Archive for the ‘Tips and Tricks’ Category
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Every week 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States.
That fact alone should be enough to frighten every computer owner on the planet. We all have photographs, movies, important documents, emails, etc. that we do not want to lose for any reason, yet I find very few PC users who regularly backup the contents of their computer(s). Every one of us has experienced a moment when we thought our PC had crashed and the first thought was “I should have backed up my files!” Why is it then that so few people perform regular backups? Is is Time…. Money…. Knowledge?
Whatever the hurdle is, it is time to overcome it and protect our important files from permanent deletion. There are several theories on what makes a “safe” backup, but we are going to focus on online backups. Why? Because external hard drives or CD/DVD backups are great, but they are almost never stored in an off-site location. Natural disasters and fires don’t show any mercy when it comes to destroying a home or an entire community, so let’s prepare for the worst scenario and secure our files in a secondary location.
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Tags: backup, crashplan, Dropbox, important documents, mozy, off-site, offsite, online backup, unlimited storage
Posted in Free Programs, Security, Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks | 4 Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Does your WiFi occasionally cut out for, what seems like, no reason at all? Do you feel like your wireless internet connection is dragging and you just know it should be faster? Both of these issues might be the result of interference caused by other electronic items in your home and/or around you. As simple as it sounds, a simple channel change in your router might fix the issues.
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Tags: analyzer, channel, interference, internet, router, smartphone, spectrum, video game console, WiFi, wireless
Posted in Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Wallpaper FAIL!
Of all the articles I have written and research I have done, no topic seems to be as popular as wallpaper. Believe it or not, it seems that more people are drawn to dressing up their desktop than making their computer run faster. I sure can’t blame anyone for pursuing a pleasant scene to stare at for hours a day, I was just surprised when I saw the numbers. Luckily for you desktop connoisseurs, I recently stumbled onto an article over at digital inspiration (via lifehacker.com) that outlines the benefits of using bing (the search engine) for wallpaper hunting. You don’t want to miss the details.
The original article on digitalinspiration.com, written by Amit Agarwal, outlines how you can use the bing image search to find wallpaper that fits your screen. While this may not seem like a difficult task to most, picking the proper image size for a desktop background can be more difficult than you think. In order to really explain the benefits of the “bing wallpaper search” I want to take a step back and demonstrate the “old” method for hunting down wallpaper and compare the two.
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Tags: bing, desktop, filter, Google, image, Resolution, screen, VladStudio, wallpaper
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Regular PC maintenance is as important as routinely changing the fluids in your car. Without this regular upkeep, your computer can become a slow, draggy, unusable box that has you thinking about a trip to your local electronics retailer.
In the rest of today’s article, we’ve posted links to the tools you need and a simple “5-Point Maintenance Plan” that you can follow to keep your PC running like new (or better). The average user can perform these tasks in 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size (hard drive) and speed (RAM and processor) of the computer.
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Tags: computer, FREE, Maintenance, may, PC, programs, tools, upkeep
Posted in Free Programs, PC Support, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
Do you have a favorite band that you just love to follow? You know, the kind of rock stars that have you waiting in line for tickets, buying actual albums in person and joining fan clubs. For you “non-music” people, maybe you have a favorite actor, author, athlete, etc. You just can’t wait for their next appearance or release. In my world (the world of computers and gadgets) Dropbox is that rock star!!
I have written about Dropbox repeatedly and used their product religiously since a good friend introduced me to the service. If you haven’t already been introduced, let me the one to tell you all about it (see Introduction below). For those of you who are already fans, this week’s news was like getting a new double-album and a FREE concert. You veterans can jump on down to the WOW! section to see the latest from our rock stars.
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Tags: Android, app, Blackberry, cloud, Dropbox, file sharing, file syncing, folder, FREE, iPad, iPhone, Mobile, Online, Security, share, Storage
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
I write about computer maintenance and keeping your PC “running like new” constantly, but I rarely focus on the connection that brings you the world wide web. Let’s face it, a fast PC and a fast internet connection are like peanut-butter and jelly. Each is pretty good on it’s own, but put them together and you’ve got a winning formula. Have you ever tested your internet connection? Are you getting what you pay for or are you being cheated by your internet service provider (ISP)?
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Tags: 4G, bandwidth, Clear, Comcast, download, ISP, latency, MB, ping, speedtest.net, tricky, upload
Posted in Free Programs, Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks, WiMAX | No Comments »
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Ask anyone about their home PC and you will get one answer more than any other, “it’s slow.” This is typically the point at which most computer owners will begin to debate a new PC purchase. It is also the reason I began JumpstartMyPC.com. Home computers will slow down over time, but that doesn’t mean they should be cast aside. As we have pointed out time and time again, there are steps you can take to keep a PC running like new and a hardware upgrade can help speed up an aging machine, but what if you are caught in the middle?
You’ve already performed your routine maintenance: defragged your computer, cleaned the registry and dumped all of your browser history and unnecessary files. That helped, but you still feel like you want/need more speed from your PC. You’ve debated that switch from 1GB of RAM to 4GB, but the upgrade will cost you over $100 + shipping and you aren’t quite sure if you want to open up your tower or laptop and “fiddle around in there.” If you find yourself in this state of limbo and you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 (any version), there might just be a simple, cost-effective answer right in front of you.
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Tags: boost, cache, drive, flash, Memory, RAM, ReadyBoost, SD card, Speed, USB, Vista, Windows, Windows 7
Posted in Free Programs, PC Support, Tips and Tricks | 4 Comments »
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Some might call me cheap, others frugal. However you look at it, I like to keep any money I can in my pocket by researching, cost-cutting and completing projects on my own. While things don’t always go as planned, I can honestly say that I have saved the most money by utilizing my PC for things like coupon code hunting, locating instructions for DIY projects and comparing products to find the best value. Now, with the help of a new, FREE tool I just found, my PC can save me even more money by monitoring and controlling it’s own power usage. The product is called Granola, the review is below.
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Tags: Carbon footprint, Electricity, environment, Gather, Granola, green, Linux, Money, power, Save, Savings, Windows
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Every so often, I run across a little trick that makes me wish I had known about it all along. These are often very simple shortcuts, key combinations, tricks, or even manipulation of software that was meant to do something else entirely. We’re not talking hacking here, but simply ways to increase your enjoyment and speed while surfing the web. One rule I learned long ago when dealing with PC’s, and specifically Windows, is that there are 3 ways to do everything. You may know one way, or maybe even two to accomplish something, but one day you’ll see someone who knows a different, possibly easier way to accomplish the same thing. Could one of these tricks be that third?
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Tags: captcha, CTRL, keyboard combinations, keys, my computer, refresh, shortcuts, surfing, tips, tricks, web, zoom
Posted in Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
QUESTION: Why is it that Microsoft, who produces the world’s most popular operating system, doesn’t provide users with simple, easy-to-use software solutions to the common problems found in many of computers still in use today?
At the risk of costing myself some paying customers and making my job look easier than it is, I am going to share a little secret with you. Microsoft has attempted to answer a question that I have been asking for years (see above) by releasing a software that can help to fix your common PC problems. That’s right, the new Microsoft Fix it Center (now in public BETA) is out there, ready to help PC users get the bugs out of their computer.
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Tags: BETA, common PC problems, Fix it Center, fixes, Microsoft, operating system, problems, solutions, Vista, Windows, Windows 7, XP
Posted in Free Programs, Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks | 4 Comments »
