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Internet

I can get on Yahoo! but I can’t connect to the Internet

Let me begin by saying that it is never the purpose of our Shotgun articles to make fun our clients or make anyone feel ignorant. We often use examples from our daily adventures simply to point out common problems, misconceptions or new problems to watch out for.

Today I had a client who told me she couldn’t get on the Internet, she could only read her Yahoo! email.

When I hear something like this, I know that the client has a misunderstanding about something or I don’t understand the problem.

Since Yahoo! is on the Internet, you have to be able to connect to the Internet to use their services. When I got to her house I discovered that her computer helpers at home had put shortcuts to Yahoo!, Google and one that just opened the browser to a home page.

Network Printers

One trend in printers that I am starting to see is the networked printer. Manufacturers are offering network (wired and wireless) options on many new ink jet and laser printers. Network options in a printer means that you can hook the printer directly to a router (device you may already be using to share your high speed Internet) instead of connecting to your computer.

By using a networked printer, the printer is accessible to anyone who is currently connected to the network either via Ethernet or wirelessly. Any new computers must install the printer’s driver before printing. But once configured, you no longer need to have any other computer turned on in order to access the printer. This feature eases the installation and use of a printer that needs to be accessed by many.

Fix Winsock Problem

Lost of spyware and networking problems can cause things to go screwy with the way your computer plays well with others. This is primarily a problem with broadband users but it can also prevent dialup users from connecting to the Internet.

Try this little tool if you have problems getting your computer can’t connect to the web.

WinsockXPfix 

Do your parents a favor, follow through with your favors

Most of my clients are over 50 and a good portion of them are over 65. I have learned that age has nothing to with computer aptitude. Computer aptitude is determined 99 percent by computer attitude. Those who are not afraid or intimidated by their computer are the ones who learn the fastest, no matter their age, gender or religious background.

One of my primary goals with my business, with the show and with the newsletter is to convey the message that you don’t have to be a computer wiz to use a computer.

I have many clients who do nothing but email on their computers and I don’t in any way feel that they are under utilizing their computer. If your life is made easier in any way because of your computer, then you are using it for its intended purpose.

Oops…I hate it when I make mistakes

I’m always the first to admit when I make a mistake, but damn I  hate making them! Especially when the mistakes affect a customer I’m working with at the time.

While uninstalling yet another copy of the bloated Norton Internet Security today, I ran into the Norton Password Manager. Unfortunately, some of my work (like anyone else involved in a business) becomes repetitive and robotic and that can lead to potential problems. I was getting "click happy" when I ran into this program (that I honestly had not seen anyone use yet) and before I thought to ask the customer if he used the program, I had already uninstalled the program. Fortunately, I saved the data, but the program was history…even System Restore couldn’t get it back and he didn’t have the CD for re-installation.

Know your Internet connection types

Rick has called me a cheater for using my user group notes and product reviews in place of a daily column. So, today I am not only writing an official Shotgun article, but I am also turning it in early.

I have seen several clients lately who are using the full priced AOL dial-up service. That means they are paying $25.90 for dial-up Internet. One person even had a seperate line for the Internet (add on another $20/month).

This is proof that AOL is like crack.

I thought I would give a breakdown of alternatives to paying AOL’s outrageous price. Suprisingly, the solution does not have to mean dropping AOL, but in my opinion it should.

Alternative Operating Systems

Not really alternative, but I wanted to get your attention. Today, three of my customers were not using Windows XP. Two were Windows 98 and one was an older Macintosh. It’s always fun for me to keep my hands on some of these older machines to keep my mind agile.

I am always amazed at how functional and quick Windows 98 can be. One of the customers called because their 98 machine was running extremely slow. Within 90 seconds of sitting down at their machine, I knew what was wrong. She had upgraded to the newest and biggest version of McAfee Security possible. We don’t recommend the large security suites from McAfee or Norton for any computer, but for older machines they can mean pure death. It took her computer a full five and one half minutes to boot up with the McAfee installed. When we took out the McAfee and added AVG instead, the computer booted up in less than two minutes. She was amazed and satisfied.

Searching through the email

Many of you are familiar with how to search the Internet, but did you know you could search through your email similarly? Look for the "Search" function in Thunderbird and the "Find" function in Outlook or Outlook Express in the  Edit menu.

Using these tools, you can quickly search through hundreds of messages to find a specific sender, content of the message, etc. Simply fill in the boxes corresponding to the information you want to search for. You can choose to search for a word in the From, To, Subject or Body of the message.

How did you learn all of this?

I saw two clients today who were setting up broadband for the first time. They were having identical problems, but the solutions were totally different.

Client #1 had paid for a package through the local cable network for cable TV and telephone service, but had failed to ask for broadband Internet as a part of the package. They had also told her that it would not work on Windows 98.

I bought her a network card, we called the cable service and asked them to turn on the broadband Internet and I got everything up and running.

Client #2 had the cable broadband running just fine on one computer, but the other computer refused to connect. I installed a new network card and everything worked great.