Cold Weather Computer Care

As the thermometer dips down, there are a few considerations for keeping your tech equipment safe.

• Don't leave your equipment in the car. The plastic can get hard and will crack easier with impact.
• Don't position your tower near a heating vent. The heat will kick on more when it's cold and heat is a natural enemy of electronics.
• Discharge static electricity before you touch your computer. The static you build up walking across the carpet is more than enough to fry your processor.
• Expect outages; inclement weather and outages go together. If it's absolutely vital you maintain your internet connection, then have a backup internet such as a cellular tether or a landline. A UPS can assist with electrical outages.
• Many tech items go on sale after the holidays so save some cash for then. ;)

Be prepared and you'll see spring flowers before you know it!

What is a Beta Version?

A beta version is a program version that is still in development and/or testing. Under most circumstances I would not recommend downloading them. The exception to this is when you have a computer that can be scrapped and easily reimaged. You don't know how your system will react to a beta version and if it will be easy to uninstall.

I only download beta versions on computers that are not the primary storage location for my data. The reason I am cautioning you is a new version for Adobe Reader has been released to besta testing. It purports to fix security holes which is a good thing, but I'm not sure it's worth installing the beta versioni of the software. I'm not a fan of trying out new software on a production system.

As with any time you do an install of sotware, it's a good idea to create a system restore point prior to downloading the software.

Your Outlook Needs to Go on a Diet!!!

It's too fat. Sorry to say that, but you got to trim your PST (personal storage file) down! Supposedly Outlook 2007 resolved the 2 GB limit for a PST file, but really it didn't. If your Outlook PST grows to 2 gb it will malfunction. You won't be able to send and receive. You could lose data. There are things that you can do now to prevent that from happening. It takes just a little effort, but you can manage your PST size so that it stays in optimal shape.

To check and see if your PST is too "fat" go to File, Folder, Properties for Inbox and click on Folder size. If it's approaching 2,000,000 kb you are heading for serious PST health issues and need to put your PST on a diet. Why put off checking the size? You can take a moment now to check your Outlook PST size. ;)

1. Delete away. Anything you really don't need delete it.
2. Archive. Archive anything over 6 months old. You can still get to the emails, but the messages are cut out of the PST reducing the size of the PST. Shave them away often. :)
3. Compress your PST once per quarter. It's kind of like defragging your PST. Also do this if you have recently archived for the first time. Your Outlook will still think it's fat and malfunction. It's like the lady who lost 100 lbs and then went shopping in the women's department. Somebody had to tell her go shopping in the misses department now!  Your PST will think it is still fat until you compress it. Go to Tools, Account Settings, Data Files, and choose your personal folders. Then click on Compact Now.

I recommend making a new archive folder every year so that your archive folders don't get too fat either. I hope that helps.

Can You Repeat That?

I hate calling customer support and reaching India, the Phillipines, or South America. Ticks me off to no end. We have lots of folks here in America who need jobs, yet companies ship our jobs overseas to profit foreign economies. What we are left with is poor customer service.

I do customer service for a living so I know a bit about what customers expect.

• Good connections. When the connection is so bad that you and the other party can't hear each other it's time to complain to the vendor that transferred you to the other side of the world. Don't stand for it.
• Good communication skills. The English level needs to be at a level that is comfortable to the customer. It really chaps my hide when I have to spell my first name. My first name is J as in Juliett, A as in Alpha, N as in November, E as in Echo, T as in Tango--Janet like Janet Jackson. 
• Speedy service. People don't want to be tossed from queue to queue with no resolution. 
• The ability to escalate to a manager. Don't tell us that there is no manager because that is total BS.
• Resolution. At the end of the day we just want our problem solved. 

If all the companies that outsourced their service abroad, pulled out and gave those jobs to Americans it would make a big impact on our economy. Write your representative and tell him/her there should be tighter regulations regarding outsourcing. 

OMG-I Can't Believe THIS Happened to ME!!

If you clicked on my Facebook post to get to this article, you are exactly the type of person that needs to read this article.

Sorry, I got you here on false pretenses, but you are causing me a lot of grief. My friends are getting infected because of what you are doing wrong on Facebook. Facebook is a dangerous place. If you are going to use Facebook you have to change your ways my friends.

Facebook streams post a lot of curious items that are hard to resist. Every time you click on "GIVE PERMISSION" you are GIVING PERMISSION. Would you give your enemy your coworkers' personal information? Would you want your enemy to infect your coworkers' computers? That's what you are doing. I've lost count of how many of you have fallen prey to this.

It's time to arm yourself. Here's how:

• NEVER EVER USE IE (internet explorer) FOR FACEBOOK. It's too risky. It's unprotected facebooking! It's 2010 almost 2011. Put on your Firefox or Chrome protection before you facebook!
• Never facebook while drinking. Your judgement is impaired and you are more likely to click on some outrageous link.
• Make sure your virus protection and malware protection is up to date and scanning regularly.
• Don't do ANYTHING new on Facebook. Wait for others to try it and mess up their computers first. I'm not talking about a new feature of an app that you have been using quite awhile on FB. I'm talking about a new app that your friends advertise that you have to try. If someone came to you on the street corner and said I've got these little blue pills you just have to try, would you? Of course not. But that is what you are doing with your computers. You are being wreckless and getting hijacked in the process.

Sorry that I have been so hard on you, but if this helps you from messing up your computer, then it has been worth it.  Good luck and happy, safe facebooking!
xoxo Janet

Don't Overstuff Outlook!

The set of folders where you store emails in Outlook, your contacts, your calendar all comprise your PST (personal storage) file. Supposedly Microsoft fixed the 2 gb limit on these with Office 2003. If you believe them that is. I don't because I see them broken. Yesterday I dealt with three broken PST files. They were overstuffed and stopped functioning. Most of the time Outlook users lose emails when their PST break. The three users I assisted yesterday were lucky and didn't lose any emails.

What can you do to prevent Outlook from breaking?

1. archive (under File and Archive)- do this monthly. Create a new archive file each year using the year as part of the archive file name so that you can find your archived emails easily.
2. delete emails- do this daily. After you have dealt with an email delete it.  After you've read a joke, forward it then delete it or simply delete it. Save photos you need to your hard drive then delete them from email.

When you archive emails they become a separate file and it reduces the size of your PST. After you archive a large amount of emails, you need to compress the PST file. Go to Tools, Account Settings, Data Files and click on Personal Folders. Click on Settings and then Compact Now. This has the same effect on a PST as it does to defrag your hard drive. Warning: compressing your PST can take a very long time (same as defrag) and your Outlook will be unavailable to you until the compression is finished.

Hope this helps.

Your DSL Modem is Not a Modem!

OK it's not your fault you call it a modem. Even providers call them modems so it's a natural mistake. Even to avoid confusion, I refer to it as your DSL modem. A modem  modulates and demodulates a digital signal to analog and then back to digital. A DSL "modem" is a digital signal that stays digital all the way. It gets a piggyback ride on your phone line giving you 12-15 mbps downloads and 1mbps uploads. Most of your activity is going to be downloading so it's acceptable.

DSL is faster than dialup and usually pretty reliable. Your bandwidth is not shared. The bandwidth for your DSL (digital subscriber line) is not shared with your neighbors. Some rural areas might not be able to get DSL, the cost is high ($20-30) and even some buildings with old wiring can't support the higher speed DSL. You can hook up your wireless to it which ticks phone companies off; they'd prefer to make more money on you. DSL requires more equipment. You need noise filters put on EACH line so that when you are using the Internet at the same time as the phone you don't hear strange noises. DSL may fall into oblivion as many folks are opting to do without landlines and just have cell phones.

Oh.. ps.. a DSL modem is really an endpoint.  They function like a bridge or router.

To see if DSL is available in your area contact your telephone company or visit http://www.dslreports.com/

Creating a Restore Point

Some of you are afraid to install programs because you are afraid of blowing up your computer- or at least of blowing up Windows. If you blow up Windows, then you have to reinstall Windows and all your applications and probably lose some files in the process.

Creating a restore point is something that is available in Windows to prevent such mishaps. Before you install your new program, make the restore point naming it "before i installed xyz program" and then you can install your program without fear.

In Windows 7: Right click on Computer>choose Properties>System Protection>System Restore.
In Vista: Ditto, except add in a consent prompt for UAC.
In XP: Programs> Accessories>System Tools>System Restore.

You can have as many restore points as you like, just be aware that they take up hard drive space. If you haven't made one yet, today's a good day for a restore point! ;) Try it; it's really very easy.

System Restore will not back up your personal files; I still recommend you do that to an external flash or hard drive, but it will save your Windows install. To restore: go back to System Restore and choose Next, Next, Next. The system restarts and you're back in business. Those of you who already crashed computers should make this a priority. If a certified techie does it, shouldn't you?

Is Your Wireless Secure?

Are you using WEP or WPA encryption? WEP: not secure. WPA: secure.   If your ISP only provides WEP wireless routers, buy your own wireless-G router. It's worth the 50$ for a feeling of security. If you don't mind spending a little more, wireless-N is the way to go!

Are you using mac address filtering? If not ask your ISP to walking you through the set up. Mac address (machine address) is a computer specific address. If you enable mac filtering, only machines with certain addresses can jump on your network.

