Award Winning Email Client and Web Browser
Posted on February 3, 2008
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Looking for a fast and secure web browser and email client? Here’s my recommendation.
Firefox and Thunderbird from Mozilla.
Firefox 2 is an award winning web browser from Mozilla. It’s fast, secure and totally customizable and it’s absolutely FREE. Enjoy your experience browsing the web with some really cool features.
- Tab browsing - open web sites or links in a new tab in the existing browser window. You don’t need multiple browser windows open anymore. Tab browsing is awesome.
- Spell Checking - Firefox 2 has a built in spell checker
- Search Suggestions - search engines in Firefox can almost read your mind and suggest searches for you.
- Session Restore -if Firefox has to restart for any reason, it will ask if you would like to restore the session exactly as you left it.
- Web Feeds - Firefox allows you to subscribe to rss feeds. You can view them right in the browser.
- Live Titles -updated summaries of the most important information on the web
- Integrated Search - Firefox’s search bar comes preloaded with search engines
- Pop Up Blocker - blocks ads from popping up automatically
- Phishing Protection - Firefox will warn you when it suspects a phishing threat
- Automated updates - Firefox updates itself automatically
- Protection from Spyware - Firefox will not allow spyware to be installed
- Clear Private Info - Firefox offers the ability to clear all private data with one click
- Customize Browser - over 1000 add-ons
- Search Engine Manager - add, remove and re-order search engines
Download Mozilla Firefox
Thunderbird
Thunderbird 2 is an advanced, sophisticated email client with security and flexibility. It has countless features.
- Advanced folder views - favorites, recently viewed or containing unread mail
- Message Tagging - tag message with “To Do” or “Done” or whatever
- Message History Navigation - go back or forward through messages
- Improved Search - find as you type
- Saved Searches - Save your popular searches
- Easy Access to Web Mail Services - use various web mail accounts from one inbox
- Phishing Protection - stops phishing
- Robust Privacy - blocks remote images automatically
- Junk Mail Filtering - automatically filters junk mail
- Automatic Updates
- Customization - 100’s of add-ons, templates, themes and extensions
Download it at Mozilla Thunderbird
Alternative for Microsoft Office
Posted on February 2, 2008
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Do you need Microsoft Office but don’t have $300? There is an alternative. And it’s very good!
OpenOffice is a suite of office applications that is free to download. The suite includes Writer, Impress, Math, Draw, Calc and Base. This is the equivalent to MS Office Premium except for the $300. OpenOffice runs on any platform such as Windows, Mac or Linux. It’s open source.
Writer: Writer is the word processing application and can do everything Word can including opening .doc files and saving files in any Word format.
Impress: Impress is the presentation application and the equivalent of PowerPoint. It’s perfect for creating slide shows and presentations.
Calc: Calc is a spreadsheet application resembling Excel. Calc is very intuitive and easy to learn. Number crunchers will love this one.
Draw: Draw is a powerful graphics program that enables you to do anything graphical from a simple sketch to a complex plan.
Base: Base enables you to manipulate database data seamlessly within OpenOffice.org. You can create and modify tables, forms, queries, and reports. You can use your own database or Base’s own built-in HSQL database engine. You have a choice of using Wizards, Design Views, or SQL Views for beginners, intermediate, and advanced users.
Math: Math is OpenOffice’s equation component. It is most often used as an equation editor for text documents.
OpenOffice is an incredible product that gives you the same look and feel no matter which program you’re using. Write, Base, Impress, Draw all have the same look, making you more productive and comfortable.
Check it out. OpenOffice.org
Computer Tune-Up With System Mechanic
Posted on February 1, 2008
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Does your computer run slow? Do you frequently get errors when launching programs? Does your computer crash and restart? These are sign of serious problems that need to be fixed. Here’s a tool that can do just that.
System Mechanic from iolo is an excellent tool that can repair problems, speed up your computer, clean ip the Windows operating system, provide security and privacy and customize your Windows environment. It’s an amazing product that works really well. I have personally used System Mechanic on my home computers and even a few Windows 2000 servers. It cleans up the registry in a snap which speeds up the operating system. Here are some of the problems System Mechanc can take care of.
Repairs:
- Repairs registry problems
- Repairs hard drive problems
- Emergency CD revives downed systems
- Fixes or removes bad shortcuts
- Automatically and proactively maintains your computer
Speeds up your computer:
- High speed, single-file, and low-level drive defragment
- Automatically accelerates computer startup 19 different ways
- Increases Internet speeds up to 300%
- Defragments and recovers memory in real time
- Defragments and compacts Registry
Clean up Windows
- Cleans up over 40 different types of junk files
- Removes invalid programs and uninstallers
- Wipes Internet clutter, history, and cache
Security
- Advanced spyware/adware protection
- Repairs security vulnerabilities
- Military standard (DOD) secure file wiping
- Automatically blocks undesirable or dangerous programs and configuration changes
- Erases browser, Microsoft Office and search history
Windows customization and Reports
- Customize hundreds of hidden Windows settings
- Detailed system configuration reports
- Full undo capability with historical logs
System Mechanic is a must have for any home computer user with little or no technical skills. It’s easy to install and use and is highly effective.
