A while back I was lamenting the fact that Intel vPro technology promises to end the need (at least among businesses at the moment) for all of the creative low-tech fixes we all use when our PCs crawl onto the shoulder of the Internet and expire as if they've just ran out of electrons.  I asked you for your most useful low-tech fixes and many of you responded.  We also made this video that captured the secret tricks some San Franciscans use to pump life back into their under-the-weather PCs.

I asked my buddy Dave Buchholz in Intel’s internal IT group if he had any low-tech fixes.  Dave’s title is IT Technology Evangelist.  If his title conjures up the vision of someone perched atop an equipment cabinet with a tech manual cradled in one arm and soldering iron raised high in the other, well, that’s Dave.  He’s an accomplished IT professional and something of an IT historian as well.

Dave recalls years back that there was a period when the bearings in certain hard drives were typically the first thing to go.  An audible clicking noise was the giveaway to the problem.  Dave says he’d put the ailing drives in a freezer where the bearings would contract slightly as they froze. Once back on a computer, the chilled drives would spin just long enough to offload the data.  Dave must have been working for a appliance company at the time because his fix for a gummed-up keyboard was to run it through a dishwasher.  Dave, this was a specialized IT dishwasher?

I say low-tech, but when I asked readers to document their surefire fixes for getting their failed computers running again, solutions ranged from the spiritual (“shut down and restart and pray”) to "alchemy” (interestingly from an IT pro) with some tech solutions mixed in.

In the interest of archiving the responses for businesses who may not yet have vPro or consumers interested in bettering their computer capabilities, I’ve taken a shot below at cataloging those I deem key for quick reference.  I’ve placed them under appropriate tags that will make them easy to reference when the need arises.

vPro, of course, makes it possible to diagnose and fix problems even in computers that are turned off, or have toasted operating systems or hard drives, and it’s capabilities are now reaching the small-business world with Intel IT Director and even virtualized worlds.  Nonetheless, not everyone has vPro.

For that reason, this undoubtedly will become a watershed resource.  So, it’s important that it is complete and thoroughly thought through. If you want to propose a category to those below and add any solutions from the complete list of fixes into it or suggest fixes of your own, now is the time to append them in the comments before catastrophe strikes.

My thanks along with the appreciation of those who may eventually need this resource to all of you who contributed.

PC Fixes in Absence of Intel vPro Technology

KISS

Turn it off and on

Slightly Less Simple

Ctrl+Alt+Del, then task manager and ending a whole bunch of tasks so only a few are left. If that doesn't work, restart the computer…after two minutes.

KISS Plus

Turning it off and then turning it back on again. Then hitting it really hard and see if something gets knocked loose.

Wisdom from IT Pros (Apparently from different schools, however)

Extend the life of your computer - buy a desktop KVM and instead of chucking out the PC keep it as an internet-browsing "NetTop". Also useful for long-lasting downloads. Use the KVM to flick between your "main" PC and the NetTop

Black tape. Or sometimes a good kick will do.

Confidential – Not To Be Shared with the IT Department

Defrag, registration defrag and spyware removal

Complete Emotional Breakdown

Start crying, hit the delete button 1,000 times, and if all else fails call my sister and have her boyfriend save me from my tech catastrophe

Tears - it must be the salt or maybe the computer gods taking pity on me but it seems to work

Reboot, reboot, reboot!

Oxygen Depleted Environments

Worst comes to worst, I always just take the battery out of my laptop and let it "breathe" a bit before plugging it back in and booting it up

Try blowing air into any port - battery, power cord, usb port -- sometimes it actually works

Call In the Marines

Call my dad; he's some kind of a computer engineer

Pick the Right Man

Pawning it off on my boyfriend to fix!

Man Up and Do What Feels Right!

I've become very accustom to using hibernate and sleep modes. Why bother with a full shutdown and startup. But - IT support got a little upset…stating I was reckless, the system wasn't "made to do that", and so forth. So - back to the wasted time of shutdown and power-up

When Melt-Down (Structural or Emotional) Is Imminent

Close my eyes and hope the problem goes away

Call the geek squad – ask my children

Don’t Even Mess with It, Refresh

Accelerated upgrade cycle

In IT environments where device naming standards may be coarse, or where users can freely rename their systems at will, you may experience problems managing these clients' AMT firmwares. Since, in order to maintain proper AMT functionality, the OS and AMT hostnames must match, an IT administrator or engineer would likely be interested in finding out which machines do not meet this criteria.

With that in mind, I've written a simple SQL query, that can be run against your Configuration Manager database, to determine what devices have mismatching OS and AMT hostnames. I've pasted the text below, but if you want a more nicely formatted version, please see this link at PasteBin.

