HOUR 3:
Tech News & Commentary
Rose from Philadelphia, PA, called and asked us: “Why is it that Apple computers are considered to be better than normal computers, like Dell or anything other like that?”
H’s opinion:
From an Apple user: The only statistic that he can give you that would back up that they’re better is that the average life of a Mac is about twice the average life of a PC. Now, to put that into perspective, Apple doesn’t make budget computers and A LOT of the Windows machines that get sold on the market are cheap computers and may not last very long, I suspect if you compare the average life span of, say, a $1200 Windows laptop and a $1200 Apple laptop, they would probably last about the same time and they would probably be about as reliable.
Apple makes good machines and that’s why they haven’t gone out of business selling them for a lot of money, most other makes have a high end line that costs about the same as what Apple charges and a budget line that costs half as much, generally speaking their expensive high end line lasts a long time and works very reliably, their budget line sells a lot, especially to less techy users, but is probably not going to last as long or work as well. There are no bargains, you get what you pay for.
As for the OS, Windows has come a long way, Microsoft has fixed so many bugs and annoyances that even Apple doesn’t mock Windows on TV anymore. Again, from an Apple user’s perspective, Horacio still finds Windows a little rigid to use and doesn’t see himself changing back, but they’ve come a long way and the fact that they dominate the market to the point where 9 out of 10 computers use their OS should make it clear that Microsoft makes a good enough product. HIS choice continues to be Apple but, unlike many Apple users, he doesn’t think Windows is sub-standard and ultimately whether they’re better or not is nothing more than personal preference.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into
Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Guest in this hour:
• Tim Towster, VP of Marketing – BlueAnt Wireless
BlueAnt offers innovative Bluetooth peripheral devices and accessories, including hands-free, stereo audio streaming and wireless communication products.
• Jeff Haas, President – Hass GPS
Haas GPS manufactures of GPS tracking hardware and a provider of GPS tracking services based on an annual subscription.
Joe in Hazelton, PA listening online asked: “I have a chance to buy software that allows you to backup and restore Windows in case of a major failure. The software is Terabyte Image for Windows. It does Full backup and differential backup. There’s another software I can get for free that has a pay version also, called Macrium Reflect. The difference is, if I want to use the free version of Macrium reflect, it does not do the differential backup, only the full backup. Is that a big problem? I know it means I have to do a full backup each time I backup, but is that Okay? Is the differential Backup preferred, or does that matter?”
The difference between a full and a differential backup is just convenience, the end product is the same no matter what, you’ll have a full backup of the contents of your computer, the difference is that while a differential backup might take you a couple of minutes or even less than a minute if you haven’t made any major changes since the last backup, a full backup will always take hours.
The way a differential backup works is: it does a full backup of every file the first time around, then each backup after that it only backs up new files or files that have been changed, that makes it much, much, faster.
Now, if you don’t mind every backup taking hours and you’d rather not pay there’s nothing wrong with the backup you’re gonna get from making a full one each time.
It won’t be as quick and convenient and you may need to set up a schedule, for example, leaving your computer on every night so it can back itself up in that time and not bother you when you want to use it, but there won’t be anything wrong with the backup you’ll get.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Bob in Venice, FL listens online and asked: “Anyone heard of and/or had any experience with a program called “Pareto Logic Driver Cure”?? Stumbled into it while running some security clean-ups, when a screen from Microsoft popped up which induced me to continue with a free program to scan for driver problems, etc. I did continue, and the scan revealed a host of problems with the recommendation to continue with a partner of Microsoft, Pareto Logic..etc, etc….leading finally into the requirement to buy their program at about $49 ”
Mark has had personal experience with the program listed in this email. It was loaded on to one of the computers at work, and like most of its kind — did more harm than good. Web browsers have become secure enough that web sites can’t sneak software on to your computer any more. Now the emphasis has shifted to tricking you into inviting software on to your computer. It’s human engineering.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Danny in Jefferson City, MO listening on KLIK asked: “My digital TV signal keeps going out and freezing up. It’s a regular over the air antenna. Are they ever gonna work that problem out or am I gonna have to get cable?”
It sounds like you may be having an issue with your reception. This should be an easy fix (famous last words). The difference with the digital TV is that you no longer get static when you have low reception. What happens now is the signal will just drop out or do what you’re describing – it’ll sort of freeze.
The fix could be as easy as re-aiming your antenna. But there’s a chance you’ll have to get a different one. AntennaWeb.org will help you not only choose the right antenna, but based on the address you enter, it will tell you exactly where to aim the antenna so that you get the best possible reception in your area.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Clint in Delta Junction, AK listening KFBX 970AM asked: “I got a problem with a virus, called “System Tool”. It took over my Vista machine. I tried a lot of these self helps. I can’t get it off. I tried “msconfig” and I can’t get it there. I tried to boot in safe mode and it blocked me there. I really don’t know what to do about it. The only thing I can think is upgrade to Windows 7 and wipe it off.”
System Tool is a nasty virus, or maybe we should say scam.
For those lucky enough not to know, System Tool installs itself on the victim’s computer and tries to convince them that they’re infected by several viruses that nothing will remove… nothing except for the paid version of their “program”.
There are several types of scareware going around that do basically that same thing, but System Tool beats everyone we’ve seen when it comes to nasty tactics. Victims will get constant pop-ups telling them that unless they buy the paid version not only will their whole computer be destroyed by viruses, but also their credit card information will most likely be stolen. It also prevents other programs from running to make it look like the evil viruses System Tool is trying to help victims get rid of are rendering the computer and it’s programs useless and it changes the victim’s desktop wallpaper to a warning telling them they’re infected with dangerous viruses.
On top of all of that System Tool is a real pain to remove. It will hijack system files to do it’s nasty work, so the easiest way to get rid of it is to do a System Restore to a time when they virus hadn’t infected the system yet.
Unfortunately, many victims will find that System Tool will block them from getting to System Restore. Still, if you’re infected it’s worth a shot, if it works your troubles may be over, if it doesn’t you’ll need to move on to more complex tactics.
If you can’t run System Restore, the next step would be to try to boot into Safe Mode (you can usually do this by holding down CTRL or F8 when your computer is starting up and BEFORE Windows loads), then try to restore the system to a previous date from within Safe Mode (it doesn’t have to be Safe Mode With Networking), or run a antispyware program (such as SpyBot S&D or CCleaner), if System Tool isn’t able to block them a lot of them can find it and get rid of it.
For people like Clint that are even being blocked from taking certain actions while in Safe Mode, we have found a website that details the files that need to be removed from your system to get rid of System Tool, we’d recommend skipping the end of the article where it talk about running “reimagepcrepair.com”, that’s just advertising, instead of that just go to System Restore and restore your system to a date before it was infected. To visit the website, click here
You can get to System Restore by clicking the Start button, then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and finally clicking on System Restore.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza
Motorola ATRIX 4G
The Motorola ATRIX 4G caught a lot of attention at the 2011 CES. Find out what features make it so special. Rob Almanza reports from Las Vegas.
It also made “Dave’s Top 10 @ 2011 CES” – Click Here
– By Rob Almanza, “Into Tomorrow” Correspondent
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
CCrane: Several CCradio EP Classic High Performance AM/FM Radios.
RCA: Several travel chargers with surge protection
Honestech: Copies of Audio Recorder 2.0 Deluxe – Software to convert your analog music into digital formats including MP3s and audio CDs. Save those great musical memories.