Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Favorite Free Files
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Monday, November 14, 2005
Have Fun With Flickr...
Having fun with Flickr, the photo sharing site, already...Well, be prepared to have even more. Thanks to the Flickr community and their never ending ingenuity, we have 3rd party applications that take your experience to other dimensions. I will be adding links to apps and other sites for your use and enjoyment... |
Tech Tip #3
Tip #3 is so common sense oriented its scary, but still we all hate to do it! Backup, backup, backup.. I know, it's a pain in the butt, but I assure you, the pain will be worse when you lose everything you hold precious that is stored in the computer. Your computer is a machine, machines fail for whatever reasons. Backing up is now simple to do and fairly quick. Win Xp comes with a built in backup tool or use a free one like Cobian Backup. You can backup to cd or dvd but nowadays it is best to use a large capacity external harddrive. They are reasonably priced for what they offer and can be used for more than just backing up. I do not recommend a tape backup system for home users, too expensive and limiting. Before creating a full system backup, make sure to clean out your harddrive. Use at a minimum Win Xp disk cleanup utility and defragmenter. If you are only backing up certain files or folders this is not neccessary but should be part of a regular maintenance program, say quarterly. |
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Tech Tip #2
Tech tip #2 is a very hard step for most people...But if you truly want a well oiled machine, I recommend a complete clean install of your operating system once a year. Through no fault of your own, windows inherently becomes a messy OS. As you add and delete programs, threads are left all over which eventually muck up your system and slows it down. So, back up all your pertinent information, get out that Windows cd and start the install procedure. When it asks you, click on clean install, reformat your hard drive, and let windows do its thing. Don't forget to turn on the windows firewall before connecting to the internet, download and install the patches from Microsoft, reinstall your programs and your backup files, sit back and enjoy! |
Friday, November 04, 2005
Tech Tip #1
Tech tip #1 is to help everyone to understand security and your computer. Much testing has been done on antivirus programs, adware, spyware and malware in general. The results may shock you but are understandable. Most of the malicious programs created are a nuissance but relatively unharmful. But God help you if you get a bad one, it will take your system down to an unrecoverable state. So be cautious, be prepared and by all means be up to date! Don't fall into a sense of security just because you have installed an antivirus or spyware program. YOU MUST KEEP THESE PROGRAMS UPDATED!!!! If you install them and never update the definitions you are just as unprotected as if you didn't have anything installed in the first place. Viruses and malware are created and distributed everyday hourly. Also, a good antivirus program like AVG (see free files) is free to use and update, so get it. Then there are the spyware and adware programs (see free files). Don't use just one, install all 3. It has been proven over and over that not one program will catch all malware, but you have a better chance catching most with multiple programs. So, install adaware, spybot and microsofts free antispyware programs. Set them up to automatically update and run them often. Remember, email is the number 1 way to catch these little nuisances and you will never see them coming. Don't open attachments from unknown or unsolicited sources. When you browse the internet, make sure you don't click through on popup boxes. Many times they will install bad things behind your back. Just because something looks cute and innocent doesn't mean it is. Browser hijackers are a common problem. They get deep into your system and are very difficult to get rid of. Browser Hijackers will change your homepage and other settings, install needless toolbars, you name it. Just beware of what you are doing. Bottom line is being careful does not mean you stop having fun with your computer. It means you will have more fun with a clean well running machine. |