Bateleur Consulting in Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, Australia | Computer repair service

Bateleur Consulting

Locality: Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 1300 282 212

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19.01.2022 Planning Ahead for your Next PC. As in many things, in IT you should expect to get what you pay for. Here, for what they're worth, are my current guidelines for purchasing and enjoying your next computer.... Rule #0. Desktops offer way better bang-for-buck and upgradability than Laptops. Laptops offer portability. Running your Laptop on permanent mains power will shorten your battery life. Rule #1. Start with as much RAM as possible, preferably using only half (e.g. 1/2 or 2/4) your available motherboard slots, to allow for waste-free upgrades. Rule #2. Use a smallish (e.g. 256GB) Samsung SSD as your System (C:) drive, and a larger (e.g. 1 or 2 TB) "conventional" hard drive for your data (D:). Be sure to point your Windows Desktop, Documents etc to your Data drive others you'll miss all the fun. Don't ever defrag your SSD. Some defrag utilities (e.g. Piriform's Defraggler) allow you to "Optimise" them instead, which is fine. Rule #3. If you're into real-time 3D rendering (hello gamers), learn about and get the best video card/s you can. Otherwise, use your motherboard's on board graphics and spend your money elsewhere. Rule #4. Find a CPU/Motherboard combo that delivers the latest possible fabrication process and chipset. In Intel terms, I'd currently recommend a 6th generation i5 for most people. Rule #5. Make sure your preferred monitor is height-adjustable and can swivel. Remember to use that capability to help you change your posture during longer sessions. Remember that your monitor is what you look at. Also, stop thinking that dual monitors are for the socially deprived. If you actually USE your computer, a dual display will change your life for the better. Rule #6. Take the time to look, see, feel and touch different keyboards and mice to find the one that suits you best. Insist on a Caps Lock light on the keyboard, as well as basic media controls. I like Microsoft peripherals for non-gamers. Rule #7. You should be using Windows 10. Rule #8. Use proper Security software (it's your time) and fork out for an online Backup subscription (it's your data). Rule #9. There's only one way to preserve those wonderful Out-Of-Box specs - maintain your system as you would your car or your home. Pay attention to malware threats, your Windows Registry and the state of your Drives. Some good free utilities for the skint and the cheap: Security: AVG Free Edition free.avg.com. Registry: Piriform's CCleaner piriform.com Drives: Piriform's Defraggler piriform.com Backup: Carbonite is affordable and has begun introducing more flexible plan options carbonite.com Rule #10. Get the very best Internet connection you can. It's The Way. Cable is best, if you can get it. Otherwise, live near to an ADSL2+ exchange and wait for the NBN to come knocking. In other Planning Ahead news, summer's winding down, my little potato harvest is done, the mustardseed is sown, and it's time to look to the winter greens.

18.01.2022 I've had the Devil's own time with a client's hard drive (refer below if you've 5 minutes to kill). A dodgy power supply (PSU) coupled with long-term inattention to Piriform friends CCleaner and Defraggler have led to the worst-performing hard drive I think I've ever seen. Even the Windows swapfile is spread out all over the place. Gawd. So, when faced with the dilemma of a (possibly, refer below) failing and very, very slow hard drive, does one remediate or backup? My guy's ...been paying some attention to me, and has Carbonite standing by should worse come to worst, but it could take a week on "normal" ADSL2+ broadband to restore a full Carbonite backup. So I go the backup rather than the remediation. After all, my guy's just shelled out for a sweet i7, 16GB SSD-based rig that's going to take him through the next chapter of his life - he needs the data more than the hard drive. And I use a straight-up File Copy, as I don't want to introduce any new variables or layers. Just let that baby chug along under safe-as-houses Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) power, and find a safe haven for those precious business proposal documents and tax returns, MYOB Company Files and email conversations. Did I mention the photos? Especially the photos. And the music. All that music. And the backup works. Runs through all the way (takes more than a day), and we're home free with a shiny new copy of my guy's life. So, now I'm sitting watching the not-entirely necessary remediation of this sad old hard drive run the beginnings of its tortuous course (IT Tip: NEVER give up on data), and pondering the value of those Piriform mates of mine. Simple. Google it. Find it. Do it. CCleaner will not only do a great Disk Cleanup, but will look after your Windows Registry as well - something that OOB Windows still mysteriously doesn't offer to do. Defraggler is a fine defragmentation tool, and a worthy replacement for Windows' own Defragmenter. A wise old mystic used to say, "backups are of this world, but good maintenance is the path to enlightenment". Thank you, Piriform, for all that you do.

