"Computer Repair and Services For The Home Or Small Office"
Computer Repair - Upgrades - Custom Builds, Asset Retirement Management
Data Security Risk Mitigation - Data Backup, RECOVERY and Migrations
Hardware, Software Installations - Setups and Optimizations
Spyware and Virus Removal - Small Office and Home Networking

Mission Statement:

Objective 1: At Orphan Computers we are dedicated to combating the crisis of the abandonment of surplus computers. The regrettably needless and improvident end of these computers at the bottom of our community landfills is shameful. We provide these unfortunate computers with exceptional care at our shelter facility located at 3758 W.Broadway in Robbinsdale, where they are housed until they can be matched and placed with suitable adoptive users.

Objective 2: To provide a responsible means for users to relinquish and recycle their unfashionable surplus computers in a secure and economic manner.

Objective 3: To offer education and assessments of the realistic needs of prospective users, matching them with a reasonable level of technology and providing them with an alternative and economical means to computer ownership.

Objective 4: To provide flexible, reliable, and professional computer repair and services for the home or small office for rates which are reasonable and fair. Orphan Computers, we are the honest solution for your Computer repairs, Computer Recycling, Upgrades, Hardware and Software Installations, Spyware and Virus Removal, Setups, Optimizations, Data Backup and Migrations, Data Recovery, Data Security Risk Mitigation, Networking and other computer needs.

Through no fault of their own, these computers became infested with Viruses and Spy-ware to the point that they could no longer "boot." Their previous users, rather than paying to have them repaired at the "Big Box Stores", abandoned them in order to purchase newer, fashionable units. Fortunately, these poor orphans found their way to our shelter facility where they were provided with the best of care, repaired and restored to their former usefulness. If you are in need of an affordable computer, contact us for an honest assessment of your needs. One of these Orphans could very well make you a suitable companion.

Random Segues, Tips and Tricks from Orphie

Facebook and Google+ Contrasted, Part 1 of 4: The Basics
by Derrick Wlodarz
FireLogic, Inc
A mere four to five year ago, social networking was something embraced only by college students and the younger generation. Jump to 2011, and we now have a landscape owned in a majority stake by Facebook with the formidable competitor of Google+. What we took for granted with Facebook for the past few years must now beg the million dollar question: what service is best for me?
I will admit up front that I am on the fence myself about what service I am going to dedicate more time towards. On the one hand, I’ve had a Facebook account for over five years now and have amassed both a bevy of friends and a digital portfolio of my personal life which is hard to walk away from. On the other hand, Google+ seems to have a fresh perception on social networking that is more appealing to some, including myself. I’ve been slowly growing the FireLogic Facebook page for a few months now to benefit my business, but am ever curious to see what Google+ could do for my company. You may be in just as much indecision as myself over both services.
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On Facebook? Upgrade your Account Security to HTTPS!
Facebook has been working on providing an HTTPS Account Security setting for some time now. It is a feature which has not been rolled out to all accounts everywhere as of yet, but you should check to see if it is available to you and if so, enable it.
Why?
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) provides an addition level of security for your private information through encrypted communication and secure identification. This is the same level of security you use when you perform payment transactions online with a credit card or visit your bank account. This is accomplished by combining Secure Socket Layer and Transport Layer Security Protocols with Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
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20% of Facebook Users Are "Subject to Malware Social Attacks!"
According to current statistics derived from Bitdefender's 'Safego,' malicious code writers are increasingly employing a number of tactics designed to exploit the open nature of “social-networking” on Facebook. As many as 1 in 5 users have been effected. It’s all about having fun and sharing with wall posts and engaging comments from your friends, right? And it is, until you become prey from a personal data theft attack or a Trojan that disables your computer. Follow the link to read an article detailing the statistical findings.
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Top 10 Q&A for Clients on the Move to Webmail
by Derrick Wlodarz
FireLogic, Inc
One of the most important migrations I have been helping clients with at FireLogic is the move from location-based to available-anywhere email. For lack of a better term, you can call this “web-mail” or email that is in the cloud, so to say. Naturally, clients have a lot of questions before such a life-changing move (some people, like myself, LIVE in their inboxes so yes, life-changing is a proper term). I've rounded up about the top ten which get asked time and time again and streamlined them into a quick Q&A that should help those looking to make the switch. Personally, I made the move to webmail back in 1999 with YahooMail, moving onto Hotmail for a brief period a short time later, and finally ended up at GMAIL in 2005. I have never looked back.
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5 Reasons for an Alternate Browser
by Derrick Wlodarz
FireLogic, Inc
For most computer users on Windows machines, Internet Explorer 7 or 8 continue to be their de-facto browser of choice. Whether is be out of convenience or necessity, these browsers still dominate our desktops. But times have changed since the early 2000's. The web is increasingly friendly towards alternate browsers, and in fact, the majority of the most visited websites are fully compatible with modern browsers. Here are just a few reason why switching may be one of the best things you could do for your machine.
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Set Desktop Icons to a Toolbar
Windows XP offers some very flexible methods of building custom desktops that are very orderly and functional for a particular user. The problem with these methods is that they are not very well known and seldom see any use. Which is why as a tech, I am constantly dealing with computers the desktops of which are so cluttered with icons of every variety that it physically pains the eyes.
So when I will ask a typical customer, "Do you use all these icons?" What do you suppose their answer is? "No, most of that stuff my kids put on there." And then I'll ask, "Well... of these 80 or so icons, how many of them do you use?" Usually the answer will be: "Oh... I don't know.... 5 or 6 maybe. I wish I could find my Icons easier." That is when I say, "How about we put the icons you use into a special tool bar?" Looking stunned and bewildered they ask, "You can do that?"

