A few months ago, I replaced my aging IBM laptop with a brand new Toshiba model. Having done a fair share of complaining about Vista after using it on another PC, I actually attempted to buy a laptop without Vista - I thought it was THAT bad! After realizing that a custom build laptop would cost me twice as many clams, I gave it up and gave into Vista. I have to admit, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I haven’t had any of the compatibility issues that I’ve heard others reporting, and if anything, Vista and the way it works to organize things has made my life easier. So yes, I’m willing to take back all of the negative press I gave Vista…but it IS a Microsoft product, so we all know there’s still room for error.

On any given day, there are a multitude of things that can go wrong with your PC. It won’t boot up, it’s slow to shut down, you get system errors, or worse - the blue screen of death. Just this Thursday at work I turned on the laptop we use for training development, and I couldn’t get it to open Excel. I couldn’t access the content on my flash drive. I rebooted it FOUR times and still couldn’t get anywhere. What’s a girl to do? At work I have an IT team to turn to, but at home or if you’re a small business without an IT department…you’re on your own - but you don’t have to be! Did you know there’s a Windows Vista Small Business Assurance and customer service team? They offer free Vista support for small business customers, so you can work through common PC issues or just find out how to make Vista work better for your needs and goals. The team is available Monday through Friday, from 10-7 Pacific time, so it’s just like having your own IT team…and they’re only a phone call away.