COMPUTER AND ELECTRONICS WORLD; SHARING KNOWLEDGE AND SOLUTIONS FOR COMPUTER PROBLEMS

5,000 Visitors!!

2012-02-13T12:08:00.005-05:00

I opened up my blog this morning and noticed that during this week-end the number of visitors reached 5,000.

Just a word of thanks to you all for your continued interest and loyalty.

I have however one request to make to you all: PARTICIPATION.

Please participate by writing comments, by telling us about your computer problems, how you solved them or if you were not able to, ask us for advice.

This blog would be a lot more interesting and helpful if some of you would participate. Don't be shy, tell us stories and experiences, (I am sure many of you must have lots of interesting experiences that happened along the years you have been working with computers).

As for me, I'll try to keep bringing good material and advice to this blog, but PLEASE think about it and do PARTICIPATE !!!

Thanks,
George Freire

New Digital Spam: How Bad Guys Try to Trick You; How to Avoid the Traps

2012-02-10T11:59:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of news these last few weeks.

Today i have to link you to a very good article from PCWorld, which has the perfect timing, taking into consideration the spam attacks we all are subjected to every time we turn our computers on.

The latest forms of digital spam include clickjacking, junk apps, bad QR codes, and much more and unfortunately some of you will fall for these if you are not alert and careful.

Let's not waste any more time, just click the following link or copy/paste to your browser address bar:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/249300/new_digital_spam_how_bad_guys_try_to_trick_you_how_to_avoid_the_traps.html#tk.nl_bnx_h_crawl

I am sure you'll enjoy it and learn how prevent being taken by the bad guys...

George Freire

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIFE

2012-01-09T12:25:00.001-05:00

A good friend sent me the following email. I thought that most of you would like to read it:

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIFE:
Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them?Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet?

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.Have an awesome day, and know that someone who thinks you're great has thought about you today!.."And that person was me.".....
Working for God on earth does not pay much, but His Retirement plan is out of this world.

George Freire

The 21 Greatest PC Mysteries--Solved!

2012-01-04T16:21:00.003-05:00

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY !!

What follows is a fascinating article from PCWORLD, that I just have to publish here for you viewers of this blog to read and digest.

Modern PCs are certainly marvels of technology--and yet for all their advances, computers still do crazy, inexplicable things happen...

In this article and its available several links, you'll be able to find out why your documents won’t print, where your downloads disappear to, what a .dat file is, how those infernal toolbars invaded your browser, and much more.

Just go to the following link and enjoy!!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/217250/the_21_greatest_pc_mysteriessolved.html#tk.nl_wvx_h_cbstories

Sorry for the long absence, but with all the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and our, (my wife and I), 53rd wedding anniversary, I was as you can imagine pretty busy.

Best wishes to you all.

George

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

2011-12-24T15:18:00.003-05:00

JUST TO WHISH YOU ALL MY VIEWERS A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MAY THE NEW YEAR 2112 BE MUCH MUCH BETTER THAN 2011!!!

GEORGE FREIRE

How to Remove Malware From Your Windows PC

2011-11-23T14:51:00.003-05:00

I am today bringing you a very useful article, (from PCWorld), that will help you to handle a problem that sooner or later will make you lose your patience when using your computer:

Is your computer running slower than usual? Are you getting lots of pop-ups? Have you seen other weird problems crop up? If so, your PC might be infected with a virus, spyware, or other malware--even if you have an antivirus program installed on it. Though other problems, such as hardware issues, can produce similar symptoms, it's best to check for malware if you aren't sure. But you don't necessarily need to call tech support or the geek across the street to scan for malware-- this article will show you how to do it yourself.

Go to:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/243818/how_to_remove_malware_from_your_windows_pc.html#tk.nl_wvx_h_cbintro

You'll find the information easy to follow and after you tweak with it, you'll thank PCWorld for it.

happy Thanksgiving to you all.

George Freire

HOW DO I KEEP MY COMPUTER IN TOP SHAPE? (CONTINUED)

2011-10-25T14:58:00.012-04:00

Today I'll discuss another issue that is also important for a good computer management and safety:

-How to keep track of drivers for all your computer components and peripherals:

Drivers can get outdated in a hurry. If this happens you have a choice: go to the Webpage of your component or peripheral manufacturer and download the latest drive available for the product. This can be somewhat time consuming, therefore I am going to let you know about a free utility that will help you out: Double Driver 4.1

PCWorld describes the Double Driver utility as follows:

One of the main reasons why you would want to collect installed drivers is if you don’t have the Driver CD that came with the computer or they are unavailable online. This comes in quite handy if you purchase a computer and want to backup the initial set of drivers. It can be quite difficulty for example to find drivers for hardware installed in a notebook if the operating system has to be setup again. Luckily Double Driver can now lend you a hand with that and save you a lot of time.

