Tuesday, June 12, 2007
No Names, More Thumbnails
When you’re looking at a bunch of image thumbnails, filenames seem almost superfluous. You can eliminate the display of filenames (and thus leave more space for the thumbnails) by holding down the SHIFT key while opening or switching to a thumbnail view. To restore filenames, just repeat the process.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Default websites in Firefox
Always open the same five sites first thing every morning? firefox lets you open them all at the same time to make the start of your day easier.
Just open the sites in the tabbed order you want to view them, then go to Tools>Options>Main and click "Use Current Pages" then hit OK.
Just open the sites in the tabbed order you want to view them, then go to Tools>Options>Main and click "Use Current Pages" then hit OK.
The word "IN" in Google Search
Using the word "IN" allows you to find out how much one quantity is when converted to an equivalent quantity.
If you're looking for currency conversion, you can type, for instance, 10 dollars in pounds, to find out the British equivalent.
You can do similar things if you want to convert something from one measurement to another (50cm in inches)
If you're looking for currency conversion, you can type, for instance, 10 dollars in pounds, to find out the British equivalent.
You can do similar things if you want to convert something from one measurement to another (50cm in inches)
Templates for work, home, and play
Trying to make a calendar in Excel or a newsletter in Word? Microsoft offers hundreds of downloadable Office templates online that look great and are ready to go. Check them out here.
Windows with the same view
Windows XP tries to anticipate the preferred way to display files listed in Windows Explorer. If you prefer that all folders be displayed the same way (i.e. showing full details of each file), setting these preferences for each folder can be a drag. But XP lets you set your preferences globally.
Go to Start>My documents, click on the Views icon, and select a view.
Then click on the Tools menu and scroll to Folder Options. Select the View tab and click the Apply to All Folders button.
Go to Start>My documents, click on the Views icon, and select a view.
Then click on the Tools menu and scroll to Folder Options. Select the View tab and click the Apply to All Folders button.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
Top 9 Laptop Computer Safety Tips
Safely using your laptop will help ensure that your laptop works properly and you don't get hurt. Improper use or not being aware of safety issues can cause your laptop irreparable damage. These safety tips should be added to your weekly laptop maintenance routine and will help you stay productive and safe no matter where you are working.
Read more here
Read more here
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Command Window
If you’re tired of the plain DOS-like look and feel of the
Command window, then customize it. Click Start and Run,
type cmd in the Open field, and click OK. Now click the C:\
prompt icon in the upper-left corner of the window and
Defaults to bring up the Console Windows Properties window.
Here you can change most of the Command window’s
look and feel, from the cursor size to the default
font, text, and background colors. Use the tabs to rifle
through the options and click OK when you’re finished.
Command window, then customize it. Click Start and Run,
type cmd in the Open field, and click OK. Now click the C:\
prompt icon in the upper-left corner of the window and
Defaults to bring up the Console Windows Properties window.
Here you can change most of the Command window’s
look and feel, from the cursor size to the default
font, text, and background colors. Use the tabs to rifle
through the options and click OK when you’re finished.
Customize file views
Customize file views to show some useful extra information.
WINDOWS’ FOLDER VIEWS DEFAULT to big, annoying icons. To get down to serious business, you need to view items in a list with detailed information. To do this, open a folder by clicking on My Computer\C: drive, then on one of the folders, or click on Start, then My Documents. Under the View menu select Details, which reveals columns for name, creation date, size, and more. Hone your view with the directional triangles in each column to change the way items are sorted.
When you have set up the view you want as the default, don’t sail away just yet; as soon as you navigate to another folder, you’ll lose those settings. If you want to keep your sort settings when moving in and out of different folders, follow along here. Pull down the Tools menu and select Folder Options. Click the View tab at the top, then press the Apply to All Folders button. This applies the view to all the folders you ever navigate to.
WINDOWS’ FOLDER VIEWS DEFAULT to big, annoying icons. To get down to serious business, you need to view items in a list with detailed information. To do this, open a folder by clicking on My Computer\C: drive, then on one of the folders, or click on Start, then My Documents. Under the View menu select Details, which reveals columns for name, creation date, size, and more. Hone your view with the directional triangles in each column to change the way items are sorted.
