Taming Technology Tips

Google has become the premier search engine.  While almost everyone knows about Google.com to search for items, do you know about the other Google features below?  They are fun and useful.  As with anything on the Internet, searcher beware of some images and videos.

• http://earth.google.com/   - Cool satellite views of just about anywhere.
• http://images.google.com/ - Search for images.
• http://news.google.com/  - Latest news headlines.
• http://froogle.google.com/  - Shop and save.
• http://catalogs.google.com/  - Use online catalogs.
• http://maps.google.com/  - Find a map.
• http://video.google.com/  - Lots of videos.
• http://scholar.google.com/   - Do research.

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Hello Everyone,

Today’s tip concerns something that no one ever thinks of until it is too late.  If you’ve ever had a computer crash and none of your data was retrievable, then you probably don’t worry too much about backups.  Even if you’ve lost stuff, it is easy to become complacent about backups.

The way I do backups at work is to have all of the servers saving my data automatically at night off site.  Sound hard?  It’s really not.  I use a service called FileBanc (http://www.filebanc.com) that loads a program on my computer that saves my mission critical data to a server in Houston every night.  Once set up, I check it about once a month just to make sue everything is backing up.

I do not get paid by FileBanc, but I’ve been impressed by their service.  The main thing is to find something that will back up regularly and automatically.  Saving off-site is a good idea because you never know when something might happen locally. 

It’s great piece of mind to have backups.  It’s terrible to have a computer break down and have to sweat whether you’ve lost everything.  Taming that computer with backups is great advice any time.  I’d even back up my work data even if the system administrator said there was no need.

Until next time,

Mike

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Hello Everyone,

Ever have something that keeps going wrong, but you can’t quite figure out what is the root cause of the problem?  As usual, I have a story and then a solution, so keep reading.

At Ore City ISD, I had one campus that kept losing computers.  When I would open the computers, they looked a lot like someone had poured acid or something like it on the montherboards inside the computers.  Last week, I had a staff member at Clyde ask me what caused the capacitors on the motherboard to explode.  Both have the same cause and it is something you can prevent.

Computers have 120 volt power supplies.  Everything in your computer is expecting to receive at least 120 volts of power.  We usually put surge protectors on computers, but no one ever thinks about low voltage.  Incorrect voltage to a computer will cause a lot of damage over a period of time and start making your computer do “funny” things.

Here’s what to look for:

• Computer screen flickers for no apparent reason.
• Computer may reset or lock up for no apparent reason.
• When cleaning the computer as per last week’s tip, you notice that parts of the motherboard look a lot like a flashlight battery that is too old.

These can be signs of low voltage.  I highly recommend getting a volt meter out and checking the voltage at the plug.  If it is less than 120 volts, you should look into moving the computer or getting an electrician out to your house.  Less than 116 volts and your computer is probably doing all kinds of wierd things.

Another thing to consider purchasing is a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for your computer.  Not only do these devices give you battery backup, they also condition the power going to your computer.  They can help a lot with temporary power surges or low power.  They are definately worth the investment for critical use computers.

That’s all for this week.

Mike 

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In a class years ago, I was teaching computer applications. My goal in the class was to teach students how to use Help. I would give them projects and then let them fumble their way through completing the project by using Help screens and the Internet. At first they would be confused, but as they learned to use the tools at hand, they gained confidence on learning any software packages. I’ve even had e-mails from them later on thanking me for torturing them with this method. I know this tip may sound like something trivial, but I get asked questions all of the time that could easily be solved with the advice below.

My method of learning software:

• First, learn what is possible. There are lots of ways to accomplish this task. From past experience, you know a lot of things. You might also want to look at an article or book on the software. The first important thing is to know what you can do and then to figure out how.
• The second thing is to get to know your Help screen. At the top of every software package is a Help item. If not, hitting F1 will usually bring up a help screen. On the help screen are the terms Content and Index. Content has help topics located in groups that can be helpful when you are browsing a software package. Index is the screen I use most often when trying to complete a project. With index, you can type what you are trying to do in the index box and several options will appear. You can scan the options and see if what you are wanting to do is there. If it is not, try rewording what you are looking to find. Knowing exactly what you are wanting to do and what it is called is very helpful at this point.
• Lastly, use the power of the Internet. Almost anything you can dream up has something written about it on the Internet. You may have to try different searches before finding it, but somewhere out there is a web page or blog with the information you need. To tell you the truth, this is how I solve the majority of the problems I face on a daily basis.

In summary, find out what is possible to do with a particular piece of software and then practice looking for help either online or on the software package and you’ll become amazed when people start looking to you for answers as the computer guru.
Until next time,
Mike Wetsel

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Intermittent. The one word no computer person wants to hear is intermittent. Ever have a computer doing different things at different times for no apparent reason? There really is no such thing as an intermittent problem. What it really means is that the real cause hasn’t been found yet and may be hard to find.

One source of intermittent problems sometimes overlooked is heat. If your computer’s processor gets too hot, it will begin having “intermittent” problems. Hours can be spent trying to solve a problem with virus scanners, defragging hard drives and the likes and the real problem is heat. Even experienced computer geeks (like me) have spent hours chasing a problem before finally cracking the computer case and seeing the problem.

