Working Computers

A Very Basic Beginning to PC System Admininstration - Just Enough to SYA - Save Your Ass - Maybe

2020-02-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

Take Charge of Your Machine!

It's Not So Hard!

You Know What You Are Doing

I (Working Computers) will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Library on

February 26, 2020 from 7 PM to around 8:00 PM
to discuss Windows System Admin with the tools that come with the Operating System, and image backups using Casper 10, and the Windows Backup Tools in Windows 10, mainly:

Windows Settings

The Windows Control Panel

"Settings" is the latest collection of tools, which is gradually taking over from the Control Panel and overlaps and duplicates some of the Control Panel functionality. It is easily accessible from the Windows Start Menu in the Lower Left Hand Corner of the screen as the Gear Icon. From it you can access 13 different categories of hardware and hardware connection,

Which are:

System - display, sound, notifications, and power

Devices - Bluetooth, Printers, Mouse

Phone - Link your Android, iPhone

Network and Internet - WiFi, Ethernet, various settings

Apps - Uninstall, defaults, optional features

Accounts - Your Accounts, email, sync, work, family

Time and Language - Speech, Region, Date

Gaming - I don't care

Ease of Access - Narrator, Magnifier, High Contrast

Cortana - Cortana Language, Permissions, Notifications

Privacy - Location, Camera, App Access to Camera

Update and Security - Windows Update, recovery, backup

Most Windows users already know something about the Control Panel, and some of the admin tools located there, but haven't walked through the roster of utilities and may not understand what they are for. Next Wednesday, Apr. 24, we are going to fix some of that with a talk through the most (to me) useful. They fall into 2 Groups -- those that Control The OS Software and those that Control Hardware and Both.

They are:

Administrative Tools

Device Manager

Devices and Printers

Display

File Explorer Options

Indexing Options

Network and Sharing Center

Personalization

Programs and Features

Recovery

Sound

System

Taskbar and Navigation

User Accounts

I have deliberately left out other items which may be useful from time to time but which are either accessed less frequently, less critically, or handled with other applications

Disk Management

We will be discussing Adding Hard Disks, Setting Up Disk Backups, and Customizing the Taskbar and working with User Accounts as well as other stuff people want to talk about.

In the Meantime, what is the Single and Most Important thing you can do to preserve your Windows License and OS install on your computer?

Answer: Make a Bootable Recovery USB Drive.

How?

Most Easily -- Plug a 32GB or larger USB flash drive into a USB port, and then go to the Cortana Search Window and type "Recovery Drive", Click on "Create a Recovery Drive" which will start Recovery Media Creator and check the Box for "Back up system files to the recovery drive. Then wait for the box showing available drives to appear and select your USB drive as a target. That's it.

This drive will become a bootable, recovery drive, capable of restoring your Win 10 license, system files, and a bootable OS. It may even be able to repair damaged boot loader for your old system drive. It won't restore your data. Backup your stuff!

If you have your stuff backed up with Casper 10, you can even do minor, manual repairs to your boot drive or other drives just by cut and paste replacement of damaged or missing files.

Here's how: Make sure you have admin privileges - you are going to "unhide" the files Win10 does not want you messing with; of course if they are gone or damaged, you don't care.

If Windows Explorer, and the File, and then Options, and then View, uncheck the Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives box. Click OK - now you can see stuff that was heretofore ... invisible. For example: stuff in the Appdata directory where all of you personal usage app stuff is stored, like Browsing History, Favorites, Downloads, Saved Pages and other stuff for all of your Browsers.

If you have an image backup you can restore lost data from the backup tot he boot drive, with Cut and Paste.

What is another easy and important thing you can do for an oddly behaving computer?

Repair the OS or system files.

Open a Command Window.

As an Administrator, open an Admin Command or Powershell Windows by hitting the Win(Flag) Key and X key together and select Windows Command or Powershell Admin.

In the open Window type"

sfc /scannow

This command will find and fix corrupted OS files

Then type:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Finally type:

chkdsk /f /r

Note that you can target a specific drive by using the drive letter, as in:

chkdsk c: /f /r

Note also that, if you do so, the machine will execute the command on reboot only.

We will be happy to discuss problems that you have with your individual machines, if they are fairly brief, and we will have a discussion period at the end. Feel free to bring your laptop.

