Here is some good advice from our friends at PC World in the words of Mr. Rick Broider:
Here's how to prepare for disaster by imaging your hard drive and setting up a data backup system.
Rick Broida, PCWorld
Jan 12, 2010 12:15 pm
Just click below and you'll be transported to the web page dealing with this subject.
George Freire
Disaster-Proof Your PC: Image Your Drive, Make a Backup Plan
Posted using ShareThis
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
WHO WILL BE OUR VIEWER # 2000?
As of this time, 11:27 AM EST, I just checked the number of visitors to this block to be 1955.
I hope that by the end of this week we will see visitor # 2000 hit the the Blog.
You can check if you are that lucky visitor by scanning to the bottom of the Blog screen, where you'll find a number indicating how many people have visited the Blog, as of that very moment.
If you are # 2000, let me know, there will be a small surprise waiting for you.
George Freire
I hope that by the end of this week we will see visitor # 2000 hit the the Blog.
You can check if you are that lucky visitor by scanning to the bottom of the Blog screen, where you'll find a number indicating how many people have visited the Blog, as of that very moment.
If you are # 2000, let me know, there will be a small surprise waiting for you.
George Freire
Sunday, January 10, 2010
PARA OS NOSSOS LEITORES EM PORTUGAL QUE PREFEREM LER ESTE BLOG EM POTUGUÊS
Para aquêles nossos leitores em Portugal que preferem lêr este Blog em Português, há ainda outro método mais simples do que aquêle que sugeri no post datado de 6 de Outubro de 2009, usando "http://babelfish.yahoo.com".
É muito simples, se tiverem o "Google Toolbar" no vosso computador, que automaticamente aparece no tôpo do vosso "browser". Se não tiverem o "Google Toolbar" basta fazer o download e instalá-lo.
No toolbar do Google e logo a seguir ao bloco em branco de pesquisa, "search", há varios icons para varias funçôes. Escolham o icon "translate" e depois na barra que abre mais abaixo e que diz "Toolbar has automatically translated this page to ..........English....., é só substituir "English" para "Portuguese" clicando na pequena seta que abre uma caixa que contem um numero imenso de diferente linguas, incluindo claro "Portuguese".
Uma vêz que tenham escolhido "Portuguese" em poucos segundas o Blog por inteiro é imediatamente traduzido para Português.
Muito agradeceria que me enviem os vossos comentarios de como conseguiram fazer esta manobra.
Um abraço
George Freire
É muito simples, se tiverem o "Google Toolbar" no vosso computador, que automaticamente aparece no tôpo do vosso "browser". Se não tiverem o "Google Toolbar" basta fazer o download e instalá-lo.
No toolbar do Google e logo a seguir ao bloco em branco de pesquisa, "search", há varios icons para varias funçôes. Escolham o icon "translate" e depois na barra que abre mais abaixo e que diz "Toolbar has automatically translated this page to ..........English....., é só substituir "English" para "Portuguese" clicando na pequena seta que abre uma caixa que contem um numero imenso de diferente linguas, incluindo claro "Portuguese".
Uma vêz que tenham escolhido "Portuguese" em poucos segundas o Blog por inteiro é imediatamente traduzido para Português.
Muito agradeceria que me enviem os vossos comentarios de como conseguiram fazer esta manobra.
Um abraço
George Freire
Friday, January 8, 2010
WHAT WILL COMPUTER SCIENCE BRING US IN NEAR FUTURE?
Pattie Maes is a researcher for MediaLabs at MIT, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and is presenting us "The Sixth Sense" technology still in its infancy, but as you can all see, very close to reality. It is a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment.
Where will we be in 10-20 more years down the road? I would not be able to guess.
Go to the following address and the demonstration will blow your mind!!!
http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html
Have fun!
George Freire
Where will we be in 10-20 more years down the road? I would not be able to guess.
Go to the following address and the demonstration will blow your mind!!!
http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html
Have fun!
George Freire
HOW TO CREATE A SYSTEM REPAIR DISK FOR WINDOWS 7
Dear readers,
If you have upgraded to Windows 7 recently, you may not yet be completely familiar with all the available help apps. this program offers in order to keep your computer in good shape.
One of them is a very easy way available for the creation of a repair disk. (Of course other past versions of Windows also offered a similar app. but more difficult to handle).
Remember that it is always possible that a catastrophe may strike your PC, making it impossible to boot regardless of how much you try. So... Windows 7 makes it very easy for you to have a tool always available to come to the rescue. It is called a REPAIR DISK.
All you have to do, (AND I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU DO IT RIGHT NOW, IMMEDIATELY, BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE!!!), is to click Start, type "repair" in the "Search Programs and Files" box at the bottom of the start Screen, and then click the "Create a System Repair Disc" icon that shows at the top of the screen.
Insert a blank CD or DVD into your drive, click Create disc, and Windows 7 will do the work in a matter of a couple of minutes. That is it!
Pull the disk out, label it "Repair Disk for My Computer" or something similar, keep in a safe place and do not forget where you put it!
Should you ever come across a catastrophe moment that we all hope will never happen, my friends you have now the right tool to save the day: this disk can be used to boot the computer. it also contains the Windows System recovery tools that will help you recover the computer from whatever caused the problem, or restore the computer from a system image that you may have created with a system such as ACRONIS, which I have referred to in previous posts.
I hope this will be helpful and remember, you must do this before a problem stikes, do it right now.
George Freire
If you have upgraded to Windows 7 recently, you may not yet be completely familiar with all the available help apps. this program offers in order to keep your computer in good shape.
One of them is a very easy way available for the creation of a repair disk. (Of course other past versions of Windows also offered a similar app. but more difficult to handle).
Remember that it is always possible that a catastrophe may strike your PC, making it impossible to boot regardless of how much you try. So... Windows 7 makes it very easy for you to have a tool always available to come to the rescue. It is called a REPAIR DISK.
All you have to do, (AND I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU DO IT RIGHT NOW, IMMEDIATELY, BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE!!!), is to click Start, type "repair" in the "Search Programs and Files" box at the bottom of the start Screen, and then click the "Create a System Repair Disc" icon that shows at the top of the screen.
Insert a blank CD or DVD into your drive, click Create disc, and Windows 7 will do the work in a matter of a couple of minutes. That is it!
Pull the disk out, label it "Repair Disk for My Computer" or something similar, keep in a safe place and do not forget where you put it!
Should you ever come across a catastrophe moment that we all hope will never happen, my friends you have now the right tool to save the day: this disk can be used to boot the computer. it also contains the Windows System recovery tools that will help you recover the computer from whatever caused the problem, or restore the computer from a system image that you may have created with a system such as ACRONIS, which I have referred to in previous posts.
I hope this will be helpful and remember, you must do this before a problem stikes, do it right now.
George Freire
Monday, January 4, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
HAPPY NEW YEAR WITH PhraseExpress
Happy New Year to you all friends and readers of this Blog!
I have another "goodie app" from our favorite tech writer Mr. Rick Broider at PC World. This is a nice program that soon you will find indispensable in your daily routine relationship with your computer and a good New Year little gift to you all.
Mr. Broider's comments on this app follow:
"Tired of typing the same words, signatures, phrases, and even paragraphs over and over? What you need is a program that automatically inserts text when you type an abbreviation or hit a hotkey.
PhraseExpress is one such program, and it's my favorite for several reasons. For starters, it expands typed abbreviations into complete phrases. You could type, say, "fwiw," and PhraseExpress would instantly insert "for what it's worth." Or "sig" to insert a custom signature (complete with images and/or HTML code) at the end of e-mails.
This capability works in any program (word processor, e-mail client, blog tool, etc.), and PhraseExpress can even scan your documents and e-mails to find frequently used text to add to its auto-complete list. (It can import existing AutoCorrect entries from Word, too.) Of course, you can define your own entries as well.
The program also includes a global spell-check feature and a clipboard history tool, which stores all recent clipboard entries, not just the most recent one.
Needless to say, it's a killer app, one you'll quickly come to find indispensable.
Note: This program is free for personal use. For business use, you must register the paid version.
--Rick Broida"
I have downloaded this program, and find it fascinating and very helpful.
If you want to try it out, (and it is absolutely free !), go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,65010-order,4-c,desktop/download.html
Click the above and you will go directly to the page where it can be downloaded. If for any reason it does not take you to the web page, just copy and past this address to your browser. I hope you'll enjoy it.
For 2010, I will try, whenever possible, to have new posts at least a minimum of once a week, therefore if you will go to the Blog every week-end you'll find them.
I also wish that those of you who have questions, experience computer problems, have good ideas, have come up with solutions etc. etc. will come forward and publish your comments. It is very easy, just click the "comments" tab at the end of each post and write whatever you think will be interesting! I promise that I will answer every one of your comments.
It has been a little over a year since I started this Blog. As of today we have had 1,856 visitor hits which comes to an average of 5 per day. I'll try my best to make the Blog even more interesting and hopefully double the number of visitors for 2010!