When you have set up the view you want as the default, don’t sail away just yet; as soon as you navigate to another folder, you’ll lose those settings. If you want to keep your sort settings when moving in and out of different folders, follow along here. Pull down the Tools menu and select Folder Options. Click the View tab at the top, then press the Apply to All Folders button. This applies the view to all the folders you ever navigate to.
Speed your start-up
Speed your start-up by skipping a few boot items.
YOU MAY THINK A CERTAIN PROGRAM is slowing your system down or actually hanging it for a few moments as soon as it boots. If so, try starting Win dows in “lite” mode. Click Start
Run, then type msconfi g and press Enter. When the System Confi guration Utility loads, click the Startup tab; you’ll be surprised to see all the programs you’re loading at start-up. For info, Google the ones that are questionable or other wise annoying before unchecking them, and reboot.
You will have a few more system resources when you restart, but whether or not those programs will attach themselves to the start-up process again is another question. Check back
inside for the answer to that. Some programs like to keep their hooks in the Windows start-up
process and will actually reattach themselves.
You can also experiment with removing services under the Services tab, such as the iPod service if you use the iTunes software but don’t own an iPod. Be careful not to make changes all at once here; doing changes in stages will enable you to troubleshoot an adverse effect on the system that might appear once you’ve rebooted. If your system becomes unstable or programs hang, you may need to enable some of the services again.
If your system won’t let you boot up to even enter this mode, when you power-on your PC hit
the F8 key a few times as soon as the computer manufacturer’s name pops up, before Windows
begins to load. This will take you to a hidden menu that will allow you to start Windows in a
safe mode, with or without networking. There’s more than one way to start XP!
YOU MAY THINK A CERTAIN PROGRAM is slowing your system down or actually hanging it for a few moments as soon as it boots. If so, try starting Win dows in “lite” mode. Click Start
Run, then type msconfi g and press Enter. When the System Confi guration Utility loads, click the Startup tab; you’ll be surprised to see all the programs you’re loading at start-up. For info, Google the ones that are questionable or other wise annoying before unchecking them, and reboot.
You will have a few more system resources when you restart, but whether or not those programs will attach themselves to the start-up process again is another question. Check back
inside for the answer to that. Some programs like to keep their hooks in the Windows start-up
process and will actually reattach themselves.
You can also experiment with removing services under the Services tab, such as the iPod service if you use the iTunes software but don’t own an iPod. Be careful not to make changes all at once here; doing changes in stages will enable you to troubleshoot an adverse effect on the system that might appear once you’ve rebooted. If your system becomes unstable or programs hang, you may need to enable some of the services again.
If your system won’t let you boot up to even enter this mode, when you power-on your PC hit
the F8 key a few times as soon as the computer manufacturer’s name pops up, before Windows
begins to load. This will take you to a hidden menu that will allow you to start Windows in a
safe mode, with or without networking. There’s more than one way to start XP!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Optimize Your Security Apps
SECURITY-SOFTWARE maker Symantec announced earlier this year that it has documented 10,992 32-bit Windows virus and worm variants, with new ones appearing almost daily. Keeping your computer secure against these endless—and endlessly changing—attacks requires the help of today’s sophisticated antivirus and antispyware tools. But just installing the software isn’t enough.We’ve put together some tips that should help you tweak these tools and keep your computer well ahead of viruses and spyware in the security struggle.
1. Do full-system scans regularly
What’s a full-system (or “deep”) scan? It’s one that looks at your Windows Registry, at running processes, and inside of nonexecutable files, archive files, and files of all sizes. So-called “smart” scans ignore archives, extremely large files, and sometimes nonexecutables. It follows that deep scans take much longer (some archives contain more than 500 files), but they’re much more thorough.Where viruses are concerned, missing just one you’re infected with is as good as missing them all. So we recommend running deep scans regularly.
