E – N E W S from 2SS.Com

Int’l Standard Serial No. - ISSN: 1523-3537  2011-No. 26

Have you visited our website lately?

Acquisition Services for Hardware and Software.

Network and PC Acquisitions & Upgrades 

Using Dell Computers as our preferred vendor we acquire PCs, Servers, Notebooks, etc. for our clients often obtaining discounts and special pricing as a Dell Registered Partner reseller that are not available to them alone. 

We also make acquisitions through major resellers such as Tech Data® and Bell Micro, and we have a well established reputation (user name 2ITGuy or About Me) on eBay® in addition to PayPal Verified status.  In every case our first interest in obtaining reliable and cost-effective systems, peripherals, software, etc. that works.   2SS.Com is proud to be certified with leading IT vendors that include APC (Authorized Reliability Provider), Dell (Registered Partner), Intuit (Pro Advisor), Microsoft (Small Business Specialist & Registered Partner No. 1129909), Mozy online backup, OnTrack (3188264), Sonicwall (1-167446561) and Symantec (PartnerNet) to name a few.

Technology Barriers:  Broken!

For too long I've put up with the confines of a 14, 17 and in recent years 21 inch monitor.  I've seen a number of folks happily using 23" inch wide screens and even dual monitors, but I could not resist the lower pricing and increasing quality of 'BIG SCREEN' TV's.  Why should I settle for a couple small monitors if for another $100 or so I could have one that is literally twice the size of any monitor I've ever had?  The issue of course is the quality of the TV's image when used as a monitor and the BIG breakthrough has come with the recent 1080p (or in common computer terms 1920X1080) resolution TV's.

Similarly, I could not wait any longer to get past the limitations of a PC with only 4 GB of RAM.  I remember in 1991 when my new 386sx PC with 8 MB of memory seemed extreme, but today I've grown out of what techies call 'x86' or 32-bit computer architecture.  In recent years you may have seen or even purchased a 64-bit PC, but the real issue for me has been the availability of software.  If the software I must have and already own won't work, I can't go there!  Over the last 4+ months I've finally found most of the software I need and begun the leap.  I've also followed my own 'it's time to keep up!' advice by making that '64-bit leap' with  Windows 7 Professional.  In the process I've become a fan of something called 'XP Mode' (More below left) and I very much appreciate being able to open up a 5th or 6th application window with confidence instead of a prayer... (For more on this see our guide titled "Ready for a 64-bit PC? The What, Why and How?")

So what you see pictured above is me breaking both barriers.  The monitor is a new  Sony® BRAVIA EX400-Series 40" 1080p (e.g. 1920 x 1080) LCD HDTV ($579 at Costco) that moments after connecting I knew was a good decision!  (In the picture I have a printed page held up against the screen with the display page on screen behind it, and a 6" ruler in my hand, click below for more specifics.)   I'm discovering new ways to be productive with the recent versions of Quicken and QuickBooks, which both respond well to more space and more memory allowing me to place windows side-by-side that I always had to minimize and restore one-by-one.  I'm saving at least 20 or 25 minutes a day just by NOT constantly navigating E-mail messages inside of Outlook's folders. And, as an IT consultant it's worth half the price or more just to be able to set aside a remote computer connection where I can see it's progress while focusing attention on another application.  (For more on this see our guide titled "BIG Screen LCD as PC Monitor")

Tools to help you break barriers too!

  1. Windows 7 'XP MODE'? - If you've seen a TV with picture-in-picture capability you get the idea.  XP Mode is Windows 7 software that launches a window which is a Windows XP 'virtual PC' on the desktop of your Windows 7 PC.  It can be used to install any software that you need and that will not work directly in Windows 7.  As an example we use the old ACT! 6.0 software that installs fine on a 32-bit PC with Win XP or Win7.  However, it won't even install on Win 7 64-bit.  But, inside Win 7 64-bit 'XP Mode' it installed and is now working fine.  Result: Windows XP compatibility barrier broken!
     

  2. Outlook Performing Poorly? - We've been surprised to realize how often Outlook message files contain errors. Occasionally we'll help a client recover from a BIG corruption.  But we've begun to notice that small errors occur routinely and compromise Outlook's functionality.  A small item that's BIG to us is the Outlook 'Undo' button that is very useful when it works, an when it doesn't it's the first hint of an underlying file corruption.  The solution is to repair your Outlook message file (a. k. a.'.Pst' file) using a tool that most folks have on their PCs but don't know about named ScanPst.Exe.  We recommend finding and using it routinely as much as once a month or more.  Result: Broken Outlook files work again!  Productivity barrier broken!
     

  3. Too many Outlook Messages?  - 2009/2010 brought the tipping point for many of our clients and long-time Microsoft Outlook.   Some of them, like us at 2SS.Com, don't prefer to delete old messages, so they needed to cope with having more-and-more of them. The answer we prefer is to create laddered archive files labeled by year.  (To see the step-by-step of what's involved read our guide "Outlook Archive Files-The What, Why & How?"  (To review it click è here.) Result:  Outlook Message storage barriers broken!
     

  4. Got a Fast Connection?  -Everything in the cloud depends on getting there faster and faster.  As you consider the alternatives available in your area you may want to check our guide on Internet and networking communication speeds titled "Internet Connection Speeds - (w/Comparison Chart)' (To review it click è here).  You might also like to test you current actual speed in a way that you can easily compare to other alternatives.  Our favorite to do just that is the service from Visualware (Click hereResult:  Internet Speed barriers understood, fixed and even broken!

It’s FREE to SUBSCRIBE / UN-SUBSCRIBE?

E-News from 2SS.Com aims to provide you with timely and interesting ideas that help you identify and implement strategic systems.  You can SUBSCRIBE FREE by sending a message to  [email protected]  with the subject  

‘Subscribe’

To un-Subscribe, enter as the subject

‘Un-Subscribe’ or ‘Remove’

Our commitment to subscribers is to  not waste your time.  If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for technologies that interest you, please send a message to [email protected].

 

Please advise us of any changes to our  current contact data for you.  It is:

 

      Contact: [[Contact:26]]

      Company: [[Company:25]]

      Title: [[Title:46]]

      Address: [[Address 1:27]] [[Address 2:28]]

      City: [[City:30]], State: [[State:31]]  Zip: [[Zip:32]]

      Phone: [[Phone:35]]  Fax: [[Fax:36]]

 

2SS.Com is proud to be certified with leading IT vendors that include APC (Authorized Reliability Provider), Dell (Registered Partner), Intuit (Certified Pro Advisor), Microsoft (Small Business Specialist), Mozy Reseller, OnTrack and Symantec (PartnerNet) to name a few.

                        Official PayPal Seal    

Send mail to [email protected] with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2011 2SS.Com
Last modified: February 12, 2011