Frequently Asked Questions (Part 10)

Q) What can I do with my old PC’s? How can I safely donate or get rid of my old PC and protect my data?

A) If you have replaced an aging computer and are wondering what to do with it, there are a few options to consider. You could re-purpose the old machine into a computer that your kids or house guests can use by loading a less resource-intensive operating system on it like CloudReady, which effectively turns any computer into a Chromebook, for example. If you’re set on getting rid of the device, you can find a local recycler by doing an online search for “computer recyclers” in your area. Just make sure that they will erase the hard drive before they try reselling it if that’s what they intend to do with it. You can also donate computers to any local school district to get a small tax deduction at the end of the year worth up to $200. Once again, make sure they will erase the hard drive just to be safe.

Q) Is cloud storage like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. safe for my company or personal files?

A) “The Cloud” is really just a marketing term that describes any software or service that is provided exclusively over the Internet. The technologies used to provide these services have come a long way with regards to security, and for the most part can be trusted for things like storing your pictures in Google Photos, for example. All traffic is typically encrypted and generous amounts of free storage are provided in most cases. For example, our company uses Dropbox to store our sensitive documentation and manage who has access to them. This way we can access the information we need from anywhere, as well as control who can get to them should a team member join or leave our company. I also personally use Google Photos to store my family’s personal pictures so I don’t have to maintain manual backups of everything on my home computer. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any specific questions about what might work for your specific needs!

Q) How much Memory should I have in my computer?

A) The short answer is “as much as you can get for a reasonable price.” You can think of memory as the amount of space you have on top of your physical desk at work. The bigger the space, the more things you can be doing at the same time. Likewise, the more system memory -or RAM- your computer has, the more programs you can have running at the same time without the computer slowing down. As of this writing in 2016, we typically recommend getting computers with no less than 8GB of RAM as a general rule. This will probably increase as new operating systems that are released in the future will most likely be designed to run on computers with more and more memory…