Whether you don’t like Microsoft Office’s online integration, or just don’t have the money to purchase Microsoft Office for every computer you own, it may well be worth taking a look at LibreOffice. Providence Computers pre-installs LibreOffice on all its new and refurbished computers, and it costs nothing to have it installed on your computer while it is at our shop for repair.

LibreOffice is a powerful office suite – its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity. LibreOffice includes several applications that make it the most powerful Free and Open Source office suite on the market: Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), and Impress (presentations). *1

LibreOffice will open and save most common Microsoft Office file formats including Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), and PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx).

Your documents will look professional and clean, regardless of their purpose: a letter, a master thesis, a brochure, financial reports, marketing presentations, technical drawings and diagrams. LibreOffice makes your work look great while you focus on the content. *1

LibreOffice is Free and Open Source Software, available for everyone to use, share and modify, and produced by a worldwide community of hundreds of developers. *1

For more information about LibreOffice please visit http://www.libreoffice.org/discover/libreoffice/

To download LibreOffice please visit http://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/

To see a feature comparison between Microsoft Office 2016 and LibreOffice please visit https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Feature_Comparison:_LibreOffice_-_Microsoft_Office

*1 From http://tinyurl.com/p4cdh6f
*2 From http://tinyurl.com/lt7d2da

Dell XPS Gaming System
Dell 1000 Watt PSU
Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz
12GB DDR3 RAM
GeForce GTX 970 4GB Graphics Card
2X 1TB WD Black HDD in RAID 0 (2TB Storage)
Windows 10 Professional

System includes Samsung 24″ 1080P LCD Monitor, Red Dragon Gaming Mouse and Keyboard, and Logitech Speakers.

$599

1 Available. 3 Month Warranty. No discounts or coupons on this item.

If you’re looking for a performance boost in day to day operations on your computer, and improved battery life on your laptop, consider an SSD upgrade at providence computers.

See the difference it makes in this video from Asus that compares a laptop with and without an SSD

SSDs have a number of advantages. Among them are:

Speed: This is where SSDs shine. An SSD-equipped PC will boot in less than a minute, and often in just seconds. A hard drive requires time to speed up to operating specs, and will continue to be slower than an SSD during normal use. A PC or Mac with an SSD boots faster, launches and runs apps faster, and transfers files faster. Whether you’re using your computer for fun, school, or business, the extra speed may be the difference between finishing on time and failing.

No Fragmentation: Because of their rotary recording surfaces, hard drives work best with larger files that are laid down in contiguous blocks. That way, the drive head can start and end its read in one continuous motion. When hard drives start to fill up, large files can become scattered around the disk platter, causing the drive to suffer from what’s called fragmentation. While read/write algorithms have improved to the point that the effect is minimized, hard drives can still become fragmented. SSDs can’t, however, because the lack of a physical read head means data can be stored anywhere. Thus, SSDs are inherently faster.

Durability: An SSD has no moving parts, so it is more likely to keep your data safe in the event you drop your laptop bag or your system is shaken about by an earthquake while it’s operating. Most hard drives park their read/write heads when the system is off, but they are flying over the drive platter at a distance of a few nanometers when they are in operation. Besides, even parking brakes have limits. If you’re rough on your equipment, an SSD is recommended.

Battery Life: It takes much less power to send an electrical signal to a flash memory cell, than to spin a motor, thus extra battery life is an additional benefit for laptop users.

Bring in your computer today and experience the power of an SSD.

120GB SSD Upgrade $150 + tax (Includes parts and labor)
250GB SSD Upgrade $200 + tax (Includes parts and labor)
500GB SSD Upgrade $290 + tax (Includes parts and labor)
1TB SSD Upgrade $470 + tax (Includes parts and labor)

Some information from PCMAG here

This week Microsoft released a new update to its popular Windows 10 Operating System called the Creators Update.

Many improvements have been added including:

3D for Everyone
Support for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Headsets
Night Light (Low light mode)
Game Mode and new Game Settings
Microsoft Edge Improvements
New Cortana Features
More Control Over Windows Updates
Changes to Privacy Settings
Lots of other Geeky Stuff (geeky stuff)

Check out Microsoft’s website Windows 10 Creators Update Features or watch the video below to find out how this update can improve your computing experience.

Dell 20″ All-In-One, Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Windows 10, Wifi

$150

HP 20″ All-In-One, Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Windows 10, Wifi

$150

Dell 23″ TouchScreen All-In-One, Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Windows 10, Wifi

$200

Dell 23″ TouchScreen All-In-One, Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Windows 10, Wifi

$200

Keyboard, Mouse, and 3 Month Warranty Included

Here are a few of the hard to find, or system builder items we carry:

Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU Cooler. Upgrade your cooling.

