5 Steps to Using Online Financial Sites Safely

Every year computer users who use the Internet to check account balances, transactions, and even paying bills grows by nearly 30%. According to one Pew study, more than 50 million Americans use online banking services. 50 million sounds like a large number, but that still reflects less than 50% of online American adults. Bank web sites continue to evolve by becoming easier to use, more secure, and more helpful than ever...

Enable your menus and toolbars in Internet Explore...

This tip applies to Windows Vista and Windows 7 users only. Since Microsoft opted to not include XP users in the upgrade path to Internet Explorer 9, you XP users can file this tip until you upgrade to your next computer (if you stay with Windows). If you chose or were automatically updated to Internet Explorer 9, you may be like many of my clients who are not happy with the minimalist layout (similar to that of Google...

1-click access to your favorite websites – V...

Please DO NOT use the address bar as a repository to return to sites you use all the time…eventually they will get lost. The address bar history maintains a small amount of your recently visited site and can easily be wiped out via an update or disk cleaning and maintenance tools. Instead, use the Favorites (Internet Explorer) or Bookmarks (Firefox and every other browser). Favorites/Bookmarks are designed to save and...

Create Your OWN Personalized Newspaper Online R...

In this month’s group, we talked about and demonstrated how to set up a web page that can be personalized. I like to use a customized web page (portal) as my home page (first page that shows up when I start my browser). We looked at the Yahoo portal (My Yahoo) and the newer Google customized home page. Both services require that you register and setup a user name and password. Once you register, you can customize your...

Major browser updates from Microsoft & Mozill...

In the past month, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 (Vista and Windows 7 only) and Mozilla released Firefox 4. Both browsers ratcheted up the speed and rendering of web pages, but both still contain some bugs that you don’t want to deal with yet. As with all major upgrades to any program, I always recommend sitting out on the hoopla for a couple of months or so. This seems to be very applicable to these two...

Print only what you want – Multi-tip

How many times do you curse at your printer when you print a joke from email or some web page information and get two or more extra sheets of paper with useless information? Follow this tip and experience printing bliss from email or Internet and your word processor too! On the web, Select the text (by clicking and dragging with your mouse) that you would like to print Click File and Print from the menus (don’t click...

7 ways to become a more efficient web user –...

This is a reintroduction and retitling of a previous video/tip because of a copyright infringement complaint fromFranklin Covey. Hopefully, the new title and verbiage will satisfy their legal staff. All week long I help computer users of all ages and experience levels. Too often, I see that many computer users (beginners and experienced alike) do not utilize or know about some basic web browsing skills that will speed their...

Yet another reason why I recommend using anything ...

Internet Explorer has been the single largest factor in computer security problems over the past 10 years. Consumer education and awareness follows closely behind. Combined, these two factors create a security nightmare. This story outlines yet more evidence to problems stemming from Internet Explorer and its monetary effect on companies like Google. Remember that the AOL and MSN browsers use Internet Explorer as their...

5 Simple Rules to avoid SCD (Slow Computer Disease...

I’ve written about this before, but it bares repeating on occasion for new visitors to the site and long time visitors who haven’t learned yet. The advice is simple: Do not download free screensavers, wallpaper, email programs (Incredimail, etc), or games from the Internet. Unless you are WELL versed in the origin of these items, they can easily destroy your computer’s ability to compute. “Slow...

Troubleshooting Your High Speed Internet Connectio...

This tip needs to come back to the front page again. I’ve helped many more people the last few weeks with this issue. Please print it and hang it by your computer…and send it your friends as well. I posted this tip many moons ago, but wanted to bring it back to the front page because we have so many new high speed Internet users. Click the Printer Friendly option at the bottom of this tip, print it out and post it...

Share YOUR Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts

I’m always amazed at how surprised computer users become when they learn about a keyboard shortcut. A keyboard shortcut is a combination of keys that you press on your keyboard to perform a particular function. If you learn them and practice them, they can shave hours off of the tedious maneuvering of the mouse. These are my favorite and most used computer keyboard shortcuts: Alt + TAB Switch between Open...

How to adjust toolbars in Internet Explorer –...

I ran across a question today that could not be explained verbally or in writing. It is so visual, that a video was warranted. The question was how to adjust or restore the default toolbars in Internet Explorer. Here’s a 49 second video demonstrating the skills you need to get this done. Take a look!

Firefox reaches 1 billion downloads

After the great Internet Explorer (IE) vs. Netscape browser wars of the 90s, it didn’t appear that Internet Explorer would ever be challenged again…thus Microsoft’s complacency with updating IE. Then just 4+ years ago, Mozilla Firefox burst onto the scene with a small, fast, and safe browser that caught fire quickly. As spyware and other malware all but crippled IE users, Firefox became stronger and stronger...

Email of the Week – 006

QUESTION Name: Kathy From: Grand Junction OS: Windows XP ———————- When I go into different web sites I get this message: ERROR A runtime error has occurred? Line 30 ERROR: Object required Yes No This occurs quite frequently can you tell me why and what I can do about it? ANSWER This error is usually due to some programming and setting problems in Internet Explorer. You can...

Internet Explorer 8 will start showing up in updat...

Windows Vista users need to be on the lookout for the new version of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 8. Hopefully most of you are using Firefox and this won’t matter, but if you are an Internet Explorer users, do not install this optional update for at least a couple of months. Already it is known to cause conflicts with other applications and is generally not stable enough for daily use yet. Let other people...