Again thanks for your interest and readership. This is for me a great way to keep myself busy and in good spirits. I am totally retired and this Blog keeps me from getting older and bored of doing nothing!
Happy New Year again and good health for you all.
George Freire
I have another "goodie app" from our favorite tech writer Mr. Rick Broider at PC World. This is a nice program that soon you will find indispensable in your daily routine relationship with your computer and a good New Year little gift to you all.
Mr. Broider's comments on this app follow:
"Tired of typing the same words, signatures, phrases, and even paragraphs over and over? What you need is a program that automatically inserts text when you type an abbreviation or hit a hotkey.
PhraseExpress is one such program, and it's my favorite for several reasons. For starters, it expands typed abbreviations into complete phrases. You could type, say, "fwiw," and PhraseExpress would instantly insert "for what it's worth." Or "sig" to insert a custom signature (complete with images and/or HTML code) at the end of e-mails.
This capability works in any program (word processor, e-mail client, blog tool, etc.), and PhraseExpress can even scan your documents and e-mails to find frequently used text to add to its auto-complete list. (It can import existing AutoCorrect entries from Word, too.) Of course, you can define your own entries as well.
The program also includes a global spell-check feature and a clipboard history tool, which stores all recent clipboard entries, not just the most recent one.
Needless to say, it's a killer app, one you'll quickly come to find indispensable.
Note: This program is free for personal use. For business use, you must register the paid version.
--Rick Broida"
I have downloaded this program, and find it fascinating and very helpful.
If you want to try it out, (and it is absolutely free !), go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,65010-order,4-c,desktop/download.html
Click the above and you will go directly to the page where it can be downloaded. If for any reason it does not take you to the web page, just copy and past this address to your browser. I hope you'll enjoy it.
For 2010, I will try, whenever possible, to have new posts at least a minimum of once a week, therefore if you will go to the Blog every week-end you'll find them.
I also wish that those of you who have questions, experience computer problems, have good ideas, have come up with solutions etc. etc. will come forward and publish your comments. It is very easy, just click the "comments" tab at the end of each post and write whatever you think will be interesting! I promise that I will answer every one of your comments.
It has been a little over a year since I started this Blog. As of today we have had 1,856 visitor hits which comes to an average of 5 per day. I'll try my best to make the Blog even more interesting and hopefully double the number of visitors for 2010!
Again thanks for your interest and readership. This is for me a great way to keep myself busy and in good spirits. I am totally retired and this Blog keeps me from getting older and bored of doing nothing!
Happy New Year again and good health for you all.
George Freire
Monday, December 28, 2009
STILL ABOUT CONVERSION TO WINDOWS 7
If you remember, on October 31st I published a post concerning the conversion to Windows 7:
"Windows 7 report; how I managed to do the conversion from Windows Vista".
This post covered my tribulations when upgrading my laptop to Windows 7 from the then installed Windows Vista. I also mentioned that I was planning, (at a later date), to do the same in my main PC "Super Computer".
Well I did it the day after Christmas, Saturday December 26. Initially, it was no big deal, in as much as I had the previous experience in doing the same with my laptop.
Of course I ran the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisory Report" program which I downloaded from Microsoft.com web page, prior to start the conversion steps. This report advised that I should un-instal certain programs such as "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", update a couple of drivers for other programs etc.
I did all that religiously, (I advise you all to do the same, meaning: follow what the report recommends you to do before you start the conversion).
After I inserted the Windows 7 disk in the computer it took a couple of hours for the conversion to take place . I went and had dinner, watched the news on TV etc. and finally went back to my office to check the computer.
It was done! the new Windows 7 desktop was glistening and I was very very happy, saying to myself how easy it had been.
Until... I tried to open a few utility programs such as "Disk Keeper", "Registry Mechanic" and others. No dice! instead of having the programs open, all I got was a message as follows:
"Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source".
Well, first of all I was absolutely sure there were no "malicious software" programs in my computer before the conversion, therefore the problem could not have been caused by such.
Also, the programs I tried to open as mentioned above, were reported as compatible in the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisory Report" not to mention that they are installed in my laptop and no problem such as this had happened when I did the same conversion.
I scratched my head in desperation... then I tried to re-install the software I had un-installed prior to the conversion such as the "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", no dice, the same message showed up again:
"Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source".
I was so frustrated that I decided to go to bed, (it was almost midnight by then!).
"Maybe tomorrow morning I may be able to think clearer and come up with a solution..." I though to myself.
Sunday morning, (yesterday), I got back to the task of getting my computer to work right. Please note that except for the utility programs and re-installation of some software, all other programs worked OK, giving me no problems whatsoever!
I thought it over and, (in a moment of inspiration), decided to restart the computer in safe mode and try to run the programs that gave me trouble, as well as re-installing "ATI Catalyst Install Manager".
Can you guess what happened? all went well, all the programs opened and "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", was re-installed immediately!
Now , what this means is that somehow, during the upgrade process some crazy file was screwed up in the registry, causing all these problems, there was no other explanation. Still, would I have the same problems once I started the computer normally?
No! when I restarted the computer under normal conditions again, everything worked fine and my computer is now working beautifully under Windows 7.
Why did this happen? I had to find out, therefore I called Microsoft support
(800-936-5700) and managed to talk to somebody in India, (by the way a very nice lady), who explained that probably by starting the computer in safe mode, opening the programs and then restarting the computer under normal conditions, I had "refreshed the registry" ??? and solved the problem.
Folks, this is still a mystery to me, but the main thing is the problem was solved.
I decided to post this experience, just in case you guys and girls come through the same annoying experience during your conversion to Windows 7.
Your comments to the above story will be very much welcome.
George Freire
"Windows 7 report; how I managed to do the conversion from Windows Vista".
This post covered my tribulations when upgrading my laptop to Windows 7 from the then installed Windows Vista. I also mentioned that I was planning, (at a later date), to do the same in my main PC "Super Computer".
Well I did it the day after Christmas, Saturday December 26. Initially, it was no big deal, in as much as I had the previous experience in doing the same with my laptop.
Of course I ran the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisory Report" program which I downloaded from Microsoft.com web page, prior to start the conversion steps. This report advised that I should un-instal certain programs such as "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", update a couple of drivers for other programs etc.
I did all that religiously, (I advise you all to do the same, meaning: follow what the report recommends you to do before you start the conversion).
After I inserted the Windows 7 disk in the computer it took a couple of hours for the conversion to take place . I went and had dinner, watched the news on TV etc. and finally went back to my office to check the computer.
It was done! the new Windows 7 desktop was glistening and I was very very happy, saying to myself how easy it had been.
Until... I tried to open a few utility programs such as "Disk Keeper", "Registry Mechanic" and others. No dice! instead of having the programs open, all I got was a message as follows:
"Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source".
Well, first of all I was absolutely sure there were no "malicious software" programs in my computer before the conversion, therefore the problem could not have been caused by such.
Also, the programs I tried to open as mentioned above, were reported as compatible in the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisory Report" not to mention that they are installed in my laptop and no problem such as this had happened when I did the same conversion.
I scratched my head in desperation... then I tried to re-install the software I had un-installed prior to the conversion such as the "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", no dice, the same message showed up again:
"Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source".
I was so frustrated that I decided to go to bed, (it was almost midnight by then!).
"Maybe tomorrow morning I may be able to think clearer and come up with a solution..." I though to myself.
Sunday morning, (yesterday), I got back to the task of getting my computer to work right. Please note that except for the utility programs and re-installation of some software, all other programs worked OK, giving me no problems whatsoever!
I thought it over and, (in a moment of inspiration), decided to restart the computer in safe mode and try to run the programs that gave me trouble, as well as re-installing "ATI Catalyst Install Manager".
Can you guess what happened? all went well, all the programs opened and "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", was re-installed immediately!
Now , what this means is that somehow, during the upgrade process some crazy file was screwed up in the registry, causing all these problems, there was no other explanation. Still, would I have the same problems once I started the computer normally?
No! when I restarted the computer under normal conditions again, everything worked fine and my computer is now working beautifully under Windows 7.
Why did this happen? I had to find out, therefore I called Microsoft support
(800-936-5700) and managed to talk to somebody in India, (by the way a very nice lady), who explained that probably by starting the computer in safe mode, opening the programs and then restarting the computer under normal conditions, I had "refreshed the registry" ??? and solved the problem.
Folks, this is still a mystery to me, but the main thing is the problem was solved.
I decided to post this experience, just in case you guys and girls come through the same annoying experience during your conversion to Windows 7.
Your comments to the above story will be very much welcome.
George Freire
Thursday, December 24, 2009
WATCH TV STATIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD ON THIS BLOG!
Friends, yesterday a new feature was added to this blog.
If you look at the third entry on the left column of the blog, you'll find a new gadget that will allow you to see TV channels in many different countries around the world!
