If you don’t have an operating system ,there is hope.

If your systems crashes and you do not have a back up or you just don’t have the restore disc anymore and you can’t afford to buy Windows 7, there is hope.

There is a free (open source) operating system developed by fans who want to share their work and love of technology. It is called Unbuntu and the latest and greatest version “Lucid Lynx” is an excellent system. It is much easier to install and use than previous versions.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

It even looks and acts a lot like Windows. It comes with  a GREAT photo program called “Gimp” that is very similar to Photoshop CS3, it has an office suite I recommend called Open Office and there are tons of programs you can download for free.

EVEN  BETTER! You can run it right from the CD! You don’t even have to install it on your hard drive. Once you test it and it works, its pretty easy to install. However if you area newbie I suggest you give us a call, there can be some issues and questions that we can help you with and show you the basics of how to use the system and update it.

“Lucid Lynx” is much safer than Windows and there is a Windows Emulator that will allow you to run any Windows programs.

Free E-Mail support for disabled & seniors citizens from Tech 2 U.

Let’s be honest Tech 2 U is a business and our goal is to make money. But we also want to give back the community we love. So Tech 2 U is offering free E-mail support to elderly and handicapped residents of Rancho Cucamonga.

Basically this service will be on the honor system. The person with the problems will obviously need access to another computer if they can not get on line with the problematic system.

After we get your system fixed,  if you have a friend with a computer problem, we hope you will recommend Tech 2 U to them.

Our basic service call which includes the first hour of service is just $35.00! That is less than half of the cost Best Buy. Naturally our work is guaranteed. We accept payment by cash or Pay Pal.

We do recommend that you read over the posts in this site, we talk about common issues and mention several free programs available for download that are an excellent alternative to expensive big name software companies.

If you  run a computer repair service and would be willing to assist seniors and disabled people by E-mail in your area, let me know and I will list you here and we can start a directory for people to find you.

For assistance, please E-mail us rchotspots@gmail.com

STATE           CITY/AREA                         SITE

Ca.                 Rancho Cucamonga        tech2uca.blogspot.com

Free software update. Intended for the less experienced user.

Browser. While Windows comes with Internet Explorer for several reasons it is a very unsafe browser to use. There are several free browsers that are safer to use than IE.

I personally recommend and use exclusively “Chrome” from Google. It is also also the easiest for the average user to browse with. It has multiple tabs so you can have several pages open at once.

Another would be” Firefox”. It is used by a lot of people but is probably a browser used by more experienced users. To be honest, even I felt like it was a little difficult to use at first.

There are other you might want to look into including Maxthon, Opera & Safari.

Office Suites. The gold standard is Microsoft Office 2010. It is very expensive! There is a great solution that is open sources, totally free and will open and save files in the Microsoft format. They have programs that are very similar to Office Word, Power Point, Paint and Excel. Get the FREE download at www.openoffice.org

Anti Virus. Microsoft has  finally out a great free program. The Microsoft Security Suite.  It is very good at catching malware- virus issues and spy wear. All on it’s own with out using up a lot of system resources. You can it here: Security Essentials  I use to be a fan of AVG Free but that is not the case anymore. In fact,  I  would suggest you are better off with the Microsoft Product than the paid AVG program. Or most others. Now, your behavior is far more important that the software you use but why pay for it if you can get it free.  Many new computers come with trial versions of anti virus, remove it! Find the removal tool for your particular program and get rid of it They use up resources and cause a false sense of security.

Windows - System Restore-one of the best tools people forget about.

  Have you ever had your system  crash or a driver become corrupt? There are many reason this can happen, such as a power failure or a bad install of Windows Update. There is an easy fix that works 90% of the time. Now if you have a virus or malware this will not be the fix but for other problems like those I described a second ago, system restore is great. It is basically a time machine that will return your system to the previous working state.

There are several ways to get to system restore. We will use Windows 7 as an example but it is available on Win 2K, XP and Vista. Go to the start menu, then all programs, accessories, system tools and system restore. You would pick the last working date and click on it and then follow the on screen notes to fix the system. It does take some time to do and will need to reboot and then continue the restore. And you are done.

I strongly suggest that you find the system restore and make sure you have a few restore points. Each time you get an update from Windows, it will set up a restore point, or it is supposed too but make sure you have those points.

Got questions? Need computer help? We come to you! rchotspots@gnail.com We work seven days a week and  cost half of the big stores.