Correcting Many Microsoft Word Problems

One of the most common problems Microsoft Word users encounter is not being able to start Word or it starts extremely slow. When you double-click the Microsoft Word icon and either nothing happens at all or it attempts to start and then presents an error screen. Or, Word may open, but very slowly and then have trouble opening or saving documents. All of these symptoms have a common cause. And although frustrating, the...

3 Reasons NOT to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 ...

Microsoft will release Office 2010 in the next few weeks. The upgrade price will likely cost around $130 for the home edition which includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint. The professional versions cost as much as $500 depending on what package you get. After almost fifteen years of using Microsoft Office and watching others use Microsoft Office, I can say without hesitation that it is a waste of hard earned money for most...

Windows 7 – 4 month report

Technically, I’ve been using Windows 7 (in beta and final form) for more than a year, but for today’s discussion I want to review what I’ve seen with it since its public release in October.  Since then, I have helped many computer users setup their new Windows 7 laptops, desktop, and netbooks (probably around 125-150 new systems in total). I also helped around a dozen or so computer users upgrade from XP or...

PC World columnist says don’t upgrade from X...

PC World columnist, David Coursey, writes this week that the hassle of upgrading a Windows XP computer to Windows 7 isn’t worth the time and price. It pretty much mimics the exact advice I gave to Windows XP users when Vista came out 2 1/2 years ago. Software developers build software for the future, so older computer simply cannot run the newer software as efficiently. Especially when talking about operating systems...

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!

Microsoft’s Security Essentials

Microsoft released an updated and completely re-tooled version of their computer security product. It is now called Microsoft Security Essentials. I have not had a chance to try it out yet (wasn’t accepted into the beta testing this summer), but through my reading it is getting much better scores than their awful Live OneCare products they sold for a couple of years. Overall, it supposedly runs much faster than OneCare...

Yet another reason to ditch Microsoft Office for w...

This news story has flown mostly under the radar of most computer users for weeks. In a nutshell, it’s a patent infringement suit brought upon Microsoft by a Canadian company called i4i. The suit alleges that Microsoft knowingly used proprietary technologies in Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007. Last week, a judge in Texas, ruled in favor of i4i and ordered Microsoft to remove Microsoft Word from being sold and fined them...

Microsoft and Yahoo ink 10 year deal

The biggest tech headlines this week belonged to the long awaited deal between Yahoo and Microsoft. It wasn’t a buy out/takeover like Microsoft attempted a few times the past couple of years, but a business deal this time. Yahoo agrees to use Microsoft’s search technology instead of their own and they will share ad revenues from the search related ads generated on Yahoo pages. The deal is for 10 years. This...

Microsoft will offer Free Online Office Apps

Another announcement from Microsoft this week centered around their upcoming release of  Microsoft Office 10 and an online version of Microsoft Office that will compete with Zoho and Google Docs. The scheduled release of the  new software and web apps is the 1st 1/2 of 2010. A lot can happen between now and then, but it will heat up the online apps arena. Microsoft also stated that their online apps will work with Safari...

Microsoft Plans to Open Retail Stores

No time frame or number of stores planned were released in Microsoft’s press release this week, but Microsoft did say they planned to open their stores close to existing Apple stores. Ex-management staffers from WalMart and Sam’s Club will be heading up this new direction for Microsoft. You can read more details at the Daily Tech web site: DailyTech – Microsoft Retail Stores to Open Near Apple Stores. ...

Email of the Week – 008

QUESTION Name:   Norman B. Buckallew From: Florien, La., OS: Windows XP ———————- I have office 2003 standard addition installed on my computer. When I try use programs such as powerpoint it asks for a key word to install or activate it. I have lost the keywords that came with my computer. I have tried Belarc and it dosn’t give me it keyword for powerpoint or office...

Microsoft Plans to Release Free AntiVirus Program

Thankfully and mercifully, Microsoft is discontinuing the horrible OneCare security product they sold the past couple of years. However, Microsoft announced today that a new security product, code named Morro, will appear as a free antivirus product later this year. In the story below, Microsoft states that the new antivirus product will be based on the current OneCare underpinnings. As usual, I will reserve full judgment...

Windows 7 Will Launch in October

It appears, from this article, that Microsoft has chose October 22 as the official release date for Windows 7. After testing Windows 7 for the past 5 months, I can honestly say it is heads and tails above Windows Vista. However, I still stand by my previous comments that most basic computer users would be far better off with an Apple computer or an inexpensive computer running Linux because they both require far less security...

Bing Search Engine

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the new Wolfram Alpha search engine and it was news fodder all over the web for nearly 2 weeks. This week, Microsoft’s new Bing search engine is getting a lot of press. At first glance, the Bing search engine looks clean and fresh. Searching is ultra-fast and easy to read. Like Google, however, the Bing search engine also presents many ads at the top and sides of the search results....

Microsoft Promises greater compatibility with Wind...

Windows Vista was hammered from its beta versions all the way through to its release and even to this day for lack of compatibility with hardware and software. Today, Microsoft announced that more than 10,000 hardware and software vendors are working with Microsoft during the development phase of Windows 7 to help assure a quality launch of Windows 7 later this year. Will Windows 7 be better prepared for the public than...