Just try it: select the country, select a station from the list of stations which will open for that country, wait a few seconds for the connection to work and zip! you are there!
Hard to believe what today's technology can do!
Enjoy.
George Freire
If you look at the third entry on the left column of the blog, you'll find a new gadget that will allow you to see TV channels in many different countries around the world!
Just try it: select the country, select a station from the list of stations which will open for that country, wait a few seconds for the connection to work and zip! you are there!
Hard to believe what today's technology can do!
Enjoy.
George Freire
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THAT MIDDLE BUTTON ON YOUR MOUSE???
I consider myself a reasonably knowledgeable computer guy, but there are so many things that I don't know about!
Fortunately, I get tons of emails from technical sources well above my pay grade, that keep me learning new stuff on a daily basis...
One of my favorite sources of knowledge is as I have mentioned a thousand times, PC World Magazine. This magazine has a number of top of the line editorial technical writers whose articles I have many times transcribed on this blog.
Mr. Rick Broida is one of my favorite technical writers of this magazine. I received an email today with an article I am going to transcribe herein which really shows how good Mr. Broida is:
Bring Your Middle Mouse Button to Life
That middle button is often ignored, but you can tap its potential for browsing more efficiently, scrolling quickly, and more.
Rick Broida, PC World
Dec 22, 2009 12:10 pm
Take a close look at your mouse. Chances are good it has at least three buttons: left, right, and middle. (Note: Your middle button might be your scroll wheel, which on most mice is clickable.) I've already talked about getting the most from your mouse, but this week I thought I'd home in on the middle button.
Why would I want to do that? Well, I just took an informal poll of about ten people, and guess how many of them actually use that middle button? A grand total of one. One! People, people, people...
Close Browser Tabs Quickly
First up: browser tabs. I routinely have 10-15 tabs open in my browser at any given time. If I want to close a tab, I have to click it, then click the little X that appears on the tab. That's one more click than I prefer, and it brings into focus a tab I'm planning to close. Crazy, right?
If you middle-click any tab in Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer, boom, it's gone. No need to make it visible first; no need to reach for the X. Just middle-click, boom.
Open Links in New Tabs
When you middle-click a link in Google Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer (not sure about Opera, but I'm guessing so), that link opens immediately in a new tab.
Incidentally, you can accomplish the same thing by holding down the Ctrl key and left-clicking a link. But why bother with that when you can just as easily click the middle mouse button?
Open All Your Oft-Used Sites
Let's say that you use Firefox or Internet Explorer and you've organized a handful of favorite sites--you know, the ones you visit daily--into a folder. Smart move.
Here's an even smarter one: You can instantly open every link in a folder, each in its own tab, by middle-clicking that folder.
This works regardless of where the folder is located: your bookmarks toolbar, your navigation toolbar, even a pull-down menu. One middle-click of a folder and presto: every link therein opens in a new tab.
Scroll In Your Docs
Have you ever wondered what happens when you click and hold the middle mouse button? Glad you asked. This action activates a handy page-scrolling option in applications like Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Reader, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
In other words, when you click and hold the middle mouse button, you can then drag your mouse forward or back to scroll up or down the page, respectively. This feature is intended for folks who don't have a scroll wheel, but it works just as well with scroll wheels--and I know many people who prefer the speed of middle-click scrolling to the slow, steady pace of wheel scrolling.
Customize Your Scroll Speed
After the mouse itself, the mouse wheel is the single greatest navigation tool ever invented. Mine is spinning constantly, especially in Firefox, where I use it to zip up and down Web pages.
By default, however, one "turn" of the mouse wheel scrolls only a few lines at a time--and I want to move faster. Fortunately, there's a fairly easy way to adjust Firefox's scroll speed. Even better, there's a keyboard shortcut that can slow it down again for "precision" scrolling.
Here's how to change the default scroll speed:
1.Open Firefox, then type about:config in the address bar and hit Enter.
2.In the Filter box, type mousewheel.withnokey.
3.Right-click mousewheel.withnokey.sysnumlines and then click Toggle. This should set the value to False.
4.Right-click mousewheel.withnokey.numlines and then click Modify. Bump the value to 6 or so, click OK, and then switch to another tab to see if you like the scroll speed. (Thankfully, you don't have to restart Firefox every time you make a change.) If not, experiment a bit until you find a number you like.
Rick Broida writes PC World's Hassle-Free PC blog . Sign up to have Rick's newsletter e-mailed to you each week .
Fortunately, I get tons of emails from technical sources well above my pay grade, that keep me learning new stuff on a daily basis...
One of my favorite sources of knowledge is as I have mentioned a thousand times, PC World Magazine. This magazine has a number of top of the line editorial technical writers whose articles I have many times transcribed on this blog.
Mr. Rick Broida is one of my favorite technical writers of this magazine. I received an email today with an article I am going to transcribe herein which really shows how good Mr. Broida is:
Bring Your Middle Mouse Button to Life
That middle button is often ignored, but you can tap its potential for browsing more efficiently, scrolling quickly, and more.
Rick Broida, PC World
Dec 22, 2009 12:10 pm
Take a close look at your mouse. Chances are good it has at least three buttons: left, right, and middle. (Note: Your middle button might be your scroll wheel, which on most mice is clickable.) I've already talked about getting the most from your mouse, but this week I thought I'd home in on the middle button.
Why would I want to do that? Well, I just took an informal poll of about ten people, and guess how many of them actually use that middle button? A grand total of one. One! People, people, people...
Close Browser Tabs Quickly
First up: browser tabs. I routinely have 10-15 tabs open in my browser at any given time. If I want to close a tab, I have to click it, then click the little X that appears on the tab. That's one more click than I prefer, and it brings into focus a tab I'm planning to close. Crazy, right?
If you middle-click any tab in Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer, boom, it's gone. No need to make it visible first; no need to reach for the X. Just middle-click, boom.
Open Links in New Tabs
When you middle-click a link in Google Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer (not sure about Opera, but I'm guessing so), that link opens immediately in a new tab.
Incidentally, you can accomplish the same thing by holding down the Ctrl key and left-clicking a link. But why bother with that when you can just as easily click the middle mouse button?
Open All Your Oft-Used Sites
Let's say that you use Firefox or Internet Explorer and you've organized a handful of favorite sites--you know, the ones you visit daily--into a folder. Smart move.
Here's an even smarter one: You can instantly open every link in a folder, each in its own tab, by middle-clicking that folder.
This works regardless of where the folder is located: your bookmarks toolbar, your navigation toolbar, even a pull-down menu. One middle-click of a folder and presto: every link therein opens in a new tab.
Scroll In Your Docs
Have you ever wondered what happens when you click and hold the middle mouse button? Glad you asked. This action activates a handy page-scrolling option in applications like Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Reader, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
In other words, when you click and hold the middle mouse button, you can then drag your mouse forward or back to scroll up or down the page, respectively. This feature is intended for folks who don't have a scroll wheel, but it works just as well with scroll wheels--and I know many people who prefer the speed of middle-click scrolling to the slow, steady pace of wheel scrolling.
Customize Your Scroll Speed
After the mouse itself, the mouse wheel is the single greatest navigation tool ever invented. Mine is spinning constantly, especially in Firefox, where I use it to zip up and down Web pages.
By default, however, one "turn" of the mouse wheel scrolls only a few lines at a time--and I want to move faster. Fortunately, there's a fairly easy way to adjust Firefox's scroll speed. Even better, there's a keyboard shortcut that can slow it down again for "precision" scrolling.
Here's how to change the default scroll speed:
1.Open Firefox, then type about:config in the address bar and hit Enter.
2.In the Filter box, type mousewheel.withnokey.
3.Right-click mousewheel.withnokey.sysnumlines and then click Toggle. This should set the value to False.
4.Right-click mousewheel.withnokey.numlines and then click Modify. Bump the value to 6 or so, click OK, and then switch to another tab to see if you like the scroll speed. (Thankfully, you don't have to restart Firefox every time you make a change.) If not, experiment a bit until you find a number you like.
Rick Broida writes PC World's Hassle-Free PC blog . Sign up to have Rick's newsletter e-mailed to you each week .
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
NEW USEFUL UTILITIES FOR YOUR COMPUTER SAFETY AND GOOD PERFORMANCE
Today I'm going to bring you a couple of excellent utility programs for your computer, thanks again to PC World never ending helpful contributions:
SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition
One anti-spyware program isn't enough. This useful program does a thorough job of scanning your system for dangers, and then whacks any it finds. SuperAntiSpyware scans not just your files and memory, but your Registry as well in search of potential dangers. It doesn't offer real-time protection, but it's a worthy addition to your anti-spyware arsenal.
--Preston Gralla
In order to download and install this great little free program go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64862/description.html?tk=nl_ddx_h_dlfeat
Click the above or copy and paste to your browser. It will take you to a PC World page where the download is available.
The second (also very useful program) is:
FREE FIXER
If you suspect your PC has been invaded by malware, FreeFixer can help you find it. It shows you a wealth of information about what's running on your PC, but the data is meant primarily for security gurus.
