About Stu Kushner

Stu Kushner began his career at Boeing Commercial Aircraft and then on to Hexcel and Case/Rixon where he specialized in CAD/CAM (computer design and robotics). In 1986, he started Progressive Office. The earliest years were about networking small businesses and providing IT support. But since 2008, the company has concentrated exclusively on providing office network cabling solutions.

Computing, IT Support, Dc

Remote Control Support

4 Oct 2008

IT Support, computer-remote-controlWell, I don't know how long a good thing like this will last. But I was looking around on the Internet and I was searching for an inexpensive remote control solution. For my company, Progressive Office, we frequently need to be able to remotely control a client computer. The benefits to this capability are obvious. Some problems can be resolved remotely. And because the subscription to my current remote control solution was up for renewal, I started looking around for a new solution.


I found one! I now use CrossLoop. I setup the account and now we have the ability to remotely control any computer from any computer. It is very stable, easy to use and it's FREE. The only problem I had was that I learned that it would not support my dual monitor setup. So, I had to disable the second monitor before trying to take control of a computer. Otherwise, it has worked perfectly.


ChatStat is no longer free (see article below). So, I don't know if this will last either. But I used to pay about $100 a month. So, hopefully, if they do start to charge, it will be a lot less than $100.


Progressive Office is a Computer IT Support company in Washington, DC.

IT support, computer repair

Bad Power Supply

4 Oct 2008

bad power supplyHow do you know when you have a bad power supply? Well, the symptoms are fairly basic. I had a client call me last week. He said his computer would not turn on. So, I asked him to tell me if anything came up on the monitor. He said, "No, the monitor is blank". So, I asked if he could see any lights come on the CPU and he told me that the CPU's LEDs were also dark. So, I asked him to put his ear to the power supply and tell me if he could hear the fan turning. He said it seemed quiet.


So, as a final test, I asked him to carefully look at the power supply and to tell me if the fan is spinning. He said it was not. Therefore, the power supply was bad. The next trick was in looking up the exact make and model and finding a generic replacement that would fit into the system. We did and we were able to get his computer back up and working the same day.


Call Progressive Office if you need IT Support at 202-462-4290.

IT support, computer help, DC

Stop Using Outlook NOW

23 May 2008

IT support, computer help, DCIs it me? I hate Outlook. The interface is horrible. The application is under constant attack. Using it just plain scares me. I know that if I use Outlook that I am going to be way more vulnerable to a virus attack. So, about two years ago I stopped using Outlook. I have been using Gmail. I use it to handle both my business and my personal email. So, I have my personal Gmail account and I use the same account to check my business email. Gmail let's you check unlimited POP accounts from the single Gmail account.

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IT Support, Washington DC

Free Business and Legal Documents

4 Apr 2008

Sometimes the best computer advice I can give is to develop proper procedures and to have everything documented properly. Well, I was looking for a legal document IT Support, Washington DCand I was prepared to have to go to a legal document website and pay for it if I had to. But then I came across http://www.docstoc.com and discovered a website that has hundreds (maybe thousands) of legal, professional and business documents for free.


The website describes itself as a place to find and share professional documents. There is no cost so I am sure you need to be careful because some documents need to be designed to address the peculiarities of the state you are living or working in. But it had what I was looking for and it seems like a very useful site. I also downloaded a document so that I could feel like I was contributing. So, I am posting it here and I hope that you are able to take advantage of this resource. If you do, leave a comment. I would very much like to know what you think of the site.


Progressive Office, Inc is an IT support company in Washington, DC.

Office Cabling, cable, New York City

Will VOIP Lead to Free Phone Service?

24 Mar 2008
Office Cabling, cable, New York City

I discovered a product today that is truly remarkable. You may have already heard of Skype. You may be using it. Skype enables you to make free phone calls to other users of Skype and to make low-cost phone calls to other land lines. But now there is a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone system that delivers nearly free phone service to any phone in the US and Canada.
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Data Cabling,cables

Dell GX270 Motherboards have Leaky and Broken Capacitors

8 Feb 2008

"There is a known problem with capacitors on the GX270 motherboard bulging and corroding... (Actually, this is a problem on a lot of systems... the GX270 and a few others have a more specific problem where the capacitors were overfilled)."


This came to my attention a couple of weeks ago when a client called with a PC that wouldn't boot. "It won't power on at all" she said.


The technician I sent quickly determined that the problem was the Motherboard, but why did it fail?


However we have discovered that the Nichon capacitors were not all produced outside control specifications. Rather the affected capacitors were limited to certain batches made during specific shifts during the manufacturing process. This means that not all GX270 motherboards are affected. Unfortunately, there is not specific way to determine which motherboards are affected and which are not.


Specifically the capacitors were filled with more liquid than required. After an approximate service life of 300 days and when the CPU reaches a core temperature of 64 degrees C they will begin to bulge and eventually overflow onto the motherboard causing a system crash and a "No Post" failure on boot. There is usually no data loss associated with this issue."


A quick call to Dell resolved the issue in no time at all. After I gave the person on the phone the service tag number and a description of the problem, he informed me that the Motherboard was still under an extended warranty (that ended Jan.31 2008) and they would send a replacement.


23hrs later, the board is at our office door! WOW! That was quick! Thanks Dell! I can't say that we've needed much from their tech support, but they certainly impressed us this time around.


This post was written on February 8, 2008 but more recently Dell has admitted to shipping out millions of computers with faulty capacitors on them. Even worse, they replaced many motherboards with more defective motherboards.  If you have an Optiplex GX270, I would call Dell immediately to see if it is an affected unit.

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