Double Driver is a very simple and useful tool which not only allows you to view all the drivers installed on your system but also allows you to backup, restore, save and print all chosen drivers.

Double Driver analyzes your system and lists the most important driver details such as version, date, provider, etc. All drivers that are found can easily be backed up the application and easily restored at a later point in one go.

Double Driver is freeware. Feel free to use and give this program to anyone you know. Your donation or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

To download this utility go to:

http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

See you again soon

George Freire

HOW DO I KEEP MY COMPUTER IN TOP SHAPE ? (CONTINUED)

2011-10-06T15:35:00.015-04:00

Hi again,

Today we'll talk about one of the most important subjects every computer user should pay attention to: BACK UP YOUR FILES, BETTER STILL BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE, SO THAT IF IT FAILS, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO RECOVER EVERYTHING, INCLUDING ALL YOUR INSTALLED SOFTWARE PROGRAMS AND YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM, 100%.

First things first: in order to have a complete and safe back up of your hard drive, it is obvious that doing the back up in a separate folder in your hard drive is not the way to go; why? if your hard drive fails, there goes your back up too.

So, what should you do?

Get an external hard drive or another internal hard drive that you can install in your computer. The first option is by far the best because all you have to do is connect it to your computer via an USB terminal.

The second option, with due respect, can be a little difficult for those who are not very familiar with the computer internal components.

External drives are not expensive anymore. You can buy a 500 GB external drive for less then $100.00, (they used to cost #200.00/$300.00 in the past), and it is an absolute must to have.

How to do a complete back up? it is not that difficult. If you have Windows 7, it is really quite easy.

Click Start, go to control panel/ system security/backup and restore.

This will open a window, "Backup or Restore your Files". There you will be able to set up a schedule for regularly back up you files, (I am nor going into details, just read the instructions), but before you do that I strongly recommend that you create a system repair disk and a system image of your hard drive. All you have to do is click each title on the left column of the window and follow instructions.

A system image is an exact copy of a drive. By default, a system image includes the drives required for Windows to run. It also includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard disk or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it's a complete restoration—you can't choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image.

Although this type of backup includes your personal files, we recommend that you back up your files regularly using Windows Backup so that you can restore individual files and folders as needed. When you set up Windows Backup, you can let Windows choose what to back up, which will include a system image, or you can select the items that you want to back up and whether you want to include a system image.

If your computer contains several drives or partitions, you can create a system image that includes all of them by following the steps in Back up your programs, system settings, and files.

There is a very good free utility that does all this, perhaps more efficiently : Macrium Reflect Free Edition. You can download this very good program by clicking the following link:

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

I think I have given you plenty to work with for the week-end. Of course I am talking to those of you who do not yet have taken care of your computer back up procedures. I hope most of you have already done it if so great.

See you soon.

George Freire

HOW DO I KEEP MY COMPUTER IN TOP SHAPE ? (CONTINUED)

2011-10-04T12:29:00.007-04:00

Hi again,

For those who did not read our last three posts of September, please read them before you read this post.

Today let's talk about drives fragmentation, registry disruptions and how to uninstall programs no longer used, but still using a lot of space in your hard drive.

Because hard drives capacities have greatly increased in the last couple of years and storage is now relatively inexpensive, most computers now come with 1GB hard drives. High capacity hard drives even if somewhat fragmented, do not cause great problems and do not really need to be defragmented every few days as it is the norm with smaller capacity drives, 250 GB to 500GB and the like.

HOWEVER, it is always advisable to defragment your hard drives, (less frequently for larger ones and more frequently for smaller ones). All version of Windows for the last 10 years have a defragmentation program, (control panel/system and security/administrative tools/defragment your hard drive), but this program takes forever to defragment the whole drive, so if you want to use it, schedule it for a time you are not using your computer, such as late evening.

