10 Skills EVERY computer user should have (or lear...

I originally posted this list in January 2007. However, through my keen observation skills, I discovered that all computer users have not yet read and digested this information. For this reason, I’m posting it again because I won’t stop working to educate computer users until every computer user knows these 10 skills. Computers have become almost a main stream household appliance. Whether you have been using a...

How to backup your important stuff – Video T...

Photos I’m betting that your photos top the list as your most precious data. If that is true, then you want to back that data up. First, you need to store all your photos in one easy to find (and backup) spot. My suggestion is to use the default My Pictures folder found in all versions of Windows. If you have not purposefully moved your photos to another location, then they should all reside there now. However, since we...

How to burn a CD with Windows XP

Floppy disks have long since departed from the computer landscape. Most comptuer companies have not included floppy drives as standard equipment for at least two years.  I say good riddance except for one thing…they were easy to use. Computer users felt comfortable copying and backing up information to these slow, yet convenient drives. For quick and roomy storage today, I recommend flash memory drives (click here for...

The $399 Power Computer

Last week, I was charged with finding a computer for a customer who only wanted it for Internet, email, and word processing. He didn’t want to add any games, extra programs, or anything else to it. My first thought, as I was listening to his needs, was Ubuntu. One other request was not to break the bank on cost. Lastly, he told me that he would be hooked up to a high speed cable Internet service. Upon talking a little...

CDBurnerXP free CD burning and DVD burning softwar...

It’s already Wednesday and I just noticed that I haven’t posted anything all week. I better make this one count. I have helped a number of people do basic reformats lately and often they have old copies of Roxio EZ CD Creator. Any version older than 6.0 can cause some serious problems with Windows XP and AVG antivirus. If you would like to create music or data CDs or  data DVDs, CDBurnerXP is a free program...

When to use a CD for backup

Our regular listeners hear us talk about this subject often, but it bears repeating as much as we can talk about it for your data's safety and your sanity. Backing up to CD's is a multi-step process and all the steps need to be followed for it to go right. CD's work great for archiving data that won't change. This includes pictures, music, your finished novel, etc. CD's should only be burned ONE time....

Transferring LP’s and Cassettes to CD

One of my customer's today was using an older Windows 98 machine to try and transfer LP's to her computer so she could then burn CD's. I will have some links at the end of this article for products that help perform this feat, but first I want to put into perspective the time involved: The average song is 4 minutes long. By the time you adjust levels, start and restart the song and then end the song to get it...

Creating Data and Music CD’s – July 20...

Creating Data CD's How Stuff Works articl on how CD Burning works . And a second article from them specific to CDR disks . Windows XP aims to help simplify the process and does a reasonably good job at it. Here's how to burn a CD with Windows XP: Go to the folder containing the files you want to copy to a CD (usually My Documents) Find the files or folders you want to copy and RIGHT click on them (remember...