Age old computer priciples that have stood the test of time

Technology is always moving forward.

The next best thing is around the corner it seems. Hardware gets faster and operating systems are upgraded to the newest features (or we hope so). It's just a natural step in computing laws. But just because your 6-year-old Vista desktop is obsolete doesn't mean some computer advice ever does. Take the following list of age-old computing wisdom. Most of the principles apply today as they did 20 years ago.

When in doubt, punch out

If something isn’t working on your PC, don’t wring your hands and yell at the screen. Just restart the system. That simple act alone will fix many of the problems you may be experiencing. When your PC restarts, it clears out all the temporary files in the RAM and relaunches the operating system. This wipes away any files that may have been giving your PC fits—and the operating system starts fresh and unfettered by whatever was affecting it. If you want to do these things without restarting, click Start, then Run, and type %temp% into the command line.

Expect your battery to let you down

It's simply Murphy's Law: Your laptop or tablet will poop out the moment you need it most. That is life. Always bring your power cables with you on the road, and if possible invest in backup and secondary battery options.

Crowdsource your troubleshooting

Chances are, the help resources at your device manufacturer’s website won’t address your exact headache, but if you type an error message or problem you're having into Google, you'll inevitably find helpful information from poor souls who have encountered the very same issue.

Back everything up 

Never get caught with just one copy of anything that you want to keep. Always back up your data, and then back up your backups. Consider backing up both to an external drive and to a cloud storage service. It’s a good idea to keep separate system and data partitions—back up your data partition daily, and back up your system partition (Windows as well as your installed programs) at least quarterly.

Remember that thumb drives are your friends

It’s very easy to lose track of the recovery discs that come with a new PC, so keep a USB drive with recovery software on it in case something goes wrong. Store it away in a safe, easy-to-remember place. And in that same safe place, keep both electronic and print copies of all your software keys.

Look to last year’s model for a better value

Tech manufacturers always charge a premium for the latest and greatest hardware—and typically you don't really need the world's fastest processor, graphics card, or I/O technology. So do yourself a favor and consider buying hardware that was best-in-class during a previous manufacturing cycle. It will likely be heavily marked down, but still wholly capable and packed with performance.

Skip the extended warranty 

Don't be a sap. Extended warranties are designed to prey on your fear that the hardware you just purchased is already on its death bed. From a return-on-investment perspective, extended warranties almost never pay off—except for the companies that sell them.

Read the manual 

You might be surprised at what you can learn by reading user manuals. It’s natural to just jump right in and begin doing the things you expect a device or application to do, but I've found that by reading the manual I can learn about features and functions I didn't know existed. Reading the manual can increase the benefit you derive from your device, and make you feel a whole lot better about buying it.

Consider the total cost of ownership

This mostly applies to purchases of printers and subsidized phones. If you intend to do a lot of printing, pay close attention to the cost and efficiency of consumables, namely the ink or toner. And if you're investing in a new smartphone plan, consider what you'll be paying month to month...to month...to month...

Resist the urge to impulse-shop

A tech geek is never more dangerous than when perusing the aisles of a brick-and-mortar hardware store. If you absolutely must purchase a new toy in person, make sure to do your research beforehand. Don't be swayed by the razzle-dazzle of salespeople, and arm yourself with deep product knowledge before you enter a store. Also, always ask the retailer to match lower Internet pricing, if you can find it. (You'll want to bring your smartphone with you.)

Keyboard shortcuts: Use them, live them, love them

You can work far faster (and look way cooler) by mastering keyboard shortcuts for the programs, services, and operating systems you use every day. To learn these shortcuts, check out PCWorld's numerous articles containing keyboard shortcuts for every major OS and many popular applications. Get started with Windows 7 shortcuts.

Keep your software up-to-date

The message windows reminding you to update your software can get annoying, but it’s a good idea to stop what you’re doing and click the 'Update now' button. You'll get the all the functionality the software has to offer, and you'll also obtain vital security patches that can protect your system from software crashes and data loss.

Hide those cables

The tangled mess of cables and wires under your desk will only get worse and worse—and you won’t realize how much it bugs you until you finally clean it all up. You can bundle groups of wires by running them through toilet paper tubes, or binding them with pipe cleaners or small bands of Velcro, and then use binder clips to tie the bundled wires to the underside of your desk, or any place where they’re out of sight.

Stay wired when you want to connect

Wired ethernet will always be faster and more reliable than wireless networking. If you regularly do something (for work or play) on your home computer that relies on a constant Web connection, you may be better off using a wired Internet connection. Wired connections are capable of far faster data speeds and are simply not subject to the many factors that can disrupt a wireless connection.

