Computer Shopping Tips

I have made my own set of mistakes when purchasing computers both for myself and for other people. In this post, I hope to educate most people about how to make a good purchase.


When you buy a computer, remember that you can only choose 2 of the 3 factors below:

• High Speed
• Good Mobility
• Cheap Price
  

You must make up your mind about which one of them you do not want. Otherwise, you may regret your choice. In addition, you should also factor in the cost of servicing a PC in the future.

For instance, one of my friends purchased a thin and sleek PC because it took up little space. She let her kids use it for games until it made a hissing sound and stopped working. When I tried to service it, I found the following issues:

• Slow performance: The parts were outdated for PCs of that era in order to bring the price down. The hardware performance was therefore, unimpressive.
  
• Expensive Proprietary parts: The compact and specially designed parts incompatible with replacement parts in the market. Hence, they must be sent to the service center which will charge half the price of the PC to replace them.
  

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Expensive Things (circa 2009):

• Mac Computers: Not only is the hardware expensive, most of the software must be obtained from official sources for quite a lot of money. I do not believe the claim that Macs are better than PCs for artistic work. That may be true in the 1980s but nowadays you have even more software for PCs than for Macs.
  
• Challenger: If you want to pay extra for good service at computer superstores like Challenger, go ahead. However, every geek knows that their systems are at least 15% more expensive than market rates and their models 2 to 4 generations behind the latest. Dell is a better choice if you want something branded.
  
• SCSI Hard Disks: These are for high end servers and typical users have no use for them.
  

Cheap Things (circa 2009):

• Netbooks: Small mobile PCs like the EEE boast long battery life. Recommended if you are traveling and want a backup PC in case of theft or damage. However, their performance is poor unless a SSD hard drive is installed. In my view, the small hard disk space is worth the speed and durability that only SSD hard disks can provide.
  

Slow Things (circa 2009):

• IDE hard disks: These hard drives use outdated technology and will slow down your PC a lot when installed. However, they work fine as USB or Firewire external hard disks.
  
• 1.8" hard drives: Do not buy any notebook that uses such hard disks. [I once did.] You will regret their very slow performance.
  

Fast Things (circa 2009):

• Windows XP: Windows Vista crawls like a snail compared to its predecessor. Although almost all PCs ship with Vista nowadays, you can sometimes obtain a "downgrade" option. If speed matters a lot, shop around for different models to find one with such options.
  
• SATA RAID: In the right configuration, they can double your computer's speed. The trick is to get the PC to write to 2 or 4 hard disks at the same time, but it will also double or quadruple the chances of hard drive failure. This is absolutely essential for working with huge chunks of data such as video editing. Don't bother to ask for it on anything that is supposed to be mobile.
• 3.5" hard disk (10000+ rpm): Most desktop hard drives are 7200rpm. If you can get something faster, it may increase your computer's speed by 15% or so.
  
• 2.5" hard disk (7200 rpm): Most notebook hard drives are 5400rpm. Same principle for desktops.
  

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When purchasing the computer, a few questions that could save you a lot of trouble:

1. How long is the warranty? (estimated product lifespan)
   
2. Where is the service center? (difficulty of sending the product for servicing)
   
3. Will I get a one to one exchange? (length of time it takes to get serviced)
   
4. Does the warranty cover the PC in my home country? (important for tourists & expats)
   

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Visitors to Singapore can visit Sim Lim Square for computers and spare parts. Most shops open from 12pm to 7pm, and the best time to go is around 2-4pm on a weekday. Up to half the shops will close on weekends and public holidays.

Funan DigitaLife Mall is another alternative place to buy your computer. However, I personally believe that the products there are more expensive and of lesser variety.

If you would like to do your own market research, it is a good idea to download the latest Sim Lim Square price lists for comparison.

Likewise, you can also download all the Singapore computer fair brochures like those from Comex or SITEX. I won't bother to go to PC fairs though, since it is usually very crowded and the prices are around the same at Sim Lim Square anyway.

Slow Windows: Speed up PC

Have you ever purchased a computer which ran blazing fast, but which then slowed to a snail's pace 2 years later? In desperation, you upgraded the RAM and changed to a new hard disk, but the PC still remained very slow.

Based on my 12 years' experience with PCs, I have identified a few causes of chronically slow windows:

1. Parasitic Software (very common)
   
2. Startup Programs (very common)
   
3. Poor Maintenance (occasional)
   
4. Hardware Problems (rare)

----- Parasitic Software -----

Spyware, adware, worms, viruses and other parasitic software are the most common cause of PC slowness. While reformatting is the fastest way to get rid of them, they will come back within weeks if you do not take good care of your PC. Below is what I will do:


1) Uninstall unwanted software. Below is a partial list of software I will avoid:

