Biden PC's Small Business IT Blog

Though it may seem obvious, or it may not, the more programs and services you have running at one time, the slower your computer will be. This is much like you having to get to work. If all you have to do is drive there, you might get to work in 5-20 minutes, 2 hours if you live in Los Angeles. Now let’s add on to that amount of time all the other things you may have to do on your way to work.

1. Low speed limit - 2 Minutes
2. Too many cars on the road, causing traffic - 10 Minutes
3. Drop the kids off at school - 15 Minutes out of your way
4. Traffic lanes merge together - 3 Minutes

Now your commute has increased by 30 minutes. But why?!?! Because you had other things to do and factors you couldn't control. A computer is no different. But you can have more control if you read on

A computer has a few factors that dictate its speed.

1. Processing Speed - How many GHz it runs at. (I am not going to get into the difference between different chip manufacturers and their different processes, this is general information.)
2. Bus Speed - This is how fast one component can send data to another component. (It is often the largest bottleneck in the computer.)
3. Amount of RAM - This is how much general info can be placed in a "To Do" folder for the computer. Remember, too much RAM is not possible, more than what can be used is possible.
4. Speed of RAM - This is how fast a component can send data to the RAM and later receive it back. (It is the other large bottleneck in the computer.)

So you're wondering, "What does this have to do with my computer being slow?" I'm glad you asked.

Just like you, your computer can only do a limited number of things at one time. Fortunately, if they're running right, they can do many more things at one time.

Did you notice that each list has 4 issues that slow us down? Each number correlates to the same number in the opposite list. This means the processing speed is like the speed limit.

1. Your car can only (legally) drive the speed limit. The same is true with computers. The CPU can only (supposedly) process information at (whatever your processing speed is) GHz. This speed is not easily (or safely) changed. I’m not going to tell you how to change this.
2. Though you can’t tell everyone else to get off the road when you want to drive, you can do this with computers. Close all unused software programs and startup programs. Also spyware and hard drive fragmentation problems can add to this issue and slow a PC down. I’ll tell you how to fix and repair these in my next post; How to speed up your computer for free.
3. If you can’t decrease the number of things that you have to do, increase how many things you can do at one time. This is like increasing the amount of RAM in your computer. It will allow you to do more and do it faster. (Some computers may already have the maximum amount of RAM available to the computer so this is not an option. But it can’t hurt to check it out.)
4. Find a shortcut or a route that has a higher speed limit to your kids’ school. If you can also increase the speed at which you do things, you can get them done faster. This is like increasing the processing speed of your RAM. (Some computers may already be at the fastest speed available to them so this is not an option. But it is worth a look.)

So to speed up your computer, the way we mentioned here is either adding more RAM or replacing it with a higher speed of RAM. For an easy way to see what you have and could use, go to crucial.com.

Be sure to check my next blog post: how to speed up your computer for free. I’ll tell you how to reduce the number of programs that run without your knowledge.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Labels: General PC Advice, How To, My Thoughts

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I'm noticing a new pattern, Windows XP Service Pack 3 seems to be as messed up as Windows Vista is, just in a smaller package.

Microsoft originally released XP SP3 to manufacturing on April 21, 2008 and to end users to download on May 6, 2008. It was then recalled due to issues with "office program incompatibilities". Once re-released, it is having troubles with Norton/Symantec Antivirus, AMD hardware (which I use almost exclusively), as well as connection problems with Windows Home Server. I think I'll stay away from it for a few weeks. I really don't need to send my computer into a never-ending reboot loop.

A Toshiba laptop computer that I saw today (I should have paid more attention to the hardware configuration) has been freezing at the loading screed in Windows since loading SP3. After removing Service Pack 3, it seems to be running perfectly.

Here's an interesting take on it from Chad Weirick at Hot Hardware, "With the campaign to keep Windows XP alive, one has to wonder if glitches like this were a product of a less than complete testing cycle. If customers began viewing XP as less than rock-solid, they might be willing to take another look at Vista." Thanks, Chad!

Tim

Labels: My Thoughts, Windows Vista Irritations

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Did you know that you can view your FTP files like a normal Windows folder?

Instead of using a standard program to do FTP, you can map a network drive to your FTP account and view your files like you would a normal Windows folder.

Since CyberNet already posted excellent instructions and pictures on how to map a network drive to FTP (primarily in Vista), I'll post about how to do it in XP.

1. Important: First install this fix from Microsoft.
2. Open “My Computer”
3. In the “Tools” menu, go to “Map Network Drive…”
4. In the Setup Wizard, select the “Sign up for online storage or connect to a network server” link at the bottom.
5. Another Wizard will pop up, choose “Next”.
   
6. The new screen should have an option highlighted to “Choose another network location”. Click “Next” again.
7. Enter in "ftp://your-domain.com" as the network address.
8. Unclick "Logon Anonymously" and enter your account logon when asked for a username.
9. Now create a name for the drive, maybe something like "Work FTP" or whatever you would like.
10. To open your new network drive/FTP site, go to “My Network Places”. You will see a drive with the name you gave it in the previous step.
11. If prompted for your username and password, again account details and click "Save Password".

To access it again is simple!

1. Go to your Window "Start Menu" and click on "My Network Places".
   
2. Choose the object with the name that you entered previously in step #9 and double click on it.
3. You are now looking at your FTP account like it is a normal folder in Windows.
   

Happy Computing,
Tim

Labels: Computer Networks, General PC Advice, How To, My Thoughts

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I believe that the most important thing that you can put into your small business computer network to ensure its security is time. Yes, I said time.

Windows Small Business Server 2003 has recommended security measures that should be taken called "Best Practices". Another measure that should be taken is running MSBA (Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer) and following the suggestions it makes. Most of these must be done only once or infrequently.

Another feature called the "Server Performance Report" tells you what features aren't functioning properly and not working as well as who has had failed attempts at logging into your server.

So what does this have to do with time? This report is emailed to you every morning at 6:00 and I seriously recommend that you read it.It takes time (just a couple of minutes) to read it and see who is having password problems or whose account is being hacked.

Hackers and script kiddies (junior hackers) have enumeration tools that can scan a network to find out what operating systems networked computers are running as well as what accounts are on those computers. Yes, they can tell if you're using Windows XP Pro or XP Home. They can tell if your server is Windows Server 2003 or Windows Small Business Server 2003. They can even tell if you have an account on your server that is still called "administrator" and if the notes designate it as the main admin account.

These tools are dangerous because they can see what accounts are on your server. As a small business, you probably don't have the funds to spend on a large intrusion detection system. You also can't afford to have your server to have your server hijacked and your data stolen.

This is where the time and "Server Performance Report" come into the picture. Take the time to:

1. Perform the "Best Practices"
2. Run MSBA
3. Enable password requirements
4. Require passwords to be changed on a regular basis
   
5. Enable account lockout policies
6. Rename and change the description of the "administrator" account
7. Setup (once) and read the "Server Performance Report" (daily)

If you don't read the report, it does you absolutely no good and it becomes just another piece of spam... But this one you send to yourself.

Happy computing,
Tim

Labels: How To, My Thoughts, Windows Server Tips

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