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The Computer Tutor — Software How-To
The Computer Tutor

Computer repair, personal computer instruction in Safety Harbor, Clearwater, Tampa, St Pete

Latest Episodes:

slow computer — Tweak your startup list to speed up your computer Nov 24, 2014
Show notes

There are a lot of reasons why your computer might be running slowly. But one of the biggest reasons is that you have too many programs running at the same time. This can be deceiving, because you might look at your screen and it seems like only a few are running. It’s the ones that are running that you DON’T see that could be causing the problem.

Here’s the basic fact: the more programs you have running, the slower they all run. That means you don’t want to have any programs running if you don’t need them at the time.

The secret is to find the list of programs that run automatically every time you boot up the computer, and tell them not to run every time.

Here’s how you find that list:

In Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7:

1. Click the Start button (the Microsoft logo in the bottom left corner)

2. In the field with the blinking cursor, type: msconfig and hit Enter on the keyboard

3. In the new window that comes up, click on the “Startup” tab. There’s your list.

In Windows 8 or 8.1:

1. Hold down CTRL and SHIFT, and tap the Escape key

2. Click the “Startup” tab. There’s your list.

So now you’re looking at the list of programs that run automatically, every time you boot up your computer. Getting to that list is the easy part. Now you have to decide which items you should disable.

Important note: disabling or unchecking a program in this list does NOT remove it or uninstall it from your computer. It’s still there. It just doesn’t run automatically every time you hit the power button.

The items that I see all the time and disable or uncheck include:

iTunes

QuickTime

Adobe Reader

Microsoft Office

Anything related to your printer

GoTo Meeting

Apple Push

PaperPort anything

Nuance anything

Skype

Spotify

RealPlayer anything

There are others for sure; these are just the ones that come to mind because I see them fairly often.

Of course, you might leave one or more of those checked based on your situation. Some people like to have Skype on all the time, so that the people with whom they communicate can see when they’re online. Or maybe you want Spotify to automatically start streaming your music every time you boot up. There’s no problem with that.

What causes the problem is that so many of these programs insert themselves into the “auto startup” group without needing to be there, and without even asking your permission to be there. Like Adobe Reader. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for Adobe Reader to be constantly running in the background on your computer, but if you check the MSCONFIG startup list, it’s very likely you will find it there. So what happens when you UNcheck that box to disable it? It changes nothing as far as your ability to use it. When you click on a PDF file, it will open up in Adobe Reader just like it always does.

But Adobe doesn’t care about how fast your computer runs. If you take Adobe Reader out of the startup list, guess what happens after the next Adobe Reader update? Yep, it’s right back in the list again. AND – you’ll see an icon on your desktop for Adobe Reader. This is absolutely the most useless desktop icon ever. No one clicks on that to open the program. You just click on a PDF file, and it opens in Adobe Reader by default (unless you use a different program to read PDF files). But we’ve known for a long time that Adobe doesn’t care about your computer’s performance – every time you go to Adobe.com to get an update to Adobe Reader or Adobe Flash, it will still try to sneak other junkware on to your computer – like McAfee or Ask.com garbage.

How do you know which items to uncheck or disable?

My general rule is this: if you don’t know what it is, leave it there. But even if you uncheck something that you shouldn’t have, you can always just go back to the list and check it or enable it again.

Some things are obvious. The items I listed above don’t have to run all the time, just when you need them. Other programs in the list you might not be so sure about. What you can do is note the program name, and then do a little research on it. Find out what it does. You might discover that it’s part of the software program that goes with a printer or scanner that you don’t even use any more. Or it might be malware.

On the other hand, you will probably see your antivirus program listed there – definitely want to keep that one. You should of course also keep your program that you use for automated online backup, since that should run without you having to manually activate it.

It’s a good idea to check the MSCONFIG startup list maybe once a month or so, just to be sure things haven’t gotten in there when they shouldn’t be there. Usually there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find something that you’ll want to disable.

The post Tweak your startup list to speed up your computer first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

listen to my podcast in iTunes — Tweak your startup list to speed up your computer Nov 24, 2014
Show notes

There are a lot of reasons why your computer might be running slowly. But one of the biggest reasons is that you have too many programs running at the same time. This can be deceiving, because you might look at your screen and it seems like only a few are running. It’s the ones that are running that you DON’T see that could be causing the problem.

Here’s the basic fact: the more programs you have running, the slower they all run. That means you don’t want to have any programs running if you don’t need them at the time.

The secret is to find the list of programs that run automatically every time you boot up the computer, and tell them not to run every time.

Here’s how you find that list:

In Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7:

1. Click the Start button (the Microsoft logo in the bottom left corner)

2. In the field with the blinking cursor, type: msconfig and hit Enter on the keyboard

3. In the new window that comes up, click on the “Startup” tab. There’s your list.

In Windows 8 or 8.1:

1. Hold down CTRL and SHIFT, and tap the Escape key

2. Click the “Startup” tab. There’s your list.

So now you’re looking at the list of programs that run automatically, every time you boot up your computer. Getting to that list is the easy part. Now you have to decide which items you should disable.

Important note: disabling or unchecking a program in this list does NOT remove it or uninstall it from your computer. It’s still there. It just doesn’t run automatically every time you hit the power button.

The items that I see all the time and disable or uncheck include:

iTunes

QuickTime

Adobe Reader

Microsoft Office

Anything related to your printer

GoTo Meeting

Apple Push

PaperPort anything

Nuance anything

Skype

Spotify

RealPlayer anything

There are others for sure; these are just the ones that come to mind because I see them fairly often.

Of course, you might leave one or more of those checked based on your situation. Some people like to have Skype on all the time, so that the people with whom they communicate can see when they’re online. Or maybe you want Spotify to automatically start streaming your music every time you boot up. There’s no problem with that.

What causes the problem is that so many of these programs insert themselves into the “auto startup” group without needing to be there, and without even asking your permission to be there. Like Adobe Reader. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for Adobe Reader to be constantly running in the background on your computer, but if you check the MSCONFIG startup list, it’s very likely you will find it there. So what happens when you UNcheck that box to disable it? It changes nothing as far as your ability to use it. When you click on a PDF file, it will open up in Adobe Reader just like it always does.

But Adobe doesn’t care about how fast your computer runs. If you take Adobe Reader out of the startup list, guess what happens after the next Adobe Reader update? Yep, it’s right back in the list again. AND – you’ll see an icon on your desktop for Adobe Reader. This is absolutely the most useless desktop icon ever. No one clicks on that to open the program. You just click on a PDF file, and it opens in Adobe Reader by default (unless you use a different program to read PDF files). But we’ve known for a long time that Adobe doesn’t care about your computer’s performance – every time you go to Adobe.com to get an update to Adobe Reader or Adobe Flash, it will still try to sneak other junkware on to your computer – like McAfee or Ask.com garbage.

How do you know which items to uncheck or disable?

My general rule is this: if you don’t know what it is, leave it there. But even if you uncheck something that you shouldn’t have, you can always just go back to the list and check it or enable it again.

Some things are obvious. The items I listed above don’t have to run all the time, just when you need them. Other programs in the list you might not be so sure about. What you can do is note the program name, and then do a little research on it. Find out what it does. You might discover that it’s part of the software program that goes with a printer or scanner that you don’t even use any more. Or it might be malware.

On the other hand, you will probably see your antivirus program listed there – definitely want to keep that one. You should of course also keep your program that you use for automated online backup, since that should run without you having to manually activate it.

It’s a good idea to check the MSCONFIG startup list maybe once a month or so, just to be sure things haven’t gotten in there when they shouldn’t be there. Usually there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find something that you’ll want to disable.

The post Tweak your startup list to speed up your computer first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

Google Chrome — Combine multiple browser tabs into ONE tab to save memory Nov 17, 2014
Show notes

I love Google Chrome. I use it as my default web browser and it works great. Probably what I love most about it is how I can customize it with extensions. I can put on ad blockers and all kinds of things so that websites look and behave based on my personal preferences. Chrome has one drawback though – it tends to use a lot of the computer’s memory (RAM).

Here’s how you can see this for yourself. Open Google Chrome, then open a website in a new tab. Then open another web page in another new tab. And another. And keep doing that until you have a bunch of tabs open, each one on a different web page.

For this example, I opened 15 different tabs and each one is displaying a different product on Amazon. So the top of my Google Chrome browser looks like this:

Now, with those 15 tabs open, let’s see how much memory is being used by Chrome. To do this, we need to open Windows Task Manager. The quick way to open that is to hold down the CTRL and Shift keys, and tap the Escape key. When Task Manager opens, click on the “Processes” tab. If you look in that list of processes, you should see Chrome listed several times (once for each tab you have opened in Chrome). And each one will tell you how much memory is being used. Mine looks like this:

I didn’t add up all that, but you can see that it can pretty easily get into several gigabytes of memory. That will tend to slow things down. Of course, you might not typically have that many Chrome tabs open at the same time, but there are probably situations where you have quite a few open. I certainly do sometimes.

Thankfully, there’s a way to save the website or web page addresses for each of the tabs, but combine them all into just one single tab. It’s through a Chrome extension called OneTab. You can get it free at One-Tab.com. Just go to that website (using Chrome) and click to install it. You don’t even need to restart Chrome. When it’s running, you’ll see a little blue funnel at the top of the window:

When you click that funnel, it takes all of those individual web pages and puts them into a list of clickable links – on just one single tab. At that point, you can restore each one individually if you want, or you can restore all 15 tabs back to the way they were originally.

And the big benefit – the reason we did this in the first place – was to save on memory. Take a look at Task Manager now:

That’s a big difference! If your computer has lots of memory installed, like 8 gb or 16 gb, you might not notice a huge change in the speed of operation. But if you’re working with 4 gb of memory (which is pretty common on most computers these days) but difference in speed might be very noticeable.

