Well, first of all, you do not have to get one with Windows Vista or Windows 7.  As a Dell Premier Re-seller we can still order computers, both laptops and desktops, with Windows XP Professional.  The nice thing is they come dual licensed and with software to upgrade to Windows 7 when you are ready.

That being said here are things to consider:

What Operating System will your software and hardware run on?  Some software and some hardware out there still doesn’t like Vista.  If you purchase a PC with Vista or Windows 7 be prepared for some challenges.

Suggested memory by Operating System:

Windows XP – 1 Gig minimum, 2 Gig maximum

Windows Vista – 3 Gig minimum, 4 Gig maximum

Windows 7 – Microsoft says 1 Gig minimum for 32-bit and 2 Gig minimum for 64-bit.  I say 2 Gig minimum period and preferably 3or 4 Gig.

Also, keep this in mind DDR3 memory chips are better to have than DDR2.

Hard Disk Considerations:

Look for speed as well as size.  Having a 250GB 7200rpm drive will make your system run better than a 250GB 5400rpm drive.  Personally…I’d rather have a 250GB 7200rpm drive than a 360GB 5400 rpm.

Video Card Requirements:

If you can get a PC with a dedicated video card, rather than an integrated video card, your system will run better and perhaps look better as well.  Depends on your monitor of course.  Unless you are a true gamer, you won’t need one with 512MB, but 128MB to 256MB would do nicely.

Sound Card Requirements:

Unless you plan on using your system as a music system, the integrated sound cards in systems today do a fine job.  It is really the speakers that you need to pay attention to if you want really good sound.

Well there are other things to consider depending on what you want to do with your system, but that really needs to be discussed individually.

And, if you want to take advantage of this service, we offer to let you sit down with us in our office and we’ll custom specify a computer for you with just what you want and nothing you don’t want.  Then we’ll have Dell build a system just for you.  And, we can usually get this for you for less than you could buy it yourself.  Sometimes the system ship within 48 hours.

Dennis “The Computer Guy” Wilson

Dennis@TheComputerGuysLLC.com

We’re on Facebook, MSN Live, Twitter, Linked In and Go Chamberbook.  Oh and there is a P.S.

PS We can offer a brand new Dell PC with Windows 7 for $359 plus shipping tax!  (Or if paid with other than plastic, $349 plus shipping and tax.) This is a limited time offer and this system should not be purchased if you will be doing anything but web surfing,social networking and e-mail.  You must pay for the system before it is ordered.

We would like to help our FB friends and Blog readers avoid a service call. 

If you have more than one PC in your home or small office and all of them suddenly cannot surf the web, then the likely culprit is your Internet Service Provider.  Please always call your ISP before incurring a billable service call. 

If a computer service company comes on site and it turns out to be a problem with your ISP, then you will be billed for a minimum one-hour visit even though the problem is not able to be resolved until you get your service re-established.

Another little tip....If your Internet service is working and your ISP suddenly sends you some software in the mail and you aren't expecting it, do not load it without first checking with them to make sure you really have to load it.  Sometimes the software they send out "breaks" things.  And then you have to hire a company like ours to come out and fix what they broke.

is on a conference call for the Board of Aubrey's Song Foundation checking last minute details for the annual dinner.

63 years  later.



In  MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER

Please  read the little cartoon carefully, it's  powerful. Then read the comments at the  end.
I'm doing my small part by  forwarding this message. I hope you'll consider  doing the same.

In  Memoriam

It  is now more than 60 years after the Second World  War in Europe ended  This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain,  in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million  Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900  Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred,  raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German, Russian, and American Peoples looking the other  way!

Now, more than ever,  with Iraq, Iran,  and others, claiming  the Holocaust to  be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the  world never forgets, because there are others  who would like to do it again.

This is intended to reach 40 million people  worldwide!

Join us and be a link in the  memorial chain and help us distribute it around  the world.
Please send a link to this item to 10  people you know and ask them to continue  the memorial  chain.

