Remember back when you got your latest computer? It seemed so fast, so much faster than your previous computer. Now, if it doesn’t seem to drag, it just doesn’t seem as peppy as it used to…

Part of that effect is our memory — not the computer’s memory but the memories stored between our ears. We tend to remember the past with fond thoughts and rose-colored glasses. We also become used to the faster speed and expect it. Fast today is faster than it used to be <grin>.

There are some real aspects of computing, though, that affect our computer’s speed as we continue to use Windows.

The clean, fresh installation of Windows has little in the way of superficial extras that take up CPU cycles, that take up memory and that clutter the hard drive and the Windows Registry. Unfortunately, as we install programs and use the machine, the junk starts accumulating and slowing us down.

Continue reading Speeding Up Windows XP

One of my newsletter readers wrote to ask about antivirus recommendations:

I have been using Norton antivirus programs for 10 years. In May I purchased Norton 360 which has been giving me fits. When I shut down Windows, everything goes off but the tower. I have done all their troubleshooting to see which program I have that might be conflicting with 360 to no avail. I have just uninstalled it and everything is working fine. But I have no virus protection.

Someone told me that you really don’t need an addtional virus program as Windows has it’s own built in anti virus. I have been searching this and have not found that information anywhere. I’ve been reading your site’s information but haven’t been able to filter through all of the information.

what do you recommend?

First, Dee has received some bad information — Windows does not have its own built-in anti-virus. Neither Windows XP nor Windows Vista include an anti-virus program as part of Windows.

Continue reading Microsoft Anti-virus?

Google Desktop is Google’s free search system for your own hard drive. Google Desktop is designed to run all the time, but to do its real work — indexing your hard drive to get the information for its search results — while your computer is idle.

Tech Tip
Since Google Desktop only does its indexing while your computer is idle, you have to leave it running to get the best results. The initial indexing will probably require that you leave the computer running over night.

Your first step is to download and install the free Google Pack software package (the same one that includes Picasa). During this process, you select which optional programs you also want to download, if any. The program you’ll download is the Google Updater, which handles the rest of the process.

The Google Updater is also the program you use to control the Google Pack later, including adding additional programs or uninstalling some of them.

Continue reading Google Desktop - Free Software to Search Your Computer

Get Google Desktop - it’s part of the free Google Pack

Forbes has a nice Eee PC article on the history behind the new product from Asus. Chairman Jonney Shih was looking for a new growth product for Asus - well, he found it!

Whether you’re a road warrior wanting to stay in touch, a computer newbie wanting a simple way to get to the Web and email, or if you want a simple PC for your children - check out the Asus Eee PC. This isn’t a Windows machine; it runs Linux, although a Windows XP version is supposed to be coming some time.

I got my Eee PC at NewEgg.

ASUS Eee PC 4G - Pearl White Intel processor 7″ Wide VGA Integrated Graphics Eee PCASUS Eee PC 4G - Pearl White Eee PC Intel processor 7″ Wide VGA 512MB 4GB Integrated Graphics

Recently, subscriber Don Hammons wrote to ask about how to treat the battery in a notebook computer. Don is the proud owher of a new Dell notebook.

Hey Terry,

I have searched your site looking for info for a new Notebook user. I was interested in how to handle power for the Notebook, especially whether to leave the power cable connected when the computer is shutdown. I understand that the battery will still charge so I wonder if it is fully charged the cable should remain connected or disconnected. Should the battery be run down to a low level occasionally and should you never use, let’s say 20%, then put it back on charge.

Don, Here’s what I do with my Dell Inspiron 8600. It’s a couple years old and is my primary computer, although I’ve also got a home-built Windows XP desktop, a home-built Linux box, and of course my home-built Home Theater PC! My Dell notebook gets used extensively, enough so that the plastic is starting to show discolorations where my wrists rest on it. In other words, it runs a lot…

1. First, it stays plugged in 24/7, unless I’m travelling. I probably should, but I don’t, have it connected through a surge suppressor (I think I’ll change that!)
2. I turn it off or close the lid to hibernate it most nights
3. The power cable stays plugged in and the power brick is “live.”
4. I leave the main battery in at all times. My speaker unit is built into the main battery compartment
5. I also have the optional second battery that fits into the “media bay.” I’ve found that I use it a lot more often than I use my DVD/CD. I recently changed started leaving the second battery in the media bay all the time. If I need the DVD drive, I’ll get it out of my notebook’s case.