Do you have your SSID broastcasting? (That means can you see the name of your network in "view wireless networks.")  It's not secure to broadcast you SSID. You can find it if you know the name.

Even if you set up mac address filtering and disable SSID broadcasting, you still need to make the switch to WPA. WEP crackers take less than a minute to crack a code. There are tools to find SSIDs that aren't broadcasting. The best way is to switch to WPA encryption.

Are you using the default password on the box that your internet provider gave you? Uh, don't.

If you suspect someone is stealing your wireless, download this: http://zamzom.com/. You'll find out in a jiff!

I Broke the Cardinal Rule!

Thou shalt not install two antivirus programs.

Ok, I did it on purpose. Does that make it worse? My Windows 7 computer had a non-symantec product on it. I needed a Windows7 machine to test the new antivirus that I installed on our antivirus server. It worked like a charm on our computers that had a Symantec product on it already. It uninstalled the product and installed the new antivirus without anything needing to be done by the people using the computers.  The new antivirus installed on my XP machine as expected, but the Windows 7 machine added the new Symantec product without removing my other program.

Why is having two antivirus programs bad?

It's kind of like having two adult women living together. One insists you must vacuum before you dust because the vacuuming stirs up dust. The other insists you must dust first because dusting stirs up dust. Who's right? It doesn't matter! Two antiviruses fight like women against each other and slow the computer down.

Don't break the cardinal rule-even if I did!

How Do I Clean My Computer?

Dust is the enemy of electronic equipment. Keeping a computer clean is an important task. Other than the normal things: don't eat or drink near your keyboard and don't remove the slot covers from the back there are a few things you can do for maintainence of your computer.

To get rid of dust and particles: computer vacuum. NOT a regular vacuum because it could cause electrostatic damage.

For cleaning the outside case of the monitor and tower: mild soap and water. Power OFF. Moisten the cleaning rag slightly.

Cleaning keyboards and other devices that have non-metalic contact points: deminineralized water

Cleaning metal contacts like the gold metal on interface cards: denatured isopropyl alcohol.

Cleaning monitors: monitor wipes. Don't use window cleaner that will damage your screen.

Blowing dust or food particles out of hard to reach places: canned air.

How Do I Safely Use a Free Email Account For Business?

You don't. At any point your account can go bye-bye and you have no legal recourse. All your saved documents in your email are gone. Your record of communication with your clients is gone. There is no encryption (unless you are using Gmail) so anything you send is a free-for-all ---especially over wireless! However, even with Gmail there is no guarantee that your data won't be lost. It could go bye bye tomorrow.

It's best to use email that has a guarantee. You've paid for it or your company has paid for it.  You probably have email accounts available through your internet service provider that you are not taking advantage of. I know Comcast gives 7 email accounts and Verizon gives, I believe 5.

Understanding Video Technologies

How do you know you have the right type of monitor for your computer? Not any cable will fit in any computer. The monitor has to match the connection type your computer has.

The most common is VGA. These are the blue-ended 15 pin cable connections. Most every computer has one of these and most every monitor has one of these. It's the lowest-quality and cheapest type available. You can get a flat screen LCD monitor in VGA for 100$ now! CRT's are even cheaper.

If you want to step up your viewing pleasure, you can opt for a DVI (digital video interface). There are three types:

• DVI-A A cable and device analog only connector
• DVI-D A cabble and device digital only connector
• DVI-I A cable connector that is a universal (digital OR analog)  connector

DVI cables vary in pin number but they have more than 15. :) The benefit from using DVI instead of VGA is increased resolution. Your video card must support DVI and your monitor must also support DVI. I was thinking about buying a monitor that is on sale, but I noticed it didn't support a DVI connection so I passed.

HDMI (High definition multimedia interface) is a step up from DVI because it also carries audio and is all digital! Image wise it is the same as DVI. The HDMI connector looks much different than a DVI or VGA connector. It is compatible with DVI so you can buy adapters that convert between the two types. 

• Type A has 19 pins
• Type B has 29 pins
• Type C has 19 pins for portable devices

Component Video is an analog technology, but a digital version is available in high-end hardware. It uses RCA connectors on your sound card. The three connectors are single-pin male connectors.

S-video is a 7 pin connection. The port will often be labeled with a little picture of a TV.

So how do you know which to buy? It depends on what you want to do with the monitor. If you just want to use the monitor just for your computer work and don't care about super mega great video, then a VGA is fine. Most people buy this for their home office computers. It makes sense because it's cheap.  If you are going to be hooking the monitor up with other devices such as a blue-ray player and watching movies, you have to decide if sound is important. If you need both sound and video to be super awesome, HDMI is the way to go. If you need picture to be awesome because you already have a great sound system hooked up to your computer, then DVI.  Before you buy components that will be part of a system, let your vendor know exactly what you have and what you want to do.

Or you can just buy a VGA for work! ;)

A Few More Dollars Makes a Big Difference

When you are purchasing computer hardware a few more dollars can make a big difference. Let's start with the motherboard (the big green board inside the computer to which everything is fastened). The type of motherboard that is most popular is the ATX (Advanced Technology Extended). It is used in most desktop PCs today. The newer version of this motherboard is the BTX which has much better thermal regulation. BTX is used in Gateway and Dell computers. Sure, an HP is cheaper, but is it worth a few more dollars to get a computer that won't overheat? I think so. The BTX  motherboard design puts all the big heat-producers in the line of the air flow system of the computer so it takes the heat out of your computer. Big improvement over the ATX which still amazingly dominates the market.

When you are trying to decide how much memory to get inside your computer, you have to ask how many slots are filled, how many slots are empty, how big are the memory modules you are getting, and if you want to upgrade later, do you have to take out any sticks or can you just add more memory. If you have to take out sticks and discard them, it's worth it to upgrade the memory now.

A good quality surge protector pays off in the long run! It saves your hard drive which costs a lot more than the 30$ you would pay for a Belkin surge protector. 

If buying a laptop, you need a well padded bag. Don't get the cheap end. You'll regret it when your computer gets banged up or worse yet the LCD screen cracks.

Frankly Speaking, It Might Be You.

I hate to say this, but the problem with your repeated infections might be you. If you have a reputable antivirus and adware program and aren't using Internet Explorer for your browsing, then the problem problem is your browsing habits.

Don't say, "But I don't do anything." If the computer sat there with no one touching it, it would not get infected. You are doing something to get the repeated infections.

Maybe this is what you are doing?

• Can't wait to see the latest celebrity video? If it wants to install a "plugin" and you do it without checking it out, you are at risk of getting infected.
• Using MSN as your homepage? Not a good idea. I use it just to see if I'll get clickjacked. You shouldn't though.
• I hate to mention this, but visiting porn sites is a guaranteed way to mess up your computer. Just don't do it.
• Patronizing online gambling sites? Filled with crapware! Take up chess! :)
• Too cheap to pay for music? Limewire and Kazaa are hazardous. Amazon has great deals on albums and Walmart.com has $.79 tracks.
• Are you gullible to rumors? So and so has died or whatever the latest FALSE rumor is, you just can't resist? Curiousity killed the cat and it will kill your computer too.
• Someone sent you an e-card? Do you think it would be rude not to open it? Well it's rude to send one from FUNCARDS. Fun cards aren't fun for whoever has to clean up your infection. Safe cards trump fun cards any day of the week. I published the safe e-cards in a previous article. See the list in that article or pay for e-cards.
• Need every media player in existance? Chances are you don't need them. Stick with real player and windows media player. Steer clear of the others unless you absolutely need them and thoroughly check them out.

Ok, so hopefully in the future you will be more cautious. My philosophy when browsing is be very, very scared.  It's safer. If you still want to be reckless when browsing, at least back up all your important data so when your computer does crash, you'll be covered. Hope this helps.

What is Scareware?

It's malware that scares you into installing it. They tell you that your computer may be infected and you need them to help you clean it up. They'll say things like your financial data and your personal information is at risk and they can help you clean it up.  Often, the software is totally bogus and the goal is to infect you. Sometimes it's to peddle their (lame) product. If it were such a hot product, they wouldn't have to stoop to such levels to sell software.

Often scareware products will disable your internet to frustrate you into buying their product. They change your proxy settings so that the only website you can get to is theirs so you can buy their product. How low is THAT? Pretty darn low.

Once you install the scareware, you're infected. Scareware infections can vary from relatively easy to uh oh hard to remove. I've taken care of them in less than an hour, but occasionally it renders a computer helpless and in need of a reinstall of Windows.

Best way to avoid scareware:

• Use Firefox with the adblock plus add-on.
• Research everything that pops up before you install it.
• Run your scans regularly. That way you know you are clean and won't fall for scareware.
• Be skeptical about any product you've never heard of.

Also, remember curiousity killed the cat! Kanye West wasn't in a fatal car crash. The news headlines would be filled with it. It seems celebrity deaths are a popular medium these days for malware attacks; the most popular celebrities are still with us and you would have heard about them. Strangers offering to enlighten you about Jennifer Anniston's untimely demise are cyber criminals. If someone you know sends you an attachment, generally you were expecting it or you can trust them somewhat not to mess up your computer. If someone you don't know sends you an .exe file, it probably is an attack.

How to Deal With a Multi-Globberate ISP

You're little. They make that abundantly clear. You are nothing compared to their national dominance over the ISP consumer and business market. It doesn't matter if your company is small or big, you are little compared to them.

