There is a new choice when purchasing laptops. For years your choice of processors on your computer was either Intel or AMD. Over the years one or the other would exert their dominance and make the fastest processor and then lose that title the next year. It didn’t really matter which you chose because they both were fairly similar and comparable in terms of speed and either one would run all available software that was made for the PC.
Since 2018 there has been a new contender in the processor field called snapdragon. These were initially made for things like tablets and phones and their claim to fame was longer battery life. This made the jump to laptops noteworthy since battery life is very important in the laptop world but the 2018 chips were not very powerful so there were not a lot of early adopters. That changed in 2024 when a newer, more powerful version of the Snapdragon processor came out. The newer processors were powerful enough to gain attention and the laptops made with them were inexpensively priced.
Why am I telling you about this? This is a warning. I purchased a couple laptops for a company before I knew much about these processors and once I found out the truth, I quickly returned them swearing I will never again purchase another snapdragon processor laptop.
The laptops I purchased needed more storage, so I purchased 2 new 2 TB drives to add to the laptops. I have done this many times. I just needed to install Windows on the new drives, and everything would be fine. That is when the trouble started. Snapdragon processors need a different version of the installation, or they will not work. I did a little more research after that and discovered some of the programs that this company needed won’t work with the Snapdragon processors. This seemed like too much trouble, this is why I decided to never buy one again.
Yesterday, I was at a customer’s house setting up a computer they purchased without consulting me. I really didn’t pay any attention to the specs of the computer because I was busy setting everything up. While installing software for them I found a few programs that would not install and there were weird error messages. Finally, one message said something about not being supported. I quickly checked the processor and found that it was a snapdragon. I could not install the scanner for their printer; they had a few older games that would not install and the version of office they had also did not work.
They decided to keep the laptop, and I found work arounds for most of their installation issues but some of the things just would not work. This is why I always offer to find a computer for my customers or at least have them send me the specifics, so they don’t buy too much, too little or just the wrong computer.
So, my offer still stands. I am happy to help when you are looking at a new computer to make sure you end up with what you need.
Half of my business is supporting small companies. Many times, when I am contacted by a small business owner it is because they have been trying to handle everything themselves or worse, they just have each employee set up their own stuff. In the past 13 years I have seen many issues that these scenarios can cause. I thought I would share some of the scarier issues to hopefully prevent others from going down the same road.
Allowing everyone to set up their own computers/technology. Sometimes when new entrepreneurs are just starting out, they will go and buy a new computer for their new employee and hand them the box and tell them to go ahead and get it set up and start working. In theory this might seem to be very efficient. The employee can set it up just how they feel it needs to be set up, and it also saves the owner the time it would take them to set it up.
I have actually been called many times to help a business owner break into a computer because the employee that set it up and used it is no longer working for them, and they don’t know the password and can’t reach the ex-employee. I have a disk that allows me to delete the password so we can get into the computer and reset the password.
When I set up computers for my customers, I first set up an admin account and only the business owner and I know the password. I then set up an account for the user, and I don’t give them admin rights. This way they can’t download and install any unauthorized software. This helps prevent viruses and malware along with pirated software issues which could cost a small business thousands of dollars. I also add antivirus/antimalware and monitoring software to make sure this computer will continue to work seamlessly for business.
Business Owner uses their personal accounts to set up employee’s computers. I have had a few instances where the business owner has used their personal Microsoft account to set up computers in their office and by doing this, they were inadvertently sharing all of their personal documents and even their personal accounts (banking and credit cards) and passwords with all of the office computers.
Imagine the business owner’s surprise when they realize that all of their employees have access to their personal Amazon account, bank account and credit cards. They also have access to their personal documents which include some of the business financial data. This was discovered because he saw a picture of his child as the desktop background on an employee’s computer. The same picture he had on his. This employee’s computer was mirroring his personal computer.
When I set up computers for businesses, I never allow people to share accounts. This keeps everyone’s information separate so that no one can see information they shouldn’t, and no one can read other’s email or worse, respond as someone else. The list goes on and on with potential problems when accounts are shared.
These are just a couple of the potential issues of being your own IT person. Many of the things I do and suggest to my business customers actually save them time, money, and productivity. My processes can also keep their information safe and confidential. If you are currently doing it yourself, I would love to help.
The talk about how to avoid becoming a victim of scams. Email Scam Busters is your monthly resource to let you and your parents in on the latest scams they should look out fo
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