Check out our latest fundraising/promotional plans for this October here: http://www.facebook.com/zombiewalkforcharity! Be sure to like ZWC and leave comments to push it up in the page rankings!!

We need Sponsoring Businesses as well as volunteers to pull this off! This plan is a work in progress and your comments/insights are welcome. We will be having another charity meeting in the beginning of August to finalize details. In the meantime join our forum on: http://zombiewalkforcharity.webs.com/

Computers For Charity Newsletter-Issue 2, Nov. 2011

Waiting For Superman....To Fix Your Computer?

Does this villain look familiar to you? If you have seen this guy or his band of not so merry men popping up on
your computer trying to extort your hard earned money, then beware.

This is the classic extortion scheme. The gangster who IS the threat, offering you 'protection' from the bad guys, when in reality, it is his own goons who are the real threat.

This guy not only steals your cash from your wallet to clean non-existent threats off your computer but if you give him a credit card number, an email address or other personal information, you are likely to lose a lot more than just your money.

You could lose your identity altogether and be absorbed into the criminal Bot-Net and Hack-Nets around the globe. Below are some other tell tale signs that your computer may be infected with villains in this cabal of evil; Bloatware, Crapware, Trialware, Malware, Spyware and Viruses. All working in collusion to compromise your privacy, data security, and peace of mind!

So, when your trying to simply browse the web are your searches getting redirected to sites that look like this?

Is your operating system failing to install critical updates and when you try to enable automatic updates it fails?

Is Windows Security Center reporting security problems with your computer such as not monitored or disabled security features?

Do you have an internet explorer toolbar overload?

Have a registry or system error scan reporting it can fix or speed up your computer for a price. You did not install it and it pops up out of the blue but requires payment to fix your computer.

Getting pop-ups for an antivirus program you never heard of telling you, that you have to pay money to clean infections? It could even be popping up a fake Windows Security screen like the one below.

These all are signs of a system infected by the evil Cabal. At the least, you have been annoyed by these programs. The endless popups and the inconvenience of having your searches and browser redirected to site that you know are not good. At the worst you could be losing personal data and more. In any case, you just want to get back to work. This is making you nutty and you just want your computer back! Superman, where are you?!?!

Instead of waiting for superman, why not contact us instead? You wont be getting a buffed out hunk with true x-ray vision in spandex pulverizing the bad guys, but you will get expert and professional assistance from our super techs who have the right super powers to deal with these diabolical programs that seek to dominate and destroy your PC.

We can offer assistance in everything from virus removal, hardware and software issues, data backup and recovery. We can even handle a lot of issues remotely, so you won't need to have a service call or bring your computer to us. If you frequent this blog you will know that we have a whole arsenal of free programs at our disposal that we can set up on your computer so you can avoid falling prey to the forces of evil in the future.

A little preventative maintenance will go a long way so your never stuck waiting for Superman again. The best part is your hard earned money will help to support Computers for Charity in our mission to provide computers to people in need right in our community. That makes you the true super hero!

Check out our website at http://affordableconsultant.webs.com/ for more details and rates for our services.

Don't Trust Anyone...But Us!

While doing research on antivirus programs I decided to compile a list of top ten free antivirus programs for you. My criteria is that the programs must truly be free, not free 30 day trials or crap programs that will not fully protect you and will bog down your system with bloat.

What I found was appalling. Top blog sites and trusted authorities recommending trial-ware and crap-ware antivirus programs as if they were free! They lure you in with a title that makes you think they are reviewing free software, when in fact the list is populated with junk that will expires and require you to pay $$$. You know they must have got paid for the post.

I THOUGH MY HEAD WOULD EXPLODE as I read post after post recommending crap like Avast Antivirus, or trial Versions of Norton Internet Security. Some of the items on these list were good, but the top selections are ones that true computer geeks wear garlic and carry crosses and wooden stakes to avoid at all costs. Were not here to sell you crap, and we wont! Shame on the rest of the experts for being bought out. Problem with being bought is you get sold too!

I don't get paid to advertise or review any product here and I will only give you a list of software that I have actually installed and used and found it to be top quality and actually free for your personal use! If not I will explicitly tell you! This means it will take me a but longer to review, test and consult with my team of expert computer gurus before I recommend software for your computer. We don't want you to get stuck with junk that leaves you open to infection and data disasters down the road.