• ALL browser toolbars
• ALL search / indexing software
• 123 Messenger
• 180 Solution / ZANGO
• 888bar
• Adssite Toolbar
• Bearshare
• Bonzi Buddy
• BSplayer
• ClipGenie
• Comet Cursor
• Crazy Girls
• Cydoor
• Direct Revenue
• Dollar Revenue
• Ebates MoneyMaker
• ErrorSafe
• Evernote
• Enzula
• Hotbar
• FlashGet
• GameSpy
• Kazaa
• MP3 Rocket Toolbar
• Mirar Toolbar
• MyWay Searchbar
• Oemji Toolbar
• P*rnDigger!
• Smiley Central
• VirusProtectPro (Displays fake error messages)
• WeatherBug
• WeatherEye
• WhenU
• WhenUSave Toolbar
• WinFixer
• Winzix
• Zango / Zango Toolbar
• Zwinky

2) Install a good anti-virus software. Among the thousands of different anti-virus products available, I personally only trust those from these 3 companies: Symantec (a.k.a Norton Antivirus), McAfee and AVG. The obvious choice to me is the AVG Free Edition, which is not costs nothing but has beaten Symantec in the range of viruses that it can detect.

3) Install a good anti-spyware program. I believe that Spybot - Search & Destroy is a great freeware that can fulfill this role. Remember to use its "immunize" function.


----- Startup Programs -----

Download and run autoruns.exe. (If the link fails, search for it on Microsoft.com)

You should see a list of all the programs that load when the PC starts. This is a non-exhaustive list of programs that I will disable (by unticking the check box next to it):

• ALL Quick Launch entries
• Acrotray.exe
• backweb-8876480.exe
• CALMain.exe
• COCIManager.exe
• EM_EXEC.EXE
• hpsysdrv.exe
• hpwuschd2.exe
• iTunesHelper.exe
• jqs.exe
• kbd.exe
• MDM.exe
• PCMService.exe
• Quickcam.exe
• realsched.exe
• RTHDCPL.exe
• sl_reader.exe
  
• Skype.exe (unless you want to use it all the time)
• Updates from HP.exe

Note: Disabling the startup entry does not delete or uninstall the program in general. It merely stops the program from running when you switch on the PC. Many programs re-enable themselves again when they are run, so you will have to check occasionally.


----- Poor Maintenance -----

Install and run CCleaner: It will remove most of the junk on your PC. Do not install the toolbar bundled with it though.


Check the hard drive for errors: The errors can accumulate and wreck your PC suddendly.

1. Double-click My Computer, and then right-click the hard disk that you want to check.
2. Click Properties, and then click Tools.
3. Under Error-checking, click Check Now. A dialog box that shows the Check disk options is displayed.
4. For a regular check, select the Automatically fix file system errors check box, and then click Start.
5. For detailed check, tick both check boxes, and then click Start.
6. If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive a message:
   The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs exclusive access to some Windows files on the disk. These files can be accessed by restarting Windows. Do you want to schedule the disk check to occur the next time you restart the computer?
7. If you get the above message, click Yes to schedule the disk check.
8. Repeat the above steps for all other drives in your PC.
   
9. Restart your computer.

Defrag the hard drive: You can use the freeware Auslogic Disk Defrag or the commercial PerfectDisk. In my view, most users suffice with the freeware version. Power users like me will prefer the commercial version.

Note: Your portable hard disk, thumb-drive and even SD cards also require maintenance.


----- Hardware Problems -----

Rarely, slow windows is caused by hardware problems.


The most common culprit is a failing hard disk. Usually it is because the disk has problems reading your data from its bad sectors, so it keeps trying to read the data repeatedly, slowing down the PC. You must check your disk for errors (refer to instructions above). If the problems clear up, backup your data and change to a new hard disk as the existing one will fail eventually.

However, if you hear any clicking or ticking sound from your hard disk, this is a data emergency. You may be only minutes away from a total failure of your hard disk. Immediately backup all your files without switching off the PC. Your PC may not be able to boot into Windows again. If you check the disk for errors, the strain of the checks may cause a total failure.


The other possibility is faulty RAM, which you can use MemTest to check.

There are other exotic causes, such as the disabling of the L1, L2 or L3 caches of the PC. These are unlikely to trouble most people.


----- Best Practices -----

Other than the recommendations listed above, you should have separate PCs for work and play.

The PC for play:
- Can be reformatted any time without deleting any crucial data
- Can install games, shareware and other applications
- Should not contain any compromising information (e.g. credit card data)
- Suitable for your kids or teens to use, if they do not have their own PC

The PC for work:
- You must always backup the data on it
- Strictly only application needed for work
- All banking and other important transactions should be done on this PC only
- Password protect your PC: Never ever let your kids or teens handle it

For both PCs:
- Ensure that the antivirus and anti-spyware programs are always updated
- Do computer maintenance weekly
- Webcam and microphones should be attached only when needed

Vista UAC Disable

Tired of seeing constant nag screens like this when using Vista? One way is to use the freeware TweakUAC to disable such screens.


For those who prefer to do it themselves, simply follow the simple steps below:

• Go to Control Panel
• Type in UAC into the search box
• Click on the link for “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off”

• Uncheck the box for Use User Account Control (UAC)

• Click on the OK button
• Reboot the computer