Here's to US!!!!

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,

WE ARE AMAZING !!!!

OUR LIFE IS LIVING PROOF !!!!

To Those of  Us  Born

1930 - 1979

At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno.. If you don't read anything else, please read what he said.

Very well stated, Mr. Leno.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! 

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight..   WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on..

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps

and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

~

The quote of the month is by

Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this.

For the rest of us...pass this on.

That’s right.  Some employers are now asking for your credentials to get into your social networking sites. 

Here is a clip from an article:

Last June, the city of Bozeman, Mont., became notorious when it implemented a policy that required anyone applying to a city job to hand over logins and passwords for any social networking sites they used. We're not just talking about Facebook and MySpace, either. They wanted access to chat rooms and forums frequented by applicants. After people made a fuss about the invasive policy, Bozeman officials backed down and decided to adjust their application requirements.

That type of interview requirement doesn't seem to have caught on with other employers. Then again, Victory Christian School in North Augusta, S.C., recently announced it wants its students to hand over the same information if they might be acting in a way not in line with the school's policies.

Perhaps job seekers should expect to experience these demands sooner than later. Naturally, questions arise: Is this legal? What if I don't hand over my information? What's the point to all this?

To finish reading the whole article go to:  http://tinyurl.com/Employer-wants-FB-pswd

Please give us some feedback.  What do you think about this?  We’d love to know. (We think it is outrageous.)

Dennis

http://TheComputerGuysLLC.spaces.live.com

Obama Named Country Music Entertainer of the Year
Surprise Selection Shocks  Nashville

NASHVILLE (The Borowitz Report) - President Barack Obama stunned the country music world today by picking up its highest honor, Country Music Entertainer of the Year.

Mr. Obama was chosen unanimously, according to the Country Music Association, beating out such favorite as Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith.

In  Nashville , country music insiders were shocked by Mr. Obama's selection, given that he has only been in office for eight months and during that time has yet to record a single country song.

But Mr. Obama was gracious in receiving the honor, saying that he was "honored and humbled" by the award before excusing himself to accept this year's Heisman Trophy.

I used to tell my clients and friends about the Microsoft On-line videos and hadn’t thought about them in quite a while.  Then this morning I ran across them and thought I would share them with you.

If you want to know some basic information on what viruses, worms, trojans etc are and how to keep you PC safer, notice I did not say SAFE, then watch these two videos.  They are short and “user-friendly.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/videos/securityoverview-hi.html

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/videos/Updates/UpdatesHi.html

If you would like more information about this stuff go to:

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/default.aspx

Have blessed and safer computing day!

As a member of our Community Emergency Response Team, a FEMA sub-group, I receive notices from the FBI on terrorism threats etc.  Part of the threat warning system also discuss items involving cyber-security.  This morning I received the following item:

The FBI is warning the public to be aware of three new fraudulent e-mails that are currently in circulation. One claims to contain "Intelligence Bulletin No. 267;" another purports to be from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI Counterterrorism Division; and the third claims to contain an FBI intelligence bulletin from the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. Do not click on any links contained in these or similar e-mails; they are hoaxes and may contain viruses or malicious software.

Please do not forward this item.  However, if you wish to provide a link to friends and family you may use the following:

  http://thecomputerguysllc.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E351816740E32BA!2207.entry

Have a great day and watch out for fraud attempts.  They are rampant.

Dennis Wilson

The Computer Guys LLC

P.S.  Have you made a backup of your documents and pictures lately?  If not, do so now.

Have a favorite charity?  Would you like to donate to them simply by surfing the web?  It’s true.  You can have your favorite charity receive donations every time you search for anything.

Below is a little snippet from their website:

We all have a cause we care about - whether it's finding a cure for cancer, saving the environment, finding homes for abandoned pets or so many other worthwhile endeavors. But what we don't all have is the time or money to support these efforts as much as we'd like. So, what if we could raise money for our favorite charities and schools by doing something we do every day — searching the Internet?