"You just put this ticket in today." Well, yes, and we've been down all day. "Four hours is the time we have to respond."  That is half a business day! How many dollars are lost because of those four hours? Oh, that's right. You don't care.

You have to call in the big guns. Like:

•  Call your account rep or customer service and complain.
• Ask how you file a presidential complaint.
• Ask to speak to a manager
• Ask to be transferred to the technician
• Escalate your ticket online as soon as your are allowed to.
• Repeat what they say putting "You mean to tell me" in front of it.  (Learned this from Kim!)
• Don't get annoyed waiting on hold forever. Use web interfaces to put in tickets and update tickets.
• Be persistant. Call back often until your problem is resolved. Let them know you still have a problem.

Annoying Things Techs Do (and Why!)

• Ask what were you doing when the problem occured. We use the scientific method to solve problems we try to eliminate all the possiblities to get to the root of the problem.
• Refuse to give you a short password. They are too easy to hack. It's harder if they are at least eight characters long and it's even harder to crack if you throw in upper and lower case and numbers with it. A good tech will never give you a password with less than 6 characters and I always give 8 with a combination of numbers and letters.
• Scold you for emailing a password. If you are sending your emails over a wireless router especially you are taking a big risk. We don't want your passwords intercepted. Your life will start to get ugly if they are! Emailing passwords is dangerous. Don't ever do it.
• Ask you to verify your home address and phone number. If I don't know your voice and you call me and ask to change your password, I'm going to ask for this to verify you are who you say you are. Simple as that. If you don't want to do this, then have your manager call and transfer me to you.
• Leave if you're on the phone. Often we have other people waiting after you. We have to make good use of our time.
• Ask what you have done already to try to resolve the problem. This is not asked to be annoying. We just don't want to repeat what you've done. It wastes your time and ours.
• Repeat things. I know I am way guilty of this, but sometimes it takes several times before something seems to "sink in."
• Remind you to back up your data. Data recovery prices are four figures. Few people can afford that kind of labor.  If you are really lazy about backing up, pay for Carbonite. They'll do it for you!

About Static Electricity- Shocking, But True

Static electricity (Technical term--triboelectrification)  is not electricity that is static; it's out of control electricity!

Microprocessor chips can fry at 10-30 Volts. That's incredibly low voltage.
Humans don't even feel a static electricity charge til about 1500 Volts, but often they are over 10000 volts.

How you can prevent frying your chips:

• Use a humidifier during winter months.
• Don't touch your tower first after dragging your feet across the computer (especially first thing in the morning going to check your email with your mug of coffee!)
• Always store spare parts in static-free containers or bags.
• Try to put your computer up off the floor a little so you don't have to vacuum around it.
• Never use a swifter to get the dust inside your computer; instead use canned air.

Caution: Never open the case of a monitor; only a trained electrician should do that.

10 Myths People Believe About Computers.

1. Hardware is becoming obsolete the minute you take it home. Actually, it's before you take it home. Processor generations are in development two years before they are released. Whatever you bring home is on the way out. Still you have to buy a computer. 
2. If I have virus and spyware protection I won't get infected. They don't prevent infection. They just detect and remove it. Browsing habits and email habits are what get you infected. Your attitude towards those need to be adjusted to not get infected.
3. If I have a power strip I am protected against electrical surges. Power strips don't provide protection against surges; only surge protectors with guaranteed dollar amounts do.
4. If I unplug all my electrical equipment during a lightning storm I am safe. Electricity can still get in thru the cable and zap everything.
5. I need an internet security suite.  Most of them are bloatware. They slow down your computer too much, cost too much, and block things you need.
6. I need Microsoft Office. Not everyone needs it. Try to live without it first: http://www.openoffice.org/
7. It's ok to clean my LCD with glass cleaner. Pay for the wipes. Glass cleaner will ruin it.
8. My computer should last more than 6 years. EOL=end of life. After 6 years, replace it; it's at EOL.
9. Inkjet printers are cheaper than laser printers. Sure the initial cost of an inkjet printer is less, but you have to look at total cost of operation. Inkjet cartridges dry out and they are expensive. Evaluate your needs and printing habits before you buy a printer.
10. I don't need to do anything to the hardware unless it fails. You need to keep the power supply fan free of dust.  The whole computer needs to be kept clean.

Do You Know What a CMOS Battery is?

Here's an interesting one. All of a user's certificates were expired. She couldn't get into any SSL sites, but could get into sites that were not needing SSL certificates. She mentioned she changed the battery and time for her computer was off. The year and date were off too.

What happened was when she lost power for the system by taking the laptop battery out, her CMOS  also lost its settings because her CMOS bettery was dead and set her time and date was set back to the original date for the system. CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) battery give power to the system holding the date and system settings when the computer is powered off.  How long a CMOS battery lasts, varies. It depends on how long the motherboard has been lying around before it is placed in a system.

What can you do to prevent this problem? Nothing. When you start to notice your time and date aren't holding, replace the battery. It isn't green to proactively change the battery.  When it dies, take the battery out and take it to a drug store, electronics store, or department store so that you get the right battery. Most computers use a standard 2032 type battery.

About Wet Keyboards

First step is to disconnect from the system!

Keyboards that get wet (even soaked) should be shaken to remove as much water as possible. Then stand the keyboard on it's end for 2 days at least to be sure it completely dries out. Do NOT USE any heat source to dry it out (ie blowdryer, heater, etc). After two days, connect it to your system to see if it is still working.

If the licquid was sugary, clean as much as possible with cotton swabs dipped in 50/50 alcohol/distilled water.

If the wet keyboard is on a laptop, remove the battery and unplug. Take a q-tip around the edges of the keys (or the edge of a shamwow) to absorb the standing licquid. Then, take it to a professional right away.

Data Lost... What Can I Do Now?

800,000 data-sensitive devices—including USB drives, hard drives, laptops and mobile devices are lost or stolen each year. (according to Ponemon research institute.)

What do you do if yours is lost/stolen?

• change all passwords
• monitor all accounts
• consider deleting email accounts  and opening new ones
• review all information posted on social networking sites to see if it can be combined with whatever was on your device to steal your identity.

What do you do before your information is lost/stolen:

• password protect all laptops and disable the guest account.
• use encryption on flash drives (some flash drives come with security programs... use them!)
• use encrypted email and don't save the password to your account
• consider leaving your laptop at home on vacation. Take a break! If you HAVE to check email, use a net cafe.
• attach your flash drive to something you will not forget (such as keys or purse).
• if you have to leave electronic equipment in the car, lock it in the trunk rather than in the cabin of the vehicle.
• never place a list of all your passwords on your flash drive.

Be paranoid. Be thinking "What if I lost this?" Place sensitive material in smart places-like a hard drive that never leaves your house.

Don't Print PDF's to an HP LJ 1020

This issue has been around quite awhile. You can't print PDF's to a LJ 1020. You'll hose your print spooler (the Windows program that is responsible for printing). It's a documented problem. It's so well known that Microsoft has a fix for it. Microsoft isn't the one who should be releasing the fix though. HP knew it was a problem so they should have fixed their driver program. Everyone prints  PDFs. It's like a big part of what people print.

Does HP feel so secure in their printer monopoly that they can not issue a needed fix? When you are purchasing a printer, look at all the options. Just because HP is the cheapest option does not mean it's the best. You have to look at customer service and print quality. Look at price per page and how much toner is going to cost.

Just don't print pdfs to a lj1020. If you have one, put a no PDF sign on it to remind yourself never to print pdfs to it.

Don't Ignore Freezing

Freezing up is a sign that a computer has problems.

• Scan for viruses and adware. It could be infected. Make sure you update definitions first before you run scans.
• Check the amount of free space on your hard drive. An overstuffed C drive can cause GPF's (general protection faults). Run CCleaner to remove a bunch of trash you don't need from your computer.
• Clean up your registry with a TRUSTED registry cleaner if you have installed and uninstalled lots of programs. http://www.registry-clean-up.net/ This one is easy and reputable, but it's not free.
• Make sure all your files are backed up in case your hard drive crashes.

Archived Sent Mail is Important Too!

Everyone always thinks to archive their inboxes and contacts, but what about archiving your sent mail? You can specify certain Outlook folders to archive to a specific file name. Choose a name that includes the time period: for example Aug2Dec2010sent.pst is six months of sent mail in 2010 August through December.  Save the folder in more than one place in case your computer crashes. That way when your client comes back to you and says that you promised them something in an email, you can find the email and say definitively that you didn't with an email!

A second backup is extra insurance you'll always be able to find the item. I suggest one local copy: a flash drive, second hard drive or CD and one online copy: Google Docs, Dropboks, etc.

Why Are Laptop Batteries So Expensive?

Most laptop batteries are made from lithium. Scientists have to locate a source of lithium. There is a high source of lithium in salt water that is close to a source of volcanic activity. Once they find such a spot, the water is put in salt pools for the sun to evaporate the water. When it gets to a thick brine. Then it is sent to a processing plant until it's made into powder form.

That's not the end. It's mixed with other substance and rolled into sheets. The sheets are rolled up into a battery Then it's charged. Alkaline batteries can do this only once, but lithium has the property of being able to be recharged many times. That is why they are using it for car batteries now.

