Best PC Reno has launched a new service division – eBay Trading Assistant service. We help our customers sell their unnecessary stuff on eBay for a fee. They sell a wide variety of items including clothes, household gadgets, tools, computers, etc. Their junks could someone’s treasures!

If you are interested in selling your items and would like to know more details, please feel free to contact us at eBay@bestpcreno.com

For a limited time, we offer Free Listing that means there is no upfront cost to you.

Sales Tactics?

I’ve heard many people saying they hated Windows Vista and upgraded to Windows 7.  Even Microsoft didn’t seem to make any efforts to sell Vista after people began complaining about it.  If you go to a big-box retail store having an issue with a Windows Vista computer, I guarantee you will be recommended to buy a Windows 7 computer in the most cases (even though every hardware is working properly).  They usually tell “Windows Vista is bad”, “Nobody is using Windows Vista”, “Windows 7 is much better”, and so on.  It is their natural behavior because that’s how they are trained to make profits.  They are trained to sell products and retain customers by offering additional services.  Nothing wrong for selling, but sometimes the customers are taken advantages due to the lack of their knowledge.  The computers users just want their computers to run properly all the time, and if they are told “Windows 7 will run much better that what they currently have,” they take the advice.

Is Vista Good ?

Unless your computer is not too old to run Windows Vista properly, I would say you don’t need to upgrade to Windows 7.  Upgrading from Vista to 7 doesn’t give you any major advantages.  More importantly, switching to a new computer requires the rebuilding of your desktop environment.

Best PC Reno currently runs two Windows Vista computers and know major issues with Vista is not Vista itself.  The most common problems come from pre-installed programs.  Whenever you buy a computer from a retail store (online or local), the computer is loaded with many (usually unwanted) programs and utilities.  They slow down the computer and often cause issues.  The same happens to Windows 7 computers as well.  You’ve been probably told something like “This computer come with this, that, that, that, and that . . . . oh and that too”  That means those “eye candies” just slow down your new computer . . . . plus do you want to learn entirely new programs every time you buy a new computer?

Concluding this section, I believe Windows Vista provides you with far better computer experience that what you are told and/or believe.  It just takes some steps to make it happen.  Well . . . every computer needs cares anyway.

Unload Unwanted Pre-Installed Programs

Not all pre-installed programs are as harmful as other programs.  The most harmful and wasting programs are ones that start by themselves when you start a computer and keep running in the background with your knowledge.  Those programs dramatically slow down the computer startup and ongoing processes.

You could uninstall unwanted programs from Control Panel, but there is a free tool designed to remove unwanted pre-installed programs.  It’s called PC Decrapifier and can be downloaded from its official website at http://pcdecrapifier.com/.  It scans your computer for known software that is pre-installed at a fctory and lets you choose which software to uninstall.  You will be surprise to see how many pre-installed programs have been loaded  in your computer.

Install Service Pack 1 & 2

Having the latest service packs and updates is essential to maintain computer performance and security.  For Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 and 2 have been released in addition to uncountable updates that reinforce security, stabilize system, enhance useability, etc.  Vista is known to have some compatibility issues with certain programs and hardware, but those Windows updates tend to fix the issues.

Windows Vista sometimes fails to install a Service Pack because the system lack prerequisite updates.  If you encounter the problem, you can fix it by running System Update Readiness Tool provided by Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821).  Microsoft is trying to make your Vista experience better by providing a solution for this known problem !

Consider Cost-Effective Upgrade

At least 2GB of RAM are recommended to run Windows Vista, and I personally prefer to have some more (like 4GB) as I usually run programs simultaneously.  The most Vista computers have 2 or 4 memory slots on the motherboards, and each slot usually recognizes at least 1GB or RAM.  So, that means your computer can be loaded with at least 2GB of RAM.  Some computers can be loaded with more than 8GB, but the most computer users don’t need that much.

One quick note for memory upgrade: 32-bit edition of Windows (How to determine whether a computer is running a 32-bit version or 64-bit version of the Windows operating system) recognizes up to only 4GB of RAM (Windows Vista Starter 32-bit: 1 GB max) while 64-bit recognizes up to 128GB with some exceptions.  Even though you install more than 4GB to a 32-bit computer, it recognizes only 4GB worth of RAM.

The memory chip market has been greatly fluctuating, but you could easily buy 1Gb RAM for less than $50 in these days.  And, the memory upgrade can be done fairly easy.

Go with Free Tool

There are numerous system tuning programs (free and paid).  Best PC Reno recommends Advanced System Care Free by IObit.  You can read more info about the tool on our previous post (http://www.bestpcreno.com/2011/10/08/i-am-looking-for-easy-way-speed-up-my-computer-any-suggestion/).