And by the way – OneTab is available for Firefox also.

Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments!

The post Combine multiple browser tabs into ONE tab to save memory first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

Google Chrome — Combine multiple browser tabs into ONE tab to save memory Nov 17, 2014
Show notes

I love Google Chrome. I use it as my default web browser and it works great. Probably what I love most about it is how I can customize it with extensions. I can put on ad blockers and all kinds of things so that websites look and behave based on my personal preferences. Chrome has one drawback though – it tends to use a lot of the computer’s memory (RAM).

Here’s how you can see this for yourself. Open Google Chrome, then open a website in a new tab. Then open another web page in another new tab. And another. And keep doing that until you have a bunch of tabs open, each one on a different web page.

For this example, I opened 15 different tabs and each one is displaying a different product on Amazon. So the top of my Google Chrome browser looks like this:

Now, with those 15 tabs open, let’s see how much memory is being used by Chrome. To do this, we need to open Windows Task Manager. The quick way to open that is to hold down the CTRL and Shift keys, and tap the Escape key. When Task Manager opens, click on the “Processes” tab. If you look in that list of processes, you should see Chrome listed several times (once for each tab you have opened in Chrome). And each one will tell you how much memory is being used. Mine looks like this:

I didn’t add up all that, but you can see that it can pretty easily get into several gigabytes of memory. That will tend to slow things down. Of course, you might not typically have that many Chrome tabs open at the same time, but there are probably situations where you have quite a few open. I certainly do sometimes.

Thankfully, there’s a way to save the website or web page addresses for each of the tabs, but combine them all into just one single tab. It’s through a Chrome extension called OneTab. You can get it free at One-Tab.com. Just go to that website (using Chrome) and click to install it. You don’t even need to restart Chrome. When it’s running, you’ll see a little blue funnel at the top of the window:

When you click that funnel, it takes all of those individual web pages and puts them into a list of clickable links – on just one single tab. At that point, you can restore each one individually if you want, or you can restore all 15 tabs back to the way they were originally.

And the big benefit – the reason we did this in the first place – was to save on memory. Take a look at Task Manager now:

That’s a big difference! If your computer has lots of memory installed, like 8 gb or 16 gb, you might not notice a huge change in the speed of operation. But if you’re working with 4 gb of memory (which is pretty common on most computers these days) but difference in speed might be very noticeable.

And by the way – OneTab is available for Firefox also.

Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments!

The post Combine multiple browser tabs into ONE tab to save memory first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

airbnb — Using technology to get affordable travel accommodations Nov 10, 2014
Show notes

I had an experience recently that I knew almost immediately would end up as a blog post and podcast episode. It’s another example of how someone came up with a great idea about yet another use for technology, and we can all benefit from it.

When you go on vacation, what are the biggest expenses for which you have to plan? Airfare of course, if you’re flying. But the next biggest one could be where you’ll be staying. Obviously you need a place to store your stuff and a place to sleep every night. Typically for most people that means finding a hotel. The price for a week or two in a hotel can vary widely. You could stay in a very nice one and pay a few hundred dollars each night per room, or you could find a cheaper place for possibly less than $100 per night. Either way, it’s going to represent a pretty big part of your travel budget.

What’s really nice is if you’re traveling to visit family or friends, and they have extra rooms so you can just stay with them. Think about this: wouldn’t it be nice if you had some family or friends to stay with wherever you went? That’s kind of what we can do now. Kind of.

Let’s say you’re traveling to Clearwater Beach (one of the greatest beaches in the world, of course). You can obviously book a hotel room (or several) and stay right there on the beach. And you pay for that service and convenience. If it’s around Christmas, or Spring Break, you’ll pay even more.

But think about what else is in the area. There are some privately owned homes that are sitting empty. Either because the owner is traveling somewhere, or the property is no longer occupied because it’s for sale, or a variety of other reasons. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just contact the owner and stay there, at a lower rate than a hotel? It’s good for you because you’re saving money, and it’s good for the homeowner because he’s making some money from this house that would otherwise just be sitting there empty.

What’s been missing in the equation is how the property owners can be connected with the people that need a place to stay. That has now been solved, thanks to a service called AirBnB. You can access it at AirBnB.com.

The basic premise is pretty simple. The website summarizes it in 3 steps:

Step 1 is to decide where you want to go, and what kind of place you want. There are actually hosts in 190 different countries, and TONS of them here in the US. You’ll find more options in highly populated areas of course, but even in rural locations you should have a few places to choose from. You can filter your choices based on location, price range, and whether you want a private room, an entire home, or even a shared room (sharing a room – that sounds like more of an adventure than I would probably want).

Step 2 is to book the reservation. This is where you actually send a request to the host and tell them what dates you want to reserve, how many people, those kinds of details. At this point, all of your communication is done through the AirBnB website. You don’t have any direct contact with the host until your reservation is accepted (hosts have the option on whether or not they will accept a reservation). Payment is also made through the website. AirBnB will charge you the advertised room rate. Added to this in some cases is a cleaning fee charged by the host. And, AirBnB will add their own “Guest Fee”, which ranges from 6% to 12% based on the room rate.

Step 3 is – go! Show up on your check-in date, meet your host, ask any final questions, and then enjoy your stay.

As I mentioned, I recently had my own first experience with this type of travel accommodations. I was scheduled to attend a writer’s conference about a month ago over in Delray Beach, Florida (about a 4 hour drive from where I live in the Tampa Bay area). Getting there was no problem of course, since it was a reasonable driving distance. However, the conference was Wednesday through Saturday so obviously I needed to find a place to stay for 3 nights.

The conference was at the Marriott right on Delray Beach. Beautiful facility, but at $200 per night plus tax, it was more than I wanted to spend. So I started looking around for alternatives. There were hotels that were less expensive, but they weren’t very close by. That meant I would be driving 30-45 minutes each way from the my hotel to the conference hotel. Not exactly ideal either.

That’s when a friend told me about AirBnB and I started checking out the possibilities there. There were several hosts within just a few miles of the Marriott, and the prices were very reasonable. Since I was traveling alone, I only needed minimal space so I limited my search to private rooms rather than a whole house or apartment. I decided on a host that offered a private room with my own full bathroom – and it was only $60 per night.

The experience was wonderful. I had my own key so I could come and go as I needed to. I had full use of the kitchen (although I only really used the fridge to store some food). Before I showed up, I sent an email asking the host if there was a television in the room. She replied, “No, but you can always use the big TV out in the living room.” That was fine since I hardly watch television anyway. But then, when I arrived and she was showing me around, she said she went out and got a TV for the room anyway since I had asked about it. So there was a flat screen television, hooked up to cable, right there on the dresser in my room.

In my case, I got to know the host and we became friends. I’m sure not all situations are like that. In fact, you might never actually meet your host face to face if they have someone else in charge of handling the guests. Each scenario is a little different.

There is one big factor that is essential for something like this to work: trust. You have to have a sense of trust in the host, that they are going to provide a safe place to stay, and that their description and pictures are accurate. And the host has to be assured that you are not some psycho, scammer, or other manner of lowlife that they would not want to deal with.

AirBnB has safety mechanisms built into the process. As a guest, you are encouraged to provide as much information as possible. This includes linking to your social media accounts such as Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as providing your phone number, address and other direct contact information. Also, every time you travel and use AirBnB, the host has the opportunity to give you a rating and review as to what kind of guest you were. That gives future hosts a better idea of whether or not they want to accept your reservation.

Hosts are also encouraged to provide as much detail as possible in order to make potential guests more comfortable and likely to want to stay there. And the same rating/review system is in place for hosts. They want to build up a good collection of positive ratings in order to improve their reputation and increase the likelihood of future reservations.

I know that this type of travel arrangement is not for everyone. There are those that would say, “Just go and stay at the home of a stranger? No way!” That’s fine, that’s why hotels are in business. But if you have a little flair for trying something new, I suggest giving it a shot. You might just like the experience.

The post Using technology to get affordable travel accommodations first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

airbnb — Using technology to get affordable travel accommodations Nov 10, 2014
Show notes

I had an experience recently that I knew almost immediately would end up as a blog post and podcast episode. It’s another example of how someone came up with a great idea about yet another use for technology, and we can all benefit from it.

When you go on vacation, what are the biggest expenses for which you have to plan? Airfare of course, if you’re flying. But the next biggest one could be where you’ll be staying. Obviously you need a place to store your stuff and a place to sleep every night. Typically for most people that means finding a hotel. The price for a week or two in a hotel can vary widely. You could stay in a very nice one and pay a few hundred dollars each night per room, or you could find a cheaper place for possibly less than $100 per night. Either way, it’s going to represent a pretty big part of your travel budget.

What’s really nice is if you’re traveling to visit family or friends, and they have extra rooms so you can just stay with them. Think about this: wouldn’t it be nice if you had some family or friends to stay with wherever you went? That’s kind of what we can do now. Kind of.

Let’s say you’re traveling to Clearwater Beach (one of the greatest beaches in the world, of course). You can obviously book a hotel room (or several) and stay right there on the beach. And you pay for that service and convenience. If it’s around Christmas, or Spring Break, you’ll pay even more.

But think about what else is in the area. There are some privately owned homes that are sitting empty. Either because the owner is traveling somewhere, or the property is no longer occupied because it’s for sale, or a variety of other reasons. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just contact the owner and stay there, at a lower rate than a hotel? It’s good for you because you’re saving money, and it’s good for the homeowner because he’s making some money from this house that would otherwise just be sitting there empty.

What’s been missing in the equation is how the property owners can be connected with the people that need a place to stay. That has now been solved, thanks to a service called AirBnB. You can access it at AirBnB.com.