So you see the technology is complicated and it takes a lot of scientists a long time to come up with that 100$ battery. So, next time, don't complain as much when you shell out that benjamin for your laptop.

What E-Mail Attachments Shouldn't I Open?

• any attachment from a complete stranger. If you haven't advertised for a secretary, and you get a resume from someone, think twice. If it's a legitimate solicitation for work, they won't mind if you email them back requesting that they copy and paste their resume into the body of their email message.
• any attachment that ends in .bat .com .exe .hlp .pif or .scr (None of these should be emailed).
• any attachment from a suspicious email address yourwebhelper@yahoo.com definitely would fall into that category! 
• an unsolicited email from your bank (especially if you haven't provided them with your email information). Legitimate emails from banks instruct you to log into your account to do something. They don't send email attachments.
• any attachment from a friend or coworker who is know to have virus problems.  Especially if they are sending it through a mail system that doesn't scan for viruses. 

Hope this helps you stay virus free!

Why Do Tech Always Ask If You Have Rebooted Your Computer?

They are not playing games with you when they ask this. Don't lie and say you have if you haven't because the tech will assume you are telling the truth and end up wasting your time. Rebooting clears the RAM and clears the temporary file. It stops the writing process (of the temp file). It gives the computer a chance to try again.

Rebooting your computer is always a first step in solving tech problems. It's not magic, it's just science. Cleared RAM is fresh RAM and a chance to try what you were wanting to do again.

Solving computer problems is basically the scientific method. We ask so many questions to eliminate all the possibilities and what's left are possible causes. When we eliminate all but one, then we have a winner!

Chip Creep is Creepy.

The temperature inside your computer is above 100 degrees. Computers hate heat. Permanent damage can occur to components at 85 degrees F. When your computer heats up and cools down several hundreds of times, a phenomenon known as chip creep can occur. The chips start to creep out of their socket.  This can happen to RAM chips, ICs and on expansion cards. If you suspect chip creep is making your system flakey, simply press down on the chips to reseat them. (Make sure the power is off and you have grounded yourself first!)

To minimize the chances of chip creep, never leave your computer in your car. Never leave the blank slots off the back of your computer. Keep your computer and power supply fan dusted out with canned air.

Why is Dust BAD for Computers?

Dust is bad for your computer for two reasons:

1. Dust carries an electrical charge. Although it's a small charge, a buildup of dust means a buildup of electric. It takes only a small charge to destroy computers. You know when you walk across the carpet and then shock someone? That's too much for the computer! Buh bye Mr. CPU!
2. Dust acts as an insulator. That means it is keeping HEAT which is the enemy of computers in.

Never use a regular vacuum inside your computer! You can buy a specialized computer vacuum, but even I don't trust them too much. I used canned air. Don't use swifters! Again, that's an electrical hazard.  Never leave the slots or cover off the back of your computer because that draws dust in and doesn't allow the natural cooling system of the computer to work at top efficiency.

Fishing is Good, Phishing is Bad.

I remember when I was a young girl sitting on the banks of Widewaters (the Erie Canal) with my "Nana" and "Ma". I had a bamboo fishing pole, a red bobber, and home-made "sinkers." I never touched the bait or the sunfish or catfish I caught, but I learned how to sit quietly until I caught something.

Fishing takes time, but with the right bait and a little patience, you have dinner! Fishing is good. Phishing (pronounced the same way as fishing)is not so good. It works the same way. The phisher throws out his line ("This is your bank and we need you to verify some information on your account, please enter your user name and password NOW.") and hopes to get a bite. If you bite, he catches you! At the point where they are asking you for your password, alarms should go off. Maybe they SOUND like they are trying to help you, but they are no better than a masked bankrobber!

Banks never send emails regarding passwords. They send you messages through the web page or they disable your web access forcing you to phone them and verify your identity.

If you get a link in an email for your bank, trust me, it's not your bank site. It may look like it, but that is because phishers are so good at that even tech-savy people can be deceived.

I received an email from "Wells Fargo Home Mortgage." I have a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. However, at no time did I provide Wells Fargo with a personal email address. I wanted to reply, but if I did they would know they reached a valid email address so I deleted without opening it.

That brings me to my tip for the day. Have a money email address. Save this special email address for things like doing taxes, paying bills, shopping online, and any other financial transactions you may have online. Don't give this email address out to your friends. Don't register this email anywhere. Just make it topsecret to you. Oh, and don't make it a hotmail or yahoo email address. Make it a safer account like verizon or comcast or gmail. Have another email address for dangerous sites and public lists. Make a third email address for all your other correspondence needs.

Be the phish that got away! Be safe!

Example of An Email Abuse Report (Why Your Contact List Should Stay Updated)

I received this email from our email vendor:

Attention: Email/Cloud Account Administrator


A mailbox on your account has been reported as sending unwanted emails. These reports come to us from various internet service providers when the recipients physically mark an email sent by a Email/Cloud user as spam.

Attached you will find detailed information regarding each reported instance of abuse including the time stamp, subject, and recipient. In some cases an internet service provider may choose to withhold or redact recipient information for privacy purposes however please note that each line below is an individual report of abuse. Those specifically listed as UnknownRecipient are most likely AOL recipients as they have the strictest privacy policy regarding their user data.

Further complaints from the same recipients or continued complaints in general about mail sent by your user may result in disabling of the sending mailbox. In the case of multiple notices or extreme levels of abuse, termination of email hosting service for the entire sending domain may occur in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy and your Rackspace product Terms of Service.

Please regard this notice as an opt-out or unsubscribe request. To remedy this issue, please inform your user that the recipients listed do not want to receive future emails. If your user is not sending these messages, their account is likely compromised and you should encourage them to choose stronger passwords. If your user forwards their mail to another provider and marks it as spam there, please tell them that this flags our servers as the spammers.

If you have any questions at all regarding this notice or if you would like to receive future notifications at a different email address, please reply to this email or contact your product support through normal channels.

I guess they told me! Well, I figured straight from the horse's mouth was the best way to make a point. Keeping your contact list updated with people who want to receive your emails is something that can't be put off.  Make sure your customers know how to opt out of your emails so I don't get one of these about you! Also, notice they suggested the use of strong passwords (combinations of numbers and letters with a capital letter for good measure).

What to Do About the Naked Girl Facebook Friend Requests

Clicking Ignore isn't enough. If you don't report them, they'll keep sending requests to others. To report a person who has a pornographic profile photo, click on their name to bring up their profile. Scroll all the way down the page and in the lower left hand corner of the screen is a Report link as shown to the right. Click on Report/Block. You want to Block as well as Report. Drop down to the reason "pornography" and choose location place: profile picture.

Why Can't People Read My Microsoft Office 2007 (or 2010) Documents?

If they are running Office 2003 or earlier, then you need to "dummy down" your Office documents. You do this when you save them. Go to File, Save As, and drop down to the 97-2003 document type. This saves your documents in a format that others can read from a previous version of Microsoft Office.

If your email recipient says to you that they have this problem alot, you might suggest that they download the Office compatibility pack which allows older versions to read newer files. I wouldn't suggest it though unless they mention it's a frequent problem, because it's a big download. 37 mb. Download it from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

Taking Care of Optical Discs

• Don't use a ball point pen to write on an optical disc. The thin layer of metal lies beneath a small amount of plastic and a ball-point pen can go through that layer easily. Instead, use a felt-tip marker.
• Always store discs in the case to avoid scratching
• Never use a post-it note as a label (yep, seen this!); someone might forget to take it off and ruin your optical drive (yep, they did)
• Store discs vertically out of the sun or extreme heat (like in a car)
• Always handle discs by the center hole and outside edges
• Clean with a slightly damp (water or cd cleaner) cloth wiping outwards, not circular so you don't scratch the disc with the debris
• Remove paper inserts from inside the case for long-term storage; they absorb humidity
• Use only room temperature discs; discs that have been exposed to temperature extremes should set for awhile until they come to room temperature.

People Who Want Their Emails to be Received

• Don't use Outlook as their email editor
• Don't use social networking badges
• Don't embed graphics into their signature
• Don't use a background graphic
• Use the KISS (Keep it simple stupid) principle
• Don't overuse mass-mailing
• Don't abuse customer relationships by sending irrelevant emails

A Word About Paper

Most people don't even think about paper-except for marketing departments. The paper just magically comes out of the printer and is put in there by the paper gods. Knowing what paper you have is important. Having the wrong paper selected could possibly damage your printer or give you a crappy-looking finished product.

When I was in Egypt I saw a fascinating demonstration of how the ancient Egyptians made paper. They wove the water-soaked papyrus strands into a mat and then put them in a press. The finished produt is rough by our standards, but rather nice considered it's just a bunch of leaves. Modern paper was made from cotton, but today it's made from a combination of cotton and wood pulp. Paper is sold by weight; the most come is 20 lb. bond paper and an 8.5 x 11" ream will weigh in at five pounds.

If you buy paper that is too thin for your printer or for your printer settings; if you buy it too thick, you can jam or possibly damage feed mechanisms. It's important not to store paper for too long or in a place with excessive humidity. This can damage the paper even though your eye can not see the damage. The printer will know and not like it.