Do give Kim Christian at the Kinnelon Library to sign up at 973 838 1321 and/or email her at

kim.christian@kinnelonlibrary.org.

Thanks, and hope to see you there !

~Ted

Photo Credits to: https://steventorresramos.com/2012/07/23/july-27-2012-13th-annual-system-administrator-appreciation-day/

Buying a New Computer Now -- What Should I Buy? -- Talk at The Kinnelon Library Wed. December 18, 2019 @ 7 PM

2019-12-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

In The Market for a New Computer???

High End Computer -- Possibly Too Expensive

I get asked about what new computers are good choices to buy a lot, and I do have choices to recommend. And I have reasons for my choices. Most people, when looking for a new machine give too much weight to the initial purchase price, forgetting that over the life of the machine, there are other costs that can drive the total price a lot higher. Such as upgrades and repair. OF course, the price is important, too.

The first thing to remember is that the Most Expensive Thing about a New Computer will be ... Replacing it. The longer your machine lasts, the cheaper it gets! I mean "lasts", both in terms of being powerful enough, and working long enough.

It used to be that a computer might die before it became too slow or old to use, and a desktop or laptop at 7 years old or older running Windows XP was common. That's an old computer from a hardware standpoint and likely to fail. These days the burden placed on a new machine is getting heavier so rapidly, that, unless you buy a moderately powerful computer, it is likely to be unuseable for websurfing, online purchasing, or many common programs and services long before it is even 3 years old.

Buy the most powerful computer you can reasonably afford -- the difference in price may only be a few hundred dollars, but that will translate into a much longer and more useful lifespan, as well as a machine that waits for you, instead of you waiting for it.

Buy Computers with Core i7 or Core i5 (Mobile) Intel CPUs, or AMD Ryzen 5 or 7 (Mobile) CPUs instead of Core i3 or lesser processors -- they are more powerful and that makes a difference. Buy a computer with at least 8 GB of RAM or more, expandable to 16 GB or more (RAM is and will be cheap), and with at least a 500 GB SSD, or preferably 1TB.

There is a special issue now to consider with Solid State Drives, which you will want over the old mechanical spinning disks, and that is Size-Based Longevity. Whereas it did not use to make a difference how large the drive was in terms of how long it lasted, now it does. Because SSDs are limited to the number of writes they can perform before failure, and warranted for that in TBW, Terabytes Written, they are built to spread the writes over the whole drive evenly over time and minimize the number of times that data is written to individual cells in the SSD. So if you have a 500 GB drive and 400 GB of data, the drive will not be able to spread the load as much over time as if you had a 1 TB SSD, and you will exceed both the warranty, and the lifetime of the drive sooner than you may expect!

One Laptop I like and recommend is the HP Envy x360 machines seen below:

For the moment, these links seem to work, although they will not for too long:

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10151&urlLangId=&catEntryId=3074457345619215318&quantity=1

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10151&urlLangId=&catEntryId=3074457345619366819&quantity=1

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10151&urlLangId=&catEntryId=3074457345619366821&quantity=1

Specs:AMD Ryzen 7 3700U 4.0 GHz 4-core CPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, Wireless-AC, Bluetooth, AMD Radeon 8 graphics, 1-year warranty, and Windows 10 Home

Both the AMD Mobile 3500 3700 offer equivalent or better performance than the older 8th and 9th gen Intel Core i5, and i7 CPUs, whereas 10th Gen Intel Core i7 have been measured to do better at lower power than the AMD chips but at a somewhat higher price.

This computer is discounted now by HP for $819.99, or as I like to call it, $820. No discount code is needed.

Do get on the TechBargains, and ExtremeTech Mailing Lists for up to date notice of good deals. Do check Dell and HP for re-furbished Grade A machines with full warranty. Do check on Amazon for computers and monitors sold by Amazon with damaged boxing. I don't like buying computers from Amazon because the sellers are most often not warranted by the manufacturer because the sellers are not authorized. It pays to check. Some sellers are.

I got my beautiful new 32" 4k Samsung 1 millisecond response time, HDR10 monitor for over a $100 off just by checking to see "Other Sellers" and choosing one with a "Damaged Box". Same warranty, same equipment. The seller was Amazon. Don't care that the box was torn!

