Learn2Computer

How to Compress a Powerpoint file

2011-07-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

More often than not I see people making a big Powerpoint presentation full of images they save it and its huge. 99% of the time the following fix can shrink your powerpoint file drastically and its also very simple to do.

In Powerpoint, select an image (it doesnt matter which) and then click the Picture format tools (on the toolbar).
Click Compress Picture
when the box comes up untick the "Apply only to this Picture" section and press ok, then save the image. you should now notice your powerpoint is significantly smaller.

For exmaple I did this to one the other day and shrunk it from 60mb to 4mb.

There are other options out there that will help with compression such as PPTminimizer however they usualy cost money!

How to Trouble shoot

2011-07-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

If you have a problem and you need help you need to know exactly what to ask and what to look for.

so what you need to do is make a note of what happened, when it happened, what you were doing and any error messages. e.g.

"I was browsing the web and an error came up saying Adobe plugin has crashed and It restarted my browser"
is a million times more helpful than "my computers broken"

if you have an error number e.g. "program crashed error code 123456" you know what to look for, if it has a code it more than likely means its a known problem and there is a solution you can then search for that or pass it on to whoever is helping you fix your problem.

So remember just gather as much information as you can especially if someone is supporting you remotely (on the web over the phone etc) because they cant physically see your machine it's a lot harder to diagnose and fix the problems!

Happy Hunting
Dan!

Making a Backup Schedule

2011-07-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

So you want to backup your companies data, and before now you've never thought about a proper backup routine?

Well there's a few things you need to work out;

What are you backing up?
How are you planning to do it?
What are you backing up too?
How long will it take?
When are you going to do it?
How often are you going to do it?
Where are you going to store your backups?

What are you backing up?

Pretty simple question eh? well no not really. of cause you want all your important files backed up, your documents, work etc. but do you want to backup the system state of your servers? if your server died would it be easy for you to set it up again. and how long can you go without it. if you only have a small company you might simply want to backup the actual data rather than the server itself. It's important to workout how long you can go without a resource, the damage/costs incurred without that resource and how long it will take you to replace, repair or rebuild it.

How are you planning to do it?

How do you plan to back it up, are you going to do it manually? run a script or invest in some software? This really all depends on what you are backing up and how much. If you want to backup a machine in its entirety then the best option would be to buy some backup software, but if you just want to backup some data you could run a script to copy it. Backup software is arguably more efficient and robust but it depends on the scope of your project, again its all about working out what you need to backup and hoe long you can go without it.

What are you backing up too?

If you know how much Data you plan to backup and how much you want to spend on a solution then this bit should be pretty easy for you. The simplest way to do a backup is to copy data to a device that you can then take away and store off site usually one or more Tapes. A tape drive itself and its associated software and media can cost anywhere from several hundreds to several thousands of pounds. a cheaper option that I've seen in place is to use high capacity flash drives or even external usb drives, but whatever you choose make sure you leave room for more data, if you want to backup 500gb, don't get something that only holds that, because over time you are going to get more data and thus use more space so leave room for growth.

How long will it take?

Assuming you know how much data you have, and how fast the backup media is you should be able to work it out but remember as in anything else things can often take longer than they seem. if files are locked or in use it can take a lot longer.

When are you going to do it?

The best time to backup your data is during periods of low activity, which usually means the evenings. you can usually avoid pesky problems like files being locked and doing it after everyone's gone means the chance of people complaining about performance issues is negligible.

How often are you going to do it?

What ever solution you choose its important to keep your backups regular, do you need to do them once a day? once a week? well this is something for you to workout. how often is your data accessed and whats the chances of data being permanently lost in between backups.

Where are you going to store your backups?

This is by far one of the most important choices you will make, you need to work out where to store your backup media. For example if you keep them in your office drawer and there's a fire you've more than likely lost not only your server but your backups too. the best practice is to keep your backups in a secure offsite location. whether that means keeping weekly tapes on site (again in a secure location like a fire proof safe) and having monthly and yearly tapes held off site that's up to you. If you don't want to buy an offsite safe or don't have anywhere to put it, there are some services that will collect, securely transport and store your backup media for you.

Other useful thoughts

Even if you have a Backup in place now, or know what you are going to do, remember to teach someone else how to do it, document it and keep that off site too. If you are the only one who knows how to restore the data and you are unavailable (injured, on Holiday, whatever) then you might as well not bother to do one in the first place!

Any thoughts questions of feedback would be great

Dan!

Open a 2007 or 2010 office file in Office 2003

2011-07-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

This is quite a common problem with a very easy fix.

so someones sent you a document be it Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc that's been made in a newer version of office and uses a different file type. what you need to do is download the Office Compatibility pack from Microsoft, after installing it and restarting any office applications you will be able to open the new file types (docx, xlsx, pptx,etc)

It is available direct from Microsoft Here

Jobs a good un!
Dan

I've forgotten my Wireless key

2011-07-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

So you've forgotten what your wireless key is?

well its not so hard to get it back or reset it!

