Starting a computer support business is something that with some experience and training almost anyone can do. As a person owning an independent computer support business as well as a website to help others that support home users I thought it would be nice to point out the steps needed to start a business helping home computer users as well as some of the skills needed to get started.

There are four steps to getting the business started.

Business license

Every area is different but the legal aspect is always important and lends credibility to your business. Get your business license and also get insurance in case something goes terribly wrong, like lost business data that gets pinned on you.

Business cards

Of course you need some kind of a calling card. I know a small businessman who years back worked out that his business increased $1 per month for every business card he gave out. Go to Staples or Office depot as they have low prices for 500 or 1000 cards with some customization.

Flyers

The bulk of your business will come from flyers that you post up in various places. Put up flyers wherever possible. I have gone to supermarkets, bulletin boards at large businesses as well as small and Real Estate and mortgage offices. Your best success will come in offices where a lot of independent people work with their main computer being at home not supported at their work.

Computer software

There is no way around this. Over time you will find great software for diagnosing problems as well as for fixing problems. Two of my favorite CDs for support are the Ultimate Boot Disk as well as the Windows Ultimate Boot Disk. Both of these are free CDs to download and include a great many pieces of freeware that will help you out. These two Cds are self booting which is nice but you may also create a disk over time that has software you can run right out of Windows.

Website

A website is critical. You do not need something really slick but you do need a site for marketing as well as so that people can contact you or direct others to contact you. The basic info on the site should be your email, phone number, services you offer and maybe a menu of services that you offer. You will find that you do not have to prove how much better you are than everyone else because word of mouth can move very quickly.

There are also some skills that are very important to have to get your business started:

Strong windows skills

This can not be overstated. The person that has a strong knowledge of how the various parts of Windows work is the one that can diagnose and fix the problem fastest. Although you want to have a lot of billable hours you want to be sure that you are not fiddling around looking for a fix as your clients will lose confidence in your ability and you will feel bad about taking so long to fix a problem. Keep up with great message boards like the ones at http://www.neowin.net, as well as others that have a lot of fixes. Also it is important to know the Windows boot process and how the local group policy works. I hate to say it but I have learned more from supporting my mom’s computer over the years for free than I have learned from my own machines because she is not nearly as careful as I am in operating a computer. Remember that most users are not going to have any idea how their computer broke so your own probing questions are often better than just diving straight in and troubleshooting. Lastly know what each of the processes does on a running PC and have a good feel for what to make of errors in the error logs of the machine, these are always invaluable. You can get diagnosis of errors from the logs at http://www.eventid.net .

Virus knowledge

Keep up with the latest viruses and how they are affecting computers. A very small number of viruses account for a great percentage of the infections out there and once you isolate how a virus has wreaked havoc the faster you can get rid of it and get the machine up and running properly again. I use http://www.sarc.com as well as the Internet Storm Center for this kind of information. When you get a customer set up with anti virus pick a favorite like Norton or McAfee instead of a free virus scanner so that the user does not have you to blame if they get reinfected by viruses. Use good quality control by setting up a realistic upgrade and weekly scan schedule based on the user’s computer habits.

Spyware knowledge

This is a really tough one. I keep up with spyware just by searching on the net and trying to find the resources that people are using to get rid of spyware. Also as you use products, especially free ones for fixing PCs like adaware or Spybot you will get a good chance to see what people are getting infected with regularly. I used to see Bonzi buddy a lot but now it is more aggressive spyware that forces you to fix in safe mode as you lose your regedit. Whenever you are getting a customer up and running though it is a best practice to have them use Spyware Nuker or one of the other pay products instead as then you do not have to worry about being the only point of failure if a computer gets reinfected.

Registry knowledge

No one expects you to know the registry inside and out but be sure that you are very proficient with the current user and local machine hives of the registry as that is the most customizable portion of the registry. Also take note of keys that are being affected by various spyware and viruses. Quite often I will find unasked for extras in the filesystem that stop me from using the regedit command but I have had luck using regedt32 or going into the registry from safe mode. Again the better you know the registry the better off you will be when fixing problems.