For best quality printing, use quality paper. For photograph printing, buy the recommended photo paper for that model printer.  It will be more expensive, but it will be more likely to produce lab-quality results and your treasured memories deserve it. Even with the best-quality paper, you can spoil your results if you are using a cartridge that you refilled yourself. All inks are not the same and probably the ink you refilled with is thinner than the ink that came with the cartridge originally. Also, refilling means the printhead doesn't get replaced so you can suffer from poor print quality from that. Refilling toner is also not a good idea. If you are suffering from poor laser printing quality, it may be the toner cartridge is a recycled or refilled one. The photosensitive drum is housed in the toner cartridge in some models; if it's refilled, then the drum doesn't get replaced when it needs to be. If you are unsure about this, ask your printer vendor if that's the case.  It's better to be green by printing only what you really need and don't print unecessary things like emails. Recycle your toner cartridges, (but just don't buy recycled ones).

When printing labels (a paper product), if you see that a label is starting to peel, discard the whole sheet, the others may peel off inside the printer and jam it.

What's the Difference Between CDs, DVDs, HD DVD and Blu-Ray Discs?

All four are considered optical drives and not magnetic like hard drives. The data is read on CDs and DVDs by shining a laser onto its reflective coating. The wavelength on a DVD is shorter so it can hold more information than a CD. Also, on a DVD they can put two layers of media increasing the storage capacity.

SS= Single Sided SL=Single Layer DL=Double Layer

Disc Format/Capacity
CD-SS 650 MB, 700 MB (the most common), 800 MB, 900 MB
DVD-R/RW SS, SL 4.71 GB
DVD+R/RW SS, SL 4.70 GB
DVD-R, DVD+R, DS, SL  9.4 GB
DVD-R SS, DL 8.54 GB
DVD+R SS, DL 8.55 GB
DVD+R DS, DL 17.1 GB

HD DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs represent a new technology which uses a blue-violet laser beam to read the data which is why the hardware is not compatible. The wave length is shorter still so more information can be stored on the disk

Blu-Ray SS SL  25 GB
HD DVD's 15 GB made Blu-Ray the winner. Toshiba (HD DVD's biggest fan) gave up its push for this media last year.

If you are thinking about buying movies or optical hardware, just be aware that DVD and HD DVD will die out and Blu-Ray will emerge the winner unless some new kid on the block comes along and wants to duke it out with them.

What Type of Printer Should I Buy?

It depends on:

• what type of documents you want to print
• how much you want to spend and when you want to spend it
• what other features you need from the machine

If the only thing I printed in color was photos and the rest of the time I was printing legal documents, I would buy two printers: photo printer (which they are almost giving away these days) and a laser printer. Don't let the term LaserJet fool you when you are buying a printer. The term LaserJet is used for laser printers usually, and not inkjets. The way to distinguish the difference is by the ink they use: toner cartridges for laser printers and ink cartridges for inkjet printers.

I'm not a real fan of inkjet printers: I have three new ones in the boxes at home. The cartridges don't last long in an inkjet printer and they are very pricey for a small amount of ink. They dry out unless you take them out and put them in a sealed bag.

Sometimes you need extra functions to your printer and need an all in one printer. If you need a scanner, copier, fax, and printer all in one you'll be buying an inkjet. If you only print occasionally and just need a simple, near laser quality printer you'll probably be best off with an inkjet printer.

If you don't want to take your photos to a lab to be printed professionally, then you need a photo inkjet printer.

If you have a large volume of material that needs to be printed, or if you need high-speed printing you'll be buying a laser printer.

Things that people don't usually think about when buying a printer:

• cost per page printed. Find this out.
• toner/ink cartridge price. It makes a big difference when you are talking about TCO (total cost of operation.
• longevity of the availability of toner/ink cartridges for the model that you are purchasing. Look at the manufacturer and find out how long they tend to support their product.

Why haven't I mentioned bubble jet printers? Because they are inkjet printers. The only difference is the technology of how the ink is released onto the paper. Epson has a trademark way which produces a better quality print than other manufacturers. Keep that in mind if you are leaning towards inkjet. If you do buy an inkjet, please be aware that the initial "ink cartridges" that come with the printer are not full cartridges; they are like trial cartridges.

Some printers nowadays are being manufactured with recycled plastic. Consider that in your purchase too! Emails were never intended to be printed; please be green when you print.

Hope this helps you buy the right printer for your needs!

Which is a Better Value for My Dollar? Laptop or Desktop

With the economy being so bad these days, we have to have this talk. If you are talking just about just money, then you always get more bang for your buck with a desktop. With the rise of smart phones, more and more folks are opting for a desktop instead of a laptop - especially those folks who are not traveling a lot.

Here's why desktops are a better value for your dollar:

• Laptops sustain damage due to being dropped and left in cars.
• At 10,000 hours laptop backlights tend to go out. At 40 hours/week that is less than five years.(Which is past the time to replace a laptop anyways, but lots of folks like to hang onto their laptops way past replacement time.) At that point you have to hook your laptop to an external monitor or pay someone 200$ to replace it.
• Laptops are stolen and forgotten in public places.
• The parts are cheaper in desktops and the labor to install them is cheaper. Electronic parts always give and the components are cheaper in a desktop. Also, they are not proprietary usually except in a few models of PCs. (Of course, Apples are proprietary.The technology to make vary small parts in a laptop is pricier. Most parts can be replaced under 100$ in a desktop, but few can be replaced for under 100$ in a laptop. 

So you can see that desktops are a better value. My company president made the transition to a desktop. Technology professionals respect that decision as a wise business decision, but a desktop isn't for everyone. People on the go may need a laptop because their office changes day to day. 

Why You Should Ditch AOL

• AOL is suffering serious staffing problems. It's firing people and hiring new people in an effort to save the company. It won't work. It's going to die sooner rather than later. If you have your life and your business tied up in AOL, you will eventually have to get it out of AOL when AOL goes under. We, as a society, don't need "online service" anymore. People pick and choose what they need mostly from free sources. So AOL is dead conceptually. It's brain-dead waiting for someone to pull the plug on the life support.
• AOL program slows your computer down. Click on Control ALT and DELETE at the same time. Choose Task Manager and then Processes. Sort by Size. You'll see what an oinker the AOL program really is. That alone should make you ditch AOL.
• AOL makes people think you don't know anything about computers. Everyone knows that AOL trashes your hard drive and is wondering why you would do that to your computer which you care about.
• AOL is overpriced. For what you pay for dialup you can get a simple high-speed plan. If you are bringing your own high-speed access to AOL, you are just throwing your money to the wind. You can get the same functions you have in AOL elsewhere on the net for free.

Sharing Your Files at Work Safely

There are many ways to share your files at work:

• flash drives - safe, but inconvenient to be passing the flash drive back and forth.
• CD's - ditto. Plus, unless they are rewriteable, it's not green.
• shared external drives - for example, an external USB drive. It's a good solution if the drive comes with software that secures permissions for the drive or if there isn't anything stored on the drive that can't be seen by the whole company.
• peer-to-peer networking - setting up shared folders. I never ever recommend this in a business environment. At home, it's ok, but in business it's simply not safe. It's easy for prying eyes to get into the files. Also, the computer where the files are store cannot be turned off because the connection is easily broken. If the computer storing the files gets infected, other computers connecting to it risk infection. If the hard drive crashes on the computer where the files are stored, the files for everyone may be lost. If the hard drive of the sharing computer doesn't have a lot of space, it will reduce performance on the sharing computer slowing it down. You have to check that the computer has room for other people's files on it.
• domain fileshares - this is the most secure. The setup takes some effort to set up groups and assign permissions, but it's the safest. It requires the expense of a server operating system and server hardware.
• web office spaces- Microsoft live space, Google Docs, or a shared DropBox account. This is a free and safe option for filesharing.

When sharing files at work make sure you runs scans on the flash drives or CD's prior to opening files on them. You don't know how cautious the person sharing files is about their virus protection.

My Favorite Microphone

Blue Microphones Snowflake USB Microphone I love this microphone. It's portable, it's easy to use, and the quality is fantastic. You can hear things all the way across the room with it. It folds up into a little case to protect it when you are travel. It's USB so you don't have to worry about any special connections.  If you are wanting to do any type of recording, you'll be happy with the quality.

Free Program to Password Protect Your Flash Drive

Take a look at the stuff on your flash drive. Is it personal? Can it be used against you for identity theft? Probably. Is it password protected? Probably Not. Are you going to lose it? Probably. Are you going to do anything about it now? Probably Not.

Flash drives are NOT floppy disks. You can put a lot of personal information on one flash drive. Enough to hurt you if it's lost.

You can download a free utility to put a password on your flash drive. That's better than doing nothing.

And that's what it costs. Nothing. Now you have no excuse to have an unprotected flash drive. Cryptainer LE is available from here:

http://www.cypherix.co.uk/cryptainer_le_download_center.htm
Cryptainer LE even works on desktops and laptops.

It's drag and drop easy. It never expires. It's part of a suite of security products you may want to check out. Visit the company's home page here:
http://www.cypherix.co.uk/index.htm

How to Get Your Email Blacklisted

Do all these bad things and you will certainly get your email blacklisted.
Ignore adware updates and scans. Zombies are infected computers that serve as spammer email servers.

