October 9th, 2009
Costa Rodis Computer Consulting is making a new beginning by refocusing primarily on the Mom & Pop businesses of northern New Jersey under a new name: Bergen IT. My aim is to provide computer services for these businesses that they have previously found too expensive or inadequate for their needs. I tailor my services to meet their business goals efficiently and at a fair price.
I will continue to serve professionals and consumers at their homes, of course. No-one will be left behind. However, as more and more of my clients are small local businesses, that’s where my energies will be concentrated.
On offer to small businesses are these services:
- Hardware and software installation and configuration
- Hardware repair, including computers and printers
- Hardware and software upgrades
- Maintenance of networks, servers, PCs, and peripherals
- Security checks, upgrades, and maintenance
- Project management
- Programming
- Custom computer building
This website will soon be transformed to BergenIT.biz. It’s an exciting time and I look forward to being a big part of many businesses in the area.
- Costa Rodis
Tags: Bergen IT, computer services, Consulting, New Jersey, professionals
Posted in Consulting, Hardware, PCs, Programming, Project Management, Repair, Security, Software | No Comments »
May 20th, 2009
Vista bombed and most Windows users prefer XP. With another version of Windows around the corner, most clients I’ve spoken with are leery. They can accept Vista, but most complain it’s too slow or not as easy to use as XP, Microsoft’s claims to the contrary.
Will Windows 7 fill the gaping hole of Vista? While some (not all) versions of Windows 7 provide XP compatibility, this feature will not work on many computers since it’s designed to work only with certain processors. People who have stayed away from Vista for compatibility reasons will end up trying to do the same with Windows 7. But while XP has been available so far for building new computers or for use on netbooks, Microsoft will soon stop selling and supporting it.
Users will have no choice but to move to Vista or Windows 7 on new computers. Or they can get a Mac.
Want advice on getting a new computer? Call or write me and I’ll be happy to help you.
Posted in Consulting, Macs, PCs, Software, windows | No Comments »
December 1st, 2008
To Buy or Not to Buy
In tough times it’s hard to justify the purchase of a new computer, whether for business or home use. But your computer is getting long in the tooth, and it shows it with long bootups, slow program starts, and web pages that just take too long to load. What to do?
If your computer has five or more years on it, your best bet is to go ahead and invest in a new computer. You’ll get a lot more bang for the buck now than you did when you got your current computer, and prices are the lowest now that you’re likely to see.
But if your computer has less than five years on it, a few low-cost upgrades will greatly improve its performance – and your stress level.
Clean Up Time
Before you do anything else, clean up your hard drive. This means ridding it of virtual junk. Start by removing all programs that you don’t and won’t use. Just go to the Control Panel and go into Add/Remove Programs. When the application list comes up, scroll through it and stop at those programs you know you don’t need. (If it’s something you don’t recognize, don’t touch it – this application may be necessary but unfamiliar to you, like a printer driver or an audio driver.) Uninstall those useless programs to free up hard drive space and even RAM. Many programs run in the background, waiting to be called upon. If they’re not being used, they just slow things down.
I highly recommend CCleaner, a free clean up tool that you can find at www.ccleaner.com. Run it to clear out temporary internet files, temporary Windows files, cookies, and other Windows detritus that clog up the works.
Memory
Upgrading your RAM can make a huge difference. If you have less than 1 GB of RAM installed, Windows is operating at subpar levels. By upgrading to at least 1 GB of RAM you’ll see marked improvement with bootup, program starts, and even editing. These days I recommend going up to 2 GB of RAM when using Windows XP, but some computers may not allow you to go that high. Many RAM vendors (such as www.4allmemory.com) can check your computer to let you know how much RAM you currently have installed and how much more it can take. If you have any questions on ordering RAM and installing, please give me a call and I’ll be happy to help.
Hard Drive
Photos, music, and videos can take up an enormous amount of space on your hard drive. If you have a hard drive of 80 GB or less, you may be running out of room. By “cloning” your existing hard drive and moving everything to a new hard drive with between 160 GB and 1 TB of space, you’ll get a lot of acreage for all your current and future files.
Video
Upgrading to a new video card can make a big difference in what you see displayed on your monitor, especially if you play games, edit photos or videos, or work with graphics. Graphics run faster with more accurate colors and deeper hues when the video card is replaced with an upgrade.
Life Extension
Upgrades such as those explained above can give your computer new life, extending its usability for another two or three years at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a new computer.
If you’re ready to upgrade your computer, or if you could use some help in determining whether to upgrade or replace, contact me and I’ll be more than happy to help.
Tags: applications, buy, clean, cookies, hard drive, invest, programs, purchase, RAM, temporary files, uninstall, upgrade, video, windows, Windows XP
Posted in Consulting, Hardware, PCs, Software | No Comments »
May 4th, 2008
It’s time to clean up your computer, both virtually and physically.
