For those wary of installing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP Home or Professional, you’ll receive it no matter what if your Windows updates is automated.  Don’t worry - Service Pack has tested just fine.  We’ve since deployed over 500 Service Pack 3 installs for computers and have no issues thus far.  The only nuisance has been with some computers that do not allow device drivers to be set up by the manufacturers installation software.  But, instead, needing to go to Device Manager and manually locating the driver.

If you really don’t want to install Service Pack 3, you can make sure that automated Windows updates is set to manual by going to the Control Panel.  Just remember that Service Pack 3 will provide the latest Windows updates to protect against viruses, hackers, and spyware.  You still need to install anti-virus software, but the latest Service Pack, in combination, will aid in closing some vulnerabilities.

A typical e-mail issue is being able to receive e-mails, but not being able to send.  When you think about it, it doesn’t make sense that your e-mails are half working.  But, when you break it down in terms of how the e-mail flow works, you’ll be able to better troubleshoot and fix your computer issue.

When you set up your e-mail account, you have to set up the incoming (POP3) and outgoing (SMTP) server information.  For Windows, you may set up an e-mail account within Outlook or Outlook Express.  For Mac, you may configure the pop3 and smtp settings within Entourage, Mail, and Thunderbird.  These settings define how you will receive and send e-mails.  In terms of receiving e-mails, it’s pretty simple - you just need to input the information your e-mail provider gives you.  If you have gmail, it is pop.gmail.com.  For TimeWarner’s Roadrunner, it is pop-server.nyc.rr.com.  So, you would just enter this pop3 or incoming info where the field is requested.

For outgoing e-mail or smtp info, it could be a little trickier.  It is recommended to stick with the e-mail provider’s info first (i.e. gmail: smtp.gmail.com).  However, within the last couple of years, some of the Internet Providers (i.e. TimeWarner, Verizon) require for you to enter their settings for outgoing e-mail.  For instance, although you have gmail for your e-mail account, your Verizon DSL might require inputting its settings to send e-mails. 

How do you know that you need to enter your Internet Providers smtp settings instead of your e-mail provider’s outgoing information?  If sending e-mails works fine at home, but you have trouble when visiting elsewhere, then that could be the sure case of needing to switch the SMTP setting to you ISP (Internet Service Provider).  This If you’re still having trouble resolving your SMTP issue, then you probably need to call an NYC computer technician to help.

Having a 64bit server operating system will greatly enhance your server and network performance.  64bit means you can install more than 4GB on your machine.  In contrast, 32bit only allows you to install up to 4GB as a maximum.  Keep in mind that with 64 bit, you’ll need to make sure all of your server software is compatible with the 64bit operating system.

If you’re running a Windows 2003 Standard Edition Server that is 64bit, then your Exchange software must also be running 64bit.  This means that you cannot run Microsoft Exchange 2003 since it is only 32bit.  You will need to purchase Microsoft Exchange 2007 which is 64bit and can run with Windows 2003 Server 64bit.

This is helpful information if you’re planning to buy or upgrade your server.

Microsoft acquired Powerset to bring it a little closer to Google’s search engine.  With Powerset, Microsoft gets a team of talented engineers and a unique search technology.

What is Powerset?  It provides a rich semantic way for users to type natural language for search queries.  Basically, you don’t have to enter boolean searches, such as “new york computer help” or nyc “computer repairs.”  The boolean searches focus on keywords versus natural language or every day linguistics.  Think “Ask Jeeves” for natural language.  Instead of typing “new york computer help,” you can just type: Looking for New York Computer Help’s address.  Powerset provides a type of natural search that has the goal of finding specific information.  Taking the New York Computer Help example, instead of being directed to the main home page, the address query will pull up NY Computer Help’s address page.  So, the searches are easy to type and, more importantly, the results are easier to find by being more specific.

If Microsoft can leverage the full potential of Powerset, Microsoft could finally be a true competitor for Google’s search service.