07.01.2022 Speaking of the SSD/HDD thing, I HOPE you've at least got your storage split between System (Windows itself, programs etc.- C: Drive) and Data (Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos etc. - D: Drive). If so, you're doing okay - but do you have your System (C: Drive) on an SSD and your Data (D: Drive) on an HDD? Different Strokes for Different Folks eh? - different Drives for different Wives? Well, that joke doesn't really work in any way, but my point is that System and Data have... very different throughput needs, and require very different treatment (like Folks and Wives ha-ha?). SSD? HDD/ WTF? An SSD is a Solid State Drive - a bit pricey, but no moving parts, super-quick, super-reliable. A bit like transistors vs. valves back in the old days. An HDD is a Hard Disk drive - zooper-cheap, a fast-spinning platter that requires an engineering marvel called a Read Head to pick up and transmit the data. A Read Head has been reasonably accurately compared to a Jumbo Jet flying millimeters above a football ground and recognising and recording every single blade of grass. Pressure, or what? SSD doesn't do the physical thing, and makes a HUGE difference - kinda makes your desktop or laptop as responsive as a purely solid-state tablet - especially with the new lean, mean machine Operating System that we call Windows 10. This stuff is very do-able. if you have the time and skills, DO IT NOW. If not, send me a message and I'll get you the gear and help you through the tricky bits. An SSD upgrade will cost you, let's see, $150 for the Magical New Technology plus (depends) $93.50 - $187 of my time. Shit, that's value right there! In summary : A properly configured SSD WILL transform your computing experience. Even if I do it for you. One Other Thing - NEVER, EVER Defragment an SSD.

07.01.2022 IT? Zen? Some people like to characterise IT (computers, networks, printers, interfaces and response times) as something to do with Zen This is because both IT and Zen require understanding and patience.... Lots of understanding. Lots of patience. Your screen is locked up. It worked yesterday. You haven't changed anything (right!). It doesn't work now. FFS. WTF? ETC. It could be a Proxy thing. You've heard of that, from the dumpy dude in the IT room back at the office. It could be an unresponsive hard drive (see below, but enough on that for now). It could be a very confused Windows Registry (again, refer below if you have some time). It could be a virus (unlikely in reality but hey, it's ALWAYS a virus, right?) It could be an outdated video driver. And so on. But hey, to paraphrase the iconic and very irritating John Lennon, shit happens when you're busy making other plans. You could go through the whole gamut of dumb-computer woes and not work it out. But hey, that's part of the Zen thing yeah? Not really. Computers, as touchy-feely, as Android and iThngo as they've become, are VERY limited creatures. They do what they're told. Can't help themselves. So, e.g., don't tell your computer to do stupid shit. Follow the Path of Enlightenment and Learning, and master the demon that would so easily possess you if it could. A do-able quest. But always, ALWAYS, have understanding and patience.

03.01.2022 Eating my own Dog Food Yum. Turns out the expression may have originated in an actual Dog Food production facility, although Microsoft made it an iconic term of the 80's/90's corporate environment.... FROM Wikipedia : "Eating your own dog food" "Origin of the term "The editor of IEEE Software recounts that in the 1970s television advertisements for Alpo dog food, Lorne Greene pointed out that he fed Alpo to his own dogs. Another possible origin is the president of Kal Kan Pet Food, who was said to eat a can of his dog food at shareholders' meetings. "In 1988, Microsoft manager Paul Maritz sent Brian Valentine, test manager for Microsoft LAN Manager, an email titled "Eating our own Dogfood", challenging him to increase internal usage of the company's product. From there, the usage of the term spread through the company." (Look it up yourself). My point being that I eat my own Dog Food all the time. I have a venerable (7 years tomorrow) Dell Vostro 410 workhorse that still runs my business (MYOB), produces my documents (Office 365), produces my artwork and webwork (Adobe Creative Cloud), plays my Music (iTunes, Sonos) and keeps me connected (speedtest 8ms/94.37Mbps/2.41Mbps). It keeps on chugging because of (some anality on my part but also because of) a simple, practical approach to maintenance and web discipline. It can be done! Just sayin'. Eat well. Live well. Treat your information machine right. Love, Peace, Flowers.