PC Resources

By: Steve Robson

Time is money. And when you constantly have to divide your time between your mouse and your keyboard, your workflow rate really slows down.

That's particularly true when you're working on a laptop, where the pointing device is even slower.

The answer - short of growing another arm - is to learn a few "handy" keyboard shortcuts. Here are 10 of the best:

1. Make a quick exit:
ALT - F4 will terminate any program immediately.

2. Flick - don't click:
ALT - TAB to flick through open programs.

3. Make a quick selection:
CTRL - SHIFT and move cursor with left / right / up / down arrows to quickly select areas of text.

4. Cut, copy and paste to the chase:
CTRL - X / C / V to cut, copy and paste selected text.

5. Undo what you've done:
CTRL - Z will undo anything. (And to redo: CTRL - Y although this varies between programs.)

6. Page - don't scroll:
In MSIE use Page Up & Page Down to save time fiddling with the scroll bar.

7. E for explorer:
WINDOWS KEY - E to open windows explorer. Use up and down arrows to quickly navigate through folders.

8. Rapidly rename:
F2 - rename a file or folder in Windows Explorer

9. Find it fast:
CTRL - F to find text on a page (And CTRL - H replace it).

10. Fly through forms:
Use TAB to move forward through forms and SHIFT-TAB to move backwards

After a little practice, your fingers will be flying across the keyboard like a shortcut pro.

And you'll save a huge amount of time too.

Posted in: copy paste, open program, quick exit, rename folder, undo on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at at 8:26 AM 0 comments  

By: Cavyl Stewart

Passwords protect your most sensitive personal, financial and business information. They are the key to accessing membership, financial, and other web sites that you are a member of. All sorts of havoc can occur in your life if some unauthorized person discovers your password. Here are some tips for making that event less likely:

1. Don't use easily guess passwords like a date of birth, spouse, child's or pet's name. In fact, don't use any word or phrase that even remotely relates to you or your world. You need to use a password which is difficult for anyone to guess but is not so difficult for you to remember.

2. Use a combination of upper and lower case letters, symbols and numbers to make the password harder to guess. Some web sites do not allow symbols so you may not be able to always use them. Almost all web sites treat passwords as CaSe SeNsItIvE so mixing case is a good idea.

3. Make your password at least eight characters long. Longer is even better. The more characters there are the harder it will be to guess.

4. Use a different password for each account or web site. That way if one gets compromised you'll still be protected elsewhere.

5. Change your passwords frequently. Pick a period, like the 15th of each month, and change all of your passwords on that date.

6. Do not write your passwords down anywhere. You never know who is checking your drawers or file cabinet when you're not around. Also, do not store your passwords in an electronic filing device like a PDA. That's just as insecure as a piece of paper if you lose the device and someone who is less than honest finds it.

If you have too many passwords to keep track of then consider using a password manager program. There are a lot of them on the market but be careful: some of them contain "adware" which will pop up ads every time you are online. Most of the free password managers contain some degree of adware. Here's one that doesn't: www.roboform.com

7. Never share your password with anyone else. If you have to, then change it immediately afterwards.

8. Avoid using "dictionary" words. There are password-cracking programs that will check every word in the dictionary. If you want to use words then break them up with non-word characters. For example: BuIlT*99$APPlE is difficult for anything other than the most sophisticated password-cracking program to guess because it is combined with non-alphabet characters and it is in mixed case.

9. Don't use "password" or "none" as your password! Don't even use "PaSsWoRd"!

10. If someone calls or sends you e-mail claiming that they are from your bank, or credit card company, or anywhere else that you have a password with, NEVER give them your password or PIN no matter what story they tell you. It's a scam. No one will ever ask for your password. Legitimate administrators of your password-protected accounts do not need your password to access your files during the normal course of their business dealings with you.

Posted in: change password, combination, lower case, password, protected, symbols on at at 8:23 AM 0 comments  

By: GREGORY MBURU

Your system runs noticeably slower than it did before. It could be infected by spyware.

A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't request or install it. Spyware programs are usually installed with other programs that are advertised in regitimate ways.

You receive an email in your email client with offers related to your recent Internet searches. A spyware might be monitoring your buying habbits.

You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar and press Enter to start the search.
Instead of your usual search site, an unfamiliar site handles the search. A spyware program might be responsible for this.

You get pop-up advertisements when your browser is not running or when your system is not even connected to the Internet, or you get pop-up ads that address you by name. A spyware program could be doing this.