So my top ten list will take a little more time and research as I examine all the software recommended by the 'other' sites. Just wanted you the reader to know that you are in good hands with us. We are thorough. We don't take money from advertisers, and will never recommend something to you we have not actually used in real world scenarios.

So be prepared to get an honest list, free of crap and truly free! Read through my previous posts for some honest evaluations of software and the best way to use it.

Of course were always here on Tuesday form 4 to 8 PM and Saturdays from 12 to 4 PM if you have any questions or computer issues beyond your ability to fix!

http://computersforcharity.webs.com

Dust Bunnies Kill

A good system cleanup Isn't just about scanning for viruses and uninstalling bloatware and unneeded services. It's also about physically cleaning the internal components of your system. If your system is behaving poorly or running louder than normal, it may be a victim of the Killer Dust Bunny. In all seriousness Dust is a destroyer of many a computer. Below are images of computers from our shop that were donated as DOA systems. Our autopsy of them gives a good indication as to the probable reason. Click on the pictures for a closeup but be warned: the following images are highly disturbing and not for the faint of heart!

Dust settling on the outside of your computer case may appear to be just a minor cosmetic issue which can be easily addressed with a cleaning cloth. However, the fact that there was dust on the outside is a good indication that there will be dust and other debris within the computer case itself.

There are several ways in which dust and debris accumulation can impact your computers operation and overall performance. Built-up dust can cause two things to occur:

1. It can restrict airflow by accumulating on and in ventilation holes, slots, and fans.


2. It can accumulate and act as a thermal insulator like the insulation in your home's attic and walls.

Both of these conditions will cause your computer and its internal parts to operate at higher than normal temperatures, which can cause them to fail sooner than they should.

Dust can also contain conductive material and particles can stick to circuit boards and cause a short circuit. Even home computers if not properly cleaned can succumb to problems caused by too much dust.

A dirty fan doesn't rotate fast enough to keep the CPU cool. This causes the computer's fan motor to work harder - and a harder working motor can raise the electric bill. Worst case scenario: A completely clogged fan just stops rotating altogether. Then the CPU will overheat and fail. No CPU equals no computer!

At high temperature, fail safe software, shuts down your computer to prevent damage. This can happen during boot-up or in the middle of intensive CPU tasks. Blue Screen of Death and frequent memory errors are some of other symptoms of an overheating computer. A simple sign to look out for is constant or frequent fan operation.

If you are afraid to open your computer case to clean out your system never fear. Our techs are well versed in the art of combating the lethal Dust Bunny. Check out the our suggested rates for this service as well as our many other great services here: http://affordableconsultant.webs.com/ratesservices.htm

Whats On My Computer? Part 1

People often ask me for advice on what software they should purchase for this or that purpose. I'm probably the wrong person to ask this question because I'm the working poor and as such, I don't go out and buy the 'latest and greatest (AS SEEN ON TV)' software. That does not mean that I do without.

Through the years I've tested, played with and reviewed many different types of software. I've come to the conclusion that free software often is not only a cheaper alternative but in many cases a better alternative to paid software. I'm not talking shareware here, but free software. Sometimes you have to pay to enable extra features but in a lot of cases the features that are offered are more than enough to do the task at hand.

Just so you know I practice what I preach lets talk about my computer. My laptop came pre-installed with Windows Vista. Now I'm not a total Windows hater here but you all know Vista left a bad taste in many of our mouths. So was the answer to upgrade to Windows 7? Not a chance. Windows 7 is Vista fixed basically, so for Microsoft to ask me to shell out another $200 dollars for what should have been a free patch irked me. So I dealt with Vista for a season and eventually decided to go the Linux route.

Linux has a lot going for it but there were still a few Windows programs I wanted to run so I decided on a dual boot. Dual booting allows me to either boot into Linux or Windows. So I have use of both operating systems. Now this is not the idea configuration as this takes up a great deal of hard drive space and you have to reboot the computer to get to either OS. Another option would be running Windows in a Virtual Machine inside of Linux. I decided on VirtualBox for this and started out by installing Windows XP for testing purposes.

Downloading and installing VirtualBox was a snap as it is in the Ubuntu software repositories. So you go to Applications, Ubuntu Software Centre and search for VirtualBox. Then you just click the install button. This is how Windows Add Remove Programs was originally envisioned by Microsoft but there has never been anything to add in Windows. Now they have Windows Live to download some free stuff for Windows 7. It pales in comparison. The Ubuntu Software Centre is amazing and new applications are added every day. Over 3000 titles and counting. You can find everything you need there.