1. Your email server allows relaying of email. Your email provider can tell you if they do or not. Most personal accounts allow relaying and business accounts generally don't. Send mass emails from Yahoo and Hotmail.
2. Don't allow opt-ins. Add your customers to a mailing list without their permission and send them emails frequently. They'll mark you as spam and you'll be blacklisted.
3. Don't inform users of how they can opt out of your mailing list.
4. Send information that is irrelevant to the customer. If they have already purchased from you, perhaps they don't wish to remain on your list. People who want to get blacklisted don't ask the customer if they want to stay on.
5. Forward lots of jokes, inspirational stories, or pictures to anyone and everyone on your list. Most people don't realize that if an email is marked as spam, it marks the sender (you) as a spammer.
6. Don't keep your email list updated. Never remove invalid email addressses or update them. Just add and add and add so you get lots of contacts.

Well hope this helps get you blacklisted! No, just kidding, I hope the things that get you blacklisted helps keep you whitelisted. Good luck with your emails!

Here Phishy Phishy

A phish is an attempt to learn personal information about you via email.  Here's an example of one:

An HTK4S virus has been detected in the Company Name Webmail server,and all Company Name  webmail accounts need to be upgraded immediatly to prevent damage to the webmail system.


You are therefor required to provide your account identities listed below to enable us verify and perform maintainance in your account with the new HTK4S anti-virus/anti-Spam version 2010.

failure to provide your valid information, your account will be suspended temporarily from our services.

Full Name:

Email Address:

Date of Birth:

NetID\HawkID:

Password:

Phone Number:

Copyright(c)  Company Name Webmail 2010 All Rights Reserved.


Did you notice all the spelling errors??????

Definitely a phish! I don't make spelling errors! (At least that we are aware of! lol)

Email providers do not ask you to send your date of birth!!!!!
And technology professionals NEVER ask for your password to be emailed to them!!!!!!!! Never ever!!!
Never reply to a phish! Simply delete it.

If You Find Yourself Needing to Use a Cyber Cafe

This is a popular month for vacations. Vacations mean travel and sometimes that travel includes waiting time in an airport or several days in a city that is filled with cyber cafes. I'm on my fourth (filled) passport so I've used cyber cafes alot.

Here's what you should look for in a cyber cafe:

• Privacy walls: you don't need the guy behind you spying on your business. Be on the alert for someone observing you.
• Nothing in back of you that has the possibility of hiding a camera in it.
• Some type of software that cleans the system completely when you log out. "Goback" is a popular one. You can see what I mean by visiting a public library. After you use the computer, the hard drive is wiped and restored to its original condition when you log out.
• Printers should be behind the checkout desk and not in a public location where anyone can take your documents. 

You should also be aware that cafe administrators have the ability to view the contents of your screen without your knowlege. Keep that in the back of your mind.

Trick That is Used Commonly to Infect Your Computer

One trick that is used by virus bad guy programmers is asking you to download Adobe flash player updates to see a video. Then it redirects you to their site to download their virus. This is especially common in Facebook. I've only been on Facebook three months and aleady seen this lots of times!

Here's how you foil their evil plots: update often and regularly from the company website. For Adobe updates go to http://www.adobe.com/, for Microsoft updates, update.Microsoft.com, and for other updates do your homework. If you don't have time to research it, email me because I am always interested in the lastest exploits going on.

If you are fully updated with Adobe flash player, and it says update, you'll know that it's an exploit going on and you fall victim to the ill intentions of the rogue.

Stay safe and learn to say no alot.

32 or 64 Bit?

Most people have heard of 32 bit vs. 64 bit windows, but don't exactly know what it means. They know it's faster, but don't know why.

Imagine this scenario: you are at your company picnic and it starts pouring rain. The weather guy says it's not going to stop any time soon. The location needs to be changed ASAP or people will start to complain about being out in the rain. The party director, Anne, gets up and says "We're moving the location!"  Anne had the choice to rent two buses to take people to the new location - 32-seat buses and 64-seat buses. Anne, being a smart girl, opted for the 64-seat buses. All 128 employees were transported to the new location at one time. If Anne had opted for the 32-seat buses, the second load of employees would have been drenched and unhappy with Anne.

Computers carry bits of information called, coincidentally, bits. They are either a 1 for on or 0 for off. If you send the information 64 bits at a time you are sending it twice as fast as 32 bit systems do. Sounds like a no brainer, doesn't it? Well, not necessarily so. You have to make sure every piece of software you need is available in 64 bit- all your drivers and all your programs.

Talk to you in a bit! Not really!

What is Wireless-N?

If you are looking to replace your four-year-old laptop computer, you have been looking at the computer ads and  have found there is so much is new! The wireless component is one of those new things. Wireless N ?? Is it worth the extra money? You bet it is. Imagine driving to work on a single-lane highway. It frustrates you to no end. One night, it magically transforms overnight to multiple lanes and suddenly the traffic seems so light.

Wireless N is the replacement for all previous Wireless technologies. It is compatible with the other technologies so if you buy a laptop with Wireless-N you won't have to worry about picking up  wireless at Starbucks when you drink your coffee in the morning.

Wireless-N can perform up to five times faster than Wireless-G and can double your range of coverage. It's worth picking up a Wireless-N router if you live in a big house and have some range problems.  It still has WEP and WPA security available as well as MAC address filtering.

Vrooom, Vrooom Wireless-N!!!!!

How to Prepare Your Equipment for Extra Hot Days

• Don't leave any tech equipment in the cars even for short periods of time. The temperature can rise very high in a matter of minutes.
• Make sure that power supply fans are not clogged with dust. Canned air will assist with the cleaning of power supply fans.
• Do not have excess clutter around the back of your computer. It needs to be well ventilated.
• If the equipment feels extra hot (almost burning hot) power it off and leave it off until it's cooled.
• Be prepared for power cuts. If your power cuts, unplug your equipment. When the power comes back on it may come on and off several times and could ruin your hard drive or big screen tv. Disregard if your equipment is plugged into a UPS unit.
• Keep an eye on the thermometer if you don't have AC. If your room temperature goes above 90 degrees consider leaving your equipment off or at least not on for extended periods. Overheating causes permanent damage.
• Make sure all your files are backed up in case the hot day fries your equipment!

Remember: heat is the ENEMY of electronics!

For a limited time--Free Backup Software.

Maybe I nag too much about backing up your files, but when a hard drive crashes, your work is affected if you do not have backups of your files. Your files are your sweat and labor and you depend on them. Now back them up for free.

While Bvckup backup software is in beta testing, it is available to the general public for free. After that, it's $19.95 for a single-user license. Bvckup works on Windows XP and newer operating systems, but not mac or linux.

Bvckup is lightweight and easy to use. It copies files and file attributes to another hard drive or device and has many advanced functionalities. Download Bvckup from http://www.bvckup.com/

Keep Your Tech Gear Cool!!

The mercury is rising and folks are out to have fun; pick me up on your way! I want to go too! But first I have to put on my naggy Tech Gal hat and remind you not to leave your tech gear in the car. If it doesn't get stolen, it will be destroyed by high temps. Even on cool days, inside car temperatures can spike too high for computer components. On hot June days, it is a big no-no to leave your laptop, camera, or cell phone in the car because the inside temp of your car can reach 140F. Leaving your windows cracked won't save your motherboard! •A Stanford University study showed on  72 degree days, a car's internal temperature will climb to 116 F within 60 minutes because of the greenhouse effect. That alone should break you of the habit of leaving your laptop/camera/cell phone in your car.

Suppose you are moving and NEED to take your laptop. Put a coleman cooler in the trunk with ice packs in plastic bags so the condensation doesn't get to your laptop. This should not be done on a daily basis; it's risky, but not as risky as leaving your unprotected laptop in the car. Temperature extremes are bad for laptops, cameras and cell phones.

Going on vacation? If you need to have your computer with you always, perhaps a netbook that you can easily carry in a small bag would be a better choice for you. Or find out if there is a net cafe at the location you'll be vacationing at. They are usually very expensive at airports and hotels, but are more reasonably priced out in the local communities.

Stay cool!

Back in My Day......

Do you remember when you were a kid, how someone saying back in my day was so annoying? When it's yourself saying it, it doesn't seem quite as annoying.

Back in my day, when I went on vacation I took a 110 camera, (still have it somewhere at my house, probably it's worth money to someone!) film and flash bulbs. For those of you who don't even know what any of those are, a 110 the size film of point and shoot non-digital camera. You added flash bulbs to the top of the camera if you were taking pictures inside because built-in flash wasn't available on these magificent devices. They were easy to use. I was 11 years old traveling across the USA from NY to CA with my family. I've still got the photos of my mother and her cousin setting up the tents at campgrounds, Wild Bill's grave, and much more.  When we got back to NY, I had all the photos developed at Wegman's photo center and put them in a photo album.

No one has a copy of these precious photos. No one, except me. Not my mother, my brother, or the family members we traveled with. If my house were damaged, all these precious photographic memories would be lost. I am the owner of these photos. No one has access to them.

What about your precious memories? Who has access to them? Maybe you've loaded them to Picasa, Facebook, or another online service. If so, then they are out there and can be copied by anyone. Unless you've copyrighted your photos and set your permissions pretty tight, people you don't know may have access to them. If they are not copyrighted, you are giving them away! If you are a crappy photographer like me, it's no problem, but if you are of the caliber of my coworker Alyssia, then you need to be very careful about your photo permissions.  My coworker Alyssia is an amazing photographer and she certainly could make money off her photos! The downside is: so could someone else!