The basic premise is pretty simple. The website summarizes it in 3 steps:

Step 1 is to decide where you want to go, and what kind of place you want. There are actually hosts in 190 different countries, and TONS of them here in the US. You’ll find more options in highly populated areas of course, but even in rural locations you should have a few places to choose from. You can filter your choices based on location, price range, and whether you want a private room, an entire home, or even a shared room (sharing a room – that sounds like more of an adventure than I would probably want).

Step 2 is to book the reservation. This is where you actually send a request to the host and tell them what dates you want to reserve, how many people, those kinds of details. At this point, all of your communication is done through the AirBnB website. You don’t have any direct contact with the host until your reservation is accepted (hosts have the option on whether or not they will accept a reservation). Payment is also made through the website. AirBnB will charge you the advertised room rate. Added to this in some cases is a cleaning fee charged by the host. And, AirBnB will add their own “Guest Fee”, which ranges from 6% to 12% based on the room rate.

Step 3 is – go! Show up on your check-in date, meet your host, ask any final questions, and then enjoy your stay.

As I mentioned, I recently had my own first experience with this type of travel accommodations. I was scheduled to attend a writer’s conference about a month ago over in Delray Beach, Florida (about a 4 hour drive from where I live in the Tampa Bay area). Getting there was no problem of course, since it was a reasonable driving distance. However, the conference was Wednesday through Saturday so obviously I needed to find a place to stay for 3 nights.

The conference was at the Marriott right on Delray Beach. Beautiful facility, but at $200 per night plus tax, it was more than I wanted to spend. So I started looking around for alternatives. There were hotels that were less expensive, but they weren’t very close by. That meant I would be driving 30-45 minutes each way from the my hotel to the conference hotel. Not exactly ideal either.

That’s when a friend told me about AirBnB and I started checking out the possibilities there. There were several hosts within just a few miles of the Marriott, and the prices were very reasonable. Since I was traveling alone, I only needed minimal space so I limited my search to private rooms rather than a whole house or apartment. I decided on a host that offered a private room with my own full bathroom – and it was only $60 per night.

The experience was wonderful. I had my own key so I could come and go as I needed to. I had full use of the kitchen (although I only really used the fridge to store some food). Before I showed up, I sent an email asking the host if there was a television in the room. She replied, “No, but you can always use the big TV out in the living room.” That was fine since I hardly watch television anyway. But then, when I arrived and she was showing me around, she said she went out and got a TV for the room anyway since I had asked about it. So there was a flat screen television, hooked up to cable, right there on the dresser in my room.

In my case, I got to know the host and we became friends. I’m sure not all situations are like that. In fact, you might never actually meet your host face to face if they have someone else in charge of handling the guests. Each scenario is a little different.

There is one big factor that is essential for something like this to work: trust. You have to have a sense of trust in the host, that they are going to provide a safe place to stay, and that their description and pictures are accurate. And the host has to be assured that you are not some psycho, scammer, or other manner of lowlife that they would not want to deal with.

AirBnB has safety mechanisms built into the process. As a guest, you are encouraged to provide as much information as possible. This includes linking to your social media accounts such as Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as providing your phone number, address and other direct contact information. Also, every time you travel and use AirBnB, the host has the opportunity to give you a rating and review as to what kind of guest you were. That gives future hosts a better idea of whether or not they want to accept your reservation.

Hosts are also encouraged to provide as much detail as possible in order to make potential guests more comfortable and likely to want to stay there. And the same rating/review system is in place for hosts. They want to build up a good collection of positive ratings in order to improve their reputation and increase the likelihood of future reservations.

I know that this type of travel arrangement is not for everyone. There are those that would say, “Just go and stay at the home of a stranger? No way!” That’s fine, that’s why hotels are in business. But if you have a little flair for trying something new, I suggest giving it a shot. You might just like the experience.

The post Using technology to get affordable travel accommodations first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

nameless folder — How to create a Windows folder with no name Nov 03, 2014
Show notes

Every week here on my blog I talk about some type of practical tip or trick that you can do with your computer. Hopefully you find some of them practical and useful. But you know what? Being a geek, I sometimes like to come across computer tricks that may not seem to have obvious practical value. That’s what today is going to be. And who knows, maybe there is some actual usefulness for this. If you find it useful in some way, please let me know in the comments below.

You’ve probably always wondered, “How can I created a folder on my computer, and give that folder a completely blank name?” Well, you can stop wondering. Here’s how you do it.

For our example, we’ll create a folder on the desktop so it will be there along with your other icons.

First, do a right-click in an open area of the desktop. In the menu that comes up, move the cursor to “New”, and then choose “Folder”.

At this point, you have a folder called “New folder”:

Do a right click on that new folder, and choose “Rename”:

Now the folder is ready for you to give it a new name. Hold down the ALT key on your keyboard, and tap the number “9” nine times (that’s 999999999) from the number pad on the right side of your keyboard. NOTE: it won’t work if you hit the 9 in the number row at the top of the keyboard – it has to be the number pad on the right side.

Now let up on the ALT key, and hit Enter on the keyboard. There you go, a folder with no name:

And that’s it. Hey, at the very least, maybe you could bet an office co-worker that you can create a nameless folder and win a dollar. For me, I just find stuff like this interesting. It’s kind of fun when you know how to do something that most people don’t.

The post How to create a Windows folder with no name first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

new folder — How to create a Windows folder with no name Nov 03, 2014
Show notes

Every week here on my blog I talk about some type of practical tip or trick that you can do with your computer. Hopefully you find some of them practical and useful. But you know what? Being a geek, I sometimes like to come across computer tricks that may not seem to have obvious practical value. That’s what today is going to be. And who knows, maybe there is some actual usefulness for this. If you find it useful in some way, please let me know in the comments below.

You’ve probably always wondered, “How can I created a folder on my computer, and give that folder a completely blank name?” Well, you can stop wondering. Here’s how you do it.

For our example, we’ll create a folder on the desktop so it will be there along with your other icons.

First, do a right-click in an open area of the desktop. In the menu that comes up, move the cursor to “New”, and then choose “Folder”.

At this point, you have a folder called “New folder”:

Do a right click on that new folder, and choose “Rename”:

Now the folder is ready for you to give it a new name. Hold down the ALT key on your keyboard, and tap the number “9” nine times (that’s 999999999) from the number pad on the right side of your keyboard. NOTE: it won’t work if you hit the 9 in the number row at the top of the keyboard – it has to be the number pad on the right side.

Now let up on the ALT key, and hit Enter on the keyboard. There you go, a folder with no name:

And that’s it. Hey, at the very least, maybe you could bet an office co-worker that you can create a nameless folder and win a dollar. For me, I just find stuff like this interesting. It’s kind of fun when you know how to do something that most people don’t.

The post How to create a Windows folder with no name first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

Microsoft Outlook — How to back up Outlook email and contacts Oct 27, 2014
Show notes

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular email programs in use today. I ‘ve been using it for years and I like it. Yes, it’s a little quirky at times but overall it’s pretty reliable and has a lot of great features. However, one of the things not included in Outlook is an easy backup process. Other programs have that built in so you can just click File – Backup and send all your data to a separate drive, but not Outlook. No problem though – I know how to do it and today I’ll show you how.

The fundamental thing you need to know about Outlook is that it stores ALL of your Outlook data in one single file, called a PST file. So that one file includes:

Emails

Email folders

Email attachments

Contacts/Address book

Calendar

Tasks

Whatever other Outlook features you use

It’s kind of convenient to have everything in that one file, so all you have to back up is that file. But it’s also a little dangerous, since if you lose that single file, you’ve lost everything. That’s why backing up your Outlook PST file is so important.

The actual backup process is not really difficult. It can be summarized like this:

How to backup Outlook:

Find the Outlook PST file

Copy and paste it to your external drive

Sounds easy, right? The trick is finding the PST file in the first place. The location of that PST file depends on what version of Outlook you are using. (Please note – the file locations listed below are the default settings. It’s possible to move the PST file to another location.)

In Outlook 2003, the PST file is found at this path (but if you’re still using Outlook 2003 you really need to upgrade to a newer version):

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

In Outlook 2007, the PST file is found at this path:

C:\Users\username\App Data\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

In Outlook 2010 and 2013, Microsoft finally woke up and decided to put the PST file in an easier location, the Documents folder:

C:\Users\username\Documents\Outlook files

The change they made in the more recent versions of Outlook was smart. Not just because the Outlook PST file is now easier to find, but because people that back up their data almost always include the Documents folder as part of the backup. And since “Outlook files” is a folder inside Documents, the email gets backed up automatically as part of that process.

Once you’ve actually located your PST file, just do a right-click on it and choose “Copy”. Then plug in your external drive and open it. Create a folder called “Outlook backup” (you could also include today’s date in the file name). Then just right-click and choose Paste to copy the PST file to that folder. Last step – disconnect the external drive. Not so difficult, right?

A few things to be aware of:

1. If your PST file is not where it “should” be (the default locations listed above), you can just do a search for it by searching for: *.pst (that’s an asterisk followed by a period followed by “pst”).

2. Having your PST file backed up to an external drive is definitely better than no backup at all. However, it would not be good to have this as your ONLY backup, if your email, contact list, etc. is critical to save. The external drive could fail, just like your computer’s hard drive can fail. And, if you have to remember to do it, it most likely won’t get done every day. An automated online backup process would be a good way to make sure it gets done every single day, without your having to even think about it.

3. A PST file can be large. If you have years of emails (some with large attachments), a big contact list, etc. the PST file might be quite large. I’ve seen some go over 1 gb in size. I just checked mine and it’s about 2.3 gb.

So now that you know how to back up your Outlook, go do it while you’re thinking about it!

