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So many of you out there have told me shyly…”nope, I never back up my data”

Well, it’s pretty easy these days, not that it was ever that hard, but it can be confusing. What do you back up? What is that important that if your computer crashed, you will be crying for days over it being lost?

Pictures? Family, friends, travels??? Yep, those are VERY important! Most people never back up those pictures.

Music? Yeah, all those hours of downloading your cd’s to the computer would be gone too.

Word, Excel, Quicken and your email? Your emails may be the most important, but anything you have saved in Word, Excel, would be gone.

How do you back this up easily?

First thing I would do is purchase an external hard drive. I bought a 250 gig hard drive for $85. You probably don’t need 250 gig, but you may…it can depend on how many pictures and music you have on your hard drive.

But for safety sake, I can say that 250 gig is all you may need. I can assist you on figuring out if you need more.

Second thing you do, is install the hard drive. It’s usually as easy as just plugging in the cord to the computer, but each hard drive has a set of instructions.

Third thing, figure out where all your stuff is on your computer. Many people just keep it all in the “my documents” folder. I tend to be a bit more scattered and have my own way of managing files, but either way…you know where your stuff is right?

Go find that stuff, right click on it and make a copy.
Then go to the new external hard drive in the “my computer” window and right click “paste”

It’s really that easy. If you need more assistance, please feel free to call me for a consultation. Backing up your stuff can be easy and you should do it!

So you get the “blue screen” or “blue screen of death”…what do you do now?

If you call someone, you may get this answer, “It’s your hard drive”

Or is it…

I’ve troubleshooted many of these errors. Sometimes simple troubleshooting is all you need to do.

First I would start by turning off your computer.
Then unplug all your cords including monitor
Let the computer sit for 20 minutes

After 20 minutes, only plug in the ac/dc for the computer and monitor and turn it back on.

If it turns on and goes to the Windows start up screen, you may have a bad keyboard, mouse or USB external port issue.

Once it comes back on, if all seems ok…turn it back off.

Plug back in the keyboard and mouse. Turn it on again.

If it blue screens, it’s more than likely your mouse or USB port. If the end of your mouse has a circular end, it’s probably not the issue. If it has a 1/2″ thin metal end, it’s a USB mouse and could be the issue. Try another mouse if you have one.

If your computer turns on fine again, then test your USB plug-ins. (camera, webcam, printer, etc)

If then all seems ok, go in and back up your information/data right away.

Again….if anything at this point fails, it could be a hard drive issue. I don’t always think it’s a bad drive if it blue screens. Sometimes your computer just has a bump in the road and needs to be “reset”. The troubleshooting tricks above often help figure out what may be causing the issue.

USB ports can fail if you plug in a camera or another “external device” meaning…printers, cameras, webcams, etc.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. 612-865-4475

Many of my clients will call and say “I defragged, but it isn’t faster”…

Defragmenting a computer or “defragging” will not speed up your computer. I think it’s an old wives tale that comes from years ago when it probably did help the computer. But in these days, a computer running slow can be from many other issues.

What does “defrag” mean?

Simply put…
It means to clean up the fragmented parts of the hard drive (fragment means scattered bits that need to be put back into place that have been moved caused by uninstallation of programs or just Windows installation issues).

If you defrag, your computer will run more efficiently, but not necessarily faster.

*For a faster machine, you can have a computer cleaning done by Call That Girl. Charges run about an hour for this service.

*You may also need to add more memory. Especially if you are running alot of programs at once.

*As well…your hard drive may be getting close to full. With music and game downloading so popular now, it’s not hard to get your hard drive to max capacity.

Buying an external hard drive for the music is a great idea! (and you can back up your data there too!)

For a consultation about your hard drive, computer cleaning or anything else in regards to defragging, please contact me at info@callthatgirl.biz.

Thanks for Bloggin with That Girl!

Women working out of their homes on their own home based business, is BIG business! Many of my clients are just that…owners of home based businesses.

Are you taking full advantage of the technical needs to help your work day be much more at ease? Do you have an IT person to rely on for your technical questions?

Yes, even as a home based business, you do need to have an IT budget. You do use a computer and will have technical needs at some point. IT support is essential to keeping your business running smoothly.

Call That Girl offers a bit more “assistance” to the home based business owners than just technical support. I can also assist you with technical gadgets…

Do you have a smartphone? (Treo or Blackberry)
Do you have a business contact manager program? (Outlook?)
Are you Linkedin? (www.linkedin.com)
Do you use email marketing? (Icontact or constant contact)
How many databases do you use for keeping track of your clients and contacts?

Now you may ask…why would I need a smartphone? Do you travel to clients homes and need address/contacts/email with you on the go? Did you know you can download the map to a clients house and view it on your smartphone? I use those tools everyday when I have a home visit. It’s great to know that I have the info as close as my phone and do not need to boot up my laptop or constantly print all the information out.

Call That Girl today for a free phone consultation and let me help you get more out of your business day.

612-865-4475

So you’re looking to buy a new computer, but unsure which to buy?

Laptop vs. Desktop computer

They used to say, the laptop was only good for those that travel, but those days are long gone! Welcome to the new world of “in house” traveling!

Now you can take the computer to your kitchen, deck, bedroom and basement! No more sitting at the computer desk.

