A heck of a lot of businesses around Portland and Beaverton seem to think that once they get a few employees, that they’ll need someone specific to handle their internal IT needs. More often than not, this usually turns out to be the person that knows the most about computers. Occasionally, a business owner will panic and attempt to hire a full time IT/Computer guy. Well, I’m here to tell you, that’s not needed.

We completely understand the need to save money. We know, unlike the phone company, the phone book companies and other types of companies, that businesses are not made of money. That’s one of the reasons why Protocol16′s prices are so low compared to other competitors. Some of the big-boys charge TWICE what we do, for the same qualified people. I know first hand, I use to work for that type of company and I would be brought in as a technical expert. I was even flown to a foreign country once to install a network. It’s not fun installing a network in the dead of summer, in Sicily…

There’s a secret in Portland, though. You don’t need to hire a computer guru, you don’t need to worry about problems and if you’re thinking of upgrading your computers, you have someone to call. Protocol16 offers consulting for small businesses.

Consulting through Protocol16 means we show up and take your requirements and offer several types of scenarios that can solve that. That does not mean that we show up, be pushy and tell you what you need to do. If you EVER hire a company to come in and this happens to you – throw them right out the door. On top of that, any company you hire should give you the option of which hardware you move to, or give you multiple offers as to which hardware provider you wish to choose. This is all unless you contact a specific hardware company and request a consultation.

Even if you have an internal computer guy, we can still help take on a bit of the workload for larger projects or suggest options for bringing in new hardware or software.

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know and we’ll be more than happy to help out. Don’t worry, we don’t speak geek, we talk in your language.
Justin

We had a nice customer today that was surprised to find out that when he turned on his computer, it crashed. He said the only thing that happened was that he noticed Windows had updated and he finally restarted the computer.

That lead us right into Safe Mode. He was so excited to see that Windows was still alive and ticking. We ended up uninstalling the Microsoft driver (software that allows Windows and hardware to communicate) for his video card and installing the proper driver. We also disable the ability for Vista to update the drivers, as this type of situation happens a lot. It’s even happened to me…

This is, unfortunately, a common problem with Vista… As we told our customer, Windows 7 will correct this problem! When we started testing Windows 7 on our internal laptops, we noticed that it would direct us to the manufacturers website instead of installing a Microsoft version, so that’s a huge improvement on this situation.

If you still have Vista, you may want to disable the “optional” updates…
Justin

I’ve seen this question posted on several websites as well as several blog posts. On top of this, I’ve also been asked this on a normal basis, especially since getting back to Portland and working on computer repair.

While Vista had it’s fair share of problems when it first came out, it’s perfectly acceptable for an Operating System now. After Service Pack 1 came out, Vista really started to shine. Now that XP is just over just under 8 years old, it’s time to let it go. Vista was the basis of Windows Server 2008 and, in the business world, that product is Rockin’. On top of that, SP2 has been released for Vista as well. Windows 7 is considered “Vista SP3″ and even Server 2008 R2 is using the Windows 7 code.

Some people are saying that you should wait until Windows 7 comes out – I’m one of them. Unfortunately, this has a downfall. There is no XP to Windows 7 upgrade. That means, if you don’t upgrade to Vista, you cannot upgrade to Windows 7, you’ll need to do a full install. Fortunately, Microsoft is offering a free upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 at the moment.

“But Windows 7 Requires a Key Management Server!” (Minimum of 25 Vista Installations Req’d, only in a business environment)
Yes and no. Windows 7 can use your internet connection to activate, but when you have many computers reactivating and downloading Windows Updates, you’ll change your setup to point to a server to save bandwidth. This is standard practice in any environment that has a decent amount of computers.

In the end, only you can decide which way you should go. Personally, I would rather have a clean install of any operating system than an upgrade. There are too many odd things that can get carried around with a series of upgrades. A good spring cleaning is good once in awhile.

If you have any questions about Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008, please don’t hesitate to call. I even personally have an MCITP (a big certification that Microsoft offers) for Server 2008.
Justin