The creation of a Virtual Machine in VirtualBox was easy and installing Windows XP went exactly like installing on a real computer. The next step I took was installing Microsoft Security Essentials because even though I'm running XP inside of Linux, the Windows OS is prone to viruses. I also updated XP to service pack 3. Now if Virtual XP system gets a bug it wont affect my Linux OS. Its like having XP in jail where it can still live and work but it can't harm anything but itself. VirtualBox allows you to take a snapshot of the system at anytime and you can always easily restore to that state.



As you can see from the screen I have a fully functional XP installation running in a window on my Linux box. I can use it to watch Netflix, since this is one application that requires Microsoft Siverlight to run. This s is the best of both worlds because I can launch my windows apps without rebooting my computer to log into Windows. Next step will be to obliterate my Vista partition and install Vista in a VM just like I did XP. I don't have the hard drive space in my Linux partition to do this at the moment.



Linux is the idea way to run Virtual Machines. I have run them under Windows before and the problem is that Windows is a big resource hog. So your VM gets stuck with whatever Windows has left over for RAM and CPU cycles. Usually not much. Under Linux my XP installation ran perfectly with only the 512 MB of RAM I allocated to it.

If you are interested in trying Linux, we would be happy to help you with the install. We will even set up a dual boot or install the Virtual Machine for you if you have the Windows installation disk.

Part two of this series will cover the programs that I run under Windows...

Free Computer Raffle

"What is a free raffle?" - The price of the ticket is simply attending the event at Turning Point Church in downtown Bowling Green on Dec 6th. We will be taking donations of course but there is no obligation.

"What is the event about?" - Computers for Charity is hosting a book signing and a presentation by Travis Breeding the author of the book "I Want Be Like You - life with Asperger's Syndrome."

This event is for families who have been touched by Autism Spectrum Disorders or for those who would like to know more about Autism, Asperger's Syndrome and how they can relate to those with the disorder. It is also about Travis and his struggle and acceptance of the diagnosis of this disorder.

It is also an opportunity for you to meet some of the volunteers from Computers for Charity. We are striving to build connections with other charities and causes in our community to help them to obtain the technological resources they need to support their missions as well as their clients. We will also be serving free refreshments, hosting a bake sale and having the computer raffle to raise funds that will be used to repair more computers for those in need.

"What are the prizes in the raffle?" - We have some goodies from the hard working Techs at Computers for Charity.

Antec Aria Matx Cube Computer: This unit has everything you need in a compact design that makes it easy to fit conveniently any desk or on a shelf of your entertainment unit. This will also include the keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers.

We've installed the stable and versatile Ubuntu operating system for your convenience. Surf the web, check your email or play games. You could also set this up as a Media Streaming PC and enjoy your favorite movies music and more through your entertainment center.

Panosonic Toughbooks: The Toughbook is lightweight yet durable. Compact yet powerful. Slips easily into a briefcase, handling or carry-on. Built with legendary Toughbook reliability, unparalleled portability and integrated Wi-Fi, . The integrated touch screen works with the touch of a finger or a stylus. This lightweight wonder is perfect for students or professionals.

The Toghbooks will come pre-installed with the Linux operating system for your speed and stability while your on the go. Also included is Open Office, a versatile office suite that allows you to read and modify documents form almost any other office program and allows you to save directly to PDF.

Bootable Thumbdrives. Bring your entire operating system, desktop, applications , files, email, personal settings, favorites, games and more with you. It’s your own personal operating system you can carry in your pocket. You will be able to boot and run from any computer that can boot from the USB flash device.

This allows to work in your own environment, without making any changes to the host computer you are using. Nothing gets installed on the computer, and your files and applications remain safe on your thumbdrive. This gives you added security and privacy when your using a friends computer or are using a public computer. This can also be used for data recovery in case of a Windows Meltdown as you can boot to your thumb drive and restore the data that is not accessible by the host computers Windows installation.

All in all, we hope this will be a fun and informative event for you and our family. We hope to give you the opportunity to mingle and make new friends from a variety of backgrounds and abilities. We hope you will be touched and inspired to face and overcome your own limitations in life. As the father of a child with multiple disabilities I know first hand that the challenges can seem insurmountable, but with faith, hope and charity we can overcome all obstacles in life.

Hope to see you there!