The post How to back up Outlook email and contacts first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

listen to my podcast in iTunes — How to back up Outlook email and contacts Oct 27, 2014
Show notes

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular email programs in use today. I ‘ve been using it for years and I like it. Yes, it’s a little quirky at times but overall it’s pretty reliable and has a lot of great features. However, one of the things not included in Outlook is an easy backup process. Other programs have that built in so you can just click File – Backup and send all your data to a separate drive, but not Outlook. No problem though – I know how to do it and today I’ll show you how.

The fundamental thing you need to know about Outlook is that it stores ALL of your Outlook data in one single file, called a PST file. So that one file includes:

Emails

Email folders

Email attachments

Contacts/Address book

Calendar

Tasks

Whatever other Outlook features you use

It’s kind of convenient to have everything in that one file, so all you have to back up is that file. But it’s also a little dangerous, since if you lose that single file, you’ve lost everything. That’s why backing up your Outlook PST file is so important.

The actual backup process is not really difficult. It can be summarized like this:

How to backup Outlook:

Find the Outlook PST file

Copy and paste it to your external drive

Sounds easy, right? The trick is finding the PST file in the first place. The location of that PST file depends on what version of Outlook you are using. (Please note – the file locations listed below are the default settings. It’s possible to move the PST file to another location.)

In Outlook 2003, the PST file is found at this path (but if you’re still using Outlook 2003 you really need to upgrade to a newer version):

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

In Outlook 2007, the PST file is found at this path:

C:\Users\username\App Data\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

In Outlook 2010 and 2013, Microsoft finally woke up and decided to put the PST file in an easier location, the Documents folder:

C:\Users\username\Documents\Outlook files

The change they made in the more recent versions of Outlook was smart. Not just because the Outlook PST file is now easier to find, but because people that back up their data almost always include the Documents folder as part of the backup. And since “Outlook files” is a folder inside Documents, the email gets backed up automatically as part of that process.

Once you’ve actually located your PST file, just do a right-click on it and choose “Copy”. Then plug in your external drive and open it. Create a folder called “Outlook backup” (you could also include today’s date in the file name). Then just right-click and choose Paste to copy the PST file to that folder. Last step – disconnect the external drive. Not so difficult, right?

A few things to be aware of:

1. If your PST file is not where it “should” be (the default locations listed above), you can just do a search for it by searching for: *.pst (that’s an asterisk followed by a period followed by “pst”).

2. Having your PST file backed up to an external drive is definitely better than no backup at all. However, it would not be good to have this as your ONLY backup, if your email, contact list, etc. is critical to save. The external drive could fail, just like your computer’s hard drive can fail. And, if you have to remember to do it, it most likely won’t get done every day. An automated online backup process would be a good way to make sure it gets done every single day, without your having to even think about it.

3. A PST file can be large. If you have years of emails (some with large attachments), a big contact list, etc. the PST file might be quite large. I’ve seen some go over 1 gb in size. I just checked mine and it’s about 2.3 gb.

So now that you know how to back up your Outlook, go do it while you’re thinking about it!

The post How to back up Outlook email and contacts first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

email — What’s the difference between POP and IMAP? Oct 20, 2014
Show notes

If you use Outlook, Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird or some other email software on your computer, this is something you (or your tech) has dealt with. When you set up a new email account, one of the questions is whether or not you want the email protocol to be POP or IMAP. What’s the difference between them? Does it matter which one you use?

First, you should know this: if you get your email by going to a website, the POP vs. IMAP question doesn’t really apply to you. You just go to the email website and there’s your email. You can read it, delete it, send email, whatever you want to do. The POP/IMAP issue only applies when you are running an actual email software program on your computer.

In the past, POP email protocol was the most popular choice. IMAP is now gaining in popularity mainly because of everyone getting email on their smartphones and tablets.

The main difference between the two has to do with syncing your various devices.

When you use IMAP, for example, your laptop that uses MS Outlook would always be in sync with the inbox that you access via the web (such as the one at Gmail.com). So if you open Outlook on your laptop, read an email and then delete it, the next time you go to Gmail.com you will see that it’s automatically deleted there as well. The website version of your email will always be the same as your Outlook version on the computer.

On the other hand, if you use POP, the devices don’t sync up automatically. You could check your email in Outlook on your laptop, and then if you go to the Gmail.com website, you would still see those same emails there in the Inbox.

Should you use POP or IMAP?

It’s really a personal preference. For my email, I use POP for a couple of reasons. The “not necessarily logical” reason is that I’ve always used POP and I’m used to how it works. I know what to expect. There is some value in familiarity, and it does work for me. The other reason I like it though is because it means I always have a backup of my emails on the Gmail.com web server. I know that even if I accidentally delete an email in Outlook on my computer, I can go to Gmail.com and that email will still be there. And it will really be there indefinitely, since Google gives you so much email server space to work with. I’ve had my Gmail account since they first came out in 2004, and right now I am only using about 30% of the available space.

I have to say though, the trend is moving toward IMAP. This is mainly because of people having so many different devices. One person might have a desktop, laptop, iPad and smartphone – and probably gets email on all of them. With IMAP, all of those devices are automatically synced with each other so if you get one email you don’t have to delete it from 4 different devices. That’s efficiency. But, you better make sure you have your email backed up somewhere, because once you delete it from one device, it’s gone from all of them automatically.

The post What’s the difference between POP and IMAP? first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

email cartoon — What’s the difference between POP and IMAP? Oct 20, 2014
Show notes

If you use Outlook, Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird or some other email software on your computer, this is something you (or your tech) has dealt with. When you set up a new email account, one of the questions is whether or not you want the email protocol to be POP or IMAP. What’s the difference between them? Does it matter which one you use?

First, you should know this: if you get your email by going to a website, the POP vs. IMAP question doesn’t really apply to you. You just go to the email website and there’s your email. You can read it, delete it, send email, whatever you want to do. The POP/IMAP issue only applies when you are running an actual email software program on your computer.

In the past, POP email protocol was the most popular choice. IMAP is now gaining in popularity mainly because of everyone getting email on their smartphones and tablets.

The main difference between the two has to do with syncing your various devices.

When you use IMAP, for example, your laptop that uses MS Outlook would always be in sync with the inbox that you access via the web (such as the one at Gmail.com). So if you open Outlook on your laptop, read an email and then delete it, the next time you go to Gmail.com you will see that it’s automatically deleted there as well. The website version of your email will always be the same as your Outlook version on the computer.

On the other hand, if you use POP, the devices don’t sync up automatically. You could check your email in Outlook on your laptop, and then if you go to the Gmail.com website, you would still see those same emails there in the Inbox.

Should you use POP or IMAP?

It’s really a personal preference. For my email, I use POP for a couple of reasons. The “not necessarily logical” reason is that I’ve always used POP and I’m used to how it works. I know what to expect. There is some value in familiarity, and it does work for me. The other reason I like it though is because it means I always have a backup of my emails on the Gmail.com web server. I know that even if I accidentally delete an email in Outlook on my computer, I can go to Gmail.com and that email will still be there. And it will really be there indefinitely, since Google gives you so much email server space to work with. I’ve had my Gmail account since they first came out in 2004, and right now I am only using about 30% of the available space.

I have to say though, the trend is moving toward IMAP. This is mainly because of people having so many different devices. One person might have a desktop, laptop, iPad and smartphone – and probably gets email on all of them. With IMAP, all of those devices are automatically synced with each other so if you get one email you don’t have to delete it from 4 different devices. That’s efficiency. But, you better make sure you have your email backed up somewhere, because once you delete it from one device, it’s gone from all of them automatically.

The post What’s the difference between POP and IMAP? first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

computer repair — First things to try when you have a computer problem Oct 13, 2014
Show notes

As a computer technician, I spend a lot of time doing computer repair here in Safety Harbor, Florida (and remotely for clients around the country). Just about everyone has a computer (or several) these days, and eventually something goes wrong with almost all of them. If there were no computer problems I would have to go look for a real job! But there are certain situations that you might be able to take care of on your own, just by trying one or two steps first.

Problem: no internet connection

First thing to do: restart your modem and router
The company that you pay for your internet access provides you with a modem. In some cases, the modem is also a router. Or, you might use the internet company’s modem along with a router that you purchased yourself. There are even some cases where all you have is a modem (this is common if you only have one desktop computer and no need for a wifi connection).

Whatever your situation is, you need to unplug the modem and router from the electrical outlet, wait a minute, then plug them back in. In many cases, this will bring back your internet connection so your computer is able to go online again.

Of course, you could just call your internet provider, navigate through their phone menu, wait on hold for a while, and then the first thing they’re going to have you do is power down the modem and router anyway. Save some time and do that first.

Another option: If your computer is a laptop that uses wifi to connect to the internet, you could check and see if the wifi is physically switched on. For some laptops, there is a simple slide switch on the front or side that may have gotten bumped into the “Off” position. Or you might see one of the keyboard keys that has a small indicator light that’s orange (meaning wifi is off) and when you tap it, the color changes to blue (meaning wifi is on).

Problem: a program won’t run

First thing to do: restart the computer
Actually, restarting the computer is sort of a “magic pill” for fixing computer problems. When someone tells me they keep clicking on an icon for a particular program and it just doesn’t do anything, I’ll ask them when was the last time the computer was restarted. Many times the answer is several days or even weeks. Not good! Your PC, whether it’s a laptop or a desktop, should be restarted each day or at least every couple of days. The easiest thing is whenever you’re done using it for a while, just do a restart then. When you come back to it, the restart will be completed and the computer will be fresh and ready to use again.