When you kick off a FreeFixer scan, the program digs into those areas of your PC where malware commonly hides, and then displays what it found in categories such as drivers, registry startups and running processes. Many of the discovered items display a "more info" link that will check FreeFixer's database for information such as whether the file or application uses a digital signature, whether other FreeFixer users have reported finding the same file, and what they've chosen to do with it.
The useful app will avoid showing files and programs that are known to be safe, such as Windows components and known good software, to help you focus on potential baddies. But unless you know just what you're doing, you should be very careful about deleting any discovered files yourself.
Instead, you can post your FreeFixer log at a Freefixer Group or online forum, where white-hat volunteers can sift through the data and help you figure out what's what. The FreeFixer user's manual contains instructions for posting your logs, along with plenty of other helpful info for using the app.
FreeFixer can also reverse some malicious system changes put in place by some malware, such as blocking access to the Windows Task Manager or Registry editor. In knowledgeable hands it can help get rid of a malware infection, but non-gurus should get advice from an online volunteer before taking action based on a FreeFixer scan.
--Erik Larkin
In order to download and install this great little free program go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,81161/description.html?tk=nl_ddx_h_dlfeat
Click the above or copy and paste to your browser. It will take you to a PC World page where the download is available.
Both the above programs are great. Thanks again PC World for your help!
To you all who will be using these programs, I please ask for your comments either by email to me or you can also post them right here.
Again, Merry Christmas and a very very Happy New Year to you all.
George Freire
SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition
One anti-spyware program isn't enough. This useful program does a thorough job of scanning your system for dangers, and then whacks any it finds. SuperAntiSpyware scans not just your files and memory, but your Registry as well in search of potential dangers. It doesn't offer real-time protection, but it's a worthy addition to your anti-spyware arsenal.
--Preston Gralla
In order to download and install this great little free program go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64862/description.html?tk=nl_ddx_h_dlfeat
Click the above or copy and paste to your browser. It will take you to a PC World page where the download is available.
The second (also very useful program) is:
FREE FIXER
If you suspect your PC has been invaded by malware, FreeFixer can help you find it. It shows you a wealth of information about what's running on your PC, but the data is meant primarily for security gurus.
When you kick off a FreeFixer scan, the program digs into those areas of your PC where malware commonly hides, and then displays what it found in categories such as drivers, registry startups and running processes. Many of the discovered items display a "more info" link that will check FreeFixer's database for information such as whether the file or application uses a digital signature, whether other FreeFixer users have reported finding the same file, and what they've chosen to do with it.
The useful app will avoid showing files and programs that are known to be safe, such as Windows components and known good software, to help you focus on potential baddies. But unless you know just what you're doing, you should be very careful about deleting any discovered files yourself.
Instead, you can post your FreeFixer log at a Freefixer Group or online forum, where white-hat volunteers can sift through the data and help you figure out what's what. The FreeFixer user's manual contains instructions for posting your logs, along with plenty of other helpful info for using the app.
FreeFixer can also reverse some malicious system changes put in place by some malware, such as blocking access to the Windows Task Manager or Registry editor. In knowledgeable hands it can help get rid of a malware infection, but non-gurus should get advice from an online volunteer before taking action based on a FreeFixer scan.
--Erik Larkin
In order to download and install this great little free program go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,81161/description.html?tk=nl_ddx_h_dlfeat
Click the above or copy and paste to your browser. It will take you to a PC World page where the download is available.
Both the above programs are great. Thanks again PC World for your help!
To you all who will be using these programs, I please ask for your comments either by email to me or you can also post them right here.
Again, Merry Christmas and a very very Happy New Year to you all.
George Freire
Saturday, December 19, 2009
MERRY CHRISTMAS, FELIZ NATAL, HAPPY NEW YEAR, BOM ANO NOVO FOR ALL OUR VIEWERS
It's been a year since this blog was started.
I hope we have been of help to some, brought new stuff to a lot of our viers and computer users, but above all offered some enjoyment and good reading to all.
WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FULL OF GOOD HEALTH AND PROSPERITY!
George Freire
I hope we have been of help to some, brought new stuff to a lot of our viers and computer users, but above all offered some enjoyment and good reading to all.
WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FULL OF GOOD HEALTH AND PROSPERITY!
George Freire
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
FREE WINDOWS VISTA AND WINDOWS 7 QUICK FIX TOOLS
As you know I'm always looking for good free software utilities. I receive a lot of tips from my friends at PC World, (for me the best computer technical magazine on the market).
Today they have sent me an e-mail concerning an interesting free utility that can be quite useful and simple to use for fixing "on the spot" a number of annoying problems which once in a while frustrate all of us who use computers frequently.
The name of this utility program is "FixWin". Mr. Rick Broider one of the best tech writers at PC World tells us the following:
"Have you ever longed for a quick Windows fix? Fix Common Windows Problems with One Click?
Have you ever wished for a magic wand that could make annoying Windows problems disappear? Like, say, a missing Recycle Bin icon, or those pesky Runtime Error messages in Internet Explorer ?
FixWin is that magic wand. This ingenious free utility requires just over 500KB of space, runs without installation, and quickly fixes 50 different Windows glitches--many of which would normally require a trip to the Registry. These are divided among five categories, including Windows Explorer, Internet & Connectivity, and System Tools.
Each problem is presented with a brief but thorough description. Here's an example: "CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs." (Been there!) To fix a problem, just click the corresponding Fix button.
It really is that simple. And before you get started, FixWin can scan your machine for--and fix--corrupted system files. It also allows you to create a System Restore point before making any changes, a smart addition.
Certainly FixWin won't solve all your Windows issues, but if it can correct just one, it's well worth the download."
In order to download this program go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,82272-order,3/description.html
(copy and paste the above address to your browser if clicking the above does not work)
The editorial review of the program is as follows:
"Looking for a fix to a simple problem in Windows Vista or Windows 7? FixWin offers one-click solutions to dozens of Windows problems. Run the program and look through its menu for a description of your woe. When you find it, click a button, and your problem should be fixed. I used it to restore my Internet Explorer icon, for example, and it worked without a hitch.
FixWin doesn't actually look into your system and uncover problems. Instead, it lists several dozen potential problems in five categories: Windows Explorer, Internet & Connectivity, Windows Media, System Tools, and Additional Fixes. It lists all the problems you might have, not ones that it knows that you do have. So, for example, it lists "The Recycle Bin icon is missing from your desktop," even if the icon is there. You have to know you have a problem, and then use this program to fix it. It won't uncover problems for you.
Should you download the program? If Windows is working fine, there's no need to do it, because it won't do anything for you. But if you know that you have a problem, FixWin is worth the little download, in case it can fix it for you.
--Preston Gralla"
I have downloaded the program and I think and recommend that you do it to. Even if you have no problems now, it is well worth having it available.
George Freire
Today they have sent me an e-mail concerning an interesting free utility that can be quite useful and simple to use for fixing "on the spot" a number of annoying problems which once in a while frustrate all of us who use computers frequently.
The name of this utility program is "FixWin". Mr. Rick Broider one of the best tech writers at PC World tells us the following:
"Have you ever longed for a quick Windows fix? Fix Common Windows Problems with One Click?
Have you ever wished for a magic wand that could make annoying Windows problems disappear? Like, say, a missing Recycle Bin icon, or those pesky Runtime Error messages in Internet Explorer ?
FixWin is that magic wand. This ingenious free utility requires just over 500KB of space, runs without installation, and quickly fixes 50 different Windows glitches--many of which would normally require a trip to the Registry. These are divided among five categories, including Windows Explorer, Internet & Connectivity, and System Tools.
Each problem is presented with a brief but thorough description. Here's an example: "CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs." (Been there!) To fix a problem, just click the corresponding Fix button.
It really is that simple. And before you get started, FixWin can scan your machine for--and fix--corrupted system files. It also allows you to create a System Restore point before making any changes, a smart addition.
Certainly FixWin won't solve all your Windows issues, but if it can correct just one, it's well worth the download."
In order to download this program go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,82272-order,3/description.html
(copy and paste the above address to your browser if clicking the above does not work)
The editorial review of the program is as follows:
"Looking for a fix to a simple problem in Windows Vista or Windows 7? FixWin offers one-click solutions to dozens of Windows problems. Run the program and look through its menu for a description of your woe. When you find it, click a button, and your problem should be fixed. I used it to restore my Internet Explorer icon, for example, and it worked without a hitch.
FixWin doesn't actually look into your system and uncover problems. Instead, it lists several dozen potential problems in five categories: Windows Explorer, Internet & Connectivity, Windows Media, System Tools, and Additional Fixes. It lists all the problems you might have, not ones that it knows that you do have. So, for example, it lists "The Recycle Bin icon is missing from your desktop," even if the icon is there. You have to know you have a problem, and then use this program to fix it. It won't uncover problems for you.