Don't buy a monitor by checking a box on the Dell or HP webpage -- those prices are too high. Check out the Tech Bargains website.

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Library on this and other computers that I like this Wed., Dec. 18, 2019 at 7 PM. I will cover the following topics:

• What Computers Should You Buy Now?

• Tablets, Laptops, and Desktops

• How Much Should You Pay and Where Should You Buy Them

• What Computers Will Last the Longest Time

•What Do You Need if You Just Want to Surf the Web and Do Email?

And, as usual, we will have Question and Answer: Ask Your Questions, Bring in Your Laptop or Device for advice.

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

~Ted

Disaster Recovery for Home/Small Business Computing

2019-10-30T13:20:00.000-04:00

Unforeseen Disasters: It's Not the Teeth It's the Slobber

We will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Library on October 30, 2019 from 7 PM

to around 8:150 PM to discuss Quick Disaster Recovery in Win 10 with OS and

3rd party tools - here is the outline:

What is a Disaster Recovery Plan?

It's Insurance Against the Loss of Data, Time & Money

It's Being Able to Replace Your Hardware and Your Software Quickly

It's Getting Working Again ASAP

And it Includes:

•Backing Up -- Casper 10 Image Backup / Windows Backup (Control Panel)

•Making a Recovery Disk (Flash Drive)

•Having Your Product Key (License)

•Making Sure Your Data is Protected from Corruption or Attack

•Storing Critical Files Offsite – If Need Be 🤷‍♂️

•Having a Plan to Get Up and Running Quickly -- What Will You Do?

•Protecting from Most Likely Failures Absolutely – Best Guessing the Rest

•Having Quick Access to Correct Replacement Hardware

•Knowing How to Quickly Transfer Programs and Data to New and Different Hardware

•Knowing that Your Plan Works – By … Testing It! As Much As You Can

When Do You Need the Plan?

Think of all the things that can go wrong with your equipment or software!

Fire, flood, failed hardware, corrupted data, stupid stuff, lost or stolen equipment --

Essentially you need to be able to replace or fix any part of your hardware or software

as quickly as you can.

What Stuff Do You Need?

You should have a recent bootable disk image backup of your Boot Drive - there are a

number of reputable suppliers of disk imaging software -- I like Casper 10 from Future

Future Systems Development, which is about $60, and worth every penny. You will also

need an external drive to backup to. It can also make virtual, bootable drives as files

or copies of any other recognized drive.

You need at least a 32 GB Flash Drive.

Don't have your product key? You need Magic Jelly Bean Keyfinder! It's free.

You need decent security software. I like Windows Defender which you already own

if you have Win 10. You do not need for-pay basic coverage. I also like Malwarebytes

which you can try for 2 weeks at no charge. Malwarebytes works well with other

security software and does not disable it, as some conventional software does.

You can store critical files online with OneDrive to protect them from local issues.

OneDrive can be weird though, so don't always expect it to be available. Smile!

Answer the question! If anything breaks, or your OS is compromised, what will you do?

So if you end up with a new computer, how will you replicate your previous program installs,

your data, your cookies/web pages, browser history, and so on? An archival file backup won't

do it. And you can't boot your new machine to your old system's drive! You will need

another piece of commercial software: PC Mover from LapLink which costs about $60.

Luckily you don't need it 'til you do, and you can download it to a flash drive and

install it on your new machine. Then you get to transfer all of your files, apps, and

settings to the new PC. From your Casper Image Backup! It works!

As usual, we will take questions and deal with issues at the end of the talk.

See you there!

~Ted

Internet Security for the Windows Home and Small Business User -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library, Wed. Sept. 26, 2018 at 7 PM

2018-09-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

This is Your Laptop on Drugs, er, Fire

OK -- so your PC won't burn up if it gets infected but you may wish it had, especially if you run into Ransomware, or Hacked Accounts and eMail.

What should you do???

Well, first, even before installing Internet Security, you SHOULD BE BACKED UP. The last best chance you have in case of a hopelessly compromised machine is a Complete Restore!!! Preferably, to a Bootable Backup!

