*How to set up and run an office computer without blowing your budget*
*Publication Date:* July 2007
*Volume:* 42-11
*Author:* Richard Schenkar
*Categories:* Practical resources, Computers, Internet
It is a good idea to know about the possibilities of cost-effective
computing because 1) there will be a time when we might want a backup
computer as part of a disaster-recovery plan and 2) we might be advising
a client for whom cost-effective computing would leverage an appropriate
strategy or tactic.

*Finding the Basic Box*

A cost-effective computer is reasonably easy to find if one's search
strategy includes surplus sales, corporate disposals, recycled
computers, and remanufactured computers.

Surplus sales are operated by government agencies and large institutions
like universities and major government contractors. You should know
something about computers and troubleshooting before you go shopping so
that you can spot major problems. You probably will not be able to open
the machine to see the inside. If you get a chance to start the machine,
you should know how to decode what you are seeing on the startup
screens. That way, you know what you are getting.

Corporate disposals offer opportunities to get a machine actually useful
for business. Many large businesses, like Boeing, have sales operations
to get rid of computers not needed. Note that many of these machines are
used in a network environment so that it is probable that the computer
you get will be set to look for its operating system on a remote network
rather than on its hard disk. To make sure that your computer will start
apart from a network, you may have to look at the CMOS (consolidated
metal-oxide semiconductor) settings to make sure your computer is set to
look at its own hard disk for booting information.

Recycled computers offer cost-effective computing combined with the good
feeling that one is helping the environment. Many of the components in
computer hardware contain toxic materials so reuse becomes prudent. The
Take It Back Network, online at http://www.takeitbacknetwork.org, will
lead you to resources that will accept, recondition, and sell computers
with useful, though used, parts.

Many computer manufacturers will remanufacture their own machines to
original factory standards with factory warranties and offer them for
about half the price of a new machine on their own web sites or through
sellers like Overstock, online at http://www.overstock.com.

*Basic Software*

Open Office, available for a free download at http://www.openoffice.org,
replaces all the functions of proprietary programs and even includes a
portable document format (PDF) maker. This is in addition to
presentation software, a vector drawing tool, a mathematical calculation
tool, a spreadsheet, a database manager, and a word processor. The 93-
to 135- megabyte download is available in a number of languages and for
operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Solaris, Macintosh,
Linux, and FreeBSD.

*Windows Adjustments*

One of the most frustrating aspects of Microsoft Windows is its habit of
doing things on its own. Taking control of Windows will allow you to
control your system and the program Xteq X-Setup (version 6.6 available
for free download at http://www.xteq.com) will give you access to over
1,600 settings in Microsoft Windows with wizards to guide you.

If you are curious about all of those numbers that Windows applies to
errors, download the file "Error Messages for Windows" online at
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads. It is a ZIPped file (so you will need
WinZip, also available there, to open the 149-kilobyte file). Download
this now--while your computer works--and print the file because you will
use this list to decode the cryptic error messages you will see.

*Utilities*

To make your computing life more pleasant and more secure, add these
tools (all available for free) to your office collection. For a
firewall, consider the Sygate Personal Firewall, online at
http://www.download.com or http://www.oldversion.com, or ZoneAlarm,
online at http://www.zonelabs.com. For an antivirus program, choose
either Antidote Super Lite, online at
http://users.pandora.be/Robvdb/AntidoteSL.htm, or AVG AntiVirus System,
online at http://www.grisoft.com. To stop spyware, use Ad-Aware, online
at http://www.lavasoftusa.com. To stop those annoying pop-ups that
plague your web browsing, use PopUpStopper, available from
http://www.panicware.com. If you want to receive fax transmissions in
your electronic mailbox, sign up for eFax Free, at http://www.efax.com.

Remember that when you erase a file with most software, that file does
not go away. All that happens is that a status flag in the file
allocation table of the disk is changed to indicate that the space
allocated to that file may be overwritten. Disk utilities exist to edit
flags in disk file allocation tables to make files you thought you
erased reappear. If you want to erase a file in a way that it cannot be
retrieved, use a program that overwrites the file like Eraser, available
at http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser.