Corporate Computer Question

[badger bob]

 NHQ purchases come with Office 2003 Pro and Windows XP Pro including the last laptop buy.

In our wing, I added the AVG from the CAP license (on e-services) and Adobe Reader before distributing- and downloaded the normal 100 security updates from Microsft.

My recommendation is that they avoid Vista as long as they can- but no reason not to switch to Office 2007 for future buys that I know of.

[afgeo4]

They buy Toshibas... the inferior of the inferior. 

Make sure you keep the laptop off the table (so that the fan on the bottom of it has air coming to it) if using for a prolonged period of time (over 1 hr) or it will overheat and crash on ya.

Ive had my personal laptop (a Toshiba) since the Monday before the August 2004 NB and only had that problem after a guy had accidentally dropped it, the issue was resolved promptly when I took it into a service center.  Never had the issue with the corp laptop issued to me since Jan 2007, both have been known to be online for weeks on a flat surface (I was lazy and had some projects I was working on that I couldn't be bothered to close) without an issue.  So I'm not sure where you've had your poor experience, but it isn't the norm from what I can tell.  Then again, I set the fan speed to max cool out of habit.

CAP also has some HP's in its inventory.

Well... I believe my group received one Toshiba for each squadron and one for Group HQ (total of 6) and all but one crashed... heavily.

I just purchased a Dell Inspiron 1520 for mostly CAP use, but I can't spend the same amount on MS Office Pro as I spent on the computer, so I'm buying MS Office Home and Student which doesn't come with Access. Do you guys know where I could get a free or low cost version of Access to run SIMS? My squadron has doubled in size in the last few months and we finally need it.

[badger bob]

2002 thru 2005 NHQ laptop buys were Toshibas with not enough RAM and all kinds of Toshiba demo programs and adware programs.

2006 and 2007 Laptops were HP models- much superior hardware and much less junkware.

[badger bob]

I just purchased a Dell Inspiron 1520 for mostly CAP use, but I can't spend the same amount on MS Office Pro as I spent on the computer, so I'm buying MS Office Home and Student which doesn't come with Access. Do you guys know where I could get a free or low cost version of Access to run SIMS? My squadron has doubled in size in the last few months and we finally need it.

If anyone needs either single copies or multiple copies of licensed copies of Office Pro, please PM me

Tags - MIKE

[Eclipse]

My recommendation is that they avoid Vista as long as they can- but no reason not to switch to Office 2007 for future buys that I know of.

Unless you've kicked the ram up substantially from the 256m NHQ ships, office 2007 is going to be prohibitively slow, that and the fact that if the only place yo are using it is on your CAP notebook for CAP business, the learning curve is also substantial.

I used it for three months as my primary business version of office and dumped it because of the ribbon and other issues which made me less productive.

Anyone who needs a productivity suite and can't afford to buy it shoudl look into Openoffice which is free.
(it doesn't include an Access analog, however)

[badger bob]

The 2006 and 2007 HP laptops come with 1GB of Ram. don't know yet what the 2008 laptops will come with.

[MIKE]

I got Office 2007 Pro with my new Dell XPS 420... I think it was a little cheaper than a boxed copy.  Runs great on Vista Premium... but I've also got 3 gigs of RAM in this beast.  

IIRC, A site had been posted a while back where you could get Office and/or licenses through NHQ at the non-profit rate.

[arajca]

http://www.1computerbargains.com/

Check the Member Benefits site for the person to contact.

[badger bob]

Computer bargins will sell you Office at a good discount from retail, about half of what a retail outlet gets.

For the real savings, you need to purchase them direct thru the Microsoft program for non-profits with Office Pro for $20/ per license


For info go to
www.techsoup.org


If you need help with it, give me a holler

[afgeo4]

I'm running 2GB or RAM on my Dell Inspiron 1520 (with Intel Core 2 Duo and XP), so Office 07 won't be an issue. I wouldn't run it with Vista though. I actually wouldn't use Vista with anything. IMO we should sell give them all to Venezuela for all the good they've done for us over the years.

[♠SARKID♠]

I'm running 2GB or RAM on my Dell Inspiron 1520 (with Intel Core 2 Duo and XP), so Office 07 won't be an issue. I wouldn't run it with Vista though. I actually wouldn't use Vista with anything. IMO we should sell give them all to Venezuela for all the good they've done for us over the years.

Venezuela?  Why not the Brazillian CAP? 

[LtCol Hooligan]

I'm running 2GB or RAM on my Dell Inspiron 1520 (with Intel Core 2 Duo and XP), so Office 07 won't be an issue. I wouldn't run it with Vista though. I actually wouldn't use Vista with anything. IMO we should sell give them all to Venezuela for all the good they've done for us over the years.

What don't you like about Vista?  Your system seems like it should be able to run it without issue.

[JC004]

What don't you like about Vista?  Your system seems like it should be able to run it without issue.

My systems should run Vista just fine.  It's Vista that doesn't work so well, not the systems.  <3 XP Pro.

[LtCol Hooligan]

OIC- Just so you know, Vista SP1 is on the way.  I put it on my work machine (Dell Latitude D820) and it has been a huge improvement.  Drivers are functioning correctly and my system is way faster now.  I actually like it a lot and am installing Vista SP1 on my wife's Toshiba in the very near future. 

[JC004]

I've been waiting for SP1, and once I get it installed, I'll decide if I should keep it or put a .40 S&W in the screen.

[SAR-EMT1]

I have one final question.  My unit has one or two old desktops, an old ink printer, and an OLD Canon 'portable' copier (about 5 PPM  b/w) that were evidently issued by CAP way back when. I "Think" they are Pentium 2's...

My unit also has three toshiba laptops and a 'new' laser scanner/printer combo.

Is there a way to turn the desktops in? To either: get a new(er) copier, or to just get rid of the stuff?

[badger bob]

I have one final question.  My unit has one or two old desktops, an old ink printer, and an OLD Canon 'portable' copier (about 5 PPM  b/w) that were evidently issued by CAP way back when. I "Think" they are Pentium 2's...

My unit also has three toshiba laptops and a 'new' laser scanner/printer combo.

Is there a way to turn the desktops in? To either: get a new(er) copier, or to just get rid of the stuff?

Desktops, printers and copiers are accountible equipment per 67-1

If they are on your S3 report in CATS, then they should be returned to the DRMO if DOD sourced. If listed as corporate(local) or donation, your wing commander can approve a local disposal.

In either case, OPSEC would require full erasure or destruction of the hard drive.

If they are not listed in CATS, assuming they are not useable by other CAP units- they should be disposed of locally- without hard drives

[SarDragon]

Wiping the drive with something like Darik's Boot and Nuke , or Data Shredder (the one I use) should be sufficient for the level of security needed for CAP data.

[badger bob]

Wiping the drive with something like Darik's Boot and Nuke , or Data Shredder (the one I use) should be sufficient for the level of security needed for CAP data.

These are some approved DOD programs for hard drive erasure

*No Trace*
*DataEraser* free download at http://tinyurl.com/3cpjp3
*Unished Pro*
*CleanDrive*
*Sanitizer*

There may be others- sorry the DOD furnished links did not work.

shortened the DataEraser link -TA

[SarDragon]

Both of the programs I listed will do a DoD approved wipe. But, do we really need that level of security? A one-pass random 1s and 0s wipe should be sufficient.