Dec 6th 2010 6PM to 8 PM

Turning Point Church

252 South Main Street

Bowling Green, Ohio 43402

About Computers for Charity

Computer for Charity was founded in 2008 by Jeffrey Kill who continues to serve as the chairman of the board and the Chief Technology Officer of the organization. Jeff's education and background in computers, employment in the recycling industry and his life experiences led him to start the charity.

Jeff's daughter, Kelbey suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm when she was 9 years old. This left her mentally and physically handicapped. Before this she was working at 3 grade levels above other children her age and was very adept with the computer. As his daughter struggled through the recovery process, he worked to get her back on the computer, hoping to utilize technology to enhance his daughters recovery. After having to relearn most of what she knew, she eventually became proficient and independent on the computer again. To this day it provides her with a sense of independence, entertainment, and provides a positive source of cognitive stimulation.

These experiences inspired Jeff to find ways to utilize his IT knowledge to help other children and individuals in the community who do not have access to computers to obtain them. He began taking donations of computers and repairing them for members of his local church congregation. Eventually the client base expanded to others in the community and as the word spread others joined the cause. At present time, Computers for Charity serves all of Northwest Ohio as well as some special projects that assist international mission organizations.

Computers for Charity became an official 501 (c3) in 2009 under the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Its mission is both environmental and humanitarian as simply stated in its mission statement: “Our mission is to reduce the electronic waste in our landfills by taking donations of computers and related accessories and refurbishing them. These repaired computers can then be distributed to individuals and other non-profits, providing access to computer technology and bridging the 'digital divide'.”

Computers for Charity is comprised of a group of volunteers of various backgrounds who meet weekly to work on computers that are donated from businesses and individuals. We can then place these computers with families and others in need in the community, through other charities that we provide computer vouchers to. We also use our technical skills to provide free consulting services to churches, charities and nonprofits and provide computer solutions that meet their needs when applicable. In the process of this Computers for Charity is able to serve as a place where people from the non-profits (as well as students and other members of the community) can come and learn how to build, troubleshoot and repair PCs as well as gain other computer knowledge.

Diagnosing Windows Problems

Diagnosing Windows Problems

We The Geeks

I just got back from the Community Partnership and VoluneerFair at BGSU and am still reflecting on the whole experience. As a geek to the core I've been on the outside of society looking in for some time now. That familiar feeling came over me again today. Just how does a charity that refurbishes old computers to those in need fit in to the mix of all the other charities out there. to be honest with you, our table didn't attract that much attention,even though we were holding a drawing for a fee laptop!

Being a square peg in a round hole is nothing new to me. After all, while other people can't wait to get home and watch the game, In can't wait to get home and hone my recon skills in battlefield Bad Company 2. I'm the guy who does not own a Mac but recently received a copy of OS X 10.4 and is fantasizing about installing it in a virtual machine on my windows XP box for no purpose other than to prove I can do it! I got four versions of Linux running on my desktop and bootable Linux and Windows XPE on USB keys.I look at a computer loaded with spyware and viuses as a fun challange, not a job.

I'm really NOT tired of being that guy with his face buried in a computer screen 90% of the time. After all, who else can people call when their Windows box gets a virus, or crashes with a blue screen of death, or they accidentally format their drive and their important data, or they suddenly can't connect to the internet except for some damnable pop ups that tell them they have a spy ware infection. I can fix these things. I've got skills man! But what are we doing with our mad computer skills other than impressing our friends and coworkers?

We have developed our own cultures and subcultures around our favorite, moves/games/software/hardware. We now can frolic with other nerds in various venues and demonstrate that our fandom exceeds theirs. We have Mac Fests and Linux Fests and Microsoft Big Days. We have conventions to celebrate even the most obscure of geek fascinations.We can feel at home for a little bit with like minded individuals before we must return to the normal world of work, family and community.

Computers for Charity was started as a charity to connect us outsiders to the inside of the community. Its an outlet for those geeks with a social conscience to make a difference in our world. It would be much easier to return to my Army of Darkness Directors Cut on a nightly basis and let the world be damned. I know some of you look forward to watching the world burn from the comfort of your terminal window. Consider this though...

At the partnership fair I made connections with a other charities that were very interested in what we geeks do. Many of them are interested in providing computer solutions to their clients. One was interested in helping the disabled set up assistive technology software on their systems. Another wanted to add computers to their computer room in trier nursing home. Yet another wanted to set up a computer to their youth center and many need assistance with things like web development and setting up pages and causes on the social networks and the list goes on.

