Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud Now Has Windows

Amazon Web Services has a new product in their Elastic Compute Cloud, they now offer Microsoft Windows virtual servers. Until now, the only virtual machines you could use from EC2 were Linux/Unix based virtual machines. These virtual machines provide quick and “easy” scalability for web applications. Virtual machines have also gained popularity in the IT industry as organizations learn about the cost savings possible from running multiple servers on one machine.

Having Windows virtual machines is a great addition to the EC2 line because it opens up possibilities for creating test environments prior to rolling out a network. Even better, they are a great learning tool for those of us who learn through hands-on experience. While studying for your Microsoft certification, you can deploy virtual Windows Server instances to help you practice what is in the books. This opens up learning to anybody rather than only those who have access to servers at work, or the money to purchase a test server. Starting at 12.5 cents per hour, you can easily afford to put in some hours of practice.

Virtual Windows machines are good for more than just practice environments. You can consider them production machines. You can run them, reboot them, update them, upgrade them, and do almost everything you do with a physical server machine. This includes putting them to work serving up websites, handling your email, or running applications for your company.

Must Haves for the Home Computer Shop

If you are thinking about setting up a computer shop in your home, here are some things that will make your life easier without having to upgrade your home to one with more rooms.

• Work bench: It doesn’t necessarily have to be a work bench, it can be your desk. You just need a place where you can work without anybody touching your stuff. Tell the Mrs. to keep her hands off your stuff.
• Power strip: you’ll need this to plug in your client computers and peripherals as you are working with them.
• KVM switch: Having to unplug your monitor every time you want to test a computer can be a bit of a pain. Especially if you are looking for information while you are troubleshooting. A KVM switch will let you go back and forth between computers without having to unplug and plug things. All you need is one set of Keyboard, Video, and Mouse to do the job.
• Ethernet switch: Some of the problems you’ll have to fix require you to be able to download stuff. Again, you don’t want to be unplugging and plugging stuff in all the time. If you can split your internet connection, it will make your job easier.
• PE disks: You can get the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows or even MiniPE. Some people swear by another variant called BartPE. Whatever flavor you choose, these CDs will be very handy when it comes to getting a PC running when Windows has finally fallen apart. You’ll be able to get it booted and running enough to fix the computer.
• Extra parts: you’ll need a power supply, extra memory, an extra video card, a network card, and even a hard drive. If you can swing it, an external drive would be really handy.
• Broadband: I hate to say it; but you really need broadband to be useful to your clients these days. You can download all sorts of patches, upgrades, and drivers much faster with broadband. Spend the extra money for a decent Internet connection.

This is just a short list of the more useful stuff I have found for the home computer shop. Rather than make it the definitive list, I’d like some more suggestions, if you have any. Did I miss anything?

Computer Tech Squeeze Play

If you are providing retail computer services to the general public, you need to keep a couple of things in mind, the price floor and the price ceiling. By price floor, I mean that you have to keep in mind that you have to make money. You can’t give away your services. You have to make a living after all. By price ceiling, I mean that you have to keep in mind that your total for service and parts cannot cost anywhere near what it would cost to replace the computer altogether.

I’ve known about this problem for some time, but today it came up. So, I am taking the opportunity to write about it here. The computer is a somewhat recent eMachine model. The computer would not start. First, you check the obvious, check the plug and power cord. If those are OK, then check the power supply. Recently, I bought a power supply tester at Office Depot, which came in handy. That tested out OK. I tried a known working power supply on the computer without success. This tells me that it’s likely a fried motherboard.

I looked up the price of the replacement motherboard. eMachines does not sell it anymore. Vendors who do carry it have it priced at $269 + SH. So, we’re looking at about $300 to replace the mobo, not including service charge. So, you already have an hour diagnosing and parts shopping put into it. If the client goes ahead with the replacement, you are looking at another hour or two of service. Now, you are approaching the cost of simply replacing the computer. Most basic systems these days are good enough for the average home user. We’re not talking high-end computers.

So, what is the solution?

The best that I’ve come up with is that the client should hold on to their old computer, buy a new one, and transplant spare parts. Anything else can be put on ebay to subsidize the cost of the new computer. Toss the carcass. It’s inelegant, but effective. When it comes to the average home computers, you can only get up to about $200 comfortably before the client starts to eyeball a new PC. This does not mean that you should not provide tech services to the public. It simply means that you need to be mindful of the total cost to the client.