I don't use this Windows program. There are several defragmentation programs available on the market some you have to pay for, others are totally free. My favorite, (which is free to download), does an excellent job and can be scheduled to operate whenever the computer is not being used. Since it operates continuously, the end result is that your hard drive is always in a very low status of fragmentation. To download and install this program, "Smart Defrag 2", click on the following link and follow the instructions:

http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html

Registry disruptions possibly cause the most problems in your computer. Some registry files can be corrupted, half empty, no longer in use etc.. This happens because when you install just about any program or download stuff from the Internet, registry files related to such programs or downloads are created in the Widows registry. When you uninstall a program using Window Uninstaller, some files related to that program, most of the time remain in the Windows registry. These registry files can accumulate and after a while you have a big mess, that causes considerable slowdowns in the operation of your computer.

There are two ways to get rid of such files: use an uninstaller program that leaves no file remnants in the registry and use another program that cleans the registry.

I use a wonderful free uninstaller program that when started, opens a window which includes and shows every program and other software that are installed in your computer! Is also great just to show you all the software you have in your hard drive, (new, old, stuff you haven't used in ages etc.etc.).

All you have to do is click on the icon of the program you want to uninstall, select the uninstall button, click and presto, uninstalling starts immediately. At the end of the uninstallation, this program shows you all the remnant files left over in the registry and gives you the choice to delete them. Here you have to be careful, because only the files shown in bold are safe to delete. This little jewel of a program is called "REVO UNINSTALLER". It can be downloaded free by clicking the fol.lowing link:

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Registry cleaning programs are in most cases included in utility software programs designed for good computer maintenance such as "Registry Mechanic", "Ashampoo Win Optimizer", "Advanced System Care" and others, but these are my favorites.

You may download these and test them free, (Google the titles and you'll be directed to the Web sites where you can do it), however in order to take full advantage of their capabilities you must buy the full premium program. You really do not need to have them all; download the free trial versions, try them and then decide which one you like the best and buy it. Cost for these is normally less than $20.00 but really well worth it.

This is it for today. Soon I'll discuss the other subjects of interest such as drivers updates, back up your computer, keep your computer booting as short as possible AND OTHER SUBJECTS THAT YOU MAY WANT TO DISCUSS. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS POST YOUR QUESTIONS.

See you soon,

George Freire

HOW DO I KEEP MY COMPUTER IN TOP SHAPE ? (CONTINUED)

2011-09-30T11:45:00.014-04:00

Hi again,

Before reading this post, please review the two previous posts of September 26 and 27.

Let's start with the most important subject of security: protection against viruses, spam, phishing and other disrupting attacks all computers are subject to.

Most of you I am sure, have some kind of protection through an antivirus, anti spyware and other similar programs. The problem is that many of you, (I know because I come across it all the time when friends call me for help), do not keep or forget to keep these programs updated on a regular basis, or forget to pay the annual fees that many of these programs require.

Those of you who have Windows 7 are in better shape than those who have earlier versions of Windows, because this version has quite a lot of built in safety programs such as a much better firewall , spyware and popup blockers. Also, both Internet Explorer 8 and 9, come with good malware and phishing built in protection. Regardless of all this, you still will require a good anti virus program.

If you just bought a new computer or you are planning to buy one, most likely it comes with some form of anti virus program, such as Norton or other similar programs already installed. HOWEVER, such programs are try-outs that will expire normally within 90 days at which time you must sign up and pay the annual fee, otherwise the program will stop working.

Here is my advice:

I myself use in my 3 computers my favorite security program NORTON 360. The license fee is about $69.00/year but you can use the program in as many as 3 computers, so you can install this program in two other computers owned my family members, friends etc. and share the cost with them...

NORTON 360 is a very complete program because it includes many exceptional features other than just virus protection such as security protection for web browsing and email, identity protection, computer back up protection, PC tune up including disk optimization, files clean up, registry clean up, diagnostic report, start up manager improvement and many more other useful features.

There are a few other programs that are excellent and free to use. My favorites are :

-Microsoft Security Essentials anti virus utility.

-Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus.

Avira free version is one of the best available and will take care of most daily problems confronting computers that browse the Internet, however they also have the premium version, ($29.00 fee/year), which is very much on top of the class.

You can find all the details for the above mentioned programs by checking the following links:

http://www.microsoft.com/

http://www.norton.com/

http://www.avira.com/

Enough for today. I think I have given you plenty of info for you to browse the above, download the programs and start giving your computer the best protection available today.

This week-end we'll explore other subjects such as drives fragmentation, registry optimization and how to back up your hard drive in such a way, that you will be able to recover all your installed software, (including the operating system), and all your files, should your hard drive fail or die from old age.

See you soon.

George Freire

HOW DO I KEEP MY COMPUTER IN TOP SHAPE (CONTINUED)

2011-09-27T17:05:00.005-04:00

As promised, here we are again on the subject of my last post.