Computer Running Slow?
Posted on January 31, 2008
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Is your computer running slow? This is the number one complaint from people with home computers.
There are many reasons while a computer may be performing poorly. Here are some of them.
- Virus infection
- Adware
- Spyware
- Programs running on startup
- Operating system is “bloated”
- Fragmented hard drive
- Low on system memory
- System is overheating
How do we fix these?
Virus Infections - Antivirus protection is a must for any computer. All anti-virus programs are pretty effective in stopping and removing virus infections. However you must keep them updated. I recommend you turn on the auto-update feature. This will notify you or update the anti-virus program automatically. Trend Micro, McAfee, Symantec and AVG are all very good. AVG is free and very effective. Trend Micro has an online house call virus scan for those of you that do not have a anti-virus program. Run virus scans weekly. If you can schedule scans when you are not using the computer, the scan will not interfere with your computer time. Viruses will slow your computer down and harm the operating system. Get rid of them!
Adware/Spyware -This is the most common computer problem. Adware and Spyware have become an epidemic on the Internet. They are found everywhere. I have seen computers infected so badly with adware and spyware that they were rendered useless. You could not even launch an application or move the mouse. With manifestations of this magnitude I recommend formating the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system and applications. If your computer has a factory system restore, by all means run it. There are a few Adware/Spyware removing programs available that will do a pretty good job removing any malware. Ad Aware, Windows Defender and Spybot work pretty well and will remove most if not all of the adware/spyware on your computer. Some of the anti-virus software will also remove adware and spyware.
Programs running on startup - When some programs are installed, they add a shortcut to startup. This tells Windows to run this program every time it starts up. The program will run in the background and consume CPU time and system memory. This will slow your computer down. How do you stop this?
- Click on the Start button
- Select Programs
- Select Startup
- Remove unnecessary shortcuts
Operating System is “bloated” - This is typical Microsoft Windows phenomenon that occurs over time or when too many applications have been installed. The operating system registry gets larger and larger as time goes by and when you install applications. The operating system starts to slow down and run less efficiently. You can uninstall any applications that you do not use and see if that helps. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. The best remedy for this situation is to reinstall the operating system or do a factory system restore. The system will run as if it were just taken out of the box. Just like new!
Fragmented Hard Drive - When an operating system writes and deletes files, the files may become fragmented. Fragmentation occurs when a file is broken in pieces and written to disk. When this occurs it slows down system performance because the hard drive heads must read two or more pieces of data for one file. You can use the Windows Defragment utility to remedy this situation. You can find the defragment utility by:
- Right click on My Computer
- Select Manage
- Click on Disk Defragmenter
- Select the partition you wish to defragment
- Click on Analyze
- After the Analysis is complete, click on Defragment
It may take a while to defragment a large hard drive so set it aside and let it go.
Low System Memory - Inadequate system memory will cause a computer to perform poorly. If your system has less than 512 MB of RAM, then you may benefit from increasing the amount of system memory or RAM. If your computer is running low on system memory and you increase it, you will see a huge difference in performance. It’s amazing how much of a difference it will make. I would recommend 1 GB of RAM for most systems and 2 GB for Vista systems. Always buy quality components for your computer. Viking is one of the best brands of system memory (RAM). Be sure to purchase the correct type of memory for your computer. I can help you with that. Just post a comment and I’ll help you.
System is Over-heating - If you experience system freezing or locking up then your system may be over-heating. Over-heating occurs when the motherboard or CPU do not get adequate ventilation and heat transfer cannot occur. Make sure that all fans are working especially the heat sink fan. Take a good look at the heat sink. It should not be full of dirt and lint. Blow it out with a can of compressed air to remove all obstructions. Air must flow easily through the fins of the heat sink. Make sure the heat sink fan is in good working order. I also recommend that you do not keep your computer enclosed in a cabinet. It should be out in the open where there is good air circulation.
Buying a New Computer? Here’s My Advise
Posted on January 31, 2008
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I have people ask me all the time, “I’m getting a new computer, what should I buy?”
I recommend you buy one of the well know manufacturers like Compaq, HP, IBM, Sony or Dell. These reputable companies will warranty the product and provide good technical support. Technical support is very important when you run into a problem and with the today’s quality or lack of it, you will probably need technical support. Todays manufacturers bid out the manufacturing to the lowest bidder so chances are you won’t get the best quality. If you want a top quality computer, buy the top of the line model, build it yourself or have it built. But for the most part today’s computer are pretty descent. I have a Compaq Presario V3000 laptop and a HP Pavillion Slimline desktop. Both computers are reasonably priced and perform well. The Dell Precision computers are very good but they are not cheap.
Here are some tips for good performance.
- 2.0+ GHz Intel or AMD processor (not a Duron or Celeron)
- 1 GB of RAM for Windows 2000/XP
- 2 GB of RAM for Vista
- 4 + USB 2.0 ports
- DVD/CD-RW optical drive
- 120+ GB SATA hard drive (SATA is much faster than IDE)
- DVI video output (Best quality video but you need a monitor with DVI)
Want my opinion on a new computer? Just comment on this post. I would be happy to assist you with your next purchase.
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