Then you should install Internet Security, TWICE. See Below:

We will not cover McAfee LiveSafe, as we did last year, even though it is a good program and is FREE for those of us with Cable Internet but we will cover Windows Defender because it is both free and already installed with Windows, and it tests and works well, and is less annoying and interruptive, and also we will talk about MalwareBytes Free and Premium, because dual belt and suspenders protection is a good idea with Security Software. FYI Windows Defender automatically activates when another Security Program is not present, and deactivates when it senses one is present -- except for MalwareBytes.

Why should you have MalwareBytes at all? Because it catches bad stuff differently from other Security Software, especially the worst stuff like RansomWare. Its Real Time protection is behavior based and simply does a better job at catching the bad stuff.

All of the Editor's Choices are fine. Especially if you have MalwareBytes as well. By the way, MalwareBytes is the only program that will happily coexist with others!

We will also discuss the part that Bootable Backups can play in not only disaster recovery such as drive failure, but also in recovering from catastrophic infection. It is nice to have an uninfected backup of your system disk when your system disk IS INFECTED!

And I will demo a Bootable Backup.

As usual, we will take questions and deal with issues at the end of the talk.

See you there!

~Ted

Computer Talk Tonight, Wed. Apr 25 2018, at the Kinnelon Public Library Has Been Postponed

2018-04-25T13:51:00.000-04:00

Those of you planning to attend the Ted Talks Computers talk at KPL, note that it is not happening, and will be rescheduled.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Thanks,

~Ted

Talk at the Kinnelon Library Wednesday, Jan 24@ 7 PM on Computer Disaster Recovery -- Quick and Complete -- How to Do It!

2018-01-20T17:03:00.000-05:00

Taking Care of Your Computer: Disaster Recovery

No Matter How You Got There!

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, Wednesday, Jan 24, at 7 PM, which is the first of such talks this year, roughly a month apart, and this month it will be on the subject of Disaster Recovery!

From Lightning Strikes to Hardware Failure, What to Do
How to Plan for the Worst
What Steps to Take in Advance
How to Restore Your Working Environment
How to Protect Your Data
How to Be Up and Running again Quickly, even in Minutes
Real World Examples that Have Happened to Me! Lightning ... !

This is the Kinnelon Library's description of the talk:

"Computer Class-Wednesday, January 24 at 7:00 pm-Ted Whittemore of Kinnelon Computers returns to the Kinnelon library with his monthly computer classes.

This month he (that's me) will be talking about System Maintenance and Recovery for Win 7 thru Win 10, with the emphasis on Win 10, including Updates, Backup and License Restoration. Be the Boss, learn how to take care of your computer and tell it what to do and avoid Surprises! Bring a fully-charged laptop, if you have one. To register, or for more information, call 973-838-1321 or click on Adult Program Registration."

Plus -- As Always -- Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 10, 8, and 7

Photo Credits: http://enron-online.com/2013/07/02/cute-baby-kittens-enron/

Email for PCs, MACs, Tablets, and Phones -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Wednesday, May 31, 2017 @ 7PM

2017-05-30T09:03:00.000-04:00

Email, Email and more Email
How to Do It Right for Desktops, Laptops and Portable Devices

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 7 PM, on the subject of Email -- how to use Mail Clients and Webmail, what the Security Problems with Each Are, and How to Have All of Your Email at Your Fingertips on All of Your Devices, All of the Time.

How to Setup POP and IMAP, and What They Are and Why You Should Care
How To Sync All of Your Mail with Your Desktops, Laptops, and Phones
How to Set Up a Mail Client
How to Make Sure Your Security Program Takes Care of Your Mail
Why your eMail Provider Makes a Difference

POP3 vs IMAP

Plus -- As Always -- Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows, Tablets and Phones

Photo Credits:
https://sidsavara.com/seven-reasons-you-check-email-so-frequently-and-how-to-stop/
https://montessoriadmins.org/2014/05/checking-work-email-too-much/

Update On Bootable Backups for Windows: Answers and Info on Software and Hardware

2017-03-23T09:54:00.002-04:00

To Boot or Not to Boot, That is the Question

OK, Which Offers Better Protection?