First let's outline most of the disrupting situations that can get the good operation of ANY computer totally out of control, not necessarily by order of importance:

-Virus, phishing, spam and pop-up attacks.
-Fragmentation of drives.
-Registry disruptions.
-Software installation gone wrong.
-Program deleting errors.
-Remnant files, temporary files, trash files left on the hard drive.
-Poor cooling of main components especially the CPU, hard drive, RAM memory package
and GPU unit.
-Poor back up of your computer hard drive where all your important files are located.
-Accumulation of internet downloaded and browsing history files.
-Not updating Windows and other software programs on a regular basis.
-Not making sure that all your program drivers are the latest available.

The above are for sure the main causes of most computer problems, computer slowdowns and worse of all, computer failure and loss of all your valuable files.

All of you will be able to prevent most of the above situations from happening. You must prepare yourselves with a proper maintenance routine and of course install good reliable, (not necessarily expensive and some free), utility programs.

This is where I can help you by describing what I do to protect my computers which, ( knock on wood), have been operating trouble free for many years, save some exceptions now and then which can be easily resolved.

For now, just read the above list of possible problems and think hard: how many have I come across and what have I done to fix them?

It is late in the afternoon, time for dinner. We will continue tomorrow.

George Freire

HOW DO I KEEP MY COMPUTER IN TOP SHAPE (MOST OF THE TIME)

2011-09-26T17:10:00.000-04:00

Hi you all,

As you may have noticed I have been very slow in publishing new posts lately. I apologize to all of you but especially to those who are frequent visitors.

No escuses except perhaps, this is still summer, you get somewhat lazy and sometimes not being able to think or find good stuff that will keep you interested and ready to come back at a later time.

This week I just finished building the best computer I ever built... just think: I put together a machine that among other things has a six core 3.7 MHz AMD Phenon 1100T processor, a top of the line ASUS mother board SABERTOOTH 990 FX, AME+, 16 GB high speed RAM memory, a Sapphire Radeon 6770 GDDR5 graphics card, 750 watt power supply and 2 hard drives each 1000 GB SATA 6 units and of course a computer case with a superior cooling system that will last forever.

This is quite a machine and the best part is that the mother board will be capable to handle any future super processors that AMD still has on the drawing board. This means that I will be able to keep this computer up to date just by upgrading when new and better stuff comes up.

I know you are already asking, "how much did you spend in this machine, George, is it worth it?" It cost me a shade below $900.00, but please note that I am using my old monitor, keyboard and mouse. I have seen computers that are not even close in quality and capability advertised in computer magazines for well over $2,000.00.

I intend to keep this computer for a long long time, therefore I intend to keep very good care of it, the same way I always have taken care of my other past computers.

This really is the main subject of this post: " HOW TO KEEP YOUR COMPUTER IN TOP SHAPE "

You can check the archives of this blog and you will find an endless number of posts that address this subject; that can be time consuming, however well worth it.

I'll try to explain the best I can, how I do it myself and save you some time. It is not hard but it requires some patience a a little dedication at first, however once you start the process it will become easier and easier and above all prevent many headaches in the future.

Of course many of you already follow many of the procedures I'm about to tell you and that is great. However, hardly a week goes by that I don't get calls from friends and other people asking for help because their computer froze, died, can't run some software etc.

This is all for today. I will get you all the details throughout the rest of the week, I promise. This way you'll have to come back to read the blog and find out about what I do about maintenance, virus protection, free and paid software and utilities I use, how to create a complete image of your hard drive, how to set up an automated back up system etc. etc.

See you soon,

George Freire

Microsoft Windows 8: Here's What We Know So Far

2011-09-05T12:54:00.000-04:00

Here is a very interesting article from PCWorld concerning the latest info about Windows 8.

Sooner or later, after it is available come 2012, most of us will switch, if the hype about this new version is really for real.

This is good reading and you will know a lot more about what is coming...

Go to:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/239131/microsoft_windows_8_heres_what_we_know_so_far.html#tk.nl_dnx_h_crawl

and enjoy.

George Freire

Windows Tips and Tricks: Master the Taskbar and Start menu

2011-08-22T14:24:00.001-04:00

You Windows 7 users, this is great stuff you can use, ( that I'll bet you were not aware, and so wasn't I !!), but as always, our friends at PCWorld come to our rescue with new stuff that most of the time is there but hard to find out.