Should you download the program? If Windows is working fine, there's no need to do it, because it won't do anything for you. But if you know that you have a problem, FixWin is worth the little download, in case it can fix it for you.
--Preston Gralla"
I have downloaded the program and I think and recommend that you do it to. Even if you have no problems now, it is well worth having it available.
George Freire
Monday, December 7, 2009
TOP THREE FIXES FOR WINDOWS 7 UPGRADE WOES
As I have mentioned in posts of late October concerning the best upgrade procedures to Windows 7, in my case I did not, (fortunately), find any serious problems.
However, in an e-mail from PC World to yours truly, they mention 3 problems that some people have encountered when doing the upgrade.
Because some of you may be unfortunate and come across such problems, I am transcribing what PC World advises in order to overcome any installation woes for Windows 7.:
TOP 3 FIXES FOR WINDOWS 7 UPGRADE WOES:
We all know that not every OS upgrade goes smoothly--but we're still annoyed when faced with seemingly unresolvable installation problems. Windows 7 has presented some users with a few serious upgrade bugs of its own. This week I explain how to exterminate them.
- Robert Strohmeyer, PC World
In order to read the whole article and get the information you need to overcome such problems when upgrading to Windows 7, go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/183382/fix_the_most_common_windows_7_upgrade_problems.html?tk=nl_wvx_h_cbintro
Copy the above web address, paste it on your browser and you will see the whole article by Mr. Robert Strohmeyer. It is indded very good stuff.
I hope this will be of help to those who may experience problems during the upgrade installation.
George Freire
However, in an e-mail from PC World to yours truly, they mention 3 problems that some people have encountered when doing the upgrade.
Because some of you may be unfortunate and come across such problems, I am transcribing what PC World advises in order to overcome any installation woes for Windows 7.:
TOP 3 FIXES FOR WINDOWS 7 UPGRADE WOES:
We all know that not every OS upgrade goes smoothly--but we're still annoyed when faced with seemingly unresolvable installation problems. Windows 7 has presented some users with a few serious upgrade bugs of its own. This week I explain how to exterminate them.
- Robert Strohmeyer, PC World
In order to read the whole article and get the information you need to overcome such problems when upgrading to Windows 7, go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/183382/fix_the_most_common_windows_7_upgrade_problems.html?tk=nl_wvx_h_cbintro
Copy the above web address, paste it on your browser and you will see the whole article by Mr. Robert Strohmeyer. It is indded very good stuff.
I hope this will be of help to those who may experience problems during the upgrade installation.
George Freire
Sunday, December 6, 2009
REVIEW OF PAST POSTS OF INTEREST
Friends,
I have been so busy with Christmas planning, some parties, buying presents etc., that I have not had much time to prepare new posts.
Therefore, today I am going to make it easy on myself and just review two past posts that I am sure will be useful for those of you who may not have read them in the past. The first was published on from April 22nd and the second was published July 9, 2009.
The day after tomorrow will be our first anniversary! this Blog was started on December 8, 2008.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!
George Freire
April 22nd, 2009
DID YOU KNOW THESE WINDOWS SECRETS?
Both WINDOWS XP and VISTA have vast hidden commands and functions which are in most part unknown to many of you readers of this blog.
Today I'm going to show you some of these "secrets", which will make your computer work better and faster.
Like everything else, if you proceed to optimize your computer by following the suggestions herein, make sure to do it step by step and read the instructions carefully.
HERE GOES:
1- Lots of visual effects cost valuable computer power. You can tone down the visual effects on WINDOWS XP by going to Control Panel/System and under the "Advanced" tab disable "visual effects" to free up valuable computer power.
On WINDOWS VISTA, go to System Properties, click "Advanced" tab, then "Performance settings" tab and under "Visual Effects" click "Adjust for Performance" button and then OK.
2- When using an alternative firewall, which in most cases are better the WINDOWS firewall, such as Norton or other security programs, it is highly recommended to disable the WINDOWS firewall, otherwise the two firewalls operating at the same time may slow down the system or even make it inoperable.
3-Every time there is a crash or program error, WINDOWS saves a "memory dump" in a file called "MEMORY.DMP" under the installation directory, (e.g. C:\Windows). In order to free disk space, this file can be deleted without a problem.
4- WINDOWS can significantly slow down its own start as it searches for shared files, folders and printers. In WINDOWS EXPLORER, you can go to "TOOLS/Folder Options/View" and disable the feature "Automatically search for network folders and printers".
5- WINDOWS XP has a command that lets you verify and restore critical system files if necessary. Type the command "sfc /scannow" under the "Start/Run. WINDOWS XP will check through the system files and automatically replace any damaged files. (It might sometimes ask you to insert the WINDOWS CD when doing this).
6- When WINDOWS VISTA is first installed and in most cases also in a new computer just purchased, there is no "Run" command in the "START" menu. If you want to have this command available, (and I recommend you should have it available), go to "Control Panel", choose "Task bar and Start Menu Properties", go to the "Start Menu" tab, click "Customize" find and check the option "Run Command" and then click OK and OK again.
7-Did you know that you can download WINDOWS VISTA and test it for a period of 30 days, without having to buy it? Well you can do it and extend that period to 120 days! How?
Log on as Administrator, go to "All Programs/Accessories" and right click on "Command Prompt". Select "Run as Administrator", then type in the command "slmgr.vbs-rearm".
You can do this up to 3 times!
8- WINDOWS indexes nearly all files and folders used during work flow on the system. Those who can do without this feature, can go into "My Computer", right click on the drive in question, (normally drive C:), choose "Properties", then uncheck the option "Allow Indexing Service to Index This Disk for Fast File Searching".
That's it for today. From time to time I'll come up with more secrets, (there are so many that it will take a life time...)
Enjoy,
George Freire
Thursday, July 9, 2009
DID YOU KNOW ?
Here are some tips that will help everyone make their computers work better and faster:
-Windows can significantly slow down its own start as it searches for shared files, folders and printers. In Windows Explorer, you can go to "Tools-Folder Options-View" and disable the feature "Automatically Search For Network Folders and Printers". This will make your start faster.
-Whenever there is a crash or error, Windows saves a memory dump in a file called "Memory.Dump" under the installation directory, (e.g. C;\Windows). This file can be deleted without any problems resulting. This will free disk space that you might need.
-When using an alternate firewall solutions, such as those available in virus protection programs such as Norton and many others, it is recommended to disable the Windows Firewall, otherwise there will be interference between the two firewalls. To do this, go to "Control Panel-Network Connections", open up the connection you use and choose "Advanced-Internet Connection Firewall", (or Windows Firewall , after SP2), and turn it off.
-Lots of visual effects cost valuable computing power and in most cases they loose their luster after a few days...
You can ton down the visual effects by going to "Control Panel/System", under the "Advanced" tab and disabling them to free up valuable computer power.
In Windows Vista, go to "System Properties, click "Advanced " tab, "Preference Settings" tab and under "Visual Effects" click "Adjust for Performance" button and then click OK.
-When Vista is first installed, or on new computers, there is no "Run" command visible in the start menu. If you want it to show there, which is a good thing, go to Control Panel, choose "Task Bar and Start Menu Properties", go to the "Start Menu" tab, click "Customize...", find and check the option "Run Command" and then click OK again.
Windows XP has a command that lets you restore critical system files if necessary. Click "Start/Run" and then type the command "scf/scannow". Windows XP will check through the system files and automatically replace any damaged files. (It may ask you in some instances to insert the Windows CD or the restore CD that came with the computer when doing this.
For today this is it. I hope the above will be of help for your good computing.
Enjoy,
George Freire
I have been so busy with Christmas planning, some parties, buying presents etc., that I have not had much time to prepare new posts.
Therefore, today I am going to make it easy on myself and just review two past posts that I am sure will be useful for those of you who may not have read them in the past. The first was published on from April 22nd and the second was published July 9, 2009.
The day after tomorrow will be our first anniversary! this Blog was started on December 8, 2008.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!
George Freire
April 22nd, 2009
DID YOU KNOW THESE WINDOWS SECRETS?
Both WINDOWS XP and VISTA have vast hidden commands and functions which are in most part unknown to many of you readers of this blog.
Today I'm going to show you some of these "secrets", which will make your computer work better and faster.
Like everything else, if you proceed to optimize your computer by following the suggestions herein, make sure to do it step by step and read the instructions carefully.
HERE GOES:
1- Lots of visual effects cost valuable computer power. You can tone down the visual effects on WINDOWS XP by going to Control Panel/System and under the "Advanced" tab disable "visual effects" to free up valuable computer power.
On WINDOWS VISTA, go to System Properties, click "Advanced" tab, then "Performance settings" tab and under "Visual Effects" click "Adjust for Performance" button and then OK.
2- When using an alternative firewall, which in most cases are better the WINDOWS firewall, such as Norton or other security programs, it is highly recommended to disable the WINDOWS firewall, otherwise the two firewalls operating at the same time may slow down the system or even make it inoperable.
