(Note: If you are running Windows XP or Vista legally, this article does not apply to you.)

I’m not going to pretend for a moment that there’s more than a few of you out there running Windows XP illegally. You’ve seen the very nice $50 price tag of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade and said, "Okay, I can afford that, but can I upgrade a pirated copy of XP to Win 7?"

Answer: No. When you hit the WGA, the upgrade won’t work.

However.. I can tell you how to get Windows 7 for significantly less than the full-version $200 price tag.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Buy a copy of Windows Vista Home Basic "System Builders" Edition from NewEgg. Cost is $84.99 with free shipping. This is a qualifying product for the Windows 7 Upgrade.
2. Pre-order your Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99. Remember, this price only lasts until July 11, 2009. After that it’s $119 for the upgrade and $200 for the full version.

Your total cost will be $134.98. Shipping will be free on both products. This is significantly cheaper than the full $200 price tag for the full-version Win 7 price. Granted, you’ll never use the license of Windows Vista you purchased, but it does take $65 off what you would have spent for the full-version Win 7 otherwise. This is an easy, and moreover legal, way to save cash on the purchase of the OS.

Why go legal with Windows?

There’s really only one reason. It’s for Windows Update.

Windows Update started with Windows 98 which was over 10 years ago, however the Windows Genuine Advantage validation check didn’t occur until 2006.

If you are running Windows illegally, you basically can’t use WU at all and that’s a problem. Whenever critical updates are sent thru the WU system, you won’t be able to install it. Not easily, anyway.

The common comeback to that is, "Well, I don’t have to use WU. I could install the patches manually." Yes, you could. But you know full well that’s decidedly inconvenient and a pain to get done.

If you don’t feel like paying for Windows, just use Linux. But if you do use Windows, the one-time license cost is worth the price for the updates.

Most people take WU for granted, but it is vital to make sure critical updates are applied without any hassle.

One of the most reliable printers you can buy is a laser printer. They have less moving parts compared to inkjet (meaning more reliable), and for many models there is in-home printer service available should it bust – even if it’s out of warranty.

Inkjet printers can be had on the cheap new, but as anyone knows it’s cartridges that burn a hole in the wallet faster than anything else.

Example: You buy a new inkjet printer for $50, but then find out it comes with a "starter" cartridge. So you have to shell out some cash for a cartridge. And you’ll probably have to buy another one (or two) within a year’s time. That $50 printer can easily cost you over $100 before the year is out – and that’s not even including the cost of paper.

If you’re fed up with the ridiculous cost of the cartridges, maybe now is the time to switch over to laser.

I will say up front that there are three major disadvantages of laser printing:

1. Physically larger.

Laser printers need to be larger because they run hot on the inside and need to cool down. And the only way to do this effectively is to have a larger box.

2. May not be good for your health.

It is known that some (repeat: some, not all) laser printers do emit ultrafine particles. If you are using the printer in a room that is not well ventilated, it can pose a health risk.

Workaround: Use a wireless laser printer. More on that in a moment.

3. Toner can be expensive.

It is not uncommon to see a laser toner cartridge sell new for between $50 to $100. However bear in mind it takes a lot longer to wear out a toner compared to an inkjet cartridge.

How much does a laser printer cost?

Prices vary, but the average range for a personal laser printer is between $100 and $300.

All major printer manufacturers have laser models available. You will immediately notice they look, act and operate differently compared to the inkjet line – usually to the better on all three counts.

The first thing to take into consideration with a laser printer is the cost of replacement toner. You can search NewEgg or your preferred retailer of choice to see how much the toner will cost you. And yes it does vary significantly depending on make/model of printer.

A few words on refurbished toner

Using refurb/remanufactured toner is far more likely to work properly compared to "re-inking" inkjet cartridges. Most of the time the refurb will work well.

But not without drawbacks.

The things to note about refurb toner are:

• You will not get the same number of pages printed as you would with new toner.
• The imaging drum can potentially get damaged from using refurb (and that’s not cheap to fix).
• The refurb toner might leak.

I’m not saying to not buy refurb toner. What I am saying is know what you’re buying. Some people use refurb toner and never have a problem with it. Others say it’s not worth the hassle and that minor issues happen. And a small percentage have disastrous situations with them.

If you decide to go with refurb toner, know the risks.

Advantages of laser printing

Print more

With inkjet you constantly have to worry about ink and how much of it you have left. With laser you can just keep on printing and simply not worry about it for a good long time.

Print even more

Many affordable laser printers can print as much as 10,000 pages in a month. Some under the $200 range even have a maximum duty cycle of 20,000 pages a month.

Most home users get nowhere near that amount of printing in a month, but if you’re the "power printer" type of user, laser is definitely the way to go.

Choice of monochrome-only or color

Some people couldn’t care less about color printing. Monochrome, as in black, gets you more printed pages and the toner replacement is usually cheaper.

Wireless options available

The brother HL-2170W (NewEgg listing) is an example of how affordable wireless laser printing can be. Even at its low price point it still has a "warm-up" time of less than 10 seconds and connects on wireless b or g. It also has a built-in Ethernet port as well.

If you’ve got the space and are ready to ditch inkjet for good, go laser.

FedEx Office (formerly known as FedEx Kinko’s or just Kinko’s) is a 24-hour-a-day shop in most places where you can walk in to do a quick scan, print, fax or any other number of office-related stuff.

To note: FedEx Office is just one example of a store like this. Even the sleepiest of small towns in the USA have some kind of local office store when you can run off a copy, print something, get something faxed out, etc. They’re usually located in the busier part of town. Continued

Some people are confused (or just have the wrong idea) about what a computer server actually is.

The technical definition is that a server is a computer dedicated to providing a specific service or services.

Concerning what you would use in the home, the most common example is a file server, i.e. a computer where its sole purpose in life is to store files you can upload or download at any time on your home network. Continued

As of a few months ago, I have gone from working exclusively at the office to working from home at least one day a week. So far my transition has been extremely smooth with relatively no speed bumps. Of course, this was prefaced on my part with making my two working environments functional for me. As a service to others out there who have considered working from home, I’m going to share some of the preparations I made as well as outline some benefits (some obvious and some not so obvious) and concerns regarding working from home.

Continued

This chapter is a video presentation.

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So far, if you have been following the course, you should have an idea of some of the hardware that goes into creating a network, namely:

• Network interface cards
• Switches
• Routers
• Wireless Access Points
• Print servers

Going to the store to pick out your equipment can be a little confusing. Usually, you’re looking at a bunch of boxes each promoted to be the best thing and it is hard to tell the difference. Well, I’m going to help you out as much as I can.

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