Put your router in the middle

Position your wireless router as close as you can to the center of your home. This action can help ensure that all the wireless devices in your home are within range of the access point. You’ll also find that the signals coming from your router are more likely to reach their destination if the antenna is elevated off the floor a few feet.

Investigate crashes

If your PC seems to crash frequently, the Windows Reliability Monitor (Control Panel > System and Security > Action Center > Reliability Monitor) can help isolate the cause. The utility keeps track of all hardware and software crashes and warnings, organizing them by date. By clicking on one, you can see the full details of what happened.

For gamers: Update your drivers

Confirm whether you have the latest drivers for your PC's graphics and sound hardware. Game developers create their titles using the latest features and functionality in graphics cards. If you’re using older drivers, your graphics card might not be up to the task of rendering the game properly on screen.

Take a screenshot

Save a screenshot (or snap a photo and save it to Evernote) of every weird problem or crash you see. Having an image can help immensely if the problem becomes chronic and you need assistance in fixing it.

Change your router's default SSID

The easiest thing you can do to improve the security of your wireless network is to change both the login and the password for your router to unique alphanumeric phrases that only you know. Since finding the default login and password for almost every router on the market is child's play online, leaving your router at the defaults allows anyone to gain access to the wireless network in your home or small business.

Clear your cookies

Erase your browsing history and even better, enable the Do Not Track feature on your browser. This feature will send a message to the websites you visit that it is not okay for them to install cookies in your browser that will record your movements around the Web. Unless you want that to happen, of course.

The best tip of all: Take a break

Every so often, take an technology sabbatical. Go 24 hours without looking at a screen. It's good for your eyes, and it reduces the chance of burnout. It also reminds you of how powerful personal computers of all shapes and sizes have become—and that thought alone might make everyone a little more tolerant and patient when problems arise.

Five differences between Windows 7 and Windows 8

Windows 8 release date is only a few weeks away, yet some consumers are still asking if it is worth the upgrade.
Even today Microsoft today released an update for the operating system that it says provides improvements in "performance, power management and battery efficiency, media playback, and compatibility."
So you yourself may be asking whats the difference and is it worth upgrading?

Well, here is a list of five new features in Windows 8 that may help you make up your mind.


Metro UI
The most visual change is clearly the new Metro user interface. Microsoft has scrapped the traditional Windows user interface with the start button we have all become so used to. Instead, Microsoft has taken inspiration from its Windows mobile phones to replicate the Metro user interface in a desktop capacity. While the new interface may seem confusing at first, it really doesn’t take long to adjust to it.


New Task Manager
The Windows task manager is one aspect that hasn’t changed much over the years and has been in need of an upgrade. Windows 8 features a redesigned task manager that simplifies the way in which users manage processes and computer performance. The new task manager is designed to provide users with a simple but effective interface that is specifically optimized to deal with common tasks.


The Lock Screen
The Windows 8 lock screen is similar to that of Windows Phone 7 and is optimized for both desktop computers and tablets. The lock screen consists of a few main components including the background picture, battery and network icons, login screen, and a few choice widgets that you can display on the screen to provide real-time updates relevant to the application. The widgets are customization to only display selective information.


New File System
Windows 8 Server will be introducing a new file system known as ReFS (Resilient File System), which replaces the traditional NTFS file system. The primary focus of ReFS is on the resilience of data; this is achieved in part by making the file system simpler. Basically, ReFS is a more reliable and efficient file system that is less prone to crashing and errors. However, when errors do occur, ReFS is designed to detect and repair issues without causing any file corruption.


ARM Support
Windows has always been based on x86 systems and has not had support for ARM-based devices up until now. A lot of work has gone into optimizing Windows 8 for both x86 and ARM processors. Through its support for ARM-based devices, Windows 8 provides a consistent computing experience across devices including tablets, smartphones, and traditional desktop computers.

So these are the five major differences between Windows 7 and Windows 8. A vast majority of people have  consumers have already registered at the Microsoft website for Windows 8, yet some consumers have held off the upgrade either because of pricing,, or the change of the GUI (Start Screen and removal of the Start Menu)

Rented computers captured consumers having sex

If you rented a computer, you probably should not have been blogging without your shirt on.

