SOHO Computer Support

Five Best Disk Defragmentation Tools

2011-10-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

"Defragmenting your hard drive regularly is an important part of regular hard drive maintenance, and the best tools can defrag your drive regularly or on demand when your games start to slow down or you have trouble loading up large files. The trouble is that there are so many defragging tools that it can be difficult to choose. This week we're going to look at five of the best, based on your nominations."

Good list of defrag tools. Most are free.

BlueScreenView Shows You the Errors Behind the Blue Screen of Death

2011-10-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

"Windows: With luck, blue screen of death is something that most Windows users don't see anymore, but if you do, sometimes it can go by so quickly that you don't get a chance to review the error displayed so you can look it up later. BlueScreenView is a free utility that will retrieve the error information for you later so you can research what caused it."

I get a number of BSoD. I will be checking this out.

File sort order reversed or wrong in File Open or File Save dialog box

2011-06-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

"File sort order reversed or wrong in File Open or File Save dialog box
After searching in vain for quite awhile for the fix for this little
annoyance, I found a similarly named thread from a while ago, that
contained wrong information."

I blogged about another solution that stopped working. I am trying this one now.

Windows Explorer Weirdness

2011-06-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

"For the past couple of months I have been coping with an incredibly frustrating problem. My files in the File Open dialog box mysteriously started appearing in order of the 'Last Modified' date, instead of in alphabetical order."

I had this problem and just worked around it. I am happy to get it fixed.

The Usability of Passwords (by @baekdal) #tips

2011-04-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

"Security companies and IT people constantly tells us that we should use complex and difficult passwords. This is bad advice, because you can actually make usable, easy to remember and highly secure passwords. In fact, usable passwords are often far better than complex ones."

Interesting. 'It is 10 times more secure to use "this is fun" as your password, than "J4fS<2"'.

Diagramly Alternatives and Similar Software - AlternativeTo.net

2011-04-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

"Diagramly is a free online diagram drawing application for workflow, BPM, org charts, UML, ER, network diagrams. No login or registration are required and features include the ability to save locally, a range of stencils, Visio import and real time diagram sharing."

Different diagram tools immediately available.

Page Speed Online

2011-04-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

"What is Page Speed Online?

Page Speed Online analyzes the content of a web page, then generates suggestions to make that page faster. Reducing page load times can reduce bounce rates and increase conversion rates. Learn more"

What’s the Difference Between Viruses, Trojans, Worms, and Other Malware?

2010-06-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

"Lifehacker's tech-savvy readers are the first people on speed-dial when it's time to heal an infected PC, but how much do you really know about viruses, spyware, scareware, trojans, and worms? Here's a helpful guide to understanding all the different types of malware."

Good overview of malware types

How to Make Gmail Play Nicely with Your Desktop Email Client

2010-06-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

If you use Gmail as your email backend but prefer a good old-fashioned desktop email client for handling your day-to-day email, you're probably aware that many clients—like Outlook or Mail.app—don't play that nice with Gmail. Here's how to fix that.

Five Best Computer Diagnostic Tools

2010-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

"Computers are easier to use and more dependable with each new generation of hardware and operating system update, but that doesn't mean they're problem-free. Here's a look at the five most popular tools for troubleshooting your computer problems."

Good list of diagnostic tools.

Why computers slow down - gadgets - technology | Stuff.co.nz

2010-02-22T15:28:00.000-08:00

"Most people think their machines are too slow, so I am not surprised at the number of computers I see with so-called speed-up software installed."

It is the most common thing one hears ... "My computer is too slow".

How to Make Windows Start Up Faster - PCWorld

2010-02-09T23:14:00.000-08:00

"Before you start eliminating autoloaders, though, make sure you can undo your changes. In Windows XP, Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Select Create a restore point, click Next, call your restore point something like before removing autoloaders, and choose Create. Click Close once you've created the restore point.

In Windows Vista, select Start, Control Panel, System. Under 'Tasks' on the right side of the window, click System Protection. In the System Properties box that comes up, click Create at the bottom of the window."

Controlling Startup Programs in Windows Vista « Jerry Travis.com

2010-02-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

"I’ve been using Windows Vista for three days now. While I’m not sure it’s a must -have upgrade for most people, there are some interesting features in Vista that are very cool and useful (once you find them, that is). One such feature is the new Software Explorer, which is part of Windows Defender. Software Explorer allows you to see several categories of programs, including: Startup Programs, Currently Running Programs, Network Connected Programs, and Winsock Service Providers."