That's the question Ken Ramberg (the former founder of JOBTRAK, now a division of Monster.com) and JJ Ramberg (an MSNBC anchor and the former Director of Marketing at Cooking.com) asked themselves a few years ago. After realizing what a fraction of the $8 billion generated annually by search engine advertisers could do if it were directed towards organizations trying to make the world a better place, they launched GoodSearch in 2005.

GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It's a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it's powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search…

For more detail go to:  http://www.goodsearch.com/about.aspx

Dennis “The Computer Guy” Wilson

http://TheComputerGuysLLC.spaces.live.com

http://TheComputerGuysLLC.com

Today someone successfully spammed a huge number of Skype users with an Instant Message that looks like it is from Skype.  It is not.  It is an attack on your PC.  Please do not follow the instructions on it.

The message reads as follows:

[3:15:23 PM] Online Notification: ******************************************
URGENT SYSTEM SCAN NOTIFICATION ! PLEASE READ CAREFULLY !!

http://www.updatesec.com/

For the link to become active, please click on 'Add to contacts' skype button or type it in manually into your web browser !

FULL DETAILS OF SCAN RESULT BELOW
******************************************

WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

ATTENTION ! Security Center has detected
malware on your computer !

Affected Software:

Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution / Virus Infection /
Unexpected shutdowns

Recommendation: Users running vulnerable version should install a repair utility immediately

Your system IS affected, download the patch from the address below !
Failure to do so may result in severe computer malfunction.

http://www.updatesec.com/

For the link to become active, please click on 'Add to contacts' skype button or type it in manually into your web browser !

I ran across an article today that I thought some of the more advanced readers might want to try.  Please note, I have not tested the software referred in this article and I am not endorsing it.  I just thought knowing some of my readers they want to play around with it. 

Here is the opening paragraph taken directly from the site:

“Laptops are stolen all of the time. And recovering a stolen laptop is made very difficult when steps have not been taken to help this task get accomplished. Prey is an open source application, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, that can help you out when your laptop is stolen. Prey takes an ingenious approach to laptop recovery; because once it is installed, it will send timed reports to a configured email address containing information describing its whereabouts.”

Go to http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=1543&tag=nl.e064 if you wish to read the whole article.

Dennis “The Computer Guy” Wilson

http://TheComputerGuysLLC.spaces.live.com

ANY PET LOVERS LOOKING FOR TWO LABS?
Subject: Seeking Home for 2 Family Dogs- Two gorgeous labs  trained
If you can ' t help, please forward & thank you!
Cookie and Coco
Even if you cant take them, please pass this around!
Contact: Katherine at:kjmorris74@yahoo.com

We are moving overseas in just 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I have still not been able to find a good home for Cookie and Coco . We ' re not able to take our beloved doggies with us and I ' ve been desperately trying to find a home for both of them ' together ' . They were raised together and pine without each other. The Lab rescue have already said that they would probably separate them, so this is my last resort. Recently I tried to take Coco out in my car alone and she TOTALLY refused to even get into the car without Cookie......!!!! She absolutely pulled back on her haunches until Cookie was by her side.

Both doggies are in great health, have been spayed and have ID chips implanted under the skin.
Cookie turned 3 December 10th and Coco turned 3 April 1st. Cookie is my mellow-yellow, and just loves her tummy rubbed. Coco is adorably funny and lives for her "ball." She also loves the water...... Cookie loves lots of attention. Both doggies are loyal and love to walk.. They have been raised with my 3 kids running around all over the place, and have survived Sammy ' s constant hugging and love of ' dress-up ' , so they are fantastic family dogs.. This is by far one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make, but under the circumstances I have no choice.