On Tuesday, seven computer rental companies agreed to a settlement with the federal government after it was discovered that they were unlawfully capturing photos of customers by using illicit software that controlled a computer’s webcam.
The Federal Trade Commission said the seven companies involved had worked with DesignerWare, a Pennsylvania-based software maker, to create a program that secretly captured “webcam pictures of children, partially undressed individuals, and intimate activities at home.” This included people who while engaging in sexual activities in their homes were being recorded on their rental computers.
The webcam software, called PC Rental Agent, had been installed on approximately 420,000 computers worldwide, according to the F.T.C., and as of August 2011 it was being used by approximately 1,617 rent-to-own stores in the United States, Canada and Australia.
In a news release issued by the F.T.C., Jon Leibowitz, the agency’s chairman, said the software had also captured consumers’ private e-mails, bank account information and medical records. In some instances the software was able to capture Social Security numbers, medical records and doctor’s names. Most disturbing, the webcam captured pictures of children.

The settlement agreed upon by the F.T.C. will ban the rent-to-own companies from using monitoring software of any kind and prohibit the companies from tracking a user’s location without that person’s knowledge or consent. All of the stores involved are also prohibited from using any of the information collected from the computers to collect outstanding debts. The companies will also be monitored by the F.T.C. for the next 20 years.

The companies involved in the settlement include: Aspen Way Enterprises; the Watershed Development Corporation, which operates under the names Watershed and Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership; Showplace Rent-to-Own; J.A.G. Rents, operating under the name ColorTyme; B. Stamper Enterprises, which operated under the name Premier Rental Purchase; and C.A.L.M. Ventures, which also operates under the public name Premier Rental Purchase. The full articicle can be read here: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/09/designware.shtm

Windows on a stick (or ANY OS for that matter)

Windows To Go is a brand-new feature in Windows 8. It allows Windows 8 to be installed on a USB drive and run on any computer – just plug the USB drive into any computer, restart the computer, and you’ll be using your Windows 8 environment. Unfortunately, this feature is only available in Windows 8 Enterprise – even Professional edition users don’t get to use this. But... there is an alternative!

You can easily install Windows, Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution using UNetbootin. Installing an operating system to a USB thumb drive is simple using Unetbootin. Essentially it's a four step process, much faster, and saves you from burning the ISO image on a new DVD.

Before you begin, you need the following:
-USB Flash Drive (4GB minimum)
-Windows 7 ISO Image file
-UNetbootin

1. First download the Windows 8 ISO image here. (Sorry folks..this is only the Consumer Review version..not the full version)

2. Now insert the USB drive, run UNetbootin, and select Disk Image as ISO. Browse your local drive for Windows 8 ISO that you downloaded and click Open. Now Select Type as USB and choose the drive. Once done, it will look like a bit similar to the screenshot shown below.

3. Click OK and it will begin extracting all installation files to the USB drive. The whole process will take some time(10-15 minutes), so have patience.

4. Once the installation is complete, reboot your computer.
Now while your system is starting up press the key to bring up the BIOS screen depending on your manufacture (usually DEL,  F3, or ESC).
Change the startup order to boot USB by default, usually you will have to press F6 to move the selected USB device on top. Once done, save changes and restart the system.

How to: Adding a Start button on Windows 8 desktop

So you may have played around with Windows 8 Consumer Review and are itching to download the final version Oct 26th. (If you're a subcriber to TechNet it's available now via download). You may have experimented with the Start Screen, wandered through the Windows Store and downloaded a few apps, even created a Picture Login.

However you still miss that old friend of yours the Start Menu. Microsoft has stated several times on why it axed the Start Menu, but it seems most consumers still like the old with the new.
The company has received a lot of criticism via its Building Windows 8 blog and other resources, a fair amount from PC users are unhappy over the changes.

 If you still need your old friend there are a couple of Start Menu alternatives available*.

 Stardock, the makers of Window Blinds, has created Start8, a start menu that looks familiar with Windows 7 users. With a fully skinnable menu, users can search for Windows 8-style (Metro) apps with it, Full support for Jump Lists, a unified Search.
Additional functions are users can boot directly to the Windows 8 desktop and of course quick access to shut down, devices, music, documents, videos.



 Another alternative is ViStart 8. ViStart has all the functionality the Windows 7 Start menu has and then some more. It's completely skinable and there are already a variety of extra start menu skins and buttons available to customize your Windows look.
You can download from the lee-soft.com website. Setup is slightly complicated, but it should be doable by users of all experience levels.  Take note that it contains third party offers in the installer that you may not want to install (two on separate pages on the test system).

 *There is an issue that concerns many developers involving third party Start Menu apps.
Microsoft has stated after its release of Windows 8 on October 26, 2012 the company may not allow the circumvention of the startup process. So if you try either of these programs and upgrade to the full version, lets be hopeful that Microsoft has soften is stance with allowing users alternatives to the Start Screen.