What is going on??

Well it appears to be the “end of the world?”  All hell seems to be breaking loose!

For about the last two weeks we have had around 20 computers in line waiting to be worked on.  We finish a few and then more come in!  It’s kind of nice for job security but man, I’m tired of having to tell customers that it will be about a week before we even get started on their computer.  Plus it seems there are some really tough ones going around right now.  In the past I’ve posted about tough stuff going around but in those cases I was actually able to get rid of them.  There are a couple of things that are really screwing me over on a couple of computers right now.  I forget the name of one and I can’t figure out what the other is.  It very frustrating to be fighting with these computers for so many days.  Very discouraging when you are at work for 8 to 9 hours a day and you do not finish a system!!  Tom (pcuser) is much better at malware cleanup than I, I have no problems admitting that I’m not the man.  On occasion he has remoted into computers for me but even he is getting his butt kicked.  I feel bad for him because he is the only one working on systems in his shop.  Yesterday through a quick chat he said he had 17 systems in line!!  We had about 21 but there are 2 of us working on them all day and the boss works on a few between service calls.

Last week I read where there were a few things going around FaceBook, at the time I didn’t think much of it.  Now though almost ever customer for the past 4 days has been mentioning FaceBook so it appears to really be out of hand!

So I wonder, are all or most of you getting your butts kicked like we are??  Do you see a huge epidemic happening?  Do you have any tips or suggestions?  As soon as I figure out how to get rid of some of this really hard stuff I will be posting information here.  Please let us know.

What would you like?

Sounds a bit strange but really, what would you like to buy from Burrows Solutions?  I haven’t really heard much in requests so I want to ask now.  What item(s) between $25-$100 would you like to save some money on?  Post comments here, email me, or even contact me through my Burrows Solutions site and I will see what I can do for you.  I truly expect to be able to save you $10-$20, seriously!

I would like to mention that my great deal on Acronis is going well, I only have 1 copy left.  So if you need Acronis True Image Home 2009, I have it at a great price.  I have also added some computer cleaning supplies to the store, if you want please check them out.  Comments and questions are welcome.  Thanks for reading.

Life is…..

I dunno.  Luckily I do not have many real friends so I do not have to go to funerals on a regular basis.  I just hope that you never have to go to a funeral for an 11yr old girl.  Alexa was the daughter of one of our good customers at work.  Personally I had to go to show my respect to him and his family.  I’ve thought about it a lot over the last few weeks and I just could not imagine losing one of my children so young to cancer.

Going to a funeral really makes you think.  What is life?  What is the most important part of life?  While I have slightly regretted all the time I’ve spent on UBCD4Win and wish I spent more time with my children, I still would not change it.  I have touched the lives of thousands of people and made a lot of friends over the last 5 years.  Experiences and helping people are what life is really about.  I think we have made our “mark” on the computing world and do not plan on stopping anytime soon.  With UBCD4Win, future projects, and other services we will continue helping.  The actual interaction with customers and people will keep me at my low paying job for a long time.  My job at a small “mom & pop” shop is the best I have ever had.  The hours allow me to be flexible so I can do work on my projects in the evening and do other services.  As horrible as it sounds, I think this horrible experience has helped me a little.  I will remain focused on helping others, that’s really what life is about.

1st Intel Atom computer promo

I have decided to try and “sweeten” the deal a little more.  Part of the reason is because I have a slightly different case that I will be using.  Right now I only have 1 of the MI100-BK cases in stock, so I need it to move.  I will then be offering the regular MI-100 case that has a piano like finish and is black and silver.  I just received them today and honestly I think the new cases look sexy!

So now, the special deal.  The first computer sold will be in the MI-100BK case and include the deluxe card reader for free!  That card reader is pretty sweet because it accepts almost all flash cards, is a USB hub (3 USB ports), and has an eSATA port!  You will receive that, the 1yr license of Kaspersky AV, lifetime license of Super AntiSpyware, and if you order it with XP you will receive a built and ready to boot CD of UBCD4Win.  That is over $100 worth of extras!!  If you have any questions, feel free to comment, email me, or call my company phone number.

Intel Atom computers??