So, how will you make money? Well, there is the diagnosis. Then there is the hard-drive transplant and parts salvage. And, you may even be hired for a computer setup. So, don’t be afraid to suggest replacing the computer altogether if the cost of repairing is too high. A client is willing to spend a little more on a new machine than fixing up the old beater. The same thing happens with cars. Once you overhaul the engine, you might as well keep the car; you’ll never sell it for what you’ve put into it. Rather than drive an old jalopy that runs, many people prefer to replace the car altogether even if it costs more.

Home Computer Upgrades

There comes a time in every computer’s life when it seems to struggle with some of the tasks that were once a breeze. We all know that it’s the constant creep of software updates that makes your once kick-ass computer into a lame-ass computer. Computer guys like me are not immune to this. I have two computers at home that I are not performing like they once did. I have a Compaq PC and a Mac G4 Quicksilver.

The PC needs more memory. It has been plugging along since we bought it with 512 MB of RAM. I did an online check on memory prices. I can upgrade it to 2 GB, maximum; so, I bought two memory sticks from Memory.com, which is one town over, for $26 each. That’s a great bargain and will give the computer a new lease on life. I’ll also save on shipping by stopping by their store on a lunch break. Overall, it’s still a decent PC, except that it takes longer to do things. I know the memory upgrade will improve the performance.

The Mac is another issue. I bought the Mac Quicksilver G4 for $300 or so. Given that it is my first Mac, I had no basis for comparison on its performance. When I got it, it definitely beat the old PC laptop I was using. In general, I still like using the Mac. The downside is that there is a HUGE price gap between what I paid for this computer and getting a new one, or so I thought. I found out that I can get a Mac Mini for $599. That sets a ceiling for my upgrade. The lowest-priced Mini runs at 1.83 GHz. To gain similar performance from my Mac G4, I found the Sonnet Encore/ST G4 1.8 GHz Processor upgrade. This will set me back $267. This is almost half the price of getting a new one. It’s a good deal, in my opinion. In addition, after reading the specs, I have learned that it auto configures without the need to mess with jumpers. Earlier, I was looking at maybe just doubling the performance from 733 MHz to 1.5 GHz. But given the $8 difference I’ll go with the 1.8 GHz.

I’m new to the whole Mac thing, so I don’t know what adding a dual 1.6 GHz processor card would do for the performance of my computer. I do know that there is a $100+ dollar difference, which takes the upgrade near the point where I should just get a new Mac Mini. I’m satisfied doubling the processor speed. I’ll look around for articles comparing the difference between single processors and dual processors on a Mac. I’d appreciate feedback from other geeks who know about these things.

HP Pavilion 514c Has Bootup Issues

I recently got a job to recover a computer. By the way, they asked me to upgrade the video card so that it will handle 3D graphics rather well. I don’t have to install the best video card out there, just a pretty decent one. The problem with that is that the computer comes with a 200W power supply. So, I found a suitable 400W replacement and installed it today. I thought maybe the computer had boot up issues because of the power supply not providing enough juice to power up all the devices. It turns out not to be the case. I stripped computer down to bare essentials and it still hangs on boot up. I’ve tried a different drive with the same problem, so it’s not a software issue. I don’t have the diagnostic tools or another computer to check if the CPU or the motherboard is having problems. I did clean out the computer, it was filthy. Maybe it overheated at some point and is suffering the consequences. The owner told me that he would have to restart it several times before it would boot up completely.

The big issue here is that if I get a barebones system, I can no longer use the recovery CD. I’d have to get another copy of Windows. So, we are looking at an expense of several hundred dollars to replace a system that probably cost as much. As far as gaming and configuration, a custom box is ideal, but pricier. I need to talk to the owner tomorrow and discuss options.

UPDATE:
I have since researched the problem further. I went to HP.com to find out the specs on the computer. It turns out that the motherboard is a FIC AM37. I Googled for similar issues during POST. It turns out to be a known issue. The good news is that there are replacement FIC AM37 boards available on eBay. I called the owner, and he seems more partial to getting a new computer. I suggested replacing the mobo as the least expensive option, followed by ordering a barebones system and transplanting parts, and the most expensive option being a new PC. He’ll talk to his dad and call me back.