Few of us wipe and format and start fresh every few months with a new OS. We have to start from scratch and install again all the apps and updates. What if you only had to do this once. EASUS has two free software applications that clone/image the drive. Also an amazing feature is that it can make them bootable.
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Photo by [trekkyandy]
Cleaning your keyboard is very essential. It is essential because it is easier for your fingers in the touch so they can't press as much on the keys. Follow the steps below. 1st Remove the keyboard connection from the computer.
2nd Hold the keyboard over a table or something and then tap the bottom of the keyboard to knock off any filth in the keys.
3rd Place it on your table again
4th Use compressed air between the keys to clean stuff you couldn't get to.
5th Rub the top of your keys with isopropyl rubbing alcohol with a piece of cloth.
6th Reconnect your keyboard to your computer.
Stay tuned for our next computer cleaning tips.
Many of us forget how vulnerable we are online. Our cyber life is as important as our daily physical life.
I will post some important points to be protected online.
1.) You are the first line of the defense. You have control on where you click. So, do not click on links or attachments from people you do not know. Do not visit any website that might look suspicious.
2.) Be aware of social engineering. "Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information, rather than by breaking in or using technical hacking techniques (essentially a fancier, more technical way of lying)". The famous Koobface virus has been roaming on Facebook. If you receive a message from anybody saying " hey i saw you yesterday and took these pics of you. click here." This is probably not true and are trying to make you click on the link.
3.) Run windows update! Keep it up to date. This is essential to patch any holes where hackers might get in.
4.) Have a anti-virus running in the background. We recommended Microsoft security essentials. Check one of our last posts.
5.) Have long complicated passwords. Refer to one of our past posts.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Photo by[Bala]
Here is the solution to recover your data. This will recover your files for a certain period of time. Follow these steps felow. 1. Remove the hard drive from the computer.
2.Place it in a ziploc bag.
3. Then place that into another ziploc bag.
4.Place it in the coldest place of the freezer.
5.Leave it in the freezer for at least twelve hours.
6. Remove it from the freezer and take off the bags.
7.Let it chill for a bit and then plug it in to your computer.
8. Remove the files that are needed.
9. This will only last for a while.
10. Repeat these steps again if you haven't recovered the files that you need.
Many of us have our Gmail account. But did you know? That Google has Google labs( a green flask in the upper right hand corner). Google labs are experimental features that can be turned on. Many are added to enhance the email experience. Just recently two where added. 1.) By right clicking on an email a preview of that email would show up. 2.) You can organize your labels in a hierarchy. So if you have a Gmail account go ahead and play around and see what treasurers you might find.
Difficulty level: beginner
Screen shot by[Juan Zepeda]
Well you've found your answer. This is a free software that performs tasks that you want your computer to do. It's like a robot and your the boss of it. You can program the software to do certain types of tasks like open your browser every time you log on. You can either tell it to run some software every 5 hours similar tasks. In easier words, you can program it to do a anything whenever you want. Check it out now here.
Are you planning to buy an iPhone soon? Well, we suggest you to wait a few more months. Apple has already announced that its iPhone OS 4.0 would be released this summer. iPhone Updates includes: the ability to multitask, organize apps into folders, the ability to see all your emails in one account, all your email accounts would be displayed together in a unified inbox, iBooks, and more. They also announce that they would be making hardware updates, but that would be announced in June. So if you want to get an iPhone, try to get it when it comes out in summer, which would have the new OS and new hardware.
Want more info, check this two links out:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/
http://www.macworld.com/article/150488/2010/04/iphone4_features.html
Sometimes i just do not want to grab the mouse to do a simple task. I have dos covered some useful keyboard shortcuts.
CTR+T opens a new tab
F11 full screen mode
F6 goes to the url bar
CTR+C copy
CTR+V Paste
CRT+X Cut
Also you can go here to get a complete list.
Don't you hate it when you get goowy stuff in between cracks and little wedges in electronics? For example cell phones, cameras, and many more things. There is a good way to try to clean these gadgets. You must get some rubbing alcohol, the higher the percentage the better. Second get some Q tips and start by dipping the Q tip in the alcohol and cleaning out the Goowy stuff in between the crevices. Alcohol evaporates fast but you also don't want to drench your electronic. This is a simple and fast way to clean your gadget. If your electronic manual says to clean it another way follow that advice before proceeding with this tip.
Difficulty level: beginner
Photo by [L. Marie]
Google Buzz is here. It is better than ever. It is a network supported and created by Google. You need to have a Gmail Account to have this. You can either choose to put in into private or public. The safest would be private obviously. This network connects all the sites like Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, and Google Reader. You can upload ypur pictures from these websites to your Google Buzz with just a click. As soon as you post a post, it will appear. You don't have to refresh your page every time to see new posts. Check it out here.