Well... absolutely! And hear is how....
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Basic Windows Key Navigation on the Microsoft Natural Keyboard
So you're looking at your keyboard and you're wondering to yourself, "Just what is that key between the Ctrl and Alt keys with the Windows Logo on it?" You may have even pressed it out of general curiosity and found that you can use it to toggle the Start Menu on and off, and thought to yourself, "Oh... so that's what that does... cool!" Well it certainly is useful for that purpose, and it is easier then using the Ctrl+Esc combination which will also toggle the Start Menu on and off, but it can do so much more for you. The Windows Logo Key can be used for a variety of Windows Keyboard shortcuts. Let's take a look at them....
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Desktop Icons - Removal of Short Cut Arrows from the XP Desktop
In the interest of keeping a Desktop looking sharp and clean, there are those who would prefer not to see the little arrows that Windows by default ads to any Shortcut Icon. There is a very simple method to effect this tweak, but it involves editing the Windows Registry. So....
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File Extensions and Hidden Files and Folders in XP
A question that I would get quite often at the service counter from customers still making the transition from Windows 98 to XP was, "Why can't I see any of my files extensions? I can't find them if I can't tell what they are." Well, the answer to this of course is that by default XP hides extensions for known file types. Why? Who knows, but apparently Microsoft thought that it was a good idea.

This is a simple issue to solve, but it throws a lot of "basic users" because they are just not accustomed to having to think about making certain configuration adjustments. Nor really should they be. But here is what you need to do....
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The Case for Disabling Messenger Service
In their native state, going back to Windows NT and moving forward, Windows operating systems include a "background service" called Messenger Service, which provides a method for network users to communicate with one another using "pop-up" messages. By design, the original intent of Messenger Service was for system administrators to notify users on their networks of system-wide events or other useful information. It was never widely employed by legitimate users. However, Messenger Service remains as a legacy feature of Windows which allows, if you are online, anyone on the Internet to actuate pop-up messages on your system. At best this includes unscrupulous spamming advertisers. At worst, malicious individuals distributing viri.
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