Lots of dust and dirt gets in your computer case over the winter, which you can see by removing the side panel of your computer (after disconnecting the power cord, of course). These are the basic problems with dust in your machine:
- Electronic components such as capacitors and processor chips overheat when covered with even a thin layer of dust, which acts like an insulator. Overheating reduces the lifespan of these components and can lead to an early retirement for your computer.
- The vents at the front and back of your computer get clogged, blocking air flow. Without air flowing through, your components – including discs and video cards – overheat and fail sooner than they should.
I recommend blowing out the dust and dirt with compressed air. But do it outside or you’ll end up with dust bunnies and worse all over your desk or floor. Remember to blow out the vents in the front and back of the computer so that cool air can flow through unimpeded.
When you get your computer back up and running, you’ll find it actually runs a little faster. Five or ten minutes of cleaning can have very positive results.
A virtual cleaning means cleaning out cookies, spyware, adware, and temporary files. Running two antispy programs can effectively take care of most of these issues. Programs like PCTools will also automate temporary file cleanup, too. Having thousands of temporary files gather up can slow down your computer and/or your browser considerably. Cleaning these out can make a huge difference.
If your computer is a good candidate for a cleaning, just give me a call. I’ll come out and take care of it for you.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
- Costa
Tags: computer pc cleaning dusting overheating ventilation
Posted in Hardware, PCs | No Comments »
March 13th, 2008
At the request of clients, I have been building computers that meet their specific needs for the last five years. While similarly configured computers can be purchased from the likes of HP or Dell for $200 or $300 less, they come to the purchaser preloaded with software they don’t want or need and hardware (hard drive, DVD drive, etc.) of lower quality.
Unlike the big computer vendors, the computers I build stand up well over time. Only one computer – built for high-end gaming – has needed warranty work over the last five years.
Most of the computers I build are for businesses. Almost all of these businesses have opted for small form factor computers to reduce the space they take on and under desks. The size of these PCs is one-half to one-third that of the typical tower computer. And their performance bests that of similarly priced computers from Dell and HP while being quieter and less obtrusive.
As for warranty, parts are covered for the first year after purchase, and service is covered for the first two years.
If you’re interested in a great new computer that runs circles around the big dogs, contact me at cr@costarodis.com. I’ll build you exactly what you need.
Tags: business, clients, computer, custom, Dell, gaming, HP, PC, PCs, quality, small form factor, Software, tower, warranty
Posted in Consulting, Hardware, PCs | No Comments »
February 24th, 2008
A preferred customer always gets the best deals: a cut in the consulting rate and/or no travel charge, for example.
Who are my preferred customers? Well, that’s easy. They’re the clients who use my services frequently, refer me to new potential clients, and who pay promptly and in full.
Become a preferred customer not only to save on each appointment, but also to keep a technological advantage over your competitors. Contact me now for an appointment at cr@costarodis.com or at 201-689-1823.
Tags: preferred customers clients rates deals
Posted in Consulting, PCs | No Comments »
January 2nd, 2008
Welcome to 2008!
Will Vista be compelling and usable enough for more people to move to it this year? 2007 was supposed be the yea of Vista, but it didn’t pan out as most people opted to stick with Windows XP. 2008 will be marginally better for Microsoft as more people get new computers with Vista pre-installed. Until the next version of Windows is released, XP is likely to remain the strongest choice for Windows users throughout this year and next.
While there are good advances in computer security, malware moves faster and harder. The threats we’ll face in 2008 will be just as great as last year. Spam will remain relentless, and virus writers and phishers just get more clever all the time. It’s more important than ever to keep your security patches up to date and to be sure to be running strong antivirus and antispyware software. Mac users are not as immune as they once thought; as the Mac gains market share, malware is starting to target Apple products. Keep alert!
On the home networking front, Microsoft has released an interesting and very useful new operating system: Windows Home Server. HP and other vendors are selling low-cost boxes with this OS pre-installed. Users will find connecting their home computers easier, centralized backups of all computer files automated, and sharing of media files – music, photos, and videos – a breeze. Home Server can be purchased separately for installation on any computer that you would like to use as a home-based server. I’ll be looking at this product more extensively as the year progresses.
Later this year there will be further hardware advances, too. Inkjet printers will get much faster while retaining high quality. (Of course, there’s always the question of the cost of the ink to consider.) AMD and Intel will continue competing in the processor area with quad chips and energy efficiency. Flash technology is also moving forward; we should see faster and higher capacity flash drives later in the year.
As always, I look forward to your comments and questions.
Have a great 2008!
Tags: 2007, 2008, AMD, Apple, flash, home server, HP, inkjet, Intel, Mac, malware, microsoft, OS, phishing, printers, Security, spyware, virus, Vista, windows, Windows Home Server, XP
Posted in Hardware, Macs, PCs, Security, Software | No Comments »
November 15th, 2007
When it comes to computer security, most people either ignore it completely or jump into it without much thought.