Many of us have gone to those sites where they make us create an account and make us enter our email address because they want to send us confirmation. Well, i would like to introduce you to Disposeamail.com. Disposeamail is a website where it allows you to create an email address on the fly. This is how it works.
Lets say I'm creating an account and it asks me for my email. I can just type in a email address like
and finish creating the account. Then later, i can go to disposeamail.com and search up "testemail_anything" and see what i have received at that email address. That simple.
TIPS:
Use at your own risk. Here is there FAQ.
Difficulty level: beginner
Snapshot by[Juan Zepeda]
Sharing music or media files on your network seems hard but it is actually easy. To do this follow the steps below. 1. First thing you may want to do, if you haven't done this already, keep your iTunes Media Folder organized.
2. When you import media files into iTunes, always, recommended, keep checked Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library
Enabling Home Sharing
3. Go on the left-hand side of Itunes and select the Home Sharing
4. If you can not see the Home Sharing Icon, then select Advanced on your menu bar and enable home sharing.
5. Then a prompt will appear and then you will be asked to type in your itunes account name and password.
6. Then click Home Share.
7. Then repeat these steps for the other computers as well that are going to be in your network.
Now these are the steps on how to use the home sharing.
1. Select the Home Share icon on your left-hand side of itunes.
2. You can either view them or play them.
If you want to automatically update your Home Share folder follow the steps below.
1. Choose the Home Share from the computer that you want to transfer media files from.
2. Select Settings and specify what type of itunes store files you want to transfer.
3. Then, the next time you download stuff on the folder, it will be on the library.
Many of us have and carry our cell phones everywhere and I bet there has been a time when you have wanted to send an email to your best buddy but only had your cell phone and texting. Well did you know you can send an email through SMS? Yes, instead of typing in a number put in the email address. Now, lets switch scenarios. Lets say you want to send a txt or email to a cell phone. Well just use the email suffix below that applys to your carrier and your set to go.
Difficulty level: Beginner
Photo by[compujeramey]
If you are familiar with an itouch or iphone, the ipad,is just a modernized and over sized version. It's like a computer and itouch all together. Steve Jobs had the idea and saw people with phones and computers and ipods all together so he combined it all together. Then this is where the Ipad came from. The Ipad's start from 499 dollars and then start going up based on wifi and storage. You can either choose from a wi-fi ipad or a 3G and wi-fi ipad. So check it out here.
Many of us have PC but those who have apple computers may want to know how to maintain a mac. Well its much easier than one might think. First, keep your files and folder organized. Keep your pictures in the pictures folder music in another. Just be tidy. Second, back up! People never learn till they loose important files. Trust me. Third, update your machine to the latest release. The company might have fixed bugs in the system. Fourth, repair permissions. You can do this by opening up Apple's Disk Utility application under Applications > Utilities. Click your start-up disk on the left, then click "First Aid", and "Repair Disk Permissions". Its that simple.
Difficulty level: Beginner
Photo by:[Marcin Wichary]
Some things you should consider to speed up your PC is as follows: First, always, back up your computer, very importantly on a regular basis. Second, is clean out the recycle bin, Internet cache, delete junk emails, and temporary system files. Next thing is run the disk cleanup tool, search disk cleanup and run it. Next, run some sort of malware and/or spyware scanning program, this will remove anything harmful on the hard drive.Second to last, clean the registry, this will remove errors and bugs from the registry. Next, uninstall unused programs and remove programs from the start-up. And the last but not least, delete old and unused files.
P.S. CCleaner will do most of this things for you!
Difficulty level: Beginner
Is 64 bit better because the number is bigger? A v6 engine is better than a v8 right? Not really. First, what does 32 or 64 bit mean? Well its how a computer's processor, handles information. If you have more than 3Gb of RAM you must get a 64bit CPU and OS. If you have less, a 32 or 64 bit system will do.The trouble at this current date is how still some programs are compatible. If you buy a new a computer it will usually have a 64 bit system. So when you go install a program make sure its the right version for your system.
Still confused? leave us a comment ans we will answer your questions.
Photo from[ http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/home]
Difficulty Level: Easy
With this software you can access your files easily and securely from anywhere, another computer and even your Iphone. You can get it for personal use or as business use. This software has the ability to serve you as a peer-to-peer network. It can safely backup up your files to another device such as server storage, flash drive, hard drive, and more. Check it out now.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Picture Done By: mittechfair.org
Giveawayoftheday.com is a site that gives one piece of commercial software away everyday. It is totally legit. It's not pirated nor torrented. There is a win-win situation for both the consumer and publisher. Try it today.
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Shortcuts is the answer to this question. Windows shortcuts help you a lot when your in a hurry or need to accomplish a lot of tasks in a certain amount of time. These shortcuts are all in the keyboard functions. You may know some already, but to know all of the keyboard shortcuts for windows click here.
Picture taken by: virginia.edu
Difficulty Level: Beginner