Bootable Backups

So here are some of the links and and references for software and hardware referred to in the talk at the Kinnelon Library earlier this month:

Backup Software:

From Future Systems: Casper 10 and Casper Secure Drive Backup

From NTI: NTI Backup Now EZ 5.1

Remember that the NTI Software also comes with the Toshiba Canvio Connect II Series of USB 3 External Drives available in 1 to 3 TB capacities -- so you get the software at no additional charge for the cost of the drive, and includes image (bootable) backup. archival (file) backup, and social media backup, but not secure (encrypted) backup

Both can be automated to the schedule of your choice.

Below are some choices for a complete external backup system, such as the Toshiba Canvio II, or separate drive docks and drives for desktops with 3.5" drives and laptops with 2.5" drives. They can be mixed and matched if you like.

If the images ARE TOO SMALL to READ, just click on the link in RED below the picture.

Available at Amazon
Click Here

Laptop Drive -- Seagate High Performance

Desktop Drive -- WD 5 TB High Performance

External USB 3.0 Drive Dock for 3.5" Desktop Drive

External USB 3.0 Drive Case for 2.5" Laptop Drive

Once you have installed the Cloning Software above you can make an exact copy of your Boot Drive -- your C: drive -- and test your ability to boot from it. Reboot your computer and press the function key for your make of PC per the helpful link below as the machine starts to reboot.

Following is a link for common boot menu function keys per PC Maker for laptops and desktop computers so that you can boot your machine from the image backup on system drive failure or for testing:

http://www.disk-image.com/faq-bootmenu.htm

Good Luck!

Next talk at the Kinnelon Library will happen at 7:00 PM March 29, 2017. See you!

1) What Are They? Hint: You Can Boot Your Computer From Them When Your Drive Fails!

2) Why You Need Them: Duh!

3) How to Make Them

4) Where and How to Buy Backup Drives and Drive Cases.

5) Why You Should Buy Your Own Drive and Case and not a Pre-Packaged External Drive

6) How to Get Up and Running after a System Drive Failure in Just a Few Minutes.

We will also talk about infection eradication strategies and what you need to have on hand to deal with surprises -- time permitting.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 10, 8, and 7

Photo Credits: http://www.emergingrunner.com/2011/06/barefoot-but-for-my-shoe.html

and http://www.vtarmynavy.com/belleville-boots.htm

Hands-On Bootable Backups for Windows with Demo - Talk at the Kinnelon Library Wednesday Mar. 1 @ 7 PM

2017-02-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

To Boot or Not to Boot, That is the Question

OK, Which Offers Better Protection?

Anyway, I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this coming Wednesday, March 1 at 7 PM, which is the 2nd of 11 planned talks this year, on the subject of taking care of your Windows PC, new or old, with special attention to:

Bootable Backups

1) What Are They? Hint: You Can Boot Your Computer From Them When Your Drive Fails!

2) Why You Need Them: Duh!

3) How to Make Them

4) Where and How to Buy Backup Drives and Drive Cases.

5) Why You Should Buy Your Own Drive and Case and not a Pre-Packaged External Drive

6) How to Get Up and Running after a System Drive Failure in Just a Few Minutes.

We will also talk about infection eradication strategies and what you need to have on hand to deal with surprises -- time permitting.

And, As Always we will have our Open Mike period at the end of the talk and demo, so you can find out why your computer isn't doing what you want:

Last Time some people were interested in changing the Appearance and Menu System

of Windows 10 to look like Win 7 -- We will do that also and make the Software Available

Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Do call Kim Christian at the Kinnelon Library to sign up at 973 838 1321 and/or email her at: kim.christian@kinnelonlibrary.org

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 10, 8, and 7

Photo Credits: http://www.emergingrunner.com/2011/06/barefoot-but-for-my-shoe.html

and http://www.vtarmynavy.com/belleville-boots.htm

Date Changed: Tonight's Talk, Backup and Backup Strategy for Windows, scheduled for Sept. 25, 2014 @ 7PM has been Moved to Oct. 1, 2014 at 7 PM

2014-09-25T13:32:00.000-04:00

We are moving tonight's talk on Backup Strategy to next Wednesday, Oct.1, 2014.

due to

Wetness Aversion:

Apparently those signed up did not like the forecast for tonight!