Many years ago, when I was teaching computers, I entered one of my self-written computer curriculums into a contest. I didn't win. It wasn't two years later, when my teaching assistant showed me an advertisement for a curriculum that was similar content to mine and asked "Isn't that yours?" Even they hadn't changed the name! I had no legal recourse.

Any time you upload a photo to the Internet, consider the permissions you want to set for the photo. Lock them down right away. We're not back in my day now. Be careful with your photos online.

What Type of Printer Interface Do You Need?

When you are buying a printer, one of the first questions you are asked is wired, wireless, or USB. I don't even think you can buy SCSI, firewire, parallel or serial printers except for specialty business printers. Here's how you know what type of printer interface you need:

USB: For a home single user. Desktop users not sharing out their printers. It's a direct connection so this is fast but not as fast as an ethernet printer. We are talking hi-speed 2.0 USB with a data transfer rate of 480 mbps. If the device doesn't say "HIGH speed USB" then assume it is 12 mbps.

Wired:For multiple computer users need to connect to a printer. Also when you need faster data transfer rates! This speed varies, but can be up to 1000 mbps for gigabit ethernet. Fast ethernet is about 100 mbps.

Wireless: Small house (short distance for the wireless signal to travel) and multiple users want to connect. Also choose this if you don't have a network drop for the location where you want to place the printer. Wireless data transfer rate depends on the wireless card you have and the wireless router you have. Usually it's slower, but more convenient than wired printing.

Hope this helps!

Save a Backup Copy of Your Outlook Contacts for a Rainy Day!

In Outlook:

• Go to File and Export
• Export to a File
• Choose PST if you just want a backup, otherwise choose CSV (comma-separated values-Windows one) if you want to import into another program like webmail.
• Choose the Contacts folder and Next
• Choose the path where you want to save this file to and Next.
• Watch it export the addresses!

Store them on your phone, Google or another webmail!

I'm Never First in Line for Tech Purchases

I'll admit it; I never buy anything when it first comes out. I wait. I wait for all the bugs to be fixed. Example: iPhone4 has a reception problem that won't be solved until the first week of July (estimated). So all the folks who waited in line for this item have to put up with reception problems for over a month (when they could be enjoy good reception with their old phone).

When an OS (operating system) comes out, all the hackers try to find the vulnerabilities. It takes a couple of months for the vulnerabilities to be exposed and patches made and distributed.

Price usually drops with age; so waiting usually makes financial sense too! Now if they offer 50% off if you buy right now, I'm there!! I always buy things at bargain prices. I've got plenty of gadgets, but they were all on sale when I bought them! My digital camera is never far from me and was 50% off. I don't know how I managed before I bought a gps (sale), 2 cell phones (practically giveaway) in case I have a problem with one of them, 3 printers (all free with tech purchases), lots of computers, and you can have my iPod when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.

Why do people feel they HAVE to have something right when it comes out? Does it have to do with self-esteem? Certainly having a buggy product isn't about having something better than everyone else! Is it about curiousity? Do they just have to see exactly what it can do? Is it something else???? Please, I would appreciate any enlightenment you can provide on this subject.

Use Rechargeable Batteries for Maximum Green Power!

Using rechargeable batteries is a green thing to do, yet many people don't consider battery type when they purchase electronic items. For me this is always a major consideration. What always flashes through my green mind is do I have the right type of charger for this battery type? (Or will I need to fill up landfills with batteries?)

Rechargeable batteries aren't right for everything: smoke detectors, remote controls, alarm clocks, and emergency items. For these items you need alkaline because they drain slower.

Rechargers are getting pretty cheap these days and some even come free with the purchase of batteries.  Next time you make a tech purchase, consider how you are going to power it! Steer in the direction of rechargeable for maximum green.

Yep, I'm Snobby (When It Comes to Camera Lenses)

Ok, I'm a lens snob. A relative who was a film major taught me to be one. The better the lens, the better the photo. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a crappy photographer, but somehow in spite of myself I manage to pull off some really good photos. It's the camera, not me and I know it. I have gone through every brand of digital camera, mainly because I lose cameras (my fault). Now, I don't experiment with brands any more. I locate the best Nikon I can afford and get that one.

Lens do make a difference. Once you've owned a Nikon lens, you love Nikon lenses. People always ask me when they see my photos which type of camera took it. It's always a Nikon point and shoot (because I don't know how to use SLR, nor have the desire to learn). If you would prefer an expert opinion see this link: http://photo.net/equipment/35mm/canon-v-nikon.


I bought my mother, who is in her 70s, a Nikon point and shoot. It was her first digital camera. When I gave it to her she said something to the effect of she already had a camera. Now she can't part with this camera. Even she will not loan it out and she loans out everything.

Next time you are in the market for a digital camera, consider a Nikon.; really they rock. Unless you are buying for your department a shared camera, then buy something that won't disappear; a Nikon one will. Anyone have experience with Nikon cameras/lenses and like to share about it?

Free Alternative for Desktop Publishing

I don't have 500$ to spend on a desktop publishing program, so I download a great program for desktop publishing. The publisher is Serif and the program is called PagePlus Starter Edition. It's totally free and it only requires your name and email address to get a key to activate the software.

PagePlus is a fully-functioning desktop publishing software program. Some advanced-features such as export to PDF, adding hyperlinks, and bookmarking are disabled. If you can live without those, then you are good to go! If you absolutely need the advanced features, you can buy the full version of it PagePlusX4 for just $79.99. That's a far cry from the price of the desktop publishing programs of similar caliber. The only program that is available in that price range is PrintShop and you don't want your documents looking like your kid made them!

If you want to spend 19.99$ more, but don't want to upgrade to PagePlusX4, you can receive the Companion Content Pack which includes 2000 graphics, extra fonts, 800 templates and more. Also, quite a bargain!

Download Serif PagePlus from http://www.serif.com/FreeDownloads/.

Enjoy!

Freebie Windows Vista and 7 owners must use!

Windows 7 and Vista come with a built in defrag scheduled, but it doesn't run unless the computer is on at the scheduled time. You can use the Windows defrag, but in Windows 7 and Vista, it is non-graphical and people just don't like it.

A freebie I recommend is Defraggler. Even the name sounds cool. It's not WOW cool, but it will do. It's graphical and has colors. Best of all, it's freeware. Download Defraggler from: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download. Be sure to click on the second choice, download from Piriform. Enjoy and keep those hard drives defragged for a faster computing experience!

I Want More Memory!

Sure you do; everyone does. Everyone always complains about the memory on their computers, saying they need more. If you want to upgrade the memory in your system.

Here's how to determine how much memory you have: right click on MY COMPUTER and then choose properties. The box that comes up will tell you how much RAM you have. Then, open the case and see how many slots are filled and see how many are empty. From there, you just do the math to see what size sticks you have.

Then consult with the documentation that came with the computer. The motherboard's documentation will accurately tell you how much RAM the motherboard will support. If you phone the manufacturer or consult with a website (which is what most people do), the company may (and probably will) oversell you RAM and waste your money! If you lost your documentation, call the manufacturer of your computer and, hopefully, you'll get a good salesperson.

Only upgrade memory one time on a computer. If you are thinking about upgrading RAM a second time, think about buying a new computer.

Good luck with your new memory!

You've Got Mail! Is It Safe??

Maybe. Maybe not. If the email is from an employee, say his name is Tommy, who you have been exchanging emails with for four years and in that entire time Tommy has never had a virus. That tells you Tommy runs a pretty squeaky clean system and you can trust files from him.

What is the employee sending you a file is one who gets a virus every other month? I'd suggest downloading the file and then scanning it with updated antivirus prior to opening it.

What if you advertise for a position? Well then you have to accept files from people with resumes and letters of recommendation. This is so dangerous though. Perhaps you could save all resumes received to a flash drive and then scan the flash drive with updated antivirus before opening the files.

What if you get an unsolicited resume? You didn't advertise for a position, but you get one anyways. In our present economy, it may be a bona fide solicitation for work. If the wording is very suspicous or if there are misspellings or grammatical errors that lead you to believe that the person is not from this country, delete the email without responding. If the email gives you your company name and has your name or something about the community, then it might be safe to respond, but ask the person to copy and paste his/her resume as text so it's safer for you. If they comply, then maybe it's safe to accept attachments from them in the future. Suspicion is good. Scanning is good.

Your computer is a part of you. You can't practice email abstainance, so you have to practice safe emailing these days.  You don't end up with an unwanted virus and have to go to the computer doctor for a prescription. Hope this helps!

The Writing on the Wall

Writing on someone's facebook wall posts  a message on the profile page of one of your facebook buddies. It also puts it in the newsfeed for you and any common buddies. It does not put it in the newsfeed for uncommon facebook friends. Some folks disable this feature so that uncommon friends don't see the posts and because they don't want your posts on their walls. You'll know this is the case when you see it's their birthday and you click on their name and you can't post to their wall; you get an error message. Personally, I don't like people writing on my wall. I don't have it disabled at present, but I don't know why I just don't like it. Maybe it's because I am shy.