$49.95

RGB Fans

$22.95

Various Video Adaptors

Various Prices

IDE/SATA Bi-directional adaptors

$19.95

SSD Mounting Bracket

$9.95

PC Speakers

$9.95

Thermal Paste 1.5 Grams

$4.95

CPU Brackets

$9.95

Toshiba NB205, Dual Core CPU, 2GB RAM, 80GB HDD, Windows 10

$99

Dell E6400, Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 100GB HDD, Windows 10

$139

Dell D630, Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Windows 10

$149

HP DV6000, Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Windows 10

$159

HP DV7, Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Windows 10

$169

HP G42, Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Windows 10

$169

Toshiba A305, Dual Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Windows 10,

$179

Acer 5742, Triple Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Windows 10

$189

“Ryzen is going to rock for some time to come. AMD’s new Ryzen CPU family is off to a great start.” Hothardware: Marco Chiapetta

“AMD’s Ryzen 7 1800X is a good chip at a great price and its putting Intel on notice. AMD is back and the 1800X is the first step in the perennial underdog’s plan regain market share from Intel and build confidence in its products.”  SemiAccurate: Thomas Ryan

“AMD fans have something to rejoice about, and CPU buyers have some tough decisions to make. Regardless if you are a fan of either camp or an impartial observer, competition is always a good thing for the consumer, so I guess we all win!” Tweaktown

“Consider where AMD was coming from and look at what they have achieved with Ryzen, it’s nothing short of amazing. I’m excited to see AMD delivering competitive high-end CPUs and it’ll be interesting to watch how well they can refine the Zen architecture over the coming years.” Techspot

More Reviews

AMD RYZEN 7 1700 8-Core 3.0 GHz (3.7 GHz Turbo) Socket AM4 Processor	$359.95
ASUS Prime B350M-A/CSM AM4 Motherboard	$119.95

Additional CPU’s and motherboards arriving soon!

We live in a world that is more connected than ever, but with those connections come new challenges to your personal information. Ransomware and malware are the scary side of the internet, and it is more important than ever to keep your valuable data safe. Here are some common-sense security tips that will help you stay one step ahead of the bad guys–

What is ransomware?

• We store important personal information on our computers– from family pictures to business records to everything in between. To take advantage of this, cyber criminals use a form of malware called ransomware.
  
• Ransomware is malicious software that seeks out personal information on a computer– documents, pictures, movies, music, and other files– and encrypts them, scrambling them so that they can no longer be opened.
  
• Once the information is encrypted, the criminals display a message on the computer demanding that the victim pay them some amount of money, usually via the untraceable online currency Bitcoin. Amounts can be from $200 to $20,000 or more. If the victim does not pay the ransom within a set amount of time, the criminals may increase the ransom or delete the encryption key so that the files cannot be recovered. Some ransomware even threatens to post sensitive information from the victim’s files on the internet if the ransom demands are not met.

How can I protect my computer?

• Maintain a backup of all files on a device that is not permanently connected to the computer. If you copy your files to a USB flash drive or hard drive that remains plugged into the computer, those files may be encrypted at the same time your computer is attacked.
  
• Avoid suspicious emails, links, and attachments. The most common method of infecting victims with ransomware involves the tried and true method of sending spam and waiting for people to click on the links. Use smart email skills:
  
  
  • Examine the email carefully before clicking on any links or downloads
    
  • Make sure you know who the email is from (look at the complete email address) and where the link will take you (hover over the link and see where it goes).
    
  • Don’t download and open attachments from people you don’t know.
    
  • If you are not sure if an email is legitimate even though it is from a known sender, call or email the sender to make sure they actually sent you something before opening any attachments.
  
  
• Keep your operating systems, web browsers, and other software up to date.
  
  
  • The Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems are no longer safe to use online.
    
  • Other operating systems– such as Windows 7, 8, and 10– should use the latest service pack.
    
  • Keep web browers (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Edge), plugins (Flash and Java) and other applications (such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Reader) updated to avoid vulnerabilities in older software.
  
  
• Install an up-to-date antivirus program on your computer and make sure you know how to update it and use it to scan your computer.

What do I do if I am infected?

• If you think you might have clicked on ransomware, turn off your computer immediately and do not turn it back on. It takes time to encrypt files, and turning the computer off stops the process. This may mean that only some of the files will be encrypted.
  
• Take your computer to a professional. Make sure you tell the technician that you suspect ransomware, so the tech can remove the ransomware files before booting up your computer.
  

Don’t let ransomware ruin your day! Call or stop by Providence Computers today to talk to us and make sure you are protected, and get advice on what to do if you’re not.

Cougar Micro ATX Gaming Case
Dual 120MM Blue LED Fans
Intel Core i5-4670K @ 3.4GHz
16GB Corsair DDR3
Sapphire RX 480 4GB Blue LED
120GB SSD (OS)
1.5TB HDD (Data)
600 Watt Power Supply
Windows 10 Pro
Blue Ray Optical Drive

Was $799
Now $699

1 available.
3/10/17 and 3/11/17 only.

Including 3 month warranty

Play all the best new games including Overwatch, Civ 6, Battlefield 1, Duex Ex: Mankind Divided and all the old classics too.