A client recently came calling for help when his computer could no longer boot into Windows – he was presented with a “blue screen of death” (BSOD) indicating that the boot record could not be read. After replacing his non-functional CD drive, I loaded a Windows disc, jumped to the Repair option, and chose to use Fixboot from the command line. This didn’t do the trick immediately; I had to run CHKDSK first and then Fixboot to get into Windows.
The first thing I saw on getting into Windows was a dialog box from a utility called System Doctor. It claimed to be scanning for viruses and malware and had a short list of found items already displayed. A quick internet search (on another computer, naturally) brought to light the information that this software actually installs viruses and malware rather than fighting it. Hmmm. The last time I saw this computer, System Doctor was not on it. Of course I removed it and 33 other viruses and 800 other instances of malware to get the PC back up and running.
Where did System Doctor come from? As it turned out, my client’s wife decided that she needed to get something to combat viruses. She saw System Doctor advertised as a free solution and immediately downloaded and installed it. Rather than helping her out, the program made things progressively worse.
The lesson can be hard to learn: don’t download and install anything that advertises itself as a security solution. Do some research first, or give me a call. I’m happy to point you to security software that actually works as advertised, whether free or not.
Tags: antivirus, malware, Security, spyware, virus
Posted in PCs, Security, Software | 1 Comment »
October 26th, 2007
I’ve been coming across a good number of PCs with expired security subscriptions lately. One client had a computer with Norton Antivirus 2004 on it, but expired by nearly 2 years. The result? 53 instances of viruses and trojans, making the cleanup complex and lengthy. These bad seeds also brought in a good bit of spyware – over 200 instances of it, with over 5oo instances of adware on top of that. To say this PC was running slow would be exaggerating; it was glacial until I eliminated the malware and deleted temporary files from various locations.
And this has not been an unusual case. It’s typical of what I’ve been seeing lately, especially on computers that are more than two years old. If you currently have antivirus/security software that you’re happy using, don’t let the subscription lapse – renew it before it expires or you may end up with an unusable computer on your hands.
If you’re not happy with your security software, shop around for a better fit. Many of my clients like Grisoft AVG (www.grisoft.com or free.grisoft.com), which is available as both a free version and a paid version for consumers, and others have had an excellent experience with NOD32 (www.eset.com). The advantage of these products over Symantec/Norton and McAfee is that they do not slow down your system to nearly the same degree while providing excellent protection.
Don’t forget to supplement your antivirus product with one or two good antispyware applications. It’s hard to say which is best since spyware is constantly “improving” and the antispyware products are hard-pressed to keep up. This means that the product that seems to do the best job today is likely to be superseded by another tomorrow. I find that decent base-level protection can be achieved by installing Microsoft’s Windows Defender (go to www.microsoft.com and click on the Security link to download it). But it’s important to add another antispyware program to catch more of the nasties. At the very least, download and install AdAware (www.lavasoft.com) or Grisoft AVG-Antispyware (www.grisoft.com or free.grisoft.com). For more robust protection, you may want to check out Webroot Spy Sweeper (www.webroot.com) or PC Tools Spyware Doctor (www.pctools.com).
Of course, letting your Windows Update lapse is not a great idea either. Windows Update patches Windows security flaws found by Microsoft and others. Viruses and other malware take advantage of unpatched machines to infect them. The result can be identity theft, the use of your computer to infect other machines, or the loss of data.
So get on top of things and keep your computer secure! If you need help locking down your computer and eliminating malware, contact me right away.
Tags: antispyware, antivirus, avg, malware, mcafee, microsoft, nod32, norton, pc tools, Security, spy sweeper, spyware, symantec, virus, webroot, windows, windows update
Posted in PCs, Security, Software | 9 Comments »
October 23rd, 2007
As I mentioned at a recent LeTip meeting, more and more Dell Dimension computers that were new 3 to 5 years ago are ending up on my workbench due to system board or hard drive errors or failures. One failure I’ve been seeing with increasing frequency is the network interface module on the motherboard corrupting or failing. In most instances, it’s a small matter to throw in a PCI network interface card, but it is indicative of a motherboard on its way to the recycling center. It’s clearly time to start budgeting for a new box.
I’m recommending that my clients with these PCs should start considering purchasing new computers or, if they have specific needs, have me build a custom PC for them. Both Dell and HP make decent consumer-level and business-class Windows PCs, but with Gateway having recently been purchased by Acer, I’m pointing people away from Gateway until things settle down there.
When it comes to notebooks/laptops, if you’re on the road a lot you should get a Lenovo ThinkPad, which holds up better than most notebooks on the market. If you don’t travel a good deal, then both Dell and HP are good bets. Sony and Toshiba laptops are good, too, but don’t age as well.
If you have any questions about how to find the right replacement computer for your aging machine, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll point you in the right direction and will gladly help you with transferring your data from your old PC to your spanking new computer.
Tags: custom, data, Dell, HP, laptop, notebook, PC, replacement, Sony, Toshiba
Posted in Hardware, PCs | 1 Comment »