Hardware knowledge

I have an A+ certification from years back and I am sure that this gave me a great grounding as hardware has changed over the years. You have to be able to at minimum be able to build a PC from scratch as this will give you knowledge of each component of the computer, teach you about BIOS upgrades and drivers and where to find them. There are so many sites on the internet which specialize in each component of a PC that Google will be your best bet for finding information. Another great resource is Maximum PC as they always have up to the minute news on cutting edge hardware as well as software. A couple of good sites that I frequent are http://www.tomshardware.com and http://www.lockergnome.com

Staying up to date with the latest news

This one should go without saying. One of the best ways to start a day in my eyes is to use my Maxthon browser add-on (I know I should have converted to Firefox already but no I haven’t!) and open up http://www.neowin.net http://www.activewin.com http://www.pcmag.com http://www.wired.com http://www.cnet.com http://www.incidents.org http://www.internettrafficreport.com

Marketing

One thing that I have only touched on so far is marketing. After you have the skills down the most important thing you can do is market your business. There are a few things besides flyers. You can do sneaky things like leave a couple of cards at the local bookstore in the computer section, send support type articles to the local newspaper and hope to get them published, and finally strike up computer conversations in the line at the local grocery store. In the more mainstream marketing methods you should join the local chamber of commerce, volunteer to do computer work with local charities, put ads in any local newspapers especially the free ones, and be sure to get together with other people in the industry

1. How can I watch Free Fox, NBC, CBS, CNN and BBC Channels on Online TV?

A lot of folks now have turned to personal entertainment on their computers. With the average American spending over 16% of his daily time watching TV, you may understand why software companies have developed online TV and softwares. There are softwares that are now being retailed from the internet that enable the user to access the Free-To-Air internet Television.

The most commonly watched online TV channels include sports channels and news networks. Watching TV on the computer has revolutionalised the way people see entertainment. Working in the office or at home is no longer a monotonous serious affair.

2. How to watch popular network channel TV online for free

The most popular method of watching satellite TV on your computer flat screen or normal monitor is by use of PC TV programs. These are designed to combine several world TV stations and package them into one package. This affords the user the versatility of browsing hundreds of TV channels from the click of a mouse. One can even work on a separate monitor window while another minimized window airs online television.

The most important function of a TV is as a means of communication. For example, while watching TV in the office may be considered an unnecessary luxury or outright prohibited, it also acts to alert the audience of events on real time basis.

3. Why you may need a satellite TV on your office computer too

A company that has invested in oil stocks for example would find it handy to follow the financial news on hourly basis to get informed on stock trends.

A delay in disposal of shares after, say a break out of a war in the gulf may translate to huge losses in revenue. Since people realized the importance of TV at work, even TV sets have found themselves installed in offices.

4. Watching online CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, CNN network TV channels for free of charge

Watching free online TV through your computer is therefore more of a necessity as opposed to a luxury. So don’t go feeling guilty because you just downloaded one of these computer TV software copies. Its all part of a day’s business. Satellite computer TV programs offer a wide selection of channels in different languages for the user.

5. Online TV on Internet in all languages including English

All world languages have at least a channels dedicated to them. What more, American are also able to watch free online TV from such networks like CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, FOX among many others. These include also the news channels and all movies, films and music aired for free by these networks.

Having TV installed into your computer monitor is one of the best things that can happen to your home or work office. In some cases you would be able to access even adult TV from the internet.

You can read more reviews and watch a trial version of one of the discount and highest quality software available in the market by following the links below.

These days, the computer technology industry is rapidly growing and changing. Along with that growth and change of computer technology are the people who almost instantly adapt to the changes.

Computer technology has made our lives a lot easier and convenient. For instance our banking needs. Years ago, people had to manually file the important data of their customers; now they just use the computer to find these data. In just one click, they would instantly find the name of the customer, the birth date, the address, e-mail address, phone numbers and etcetera. As for the clients of these banks, they can also easily get a quick look at their account balances through logging in to the bank website; in addition to that a lot of people are able to apply for a loan with the use of the computer.