Today I got an email from PCWorld, ( I get stuff from them almost on a daily basis), that I just must pass on to all of you:

"The taskbar and Start menu are so much more than simple program launchers. Help them help you work more efficiently in Windows 7.
By Loyd Case, PCWorld Aug 16, 2011 9:13 pm

In Windows 7, the Start menu and the taskbar have become both easier to use and more sophisticated. However, they also offer a slew of additional capabilities and customization options that are not obvious when you first look at them. I’ll first walk through the plethora of options for each, and then dive into how to use them more effectively."

I spent some time reading what Mr. Loyd Case had to say, I used some of the suggestions and I am definitely a happier user of windows 7.

All I have to say is: read the stuff and dive into it. All you have to do is click on the following link and you'll see what I mean:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/238184/windows_tips_and_tricks_master_the_taskbar_and_start_menu.html#tk.nl_wvx_h_cbintro

Enjoy,

George Freire

Protect Infections by Viruses, Spyware and Unwanted Sneaky Software in Your Computer

2011-08-19T14:10:00.005-04:00

We all know what "malware" can do to your computer. It can raise havoc, frustrations, sluggish operation, crashes etc., etc.

If you are like me, you of course have some good protection in the form of anti virus, anti fishing, anti everything... software installed. Sometimes though, a sneaky invader finds its way, because you possibly downloaded some suspicious program, opened an attachment to your e-mail or what have you.

Today I am going to introduce to you a simple tool created by Microsoft that scans your computer for viruses, spyware and unwanted software and removes any of the above when it is found. This tool has three levels of scanning: Quick, Full and Customized, each taking more or less time to run.

This tool, "Microsoft Safety Scanner" expires after 10 days after downloading. In order to re-run another scan after the 10 days, to include the latest anti malware definitions, you will have to download the utility again and start a new scan.

How to download? click on the following link and that is all you have to do. I suggest that you save the setup file in your documents folder or bookmark the page:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx

George Freire

SPECKIE Browser Spell Checker It Is Great !!!

2011-08-09T11:34:00.002-04:00

Again, my friends, this comes from my favorite computer magazine, PCWorld with comments from my favorite tech writer Mr. Rick Broider:

Among the many reasons I'm partial to Firefox is that Mozilla's browser has long offered a built-in spell checker. (Not that I need it, of course--we payd riters learnt gud speling in skool.) Internet Explorer, even in its latest release, doesn't do bad spellers any favors. Thankfully, there's Speckie, a free Internet Explorer add-on that provides real-time spell checking.

After installing Speckie--which, incidentally, is compatible with all versions of Windows and all versions of Internet Explorer (including 9)--it immediately starts working, underlining any misspelled word with a squiggly red line. To see suggested correct spellings, just right-click the word.

If English isn't your primary language, you'll be glad to know that Speckie comes with a whopping 24 dictionaries, with languages ranging from Croation to Vietnamese.

Bottom line: if you're an Internet Explorer user who needs a spell-checker for e-mail, Web forms, and other browser-based activities, Speckie gets the job done quickly and efficiently.

--Rick Broida

For those of you who use IE this utility is a must. You can download and install this useful utility by clicking the following link:

http://www.speckie.com/home/

It installs very quickly and starts working on the spot.

For my visitors from overseas countries, take notice that you can add plug-ins for just about any language in this world !!

Once installed, click "tools" on your browser menu bar and look for "Speckie Settings". This opens another browser window where you can set up your own preferences and add any number of language plug-ins.

George Freire

Sorry for Being Away...

2011-07-23T13:14:00.002-04:00

Dear visitors to the blog,

It is Summer you know? I've been lazy and sometimes away for a few days, therefore writing for the Blog has been not a great... priority.

Today I have a couple of posts that might be interesting for you all.

Hope you all have had a good Summer so far.

George Freire

Just For Fun: Nyan Cat Progress Bar

2011-07-23T12:59:00.002-04:00

From our friends at PCWORLD :

The Internet loves cats, so it was no surprise to see the ever-so-trippy Nyan Cat become an instant Web hit. Now, riding on the rainbow of its meme success, you can get a custom Nyan-inspired progress bar for your Windows 7 PC.

The little app created by Ben Stone is appropriately known as the Nyan Cat Progress Bar. The program makes light of waiting times and sees the lovable Pop-Tart cat dance along your desktop each and every time you transfer a file. The cool download is a modification of one of Ben's earlier programs, called Instant Elevator Music.