Problem: an error message appears on the screen

First thing to do: write down the actual text of the error message
So many times I’ll have someone call me and tell me that their computer needs repair. Here’s the typical dialogue:

Computer user: “My computer is acting really weird and not working right.”
Me: “How is it acting weird? What are you actually seeing on the screen?”
Computer user: “Well this error message keeps popping up telling me something something blah blah blah. Do you think it has a virus?”
Me: “What does the error message actually say?”
Computer user: “I don’t remember.”

The actual text of the error message is probably the biggest clue in diagnosing the problem, so write it down when you see it. Your computer guy, whether it’s me or someone else, will want to know what that is.

Even better – take a screenshot of it and email it to your computer tech. This might not be possible, depending on what kind of problems the computer is having, but it sure does help explain a lot of things more clearly than just a verbal description.

Problem: printer won’t print

First thing to do: check the print queue and clear it if necessary
If you try to print a document and for whatever reason it doesn’t print, then no print requests after that will be successful until you clear out that first one that didn’t work. A lot of times I’ll be on a client’s computer and they’ve been trying to print for a while without any success. Then when I look in the print queue, there are 5 or 10 files in there, all lined up but nothing printing – because they’re blocked by the first one that didn’t print.

To check the print queue, click the Start button and go to Devices and Printers. Double click your printer, then click on “See what’s printing”. Whatever is in that list needs to be cancelled. Then you can check on the printer (or have your tech check it) and see why the first document didn’t print.

Problem: Outlook won’t send an email

First thing to do: delete any emails in the Outbox folder
If you create an email and it has a mistake, it won’t be sent. A mistake could mean an email address that doesn’t make sense (like it’s missing the “@” sign), or it could mean that the email server settings in your Outlook account are not correct. Whatever the problem is, if that first email you sent has a mistake, Outlook can’t send it. And that means that any emails you create AFTER that won’t be sent – even if those subsequent emails don’t have that mistake any more. You have to delete the mistaken email first. This applies to both Outlook, and Windows Live Mail. Fix the mistake(s), empty the Outbox, and your emails will go (assuming everything else is working properly).

The post First things to try when you have a computer problem first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

error — First things to try when you have a computer problem Oct 13, 2014
Show notes

As a computer technician, I spend a lot of time doing computer repair here in Safety Harbor, Florida (and remotely for clients around the country). Just about everyone has a computer (or several) these days, and eventually something goes wrong with almost all of them. If there were no computer problems I would have to go look for a real job! But there are certain situations that you might be able to take care of on your own, just by trying one or two steps first.

Problem: no internet connection

First thing to do: restart your modem and router
The company that you pay for your internet access provides you with a modem. In some cases, the modem is also a router. Or, you might use the internet company’s modem along with a router that you purchased yourself. There are even some cases where all you have is a modem (this is common if you only have one desktop computer and no need for a wifi connection).

Whatever your situation is, you need to unplug the modem and router from the electrical outlet, wait a minute, then plug them back in. In many cases, this will bring back your internet connection so your computer is able to go online again.

Of course, you could just call your internet provider, navigate through their phone menu, wait on hold for a while, and then the first thing they’re going to have you do is power down the modem and router anyway. Save some time and do that first.

Another option: If your computer is a laptop that uses wifi to connect to the internet, you could check and see if the wifi is physically switched on. For some laptops, there is a simple slide switch on the front or side that may have gotten bumped into the “Off” position. Or you might see one of the keyboard keys that has a small indicator light that’s orange (meaning wifi is off) and when you tap it, the color changes to blue (meaning wifi is on).

Problem: a program won’t run

First thing to do: restart the computer
Actually, restarting the computer is sort of a “magic pill” for fixing computer problems. When someone tells me they keep clicking on an icon for a particular program and it just doesn’t do anything, I’ll ask them when was the last time the computer was restarted. Many times the answer is several days or even weeks. Not good! Your PC, whether it’s a laptop or a desktop, should be restarted each day or at least every couple of days. The easiest thing is whenever you’re done using it for a while, just do a restart then. When you come back to it, the restart will be completed and the computer will be fresh and ready to use again.

Problem: an error message appears on the screen

First thing to do: write down the actual text of the error message
So many times I’ll have someone call me and tell me that their computer needs repair. Here’s the typical dialogue:

Computer user: “My computer is acting really weird and not working right.”
Me: “How is it acting weird? What are you actually seeing on the screen?”
Computer user: “Well this error message keeps popping up telling me something something blah blah blah. Do you think it has a virus?”
Me: “What does the error message actually say?”
Computer user: “I don’t remember.”

The actual text of the error message is probably the biggest clue in diagnosing the problem, so write it down when you see it. Your computer guy, whether it’s me or someone else, will want to know what that is.

Even better – take a screenshot of it and email it to your computer tech. This might not be possible, depending on what kind of problems the computer is having, but it sure does help explain a lot of things more clearly than just a verbal description.

Problem: printer won’t print

First thing to do: check the print queue and clear it if necessary
If you try to print a document and for whatever reason it doesn’t print, then no print requests after that will be successful until you clear out that first one that didn’t work. A lot of times I’ll be on a client’s computer and they’ve been trying to print for a while without any success. Then when I look in the print queue, there are 5 or 10 files in there, all lined up but nothing printing – because they’re blocked by the first one that didn’t print.

To check the print queue, click the Start button and go to Devices and Printers. Double click your printer, then click on “See what’s printing”. Whatever is in that list needs to be cancelled. Then you can check on the printer (or have your tech check it) and see why the first document didn’t print.

Problem: Outlook won’t send an email

First thing to do: delete any emails in the Outbox folder
If you create an email and it has a mistake, it won’t be sent. A mistake could mean an email address that doesn’t make sense (like it’s missing the “@” sign), or it could mean that the email server settings in your Outlook account are not correct. Whatever the problem is, if that first email you sent has a mistake, Outlook can’t send it. And that means that any emails you create AFTER that won’t be sent – even if those subsequent emails don’t have that mistake any more. You have to delete the mistaken email first. This applies to both Outlook, and Windows Live Mail. Fix the mistake(s), empty the Outbox, and your emails will go (assuming everything else is working properly).

The post First things to try when you have a computer problem first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

docking station — What is a laptop docking station? Oct 06, 2014
Show notes

A laptop docking station can be a pretty handy thing, if you need one for your circumstances. What kind of computer user would find value in one of these things? Anyone that uses a laptop as their home computer, and also takes it with them to work or while traveling would benefit from a laptop docking station.

A laptop docking station is a small electronic device and usually your laptop will sit on top of it.

Here’s how it’s used. A lot of people use their laptop as their primary home computer, and they like to have a lot of peripheral items connected to it. These things make the laptop easier to use, and include:

a regular keyboard (I type much faster on a “normal” keyboard, rather than the one on the laptop itself)

a mouse (easier than using the touchpad on the laptop)

an external monitor (if you want the display to be bigger than the laptop’s screen)

a printer (even if your printer is wireless, a USB connection is more reliable)

an external USB hard drive

speakers (since external speakers are almost always better than the laptop’s internal speakers)

So think about that. You have all these extra devices connected to your laptop. Then, Monday morning rolls around and you have to take the laptop in to work with you. You know what that means – you have to:

disconnect the keyboard

disconnect the mouse

disconnect the monitor

disconnect the printer

disconnect the external drive

disconnect the speakers

And then when you get back home that night, you have to reconnect all of those things if you want the convenience of using them. What a pain!

If you find yourself in that situation, you could benefit from using a laptop docking station.

Instead of constantly connecting and disconnecting all of those extra items, you just plug them into the docking station. So it holds the connecting ports for your keyboard, mouse, monitor(s), printer, other drives, and speakers. And they all STAY plugged in to the docking station. Then your laptop makes a single connection to the docking station, thereby connecting to all of those other components. When you want to take your laptop out somewhere like to work or on vacation, you just disconnect it from the docking station and take it away – nothing else to disconnect. Easy!

Here’s what some other docking stations look like:

Not all laptop docking stations are set up so that the laptop sits on top of it. Some are configured such that it just connects to the laptop via a cable.

To find out if there is a docking station available for your laptop, the easiest way is to just go to eBay.com and type in your laptop’s model number followed by “docking station” (without the quotation marks). If one exists, it’s likely to pop up for sale there.

The post What is a laptop docking station? first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

docking station — What is a laptop docking station? Oct 06, 2014
Show notes

A laptop docking station can be a pretty handy thing, if you need one for your circumstances. What kind of computer user would find value in one of these things? Anyone that uses a laptop as their home computer, and also takes it with them to work or while traveling would benefit from a laptop docking station.

A laptop docking station is a small electronic device and usually your laptop will sit on top of it.

Here’s how it’s used. A lot of people use their laptop as their primary home computer, and they like to have a lot of peripheral items connected to it. These things make the laptop easier to use, and include:

a regular keyboard (I type much faster on a “normal” keyboard, rather than the one on the laptop itself)

a mouse (easier than using the touchpad on the laptop)

an external monitor (if you want the display to be bigger than the laptop’s screen)

a printer (even if your printer is wireless, a USB connection is more reliable)

an external USB hard drive

speakers (since external speakers are almost always better than the laptop’s internal speakers)

So think about that. You have all these extra devices connected to your laptop. Then, Monday morning rolls around and you have to take the laptop in to work with you. You know what that means – you have to:

disconnect the keyboard

disconnect the mouse

disconnect the monitor

disconnect the printer

disconnect the external drive

disconnect the speakers

And then when you get back home that night, you have to reconnect all of those things if you want the convenience of using them. What a pain!

If you find yourself in that situation, you could benefit from using a laptop docking station.

Instead of constantly connecting and disconnecting all of those extra items, you just plug them into the docking station. So it holds the connecting ports for your keyboard, mouse, monitor(s), printer, other drives, and speakers. And they all STAY plugged in to the docking station. Then your laptop makes a single connection to the docking station, thereby connecting to all of those other components. When you want to take your laptop out somewhere like to work or on vacation, you just disconnect it from the docking station and take it away – nothing else to disconnect. Easy!