Because of the birth of computer technology, we now have credit cards or what others call plastic money, which are very useful especially when we do not have cash on hand or when you are ordering a certain product through the internet. It’s amazing how computer technology has changed so much our way of living. Nowadays, purchasing products such as cellular phones, bags, household utensils, and clothes or even paying the bills can be effortlessly done at the comfort of your own home.

With the use of the computer a lot of students especially those with unfortunate disabilities or severe illnesses are able to enroll to different schools through home schooling. Students are even able to take their examination tests or check out their grades by the use of the computer.

As far I know computer technology has helped a lot of businesses to better serve the community. But the computers have not only helped us in the business industry; it also has an effect on our communication systems. Long before the computers were born, writing letters were the main source of communication, which would be such a hassle most especially to those people who lived in far away places; plus telephones were quite expensive so people would pretty much prefer writing to their loved ones. And for that reason, people who are far away from civilization would really have a hard time communicating with others. Now, we have e-mails, and live chat, or even voicemails. We now already have video calling in which we would be able to see the person that we are talking to. This would be really great for people who have loved ones that are away from home. Getting in touch with one another is now a piece of cake.

Computer technology has changed our lives for the better. Without it, we would still be living in the pre historic times.

The rate of crimes on internet and networks is increased to an alarming state by hackers, contractors, intruders and employees. Laws are enforced and computer forensics is practiced to avoid and prevent these crimes. Using computer forensics investigators use latest techniques of science and technology to find some evidence against crimes. The evidence will be collected for legal purposes when criminal matters are dealt. Investigation by using latest techniques of science and technology along with computer sciences to collect evidence in criminal and civil courts is called computer forensics. Experts use advanced tools to recover deleted, corrupted or damaged files from hard discs, flash drives and other storage media. A complete examination of windows registry, drives, cookies, deleted files, emails and all other relevant locations is done to find any clue to prosecute the case in law courts.

The first step in collecting evidence is to obtain warrant to search the suspected system. This warrant includes not only seizing and investigating the suspected computer but any devices connected with the crime are also included in it. A printer, scanner or any other device may be used with computer in making crime so these devices are also seized for investigation. Person who examines the computer system is not only an IT expert but a detective. He detects clues to find out the story or details of the crime. The main aim of an investigator or expert is to find out evidence not the culprit. Using computer forensics large amounts of money are recovered by following the law suits in civil and criminal courts.

Computer forensics specialist revealed frauds, crimes and corruptions in insurance companies, criminal prosecutors, large corporations and law enforcement office. The standards, methods and laws of computer forensics are different in different countries. Some evidence is acceptable in some countries but not in others while dealing with crimes at international levels. There is no boundary of internet so it is a problem while investigating and collecting evidences because different countries have different laws.

Personnel, Network administrators and security staff should have knowledge about computer forensics and its legal aspects. An expert should have authority to monitor and collect evidence related to intrusions and computer crimes. The use of security tools should be legal and according to the policies of the company and rules of the country. Computer forensics is a new discipline so the use of existing laws is instable while prosecuting computer crimes. Website of United States Department of Justice’s Cyber Crime is the reliable source of information and rules to apply it. Standards of computer forensics and list of recent cases which are in proceeding are given on the website. Evidences are collected in a way which is accepted by the court. Laws are being approved in the favor of personal data security in organizations.

Organizations have to prove that they have applied necessary securities. So when data is theft or affected then there will not be any lawsuit on the company if proper security applications and policies are installed and implemented.

Computer security law has three areas which one should know. First is in United States Constitution; it protects against unreasonable search, attacks and self-incrimination. These were written before problems occurred but tell how to practice them.

In the second area anyone practicing computer forensics should know the effect of three U.S. Statutory laws.

Wiretap Act

Pen Registers and Trap and Trace Devices Statute

Stored Wired and Electronic Communication Act

During the practice of computer forensics violations of any one of the above statutes lead to fine or imprisonment. If a company feels any doubt about that it has committed mistake it should consult with its attorney.

In third area U.S. Federal rules about computer crimes must be understood. There are two areas which affect cyber crimes

1. Authority to collect and monitor data

2. Admissibility of collection methods

If network or system administrators know about the legal and technical complexities of computer forensics or they are able to preserve critical data of the organization then it would be an asset of the organization.