3-Every time there is a crash or program error, WINDOWS saves a "memory dump" in a file called "MEMORY.DMP" under the installation directory, (e.g. C:\Windows). In order to free disk space, this file can be deleted without a problem.
4- WINDOWS can significantly slow down its own start as it searches for shared files, folders and printers. In WINDOWS EXPLORER, you can go to "TOOLS/Folder Options/View" and disable the feature "Automatically search for network folders and printers".
5- WINDOWS XP has a command that lets you verify and restore critical system files if necessary. Type the command "sfc /scannow" under the "Start/Run. WINDOWS XP will check through the system files and automatically replace any damaged files. (It might sometimes ask you to insert the WINDOWS CD when doing this).
6- When WINDOWS VISTA is first installed and in most cases also in a new computer just purchased, there is no "Run" command in the "START" menu. If you want to have this command available, (and I recommend you should have it available), go to "Control Panel", choose "Task bar and Start Menu Properties", go to the "Start Menu" tab, click "Customize" find and check the option "Run Command" and then click OK and OK again.
7-Did you know that you can download WINDOWS VISTA and test it for a period of 30 days, without having to buy it? Well you can do it and extend that period to 120 days! How?
Log on as Administrator, go to "All Programs/Accessories" and right click on "Command Prompt". Select "Run as Administrator", then type in the command "slmgr.vbs-rearm".
You can do this up to 3 times!
8- WINDOWS indexes nearly all files and folders used during work flow on the system. Those who can do without this feature, can go into "My Computer", right click on the drive in question, (normally drive C:), choose "Properties", then uncheck the option "Allow Indexing Service to Index This Disk for Fast File Searching".
That's it for today. From time to time I'll come up with more secrets, (there are so many that it will take a life time...)
Enjoy,
George Freire
Thursday, July 9, 2009
DID YOU KNOW ?
Here are some tips that will help everyone make their computers work better and faster:
-Windows can significantly slow down its own start as it searches for shared files, folders and printers. In Windows Explorer, you can go to "Tools-Folder Options-View" and disable the feature "Automatically Search For Network Folders and Printers". This will make your start faster.
-Whenever there is a crash or error, Windows saves a memory dump in a file called "Memory.Dump" under the installation directory, (e.g. C;\Windows). This file can be deleted without any problems resulting. This will free disk space that you might need.
-When using an alternate firewall solutions, such as those available in virus protection programs such as Norton and many others, it is recommended to disable the Windows Firewall, otherwise there will be interference between the two firewalls. To do this, go to "Control Panel-Network Connections", open up the connection you use and choose "Advanced-Internet Connection Firewall", (or Windows Firewall , after SP2), and turn it off.
-Lots of visual effects cost valuable computing power and in most cases they loose their luster after a few days...
You can ton down the visual effects by going to "Control Panel/System", under the "Advanced" tab and disabling them to free up valuable computer power.
In Windows Vista, go to "System Properties, click "Advanced " tab, "Preference Settings" tab and under "Visual Effects" click "Adjust for Performance" button and then click OK.
-When Vista is first installed, or on new computers, there is no "Run" command visible in the start menu. If you want it to show there, which is a good thing, go to Control Panel, choose "Task Bar and Start Menu Properties", go to the "Start Menu" tab, click "Customize...", find and check the option "Run Command" and then click OK again.
Windows XP has a command that lets you restore critical system files if necessary. Click "Start/Run" and then type the command "scf/scannow". Windows XP will check through the system files and automatically replace any damaged files. (It may ask you in some instances to insert the Windows CD or the restore CD that came with the computer when doing this.
For today this is it. I hope the above will be of help for your good computing.
Enjoy,
George Freire
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
THE WINDOWS CLUB
If you are not familiar with this web site "THE WINDOWS CLUB", you must visit it:
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/
This site has almost infinite good info, such as new features, tips, security matters, free downloads related to both Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Today, (as an example of the good stuff that can be found in this web site), I am going to tell you about a short but very, very useful program I have downloaded in my computers, called "Windows Access Panel". This program has been recommended by our friends at PC World. Rather then trying to explain what it does, I am going to transcribe the editorial review:
"Windows Access Panel is a free, moderately useful program that can make it easier for you to change Windows settings that you otherwise wouldn't know how to alter. It doesn't actually give you any tools or access to settings that aren't otherwise available in Windows. Rather, it gives you one-click access to settings that normally require several clicks to reach. Instead of having to navigate your way through the Control Panel, or dig deep into menus, you can quickly get right to the setting you want.
For example, to change your User Account Control settings in Vista or 7, you usually have to go through the Control Panel and click several different screens until you get to the settings themselves. It's easy to get lost along the way. With Windows Access Panel, you can get there with one click. The program offers similar one-click access to dozens of other settings. Want to launch a memory diagnostics tool, schedule a task to run automatically, create a repair disk, or monitor your PC's performance? On your own, you likely won't immediately know how to get to the screens that will let you do those things. With Windows Access Panel, you can get to them right away.
If you're comfortable with finding Windows settings on your own, there's no need to download Windows Access Panel. But if you often wish you knew how to navigate to specific settings, you'll find it useful. And if you're looking to make the jump from Windows XP to Windows 7, it might be a good starting point for finding out the locations of useful settings.
--Preston Gralla "
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/
This site has almost infinite good info, such as new features, tips, security matters, free downloads related to both Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Today, (as an example of the good stuff that can be found in this web site), I am going to tell you about a short but very, very useful program I have downloaded in my computers, called "Windows Access Panel". This program has been recommended by our friends at PC World. Rather then trying to explain what it does, I am going to transcribe the editorial review:
"Windows Access Panel is a free, moderately useful program that can make it easier for you to change Windows settings that you otherwise wouldn't know how to alter. It doesn't actually give you any tools or access to settings that aren't otherwise available in Windows. Rather, it gives you one-click access to settings that normally require several clicks to reach. Instead of having to navigate your way through the Control Panel, or dig deep into menus, you can quickly get right to the setting you want.
For example, to change your User Account Control settings in Vista or 7, you usually have to go through the Control Panel and click several different screens until you get to the settings themselves. It's easy to get lost along the way. With Windows Access Panel, you can get there with one click. The program offers similar one-click access to dozens of other settings. Want to launch a memory diagnostics tool, schedule a task to run automatically, create a repair disk, or monitor your PC's performance? On your own, you likely won't immediately know how to get to the screens that will let you do those things. With Windows Access Panel, you can get to them right away.
If you're comfortable with finding Windows settings on your own, there's no need to download Windows Access Panel. But if you often wish you knew how to navigate to specific settings, you'll find it useful. And if you're looking to make the jump from Windows XP to Windows 7, it might be a good starting point for finding out the locations of useful settings.
--Preston Gralla "
In order to download the program go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,81837-order,4-c,desktop/download.html
As i mentioned above I have this program now in my computers. It is indeed a great tool because if I want to go to any of the many features and tools available in Windows, all I have to do is click the icon related to it, without having to go through all the many "clicks" that otherwise would be needed. Presto I'm on it!
When opened, the panel has two screens, "Basic and Advanced features" in total 48 features and tools including quite a few I did not even know existed!
Try it and I am sure you all will love it.
George Freire
Saturday, November 14, 2009
REVIEW OF SOME GOOD POSTS PUBLISHED SINCE THE START OF THIS BLOG
This week I'm going to review two posts published in the past, which some of you may not have seen.
They are quite handy; here goes the first:
KEYBOARD SHORT-CUTS FOR WINDOWS
Here are some good and easy to remember keyboard short-cuts that work in most windows related programs.
They are easy to remember, (especially those that you use more regularly), and as the title says, very fast and easy to use:
SAVE THE CURRENT DOCUMENT: Ctrl-S
SELECT THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT : Ctrl-A (this is useful if you want to copy and paste the document).
TURN ITALICS "ON" , "OFF' : Ctrl-I
TURN BOLD "ON" , "OFF" : Ctrl-B
TURN UNDERLINING "ON" , "OFF" : Ctrl-U
TOGGLE FULL SCREEN MODE
"ON" OR "OFF" IN IE AND OTHERS: F-11
GO TO YOUR HOME PAGE: : Alt-Home
REFRESH WEB PAGE: : Ctrl-F5
There are many more keyboard short-cuts that you can use, however, remembering them all is "kinda" hard to do. I though that the above cover most of the actions that we all need when using "WORD", "EXCEL" Internet Browsers, (IE, Firefox and others); once you start using them, you'll find out that it all comes naturally when you are working in your computer.
George Freire
Here is the other good one:
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR SYSTEM?
When you decide to upgrade certain components in your computer, wouldn't it be nice to first make sure of what you have inside that box in great detail?
That can be very easy to do: go to http://www.cpuid.org/ and download and install a free very, very handy utility called CPU-Z.
This freeware will in a split of a second gather information on the main devices of your computer system such as:
CPU
Name and number.