Here’s what some other docking stations look like:

Not all laptop docking stations are set up so that the laptop sits on top of it. Some are configured such that it just connects to the laptop via a cable.

To find out if there is a docking station available for your laptop, the easiest way is to just go to eBay.com and type in your laptop’s model number followed by “docking station” (without the quotation marks). If one exists, it’s likely to pop up for sale there.

The post What is a laptop docking station? first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

Software I use — Software I use and recommend – part 2 Sep 29, 2014
Show notes

Last week I went over 11 programs and tools I use on a regular basis, and recommend to my clients. And that was only half the list! This week we’ll cover the rest. Of course, this is list is not exhaustive, and you might have other options that you prefer. Not every program is right for every user. Let me know what you think in the comments at the end.

12. Freshbooks (small business bookkeeping)
Get it here
A lot of small businesses start out with their bookkeeping by just using an Excel spreadsheet to track income and expenses. That’s better than nothing, but it’s a lot easier to use a tool that is designed just for this purpose. Freshbooks is web-based bookkeeping – this means you don’t install any software on your computer. Your account is online and you do everything through the website. They make it really easy to use so there is not a huge learning curve. You can create professional looking invoices, and then email them with a link to pay online (either through Paypal processing, or a regular merchant account). Also, any recurring monthly or annual invoices can be scheduled to get sent out automatically so you don’t have to remember to do it. For a large business, Quickbooks might be a better solution. But if you have a small business like mine, it’s worth checking Freshbooks out with their free 30-day trial. After that, their packages range from $0 to $40 per month.

13. Phrase Express (text expander)
Get it here
This is a handy little tool that’s free for personal use. It’s designed specifically to save you time if you find yourself typing the same text over and over again. For example, I get technical/repair questions regularly by email. Since I usually can’t diagnose or fix a problem without actually seeing what’s going on, I will often send this response:

“Thanks for the inquiry. This is something I would handle through my Remote Support service. You can get the full details on how that works at this page on my website: http://ComputerTutorFlorida.com/remote”

Since that same response is used many times, it’s a waste of time to type it out manually each time. Instead, I can set up Phrase Express to handle this for me. I can just designate a certain key combination, such as Shift + Control + R to trigger Phrase Express to type out that whole phrase for me in about a half second. You can set it up to remember something as short as your email address, or as long as a full page of text. It’s designed to run on Windows but can run on a Mac computer with a Windows emulator.

14. Adobe Reader (PDF reader)
Get it here
Yes, I use Adobe Reader. It’s not as bad as it used to be, even though it still requires regular updates. I’ve tried the alternative programs that will open PDF files, and I always find myself disappointed because they lack the features of Reader. And I’m pretty sure if a PDF file has been password protected when it was originally created with Adobe Acrobat, you still need to get into it by opening it in Adobe Reader and entering the password. Just make sure you keep it updated, and if you go and get the updates manually, make sure you uncheck the box that wants to install McAfee or some other software at the same time. It’s a shame that even supposedly reputable companies have caved in to taking money just to install third-party software on peoples’ computers.

15. Picasa (photo organizer)
Get it here
Picasa is a free program from Google and it’s one I install on all of the laptops I sell. It does a LOT of stuff. Primarily, it’s a way to visually organize your photos on your computer. The first time you run it, Picasa will look through all your picture folders and display all the images in thumbnail version. Beyond that there are lots of cool special effects you can add to your photos, or you can get rid of redeye, or you can lighten up a photo if it’s too dark. You can also use Picasa to upload your photos to your Google account which makes it easy to share a lot of photos with a lot of people (you just email your friends or family a link to see the photos – no more sending photos by email attachment).

One thing to note – I often hear clients say “My photos are all stored in Picasa”. This is not accurate. Picasa does not store anything. The photos are stored on your computer (usually in the Pictures folder). Picasa is just a way of displaying those images.

16. Skype (communication)
Get it here
I use Skype almost every day. There’s a common misconception about Skype – sometimes someone will tell me, “I would use Skype, but I don’t have a webcam”. You don’t need a webcam to use Skype. You can communicate with Skype using text chat, or by audio. A webcam is only required if you want to transmit video as well. The amazing thing about Skype is that any calls are free if both parties are using Skype. So if you’re in the US and you have a friend in Australia, and you both are on Skype, you can talk by voice AND video for as long as you want, and there is never any charge at all. So cool! The cost comes into play when you want to use your Skype account to make calls to non-Skype phones, such as someone’s cell phone. Even then, it’s really cheap – $3 per month for unlimited outgoing calls to any number here in the US or Canada. You’ll pay more if you want to receive incoming calls (they give you your own Skype phone number) but even that’s not very expensive at all.

17. Dropbox (file sharing)
Get it here
We certainly don’t have any shortage of online file sharing services these days. Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive, iCloud and lots of others. And that trend will probably continue, since storage space is getting cheaper all the time. And most of them do essentially the same thing. You get a certain small amount of storage space for free, then if you want to pay you get more space. I don’t know if DropBox was the actual first service, but it was definitely one of the first. I started using it years ago. Since I have like 80 gb of space available, I’ve never really bothered with using the other ones. One cool feature is having the Dropbox app on my phone – so whenever I take a picture with my phone, it’s automatically in Dropbox, which means it’s already on my computer.

18. CDBurnerXP (data CD or data DVD creation)
Get it here
This is a program I’ve used for years. Even the name indicates it’s been around for a while (since the early days of Windows XP). In spite of the name, it does work fine with Windows 7 and Windows 8. This program just simply burns CDs or DVDs. You can create a regular data disc just to store your files or folders, a video DVD, an audio CD, or you can burn an ISO image (I’ll probably do a blog post at some point on what an ISO image is). Or if you want to just copy a CD or DVD you can do that as well (unless copy protection is built in to the original). There are lots of options for burning discs but I have found this one to be very simple and reliable.

19. Adobe Audition (audio editing)
Get it here
I’ll tell you up front, this program is not for everyone. It’s fairly expensive, and the average person doesn’t need to created and edit audio files anyway. That’s what this program does – it’s a program for sound files. I use it to created and edit my podcast. It does a LOT more than what I use it for and honestly I wouldn’t even know how to describe a lot of the features it offers. I’ve figured out enough to make it do what I need it to do and I’m comfortable with it to that degree. Maybe some day I’ll get into the more advanced things it does. If you need an audio editor that is less complex but is also free, try out Audacity (a lot of podcasters use it for producing their shows).

20. Sony Vegas Pro 13 (video editing)
Get it here
This is another program that is kind of complex, but I have a lot of fun using it. I don’t really make a lot of videos, but I find that Sony Vegas is a program that is pretty intuitive so it doesn’t really take a lot of time to learn how to use it. And you can even take the video you made and create a DVD that will play in any DVD player. Like Adobe Audition, there is a lot more to this software than what I use it for, but I’m learning more and more as I use it.

21. WordPress (website creation)
Get it here
If you want to create your own website and have it look professionally done, WordPress is the way to go. Any website I make now is in WordPress. It’s free and there are thousands of free themes available, so your site can look just about however you want it to look. There are also paid themes available if you see one you want to purchase. The big advantage with WordPress is that once it’s installed, it is very user-friendly. You can use it as a blog, or a regular website with no blog component at all, or a website that includes a blog. The ways to customize it are endless.

22. TeamViewer (remote support)
Get it here
This is the program I use when I need to remote in to a client’s computer. It’s not cheap and there are other alternatives, but I have found TeamViewer works the best. And actually, if you are just using it for personal use, it’s free (like if you want to log in to your mom’s computer to help with something). But if you use it for any kind of business use and you try to just get away with using the free version, they’ll probably catch you and shut down the account. For me, it has way more than paid for itself over the years. My Remote Support service has around 350 client computers listed, and whenever any of those clients has a problem, I can usually fix it remotely.

And there you have it – the software I use and recommend. What other programs do YOU recommend? Let us know in the comments.

The post Software I use and recommend – part 2 first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

listen to my podcast in iTunes — Software I use and recommend – part 2 Sep 29, 2014
Show notes

Last week I went over 11 programs and tools I use on a regular basis, and recommend to my clients. And that was only half the list! This week we’ll cover the rest. Of course, this is list is not exhaustive, and you might have other options that you prefer. Not every program is right for every user. Let me know what you think in the comments at the end.

12. Freshbooks (small business bookkeeping)
Get it here
A lot of small businesses start out with their bookkeeping by just using an Excel spreadsheet to track income and expenses. That’s better than nothing, but it’s a lot easier to use a tool that is designed just for this purpose. Freshbooks is web-based bookkeeping – this means you don’t install any software on your computer. Your account is online and you do everything through the website. They make it really easy to use so there is not a huge learning curve. You can create professional looking invoices, and then email them with a link to pay online (either through Paypal processing, or a regular merchant account). Also, any recurring monthly or annual invoices can be scheduled to get sent out automatically so you don’t have to remember to do it. For a large business, Quickbooks might be a better solution. But if you have a small business like mine, it’s worth checking Freshbooks out with their free 30-day trial. After that, their packages range from $0 to $40 per month.

13. Phrase Express (text expander)
Get it here
This is a handy little tool that’s free for personal use. It’s designed specifically to save you time if you find yourself typing the same text over and over again. For example, I get technical/repair questions regularly by email. Since I usually can’t diagnose or fix a problem without actually seeing what’s going on, I will often send this response:

“Thanks for the inquiry. This is something I would handle through my Remote Support service. You can get the full details on how that works at this page on my website: http://ComputerTutorFlorida.com/remote”

Since that same response is used many times, it’s a waste of time to type it out manually each time. Instead, I can set up Phrase Express to handle this for me. I can just designate a certain key combination, such as Shift + Control + R to trigger Phrase Express to type out that whole phrase for me in about a half second. You can set it up to remember something as short as your email address, or as long as a full page of text. It’s designed to run on Windows but can run on a Mac computer with a Windows emulator.

