SOHO Solutions

Apparently there are a lot of folks out there that are unhappy with the built in laptop video card. You are searching all over the web for a laptop video card.
Some of you just want a second monitor added to your laptop and some of you want a higher resolutio.

Anyway, here are a few external video laptop video cards.

Hope you find the links useful.

This little baby is a great adapter for a second Monitor for your laptop.

• Are you are interested in making unlimited calls for a small flat rate per month?
• Would you like to be able to make these calls from your laptop, PC, or Smart Phone?
• Do you need a free Conference solution with no strings attached?
• Would you like to build a call center that is completely mobile, runs from your PC, and will work anywhere there is an internet connection?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above then you should Download Skype and create a FREE account.
This is definitely one free software and service that will give your Small Office or Home Office an edge.

I have used Vonage and other web based telephone solutions in the past but none have been as reliable or as flexible as SKYPE!!!
There is free calling and conferencing between SKYPE users. Free Chat tools. There are also free 3rd party add on products being released constantly.

Do your self a BIG favor and get to know this software. The applications for the SOHO user are unlimited. WWW.SKYPE.COM

Tell us what your SOHO challenges are and we will help you find a solution.
 Send an e-mail to solutions@soho-411.com let us know how we can help.

We here at SOHO-411 want to help you find low Cost technology that works well.
Take a look at some of the Laptops you can get through Amazon.
Personally for Business I like Dell but for the home office there is nothing wrong with the other brands which are better priced. Just make sure that you have a 2 year warranty. Laptops can last a long time if cared for but 4 years is the max for me. After 4 years new applications and software generally require more horse power than the older laptops can deliver.

Here are a selection of Laptops Available from Amazon.com

It has come to our attention that many SOHO users want a simple method of setting up a home network.
Well with Windows7 it is easy. Now We realize that many of you have older versions of the Windows Operating system but we felt that you have to start somewhere.
I discovered the following video on YouTube.com that shows just how simple it is to set up a network with windows7.

If you have other versions of the Windows operating system and need help please let me know and I will try to find simple directions for you to follow.

Sit back watch this video and try it yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9TC-1MZTV4&feature=channel
Thank you Windows Videos Guys!!!

  I was just asked by someone today which hard drive should they purchase to upgrade their computer.
Basically my response was just buy the cheapest one that will work for you. I said this because the Hard Drives produced today are generally of very high quality. Gone are the days where you had to do all kinds of prep work to prepare your hard drive for use. I cannot think of a hard drive available to the consumer that is not a good quality. If anyone out here knows of a specific brand to stay away from please let me know.

  Anyway there are two ways you can add hard drives to your system. One way and probably the easiest way is to just add a usb hard drive. These hard drives come in a case and all you have to do is plug them into your computer’s USB port and you are off. The only word of caution here is to try and avoid installing programs to hard drives that you know you will be unplugging from your computer. I only say this because you computer dynamically assigns a drive letter to each usb storage device you plug into your computer. My computer always assigns the letter F: to the first usb storage device I plug in. If I plug in my thumb drive it is a F: If I then plug in my usb hard drive the hard drive is a G:. If I plug them in a different order then the drive letters for each device will be different. If your external USB hard drive receives a different drive letter that the one it had when you installed your program then this will cause your programs to fail.
  Other than that the USB hard drive is a great alternative to store your data. It will be portable and you do not need any expertise to install it. It is truly a plug and play technology.

I have added a link to Amazon to some drives I use. However, like I said, “If you can find something less expensive USE IT.”

Anyone out there need but not have a fax through e-mail solution?

A good hosted fax solution will not charge you any additional for incoming faxes. You should be able to fax directly from your e-mail, word processor or other application. When a fax comes in you should be notified and be able to receive it in your e-mail.
There are several out there on the market. For a while I used a service called max fax. Many offer a 30 day free trial. some cost more than others and some will charge you by the page if you go over their limit. These services are like anything else and you will have to do some homework.
I have used e-fax and liked it except for the expense. I worked for a company that decided to put in their own fax system because on a larger scale e-fax becomes very expensive.
Anyway for the SOHO user I would suggest the Godaddy Fax. If you do not mind having an Arizona telephone number you can have unlimited inbound faxes and can have approx 150 out bound pages per month for:
1 month at a time = $9.99/mo
12 months up front = $8.99/mo
24 months up front = $7.99/mo
36 months up front = $6.99/mo
You might also qualify for a $1.99 domain name for a year plus an ICANN fee of .18 cents/yr.

