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Computer Tips

5 Steps to Using Online Financial Sites Safely

Every year computer users using 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 before. In fact, many banks rather that their customers check their web site for answers rather than call or visit a branch. However, many people shy away from online banking because of security fears.

I?m going to outline, for you, five simple steps that you can take to keep yourself and your finances safe on the Internet.

Setting up a new computer

new computer boxPrevention is the best medicine when it comes to avoiding illness in ourselves. Prevention in the computer world is no different. And like a newborn baby, a newly purchased computer is subject to many terrible diseases and problems if not properly cared from the moment it is taken from its cardboard box. I follow these steps when setting up a new computer system for my clients, and recommend this methodology for all new computer setups:

Web surfing 101…again

Catching up on my reading, I ran across yet another article outlining how easily unsuspecting web users can be duped into infecting their machines and voluntarily giving up their own hard earned money. You MUST read this article, IF you want to keep yourself, your wallet, and your computer safe. Wired published the article I was reading today in their… Read More »Web surfing 101…again

Install a new DVD Burner – Video Tip

Regular visitors to our site and listeners to our show know that we continually talk about the importance of backing up your computer. Many computer users rely on external hard drives these days for their primary backup. And, yes, external hard drives are quick and convenient, but because they are hard drives and subject to electrical or mechanical failure, I still highly recommend that all computer users backup their most precious data (pictures, address books, documents, etc) on external media like a DVD+R.

DVD+R media prices have dropped dramatically over the past few years and dual-layer DVD burners that can read and write any CD or DVD media cost less than $75 and sometimes under $50. Do yourself a favor, install a new DVD burner in your system if you don’t already have one. The increased capacity and peace-of-mind of DVD backup puts you well ahead of computer users who have to fret if something goes wrong with their computer.

OK, the particulars are out of the way, watch this short video demonstrating how to install a DVD burner (or any optical drive).

Changing file-program associations – Video Tip

Have you ever wondered how to get your picture files to open directly in your image editing program? Read on to learn how to get your files to open where you want them to when you double-click on them. For example, by default JPEG picture files open with Microsoft Internet Explorer. Maybe you want it to open with Adobe Photo Deluxe. Here’s how:

  1. Find a file on your computer that you would like to have open in a different program. 
  2. Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys on your keyboard 
  3. RIGHT Click on the target file (while you are still holding the Ctrl + Shift keys) (Windows 98 & Me users only)

How to attach photos to Bresnan web based email – Notes

Here are the notes that I created for a client who uses Bresnan’s web based email system and wanted to attach photos. Although the notes are for photos specifically, one can use the methodology to just as easily attach documents as well.