/*
Author: Trevor Sullivan

Date: Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Purpose: Identify devices whose AMT hostname and OS hostname mismatch
   in the Configuration Manager database

*/

select
-- Active Directory site name
[AD_Site_Name0] as 'AD SiteName'
-- AMT hostname (in provisioning record)
, [amt].[HostName] as 'AMT HostName'
-- OS hostname (should match AMT firmware)
, [sys].[Name0] as 'OS Hostname'
-- Retrieve UserID to identify device owner
, [UserName0] as 'UserID'
-- Hardware vendor
, [cs].[Manufacturer0] as 'Vendor'
-- Device model
, [cs].[Model0] as 'Model0'

from v_AMTMachineInfo [amt]

-- Join v_R_System to retrieve AD Site Name field
join v_R_System [sys] on [sys].[ResourceID] = [amt].[MachineID]
-- Joinv_GS_Computer_System to allow us to retrieve make/model information
join v_GS_Computer_System [cs] on [sys].[ResourceID] = [cs].[ResourceID]

where
-- We only want current resource records from ConfigMgr
[sys].[Obsolete0] = 0
-- This condition determines the mismatching hostname in the v_R_System and v_AMTMachineInfo SQL views
and [sys].[Name0] <> [amt].[HostName]

Cheers,

Trevor Sullivan

Systems Engineer

You’re a small businessperson, and the office computer guy (who actually knows nothing about computers, but was selected because he successfully hooked up a game console to his TV last Christmas) tells you that two of your 10 office PCs are down with viruses or “something,” bringing a halt to a customer proposal that’s on deadline. Two others in accounting keep pausing long enough for workers to take coffee breaks while the systems mull over their keystrokes, pushing the billing process into overtime. Revenue is at a standstill.

“What are my options?” you ask. “We could maybe buy some stuff to upgrade them, and call in a computer repair service,” the computer guy shrugs. Buying new computers in the economic downturn seems a questionable call. The computers are only three or four years old and likely you could get another year or two out of them.

Nonetheless, while you’re small, these decisions aren’t just about survival and cutting back spending. They’re about remaining competitive and having an edge when the Dow Jones climbs for real. And the business doesn’t run without computers. So, what do you tell your computer guy?

OK, I’m an Intel PR guy, so you know where this is going. Nonetheless, bare with me for a bit and there might be some ROI. Rob Crooke, VP for Intel’s Business Client Group, recently tackled some of the key questions around this dilemma in conjunction with a press briefing on a new study by Techaisle. The study looks at the financial aspects of maintaining computers for SMBs.

Here’s what the Techaisle study says: The average maintenance cost for a small business on a computer that’s more than three years old is $545. On the average, that includes $326 for maintenance, $99 for those upgrades you’re considering and $120 for out-of-warranty service costs. If you bought the extended warranty, reduce the latter. If you buy a new computer, the maintenance cost drops to $126, the first-year maintenance cost from a study by Jack Gold (Techaisle doesn’t provide a first-year cost.) So, the difference is $419.

“Yeah, sure,” you say, “but I have to buy a new computer!” Yes, but let’s see how that $419 might cut the pain. PDS has Intel Core2 Duo-based desktop PCs starting at $540 and CDW offers notebooks beginning at $700. If you add Intel vPro for additional manageability and security, you could move up for $699 and $830, respectively. So, you can buy the new desktop system for as low as $121, a 15-month payback. Now, if you’re larger than small, say 50-100 employees, you can see from the chart below that the payback is less than a year, and will actually make you a $40 profit. OK, OK, I’m a PR guy, but cut me some slack. I’m not making up the numbers.

Now that’s just the hard dollars that Techaisle captured. A new PC can have other benefits – reduced downtime from viruses, improved energy efficiency and enhanced productivity to name a few. So, maybe investing a few dollars could save you money in the slightly longer run and possibly help you keep your revenue flowing.

For more information, you might want to look at the Techaisle study. For a quicker overview check out the fact sheet and white paper, or better see the media briefing with Rob Crooke, ASUSTeK and Gigabyte.

While at Symantec ManageFusion 2009, we had a chance to talk to IT executives and managers from Disney International, Fox Interactive Media, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Las Vegas Sands Corporation and McCormick Spice Company and industry analysts from IDC, Enterprise Management Associates and Ptak, Noel & Associates LLC about Intel vPro technology and industry trends.  In the video below, they discuss how PC refresh and Intel vPro technology helps minimize total cost of ownership.