How you define “regularly” depends on how much traffic you see on your computer. If you process a lot of incoming/outgoing files and e-mail daily, it’s a good idea to use your antivirus and antispyware scheduling function, setting up a deep scan every night while your computer is
otherwise idle. Because a deep scan can take hours and really tax your system, you don’t want to perform one while you’re trying to use your PC.
2. Do deep scans with antispyware apps, too
Spyware isn’t as damaging as viruses can be, but it’s more insidious. What if somebody was busily taking notes of every Web site you visited, then selling the info to a survey company for analysis? That’s what spyware does, so don’t neglect antispyware programs. Whether it’s an excellent little app such as Ad-Aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) or a more full-featured product such as Steganos AntiSpyware (www.steganos.com), deep scans can find and either quarantine
or remove those infiltrators on your computer. Scanning once a week is probably enough, but if you install, remove, and test a lot of software, consider more-frequent scans.
3. Check daily for antivirus updates
Running the best virus scanner money can buy won’t buy you anything if its virus definitions
aren’t up to date. While some antivirus apps offer automated downloads as a configuration default, not all do. Check your program to see whether that’s the case. If it isn’t, we recommend
performing a daily manual check for updates. If you don’t get an update for as long as two weeks, check whether your antivirus app is working properly. If it is, and the manufacturer says it has had nothing new to provide, consider switching to a different app. Many viruses show up only rarely, but that shouldn’t matter to antivirus software. It’s meant to know and find them all.
4. Turn Windows Firewall off only when offline
You’re continuously vulnerable to Web-based attacks if you’re connected to the Internet, and attacks are more frequent than we’d like to acknowledge. As often as every few minutes, somebody, somewhere, is doing a broad-beamed port scan to find insecure backdoors in computers. It’s not a question of whether you’ll be scanned, but how many times you are in a given hour.Your best defense is your firewall, so never turn it off unless you’re literally disconnected from the Web. Some software offers more-elaborate firewall protection than Windows does, often with extra features. If you’re installing and configuring a third-party firewall, disconnect your PC from the Web first, and then turn off your old firewall.You
don’t want two firewalls running at once, because they’ll interfere with each other’s operation.
5. Get acquainted with your firewall’s network-control settings
Whether you’re connected to a local-area network (LAN) or not, you and your computer are part of the largest wide-area network (WAN) in existence: the Internet.Your firewall’s network settings are a valuable tool for dealing with the Web on a daily basis. Choosing to filter your traffic allows you to “teach” the firewall what contacts from outside your computer are allowed to access it. It’s almost equally important that a firewall prevents apps on your PC from trying to reach the Web on their own. While some programs do this periodically to check for updates, others may represent spyware or virus activity.
Tip: Some firewalls must be configured to start up automatically every time you turn on your computer. Ignoring this control could lead to you being open to the Internet without any protection.
6. Surf the Web without Microsoft
That’s right: Consider a non-Microsoft browser, such as Opera (www.opera.com) or Firefox
(www.mozilla.com/firefox), and an alternative e-mail reader such as PocoMail (www.pocomail.
com). No, we’re not opposed to the good folks that brought us Windows, but several security exploits have been documented in Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Some of them, such as the malware Download.Ject, can be extremely damaging. Hackers typically direct their efforts at this pair of Microsoft programs because they’re by far the most common browser and mail reader. You stand a far better chance of being “invisible” to their efforts if you use alternatives.
7. Use common sense when downloading or opening anything
Your antivirus and antispyware utilities are highly sophisticated tools, but they can’t prevent
you from stepping off a cliff. If you receive an e-mail stating that you’ve won a prize and must go to a site to collect it, kill the e-mail. If you get a note from a friend saying “Hi there! Look at what I found!” with an attachment, again, delete it. Genius isn’t required to determine that both of these situations are ruses—but you’d be surprised how many people regularly fall for them.
1. Do full-system scans regularly
What’s a full-system (or “deep”) scan? It’s one that looks at your Windows Registry, at running processes, and inside of nonexecutable files, archive files, and files of all sizes. So-called “smart” scans ignore archives, extremely large files, and sometimes nonexecutables. It follows that deep scans take much longer (some archives contain more than 500 files), but they’re much more thorough.Where viruses are concerned, missing just one you’re infected with is as good as missing them all. So we recommend running deep scans regularly.
