, laptop or desktop, is going to have a lot of trial and junkware installed on it already, stuff you’re not going to need in the least and the sort of thing that will simply eat up resources and bog things down.  This includes trials for games and a lot of other garbage vendors pay manufacturers to install.  Most of it, perhaps all of it, you won’t need.  More on that later.  Along with everything else, the Antivirus and MS OFFICE that will be installed on your machine will only be trialware, meaning you’ll have between 30-60 days until that trial license is up and then you’re going to need the real deal.  For most of your collegiate needs, MS OFFICE HOME AND STUDENT edition will cover it, unless you’re a big OUTLOOK user, in which case, that comes seperately, or by buying a way more expensive version of office like MS OFFICE STANDARD edition, which is over $100 more than HOME AND STUDENT.  I’d suggest looking at the ads as HOME AND STUDENT can vary in price between $99 and $149 depending on whether or not a particular store is having a sale.

Now let’s talk about antivirus.  This is extremely important and most college networks won’t even let you on without it.  I’d check with your particular college, as, sometimes, they dictate what antivirus to go with.  If not, you have a few options available.  My particular favourite FREE antivirus is AVG , so you can check that out if you’re not hindered down.  My favourite PAID antivirus is KASPERSKY, but there are other choices such as NORTON ANTIVIRUS, TREND MICRO ANTIVIRUS, and McAFee.  You could go with the whole INTERNET SECURITY SUITE for any of these, but it really isn’t necessary as VISTA comes with a firewall already built into the OS (turned on by default and a very decent one at that).  You could always purchase an AntiSpyware program, but there’s really no actual need with the protection you’ll already have from the firewall and antivirus software, but if you feel so inclined, go for it.

NOW, back to all that junkware/bloatware garbage I was mentioning earlier.  You could try to go through and remove it all yourself, but I’d really suggest taking it into THE TECH FELLOWS for a cleanup.  Oh, and if you’re going to install the full version of an antivirus, you’ll need to take the existing version off (trial or not), as , if you don’t and the two are installed simultaneously, what you’ll have is a full-on OS corruption, making your machine useless.  There are particular tools out there to uninstall the trial antivirus software, or even the out-of-date A/V software you may have on your already existing machine, and they ARE NECESSARY as A/V software tends to embed itself within the registry of your OS, making it difficult to remove without the right tools.  THE TECH FELLOWS can help with that as well with a simple $29 TUNE UP that’ll have your computer running the way it should and ready to go.  This TUNE UP would include getting rid of all that junkware and removing trial versions of anything you specify.

This applies not only to brand new machines, but old ones as well.  If your laptop or desktop isn’t running as fast as it could be, if it’s full of the junkware and trial-ware it came with, then bring it on down to our shop and let us get it running the way it should be.  With THE TECH FELLOWS TUNE UP and the advice above, your computer will be as ready as you are to go back to school.

Until next time, thanks for visiting THE TECH FELLOWS website.  And remember, for all your tech needs, leave it to us, THE TECH FELLOWS.

If you’re like just about anyone else who uses a computer at all (i.e. if you don’t live under a rock, or if you’re reading this), you’ve more than likely run into the great plague of Viruses, Trojans, Spyware, Malware, etc. etc. And like most, you’ve no doubt seen the outrageous cost of Antivirus Software out there, not to mention the sheer volume of available products.
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