dcmeagle

Jim, have you checked out ISN yete? InspectionSupport.net. A lot of our guys have started using them, especially the larger multiple inspector companies. They do everything you need to run your office from automated text reminders before inspections to report uploads, cc processing, online scheduling, inspector tracking, etc.

Scott, 99% of programs on Windows write to the system registry (ironically HIP is one of the few exceptions) so you need to reinstall them to work. The main thing is moving your data and getting the USB cable to connect your old laptop drive is one way or just do it via flash drive or over the network. If you get stuck with something just let me know.

Kurt, I run Carbonite on several machines and haven't noticed this. I have almost 30 gigs backed up right now. I check it pretty often and it'll usually have 5 to 10 files left to backup so it's getting everything pretty often. I do think it shifts files around based on your internet speed though so maybe that's part of the problem. Carbonite will backup almost everything as long as you tell it to! I also use Cobian backup to send files to an offsite server and to backup to a hard drive. It's a free program that will do backups as often as you want it to. Marc, yes Carbonite can backup infected files. But, when you restore files to your computer you just need to scan them before opening them. They can't infect your machine unless you open or run them in some way. Install the virus scan before the restore, scan the files, then you should be good to go. This applies to any backup.

GIMP is great. Not quite as easy to use as Photoshop but doesn't almost all the same stuff.

PDA's are about the same price (sometimes even more) than these $399/$499 tablets now. With battery life now getting up to 10 hours and the weight down to 1.5 pounds. It's not like the old days of lugging around 7 pound, 12" tablets that cost you $2,000. The handwriting recognition alone is worth it. You're writing out entire words rather than a letter at a time and they auto correct plus you see more on the screen. Take a ride with someone local that has one, they've come a long way!

Hey Dominic, I heard they are coming out with a 10" version. Any word on when or how much? Thanks. Robert Yeah, I talked to CTLCorp (CTLCorp.com) the other day who is the main reseller (the devices are actually made by Intel). They're hoping to get them in the next 2 months but there's no official release date yet. Main upgrade is a faster processor and a 10" screen rather than 9". I'll let you guys know when I find out more. I'm guessing the price will be $499 or $549 at the most. They're obviously trying to clear the current ones out and since their market won't be changing I don't think they'll increase the price.

Get it while it lasts! The best tablet for the value in a long time is now $100 off. I've recommended and seen at least 100 of our users get these in the past few months and they've all loved them. http://shop.bjs.com/2goPC-8-9--34--Conv ... ewprod.htm

Thanks Nolan, at least we know where to find him now

[:-censore [:-censore [:-censore I better not say anything... I don't want to have too join ranters anonymous later... [:-taped] [:-taped] [:-taped] Hey, did you ever notice how UAC is almost the same as MAC except it’s like the M gets turned upside down? Maybe MAC secretly infiltrated Microsoft and helped create the UAC? Pretty clever… eh! MAC has to be behind it... you know what they say "follow the money"! Oh well I guess there is no point wondering why I need the files for my software spread all over the users computer... I will go back to try and figure out where they all need to go to make Vista and Windows 7 happy. [:-yuck] see I'm starting... [:-taped] Yeah, we've been in the same boat, resisting what Windows wants, to force all the files outside of the Program Files folder. Luckily I was able to find a way to elevate privileges to work around it for now. But I'm sure eventually we'll have to cave to MS demands. Jim, you're write. They should be brought up on charges for getting rid of clippy!

I know the Texas committee uses Go to Meeting all the time. I read over the notes a few of the attending inspectors make. Might help to show a precedent where it's being used elsewhere.

Wasn't the UAC just a swell idea?

Nice find Scott! That's not a site I knew about, I'll have to keep an eye on it. I usually get my stuff from newegg.com . I see that onsale.com still has some $299 netbooks.

Charlie, plenty of inspectors use the netbooks, but don't forget about the 9" tablet, basically a touchscreen netbook. CTLCorp.com has the CTL2go. I recommend sticking with the Windows XP version as it's cheaper. Windows 7 is nice but not necessary. For $499 it can't be beat, and it's created directly by Intel.

Turn off User Account Control under Control Panel->Users. If you still have problems right click on the program and set compatibility mode to XP and Run as Administrator. That should cover everything. I know I helped quite a few InspectVue users get going that way.