Technology has seeped into every aspect of our lives today. And to keep pace with the latest emerging technology is becoming more and more important in today’s scenario. If you are in the information technology field, you have have to be aware of the latest trends in technology. To be in the mainstream means to keep an eye on the each and every news related to technology. Whether it is Linux, Solaris or Windows operating system, or it is a complex technology like virtualization, you have to have a clear understanding of every emerging technology. Articles on new technology and news about latest technology can help one to make his way into the complex maze of new computer technology. Every other day an IT giant releases a new patch of software and every new fortnight a new software is released based on a radically new technology. The latest technology buzz like Microsoft Lucidtouch, Sun Solaris have become must know technology terms.

Some of the latest technologies that are going to revolutionize their respective field are

1.) Taptu: Looking for a search engine for your iPhone that is touch friendly and allows to search the web with ease? Taptu may be the answer. Taptu is a mobile search engine that just released its iPhone version that can be downloaded from Apple App Store for free.The new search engine is user friendly and quick. According to Taptu blog, it has more than 3 million webpages currently in its index.

2.) Opera Unite: Opera has launched a new technology that can turn your PC into a personal web server running inside Opera web browser. That server can be used to share everything from files to music with other computers on the web without the need of 3rd party applications. Named Opera Unite, the technology has just been released and promises to make your computer more that just a dumb terminal.

These are just two of the numerous technologies coming our way at the speed of light.

Nobody can deny the importance of computers in today’s world. Our life is in this small box. Now we are so much used to it and depend so much on it that we even cannot think life without it. Computers have made great advancements in the few years in both aspects: hardware and software. And, then invention of internet technology has just made the need of computers inevitable.

The advancements in computer technology make the availability of computers quite easy and this is the reason every home has a computer. From educational institutions to workplace, computers are present everywhere. Life without them is unimaginable as all our dealings are now made online.

Though, computer is just like a human brain, but after all it is a machine and machine can get malfunction at any time due to various reasons. Your important documents, files and contacts are saved in your system. In short, we can say that the importance of your computer is not less than your locker in the bank.

Our system is made up of several components. All these components play a vital role in making the system work properly and effectively. It should always be kept in mind that a PC is vulnerable and can break down at any time. These vulnerabilities can prove a disaster for your PC. Hardware problems like breakage or burning of any component of PC may also be a reason of failure. By changing that particular component, you can make your computer work.

Keeping the importance of computers, you will probably find large number of shops to repair your PC. But, always remember that wrong decision will cause more damage to it and financial loss too. The residents of Phoenix are quite fortunate as they can avail the services of Phoenix computer repair shops and are able to get all the troubles fixed with their computers. There are many Phoenix computer repair shops and most of them provide all necessary repair facilities. Moreover, the services are fast and many also offer same day services.

You can also facilitate yourself by finding on site repair services. Services offered my majority of computer repair shops in Phoenix include troubleshooting of Hard Drive, Motherboard, Computer Power Supply, CPU, Chips, Video Card, Sound Card, Modem, Network Card (NIC), Floppy Drive, Zip Drive, DVD-Rom, CD-Rom and CD-RW (CD burner). Integration, virus and spyware removal, up gradation and installation of different hardware, software and anti spam software is also done by them.

You can get to know much regarding fixing and repairing options for computers in Phoenix by using online computer repair directories. Using directories is an easy option to find all good computer repair service providers at one place. Online computer repair directories also offer online reviews of customers which would help you finding the best computer repair service provider in Phoenix. If you become interested in a company, you should first check its website for complete details and then call them to know the rates and any additional free services they provide.

Watch Fox 5 Online Free Internet TV on your PC

So how can you watch Fox 5 online free TV? Simple. Download of PC TV software is all one needs to be able to have over 3000 TV channels broadcasting from their computer. Most of the American satellite TV stations are actually available with the software. The variety of fox TV channels include some of the most popular including other sports and news channels.