Firstly we need to check something, nowadays a lot of Wireless routers have a sticker on the side with the default wireless key, and sometimes the Routers logon details too!

So if you do have a key on the side of your router try that, if it doesn't work well not to worry following this post will help you reset it.

Now I want you to look at your router again we need to see who makes it and what model it is (note if its from BT it will more than likely be a home hub)

so for example you might have a Netgear 123456 (no thats not a real model no) from Sky Broadband.

Now I can't give you a list of all the default user names and passwords for every router but here's some of the most common ones, if yours isnt on the list google "Make, model, provider default username and password" e.g. Netgear 123456 Sky broadband default user name and password, if you know the login details skip this step!

Sky

Username: admin

Password : sky

Consult bt customer help( Here) but its usually ;

Username : admin

Password : admin

Virgin Media

Virgin have gone through a few of them, so heres a couple:

Username: admin

Password: changeme

Username: admin

Password: pasword

Username: virgin

Password: password

TalkTalk

Username: admin

Password admin

So now we have your default login info we need to get onto the router, we need a computer that's already got access to your network which you should hopefully already have, if not plug a network cable from your router into your computer.

Now that that's done, I want you to do the following;

Press the startmenu button on your task bar, if you have windows Vista or 7 type run in the search box and when it finds it press ok.

If you have windows xp Press the Start menu and then click run.

now type cmd and press enter

the command prompt should now appear (pictured below)

type ipconfig and press enter you should get something similar to this:

now write down the Default gateway (in my example 132.147.160.7) this is the IP address of your router, load a web brower and in the address bar enter the IP address and press enter (note don't put www. or http:// or anything else just the number)

You should now be on the login page for your router.

so lets try out those default login details hopefully they should get you onto the router, if not we are going to have to reset it.

To reset your router usually there is somewhere on the back of the router a tiny hole marked reset, you will need a pin or an unfolded paper clip, push that into the whole to get to the hidden button, hold it down for at least 5 seconds and release it, this will reset your router to its defaults, from there try again to login to the router and you should be fine.

Now that you are onto the router you need to find out what your wireless key is and while we are here why don't we change your logon details to something a bit more secure.

Every router has a different interface so your going to have to find the settings but they are probably something like :

Wifi key

Wireless Router setup, Wireless, Security ( then note down the key in there)

Username and Password

Configuration, security, admin password (then change it to something you will remember).

Now all that's left to do is log off and put your wireless key in.

Jobs a good un!

Dan

Opening a word document

2011-07-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Now don't Laugh some people just don't know, you'd be surprised by how many people don't have a copy of Microsoft office, and thus don't know how to open a word document, excel spreadsheet etc etc.

So in this blog we are going to cover some of the free options available to people firstly lets look at Google Docs

Google Docs Found here

is a free service from well Google that lets you open documents of any type, Those of you with a Gmail/Googlemail account will be familiar with the preview document feature, this is a basic version of google docs, which allows you to upload any document type open it, edit and save it.

As you can see the interface is Simple, and pretty clutter free. and for a service you don't have to pay for and can access anywhere its great, with a few clicks you can create a new document, email it and store it on the Internet, you could then if you wanted to edit it from the other side of the world!

Pros

Quick and Easy
Simple
Online document creation and storage
Links to your Google account (Gmail and alike)
Opens any document type
works on most if not all operating systems that support modern web browsing

Cons

Only available online ( so no working without an Internet connection)
Although Simple misses a lot of features from a more robust product

Open Office Found Here

is a free office suite that is comprised of products comparable to Microsoft office, except its free! now unlike google docs this is a full piece of software that needs downloading and installing on your machine. Last time I checked the download was about 150mb which isn't huge and is in fact alot smaller than Microsoft office for example. The installer is pretty simple :

Press run, Press next, leave it a minute then press next a few more times an its installed

and the Products such as Writer (document editor) looks and feels very similar to some older version of word.

Pros

More robust than Google Docs
Available offline once installed
Opens most document types
works on Most Operating systems

Cons

Needs downloading and Installing
uses the Open office document format which isn't universally recognised
Not as quick and clean as Google Docs

In summary It depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it. for me id rather keep on using Microsoft office but if I had to go for a free product I guess It would be Open Office. however for those that only read the occasional document Google Docs is more than adequate.

so what's your thoughts? let me know

Jobs a good un!

Dan

Setup a Windows Server Update Service (WSUS server) Guide

2011-07-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

So you want to setup a centralised update server so your network isn’t being flooded with windows updates? well I have just the Guide for you.