We have a lot of needs in our community going unmet becasue the right geek has yet to step up to the plate and take on the casue. Thats what were here for. At Computers for Charity we provide an outlet for you to use you God given talents for a good casue. Will you help us to take on these types of projects in our communtiy? The harvest is great but the workers are few. I'm praying that the Lord of the harvest will touch your heart and send you to assist us in this worthwhile endeavor.

Retro Gaming For Linux!

A new video game emulation based live CD... Based on TurboPup Xtreme (one of the fastest linux distros around).

Puppy Arcade plays: Amiga (500, 1000, 2000), Atari (ST, 800, 800XL, 130XE, 5200), Amstrad (CPC, Plus, VEB), Arcades, Colecovision, Commodore (64, 128, VIC20, PET), GameBoys (GB, GBC, GBA), GameGear, Genesis/MegaDrive, MasterSystem, MS DOS, N64, NeoGeo, NeoGeo CD, NES/Famicom, PC Engine/TurboGrafix, PSX, ScummVM, SNES and ZX Spectrum (16k, 48k, 128k, +2, +2A, +3) & more!

Puppy Arcade 7 can play games from a variety systems, using apps called 'emulators', which load 'roms' (the actual games). To play games: Just load an emulator, optionally choose some settings, and select a rom to play.

No actual game roms are included, just the emulators. However, they do provide links to the top websites where you can find roms in abundance. (Note: I do not endorse use of any of these games without legal license to play them). I assume that these roms are either in the public domain, or that you have to licensed or purchased them for your personal use.

I like Puppy Linux in every form. Puppy is fast and light on its feet. The addition of games is a fun way to take advantage of the nimble Puppy platform. If you are a fan of 80’s style arcade games, Puppy Arcade is probably the best platform for you. Running your games in RAM, without ever touching a hard drive, will be a cinch with the ease of Puppy Linux.

If you are new to Linux, better yet new to emulation, this is your best rout. It makes both subjects painless. Puppy arcade is tiny in size for what its worth. A whopping 105mb.

This thing is light weight and extremely quick. Once you boot up its running in RAM. Its very fast. Running an OS in RAM is like going from 56k to a T3. You can load this bad boy up on a USB stick and carry it around with you if need be.

Puppy Arcade works great on PCs - both new and old. But if you have an Eee PC, you might like to try Puppeee Arcade, which is perfect for your netbook.

Download Puppy Arcade 'Here'

Affordable Computer Solutions

A New Venture for Computers for Charity

Due to popular demand the techs from Computers for Charity decided it was time to broaden their services to be able to offer Affordable Computer Solutions to families, small businesses and non-profits in Northwest Ohio. This is an extension of our goal of leaving no child or family behind in the digital divide.

The great thing is that because of our affiliation with Computers for Charity, we can offer a tax deduction to businesses when we upgrade their equipment as opposed to a disposal or recycling fee. A percentage of all that we earn also goes to supporting the charity and you are assured that your outgoing equipment will be handled in an environmentally safe manner and will help families in our community.

Experience You Can Trust

We offer affordable desktop, laptop, and other computer related electronic repair in the Northwest Ohio area. With over 25 years of experience you can count on our technicians to handle your computer problems. We provide on site technical support for individuals and small to medium size business. We support all aspects of your computers, servers, peripherals and networks. We are committed to providing you with practical solutions for all your technology needs.


Values You Share

We believe that people and organizations are at their best when they are invested in community, actively acknowledging the interdependence of community members and the responsibilities we share for our collective well-being. We are dedicated to providing affordable services to the non-profit sector. While at present the services we offer focus heavily on IT-based consulting, we envision a future where we are able to support non-profits in many other ways.


Giving Back To The Community

Hiring effective computer personnel has become a costly undertaking. Because many organizations, individuals and small family businesses have considerably tighter budgets than other corporations or groups, they are often unable to afford the costs required to secure quality computer support. As such, many of the benefits that may be reaped by appropriate use of computer technology are not available to such organizations.


What We Offer:

* Affordable Computer Solutions to the non-profit sector
* A no cost avenue for for-profit companies to support the non-profit sector
* Meaningful employment to information technology professionals

On an ongoing basis, we provide competitive, high-quality computer consulting to small and medium for-profit organizations at market rates, using the profits from this work to provide affordable services to the non-profit sector.

Contact Us Here or call us at 419-378-5604. Visit our website: http://affordableconsultant.webs.com/