The advantage of downloading satellite TV software on your laptop is that it enables you to travel with your TV. Most people who are working away from home or on holiday may want to watch local news channels. The computer TV program enables you to log on through the internet TV.

Variety of Online TV Channels Offered

The satellite TV channels that come with the elite edition 2007 include stations from across 70 countries and in different languages. North American TV stations are also offered as free to air stations. So if you don’t mind watching your news in the home office as opposed to the TV room, then the software might be worth considering.

Other satellite TV stations include those from Russia, China, Belgium, USA, UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Brazil and a many other countries.

Who Needs to Download Satellite TV for PC 2007 Elite Edition

This wide variety is especially convenient for people living away from home like the states. They are able to follow news and sports channel home through the internet. The interesting part is that besides the initial set up fee of about $50, you don’t pay anything else after that. There are other softwares that offer more station and even cost less. The trick is that most don’t offer

You can get more information on the pc 2007 elite edition if you want to capture Fox TV channel on your PC today by following the links below. Please visit my website and click at the beautiful girl at the top to sample the software.

Buying a new computer can become a tedious task these days as many of us tend to get confused or simply don’t know how to choose the best computer from the wide range available. Here are 6 tips to best computer buy:

1. The first and logical thing to do is determine exactly where you will be using your computer from. Do you plan to use it at home, or do you travel with business often? After you answer this question you know if you want a desktop computer or a notebook.

2. The next thing to do is determine your budget. There is a wide range of both desktop and notebook computers to choose from so they can cover any budget. Desktop computers can cost anywhere between $500 and $2000 (Note that many sites don’t list the monitor in the cost, so read carefully before clicking the checkout button), while notebooks between $800 – $2000+. Decide on how much money are you willing to spend and continue to the next step.

3. Now it’s time to determine what will you be using the computer for. Are you buying it for your kid to play video games, watch movies or do you plan to use it for work or internet surfing? Of course you can buy a computer and use it for all of those things but for example if you plan to use it just for business then you needn’t buy a computer with the best video card on the market.

4. Are you going to store photos, Microsoft Office documents, mp3 files, video files etc.? You need to think about this to determine what hard drive your computer needs. If you’ll be using it to store photos and Office files then you need something in the range of 60GB but no more. If you plan to store many video and audio files then a 220GB hard drive would be more appropriate.

5. Another very important thing to consider, which many people overlook, is how often do you replace your computer? This is very important because most new computers come with a special OEM license for Microsoft software. As this license cannot be used on any other computers, if you change your computer often then it would be a waste of money to buy each end every one of them with the software and pay for it every time. If you change your computer often it would be wise to purchase a retail copy of the Microsoft software and save money.

6. Buy a ready made computer or create your new computer by selecting all the parts yourself? In my opinion, if you’re a person who changes their computer often then buying a ready made one is the perfect choice for you. If you don’t plan on changing the computer then it would be wise to create it yourself at a local store or even on some sites on the internet. This is because all the big computer companies use proprietary components and if you buy a ready made one it is usually harder to upgrade later.

The major problem your screen saver is saving you from is screen burn or image retention which will dramatically reduce the image quality of your monitor. Its well documented and established that screen burn occurs in old CRT monitors and frequently did when operating systems weren’t as they are now and displayed the same screen for extended periods. Screen burn can happen to LCD TFT monitors and it isn’t exclusively affecting computer displays it can affect plasma TVs, in fact any common display that uses pixels can suffer from prolonged image exposure.

Screen burn or burn in Leaves a permanent ghost like image on your display and is caused by prolonged display of stationary images such as a desktop background or tool bar on a personal computer or news channel tickers or TV logos on TV displays. As a result of constantly being left in the same state the Phosphor elements in the pixels (red green and blue) start losing their luminosity and retain a ghosting of the image they were exposed to. Screen burn gradually develops over time and you may not notice it until it’s really intrusive and is clearly visible whenever you’re using your screen. Screen burn is most easily detected when a white background is present on your display you will a ghost of the image typically in a faded grey colour. One more thing you may need to know is that screen burn is not covered in manufacturers guarantee.