Firstly you need the following before we can begin:

A server (in this case a Windows 2003 server would be fine)
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 or later
Windows Installer 3.1 or Later Download Here
Microsoft .Net framework 2.0 Download Here (note having version 3, 3.5 or whatever doesn’t count you need 2.9)
Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2005 Download Here
Microsoft Management Console 3.0 Download Here
SQL Server 2005 SP1 or Later (or express which is free) Download Here

Step 1)

Install all the Perquisites above, and then download WSUS from http://connect.microsoft.com/directory/

Note: you will need a Windows live account

Once its downloaded run the setup and select the following when prompted:

Full Server Installation Including Administration Console
Store updates Locally (unless you want them on another file store in which case select the other option)
Use an existing database server on this computer (default)
Create a Microsoft Server Updates Service Website with port 8530
leave the "the server should inherit settings from the following server" blank unless you already have another server you want to mirror and cluster your WSUS server with (which I doubt you will)
continue to follow the prompts

Step 2)

Once the install is complete you will be prompted to configure the WSUS server, use the following:

No proxy server
Start connecting
Synchronize automatically at 12:45pm (lunch time) twice per day
Select Launch the WSUS administration console and Begin initial Synchronisation
Wait for the Initial synchronisation this takes roughly 30-50 minutes

once done, load the ISS manager, select Websites > WSUS administration. Right click and select permissions, add ANONYMOUS LOGON.

Step 3)

Load the WSUS Management Console, select Options then click Change update File and Language, select “Download update files to the server when updates are approved”, ensure on the language tab, its set to English.
Load the WSUS Management Console, select Options then click Change update File and Language, select “Download update files to the server when updates are approved”, ensure on the language tab, its set to English.
On the main console create the relevant Groups e.g. Desktops, Servers, Test and No update,

Selection options and Automatic Approvals, make a new rule for servers , specify the following criteria:

When an update is in Critical, Security, Updates,
When update is in SQL server, IIS, etc. for all known Microsoft products
Approve this update for Servers

Do the same for desktops except changing for products like office, Silverlight, etc.

Machines will slowly appear under all computers, move them into their relevant groups.

Step 4)

Group Policy (GPO)

Logon onto your Domain Controller and load the Group Policy Management Console, Right click on the Group Policy Object Container and select Create a new Policy for each of the groups you created earlier.

after that edit the settings of each policy to what you deem appropriate for your setup, in my case :

Automatic updates are at lunchtime, they automatically download and install but they won’t restart the machine without user approval

the intranet location should be http://yourwsusservername:8530

Enable client Side Targeting for the appropriate Group name (that’s important!!)

Enable no auto restart with logged on users.

repeat this for each policy ( again e.g. servers, desktops, tests etc.) different groups might have different policies, e.g. you might want your desktops just to restart whenever (I doubt it but hey) but you would never want your servers to do that!

now the last bit

On the GPO management console, right click the Organisational Unit that contains the workstations group, and link an existing GPO, select the desktop policy, repeat this step for servers.

Note: there can issues with the WSUS policy being linked to a Child OU, it is recommended to apply it only to the TOP level OU.

Any issues or feedback leave me a post
Jobs a Good un!
Dan

Office 2003 and 2007 Keep Crashing Fix

2011-07-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

So your copy of office keeps crashing? Particularly outlook and excel?

Well I have a couple of fixes for you!

A while back I came across this problem and searched all around the web trying to find a fix to no avail, then one day after much testing and tweaking I found 2 fixes for the most common causes of these crashes so here goes:

1) Acrobat Reader 8 or below has a plugin for Office and it’s not working

2) Your Computer comes with a Broadcom Bluetooth driver that adds a "sent to Bluetooth" option for some bizarre reason this causes Office to go crazy

ok so the solution:

If you know what you're doing

Remove acrobat reader and update to the latest version, do the same with the Bluetooth driver (or remove it full stop if you don’t use it)

If you don't Know what you're Doing

Press the Start button (looks like a window) then select control panel.

once that loads select ADD remove programs (or in Vista and Windows 7 Select uninstall a program)

doing this will present a list of currently installed software on your machine, you simply need to select the software you want to remove by clicking it and then press uninstall.

So in this case you want to remove "Adobe reader" and/or the Bluetooth driver, please however note the name of the driver first so that you can download and install a later version after (if you need it).

Once you have removed the offending software, restart and test out your office, is it running better? lets hope so, if not leave me a comment and we can try and get to the bottom of it and then update this post!

Now we need to download the latest version of Adobe reader, which can be obtained from : Adobe

(as for your Bluetooth driver Please see the where to get drivers guide!)

Download the latest version from there and run it when its finished, follow the prompts and install the software, and once finished you will be able to open PDF files again!

Jobs a Good un!

Dan

Hello World!

2011-07-28T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone Welcome to the first post (of many I hope!) on Learn2Computer!

The idea of this blog is to provide you the reader with guides and fixes to anything computer related, whether that’s how to setup your email client or how to set up a WSUS server it doesn’t matter it’s all here for you to view, so get searching the blog and get reading!

P.s. If you like the blog please feel free to let me know and if you really like the blog please donate :)

Dan!