14. Adobe Reader (PDF reader)
Get it here
Yes, I use Adobe Reader. It’s not as bad as it used to be, even though it still requires regular updates. I’ve tried the alternative programs that will open PDF files, and I always find myself disappointed because they lack the features of Reader. And I’m pretty sure if a PDF file has been password protected when it was originally created with Adobe Acrobat, you still need to get into it by opening it in Adobe Reader and entering the password. Just make sure you keep it updated, and if you go and get the updates manually, make sure you uncheck the box that wants to install McAfee or some other software at the same time. It’s a shame that even supposedly reputable companies have caved in to taking money just to install third-party software on peoples’ computers.

15. Picasa (photo organizer)
Get it here
Picasa is a free program from Google and it’s one I install on all of the laptops I sell. It does a LOT of stuff. Primarily, it’s a way to visually organize your photos on your computer. The first time you run it, Picasa will look through all your picture folders and display all the images in thumbnail version. Beyond that there are lots of cool special effects you can add to your photos, or you can get rid of redeye, or you can lighten up a photo if it’s too dark. You can also use Picasa to upload your photos to your Google account which makes it easy to share a lot of photos with a lot of people (you just email your friends or family a link to see the photos – no more sending photos by email attachment).

One thing to note – I often hear clients say “My photos are all stored in Picasa”. This is not accurate. Picasa does not store anything. The photos are stored on your computer (usually in the Pictures folder). Picasa is just a way of displaying those images.

16. Skype (communication)
Get it here
I use Skype almost every day. There’s a common misconception about Skype – sometimes someone will tell me, “I would use Skype, but I don’t have a webcam”. You don’t need a webcam to use Skype. You can communicate with Skype using text chat, or by audio. A webcam is only required if you want to transmit video as well. The amazing thing about Skype is that any calls are free if both parties are using Skype. So if you’re in the US and you have a friend in Australia, and you both are on Skype, you can talk by voice AND video for as long as you want, and there is never any charge at all. So cool! The cost comes into play when you want to use your Skype account to make calls to non-Skype phones, such as someone’s cell phone. Even then, it’s really cheap – $3 per month for unlimited outgoing calls to any number here in the US or Canada. You’ll pay more if you want to receive incoming calls (they give you your own Skype phone number) but even that’s not very expensive at all.

17. Dropbox (file sharing)
Get it here
We certainly don’t have any shortage of online file sharing services these days. Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive, iCloud and lots of others. And that trend will probably continue, since storage space is getting cheaper all the time. And most of them do essentially the same thing. You get a certain small amount of storage space for free, then if you want to pay you get more space. I don’t know if DropBox was the actual first service, but it was definitely one of the first. I started using it years ago. Since I have like 80 gb of space available, I’ve never really bothered with using the other ones. One cool feature is having the Dropbox app on my phone – so whenever I take a picture with my phone, it’s automatically in Dropbox, which means it’s already on my computer.

18. CDBurnerXP (data CD or data DVD creation)
Get it here
This is a program I’ve used for years. Even the name indicates it’s been around for a while (since the early days of Windows XP). In spite of the name, it does work fine with Windows 7 and Windows 8. This program just simply burns CDs or DVDs. You can create a regular data disc just to store your files or folders, a video DVD, an audio CD, or you can burn an ISO image (I’ll probably do a blog post at some point on what an ISO image is). Or if you want to just copy a CD or DVD you can do that as well (unless copy protection is built in to the original). There are lots of options for burning discs but I have found this one to be very simple and reliable.

19. Adobe Audition (audio editing)
Get it here
I’ll tell you up front, this program is not for everyone. It’s fairly expensive, and the average person doesn’t need to created and edit audio files anyway. That’s what this program does – it’s a program for sound files. I use it to created and edit my podcast. It does a LOT more than what I use it for and honestly I wouldn’t even know how to describe a lot of the features it offers. I’ve figured out enough to make it do what I need it to do and I’m comfortable with it to that degree. Maybe some day I’ll get into the more advanced things it does. If you need an audio editor that is less complex but is also free, try out Audacity (a lot of podcasters use it for producing their shows).

20. Sony Vegas Pro 13 (video editing)
Get it here
This is another program that is kind of complex, but I have a lot of fun using it. I don’t really make a lot of videos, but I find that Sony Vegas is a program that is pretty intuitive so it doesn’t really take a lot of time to learn how to use it. And you can even take the video you made and create a DVD that will play in any DVD player. Like Adobe Audition, there is a lot more to this software than what I use it for, but I’m learning more and more as I use it.

21. WordPress (website creation)
Get it here
If you want to create your own website and have it look professionally done, WordPress is the way to go. Any website I make now is in WordPress. It’s free and there are thousands of free themes available, so your site can look just about however you want it to look. There are also paid themes available if you see one you want to purchase. The big advantage with WordPress is that once it’s installed, it is very user-friendly. You can use it as a blog, or a regular website with no blog component at all, or a website that includes a blog. The ways to customize it are endless.

22. TeamViewer (remote support)
Get it here
This is the program I use when I need to remote in to a client’s computer. It’s not cheap and there are other alternatives, but I have found TeamViewer works the best. And actually, if you are just using it for personal use, it’s free (like if you want to log in to your mom’s computer to help with something). But if you use it for any kind of business use and you try to just get away with using the free version, they’ll probably catch you and shut down the account. For me, it has way more than paid for itself over the years. My Remote Support service has around 350 client computers listed, and whenever any of those clients has a problem, I can usually fix it remotely.

And there you have it – the software I use and recommend. What other programs do YOU recommend? Let us know in the comments.

The post Software I use and recommend – part 2 first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

Software I use — Software I use and recommend – part 1 Sep 22, 2014
Show notes

Last time I did a blog post about the software I use regularly and recommend to my clients – two years ago. Time flies! So I wanted to update that information since a lot of it has changed since then. Originally I was going to cover all of these in one blog post and podcast, but it became way too much so I’m spreading it over two Mondays.

1. Windows 7 (operating system)
Get it here
Windows 7 is still the Windows operating system of choice. It’s fast, it’s stable, and it will be supported by Microsoft through the year 2020. And what are your options, anyway? Windows XP is outdated and unsupported. Windows Vista was crummy from the start. The most current operating system is Windows 8, and it is not popular at all because they changed so much about it. Windows 9 will be out at the end of this year or early 2015, and who knows – maybe it will be wonderful. I’ll reserve judgement on that for when I can check it out. But for the foreseeable future, Windows 7 is a very safe bet.

2. MS Office (documents, spreadsheets, etc. – paid)
Get it here
I still use Microsoft Office 2010 as my primary software for when I need to create a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, etc. Since it’s the standard software for use in the business world, I never have any problem with sending a file by email and the recipient not being able to read it. Of course, it’s not free. But not all software is free. If you’re using Office 2010, I can’t really think of a reason to justify upgrading to Office 2013 (I’ve used some of the 2013 programs, and I actually kind of prefer the 2010 versions – maybe because that’s what I’m used to).

3. LibreOffice (documents, spreadsheets, etc. – free)
Get it here
If you need to be able to create, open or edit Office documents such as those done in Word or Excel, but you don’t want to pay Microsoft for that privilege, LibreOffice is a good alternative. It’s free. This is usually the one I put on my laptops that I sell, unless the purchaser indicates they want Microsoft Office installed. LibreOffice is not a “MS Office knock-off” (as one of my clients recently described it without really understanding it). It’s simply an alternative way to work with these types of files. If someone creates a Word document and emails it to you, you would be able to open it in the LibreOffice app called Writer. If you created a .doc or .docx document (MS Word format) in Writer, you could email it to someone and they could open it in MS Word. It’s all compatible. The primary difference is that LibreOffice programs aren’t laid out precisely the way MS Office programs are, so you have to get used to where to find icons, controls, etc. But you’re saving around $120 to $300, so that might make up for it.

4. MyPC Backup (online file-by-file backup)
Get it here
I personally do 3 different types of backups. If you saw how many hard drives crash like I do in my day-to-day work, you might too. One of the backups I do is an online, automated backup of my important files and folders. Since it’s done online, my whole computer could be destroyed in a fire or flood and all of my data is safe because it is stored offsite. I could just download all of my stuff to a new computer. The big names you have probably heard of for online backup are Carbonite and Mozy. I have worked with both of them, and have instead chosen a service called MyPC Backup. This is the one I use myself, and I have set it up for 100+ clients over the past couple of years. For most people it costs around $60 annually for automated daily backups.

5. SecondCopy (local file-by-file backup)
Get it here
I also do a local backup of my individual files and folders to an external hard drive. You can do this manually, of course – just copy and paste from your computer to a corresponding folder on the external drive. But that’s very time consuming, which means you probably won’t do it consistently. You should also NOT use the “backup” software that came with the external drive. I use SecondCopy because it makes it so easy. You just set up a profile for each of the folders you want to back up. To do a backup, you just click on “Run All Profiles” and walk away. I have almost 300 gb of data, and mine takes about 20 minutes total. SecondCopy offers a 30-day fully functioning free trial, then if you want to keep it you pay $29.95 once.

6. Windows System Image (local system image backup)
My third type of backup is a System Image. The reason for this one is so that you can be back up and running if you have to replace your hard drive after a crash. The system image doesn’t just back up your documents and pictures. It takes EVERYTHING on your computer – documents, pictures, all of your programs, your wallpaper, all of it – and puts it into a single folder on your external drive. So if you have to put in a new blank hard drive, you can restore that image and within an hour or two, everything is back on your computer and configured just the way you like it – like it was when you created the System Image. I create a new System Image every couple of days, and to do that I use the process that is built into Windows 7. You can also use a third party software such as Acronis True Image to do this if you prefer.