Continue reading Care and Treatment a Notebook Battery

With your first computer (or even your fifth!), don’t be too quick to buy Microsoft Office — there’s a great, free alternative called OpenOffice.

First, let me say it this way: “If you can use Excel, you can use Calc.”

It’s really that simple. Learning to use a spreadsheet — learning the concepts of putting variable data in some cells and putting formulas in other cells to calculate results based on the data — is the hard part.

With one tiny exception… Excel still has one of the Lotus 1-2-3 features that, for some reason, has not been implemented in OpenOffice. In both OpenOffice and Excel, you can start a formula with an equals sign (”=”).

In both OpenOffice and Excel, if you start a cell with a number, but then use any other character (alphabetic or an arithmetic operator like a plus sign), both will treat the cell contents as test — as a label.

Continue reading Using OpenOffice Calc instead of Microsoft Excel

A lot of people choose one of the big-name security software packages from Norton, McAfee and such to protect their computers.

I’m not one of them. I tried them in the past, but I learned that I didn’t like relying on a “it will do everything” security package — sure they were cheaper, but I felt that I got what I paid for…

My choices are:

• Antivirus: the NOD32 anti-virus program from Eset. NOD32 is fast and isn’t so greedy about computer resources like memory and cpu cycles.
• Firewall: the Sunbelt Personal Firewall from Sunbelt Software. Right now, Sunbelt has a 50% off special on Sunbelt Personal Firewall. Note: Sunbelt Personal Firewall requires Windows XP, not Windows Vista.
• Anti-spyware/Anti-adware: the CounterSpy anti-spyware / anti-adware program from Sunbelt Softwarae. CounterSpy works with Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Google Desktop is Google’s free search system for your own hard drive. Google Desktop is designed to run all the time, but to do its real work — indexing your hard drive to get the information for its search results — while your computer is idle.

Tech Tip
Since Google Desktop only does its indexing while your computer is idle, you have to leave it running to get the best results. The initial indexing will probably require that you leave the computer running over night.

Your first step is to download and install the free Google Pack software package (the same one that includes Picasa and Google Earth).
Get the free Google Pack software

During this process, you select which optional programs you also want to download, if any. The program you’ll download is the Google Updater, which handles the rest of the process.

The Google Updater is also the program you use to control the Google Pack later, including adding additional programs or uninstalling some of them.

Continue reading Google Desktop - Free Software to Search Your Computer

Often times, we feel alone when we use our computers. We think our frustrations, our questions, and our needs are unique. Sometimes, we think that we have dumb questions, or we don’t want to show our lack of knowledge or experience — and, yet, that’s what we have to do to learn more…

Or, at least, to learn more the easy way! Learning the hard way is reading books, magazines, Usenet news and Internet web sites for years. The easy way is to find a local computer user group and learn from each other.

Read more in Join a Computer Users Group!

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If you’re still using dialup Internet access for use from home, you should start thinking about “broadband”.

What’s broadband? That’s the term for getting your Internet access via a cable or DSL connection, or even a fiber-optic connection if that’s available to you.

During the roll-out stage of cable and DSL Internet access, there weren’t too many choices. If only one was available in your neighborhood, that’s the one you got.

For some of us, that’s still the case. Although I live in a relatively large city (Baton Rouge), my area of Baton Rouge does not have DSL access available. The phone company’s equipment servicing my subdivision is not compatible with DSL.

Unfortunately, just a few years before the DSL rollout started, the latest-and-greatest phone switching equipment was released — and it turned out to be incompatible with DSL.

Read more in Thinking About Broadband Internet Access