What to do in that case: Send them a message or an email wishing them a happy birthday or anniversary.
What not to do in that case: Send the wish in your news feed. When you just type a message in the "What's on your mind?" area, the message posts to all your friends, even people who do not know the person. If a person has disabled wall posting, they probably don't want their name in the news feeds of strangers. It also annoys the people who are not common friends. If everyone wishes everyone on their friend list happy birthday via the newsfeed, it adds up to a LOT of birthday wishes for today strangers. So that's a lot of annoying people unecessarily (which increases the chance of your newsfeed being hid or worse yet being unfriended).

Here's a list of things that people don't like and hide/unfriend for:

• game posts (create a gamer's list -see instructions in my previous post)
• too many posts
• posts to deceased people(it's likely only the living see FB posts anyways)
• daily reports of workouts (seems people are only interested in their own workouts)
• indecent photos, excessive profanity (I unfriended someone for this reason!)
• false information in posts
• excessive commercial posts (mix personal and business!)

These are things people have mentioned to me; tell me, what have you unfriended people for?

I Wish I Were a Widgit... I Could Fit in ANYwhere!

Widgits are great. They are chunks of  code that add functionality to a web page. You can stick them in Blogger accounts to add functionality to your blog. For example, you can add a widgit that allows people to tweet your blog entry or Facebook it. 

You can add a widgit to Facebook to add functionality. For example, you can go to realtor.com and create a widgit that will allow you to put your listing with photo on your Facebook profile.

Whatever you use widgits for, they are definitely an enhancement for a webpage. Share what you learn about creating widgits with others!

When Your Kids Go Off To College With a Laptop...

They should have this for their laptop. Even I use this every day to protect my personal laptop. The Targus brand has thicker padding than its competitors and has lasted me through my many travels. It's small enough to fit in overhead bins and the price is really low. It  has plenty of other compartments for all your storage needs... even a place for your waterbottle.

Laptops should not be stored in a regular tote bag. I've seen many people do it, but it's very risky. Laptops shouldn't be stored in cars either! The extreme temperatures are bad for everything inside the laptop. This backpack design makes it easy for me to travel with my laptop and not leave it in the car where it can get stolen or heat damaged.

Hope you like yours as much as I like mine!

Are You Being Smished?

I'm not, but I don't have a popular cellular provider. You probably are. Smishing=phishing attack to your cell phone via SMS. Most people nowadays know not to put "Mom", "Dad", "Home" in their cell phones in cast they are lost or stolen. Instead use Mom's last name and first initial. If you put "Hubby," a thief can text a message asking for his pin number because he "forgot" it.

However, much of your personal information is available for theft. Some folks have their cell phone numbers on their websites; those folks need to be especially carefull. If your cell phone is unpublished, it's still out there. You've given your cell phone number to doctors, car repair centers, 411, friends and family. Perhaps it's on a utility bill or an order form. Random phone number generators are available too. Once they hit upon a working number, it's a target for smishing. Don't use SMS to give personal information unless requested to do so by voice first.

Overall smishing attacks have gone down this year because of the arrest of the world's largest cyber criminal gang. Other gangs have increased their efforts. If you get a pop-up on your phone asking to verify your password, phone your cellular provider and ask if it's a valid request from them.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Janet

Hide Your Post From Me!

Ok, This is something that is very little practiced on Facebook: lists and hiding. You can organise lists in Facebook: say friends and family, Tamil speakers and English speakers, coworkers and neighbors, or hip people and prudes. When you publish your Facebook posts you can publish to that list you created and even you can hide publishing from certain individuals.

Click on the down triangle (see the picture on the right) in between the share button and the padlock. Up will pop up a box and you can drop down to whichever friend list you want to publish to. In the bottom box you can drop down and specify a list that you want to hide the post from.  So, if you want to hide your drinking pictures from your coworkers, you can drop down in the bottom box to your coworkers list. It will still post in your profile, so be careful what you post in Facebook always. I recommend don't drink and Facebook!

Reply All Means Telling Too Much!!

Another Facebook design flaw is in messaging. Every Facebook user needs to be especially careful about this. If someone sends you a message as part of  list of people and you hit the obvious reply button at the bottom of the message, you are replying to all of the message recipients. If you want to reply to only the sender of the message, you have to find the very small text at the top of the message that says Reply is for when you want to reply only to the sender of that message.  This is something worth complaining about I think. I've made this mistake and so have my friends.

In Outlook and Thunderbird, the Reply and Reply All buttons are equal size and in the same area so it's harder to make that mistake. In Yahoo and Gmail you have to drop down to get to the Reply All button. These ways seem much more logical than the way Facebook is doing it.

Just my two cents which is worth less than two cents I think!

My Internet Explorer is Not Working!!!

Heard it hundreds of times. IE is hijacked. If your Outlook is sending and receiving email and other browsers are browsing web pages, then your IE has been hijacked or hosed. Good. Use the other browser.

If you are stubborn and daft, and still want to fix it, try running virus and adware scans. If that fixes your problem, then seriously contemplate: if IE is so easily hijacked, should I continue to use it? If you do continue to use it, you risk identity theft and blacklisting. Is it worth risking either of those things? If you are doing this at work, you risk your whole company being blacklisted. Your whole company will feel the effects for weeks of your infection if you get blacklisted. Identity theft is expensive to fix and takes months to repair.

Still want to use IE? Try removing the proxy settings and see if you can connect to the Internet. Tools, Internet Options, LAN settings, and wipe out everything leaving a check mark in the top box. Restart your browser. If your IE still isn't fixed, reinstall Windows and choose a safer browser next time.

Refusal to learn a new browser is no excuse for ditching IE. When cell phones came out, did you stick with your home handset and say cell phones were too hard to learn? Of course not. You learned how to use a cell phone and a new browser is much less complicated than a cell phone. Spend the time to learn a new browser, and you will love it after a short time.

Email 101 for Beginners... Understanding the "System"

This is the basics of how emails work. This is important for all beginner users to read. Say I wanted to set up a public email server with my friends: Jim and Steve. It's important I pick guys who can handle stuff when I am sick or on vacation. Otherwise I have to hire people to do it (which is what google, yahoo, and all the other mail providers do, but I've got confidence in these two guys).

I buy my equipment: a big computer called a server that has lots connections to the internet. I register my domain: janetopoly.com. I connect my computer to the internet. Install software to handle the email load (many of you have heard of Microsoft Exchange, but that is just one of many programs that will do that and if I am smart I won't be using that program or even a Windows-based system.)

Next I advertise Janetopopoly email accounts. I've decided to make them free accounts. You sign up for one and you get a welcome email from webmaster@janetopoly.com telling you to invite your friends to janetopoly email. They sign up and then everyone knows about this free email service.

One day you have a problem with janetopoly email. You call your friend, Maxine, and tell her you are having a problem with janetopoly email. She asks what you want her to do about it and tells you I didn't invite her to be an admin to that system so she can't log into that computer and check on her problem. She tells you to call myself, Steve or Jim. She calls Jim and he logs into the system and finds out she is using a port that her internet provider blocked and tells her what port to use and she is able to send mail again.  Then she thanks Jim and says great, now can you help me with my Quintenium email. Does Jim help her? Can Jim help her? Probably not. Unless Quintenium ALSO asked Jim to be an admin with their system and gave him an access account and password to log into their system. (Just like you can't use your Macy's card at Nordstrom, one username and password doesn't work at all sites.)

Each email server computer has users and admins. Usually the computers are located in different states and the admins of one computer are not the admins of another email server. The Comcast guy can't help you with Verizon email (and vice versa) any more thatn the Comcast guy can help you with plumbing issues. Each email server has different systems on them.

With email issues, always:

• check to see there is a working internet connection.
• check to see that other people are able to use the same email system
• check the web interface to make sure the system is working.

Never:

• send personal information through unencrypted email systems (such as yahoo or hotmail).
• archive  old emails in an email system that can be easily hacked.
• leave your email logged in on a public computer.

He Seemed Fine to Me

Ever hear that from a young lady about a fellow she dated that turned out to be a bad guy? Well rogues (antivirus infections) are the same way. They look nice from the beginning just like their human counterparts, but after some time their shenanigans start!

When a girl wants to date a guy, she checks him out. She gets to know everything she can about him before she actually gets in a car with him! It would be unwise to do otherwise! Well, when you want to install something on your computer, you should do the same. Google the "program" offering to "help" you with your computer otherwise you might end up in a bad situation same as the girl who didn't check out her date! If the first ten items are tech sites telling how to clean that program, then steer clear of it. Sometimes the website for the program will come up in the first ten, but the other sites are bashing the program. Believe the bashers. Most bad guys say they are good guys.

What a rogue looks like: usually a pop-up or an email offering to help you clean up your computer. The name usually sounds very helpful, but don't let a helpful name fool you. Once you have installed it, you seem to be locked out of anything until you purchase the software you thought you had already downloaded and installed. What you downloaded was an infection and now the infector wants you to pay for cleaning up the infection that he caused. At this point download Malwarebytes Antimalware and run to clean your infection. If that doesn't work, get some tech help.

Make scanning for adware a regular part of your computer maintenance time. Use a safe browser. Don't click pop ups. Research virus and adware programs prior to installing them. Re-evaluate yearly to see that your virus protection needs are being met.