Hawaii Real Estate | Hawaii Relocations | Hawaii Home Buying & Selling

After writing about The New Windows 7.....and Me.....Happy Happy Happy there were all different views on thoughts of another new operating system about to be released.

So then I got this crazy idea to share some of my thoughts .....Is it the Machine...or the Operator?

You go to your favorite store where you just know you'll get a great deal on a nice PC or laptop. You're thinking that you'll get a HP because that Dell you got before just wasn't cutting it. It had so many issues with the Operating System Vista and now your PC/laptop is running oh so slow.  Well, for that matter, when you had XP on it you were still having problems.

Maybe you'll get a Toshiba and hey..they have a great price on that one with XP on it so you'll get that one. Wrong. You have to change with the times lest you get stuck in history and not have anything that's compatible with your OS.

Ask yourself these questions:

• When you click on start and it brings up the programs that are installed; how many of those are HP this or HP that or Dell this or Toshiba that? All that proprietary junk is there for a reason. Advertising and sales. They load the machines with all that temporary stuff so you may or may not buy it and it just clutters up your desktop.
• When you go to buy a new software program (i.e. antivirus, Print Shop, media etc) do you check to see if it's compatible with your operating system.  Check before you buy anything to make sure it's compatible with your OS.  That includes printers and other gadgets and gidgets too.
• Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe it was all the junk on that "new" machine that everything else you're putting on is just making it a total piece of junk?  Buying a new name brand machine doesn't make it automatically a great machine. If you know a professional who can build you a machine you'll be better off right from the start. It may cost a bit more but you'll have a CLEAN MACHINE and it's well worth it to save you headache, time and money down the road.
• When you are booting up your pc is it taking super long? Maybe because you have ten million programs running in the background on start up that you don't need. Again, find a professional that will tweak your machine to run properly. Maybe you need more ram too!
• Do you keep adding programs, pictures and video to your laptop/pc and you don't even have enough drive to hold it all?  You can only install or save as many files as your hard drive will hold so don't keep thinking there is an unlimited amount of space and then blame it all on the PC or OS. And that brings us to the next point....
• Do you back up your important docs? How about all those pictures you don't need on your pc? Not only will you save yourself from headache but you will be saving yourself time, money and IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS! Maybe you need an external hard drive or an online storage account.
• Do you failthfully maintain your computer and clean out all the junk that adds to temp files and picks up junk every time you open the internet and then every page you click on thereafter?  Deframent your machine (you can set it automatically). Clean out your Browsing history (go to start, control panel and click on ‘delete browing history on exit)  I actually use CCleaner It's free and cleans IE, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, Windows- Recycle Bin, Recent Docs, Temp files and log files, Registry Cleaner, Third Party Applications and...it's 100% spyware free!  It's about the only free thing I have on my pc.
• Do you keep downloading all that FREE software and then wonder why you have a bunch of viruses or added junk?  Make sure you have a good antivirus on your machine that is compatible with your OS and machine. Again, make sure that whatever antivirus you use that it's compatible with your PC's OS and constantly update it.
•  Do you consider your office machines just a part of your business?   For me it's the main component of my business and it takes a bit of money to maintain and upgrade but well worth it so I don't have problems down the road. I also change my printers out as well.
• Do you educate yourself on technology and especially with your office equipment? I have to stay educated with continuing education for real estate and for me that includes staying up to date with my office equipment. My PC is the most important part of my business.

Consider this. Whether you build your own machine or buy a store bought computer the problem lies with not knowing what hardware and software works together and how to correctly configure set up and maintaining your machine.

Each individual will have their likes and dislikes and you will have to find what works for YOU.

What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

Sit down with a professional who knows their stuff and figure out what you need and what's in your budget. You'd be surprised at what that knowledge will save you. Before you start downloading all those free programs and shareware files check with your technician.  Yes, there are many places you can get free software but consider the fact that you don't always get something good for nothing. It usually comes with ‘something' that is not always good.

In our businesses we value our time, resources and equipment. These are the things we can't afford to lose when a computer crashes,  a virus infects, printers errors occur and just the fact that we neglect our machines by not maintaining them.

Take care and love your machine.

I love all of my machines.

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Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman is a Realtor-Associate with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs, she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocating to Hawaii, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents.

Website: www.hawaiihomesmarket.com

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