Depending on what version of Windows 7 you purchased , you can download the free virtual Windows XP that will run inside of Windows 7 at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtua ... nload.aspx . That should allow any XP program to run within it without a problem.

Check out qik.com . It install on most cell phones and creates a live feed of what your phone camera can see to qik.com. It is also saved so people can watch it later. I've used it a few times at conferences, the quality isn't too bad. You just would have to find a good way to strap it to your head I've been tempted to pick up this projector: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824219064 . I hadn't seen the 3M. Now I need to find a comparison on the two! Thanks!

Kurt, glad you're liking it Most guys are telling me it's taking about 10-14 days to get theirs, which is about how long I waited. One of the inspectors here in CA I talked to did a 5 hour, 4600 square foot house + outbuildings and still had about an hours battery left. Train the handwriting recognition. Once you've used it a few times it works great! I have little hard time with the small keyboard too so I avoid it and just write on the screen. I can get 5-6 words at a time, tap the enter button on the handwriting software and keep writing.

We've been directing inspectors to the CTL2go tablet for $499. Meant for school kids, it's got a rubber handle, is water resistant and has a very hard case. You check out the details at http://www.ctlcorp.com/v4/p-715-ctl-2go ... -home.aspx . It's a little more expensive than the netbook obviously but for a tablet $499 is the best you'll do, especially with a 9" screen. The handwriting recognition is really good too.

Home Inspector Pro runs natively on Mac, Windows & Linux. There's also a few Microsoft Word inspection programs that will run natively on the Mac as well.

Just set reader not to auto startup with your computer by clicking on Start->Run->MSCONFIG and uncheck Acrobat, Quicktime, Realplayer and a few others. That way it's not using up any resources when it's not running.

Google does it's best to sort out words in a domain name so it's really not necessary. When it comes to page names though then it's MUCH more important to get the hyphen in there as Google doesn't put the processing power into deciphering page names as much.

I'd say they hurt some as it looks like you're not keeping up with your site. There's a few programs you can run to look for dead links on your site, try: http://validator.w3.org/checklink and tell it to check recursively to a depth of 4, that should definitely hit all the pages on your site.

Well, we have tons of inspectors who are #1 on Google for their area, including our own site. The description tag without a doubt has an effect as for being shown on the search results (gets the client to click your site), but I agree it's probably not being used in their actual ranking algorithms. Same with keywords. But since the other search engines do still use some or both, it's still important to use them. Picking up one inspection a month from Yahoo still pays your hosting bill for the year! Most important things to Google in my mind: Domain Name has keyword phrase Page content has keyword phrase Inbound Links (especially from pages that have your phrase) Live Content on your site (i.e. blogs, news feeds, etc) A growing site etc.. But all the little things add up too. Many of our inspectors are teetering on #1-3. Depending on what server Google queries they could end up in a different slot. This tells me there's little separating them and the more they can do, like using ALT tags which few people do, the better!

Darren, go to yahoo and type in link:www.yourdomain.com for a good list. Google definitely still using the description tag. It's what they show on their listings unless there's a more exact phrase on the page itself or no description tag used on the page. The title tag is important as well and is used as your website title on the search engine listing. You are correct that it's technically not a meta tag, it's actually more important! While the keywords meta tag is not as influential as it used to be, it's still believe that it IS looked at. Google and the other search engines just verify now that the text in your keywords tag actually shows up on the page itself. If it doesn't, it's tossed out. Your core page content is obviously extremely important. Don't copy content from other sites unless you're rewriting it in your own words. Google doesn't want plagiarism. Alt Tags are used by Google, Yahoo & MSN which covers around 95%+ of the market so I'd say they're important. Anchor text as you pointed out is extremely important. I wrote an article on here a few months ago about it. All your forum posts should have links to your site using your main search phrase you expect clients to use (city home inspector). Don't just link your domain name directly. I gave an 8 hour SEO talk last week in Vegas and am trying to set another one up at the upcoming ASHI conference. If I can get the room for free or inexpensive like I'll give the talk for free like I did at the COA conference.

Not sure what the difference is, that's something the editor is making up. I'm guessing Meta Tags (the phrase normally used) are site wide and custom meta tags are page specific. Basically you have title, keywords, & description. Those are the most important!