How you define “regularly” depends on how much traffic you see on your computer. If you process a lot of incoming/outgoing files and e-mail daily, it’s a good idea to use your antivirus and antispyware scheduling function, setting up a deep scan every night while your computer is
otherwise idle. Because a deep scan can take hours and really tax your system, you don’t want to perform one while you’re trying to use your PC.
2. Do deep scans with antispyware apps, too
Spyware isn’t as damaging as viruses can be, but it’s more insidious. What if somebody was busily taking notes of every Web site you visited, then selling the info to a survey company for analysis? That’s what spyware does, so don’t neglect antispyware programs. Whether it’s an excellent little app such as Ad-Aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) or a more full-featured product such as Steganos AntiSpyware (www.steganos.com), deep scans can find and either quarantine
or remove those infiltrators on your computer. Scanning once a week is probably enough, but if you install, remove, and test a lot of software, consider more-frequent scans.
3. Check daily for antivirus updates
Running the best virus scanner money can buy won’t buy you anything if its virus definitions
aren’t up to date. While some antivirus apps offer automated downloads as a configuration default, not all do. Check your program to see whether that’s the case. If it isn’t, we recommend
performing a daily manual check for updates. If you don’t get an update for as long as two weeks, check whether your antivirus app is working properly. If it is, and the manufacturer says it has had nothing new to provide, consider switching to a different app. Many viruses show up only rarely, but that shouldn’t matter to antivirus software. It’s meant to know and find them all.
4. Turn Windows Firewall off only when offline
You’re continuously vulnerable to Web-based attacks if you’re connected to the Internet, and attacks are more frequent than we’d like to acknowledge. As often as every few minutes, somebody, somewhere, is doing a broad-beamed port scan to find insecure backdoors in computers. It’s not a question of whether you’ll be scanned, but how many times you are in a given hour.Your best defense is your firewall, so never turn it off unless you’re literally disconnected from the Web. Some software offers more-elaborate firewall protection than Windows does, often with extra features. If you’re installing and configuring a third-party firewall, disconnect your PC from the Web first, and then turn off your old firewall.You
don’t want two firewalls running at once, because they’ll interfere with each other’s operation.
5. Get acquainted with your firewall’s network-control settings
Whether you’re connected to a local-area network (LAN) or not, you and your computer are part of the largest wide-area network (WAN) in existence: the Internet.Your firewall’s network settings are a valuable tool for dealing with the Web on a daily basis. Choosing to filter your traffic allows you to “teach” the firewall what contacts from outside your computer are allowed to access it. It’s almost equally important that a firewall prevents apps on your PC from trying to reach the Web on their own. While some programs do this periodically to check for updates, others may represent spyware or virus activity.
Tip: Some firewalls must be configured to start up automatically every time you turn on your computer. Ignoring this control could lead to you being open to the Internet without any protection.
6. Surf the Web without Microsoft
That’s right: Consider a non-Microsoft browser, such as Opera (www.opera.com) or Firefox
(www.mozilla.com/firefox), and an alternative e-mail reader such as PocoMail (www.pocomail.
com). No, we’re not opposed to the good folks that brought us Windows, but several security exploits have been documented in Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Some of them, such as the malware Download.Ject, can be extremely damaging. Hackers typically direct their efforts at this pair of Microsoft programs because they’re by far the most common browser and mail reader. You stand a far better chance of being “invisible” to their efforts if you use alternatives.
7. Use common sense when downloading or opening anything
Your antivirus and antispyware utilities are highly sophisticated tools, but they can’t prevent
you from stepping off a cliff. If you receive an e-mail stating that you’ve won a prize and must go to a site to collect it, kill the e-mail. If you get a note from a friend saying “Hi there! Look at what I found!” with an attachment, again, delete it. Genius isn’t required to determine that both of these situations are ruses—but you’d be surprised how many people regularly fall for them.
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