Need Help?

I hope I gave you some useful information and made you a happier Vista user.  If there is something Best PC Reno can help you with, please feel free to contact us at our 24/7 customer care center 775-825-8761 or email Help@BestPCReno.com.

Major Applications

Quickbooks and Quicken from Intuit are two most famous accounting and bookkeeping programs.  Usually the former for business use and the latter for personal.  They are loaded with a wide variety of functions (sometimes more than we really need) and are compatible with some other accounting programs.  There are several different packages from the starter package (Quicken Starter: approx $40) to the premier / enterprise package (Quickbooks Enterprise: approx $430).  Some computers even have Quickbooks and/or Quicken pre-installed (either a basic package or a trial software of a more expensive package).

Free Alternative

About a year ago, I have a conversation with one of our customers on how to run business using freely available programs and services.  He’s owned a commercial cleaning service company for years and has been suing Quickbooks.  We talked about some examples:

• Microsoft Office to Open Office or Google Docs
• Photoshop to GIMP
• Storage media to Google Docs
• Contact, calendar, and task management to Google Sync

Finally, his question moved to whether we could replace Quickbooks with a freeware.  He has been using Quickbooks 2005 that provides him with enough functions for running his business.  Upgrading to the latest edition costs him more than $400, so there is no big reason for him to upgrade.  Back then I was using Quickbook 2010.

After the conversation, I did a quick online search for a free accounting program or service.  I found several online accounting services, and I chose to try Wave Accounting (based in Toronto).  It’s been adding new features since it was launched and is now close to a full-blown accounting program.

Why Wave Accounting?

1. Always 100% Free: Wave Accounting is 100% free for the end users.  It generates revenues by offering sponsoring partners (Dell and American Express included) advertising opportunities.  Every time a new feature is added, I can try it immediately and see if I like it.  The development team is actively listening to the users (Facebook and Twitter) and make a lot of efforts to make the users’ wishes happen.  Of course no charge for new features !
2. No More Manual Entries: Wave Accounting is designed to eliminate manual data entries by automatically importing transactions from a bank account(s) and then automatically categorizing transactions into proper accounts.  Every time I manually specify an account, it learns and will categorize a similar transaction accordingly.  The initial setup took me some time to have Wave Accounting learn the spending patterns of my business (like we buy office supplies from Company A while Company B sells us computer parts), but once it was done, everything became automatic.  Only time I manually specify a transaction is when I have a new supplier that has not been in the database yet.
3. Easy and Secured Access: No installation is required.  All I need is a computer with the Internet access.  Everything is securely stored on Wave Accounting server and can be accessed from anywhere.  The security of users’ data is Wave Accounting’s #1 commitment.  All data transmissions are protected by 256-bit encryption that many online stores and online banking use.  The data servers are guarded by several layers of physical and electrical protection to prevent unauthorized access.
4. Easy to Start: No small business has time (and money) to learn a new program.  Everyone wants to focus on what they are the best at.  A main screen called Dashboard on Wave Accounting is really simple with some tabs in plain English – imported transaction, income, expense, report, and setting.  Dashboard visually shows how a business is financially managed – income vs expense, open invoices, bills owed, etc.

What’s Expected?

Wave Accounting is not a complete accounting solution for all businesses . . . yet.  Some most-commonly-used features are missing as of this writing, but I expect they will be integrated to Wave Accounting in the near future.

• Payroll
• Check Printing
• Inventory Control
• Tax Filing (it now gets you detailed reports for filing tax returns)

Want to Know More?

You can find more detailed information on Wave Accounting website at http://waveaccounting.com/

Best PC Reno has been using Wave Accounting as our primary accounting program, so you may want to contact us at Help@BestPCReno.com.

We’ve been using EaseUS Todo Backup Free to backup our computers in a daily basis.  The reason why we like this program include:

• Complete system backup: It backs up not only data but also entire computer image.  With the complete system backup, even in case of hard drive failure, we will be able to get back in business in no time like this:
• Install a new hard drive
• Run a recovery tool to restore the most recent backup
• THAT’S IT !!!  All our data and programs are on the new hard drive.
• Set-and-forget backup: Not many people realize the importance of backup until their computers stop working and they are in a big trouble.  We just don’t backup our computers unless it’s automatic . . . who can remember to run a backup program at the end of every single day, week, month, etc?   EaseUS Todo Backup Free provides you with an easy-to-follow backup scheduling that lets you specify what, how, and when you want to backup your computer.  Once you setup a plan, your computer backs up itself automatically.
• Easy recovery process: As mentioned above, complete system recovery is as easy as 1-2-3 . . . actually there is no 3rd step.  It can be done in 2 steps.  You can also recover your computer data by data.  That means you can restore a particular file or folder off of a backup data file.
• Advanced tools: EaseUS Todo Backup Free offers several advanced tools such as drive cloning, drive image convertor, and partition editor.  The drive cloning tool is used to copy an entire hard drive into another hard drive.  In case of system failure due to hard drive mechanical, you can swap it with a cloned hard drive.