When you start your browser, the home page has changed to something undesirable. Normally to a search portal that the spyware is trying to market.

At a time when you're not doing anything online, the send or receive lights on your dial-up or broadband modem blink just as wildly as when you're downloading a file or surfing the Web. Or the network/modem icon in your system tray flashes rapidly even when you're not using the connection. This could be a spyware program sending out info from your computer.

A new item appears in your Favorites list without your putting it there. No matter how many times you delete it, the item always reappears later. Spyware behaviors are normally very annoying.

Your spyware cure program or another protective program stops working correctly. It may warn you that certain necessary support files are missing, but if you restore the files they go missing again. It may appear to launch normally and then spontaneously shut down, or it may simply crash whenever you try to run it. Some Spyware programs will try to shut down your computer security programs so that they can run without being noticed.

Your phone bill includes expensive calls to 900 numbers that you never made—probably at an outrageous per-minute rate. Spyware programs can cost you thousands of dollars in losses

And the final sign is: Everything appears to be normal. The most devious spyware doesn't leave traces you'd notice! They are sit in your system, malignant and undetected but their destruction is graveus. Try using spyware cure program.

Posted in: crash, downloading files, infected by spyware on at at 8:20 AM 0 comments  

By: Jim Shutes

It seems that the longer you own your computer, the slower it gets! A lot of people will keep their computer until it gets so slow that they feel they need a newer, faster model. Some feel like the reason it is getting slower is because it is getting older, when that is just not the case. Your computer should run just as fast as the day you brought it home if you follow these 10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer.

1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. After a short while, the temp directory fills up with hundreds of temp files that always get scanned over when Windows starts up and when programs launch. This slows everything down immensely.

Rule of thumb for Temp Files: If you don't have any programs open (and nothing minimized in the bar below), then you shouldn't have ANY temp files in your temp directory. If you do, delete them.

To delete Temp files, make sure NO programs are open, and¦

a. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, go to C:WindowsTemp and delete everything inside the Temp folder.

b. In Windows 2000 or XP, it is a little trickier. First, make sure that you can see hidden folders. Double-click My Computer. Click on the Tools pull-down menu, and then on Folder Options. Click on the View tab. Scroll down and click on Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Ok. Now you can go to the C:Documents and Setting/Administrator/Local Setting/Temp folder. Delete everything here.

2. Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly. To empty Temporary Internet Files, go to your Control Panel and double-click the Internet Options icon. Choose to Delete Cookies, and to Delete Files. This will clear all of your Temporary Internet Files.

3. Check your hard disks for problems.

a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. If you choose to do a Thorough Scan, this will do the hardware check for physical disk damage or sector damage. Choose to fix any errors it finds.

b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. Click on Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top option is for the file check, and the second option is for the hardware (physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check the top one. Hit ok, and reboot. This may take some time, but let it run.

4. An even more thorough disk check, would be to use a 3rd party utility. One of my favorites is TuneUp Utilities 2004. It does cost $39.99, but they do offer a FREE download trial of 15 days. This program does a really good job of fixing software and physical hard drive problems. It also tunes up your system for increased speed, and streamlines your operating system for peak performance. Download it HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

5. Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if you have Windows XP. By default, EVERYTHING is turned on in Windows XP. It isn't very streamlined for performance, but rather for appearance. You can turn off a few of the unnecessary features, and Windows will still work just fine, and maybe a little faster.

To do this, right-click on My Computer and click on Properties. Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. By default, these are all on. You really don't need any of them for Windows to run. Go through the check boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can't live without.

6. Turn off Active Desktop. Active Desktop turns your desktop into a web page, and allows you to have things like a real-time calendar, and up-to-the-minute weather or stocks. These are nice, but really slow down your computer. And even if you don't use Active Desktop for anything, just having it active can cause a performance decrease. Turn it off.

a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Active Desktop. If there is no check next to it, then it isn't on. Don't choose it. Instead, just click the desktop again to get out of the menu.

b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show Web Content. Again, if there is no check next to it, then it is not on. Do not check it.

c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize Desktop. Now, on the Web tab, make sure that there are no websites chosen here. If there aren't any, then Active Desktop is not on. Cancel and go back to the desktop.

7. Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses that can take over your system. One of my favorites is AVG. It is not only a really good AntiVirus program, but it is also FREE! If you don't have any AntiVirus software on your computer, get AVG AntiVirus NOW by downloading HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

8. Get rid of Spyware. A lot of computer users have Spyware and don’t even know they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If your computer has been taking you to websites that you don't want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you aren't even on the Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely slowly lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.