 

If you find a better deal please let me know so I can post it and share it with all SOHO users.

This post is a how to for backing up your DVDs. Even the copy protected ones. Who needs the information in this post? The answer is anyone who ever has spent money on a DVD only to have it damaged so that the contents were no longer retrievable.
The solution is a product called DVD Shrink. The purpose of this program is to make a copy of the DVD image on a hard drive. However at anytime you need to replace your original disk you can use any DVD burner software and DVD RW drive to restore the image to a DVD disk. I use Nero Burner.
You cannot use most burner software to copy protected disks directly and that is where DVD Shrink comes into play. It compresses the information on the original media and prepares it for a DVD burner software so it can burn the new image back to dvd. I have installed and used this software myself and it works great. Here is a link that will start the download and installation on your pc. It comes from the Softpedia US Mirror site. DVD Shrink from SoftPedia
The intent is to use only for making backup copies of purchased media. Remember you must be responsible for adhering to the Copyright.
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The green icon below is a link to download the FREE AV software I install and use on my home PC.

What prompted this Post?
I am an IT manager and no matter how hard I try to protect my users there is always a new threat. Sometimes it is a new virus and sometimes it is a Malware or other scam. If there is not a dangerous threat to combat then there is always some bandwidth issue or other nuisance my users are informing me about.
What can be done? Well besides virus protection, firewalls, and other best practice steps I have found that education is a very good defense. Most of my users can recognize an e-mail scam or e-mail carrying an attachment with a virus.
So I believe that in addition to trying to tell the SOHO community about cool open source and free software I should also be doing my best to educate.

What is one of the most annoying problems users face when browsing the internet? I have found that occasionally no matter how careful you are you will eventually stumble upon or be redirected to a site that serves up malware.

Let’s start with the definition of Malware.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer
system without the owner’s express consent. The expression is a general term used by
computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive,
or annoying software or program code.
The term “computer virus” is sometimes used as a
catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true
viruses.” informed consent.

OK so the anti-virus software should stop and prevent this right? Well it does in many cases but there are times when a sneaky web site will try to trick you into installing software or even make it look like your computer AV software has detected a virus and is informing you of it. You are asked to click OK to remove the virus or threat and instead you are really installing the software. At this point the popups start. You are being blackmailed at this point to pay some fee to have the malware removed. The software says that you need to pay in order to activate the software to remove the threat. In reality you are being told that the popups will only stop if you pay the ransom. Yes, your computer is actually being held in ransom. The popups are actually so bad that you cannot even use your computer any longer.

So what is a quick fix?

The first line of defense should be your Anti Virus software. Secondly, if you do get this malware there is a feature in Windows XP and Windows 7 called “Windows System Restore. This feature lets you roll back the computer to the way it was before you got the malware.

If you have XP or windows 7 you can check so make sure the system restore feature is enabled. By default it should be enabled.

For Windows XP click on start then right click on ‘My Computer’ and select properties. When the properties window appears select the system restore tab. Make sure the box that says ‘Turn off System Restore’ is unchecked . Also make sure the disk space usage slider bar is set to Max. See picture below.

Finally select OK. Now you can rest in the secure knowledge that you can roll back your system state at any time.

If in the future you notice you have malware operating be sure to restore your system state to a few days in the past. This trick has saved many hours of work for my IT Helpdesk Team.

1. To use System Restore to restore Windows XP to a previous state, follow these steps:
2. Log on to Windows as Administrator.
3. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
4. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
5. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system restore point in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next.
6. Note A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.
7. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
8. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page is displayed.
9. Click OK.
10. If you successfully restored your computer to a previous state, and the computer is performing as it should be, you are finished.

Steps 1 – 10 above were taken from the Support.Microsoft.com site at this link.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

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Ever wanted a free software replacement for Microsoft Office? Well you are in luck. There is Open Office. This software is so good that it is used by businesses and home users alike. It can read documents and write documents in many of the Microsoft Office formats in cluding the .DOCX file type of MS Office 2007.

Open Office is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Files can be saved in multiple formats so that they can be used on all three Operating Systems. Open Office has componets and features that have no counterpart in MS Office.

Mosey on over to http://www.openoffice.org/ and from there you can find out more about Open Office 3.0 and download the install package. It is free, well written, and very useful. It will save you hundreds of dollars over purchasing the MS Office 2007 suite! What more could you ask for?