How to start ?

You need to have two things to use EaseUS Todo Backup Free:

• A data storage device: It could be a flash drive (only if you want to backup a small amount of data), an external hard drive, or a network-attached storage (you could backup more than one computers into a network-attached storage).
• EaseUS Todo Backup Free software (http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm) installed into your computer.

Having a hard time ?

Please feel free to let us know if there is anything we can help you with.  We are dedicated to provide the most reliable and friendly computer services to become a trusted computer service provider for all computer users.  We can be reached at 24/7 customer care center 775-825-8761 or email Help@BestPCReno.com

1. Know how your computer gets infected by virus, malware, spyware, and other kinds of threats.  Also, educate yourself about how to keep your computer protected.  Unawareness is the most common reason for virus infections.  Some tips include:
• Scan any attachments or downloaded files by an anti-virus program.  Even though they are from someone you know, his or her computer could be infected and spreads infections.
• Never trust any popup windows that say your computer is infected.  Some of them even pretend to be legit security programs that scan your computer and detect hundreds of infections and system errors.  They are called roguewares that try to trick you into panicking, steal your identity making you pay using a credit card, etc.
• Stay away from file sharing programs and websites.  Files you get from them are often intentionally programmed with malware.
• Know who you buy from.  Not all online stores are trying to steal your identity, but there are more than a countable numbers of fraudulent stores.  They are more knowledgeable at con jobs than you ever imagine.  If you are uncertain, just search some reviews about the store on Google or Yahoo before you give me your credit card number.
2. Keep an anti-virus software updated.  It usually downloads the latest updates to your computer when available as long as you are connect to the Internet.  Whenever you use files and open emails, they are scanned by an anti-virus program.  In case a virus is found, the program stops the access to the files or e-mails in order to prevent your computer from being infected.  If you don’t have any on your computer, you definitely want to get one !  Very importantly, install only ONE anti-virus program!  Here are some programs we recommend:
• AVG Anti-Virus Free (http://free.avg.com/us-en/free-antivirus-download)
• Avast Home Edition (http://www.avast.com/en-us/free-antivirus-download)
• PC Tools AntiVirus Free (http://free.pctools.com/free-antivirus/download)
3. Use an anti-spyware program in addition to an anti-virus program.  Remember, you want to install only ONE anti-spyware program (in addition to only ONE anti-virus program) !  In many cases, you won’t get real-time active protection unless you purchase a commercial license.  A sizable count of computer threats come from outside traditional viruses and malwares, and an anti-spyware program scans your computer for other sorts of threats including spyware, dialer, browser hijacker, and other malicious programs.  Our recommendations include:
• Super AntiSpyware (http://www.superantispyware.com/)
• MalwareByte’s Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free)
• Spybot – Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html)
4. Keep Windows security patches updated.  By default, Windows checks the updates and notifies you of any available updates.  Sometimes you receive a update notice one after another, so please keep downloading them until there is no more critical update available.   In case your computer fails to check the available updates, you can manually check them by starting “Windows Updates” found in the START menu.
   
5. Enable a Firewall.  A Firewall reduces the exposure of your computer to the Internet and prevents unauthorized access to your computer.  That means a chance of being hacked is minimized.  There are two options to choose from: hardware and software.  A hardware Firewall is usually built in a router if you use one home or at work.  Sometime it’s disabled by default, so please make sure to enable it.  Or, if you don’t have a router that has a built-in Firewall, you need to install a software Firewall into your computer.  The following are some recommendations:
• Zone Alarm Free Firewall (http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-pc-security-free-firewall.htm)
• Comodo Firewall (http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/free-download.html)
• Filseclab Personal Firewall Professional Edition (http://www.filseclab.com/eng/products/firewall.htm)
6. Armor your Internet browsers.  By installing Spyware Blaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html), your browsers will be more secure and prevent you from running malicious programs when you surf online.
7. Update your Java and Flash Player as soon as a new update is released.  It’s known that many malicious programs utilize the security holes cased by Java and Flash Player to install malware and spyware into your computer without you knowing.  You can check the latest update from the following links:
• Sun Java (http://java.com/en/download/inc/windows_upgrade_xpi.jsp)
• Adobe Flash Player (http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer)

Information Purpose Only – Best PC Reno is not liable for any damages to your computer and equipment.  Use the programs recommended above at your own risk.