The usual problem with heat is dirt. Your computer runs all day long and sometimes all night as well. While it’s running, it has fans that are supposed to be cooling your CPU. These fans draw outside air in to cool your computer and along with this outside air they pull in dirt and lint and the like. About every 6 months, perform the following preventative maintenance and heating problems due to dirt will be avoided. It’s a good idea to follow this preventative maintenance even if you are not having problems.

Make sure the computer’s warranty will not be voided if you open up the computer case. Inquire about this first and let your computer vendor know you are simply wanting to use compressed air to blow out the dirt and they should be pleased with this since it will save them warranty calls.

Unplug the computer from electricity. If you live in a dry area, touch some metal object other than your computer to make sure you do not have static.

Looking at the back of the computer, you will see which side your monitor, keyboard, mouse and bus devices are plugged in. The panel farthest from these devices has 2 to 3 screws. Remove the screws and slide the panel away from the front of the computer.

Be prepared for the dust inside. Even computers as new as 6 months old may be loaded with dust. Hold a can of compressed air upright (never upside down where moisture comes out) and spray everything in your computer. Especially spray areas that have fans. Try to remove as much dirt as possible with the canned air.

Put the panel on by aligning tabs on panel with holes on case. Slide the panel forward and the reattach the screws.

Plug the computer back in and you are good to go.

At one school district I work at, the first year we had lots of intermittent problems and lots of equipment failures. The first summer I was there, we cleaned every computer and our maintenance needs dropped by about half the next year and the intermittent problems almost stopped entirely.

Until next week,

Mike

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It’s spring time again! Beautiful weather, pretty flowers, green grass, new green leaves and thunderstorms. This week’s topic will deal with my opinion on thunderstorms and how to make a plan on dealing with lightning.

Over the years, I’ve dealt with many thunderstorms and well over a thousand of computers during these storms. It’s always interesting to observe individual behavior of people with their computers during a storm. Some are completely complacent while others try to unplug every computer from any electrical source. My experience suggests an approach combining a little forethought and planning will ease the tension of what to do during a storm both with your home computers and your business computer.

The most common danger to your computer during a storm is not your electrical outlet, but your connection to the Internet. If you are using dial-up, DSL or a cable modem, you might want to consider disconnecting them from your computer first. Almost all of the computers I’ve seen damaged during a storm have received their damage via the communication line and not over the electrical system. The electrical system of most places has a sufficient ground to protect from everything except a direct lightning strike.

So here’s my tip if thunderstorms make you nervous. Put a note beside your computer to remind you to unplug the communication line of your computer during a storm. Go ahead and unplug the electricity as well if it makes you feel better. Don’t wait until a storm comes up to try and figure out how to disconnect your Internet. I’ve heard from a lot of people who knew to unplug their modem and got anxious and forgot and lost their computer. Just look at your computer ahead of time and make a plan. Find your Internet connection and try disconnecting it and putting it back a couple of times so you are comfortable with it. You should also put a surge protector on your home computer that protects both the electricity and the Internet connection in case a storm comes up and you are not there.

Until next time,

mike@abilenecomputing.com

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Today’s tip is about spam. I think everyone is familiar with what spam is, but where does it come from and how do we prevent it?

The 2 biggest ways spammers get your e-mail are:

They obtain domains surfing the net (or perhaps have programs that do the surfing) and then have programs that try different e-mail combinations at a fast rate. Bottom line is if your address is easy to guess (i.e. john@aol.com), then you are probably going to get a lot of spam.

You gave it to them!! Almost everything one the net requires you give them your e-mail address. Why? Because that is how leads are developed and how you develop a warm market on the Internet. Spammers either trick you through ads to give them your information or they buy your information from disreputable people in the net.

So what can you do to protect yourself from spam? Well, there are a few tricks that can minimize your exposure, but you are probably always going to get some spam. So helpful things to do are:

Make sure your e-mail provider provides a spam filter.

When you develop an e-mail address, use something hard to guess with numbers and special characters. Personally, I don’t like this approach because I want you to remember my address.

Get another free e-mail address to use as a “decoy”. Use that one when signing up for anything on the Internet. Or, if your current e-mail is getting a lot of spam, you might want to consider just giving the new address to friends and family and letting your old e-mail be the decoy. I recommend gmail at www.gmail.com as an alternate e-mail because the filter works great and you get lots of storage.

Never give out your e-mail address that you are going to use with friends and family on the Internet.

Periodically look at your decoy e-mail because you might get something legitimate from someone like me!!

Thanks for reading this tip. Feel free to comment and pass it around.

Until next week,
Mike

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Does your computer take forever to start up? Does it seem to run slower that it used to? Over time, we load a lot of programs on our computers. A lot of these programs get a little big for their britches and decide they are important enough to load up every time you start your computer. Don’t know about you, but I really don’t need Kodak’s Easyshare program until I decide it’s time to download some pictures from my camera.

Here’s what you can do to make those programs behave:

Click on Start
Click on Run
Type msconfig in the box
Click OK
Click startup
Click Disable All
Click Ok
Restart computer when prompted

First time computer starts up, click the little box that tells you settings have been changed.

Your computer should run faster now. Programs like anti-virus programs will reenable themselves so you don’t have to worry about them. It’s the pesky programs that never get used that will no longer load up on startup and cause your computer to run slowly. This process may have to be done again in the future, so hang on to this e-mail.

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