Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock
Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock

Between now and January – and even a bit beyond that – I will probably be asked a thousand times if it is wise to immediately purchase Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows Vista, as soon as it is released.

My answer is always that the pioneers are the ones who take the arrows, so sometimes it’s ok to wait a couple months so you know if the product lives up to the marketing hype. While this was true of Windows XP (remember Service Packs 1, 1a, and 2?) it will be an even greater concern in Vista. Many pieces of Vista have been completely rebuilt from the ground up to be more secure and stable according to Microsoft, but the new code is fresh and not tested to the extent that Windows XP’s core has been over time.

Dell has announced it plans to begin shipping its laptop computers with the brand spankin’ new draft version of the 802.11n wireless network standard. However, those who adopt the “n” standard now may have a headache on their hands next year if the standard is not adopted as written today.

802.11n promises a faster connection, greater signal range, and more networking possibilities, but not everyone is in agreement that the technology is ready for prime time.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told local software partners at a Cape Town technology conference Articles in the Omaha World Herald today as well as on ZDnet.com reveal that the release of Windows Vista in January is not a 100% certainty.

Alltel has announced today that they are no longer supporting dial-up or high-speed internet users who have computers running Windows 98, 98SE, or ME. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people. For those who have these operating systems, it is just one more reason to upgrade! Here is an excerpt from the Alltel email:

If you frequent the Schrock Innovations Computer Repair website you may have noticed a new graphic on the bottom left corner of all of our pages. This is a tool provided free of charge by AltaVista that will allow you to instantly translate any page on the Schrock Innovations website into 8 different languages!

Since the launch of the Do It Yourself Computer Repair section of our website, we have been getting an ever increasing number of visitors from outside the United States. While our primary concern is always our local Nebraska customers, people outside of Nebraska and outside of the US also have computers and need help too.

For those of you who follow this blog, you have read about the MoviePass and MediaPipe software that seems to find its way on to people’s computers who have no recollection of installing it. The software is designed to provide you access to free video content and is usually installed when the user clicks on an advertisement online for free video content and installs their trial software.

30 days later, the MediaPipe software begins to demand its subscription fee though pop ups that increase in frequency until you pay.

There used to be a toll-free number to cancel the account that was opened in your name when you installed the MoviePass trial, but now that number is frequently too buy to get through, and when you do make it through it goes to voice-mail.The makers of MoviePass were undoubtedly barraged with callers seeking to cancel their accounts, so they have created a website where you can cancel your MoviePass subscription instead.

We have added another new computer help article to http://www.schrockinnovations.com. This article will show you how to increase your computer performance by setting your Windows XP based computer to run in performance mode.

Some of our customers have reported as much as a 25% performance gain by trading XP’s eye candy for horsepower! This one should be popular!

Last week a caller on the radio show asked how he could make a backup copy of his Outlook Express email messages. We successfully walked him through the steps on the air, and promised a step-by-step tutorial for everyone on the website.

My uncle bought a new HP multifunction printer for my father and called me to come over and hook it up. I stopped by after work thinking it would only take a few minutes to get everything up and running. Boy was I wrong!

The printer is a photo quality printer that uses an HP 6-cartridge system to obtain high quality prints. I unpacked the system, started the software installing and followed the directions to get everything hooked up. When I powered the unit on for the first time, it informed me that one or more of the initialization cartridges were not installed correctly.

I have teamed up with two other individuals to help launch a new anti-spyware website. It is located at http://www.databaseofspyware.com and it is designed to act as a global repository of all Spyware, Malware, and Adware infections. Eventually we will have manual removal instructions for all of the 7,500 infections that are currently housed on the site.