Like most people you have probably been driving on the road in your faithful vehicle and, POP! Your tire blows. Some people call road side assistance to come and change the tire, which is a good idea provided you are a member of a road side assistance service. Some people get out of the vehicle change the tire themselves and complete their trip, without losing lots of precious time waiting for road side assistance. And all that was needed were 2 things,(1) Spare Tire Kit and (2) The will to do it yourself.

Now let’s apply this concept to your computer. You’re working on an important paper for work or school and it has to be done yesterday, suddenly you get the infamous blue screen of death. Your computer shuts down and you can’t get back into Windows. In fear that you lost all of your data, you scream, mad at yourself because you didn’t back up you data. What do you do? Calling a technician could take days to repair your computer, unless you call Stockton PC Repair of course. Buying a new computer would be faster, but would cost you a pretty penny, and would not recover your data. Did you know that like cars some computers come with spare tires, and if you don’t have a spare tire you can make one? I will show you how to recover your data, restore your computer to factory settings, make a recovery disc for your computer, and back-up your data. After you read this page you will have that spare tire for your computer.

If you have an HP or Compaq, eMachine, ASUS, or Toshiba, your computer has a recovery partition. Provided your hard drive is in good working condition you can restore or recover your computer to factory settings, which means you can restore your computer back to the way it was when you purchased it out the box. You access your recovery partition by restarting your computer and pressing a HOT KEY. For example HP uses F11; eMachine uses F10, check with your computer manufacturer to find the correct HOT KEY. Using your recovery partition will erase all of your data, so do not use unless you have a back-up of your data. Some computers come with recovery or system disks. In this case you will insert the disk, restart your computer, and boot from DVD or CD. Check with your computer manufacturer to find the HOT KEY to boot from disk.

Now that you know how to access your spare, (recovery partition) you’re going to need a bootable device to recover and back up your data. UBUNTU is an open source Linux based operating system that you can use to run your computer, but for now we are just going to use it to recover your files. You can down load UBUNTU and burn it to a DVD or CD, or you can copy to a bootable flash drive. Use UBUNTU to boot your computer then you can access your drive and copy your data to an external USB hard drive. Click here for UBUNTU download and installation instructions. Get UBUNTU and keep it in a safe place you never know when you or a friend might need it.

Please back up your data either through third-party online back-up company like Carbonite, or set up your own back-up using an external hard drive. It is also highly recommended that you create a recovery disk the first time you start your computer. This way, if your hard drive is damaged beyond repair, you can buy a new hard drive and use the recovery to recover your OS on the new hard drive.

There you have it The STOCKTON PC REPAIR tip for the day.

In my home, we use wireless internet, which in my opinion is the greatest invention since the wheel. We have a large family six, children ages ranging from 6 to 19, all equipped with laptops, iPods and Nooks. In total, I have 16 devices connected to one Linksys E2000 router which works great most of the time. Now, we all know kids will be kids and not always do what they are told, or they will try to take advantage of their parents because somehow the children have got the idea that they are smarter than we are. Therefor trying to get these geniuses to do simple things like cleaning up after themselves, can be very challenging and frustrating. Resorting to old school corporal punishment (while very tempting) is never a solution. Being an IT guy I had to use my best devices to keep these inmates (I mean children) under control. Behold! who would have thought a Linksys E2000 router could be used as a tool to discipline a house full of ungrateful, lazy, moody, disrespectful, but very loving children.

How does it work you ask? Linksys routers, like all wireless routers, come equipped with various network management tools which are very simple to use. Among these are Access Restrictions, and Wireless Mac Filter. Access Restrictions can be used to restrict a device from internet access either completely or at specified times. You can also block certain web sites like Face Book or any other social networking site that your child wastes too much time on. Wireless Mac filter can be used to block any device that does not have its Mac address (WI-FI Address) added to the list. When configured correctly, all arguments with children can be eliminated. When your children refuse to do what they are told, just access your router interface and block that child’s device. Then say nothing. Your child will come back very soon willing to talk things over in a respectful manner, I guarantee it.

Here are some the simple instructions to get you started

• Access you wireless interface by typing 192.168.1.1 in your web browser explorer bar. You will be prompted for your user name and password.
• Once logged in you will see this screen.

  

• Click on the Access Restrictions tab.

  

• You will have to enter a policy name then click the EDIT LIST button

  

• Now enter the Mac Address and/or IP Address of the device you want to add to the list. To find the Mac Address and IP Address click here.
• Save settings and return to the Intenet Access Policy page and configure the settings to suit your needs.

  

• Save settings and you’re done! You have successfully taken control of a device on your network, suppressing a child’s uprising in your home without saying a word.

   

  Mac Address Filtering
  

   

• Using the Mac Address filter is just as simple. Just access your router interface then click the Wireless tab.

  

• Click Mac Address Filtering.

  

• Now enter the Mac Address of the device you want to add to the list. You can choose to permit or prevent devices on the list from accessing your router.

   

  That’s the tip for the day have fun, and if you have any questions please leave a comment below.