I do not want to sound like a whiner or anything but I am just slightly concerned.  I know there are several things working against me like a bad economy, my store being new, and I really can’t compete with the “big boys” (HP, Dell, etc.) prices.  I am just really anxious to sell one of my Intel Atom computers on my Burrows Solutions site/store.  Several people showed interest a few months ago but no one has ordered one yet.  I blame myself a little for that because I did not find the time to get the site up quickly enough and the computers listed, so I wonder if anyone is interested in them anymore??

I would just like to know what you think about the systems.  The video is a little old and the quality is not great but it gives you an idea of what I’m selling.  I hope to find time to have a camerawoman help me make a new video, maybe that will help a little also?  So I ask you, do you have concerns about the systems I am building and what are they?  How does the price look to you?  Think it is to high?  At least one positive that I do have with my systems is service.  These systems are not put together quickly on an assembly line and pre-loaded with a OS image file.  I install everything my self and like to test the new hardware by going through the installation process, updates, etc.  With that I want to mention the LCD guarantee I have on all LCD’s I sell on at Burrows Solutions.  All LCD’s I sell come with a ZERO dead/stuck pixel guarantee, unless noted otherwise.  I personally inspect them and run them for a few hours to ensure they are top quality and have no visible issues.  So please let me know if you have any other ideas or thoughts on these systems.

I would like to remind everyone about the promotion I am doing with the first few I sell.  The first 3 computers sold will come with a 1yr. license of Kaspersky AV, Super AntiSpyware lifetime license, and if you chose XP as the OS I will build you a UBCD4Win disc.  UBCD4Win will be built on the system so you will easily be able to create an updated one later.  The bootable CD will also be a nice looking printed CD.

I am continuing to add more products and services to Burrows Solutions when I find time and when I find great deals.  Please remember also that 90% of the items I sell is something that I have been using for at least 4-6 months.  I want to be confident with every item I sell.  I do not want to sell junk and will not sell junk.  I plan to add a Virus/Malware cleanup service on the site soon also.  I will be having Tom (author of EzPCFix and several other tools he has coded for us to use in UBCD4Win) take care of that service because he is the best person for that job.  He has helped me on several occasions and just really knows how to get rid of that crap!

I will be moving the payment buttons for my laptop repair service to the Burrows Solutions site soon.  2 copies of Acronis True Image Home 2009 at an awesome price will be added soon.  Computer cleanup products will be added also, such as LCD cleaner, canned air, electronics cleaner, and a few other items.  We have been selling many of these products at the shop I work at and they are all good at what they do.  I can get low prices from them and can pass those savings on to you.  With the cleanup products I will also be able to provide even lower prices if anyone is interested in ordering larger quantities, usually 6 or more items.  One final reminder is the great price I currently have on a copy of Quickbooks Pro 2009 full version, no one has snatched up that good deal yet.

So please if you have the time, check out my Burrows Solutions store and let me know what you think.

PC Tools ThreatFire? Your experience?

I don’t like basing my opinion on software over only one experience, but in most cases that’s all I have to go on!  I don’t have the time and will not take the time to confirm if something is JUNK!

So what’s your take on ThreatFire?

I have honestly only seen it once on a computer and man was it a very bad experience.  It basically disabled the other AV software on the computer, didn’t allow me to install either Super Antispyware or Malwarebyte’s AntiMalware, and allowed CRAP in!!!  So I uninstalled it and then was allowed to install and do scans with SAS and MBAM, only to find that the computer was slightly infected!  I just do not understand?  So basically I am just wondering if any of you have had the same experience?  Please comment.

Finally, some relief

After all these weeks and months of fighting with our crappy medical insurance, we have some relief.  My wife swears that Topamax has taken care of her migraines in the past but changes to our insurance a few years ago wiped that away.  A month or two ago we thought everything would be better because there is now a “generic” version of it.  Still nothing, no one seems to want to help in stopping them?  It would be much cheaper to pay a few hundred dollars a month for the medicine instead of paying thousands in hospital visits!!

