Laptop Computer Tune Up and Monthly Maintenance Setup

4 Bizniks are attending this event

• 
  Janine Elf

  Green products company / Private...

  Everett, Washington
• 
  Katherine Lind

  attorney/creative musings

  seattle, Washington
• 
  Becky Jhu

  graphic designer

  Seattle, Washington
• 
  Julie Cascioppo

  Jazz/Cabaret Vocalist/entertainer

  Seattle, Washington

• 
  Posted by Shannon Kringen, seattle, Washington | Sep 30, 2009

  sounds cool...but i work 2night at the same time.
  

  cheeRs, shannon

  http://www.shannonkringen.com
• 
  Posted by Shannon Kringen, seattle, Washington | Sep 30, 2009

  oops wrong day!

  i might be able to come. depends on my work- i get called in at last minute...so won't know till the day before!
• 
  Posted by David Anders, Seattle, Washington | Sep 30, 2009

  I intend to schedule this event again. What day and time works for you. Thursday at 4 was a guess as to the best time. David
• 
  Posted by Shannon Kringen, seattle, Washington | Oct 02, 2009

  i have to cancel! got called in to work. (i model for art classes all over the city so i my weeks are different all the time)

  thanks for offering this though.
  
• 
  Posted by David Anders, Seattle, Washington | Oct 02, 2009

  Shannon, Is there a day and time that is safe from work? From your description, I would guess not.

  Anyone, Is there a BEST?? time for such things to be scheduled? I am new at this - when I taught classes on troubleshooting, the company (Ivey) set the day and time. David
• 
  Posted by Michiko Stehrenberger, Seattle, Washington | Oct 04, 2009

  Excited to meet you! My 2002 iBook G3 running OSX Panther (I've got a Model T, practically! :) is slowwwing waaaay dowwwwn, singing "daisy...daisy" like Hal in 2001. (ick).

  Hard drive is full so I'll get it backed up and cleared out as much as possible before Thursday, but here are some of the quirks that may not be hard-drive-space related:

  **you are under no obligation to answer! just taking notes on what I'd want to ask you in person, but in case you wanted to see these beforehand (and feel free to ignore them entirely :)

  1) Seems like in the last 1-2 months, Firefox (version 2.0.0.20) now constantly running into scripts that need to be debugged or stopped or continued, makes fr some slow going on Biznik, LinkedIn, and other sites I'm enjoying more and more of.

  2) A few years ago my machine "forgot" how to allow me to scan from the one-touch scan buttons on my CanoScan scanner (1" thick, can take my entire design studio in a backpack and work from anywhere!) which means I now need to open Photoshop and Import each time I want to scan (very slow process, lemme tell you! :)

  3) Each time I open Photoshop CS and then close it, the Mac "forgets" to free up the RAM or memory and the computer acts like it's more full than it is, as though the latest Photoshop is still using the scratch disk space.

  4) Keyboard looks like hell, missing keys but functions great (laughing is allowed!) I'm gentle on my machine but this is the 2nd keyboard and the letters keep wearing off on this generation; my older black Powerbook G3 from the dark ages, the keyboard is still in great condition. Either that, or I've somehow developed battery acid fingertips :)

  5) Spinning beachball of death (the wait sign, equivalent to the hourglass on PCs) is trying to be my constant best buddy. Seems my machine always needs to be "thinking" and I'm too fast for it.

  6) The reason I haven't upgraded my machine is that I love all the software running on it, some of which has not pursued updates that will work with the latest Mac OS. (Yes, I've tried cheating this one from Panther to Tiger, and it had a real bad crash because the processor is G3 and not G4, so I've sorta stayed stuck and fossilized, as long as I can do my Eudora email and Photoshop and Quark I can get the job done and the final results are great...if you don't catch me waiting for that spinning beachball icon :)

  7) I'm in the market for a Netbook or saw a $300ish laptop at Staples the other week, and have never owned a PC but would welcome any suggestions for good machines in this price range that will allow me to run Photoshop and/or would love recommendations for the open source versions of those, which Chris Ely had mentioned is as good as the patented versions, if you have an opinion on that since I haven't gotten to try this out for myself yet (still waiting on the spinning beachball gives me a full schedule..kidding!)

