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!

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