Last week I made a promise to talk about ways we can make more money from technology our businesses already own. A customer caught up to me and suggested I talk about ways to make more money with computers. I was going to hold off because, well, I could discuss computers ad nauseam.
Most of us know about our industry specific software and accounting titles, and because of the vast uses for computers I’m not sure I could cram that into 600 words. Instead I’ve decided to deviate and talk about saving money with computers.
Time is money, or at least that’s the old cliché. Speeding up a computer system will save time letting you get more tasks completed. Hard drive speed is the number one bottleneck in any computer. Solid state drives can easily be retrofitted to most computers, reducing the hindrance.
Internet speeds also play a part in overall productivity. Nobody likes waiting for downloads and with today’s operating system and software updates, decreasing download times is vital. Changing your provider or plan is about the only way to achieve faster speeds, and you may luck out and find better for less.
Memory also plays a part in the speed of a computer and so many times I see owners with less memory in their business machines than their personal computer. Memory allows multiple applications to run smoother in the background. If not time, certainly aggravation will be limited.
How many times have you wanted to get work done only to sit down in front of a computer with viruses? Your business computer is a tool that makes you money so it should be used strictly for business. Personal and casual surfing should only be done on a not-for-business computer. If the business computer is out of commission you make no money.
Hard drives should be replaced periodically to reduce downtime and data loss. My business computers’ hard drives are replaced annually to maintain software licenses and dreaded downtime. Swapping means a few hours without but could save days of reentering data. One owner swaps her drives every six months because she had one failure ten years ago.
Unless you use your computer for graphics arts, CAD or another processor intensive profession that relies on computers, I would not suggest a replacement cycle. Unless your computer was built with a hammer and chisel it most likely doesn’t need to be replaced. Replacing can be agonizing due to reinstalling software and migrating data. Save your money.
A few minutes of backup everyday can save many hours of rebuilding data. Pick up an external drive and start backing up your files. After the backup process unplug your drive and tuck it away or take it home. Online backup is a great last resort for redundancy, but don’t rely on it in case of catastrophic failure. A good external drive can literally be worth its weight in gold if your computer conks out.
Unfortunately there is no one single magic bullet for saving or making money with an office PC because there are so many different businesses. My businesses use computers to fix other computers, you may use them for simple office functions or you may be an accountant who relies on the computer for day-to-day business. The owner who yells at me for not being able to get an obscure part in a snap is always the one who fesses up to knowing about the problem.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)