The Instant Elevator Music program automatically plays a music file when a user is transferring a file or loading something. So as you may have guessed, this new mod sees the now Web-famous cat dance along the progress bar with the Nyan Cat music playing as the process carries out.

--Chris Brandrick

To download click the link below and enjoy!

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,200574/description.html#tk.nl_ddx_h_dlfeat

George Freire

IE Wins Malware-Blocking Tests | PCWorld#tk.nl_bnx_h_crawl

2011-07-23T12:54:00.001-04:00

Quite interesting isn't it?

Internet Explorer is getting more serious about security.

Click on the link below to read the story:

IE Wins Malware-Blocking Tests PCWorld#tk.nl_bnx_h_crawl

George Freire

This week our visitor # 4,000 will check in!

2011-06-20T12:40:00.003-04:00

Thanks for all our visitors and followers.

Visitor # 4,000 will for sure happen this week.

If you are the one, (just check visitor # indicator at the bottom of our blog's page), please let me know.

Do we have a surprise for you ???

George Freire

New "Windows" version in your future

2011-06-15T11:25:00.002-04:00

Microsoft showed its first public demo of Windows 8 . It is not at all like the Windows operating systems you've come to know over the past 25 years. The next version of Microsoft's operating system ("Windows 8" is just a codename) is a radical departure, designed around touch screens.

From what I have seen, this future version, (they say it will be available some time in 20012), is absolutely "OUT OF THIS WORLD".

Pictures talk better than words, therefore please check the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p92QfWOw88I&feature=youtu.be

Enjoy,

George Freire

Free Download SoftMaker Office 2008

2011-05-23T11:41:00.002-04:00

Dear readers of this blog,

I have Softmaker Office 2008 and 2010 installed in my computer. I paid for both, (originally for the version 2008 and then for the upgrade to the version 2010).

Frankly there is not a lot of a difference between the two, and getting the 2008 version free, well, its a heck of a good deal.

This software is completely compatible with the latest Windows Office software and it is as good. I use it all the time, (and I also have Windows Office).

The SoftMaker Office 2008 is a complete and full-featured office that comes with a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a presentation-graphics program, all of them compatible with the Windows Office Versions.

If you want to install this gem of software in your computer, (ant it is absolutely free !), click on the following link and download it, its that simple:

http://www.softmakeroffice.com/

The website page shows all the goodies available with this program. I am sure you'll love it.

The three programs in the package are: TextMaker, (Windows Word compatible), PlanMaker, (Windows Excel compatible) and SoftMaker Presentations, (Windows Power Point compatible).

Once installed you can always upgrade to the 2010 version, which is a little better, (but not much), for less then $50.00 !

Let me know how you like this software. I use it all the time because as far as I am concerned it has some features that I like better then the Windows equivalent programs.

George Freire

NEW MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER 9 DESERVES A NEW LOOK

2011-05-01T13:40:00.002-04:00

After several months of testing the new IE9 by Microsoft Corporation is here in its final form.

The new Web browser features a lot of interesting new tools such as taskbar shortcuts and dynamic jumplists, extensive HTML 5 support, hardware acceleration for improved graphics performance, and has a streamlined interface that puts more focus on the Web page and less on the browser window. Before you get started, here are a few quick tips to get you up and running with the best features IE9 has to offer.

If you want to check it out and eventually download and install this much improved version of the browser, go to the following address at PCWorld and enjoy!:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/222154/internet_explorer_9_a_getting_started_guide.html#tk.nl_ptx_h_cbintro

Just click the above link, that's all

George Freire

Sorry for the absence, new posts will come back

2011-04-28T16:52:00.003-04:00

Sorry for those of you who visit this blog on an on going basis. I have not posted stuff since early April, but I have some good excuses...

A new grandbaby was born to my youngest daughter, we also went to Florida to visit with my daughter #2 and finally we were on a cruise with Celebrity Cruise Line in the Eastern Caribbean.

So, now we are back home and rested; I am ready to publish some new posts that I hope will be of interest to most of you.

Thanks for your patience.

George Freire

10 Must-Have Free Downloads

2011-04-28T16:42:00.004-04:00

From PCWorld comes the following information and suggestions, that I find to be very helpful:

"Some software is so good that you just have to download it. Unfortunately, often you have to pay for it after you try it out. But every once in a while, a must-have program is totally free. Such indispensable, no-cost tools are the hardest programs to find--but we've found the best ones for you."

In order to take advantage and download the free programs you might be interested to go to the following address and click it:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/collection/collid,1670-order,4/files.html#tk.nl_wvx_h_cbintro

George Freire