Welcome to the Geek Choice Blog

At Geek Choice, we pride ourselves on being the #1 solution to your troubleshooting needs, servicing customers the nation over with our signature brand of exemplary customer service and peerless technical expertise. While our job is to assist you, we also love to keep the public informed, offering them tips that they can use when having any questions about their systems.

If your computer begins experiencing problems, resulting in error messages and the occasional system crash, the source could be any number of issues. Without some idea of what’s occurring, you’re left in the dark, with no solution to your issue.

Windows Surface Scanner is a helpful utility that might shed light on where the problems are originating. Completely free, this tool inspects your hard drive, locating any physical errors that exist. We should note that this is not a repair tool, being only a means of diagnosing what might be causing your frustration.

If problems are uncovered and you’re unclear on how to proceed, we’re here to help.

You can download Windows Surface Scanner here.

If you’ve ever used a utility included with the Windows Operating System, you know the hurdles required to even access the folder within which it’s found. If you’re suffering the fatigue of having to take an unnecessary number of steps to make your way to these tools, we have an app that offers fast access without the hassle you’re used to.

Before proceeding, we should add that this will require the installation of .NET Framework 3.5. At the end of this article, you’ll find a link to it.

Requiring no installation, all you need to do is unpack the executable, place it within the “Program Files” folder and assign it a shortcut.

Once you’ve completed the brief task of setting it up, you can start the Windows Utilities Launcher, where you’re given immediate access to the utilities you’d otherwise have to endure superfluous clicking to locate. Looking at the “Utilities” tab, users will notice all the usual helpers – Computer, Device, Disk, Performance, Display, Services, Task, System, Add/Remove, et.al.

On the “Settings” tab, you’re given the option of having the Launcher start up with Windows; you’re also able to have it start minimized, which will see it occupying your system tray whenever you boot up your computer.

This app also comes with a handy right-click menu. Including the Task Manager, you can access the Notepad and Calculator from the right-click menu.

While these utilities aren’t frequently used, they’re still very helpful in a time of need, which every user will be confronted by at some point. Its use comes with ease, finding that it’ll spare you those few extra steps that were previously required. If you have questions about how to use these utilities, or discover that whatever issue you were attempting to correct hasn’t been resolved, Geek Choice is here to help you.

This application is available or Windows XP, Windows Vista, and the recently launched Windows 7.

First, if you haven’t already done so, download .NET Framework (version 3.5 SP1) here.

Then, download Windows Utilities Launcher (version 1.1) here.

Microsoft recently made the successor to the popular Microsoft Office 2007, Office 2010, open for public beta. Available for both 32 bit and 64 bit systems, this new package is poised to become the standard once it moves on to its final stage.

To download the beta, you must be subscribed to MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) or TechNet.

Be advised that it is not recommended to access the beta across P2P networks, with obvious concerns about using such services for the exchange of copyrighted software.

Oftentimes, through no fault of either party, our customer service representatives encounter unintended obstacles when attempting to detail exactly why a customer’s computer has ceased to properly function. One of the more frequent problems encountered by our clients is the infamous “Blue Screen of Death,” or BSOD. The “Blue Screen of Death” is an ominously nondescript blue screen alerting the user that, for any number of reasons, the computer must shut down to prevent further damage. This screen is accompanied by text, of which much is unintelligible to all but the most tech savvy.

As calls come into our office, our phone reps attempt to detail the specific problem as best they can, but their understanding of what lies at the heart of the issue goes only so far as the end user is able to articulate it. No blame can be attributed to the client, for even some of the most accomplished technicians find themselves at an immediate loss for what’s ailing a system stricken by BSOD, their answers coming after the issue has been researched.

BlueScreenView is an informative utility that operates as a interpreter of sorts, taking what many find to be incomprehensible and processing  that information in a manner that makes it a bit easier to digest. The necessity of a utility like BlueScreenView becomes obvious when observing how little time you have before the “Blue Screen of Death” proceeds with a system reboot.