  8) Can you recommend any sites that sell used, refurbished, or barter-able netbooks or that allow you to try before you buy :) I like my Mac but won't be able to afford a new Mac for some time (and am not too excited about the new ones, which is the bigger resistance :)

  9) Oh and I have some low-level carpel tunnel and have noticed that on say the G4 Titaniums that the keyboards really did a number on my wrists, whereas my older 2002 iBook G3 keyboard is great for my wrists. Any thoughts or suggestions on this would be great too, that's been my main reason for not upgrading, though I supposed that's a lame reason since I could have researched that before now :)

  All that aside, thank you SO much for offering this, and Shannon, I'll try and take whatever notes for you that I can!

  Thank you, David, and looking forward to meeting you and everyone!

  And if I can help you out in exchange somehow on other stuff, to make up for my technical ineptness, please let me know!

  Best, Michiko

  BimBionic Design Lab
• 
  Posted by David Anders, Seattle, Washington | Oct 04, 2009

  Michiko Stehrenberger

  ALL computers need monthly maintenance. AppleJack is my preference for Mac (pre 10.6)

  Hard drive is full_______ One of the easiest and worst things you can do is fill up your hard drive. The recommendation (I always am referencing respected wisdom) is 10% to 15 % empty space available. When it approaches 95% or greater, there is NO room for Virtual Memory (Mac) or Page File (Win) - think of it as a stack of 4x5 cards that the operating system uses to keep track of things as it's desk (RAM) is full and needs to keep notes about what it is doing. More RAM - larger desk - more programs can run and be kept track of. Less RAM - smaller desk- less programs can run and empty hard drive space becomes VERY important (spinning beach balls or hourglasses appear). The main drawback to Laptops is less RAM and smaller and slower hard drives (also iMacs).

  1) Script problems in FireFox v2 Scripts can be Flash, Shockwave, Quicktime, and other plugins. The plugins are added to Firefox by other companies and need individual updating. Plug in makers do not spend money to update plugins for browsers that are outdated.

  2) CanoScan scanner - reinstalling drivers for hardware is a common fix. AppleJack First...

  3) Each time I open Photoshop CS TOO FULL HardDrive - bad behavior... AppleJack

  etc, etc,
• 
  Posted by Michiko Stehrenberger, Seattle, Washington | Oct 04, 2009

  Thank you, Dave!

  Will have a look at AppleJack and get right on it with the emptying of the hard drive as best I can before we meet - thanks so much!

  (Oh, and re-installed the CanoScan software several times through the years, with lots of wishful thinkin' :). This was a problem even before the hard drive full stuff. I'm just grateful it still can scan by launching Photoshop :)

  Hope everyone's having a great weekend meantime and thank you again, Dave!

  Best, Michiko
• 
  Posted by Michiko Stehrenberger, Seattle, Washington | Oct 08, 2009

  Hi again David!

  Sorry for the accidental overfamiliarity with the "Dave" comment earlier, oops! :)

  Hmmm, I was wondering why I hadn't gotten a 2 day reminder from Biznik on this one...thought it might be next Thursday and just checked in quickly to find that my RSVP hadn't actually made it through? Sorry about that.

  In the event there's any room at the last minute for me to re-RSVP today for 4pm, I'll be at a Mosaic Biznik event till 3pm then can hightail it over to you straightaway in time for 4pm (Biznik emails should reach me on the road beforehand, just in case).

  And if not, and if it's full to the gills, just wanted to say thank you again for helping us out either way in offering this!

  Best to everyone, and hope you enjoy today and learn a lot!

  • Michiko

  BimBionic Character Design Lab
• 
  Posted by David Anders, Seattle, Washington | Oct 08, 2009

  Michiko This is the first time I have done this event. I limited it to four to be safe. I intend to offer it again, soon. What day and time would work best for you?

  Dave or David
• 
  Posted by Michiko Stehrenberger, Seattle, Washington | Oct 08, 2009

  Thanks Dave or David!

  Generally weekdays 4pm work great for me (most Biznik events are 10ish through about 3ish and unlikely to cause a conflict - cake and eat it too! thank you!) though flexible otherwise so I'll look forward to your next one, and thank you again! Any last minute cancellations that may come up please feel free to let me know, and otherwise hope you have a terrific first event! Hi to everyone! ;)

  Best, Michiko
• 
  Posted by Janine Elf, Everett, Washington | Oct 10, 2009

  David,

  Thank you so much for this class. It was very beneficial to me. I love understanding inexpensive ways to taking care of my computer since it is such an important part of my business. You are a wealth of information and I do hope the word gets around about your expertise.

  thanks again, Janine Elf