Please, please forward these pics to all your friends. I want to find a great home for these fabulous doggies. They are just adorable and it ' s heartbreaking to let them go. In a perfect world, I hope that we could find someone local so that we can still keep in touch and visit them. I pray that someone, somewhere can help us keep Cookie and Coco together, and love them just as much as we do.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

***********************************************************************************************************************

Now…this is from Dennis….help!  My wife wants them and we already have to 4 footed daughters.  We don’t need more right now and I don’t think our oldest lab Molly would be very welcoming anyway.

I am pretty excited about the improvements to Internet Explorer version 8.  Yes, I know a lot of you have started using Google’s Chrome browser, or Firefox or even Opera or Flock.  But, if you have not made that switch and are still using Internet Explorer, you may want to give serious consideration to IE8.  Or, if you switched to one of the others and haven’t looked at IE in a long time, you may want to download IE8 and give a spin.  You can always use more than one browser.  I know I do.

Microsoft has several videos available on IE8 so that you can learn more about the new features and benefits of IE8.  The link we provide here, IE8 Video, takes you to the main page for their videos on IE8. 

After you watch this one, just scroll down the page a bit and you’ll see the other videos.  We feel they are worth taking the few minutes to view and should make your surfing experience a lot more enjoyable.  (Even if you fancy yourself an “expert” or very knowledgeable user, you still might learn a thing or two.)

Dennis “The Surfer” Wilson

The Computer Guys LLC

http://www.TheComputerGuysLLC.spaces.live.com

We invite you to share the following with all your friends and family.  You don’t have to email this, you can simply send a link.  (http://TheComputerGuysLLC.spaces.live.com) Copy and paste that link into your email, or if you want to send them directly to this, click on the link at the bottom that says “Permalink,” and then copy and paste the long link that comes up at the top of your browser.

When A Soldier Comes Home

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard....

..to listen to his son whine about being bored.

....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes.

To be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.

..to be silent when people pray to God for a new car.

...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

..to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.

....to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.

....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.

....to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.

....to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.

.....to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.

....to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.

....to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.
The only thing harder than being a Soldier.. 

Is loving one.

Published on http://TheComputerGuysLLC.spaces.live.com

And here is a shout-out to Big Sarge Warnock, my son-in-law and good friend, who retired from the US Army after 20 years of service to his countrymen.  ~~Dennis “The Computer Guy” Wilson

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, 'Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.'

'Yes,' the class said.

'Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?'

Dennis “The Computer Guy” Wilson

http://TheComputerGuysLLC.com

Ok..so it has nothing to do with computers….I just liked it.

The main scripture for this coming Sunday is Phil. 3:17-21.  As the “Worship Leader” or “Song Leader” preparing for the worship service my job is to try to put together a list and order of songs to go along with the sermon.  When I start this task each time, I start with reading from God’s word the scripture and usually look to see what various translations say.  This week, as with most weeks, I started out with the paraphrase by Eugene Petersen called “The Message.”  I really liked his rendering of this particular passage and wanted to share it with my Blog Readers, FB Friends and Linked In Contacts.  So here it is, I hope you are edified by this rendering of the passage:

Philippians 3:17 - 21 (TMSG) “¹⁷Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal.  ¹⁸There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross.  ¹⁹But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites. ²⁰But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ,  ²¹who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him. “

I don’t know about you  but I keep His Spirit pretty busy trying to “make us beautiful!”

While we enjoyed our visit to the church Chestnut Ridge in West Virginia this past week, we do look forward to being with our local church family this coming Lord’s Day and we hope that you will be with your church family this coming Lord’s Day.

In His loving grip of truly amazing grace,

Dennis

http://TheComputerGuysLLC.spaces.live.com

While reading an article on how to prevent or detect and remove malicious software I learned of a site that you really should visit.  This site offers a scanning tool to not only tell you if you have some vulnerabilities, but provides the link to download the update to patch the vulnerability.

Check it out.

http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

Disclaimer:  We do not own any interest in the company or its products and services.  We are not responsible for any damages either direct or indirect to your system or data.  You are using this software at your own risk.