To learn more about Intel's presence at Symantec ManageFusion 2009, go to: http://www.intel.com/go/managefusion/

Many at Intel have been taking smug pride at at the success that Intel vPro technology has been making in easing IT techs’ jobs.  Now, from their consoles IT pros are handling problems that used to require a trek down the hall if not a journey across town.  Even if the the OS goes south or the user has clicked the off switch and gone on vacation, they don’t even have to lean forward in their chairs to update an application or download a patch.  They just whack a few keys and the problem is no more.  But in the wake of all this efficiency, vPro has sucked all the creativity out of repairing PCs.  Before vPro, I’ll bet each of us, pros and end-users alike, had a sure-fire trick that we’d wield like a magic screwdriver every time the cursor froze or the “g” key would only produce a smiley face.  In my home office, when “No Network Found” appeared instead of Intel.com, I’d unplug the power cords from the cable modem and wireless router, count to 10 and plug them back in, and I was back to hammering out press releases.  (I have to be honest though, I didn’t invent this procedure.  It’s the cable company’s official fix.  True, you can call them.) In the end, I plugged both into the outlet controlled by the wall switch.  So now, they sync every time I come in to work.  As I became more enraged at the clever fixes that are being lost because of vPro, I polled some of my friends just to see what tricks they had, but likely would never use again.  Cameron Tabucchi had been told to put her computer in the freezer to help keep the battery charged. (She declined to confirm whether she actually does this, but the ice cream smears are a giveaway.) When Ellen Topp’s computer freezes, she religiously restarts, defrags and restarts it, again.  As if by a miracle it springs back to life. CTRL…ALT…DELETE! – repeated several times as if it were an incantation (once has been proven insufficient and correct rhythm is crucial) – always works for Amy Cook.  We need your help in collecting and archiving this wealth of creative prescriptions for patching up our computers to prevent their loss.  So, if you have a favorite fix – the wackier the more worthy of preserving – share it in this quick survey to ensure that despite vPro it follow eight-track tapes into obscurity.

A representative of Microsoft holds a discussion with an Intel manager from Digital Office Platform Division, Mike Ferron-Jones. Find more about what Intel is doing for security, manageability, and energy efficiency with vPro and how Microsoft is helping to deploy some of the vPro solutions with its software. Listen to this clip for an insight on Wake-on-LAN, Microsoft Application Virtualization, and Virtual Desktop Infrastructures. Click the link below to listen.

Listen Here: [Microsoft/Intel Podcast|http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/b/9/eb90c169-6b47-4bae-b6f1-5c0825e1542a/ESGMicrosoftIntelPodcast.mp3]

The 3rd generation of Intel vPro technology that was launched yesterday, along with the recently launched Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology, will, for the first time, enable IT to manage PCs beyond the corporate firewall even when the PC is off or the OS is unavailable. There are various use models that this new functionality enables, such as:

• Fash Call for Help

• Scheduled Remote Maintenance

• Remote Alerts

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Steve Grobman, Intel's Director of Client Business Architecture, gives an excellent overview of the new benefits that come with support outside the corporate firewall. Watch below and also see a demo of this new functionality with the Symantec Altiris Client Management Suite.

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Also, see how this new functionality is supported with the LANDesk Management Suite.

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With Intel vPro technology now out in the marketplace for more than 2 years, hear from industry analyst Peter Kastner on the impact Intel vPro technology has had in the marketplace.

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Also, hear from Symantec and LANDesk, on how their end-customers are taking advantage of Intel vPro technology, and how they will take advantage of new 2008 features.

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Symantec with Intel vPro technology:

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LANDesk with Intel vPro technology:

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Another exciting development with Intel vPro technology has been the emergence of virtualized PC models. Hear from Citrix and VirtualLogix on these new PC models.

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Citrix with Intel vPro technology:

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Demo of Citrix software with Intel vPro technology:

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VirtualLogix with Intel vPro technology:

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We also had Infineon talk about how they are using an industry-standard TPM that is now part of Intel vPro technology to store keys in hardware. Listen to their video below.

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Is having an IT Client Architecture important?

At first glance the discussion around architecture can be more of academic exercise vs. practical. It also may conjure up hours of wasted calories that have little relevance to the fires of the day. However I encourage you that the activity of IT architecture is something of great relevance and will help define your business, data, applications & technology strategy with their interdependencies. My boss and direct manager Prasad Rampalli (Vice President, Digital Enterprise Group) was one of the founding fathers of setting up Architecture practices in Intel IT and his experiences prior, during and after help shed light on why IT Architecture is critical for the success of the IT shop. Also, over the last couple of months you have seen Bob Stoddard (IT Architect) from Intel talk about what is happening in his world from and why it is important for his role in Intel IT. I also have participated, contributed and helped drive architecture in my prior roles inside Intel IT, therefore I thought it would be good to get us all together and spend a few moments talking about why IT Architecture is important.

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I would also check out our Architecture WIKI, where we are taking our Enterprise Integration Lab and Architecture activities a step further.

Bob’s blogs

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Please let us know if you have questions.

Josh H