What you can do to help, well if your display is on a computer obviously pick a screen saver that actually does the job a screen saver is suppose to do. Screen saver with a stationary background image that isn’t interrupted by anything won’t actually save your screen. If you have a TV then try not to subject it constantly to the same image, remember that logos on TV chancels can cause burn in. Prevention is always better than cure however if you have been unfortunate enough to have display suffering from screen burn there is still hope!

Since Desktop Publishing (DTP) came out in the eighties, graphic designers have been utilizing computer technology. This has pushed all graphic designers to become competent with computer hardware at the very least.

What is Desktop Publishing (DTP)? In the 1980s, it was a common term applied to digital publishing systems. These systems were developed to replace large, pre-press, specialist design and compositing systems.

Graphic designers rely heavily on computers whether these are Windows PCs or Apple Macs. Whichever computer a graphic designer chooses to use, he/she will opt for the best computer that he/she can purchase. Graphic designers will rarely choose cheap computer hardware.

Back in the eighties, Macs were the only choice for designing and printing. Almost all design layout and graphics software was developed for Macs only or even if the software could be used in Microsoft Windows PC, it was much more reliable on a Mac. Additionally, at that time, Macs were associated with the different technologies used in the prepress and Windows PC was just not a practical choice. Today, modern versions of Mac OS X and Windows allow graphics designers to use design software either in a Mac or PC – they are no longer forced to choose one over the other.

Many graphic designers are not IT experts and making a decision on which computer to buy can be quite daunting. Of course, if money is not a problem, the decision would simply be to buy the most expensive Apple Mac or Windows PC. But most designers cannot afford to do that. In fact, some creative professionals have budgets for second hand equipment only. What really matters to these graphic designers are issues that regular computer users do not even have to think about. These are printer color accuracy, monitor calibration, hard disk speed and external storage devices for gigabytes of data.

Recent studies show that the top 5 computers for graphic design are a mix of Macs and PCs and both laptop and desktop computers fall in this category. But just like any product that a consumer buys, it really is the personal preference of the designer whether he/she will use a desktop computer or a laptop. The important thing is that the user/graphic designer has the appropriate software for the type of computer that he/she wants to purchase.

The Top 5 computers for graphic design are:

Mac Pro Desktop

The Mac line of computers is still widely preferred by most graphic designers. According to Apple, the latest Mac Pro features the all new quad-core Intel Xeon “Nehalen” processor which makes the job of a graphic designer much easier. Apple states further that the new Mac Pro is up to 1.9 times faster than its predecessor. Each processor has an integrated memory controller that allows the processors to have faster access to stored data in the computer’s memory, with memory latency decreased by up to 40 percent. This feature will save a lot of time for designers when they do their work.

MacBook Pro Laptop

The MacBook Pro Laptop comes in 13, 15 and 17 inch sizes. It has high-performance NVDIA graphics and LED backlit display which makes editing graphics easier and clearer. This latest model has battery power that lasts up to 8 hours (on 17-inch version). It is powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

Dell Studio XPS Desktop

The Dell Studio XPS Desktop features the Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. If you plan on working with intensive video or 3D editing, you can have an upgrade to the 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM. But its base 3GB memory will enable you to edit photos, create vector or raster designs with ease. Its high-definition ATI graphics card creates clear, precise and flawless graphics – just what a graphic designer needs.

Toshiba Qosmio Laptop

The Toshiba Qosimo is an affordable solution to your graphic design needs. It is powered by either the Intel Core i7 or i5 processor making it easier to create flawless graphics. It has a high-end NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, which ensures that you can clearly see every pixel and frame that you edit. It has a 6GB DDR3 1066MHz memory and a 1GB GDDR5 discrete graphics memory.

HP Pavilion Elite Desktop

The HP Pavilion Elite Desktop is an affordable computer. It is powered by either an AMD Athlon or an Intel Core processor that ranges from an X4 630 quad-core (Athlon) to an i7-980X six-core Extreme Edition (Intel). All HP Pavilion Elite Desktop computers come with genuine 64-bit Windows 7 for the latest technology. Memory ranges from 4GB up to 9GB which guarantees smooth and effortless run of the high-end graphics that you use.