Core stepping and process.
Package.
Core voltage.
Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.
Supported instructions sets.
Cache information. Mainboard
Vendor, model and revision.
BIOS model and date.
Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.
Graphic interface. Memory
Frequency and timings.
Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table. System
Windows and DirectX version.
Let me know if you have a problem downloading this free sofware.
George Freire
They are quite handy; here goes the first:
KEYBOARD SHORT-CUTS FOR WINDOWS
Here are some good and easy to remember keyboard short-cuts that work in most windows related programs.
They are easy to remember, (especially those that you use more regularly), and as the title says, very fast and easy to use:
SAVE THE CURRENT DOCUMENT: Ctrl-S
SELECT THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT : Ctrl-A (this is useful if you want to copy and paste the document).
TURN ITALICS "ON" , "OFF' : Ctrl-I
TURN BOLD "ON" , "OFF" : Ctrl-B
TURN UNDERLINING "ON" , "OFF" : Ctrl-U
TOGGLE FULL SCREEN MODE
"ON" OR "OFF" IN IE AND OTHERS: F-11
GO TO YOUR HOME PAGE: : Alt-Home
REFRESH WEB PAGE: : Ctrl-F5
There are many more keyboard short-cuts that you can use, however, remembering them all is "kinda" hard to do. I though that the above cover most of the actions that we all need when using "WORD", "EXCEL" Internet Browsers, (IE, Firefox and others); once you start using them, you'll find out that it all comes naturally when you are working in your computer.
George Freire
Here is the other good one:
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR SYSTEM?
When you decide to upgrade certain components in your computer, wouldn't it be nice to first make sure of what you have inside that box in great detail?
That can be very easy to do: go to http://www.cpuid.org/ and download and install a free very, very handy utility called CPU-Z.
This freeware will in a split of a second gather information on the main devices of your computer system such as:
CPU
Name and number.
Core stepping and process.
Package.
Core voltage.
Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.
Supported instructions sets.
Cache information. Mainboard
Vendor, model and revision.
BIOS model and date.
Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.
Graphic interface. Memory
Frequency and timings.
Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table. System
Windows and DirectX version.
Let me know if you have a problem downloading this free sofware.
George Freire
Friday, November 6, 2009
UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 7 FOR THOSE WHO STILL HAVE WINDOWS XP (PART II)
Last week I told you how I did the conversion, (upgrade), to Windows 7 from Windows Vista. I also told you that making the conversion from Windows XP is a completely different situation, in as much as the conversion must be a "clean install" rather then an "upgrade".
The "upgrade" is relatively easy because your settings, your applications, your data and your files all travel from Windows Vista to windows 7 and there is very little work to be done after the installation is completed.
Unfortunately you Windows XP users are not that lucky; after the "clean install", you must reset your users and network, (if applicable), reinstall all your drivers, programs, data and files from scratch. Don't let this discourage you, because if you prepare your work with a little patience, you'll end up with a computer that is much cleaner, because all the garbage that was accumulated by Windows XP during the years of use of your computer will be gone for good!
One possible problem that you'll have to face is the possible incompatibility of certain application drivers that worked with W XP but will not work with W 7 such as drivers for your display, audio system, network adapters, wireless keyboard and mouse, etc. You can check the drivers you have by going to "device manager" in your computer. (click "start", right click "my computer", select "properties", click the "hardware" tab and finally click "device manager" button. once you are there, it will display a complete list of all devices installed in your computer as well as the drivers for each one of them.
To find out if you have such problems, you'll have to run the Microsoft short program I referred to last week, Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor , by going to the following Web address:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx
(click the above or copy and paste on your browser).
As i explained last week, once you run this program in your computer, it will generate a report which will verify compatibility of your hardware, software, drivers etc. that are now installed in your computer and tell you what you have to do before trying to do the clean install of W 7.
In order to find the right drivers that will run in W 7, you must download them from Windows 7 Compatibility Center at the following Web address:
The "upgrade" is relatively easy because your settings, your applications, your data and your files all travel from Windows Vista to windows 7 and there is very little work to be done after the installation is completed.
Unfortunately you Windows XP users are not that lucky; after the "clean install", you must reset your users and network, (if applicable), reinstall all your drivers, programs, data and files from scratch. Don't let this discourage you, because if you prepare your work with a little patience, you'll end up with a computer that is much cleaner, because all the garbage that was accumulated by Windows XP during the years of use of your computer will be gone for good!
One possible problem that you'll have to face is the possible incompatibility of certain application drivers that worked with W XP but will not work with W 7 such as drivers for your display, audio system, network adapters, wireless keyboard and mouse, etc. You can check the drivers you have by going to "device manager" in your computer. (click "start", right click "my computer", select "properties", click the "hardware" tab and finally click "device manager" button. once you are there, it will display a complete list of all devices installed in your computer as well as the drivers for each one of them.
To find out if you have such problems, you'll have to run the Microsoft short program I referred to last week, Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor , by going to the following Web address:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx
(click the above or copy and paste on your browser).
As i explained last week, once you run this program in your computer, it will generate a report which will verify compatibility of your hardware, software, drivers etc. that are now installed in your computer and tell you what you have to do before trying to do the clean install of W 7.
In order to find the right drivers that will run in W 7, you must download them from Windows 7 Compatibility Center at the following Web address:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatability/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx
(click the above or copy and paste on your browser).
Needless to say that now you will have to back up to an external drive all your data, files and any other information you want to transfer to the Window 7 environment. Programs will have to be reinstalled again and I assume you have the original disks for the same such as Window Works, Word etc. etc.
If you don't have the disks, the other solution will be to create an image back up of your hard drive. This is the most dependable way to transfer your old set up without having to install the programs with original disks, especially if you don't have them or don't know where you put them. Such an operation will restore all you have on your hard drive. You will need of course an external drive to copy the image to and a program that will do it.
Please read my post of September 5, 2009:
" BACK UP AND RECOVERY OF YOUR COMPUTER HARD DRIVE IS NOW EASY TO PERFORM"
This post explains how to do it using a very popular program called ACRONIS, (this program is not free, it costs $39.00, but it is well worth having because it will keep an image of your hard drive that can be updated as many times as you command it to do).
There are other free programs that will do it, but most of them are not as complete and easy to operate as ACRONIS,. A good one recommended by PC World is Macrium Reflect Free that can be downloaded at:
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp
Keep in mind that it takes several hours to copy an image of your hard drive to an external hard drive, especially if your hard drive has been accumulating all kinds of stuff along the years... a good way of doing it is starting the operation at night before you go to bed. The following morning it will be done...
Once you have done all this preparation work, you are now ready to run the clean installation. follow the steps I described last week, but when you get to the point in the wizard that asks you if you want to do an "Upgrade" or a "Custom" (clean installation), you'll have to select "Custom".
From that point on just follow the instructions, (see my post of last week), and after a couple of hours Windows 7 will be installed in your computer. After this, you will have to either transfer the hard drive image you have copied to your external hard drive, (if you decided to go this route), or to reinstall all your programs using the original disks and then copying the data files and installing new drives if required.
My friends, this may seem too complicated and scary for some of you, but really, if you have a little "hands on" experience with your computer it won't be so bad after all. In any case, this will be a good practice session for you to get really well acquainted in computer operation.
Have fun!!!
(Your comments will be very much appreciated)
George Freire
Saturday, October 31, 2009
WINDOWS 7 REPORT; HOW I MANAGED TO DO THE CONVERSION FROM WINDOWS VISTA (PART I)
Dear viewers of the blog,
As promised on my post of October 26, I'm going to report to you how I managed to do my conversion to Windows 7 from Windows Vista on the first of my two computers.
For this first conversion, (which I expected with reason, to be the most troublesome), I decided to do it in my laptop computer.The reason for this choice was rational: taking into consideration that a few hours are needed to do the conversion, I had a little more flexibility, could move around and take the computer with me from my office to downstairs etc.etc.
I ran into some frustrating moments, but it was all my fault, not being patient enough and trying to do things too fast...
I learned a lesson, therefore when I do the other conversion in my PC things will be a lot easier and faster.
Let's now look at what I did and what I recommend you all should do when you decide to convert to Windows 7:
I am addressing those of you who have Windows Vista in your computers. For those who still have Windows XP, the procedures are different and more complex, therefore I will address this matter on Part II, which I intend to post later this week.
Before you attempt to start your conversion, you must run the Microsoft short program "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Report". You can download it from Microsoft at the following address:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx
(Copy and paste the above to your browser).
Once you run the program in your computer, it will generate a report which will verify compatability of your hardware and software installed in your computer. The good news is that if you have windows Vista running well in your computer, odds are that most of what you have is compatible.
However, there are some programs that may not be compatible, for which you will have to download new drivers available on the Web, or in some cases, you'll have to uninstall some programs which will interfere with the conversion operation. These programs can then be re-installed after the conversion.