With BlueScreenView, the user can access BSOD dump file, filtering that information through a report that’s just a bit easier to understand. When launching the application, it will scan for the minidump files generated by the system crash, which are usually located in C:\windows\minidump. Taking that data, it displays it in a window, with the dump file listed above and those drivers associated with the crash sorted below.

You can read even more information about the driver’s role in the crash by double-clicking on each one. Or, you can simply decide to parse the selections down to just those drivers that were directly implicated in the system crash.

It bears mentioning that this is merely the precursor to any troubleshooting that is to take place on the stricken computer. BlueScreenView translates the garbled messages from the BSOD and creates a clearer account of just what precipitated the system crash. While this utility will not solve the conflict, it will grant the user a better understanding of where the focus should be.

For those users who are interested in calling Geek Choice, this might prove handy, particularly when relating the details of what you’ve experienced to the phone representative that takes your call.

You can download BlueScreenView here.

If your system experiences a sudden crash, or if you have a question about an unrelated matter, Geek Choice is here to help.

For those of you familiar with Microsoft’s Windows Operating System, you’re well aware of how critical it is to keep your system updated with the latest patches released by Microsoft. In addition to steeling you against any security breaches, these updates have been shown to significantly improve the performance of the operating system.

Once a feature that many either ignored or reluctantly used, Windows Update has seen significant gains in its design since the transition to Windows Vista and the recently unveiled Windows 7.

This important feature is now accessible via the search bar located in the Start menu.

As you’ll see, the new Windows Update process has been streamlined, making it easier to manage and assign those updates where needed.

With this Windows Update manager, you can also view all of the updates for MS Products, saving you the time of checking them individually.

If you find yourself questioning just what you’re installing on your computer, you can click the link specified below, which will bring you to a more detailed explanation.

In the past, the installation of some updates has conflicted with the use of certain applications, which can lead to the instability of your system.  Should such a conflict occur, the incompatible update can be removed by simply selecting it from the Uninstall window.

For what you need, many of the updates will be unnecessary, yet you’ll still find them included in the list of updates to install. For those updates you consider needless, right-clicking on them will summon a window from which you’re able to select “Hide updates.”

Keeping your Windows Updates current is just one of a number of ways for you to ensure that your system is properly functioning.

If you have any questions about what else can be done, feel free to give us a call.

From creating spreadsheets to playing the latest games, we use our computer for multiple purposes, one of the most common being our navigation of the internet.  With the use of the internet occupying so much of our time, it stands to reason that we’d want to enhance that experience as best we can.

When it comes to internet browsers, there isn’t a more ubiquitous one than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Bundled with Microsoft Windows, the most widely used operating system in the personal computing market, Internet Explorer is the standard by default.  However, in spite of its widespread use, there are alternatives to Internet Explorer that are arguably more popular with the geeks amongst us.

Because of its de facto popularity, a result of being packaged with Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer has seen only incremental advances in how it functions. This lack of innovation has paved the way for competitors to release alternative choices which offer greater functionality and more reliable security for users browsing the internet.

Of those choices, my favorite is Mozilla’s Firefox.

Free and thoroughly customizable, Firefox is fast becoming the choice to which users are migrating from Microsoft’s problematic browser, its superior functionality immediately apparent:

• Firefox includes helpful features that augment the browsing experience, such  as spell checking and saving sessions for those who accidentally quit the browser.
• hundreds of plug-ins afford users a staggering level of customization for their browsing experience.
• Though Internet Explorer now has tabbed browsing , which allows multiple pages to be opened within a single browser, Firefox’ tabbed browsing is faster and easier to manage.
• With the advent of malware, those bugs that creep along the porous byways of the internet highway, your computer remains at risk whenever you use the internet. When it comes to security, Firefox is unmatched, with seamless updates that keep you protected from vulnerabilities that leave Internet Explorer users subject to spyware and viruses.

While your internet browser of choice is a personal preference, there’s no denying that Firefox adds a bit more to the experience than Internet Explorer. Yes, Microsoft’s offering has certainly taken steps in the right direction, but much of its improvements were available in the first version of Firefox.

The functionality of Firefox may prove daunting to new users, but Geek Choice is always available to show them how to get the best out of its use.