PC Problems? I am a PC TECH.

[smc]

Of course, you can all switch to Apple computers and not have ANY of these problems!

[no1000]

Originally Posted by smc

Of course, you can all switch to Apple computers and not have ANY of these problems!

true, but I'm not about to shell out $2000 for a computer and plus I love my video games.

[smc]

Originally Posted by no1000

true, but I'm not about to shell out $2000 for a computer and plus I love my video games.

Once you grasp the concept of time as money, you will see things differently with respect to the price of an Apple computer. I do not want to turn this thread into a Mac vs. PC debate, though, so I will leave it at that.

As for games, well ... as someone who could not care less about computer games, I cannot relate to that issue.

[smc]

Originally Posted by smc

... I do not want to turn this thread into a Mac vs. PC debate, though, so I will leave it at that. ...

Apparently, what I wrote and quote from myself went unheeded. Sorry to have opened up a "can of worms" that is so much more complex than technical matters (cf. Microsoft and how it has functioned in the world of technology).

Again, I will leave it at that, and hope the thread can get back to PC problem-solving.

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by smc

Of course, you can all switch to Apple computers and not have ANY of these problems!

Hi there.

You are opening a can of worms here my freind.

On average most computer users don't have many CPU problems PC or MAC, but once in a while you do, be it hardware or software, NO COMPUTER IS IMMUNE TO PROBLEMS, if you don't have any problems with your mac, good for you, even if i don't do macs, I DO KNOW THAT THEY DO FUCK UP OCCASIONNALLY, but the problem with the PC is not the PC hardware it's Microsoft, which does a realy crappy job with their OS (windows) it looks good, but it chokes the life out your CPU, BUT it runs all the APPS & GAMES that we all want and as such, it is a "necessary" evil, if there were another OS that would run all the apps and games i have etc. i would switch in an heartbead and i would recomend it to everybody, but it isn't the MAC.

Also one thing that makes a big difference is the tech that built/fixxed your system, as in most feilds there are good techs and bad ones, if you have a bad one you will have more problems than if you had a good one MAC or PC.


JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

COMPUTER VIRUSES...

Well, there are alot of software that claim to remove viruses, but few actually do a good job, what you need is to have good protection from the start and you won't have to remove the viruses, spyware or extortionware.

The best way to get rid of any infection is to re-install your OS from scratch, but it may not always be eady, some people have staggering amounts of info on their CPU's and they canot afford to it and would need 10+ DVD's to do a backup (but anybody that has lots of info or valuable info should aways do backups because CPU's aren't perfect and as such are prone to many kinds of failures that can make your info unusable) ading a second hard disk and the price of the re installing of windows or mac os can cost you up to $200, is your info worth it? Often the $100 hard disk contains info that is worht much more than that, if it fails you are out of luck UNLESS you had a (recent) backup.

Personally, i looked for virus removal tools for a long time and i never found one that lived up to their hype, they did remove the virus but it came back a short while later, so the virus wasn't completely removed, other times the virus remover did more damage than the virus it was supposed to remove so i stopped looking and i suggest to backup your CRUCIAL info and reinstall your OS, that way you restart with a clean slate, and with a better anti-virus.


JohnDowe.

Other than being known on this forum for fast vehicles and my infatuation with Kelly Shore, I was Director of Academic Computing at my university for five years and also chaired the Instructional Technology Committee--so I know a little something about computers as well?

Without debating the merits of a ?Mac? or ?PC? and also in an attempt to keep this post relatively short, my own view is that a ?computer is a computer.? Inside they all work alike--everything is in binary. From our perspective however, there are certain applications that you want to run and you buy the appropriate hardware and software to support them. In some cases, the Mac is the clear winner. Most of my colleagues in the liberal arts and sciences use them and love them--I have owned several Mac?s myself. On our campus, we have Mac?s in the Writing Center, the Education Lab, and in the Art Department. Many of the applications used (particularly in Art) can only be found for the Mac.

In the School of Business, where I reside as a faculty member, we have several PC labs. Business has historically used PC?s. The answer ?why? could be very long--to keep it short, suffice to say that IBM specifically targeted business starting way back in the 1960?s and 70?s with mainframes and ?data processing? applications (payroll, inventory, finance, etc.). That trend continued in the early 1980?s when IBM introduced the first PC (Homework Assignment: look up the ?IBM 360? and the ?1981 PC?). At that time, a young entrepreneur named Bill Gates had just won a contract from IBM to provide an ?operating system? for the PC. For whatever reasons, and there are many, businesses in general have been slow to adopt alternatives to the PC. For one, IBM?s customer support was legendary. A ?young upstart company? like Apple, was not likely to make inroads into this corporate market--however superior their product.

Individuals however, were free to make their own choices and many users in ?non business? fields gravitated to the Apple. Especially the Mac. With its user-friendly interface, stable OS, multitude of applications, and ease of networking it was a great choice. It also had, from the start, the aura of being ?cooler? than the PC and appealed to many for this reason (Homework Assignment: go to YouTube and find the ?1984? video that introduced the Mac during the Super Bowl). However the world of business stuck with the PC through the 80?s and 90?s. One possible reason that is often cited is that by the 1980?s, computers had become a ?commodity.? That is, it was essential to the bottom line to get the ?cheapest? technology and in the ?largest quantity.? Also, ?IT? support staffs knew the PC. With so much invested most businesses were not about to take a chance on something like a Mac.

As for the issue of stability? Any computer connected to the Internet can be a target. There are far more ?hackers? who have aimed their attacks at the PC than Mac. I am familiar with some of these groups--many consider themselves to be similar to ?freedom fighters? at war against the giant capitalist beast Microsoft. Sheer numbers alone, make the PC more vulnerable. There is also the issue of Operating System stability. From the beginning, Apple had a well designed ?OS? that was based on Unix. This is the ?core? of the Mac if you will. Apple also took a ?closed? approach to hardware and software development. Steve Jobs continues this trend today with the iPhone and iPad (Homework Assignment: read about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates or watch the movie ?Pirates of Silicon Valley"). IBM, with its choice of ?DOS? and on ?open? approach to developers may have committed the ?original sin? that has been perpetuated through countless versions of DOS and Windows. What was needed in my opinion, was a ?clean break? from Windows about 20 years ago. John Dowe is correct in saying that it is the ?OS? that is to blame for most of our trouble.

So which one is ?better?? That depends? and what?s more, you are all right! Speaking for myself, I almost have to rely on PC?s for what we do in the School of Business--most of the software won?t run on a Mac. Microsoft Office is available for the Mac but not Access. As far as the features, functionality, and stability, I prefer the Mac OS over Windows--no contest. In my life and career I have used SO MUCH technology that I really don?t give it much thought anymore. A few years ago, I used to be in charge of the entire ?IT? budget for our university--in my role, I would always let users decide what they wanted--so long as they could justify how it would be used for instruction. Over the years, other than for ?Business,? I have probably bought more Macs than anything else.