My recommendation? You will need to purchase a wireless router. The Linksys or Belkins seem to be the most popular.

What kind of laptop should you buy? Any basic laptop these days has wireless capabilities and if you are a basic user, there is no need to spend $1200 anymore. I am recommending to users buying a 2nd computer to look at the Acer. The lowest end model is running around $400 at Microcenter (with about $30 in memory upgrade needed to run Vista)…a deal you really can’t beat!

For more information on buying a 2nd computer and wireless set up, contact me at info@callthatgirl.biz or call for a consultation. 612-865-4475

Many of my clients have purchased new laptops that has Vista preloaded on it. Many of you have software that is not up to speed with Vista. Should you downgrade or try to get your software up to speed?

Here are my thoughts…
I have been using Vista since last January. Yes, Vista is buggy and does things that really bother me. I am also a technician and can fix my own problems (and enjoy trying to fix those problems:). You the customer…can usually only get so far until you decide it’s not worth using Vista.

First thing you may want to consider is making a list of problems are you experiencing since the upgrade to Vista. Some problems are just “configuration issues” that I can assist with. Some problems are seriously the Vista operating system and you may need to go back to XP if your work depends on it.

Second thing is check to make sure that your software is Vista ready. Even though it installs (usually you will get an error during installation that tells you if it’s not Vista ready) it may need to be updated on the company website. Check with the software company website and verify. You also may need what is called “a patch” to make it work on Vista. You can also google the issue and see if others on the net are experiencing the same issues.

Third thing is Call That Girl (612-865-4475) for a phone consultation. I do offer short conversations for free to give you an idea if you should consider staying on Vista or downgrading back to XP. If a home visit is required, we can discuss that. I can also assist via the phone if need be.

Please post comments or questions about Vista! thanks and…

Have a good Wed!

Lisa

Hello to all my new blog readers!

I sent out an “Icontact” message to many of my Women Expo visitors this morning. I am excited to start blogging and giving out as much information as I can in regards to computing and internet. Please do not hesitate to ask questions!

Today has been a busy day for me, I did some work on my icontact newsletter and started up a Linkedin women’s group (Women in Computing). As well, getting ready to run a few errands later and it’s SNOWING! YAY! I love the snow so much. I don’t like the bitter cold (like the cold weekend of the expo….that was really cold!).

Happy Monday to you all, enjoy your week.

Lisa

Myspace and Mykids

Do you know what your kids are up to online? Many parents today let their children have free reign on the computer and the internet. I know it’s very hard to watch your kids every minute they are online, but there are things you can do to keep them safe!

Have an in home internet safety course given by Call That Girl.

We will review personal information issues
We will review how much time children are online
We will set up chat sessions reviews
We will review websites they have been to
We will do an internet search for information that may have been given out already
We will remove their administrative rights from the computer
We will create a family myspace page and add your children’s pages to the family page
Instruction on how to use myspace and facebook in age appropriate manners
How to avoid downloading games that bring spyware
How loading the computer with spy ware can be unsafe for you and your family

…And most important to you and the family budget, a computer loaded with downloaded games and spyware can slow down your internet connection, and require a cleaning more often than necessary.

Most kids today are using myspace.com and facebook.com regularly. Many children are “safe” users and know not to give out personal information, but many kids are posting VERY personal information and photos. This information should not be given out. Children sometimes don’t know what they are doing and how it can affect not only them, but their friends and families.

We have all heard the stories about information on the internet coming to haunt folks in real life.

The internet is real life! Protect your family now!

As I’ve been spending the last 5 months starting up my business full-time, I have been told many times over to blog. I kinda winced and said “I hate reading blogs”. Blogging was the last thing I really wanted to do.

Then…a business associate told me that he blogs and he said it was a good advertising technique, so here that girl blogs now.

Stay tuned for more fun blogs to come!

Lisa

Bio sheet!

Call That Girl (CTG) is owned and operated by Lisa Hendrickson, and around the metro area Lisa is affectionately referred to as “the IT girl” or “that computer girl”, hence the snappy website: www.callthatgirl.biz . Given that Information Technology is a male-dominated industry, Lisa and Call That Girl offers a new approach to everyday computer woes.

CTG originated in Minneapolis, 2003 as an at home computer repair company focused on supporting women users. CTG was a sole proprietorship in the summer of 2004, and while working at the Mayo Clinic, Lisa found that physicians also needed her computer expertise in their home offices. Lisa has been working ever since supporting a variety of industries, including: Universities, Military Networks, and Research and Development, but she has never forgotten the Call
That Girl dream. Lisa and CTG aspire to support women and home based businesses on a level that far exceeds the competition, never compromising value and repair.

“I love troubleshooting and helping the customer. I will only work in positions where customer focus is #1. I also believe that teaching is a certain aspect of computer repair. Clients need to be informed of not only their choices of service but to learn how they can avoid repeat calls for future repair”, states Hendrickson.

Running CTG is an around the clock job, but Lisa still enjoys non- technical hobbies such as vintage shopping and collecting, traveling and shooting pool. She also volunteers at Resource INC, a community support service for those coming out of drug rehabilitation, welfare and veteran status. In addition, Lisa works to provide technical advisement for children’s health organization, Camp Get-A-Well-A.

Her goals for herself reflect her efforts at CTG, to make a difference in people’s lives and to help others while sharing her talents and passion.