Computer Garten: Service and Self Help Information
HARDWARE
UPGRADES
An upgrade to your PC hardware can sometimes significantly
enhance performance.
We recommend at least 16GB of RAM to run windows 10
or 11 effectively. We also recommend a solid state (SSD)
hard drive - they have no moving parts, and are
exponentially faster that a standard SATA drive. You
can check the manufacturers website, or crucial.com, to research the
memory capacity of your computer, and to order memory or an
SSD drive. When you know what you need, you may find a great
deals on parts through Amazon or Ebay.
WINDOWS UPDATES
There are several version updates to windows 10 and Windows
11. Use windows update to keep your operating system up to
date to help avoid performance and security issues.
SIGN IN TO WINDOWS
Create a free Microsoft account and SIGN IN to your windows
PC. You now have the ability to sync your desktop between
computers, back-up your files with OneDrive, use MS Office
online, and teleconference/communicate/share files through
MS TEAMS. Don't use a generic local login like the old
days and miss out on the world around you. Computer-Garten
recommends opening all your Windows and Microsoft related
software in the Edge web browser.
TV AS A SECOND MONITOR
A TV can make a great second monitor - mount it on the wall
and bring NetFlix to life! We recommend a television
with at least 1080p resolution and a USB port. We use a
FireTV to get the best of both computer and streaming
service content. Amazon and Best Buy have great deals
on fire TVs, just be sure to order one with 1080p or 4k
resolution - no 720p.
THE GOOGLE UNIVERSE
Download Chrome, create a free gmail account. Sign in to
google in your Chrome web browser. You now have the power of
Google and YouTube at your service. Sync documents,
email access, files, office programs, music, videos, maps,
and much more between devices. This free platform is very
powerful with much to offer - in fact schools issue Google
Chromebooks to students for textbooks and assignments, We do
recommend that you buy YouTube Premium for commercial free
videos and music - it makes a world of difference in serious
video research. Computer-Garten recommends accessing all of
your Google and YouTube related work in the Chrome web
browser, to keep your Microsoft and Google business
separate.
Upgrade your older MAC
A 2011 iMac will no longer update to the newer Apple
macOS. Web browsers such as Google Chrome and Firefox
will not update on the older macOS. , For these reasons,
people think the computer is worthless, and they sell them
for around $100 to $150. The computer has an Intel i5
processor, supports 16GM Ram, most have a 1TB hard drive
(which can easily be replaced with a lightning fast SSD
drive) and a very nice display. The hardware is easily
capable of running Windows 10, and will make a VERY powerful
LINUX computer! If you have, or can acquire, a 2011
iMac, we recommend that you install LINUX MINT. Many YouTube
videos are available to assist you, and we will produce a
video on this upgrade in the near future.
Some ingenues techs have even discovered ways to upgrade
2009 and older Macs. The information from a quick YouTube
search may amaze you!
NEW iMAC - NOT ENOUGH USB PORTS!
Do you have a new iMac and find that you can't connect your
printer, scanner or other USB devices? The new iMacs
are designed with wireless in mind, and have only 2 of the
new and smaller USB-C ports. One is used to change the
keyboard or mouse. This leaves you with one small port that
doesn't connect to your existing devices.
The solution is simple! Buy a USB-C to USB Hub and
have plenty of USB ports. That's what we did at
Computer-Garten,to connect a printer, and a USB hard drive.
We bought this Inexpensive USB-C to USB Hub on Amazon - and it works great. Sometimes you just have to go Back to the Future!