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Computer Tips

No rush to get AVG 8.5

NOTE: This is an older article, please see my latest Computer Security recommendations here. AVG 8.5 is still free (for home users), it is being offered now, but it isn’t at all critical to get yet. If you still haven’t upgraded from 7.5 to 8.0, then go the whole nine yards and get 8.5. But if you are using 8.0,… Read More »No rush to get AVG 8.5

Four techniques for erasing your old hard drive

a disk
photo credit: Jason Schlachet

When you replace an old computer, you need to take steps to protect the data that was on that computer prior to donating it, selling it or even throwing it out or recycling it. Too many computer degenerates use the data that can be found on old hard drives to try and steal your identity. You can avoid this by using one of the following four options:

  1. One free program that will completely cleanse a hard drive is called Autoclave. You can download and read the instructions here.
  2. Darik’s Book and Nuke also provides a way of thoroughly cleaning the data from an old hard drive.
  3. A third option to cleaning your old data form a hard drive is Active KillDisk. They offer a free and a pro version of this software.
  4. My last, and probably easiest, fastest, and safest method of guaranteeing your old data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to to open the computer and Read More »Four techniques for erasing your old hard drive

Stop a document from printing – Video Tip

We all run into a problem sooner or later where something we printed didn’t print correctly or we want to stop it from printing. In today’s tip, I explain how to stop the printer from printing and then clean the print job from your computer.

  1. Turn off your printer using its power switch
  2. Immediately watch for a message by your clock that has anything to do with your printer
  3. Click the little bubble message (if you see it)
  4. If you don’t see the options in steps 2 & 3, then:
    1. Click Start –> Control Panel
    2. Double-click Printers
    3. Double-click your printer
  5. When the printer queue dialog box appears, click one time on the document you want to delete
  6. Click Document from the menus, then Cancel (If you have multiple documents, click Printer –> Cancel all documents from the menus)
  7. Once the documents disappear (should be just a few moments), you can close all open windows and turn your printer on again.

I have a few more little tips and you can see this technique in action by watching the video below (2 1/2 minutes):

Add photos to Facebook quickly and easily – Video Tip

I helped a retired aged computer user today who was cajoled into using Facebook by his family. His Facebook friends hammered him daily about posting some pictures to his online profile. But like many computer users, he juggled time between three different photo management programs. One of them, luckily, was Google’s Picasa and I configured Picasa to locate all his… Read More »Add photos to Facebook quickly and easily – Video Tip

Keep track of your original computer documentation and make restore CDs

Lately too many customers have had to wait for repairs on their computers because I needed to order recovery CD sets from the manufacturer. This time and expense can be avoided if you do two simple things when you buy your new computer: 1.  Save all disks and/or documentation that comes in the box 2.  Since most manufacturers no longer… Read More »Keep track of your original computer documentation and make restore CDs

The spell checker in Firefox works everywhere!

 Firefox Spell Checker

If you are a Mozilla Firefox user, and you should be, you may be overlooking one of its greatest features…the built-in spell checker. It works on any web page, in any text box you need to enter text. Look for any words that have a red, squiggly line underneath them for misspelled words. To correct the word, RIGHT click one time on the underlined word, then click the proper spelling from the list of suggestions. If you need a spell check in smaller text box like an email subject, you might need to RIGHT click in the text box, then click Check Spelling from the menus to force a spell check for that text box

Money management using Linux / Ubuntu

One of my customers desperately wants to hang on to an almost 10 year old computer. His Windows Me installation started showing its age almost three years ago, but he persevered. He mainly uses email, Internet, a word processor and Quicken to write checks and track his income and expenses for his small business.

After much discussion, he decided that he wanted to try Ubuntu. His machine sports 256mb of RAM (hey that was a ton in 1999) and a 1.5 ghz processor, so it falls well within reason for Ubuntu. The installation went smooth and I added a USB 2.0 card to support his multi-function printer and external hard drive. Of course the Internet and email are no problem with Ubuntu, and he and his wife love all the included games.

Stop the Microsoft Office Agreement (EULA) from popping up every time you start Outlook, or Word or Excel

Office EULAIf you are using Microsoft Office 2003 and Windows Vista, you might run into a situation where the End User License Agreement pops up every time you start Outlook, Word, Excel or other Office programs. No matter how many times you click “I agree”, the license keeps appearing. To stop the EULA from appearing, follow these steps:

  1. Close ALL Microsoft Office related programs (Outlook, Publisher, Powerpoint, Excel, or Word)
  2. Click Start –> Computer
  3. Double-click the C drive (your primary hard drive)
  4. Double-Click the Program Files folder
  5. Double-Click the Microsoft Office folder
  6. Double-Click  the Office 11 folder
  7. RIGHT Click on any of the Office applications (Winword, Outlook, Excel)
  8. Click Run as Administrator
  9. The program will start and ask you to agree to the EULA (agreement) again and click I agree or Yes
  10. Close the program
  11. Close all open windows

Now you can use your Office 2003 programs normally.

Cell phone quick tip – How to quickly silence ringer

We all inadvertently leave the cell phone ringer in the on position in situations where it would be courteous to be off. For those times when you don’t want the world staring at you and listening to your “Baby’s got back” ring tone, take a deep breath, then just push the volume button on the side of your phone. Almost every single cell phone on the market will immediately silence the ringer by pushing the volume button…either the up or down volume button, it doesn’t matter.

The next time this happens to you, remember the volume button and you can silence that ringer before the second syllable in baby!