At the Wednesday evening, January 16 meeting of the Boca Raton Computer Society the featured speaker was Past President Richard Miller and Special Interest Group instructor on MS XP and Vista.

He first presented an overview of computers generally. One of the most frequently asked questions is: “What computer should I buy?” Dick’s response surprised many.

“Buy the least expensive machine you can find. Unless you’re doing heavy graphics work and storing lots of digital photographs, you don’t need to invest in an expensive machine. Hard drives fail within three years. It’s a mechanical device and wears out. Watch the Sunday supplements and go for computers on sale.”

Dick, who makes his living as a computer tech consultant to businesses and home users did a brief review of the new Microsoft Vista operating system. Microsoft has chosen to name nothing in Vista the same as in XP. They have also placed in the program something that asks “your permission to continue” as it boots up, making for frustrating minor delays and extra steps before you can continue to work. “A Vista Service Pack 1 will be issued soon by Microsoft which should offer some improvements for users,” Dick informed us.

There are two types of hard drives in every computer: one that is going to fail and one that has failed. Dick reviewed the importance of backing up your files. With the availability of flash drives and external hard drives everyone should back up there files once a week or once a month depending on the volume of work you do with your computer.

Check out Dick’s web site at www.Genesis-one.com. If you click on the BRCS link, up will come a raft of interesting free software programs.

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