I’ve been telling the wife for at least the last few week that we need to see if those “prescription cards” really work.  Finally yesterday the wife started searching and found: rxdrugcard.com.  Now I am not officially endorsing them or anything and am still a bit skeptical, but it appears to have worked for us.  For $4.95 a month Amy and I are covered.  Her “generic” Topamax prescription cost us $34 yesterday after waiting the promised 1/2 hour for the card to work.  So she has her medicine for at least this month and all I spent was about $40.  I checked a few other prices and not all of them seem right?  I don’t understand why my Ambien prescription cost $137 (and is covered by my crappy insurance) but the Ambien CR that I want is $134?  My search could be off also because I can’t remember the “generic” name for Ambien so maybe that is why?  Either way, as long as I stay at spending $40 a month I am happy.  The wife shouldn’t be in pain and that is always nice, especially after the 2 weeks of hell almost a month ago.  I encourage you to check them out, just use caution.  I used a credit card that I could easily “report as stolen” if things go south.

Windows 7 downloading now!!

Well after patiently waiting all morning, a few hours ago the downloads are finally available!!!  Yeah!  Just in time too because I’ve been going nuts wanting to finish the build on my wife’s new computer.  Because of a “shell shocker” deal last week at NewEgg, I purchased a nice Shuttle case for her.  Brought home a E7400 processor and 320GB hard drive from work and we are almost set.  I already had 2GB sticks of Kingston DDR2 sitting at home waiting to be sold in one of my Intel Atom computers (please someone buy one).  So I’ve been waiting for today to arrive so I could install Windows 7 on her computer.  It’s just too bad the download is taking too long, it will probably be a late night!!  So she will have a new desktop computer/ tv.  This system is replacing the unit in our bedroom that we’ve been using as a TV.  The ASUS 22″ monitor has been good so far and the TV tuner has been ok.  Now though, we will have GOOD software to run our TV with…..thanks to Media Center being in Win7 just like some Vista flavors we are good.  The software that came with the card just really sucks and it will be nice to have Media Center there.

If you are interested in checking out the case, it is here at NewEgg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101044
It appears to be on sale now??  I guess they didn’t move enough during the “shell shocker” and they want to move this model out?  At $239 it is a pretty good deal for all of the stuff it includes, such as built in wireless, a fingerprint reader, and several other nice things.  Only bad thing is according to reviews, the HDMI fails eventually.  I really don’t care about that much because it seems everything else works just fine and I don’t need HDMI that badly.

In the next few days I will report back to all of you how much we love the new system.  As always feel free to post any comments and/or opinions you have about Win7!

Oh and I forgot to mention, I have been wondering how much trouble you could get into for distributing the RTM disc to friends?  A few people have commented that they wish they had a TechNet account and I would kind of like to help them with a copy, but I don’t want MS killing me!!  I would not provide a product key though, so you would still have to get that later by buying a copy.  I dunno what to think about that??

Windows 7, are you excited?

Of course Ed Bott, the big MS fan-boy is going crazy over Win 7 and honestly so am I.  Even though I haven’t had the time to dedicate to it like Ed has (that’s what he gets paid to do!) I am still very excited and can not wait until Aug 6 or 7th!!  One of those magical dates is supposed to be the date that all us TechNet subscribers will be able to download the RTM version of Win7.

Just like last time when Vista was released, I plan on jumping right into it.  I have to so I can answer customers questions.  As a computer tech, it is my duty and job to know as much as possible.  This time around I will have the ability to get it earlier than the general public so I should be more prepared.  I haven’t had the time to dedicate to testing the beta’s and RC, but I did play with them a little.  This new version is actually going to find itself on more of my family’s computers.  I really like the fact that there is going to be a “family pack” and plan on purchasing that.  At around $150, I honestly think it is an awesome deal!  A few others have grumbled about the price a little but I really don’t understand why??  Three copies of Home Premium for half the regular OEM price??  You would have to be nuts not to appreciate that deal!

There have been a few small scares though in the last week that has held me back from posting about Win7.  First was a “sticker shock” post by Ed but it was just a typical “scary” title that gets you into reading about pretty much nothing.  Now there is some “show stopping” bug in Win7 that from the initial reports I’ve read, is really NOTHING.  Of course most of that crappy information came from the jerks over at Neowin.  Whatever get’s people to their site I suppose?  Bitterness for Neowin?  Yes, I am still upset at the fact that their Admin’s have no balls.  The whole AutoPatcher thing over their still upsets me.

I will try to provide a little more information about Win7 for all of you in the future as I use it and read more stories about it.  For now though, I would like to know if you are excited about the upcoming release?  What are your upgrade plans?