In my case, as an example, the report advised that I had to uninstall the "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", "Catalyst Control Center", "Best Buy Digital Music Store" and "My HP Games". It also showed a complete list of all the programs installed in my computer that were compatible with the conversion and those that would need new drivers once the conversion was completed.
Believe me my friends, you must follow strictly what the report tells you, or you risk nor being able to do the conversion right and create annoying problems difficult to solve, other than starting from scratch all over again.
I was in a hurry to do the conversion, followed the report directions, uninstalled the programs indicated, but missed one, (Catalyst Control Center), because I got confused,when I had already uninstalled the ATI Catalyst Install Manager.
This was a costly mistake, because after the conversion was finished, nothing worked right and I kept receiving strange messages like "Windows cannot verify compatability etc. etc.
To make a long story short, I had to return my computer to new factory installed software,(Windows Vista), using the recovery disks I had prepared when I started the computer for the first time after I had purchased it. In doing so I wiped out all the software installed in the past 5 months. ( I had all the software disks so I did not lose the programs, but had to re-install all of them after the conversion which took the better part of 5 hours!)
I am telling you this long story because I want you to make sure not to do the same mistake. (If I had uninstalled that program as directed, all the software in the computer would have been transferred during the conversion without any problems!).
Any way, on my second attempt all went well. Here is how it was done:
Make sure you are connected to the Internet and start your computer to Windows Vista, as you do normally. Once it is running, insert the Windows 7 Upgrade DVD in the optical drive; set up will launch automatically.
In case it does not start automatically, click the "Start" button on your keyboard, click "Computer" or "My Computer", open the Windows 7 installation disk on your DVD drive and double click "setup.exe".
The installation wizard opens and early on will ask whether you want to check for compatability online; (this would bring you to the Web page for the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, but since you already have done this thanks to my advice), ignore this. It will also ask you to check for updates on line; click "yes"; after a few seconds the updates if any are done; at this point go ahead and click "Install now" and follow the instructions.
In the next step you'll have to agree to the "End-User Licensing Agreement" after which the Wizard gives you two choices: "Upgrade" or "Custom" (clean) install. Since you are upgrading from Windows Vista, the choice is obvious, you should select "Upgrade".
If you have more than one partition on your hard drive, the Wizard may ask you which partition you want to use. Select of course the partition where windows Vista is installed, (in most cases C:/ drive).
You may now get a warning that you are going to lose your existing version of Windows Vista and tell you that the files will be moved to a new folder called C:/Windows.old.
After that the installation box comes up and shows you a list of automated tasks that will follow such as "copying Windows files, expanding files", etc. etc.
At this time you will have nothing more to do but wait; and depending on how fast and how much memory you have in your computer, it may take two to three hours for the conversion to take place. Go have dinner, read a book, whatever and check the computer after a while.
When it is all done you'll see a window in the Wizard asking for the "Product Key" and whether you want the program to be activated on line. (The Product Key is shown on the left side of the plastic box where the conversion disk is enclosed and is composed of 5 groups of 5 letter/number combinations).
I entered the Product Key and checked the box for activation on line. After that click next. Another page opens, (titled "Help Protect Your Computer and Improve Windows Automatically"). 3 options are available, the best is in my opinion "Install Important Updates Only"; I selected that one, but it is up to you.
After this the Wizard has completed its function, your computer will reboot and Hurray!!! will return with the full new version of Windows 7.
It is time now to re-install the programs that you had to uninstall before the conversion, (if any), and download drivers for certain programs, (if needed). I assume that by now you are a little tired, so you can do it in good time the next day...
For today this will be all, I am going a little long on this post, but I hope all this stuff will be of help to you all.
On my next post I will talk about the good things I found on this new version of Windows as well as the few I did not like, but let me tell you, I like this new version a LOT.
Have fun and let me know if you enjoyed the above.
George Freire
As promised on my post of October 26, I'm going to report to you how I managed to do my conversion to Windows 7 from Windows Vista on the first of my two computers.
For this first conversion, (which I expected with reason, to be the most troublesome), I decided to do it in my laptop computer.The reason for this choice was rational: taking into consideration that a few hours are needed to do the conversion, I had a little more flexibility, could move around and take the computer with me from my office to downstairs etc.etc.
I ran into some frustrating moments, but it was all my fault, not being patient enough and trying to do things too fast...
I learned a lesson, therefore when I do the other conversion in my PC things will be a lot easier and faster.
Let's now look at what I did and what I recommend you all should do when you decide to convert to Windows 7:
I am addressing those of you who have Windows Vista in your computers. For those who still have Windows XP, the procedures are different and more complex, therefore I will address this matter on Part II, which I intend to post later this week.
Before you attempt to start your conversion, you must run the Microsoft short program "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Report". You can download it from Microsoft at the following address:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx
(Copy and paste the above to your browser).
Once you run the program in your computer, it will generate a report which will verify compatability of your hardware and software installed in your computer. The good news is that if you have windows Vista running well in your computer, odds are that most of what you have is compatible.
However, there are some programs that may not be compatible, for which you will have to download new drivers available on the Web, or in some cases, you'll have to uninstall some programs which will interfere with the conversion operation. These programs can then be re-installed after the conversion.
In my case, as an example, the report advised that I had to uninstall the "ATI Catalyst Install Manager", "Catalyst Control Center", "Best Buy Digital Music Store" and "My HP Games". It also showed a complete list of all the programs installed in my computer that were compatible with the conversion and those that would need new drivers once the conversion was completed.
Believe me my friends, you must follow strictly what the report tells you, or you risk nor being able to do the conversion right and create annoying problems difficult to solve, other than starting from scratch all over again.
I was in a hurry to do the conversion, followed the report directions, uninstalled the programs indicated, but missed one, (Catalyst Control Center), because I got confused,when I had already uninstalled the ATI Catalyst Install Manager.
This was a costly mistake, because after the conversion was finished, nothing worked right and I kept receiving strange messages like "Windows cannot verify compatability etc. etc.
To make a long story short, I had to return my computer to new factory installed software,(Windows Vista), using the recovery disks I had prepared when I started the computer for the first time after I had purchased it. In doing so I wiped out all the software installed in the past 5 months. ( I had all the software disks so I did not lose the programs, but had to re-install all of them after the conversion which took the better part of 5 hours!)
I am telling you this long story because I want you to make sure not to do the same mistake. (If I had uninstalled that program as directed, all the software in the computer would have been transferred during the conversion without any problems!).
Any way, on my second attempt all went well. Here is how it was done:
Make sure you are connected to the Internet and start your computer to Windows Vista, as you do normally. Once it is running, insert the Windows 7 Upgrade DVD in the optical drive; set up will launch automatically.
In case it does not start automatically, click the "Start" button on your keyboard, click "Computer" or "My Computer", open the Windows 7 installation disk on your DVD drive and double click "setup.exe".
The installation wizard opens and early on will ask whether you want to check for compatability online; (this would bring you to the Web page for the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, but since you already have done this thanks to my advice), ignore this. It will also ask you to check for updates on line; click "yes"; after a few seconds the updates if any are done; at this point go ahead and click "Install now" and follow the instructions.
In the next step you'll have to agree to the "End-User Licensing Agreement" after which the Wizard gives you two choices: "Upgrade" or "Custom" (clean) install. Since you are upgrading from Windows Vista, the choice is obvious, you should select "Upgrade".
If you have more than one partition on your hard drive, the Wizard may ask you which partition you want to use. Select of course the partition where windows Vista is installed, (in most cases C:/ drive).
You may now get a warning that you are going to lose your existing version of Windows Vista and tell you that the files will be moved to a new folder called C:/Windows.old.
After that the installation box comes up and shows you a list of automated tasks that will follow such as "copying Windows files, expanding files", etc. etc.
At this time you will have nothing more to do but wait; and depending on how fast and how much memory you have in your computer, it may take two to three hours for the conversion to take place. Go have dinner, read a book, whatever and check the computer after a while.
When it is all done you'll see a window in the Wizard asking for the "Product Key" and whether you want the program to be activated on line. (The Product Key is shown on the left side of the plastic box where the conversion disk is enclosed and is composed of 5 groups of 5 letter/number combinations).
I entered the Product Key and checked the box for activation on line. After that click next. Another page opens, (titled "Help Protect Your Computer and Improve Windows Automatically"). 3 options are available, the best is in my opinion "Install Important Updates Only"; I selected that one, but it is up to you.
After this the Wizard has completed its function, your computer will reboot and Hurray!!! will return with the full new version of Windows 7.
It is time now to re-install the programs that you had to uninstall before the conversion, (if any), and download drivers for certain programs, (if needed). I assume that by now you are a little tired, so you can do it in good time the next day...
For today this will be all, I am going a little long on this post, but I hope all this stuff will be of help to you all.
On my next post I will talk about the good things I found on this new version of Windows as well as the few I did not like, but let me tell you, I like this new version a LOT.
Have fun and let me know if you enjoyed the above.
George Freire
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