On all of the computers that I setup, I install two different AntiSpyware programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. These two programs are highly recommended by TechTV (G4) and other computer authorities (including my own research on Spyware) and work very well together. They compliment each other and catch Spyware that the other misses, but together, do a very good job.

Get SpyBot HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp. Download all updates and run the Immunize option a couple of times.

AdAware SE does a good job when you keep up on the updates and manually scan your system with AdAware. Get it HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

In some cases, when the Spyware has become too entwined into your system, even a computer repair technician can't get rid of the Spyware. At this point, it is better to just backup only what you need and have the operating system reinstalled. Believe me, when your computer gets to this point, you don't want to just put a band-aid on it. Just start from scratch with a clean system. It's the best way to go.

9. Streamline MSCONFIG. One thing that really causes a HUGE performance decrease is to have unnecessary programs running in the background. Some of these programs can be seen in your System Tray (located next to the clock). These are tiny programs that are robbing you of memory and processing power. Some of them you need, while most you don't. Some of the programs you DON'T need are printer icons, CD burning icons, shortcuts to programs (such as video settings), AOL, any Instant Messaging Programs, etc. Just because these programs aren't always running, doesn't mean that you still can't print, burn CDs or Instant Message. They can all be run from a shortcut.

You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary Start Up items.

a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on StartRun and type msconfig. Click on the Startup tab. This is a list of everything that is running in the background, some of which show up in the System Tray. Now, be careful, some of these you do need. Some items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me), Task Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me), LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me), Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs (such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you can uncheck, such as NeroCheck, ypager, qttask, AOL, and any other Instant Messaging programs, or printing programs. Remember, if something doesn’t work, because you turned it off, it can always be turned back on. You just have to reboot every time you make a change here. But, as you uncheck the unnecessary programs that run in the background, you will see that Windows loads much faster, that there are less icons in the System Tray, and that your system is much more 'snappy' and quick to respond.

b. In Windows 2000, MSCONFIG wasn't supplied. You actually have to download and run an MSCONFIG utility. Download the MSCONFIG utility HERE... http://www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/msconfig.html.

After you reboot, you will have a window that says that the configuration utility was edited. Just check not to show that in the future, a check box at the bottom. This just means that there was a change made to the MSCONFIG.

10. Defragment your hard drives. NOTE: to efficiently defragment a hard drive, it likes to have 25% free space. It can still do the defragmentation with only 15% free space, but it takes quite a bit longer. If you can, delete any unnecessary files before deframenting your drives.

a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system), double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now.

Posted in: disk check, errors, scanned, sector damage, speed up computer, temp folder, windows temp on at at 8:07 AM 1 comments  

By: Gary Gresham

Finding the best spyware removers to detect and remove spyware and adware from your computer is much easier if you consider a few things before you make your purchase. Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for a spyware protection program.

The best spyware removers should offer you complete protection against spyware, adware, keyloggers, Remote Access Trojans (RATs), and browser hijackers. These are the main spyware infections that expose your confidential information and diminish your PC's performance.

An important consideration for any spyware protection program is automatic updates for your software. There are new spyware programs invented on a regular basis just like viruses and automatic updates cover you against the latest spyware threats.

Another important consideration to look for should be technical support from the manufacturer. A spyware protection program doesn't do you any good if you have a technical issue that you can't solve. Often, just a minor piece of technical advice will solve most software problems and it's important that your software run right. You also may need someone to answer questions that come up.

Customer service is another feature you may consider looking for. It shows the
manufacturer is a trusted source who cares about their reputation and will probably be around awhile.

Spyware is quickly becoming a major threat to Internet security. It is reported that 9 out of 10 computers are currently infected with spyware, adware or both. Most people don't even realize it's there because spyware and adware is programmed to run silently. Microsoft estimates that spyware is responsible for 50% of all PC crashes.

If you don't remove spyware from your computer it will eventually not work at all or your computer files will become infected by spyware programs. Your personal information, passwords and credit card numbers could end up stolen from you without you even knowing it.

Once you remove spyware and adware programs from your computer you'll find it will run faster and your personal information will be much safer. Your security and peace of mind is worth spending a little time to find the best spyware removers possible.

Posted in: automatic updates, computer, computer files, infected with spyware, remove spyware, spyware, spyware removal, viruses on at at 7:35 AM 0 comments