7. Managed Service Plan (comprehensive antivirus, antimalware, software updater)
Get it here
It is critical that you protect your computer against viruses, malware, junkware, toolbars and all the other garbage that creeps in even when you’re trying to be careful. I use and recommend my Managed Service Plan. This plan includes unlimited virus removals (including whatever is infecting your computer right now) and a powerful antivirus/antimalware software installation. In addition, it keeps your software updated (such as Adobe Flash, Java, etc. – over 100 programs are covered). Not to mention keeping your computer tuned up by constantly fixing registry errors and eliminating the temp files that accumulate each day. This is all done remotely, and your cost is $25/month. Pay annually and get 2 months free, or just try it out for 6 months and see how it goes.

8. Google Chrome (web browser)
Get it here
My default web browser is Chrome because it is pretty fast and very customizable. For example, I have a plugin (plugins are free) that eliminates ads when I visit a website. My second choice is Firefox which is also customizable. I only use Internet Explorer when I have to (such as when some antiquated website requires it in order to view content).

9. Windows Snipping Tool (screenshot creator)
To create a screenshot, there are some third-party programs that will do the trick (some paid, some free). They might have more features than the Snipping Tool that’s built into Windows, but for me the Snipping Tool does everything I need. Just grab a screenshot of a picture or an error message and paste it right into an email. I do it all the time. It’s also how I grab screenshot images for my blog posts. Super easy, and free since it is part of Windows.

10. LastPass (password creation and storage)
Get it here
I’ve been using and recommending this one for quite a while. It’s a great program for creating really good passwords (random strings of upper and lower case letters and numbers and other characters). If you’re saying, “But I’ll never remember that!” – good! If it’s hard for you to remember, it’s hard for a hacker to figure it out. Most of my passwords I don’t even know. I don’t have to. LastPass remembers them all for me. All you need is one strong password to get into LastPass. It’s free unless you want to use it on your phone too, in which case it’s $12 per year. Very cheap (or free) defense against the bad guys.

11. Pandora (streaming music)
Get it here
I’ve been using Pandora for quite a while. When I’m in the car or here in my office, I will usually be listening to either podcasts, or Pandora. You just tell it what kind of music you like, and it creates a channel for that type of music for you. You can have several channels if you want. The music can stream in on your computer, or on your phone using the Pandora app. With the free version you get a commercial every so often. I have the paid version ($3.99 per month) so it’s commercial-free. Yes, there are other streaming music services (Spotify, Grooveshark, etc. at various price points) but I haven’t really investigated the others in depth because I’m happy with Pandora.

Next Monday we’ll cover 11 more programs that I use all the time.

The post Software I use and recommend – part 1 first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

listen to my podcast in iTunes — Software I use and recommend – part 1 Sep 22, 2014
Show notes

Last time I did a blog post about the software I use regularly and recommend to my clients – two years ago. Time flies! So I wanted to update that information since a lot of it has changed since then. Originally I was going to cover all of these in one blog post and podcast, but it became way too much so I’m spreading it over two Mondays.

1. Windows 7 (operating system)
Get it here
Windows 7 is still the Windows operating system of choice. It’s fast, it’s stable, and it will be supported by Microsoft through the year 2020. And what are your options, anyway? Windows XP is outdated and unsupported. Windows Vista was crummy from the start. The most current operating system is Windows 8, and it is not popular at all because they changed so much about it. Windows 9 will be out at the end of this year or early 2015, and who knows – maybe it will be wonderful. I’ll reserve judgement on that for when I can check it out. But for the foreseeable future, Windows 7 is a very safe bet.

2. MS Office (documents, spreadsheets, etc. – paid)
Get it here
I still use Microsoft Office 2010 as my primary software for when I need to create a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, etc. Since it’s the standard software for use in the business world, I never have any problem with sending a file by email and the recipient not being able to read it. Of course, it’s not free. But not all software is free. If you’re using Office 2010, I can’t really think of a reason to justify upgrading to Office 2013 (I’ve used some of the 2013 programs, and I actually kind of prefer the 2010 versions – maybe because that’s what I’m used to).

3. LibreOffice (documents, spreadsheets, etc. – free)
Get it here
If you need to be able to create, open or edit Office documents such as those done in Word or Excel, but you don’t want to pay Microsoft for that privilege, LibreOffice is a good alternative. It’s free. This is usually the one I put on my laptops that I sell, unless the purchaser indicates they want Microsoft Office installed. LibreOffice is not a “MS Office knock-off” (as one of my clients recently described it without really understanding it). It’s simply an alternative way to work with these types of files. If someone creates a Word document and emails it to you, you would be able to open it in the LibreOffice app called Writer. If you created a .doc or .docx document (MS Word format) in Writer, you could email it to someone and they could open it in MS Word. It’s all compatible. The primary difference is that LibreOffice programs aren’t laid out precisely the way MS Office programs are, so you have to get used to where to find icons, controls, etc. But you’re saving around $120 to $300, so that might make up for it.

4. MyPC Backup (online file-by-file backup)
Get it here
I personally do 3 different types of backups. If you saw how many hard drives crash like I do in my day-to-day work, you might too. One of the backups I do is an online, automated backup of my important files and folders. Since it’s done online, my whole computer could be destroyed in a fire or flood and all of my data is safe because it is stored offsite. I could just download all of my stuff to a new computer. The big names you have probably heard of for online backup are Carbonite and Mozy. I have worked with both of them, and have instead chosen a service called MyPC Backup. This is the one I use myself, and I have set it up for 100+ clients over the past couple of years. For most people it costs around $60 annually for automated daily backups.

5. SecondCopy (local file-by-file backup)
Get it here
I also do a local backup of my individual files and folders to an external hard drive. You can do this manually, of course – just copy and paste from your computer to a corresponding folder on the external drive. But that’s very time consuming, which means you probably won’t do it consistently. You should also NOT use the “backup” software that came with the external drive. I use SecondCopy because it makes it so easy. You just set up a profile for each of the folders you want to back up. To do a backup, you just click on “Run All Profiles” and walk away. I have almost 300 gb of data, and mine takes about 20 minutes total. SecondCopy offers a 30-day fully functioning free trial, then if you want to keep it you pay $29.95 once.

6. Windows System Image (local system image backup)
My third type of backup is a System Image. The reason for this one is so that you can be back up and running if you have to replace your hard drive after a crash. The system image doesn’t just back up your documents and pictures. It takes EVERYTHING on your computer – documents, pictures, all of your programs, your wallpaper, all of it – and puts it into a single folder on your external drive. So if you have to put in a new blank hard drive, you can restore that image and within an hour or two, everything is back on your computer and configured just the way you like it – like it was when you created the System Image. I create a new System Image every couple of days, and to do that I use the process that is built into Windows 7. You can also use a third party software such as Acronis True Image to do this if you prefer.

7. Managed Service Plan (comprehensive antivirus, antimalware, software updater)
Get it here
It is critical that you protect your computer against viruses, malware, junkware, toolbars and all the other garbage that creeps in even when you’re trying to be careful. I use and recommend my Managed Service Plan. This plan includes unlimited virus removals (including whatever is infecting your computer right now) and a powerful antivirus/antimalware software installation. In addition, it keeps your software updated (such as Adobe Flash, Java, etc. – over 100 programs are covered). Not to mention keeping your computer tuned up by constantly fixing registry errors and eliminating the temp files that accumulate each day. This is all done remotely, and your cost is $25/month. Pay annually and get 2 months free, or just try it out for 6 months and see how it goes.

8. Google Chrome (web browser)
Get it here
My default web browser is Chrome because it is pretty fast and very customizable. For example, I have a plugin (plugins are free) that eliminates ads when I visit a website. My second choice is Firefox which is also customizable. I only use Internet Explorer when I have to (such as when some antiquated website requires it in order to view content).

9. Windows Snipping Tool (screenshot creator)
To create a screenshot, there are some third-party programs that will do the trick (some paid, some free). They might have more features than the Snipping Tool that’s built into Windows, but for me the Snipping Tool does everything I need. Just grab a screenshot of a picture or an error message and paste it right into an email. I do it all the time. It’s also how I grab screenshot images for my blog posts. Super easy, and free since it is part of Windows.

10. LastPass (password creation and storage)
Get it here
I’ve been using and recommending this one for quite a while. It’s a great program for creating really good passwords (random strings of upper and lower case letters and numbers and other characters). If you’re saying, “But I’ll never remember that!” – good! If it’s hard for you to remember, it’s hard for a hacker to figure it out. Most of my passwords I don’t even know. I don’t have to. LastPass remembers them all for me. All you need is one strong password to get into LastPass. It’s free unless you want to use it on your phone too, in which case it’s $12 per year. Very cheap (or free) defense against the bad guys.

11. Pandora (streaming music)
Get it here
I’ve been using Pandora for quite a while. When I’m in the car or here in my office, I will usually be listening to either podcasts, or Pandora. You just tell it what kind of music you like, and it creates a channel for that type of music for you. You can have several channels if you want. The music can stream in on your computer, or on your phone using the Pandora app. With the free version you get a commercial every so often. I have the paid version ($3.99 per month) so it’s commercial-free. Yes, there are other streaming music services (Spotify, Grooveshark, etc. at various price points) but I haven’t really investigated the others in depth because I’m happy with Pandora.

Next Monday we’ll cover 11 more programs that I use all the time.

The post Software I use and recommend – part 1 first appeared on The Computer Tutor.

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