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Do you remember your password for…?

If you do any online shopping and/or banking, user name and passwords have infiltrated your life. Many of my customers can easily knock one-half hour or more off their bill if they kept track of their passwords. I get many blank stares when I'm troubleshooting a machine and need to log into an Internet service or web site and I ask the customer for their password. Often times I receive the classic, "I don't have a password."

Everyone has a password for email, their bank, any other online service you might sign up for be it banking or a community forum.

When to use CDs , DVDs or flash drives

With so many options for backing up today, people often get confused on which method is right for them.

Typically there are three methods for backing up:

1. CD or DVD

2. Flash drive

3. External hard drive

The method you choose should depend on the type of backup you are doing.

CDs hold 700MB (about 300 pictures) while DVDs hold 4,700MB. But the amount of data that they hold is not as important as what you use the disks for. CDs and DVDs are best for archiving data that will likely never change such as pictures, old word processing documents, important tax or financial records, etc. Once you write information to a CD or DVD consider that disk finished and do not try to add more to it.

Easy, safe, fun (and useful) Google Images – Video Tip

Google offers hundreds of features and most of them go unused by the average computer user.

Google Images is one of the coolest features that the monster search site has to offer. Google Images allows you to search the web for graphics or pictures related to any search topic.

It's so easy to use:

1. Visit Images.Google.com

2. Type in a word or phrase that you want to search for

3. Hit ENTER key on your keyboard

4. The website where the image is found will load but you can get directly to the image itself by clicking on the thumbnail at the top of the page.

Windows Vista Integrated Search – Video Tip

As you know, I am not thrilled will Windows Vista. However, one feature I did find helpful since Day 1 is the integrated search. Vista constantly indexes your hard drive…probably one reason it feels slower than XP. Indexing means that Windows looks through all user generated files like word processing documents, email, spreadsheets and other user files. It then analyzes the file names and the content of these documents and stores that information in massive index files. Think of it as a "Google" for your own computer. Using the integrated search, you can type in a few characters and get instant results of matching documents or programs on your computer.

I'm torn about this feature because I feel that it makes the user a little lazy in really understanding where the data actually is stored, but the speed of the search is undeniable.

I mentioned that the Vista integrated search is sort of like a Google for your machine. Well, if you are a Windows XP user, you can get this same functionality with a tool from Google called Google Desktop or from Yahoo using the Yahoo Desktop .

Watch the video below for a short demonstration of how this tool works in Vista.

How much would you pay for a “simple” computer?

This will be our poll question in the newsletter tomorrow, but I wanted to give you time to consider the question.

Like Rick, I am constantly on a mission to make computers easier to use. I don't believe it is necessary to upgrade computers every few years if the system you are using now is working well.

I hate (strong word, but accurate) the direction Microsoft has taken with Windows. Most people never use all of the bells and whistles in Windows.

So, here is my question. If there were a computer that would do email, Internet, basic digital photography, document creation and standard games like solitaire, how much would you pay for it.

Using a computer does not equal understanding a computer

I had an interesting email topic come my way today regarding newer generations and their knowledge of computers. From experience, I can tell you that just because younger generations use computers all the time, they don't know how they work any better or how to use them more efficiently than any other generation. One of my favorite job functions is teaching people how to get the most of their computers. I see lots of business computer users and students who can 'use' a computer to produce the documents they need or search the Internet, yet they have no clue where their data is stored or how effectively they are using the software.

I made a bold statement on Saturday

Well, it was bold for me anyway. I stated (and Adam should have the audio up soon for the exact quote) that computer users who have not learned how to Copy and Paste should unplug their computers are put them on the curb for someone else to pickup. 

The statement seems a little extreme and at the time, it was meant for a giggle in the context of the show. However, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The ability to Cut, Copy, and Paste is an extremely useful and easy to learn tool. Tutorials can be found everywhere regarding the subject (including right here on this site). I think it is an absolutely essential tool because it can be used in almost every aspect of computing except Solitaire. 

I’ve heard you say that before

Imagine for a moment (you won't have to stretch very far) that your son or daughter comes home past curfew and you say something like, "I told you to be home by midnight." In reply your kid says, "I know I heard you say that."

Imagine for a moment that you are an engineer who builds bridges. One day a bridge that you design collapses. You confront the builders only to find that they used half of the bolts that you indicated in the design. "I heard you say that we should use that many bolts," comes the reply from the builder.

In each case, the next sentence that follows is an excuse from the offenders as to why they thought this should be an exception.

The Incredible Wikipedia

Wikipedia

What is a Wikipedia ? In the words of the Wikipedia web site, ?imagine a world in which every person has free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing [at Wikipedia].? Sound amazing? It is incredible. Wikipedia, in everyday terms, is an online encyclopedia that is free to access, unlike paid services from Britannica.com and Encarta.com.

Wikipedia plays on a term from the Hawaiian language, wiki wiki, which means super fast or quick. The Internet adopted the term ?wiki? to mean a web site where anyone can edit or contribute to its content. So putting the terms together you get an online encyclopedia that is free to access and open for anyone and everyone to contribute to and

Use copy and paste to enter long passwords

One technique I use to enter long, complex passwords (which we should all be using) is to open Notepad from the Accessories menu and type the password there. Since we only see the asterisks (*) when we enter passwords, it can be extremely difficult to accurately type in some passwords with mixed case, numbers and other characters. The problem doubles when we have to enter a password two times in a row. Here's how I use the Notepad trick to circumvent this sometimes frustrating procedure:

1.  Open Notepad from the Accessories menu

2.  Type out the password and verify its accuracy