Searching for Anti-virus software but don’t like the prices? What if I told you that some of the best things in life are free? Anti-virus software included. Yes, you don’t have to pay anymore, no more yearly fees for software that gives you annoying popups telling you to update your Anti-virus software, and your computer is at risk if you don’t pay for more protection; sounds like computer virus extortion to me.

Many computer repair shops are partnered with various Anti-Virus software companies such as McAfee, Norton, Kaspersky, and many others. Here at Stockton PC Repair we refuse to sell you something that you can get for FREE. As a Tech I have removed viruses from customers computers using all of the top name Anti-Virus Software applications. While these high dollar products may have attractive interfaces with bells and whistles, when it comes to stopping a virus they all fail. This is why I put my trust in just two completely free Anti-Virus Software applications.

• Microsoft Essentials
• AVG Free Edition

Microsoft is in competition with Apple which is known for not getting infected with viruses. Therefore Microsoft had to create the an Anti-Virus Software made just for Microsoft operating systems over the years it has worked out the bugs and now is top rated among Anti-Virus software, and it is totally FREE. Microsoft Essentials is very easy to install just click the links provided and get protected.

AVG FRE EDDITION is my second choice. Make sure when you down load that you select FREE edition this choice we be totally free. I have used it myself for 3 years and have never had any problems and it has save my computer from many infections.

Don’t let the Big box stores (Best Buy) scare you into getting their so called free Anti-Virus that you will have to pay for in 90 days just look the sales person (Vulture) straight in the face and tell them NO! I can get it for free.

Cloud computing is taking off! All of the buzz in the blogosphere, and tech mags pronounce the cloud as the wave of the future, and many of our customers want to know just what the cloud phenomenon is, whether or not being in the cloud is for them, and if so, how they can be down (or rather up) with it.

First off, cloud technology is something most of us are acquainted with. If you have a gmail or yahoo email account, then you’re using cloud technology. Basically, cloud technology is the access and use of applications and data stored on a remote server. By using Yahoo mail for instance, you are using Yahoo’s email application to access your personal email stored on Yahoo’s servers.

What’s got everyone’s head in the clouds now is the expansion of the technology by some major players like Amazon, the major player and Google. They have been causing some turbulence in the operating system and application software technology realms with their cloud offerings for several years now. Microsoft has also gotten into the cloud game with Microsoft 365. The innovation surrounding the cloud has lead bloggers such as Patrick Kiger, writer for science.discovery.com to describe the world of cloud computing as “a world in which we not only won’t have to worry about whether our software is compatible with our OS, but in which we won’t ever have to install any software again, period.” Essentially, every function for which we currently have an application stored locally on our computers will have a similar application hosted on a remote server accessible via whichever cloud service provider one chooses.

Is the cloud for you? The answer to this question boils down to two things: 1) cost and 2) your comfort level with security. The cost side is pretty simple. With the cloud being made up of a universal operating system, applications and storage media, upfront computer costs are drastically reduced for both personal and business PC users. This virtually eliminates the need for users to invest in high powered systems, servers, and storage media. The cost for cloud services can vary from as little as $5.00 per user per month, to $50.00 per user per month with some services being provided on a per hour usage basis.

The security concern, on the other hand, is not quite as simple. Individuals and business stakeholders will need to evaluate their level of comfort with having vital information outside of their immediate control. Fortunately, as with almost everything, there are happy mediums that can be obtained. To address these concerns, private cloud and hybrid cloud platforms have been developed. The cloud platform that we have been discussing so far is known as the public cloud, where data from many users are stored on the same servers. A private cloud is a server or group of servers dedicated to one group and a hybrid is a combination of both public and private clouds. To determine the best approach to cloud implementation, we recommend working with skilled IT specialists to help evaluate the risks involved and to devise a plan that will provide the level of security required while maximizing the cost benefits of using the cloud.

We’ve only skimmed the surface of what the cloud has to offer by describing what the cloud is, discussing whether it’s for you or not, and how to evaluate the possibility. For more information regarding the cloud you can check out the following links:

What The Private Cloud Really Means

Key Trends in Cloud Computing – Mid-2011 Update

Cloud Computing Use Cases

By: Shonda R. Furr
Administrative Professional for Stockton PC Repair

We are certified IT professionals with countless hours of experience in operating systems software, hardware, peripherals, and wire/wireless networking. We love technology with a passion and enjoy what we do.

Our motto: To think, speak and dream technology.

StocktonPcrepair.com laptop

Here at Stockton PC Repair Our drive and passion is not just for technology because our customers are our first priority. We make sure every customer experience is a good experience, which means we get to the core of computer problems fast, communicate solutions in nontechnical terms, and in the end we provide our cost effective solutions that suit our customers’ needs.

The technology world is a fast paced world.  Things seem to change with every passing second.  We’ve designed this blog to help our customers stay up-to-date with this ever changing technology, so when it’s time to repair, upgrade or re-evaluate an entire IT infrastructure the answers will be here.

Be sure to subscribe and feel free to drop us a line if there are topics you’re interested in knowing more about.  We will turn over every chip, hard drive and wiki to get the answer for you.

Here’s to an informative and helpful blog!