How to remove unwanted Startup Programs in Windows Vista?

2010-02-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

"Previously, we have seen how to adjust Vista for best performance by changing its Visual Effects. One of the other method to increase the Vista or Windows Operating System performance is to reduce the startup time. By default, most of the applications, when you install creates an entry in the startup and it loads every time you start your computer whether you are using it or not. It utilizes the RAM and thus reducing the performance."

How to configure your startup programs | Windows Vista for Beginners

2010-02-09T23:09:00.000-08:00

"Lots of people have the tendency to install their applications using the default installation options. When they have to choose between a 'Typical' installation and a 'Custom' one, they always choose the first option. Typical installations are easy and require less input from the user but they also install lots of additional modules and settings that are not needed."

Stop a program from running automatically when Windows starts

2010-01-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

"Stop a program from running automatically when Windows starts

You can improve your computer's performance by preventing unnecessary programs from running automatically when Windows starts. Here's how:"

For Windows Vista.

Freeware Task Manager, Windows Task Manager Free | Manager, Task, Processes, Fre

2010-01-26T03:19:00.000-08:00

"AnVir Task Manager is a tool that controls everything running on computer and provides Windows enhancements that help in every-day work.

Monitor processes, services, startup programs; replace Task Manager

Get rid of spyware and viruses that your antivirus missed

Enhance and tune up XP or Vista

Speed up your PC and Windows startup"

Leelu Soft: XP Quick Fix Plus

2009-11-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

"But there are times when you want just one quick fix for example when you are under a virus attack and you just want to enable the Task Manager or the Registry Editor so you can fight the virus back, or when some new installation changed your XP behavior and My Documents opens on every start up."

A menu of quick fixes for the Windows XP Registry.

Sneaky Microsoft plug-in puts Firefox users at risk

2009-10-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

"Computerworld - An add-on that Microsoft silently slipped into Mozilla's Firefox last February leaves the browser open to attack, Microsoft's security engineers acknowledged earlier this week."

Come on Microsoft - this is inappropriate.

Turn off Windows Desktop Search and Indexing

2009-09-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

To turn off Windows Desktop Search

In RegEdit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Desktop Search\DS
set "ShowStartSearchBand" to 0, and you'll get the default search behavior back.

To turn off Windows Indexing

Turn off indexing on particular hard disk drive

Open up “My Computer”. Or open “Windows Explorer” and then expand Computer tree.
Right click on the hard drive to disable indexing (i.e (C:) drive letter).
Select Properties on the contextual menu.
Click on General tab if it’s not already selected.
Untick (unselect) the check box for Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching option.
Click OK, and wait for the index removal process to complete, which may take a few minutes.
Repeat the steps for other hard drives if applicable.

Disable the Indexing Service in Windows XP

Open “Control Panel”, select “Administrator Tools”, and open Services applet. Alternatively, type services.msc in the Rn text box from Start menu, and then hit Enter.
Scroll down and locate Indexing Service service, and then double click on it.
Click on Stop button to immediately stop the indexing service if the service status shows “Running.
Under the “Startup Type”, select Disabled to permanently disable the indexing service so that it won’t run again.
Click OK.

WinToFlash - Install Windows from usb - Home page

2009-08-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

"WinToFlash is a software for transfer your Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 7 setup from CD or DVD to flash in some mouse clicks. This is about you can install your Windows from flash card, USB stick, HDD, etc to your computer or netbook."

This is a great idea to be able to install Windows from a Flash drive.

Five Best Disk Defragmenters - Defragment - Lifehacker

2009-08-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

"Your computer's a busy beaver, rapidly accessing and utilizing files all in the name of bringing you what you want, when you want it. Sometimes it needs a little help tidying up, and that's where these five disk defragmenters come in."

The five best disk degragmenters. Three are free.

8 Firefox Add-Ons to Boost Productivity | WebProNews

2009-08-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

"If you use Firefox, you are no doubt aware that there are many add-ons that can enhance your browsing experience. Many of these can make your online life a whole lot easier and save you time."

A good list of Firefox add-ons.

xkcd - A Webcomic - Tech Support Cheat Sheet

2009-08-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

A great comic about helping people with their computer problems. It is a flowchart about what happens when someone works on your computer.

OXYGEN 3, E-bulletin on IT security

2009-08-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

"Every day, PandaLabs receives nearly 37,000 samples of new viruses, worms, Trojans and other types of Internet threats, 52 percent of which (that is 19,240 on average) spread and try to infect users for just 24 hours."

I think these are remarkable numbers.