Ted

Correction!!! Sept. 25!!! Backup and Backup Strategy for Windows, Also Infection Eradication Strategy -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014 @ 7PM

2014-09-24T16:34:00.001-04:00

To Boot or Not to Boot, That is the Question

OK, Which Offers Better Protection?

Anyway, I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday, September 25, at 7 PM, which is the 3rd of 6 such talks this year, on the subject of taking care of your Windows PC, new or

...

and so on.

Windows 8 vs Windows 7 -- Do Not Fear Windows 8 -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thursday, May 22 2014 @ 7PM

2014-05-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

Windows 8 vs Windows 7--
Why Windows 8 is OK and You Should Not Fear It

Home, Sweet Home in Windows 8

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday, May 22 at 7 PM, which is the 2nd of 6 such planned talks this year, roughly a month apart, on the subject of Using Your PC or Laptop, in this case, with Windows 8 and 8.1 -- how it is different from previous versions of Windows, how it is similar, and what you need to know about your next Operating System! This talk will cover again some of the topics in the November 2013 talk which people have expressed interest in and which have since changed.

The Good Things -- and there are Good Things: Stability, Speed, Backup ...
The Annoying Things -- How to Work Around Them
The New User Interface -- What You Need to Know
How to Make Windows 8 and 8.1 Look and Work Like Windows 7
Why You Should Have It Instead of Windows 7

I will also be talking about certain power and protection hardware such as Uninterruptible Power Supplies, Surge Protectors, and the like.

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP, Tablets and Phones

Photo Credits: All Mine

2013 Year End Wrap -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thursday, Dec. 19 2013 @ 7PM

2013-12-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

2013 Year In Review of: Taking Care of Your Computer

Don't Do Anything Stupid!

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday, December 19 at 7 PM, which is the last of such talks this year, roughly a month apart, recapping the all of the other talks given this year including!

Windows 8 and 8.1: Why It's OK and How to Learn to Love It ...
Email for Tablets, PCs and Phones
Photos with Picasa and Shutterfly
Cloud Backup and Tablets, Plus What is My Computer Doing?
All about Internet Security for Your PC
Buying a New Computer
All about WiFi

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP, Tablets and Phones

Photo Credits: http://d1ovi2g6vebctw.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/best-funny-Christmas-Gifs-wishes-2013-christmas-story.gif

Windows 8 -- Why It's a Good Thing -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thursday, Nov. 21 2013 @ 7PM

2013-11-20T10:34:00.002-05:00

Windows 8 --
The Good, the Bad and the Fixed

Home, Sweet Home in Windows 8

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday, November 21 at 7 PM, which is the 8th of 9 such planned talks this year, roughly a month apart, on the subject of Using Your PC or Laptop, in this case, with Windows 8 and 8.1 -- how it is different from previous versions of Windows, how it is similar, and what you need to know about your next Operating System!

The Good Things -- and there are Good Things: Stability, Speed, Backup ...
The Annoying Things -- How to Work Around Them
The New User Interface -- What You Need to Know
How to Make Windows 8 and 8.1 Look and Work Like Windows 7
Why You Should Have It Instead of Windows 7

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP, Tablets and Phones

Photo Credits: All Mine

Photos, Picasa, and Shutterfly -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thursday, August 8 2013 @ 7PM

2013-08-07T14:20:00.002-04:00

Taking Care of Your Computer for Home and Business

-Managing Photos, Printing and Publishing

We are going to take a Very Close Look at Photos!

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday, Tomorrow!, Aug. 8 at 7 PM, which is the 5th of 9 such planned talks this year, roughly a month apart, on the subject of Using Your PC or Laptop, in this case, about Photos on your PC -- how to Get Them from Your Camera to Your PC, how to Catalog and Manage them, How to Edit Them, How to Print Them, and How to get them Published by an On-Line Service:

How to Transfer Your Photos from Your Phone or Camera to Your PC
Using Picasa to Transfer, Manage, Catalog, Edit, and Upload Photos
What is Necessary to Get Photos to Look Good in a Group
How Can I Print My Photos and What Do I Need to Do It?
How Can Self-Publish My Photos?

Plus -- As Always --Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP, Tablets and Phones

Photo Credits:
http://www.wallibs.com/desktopwallpaper/1920x1200/desktop-backgrounds-pc-funny-blind-19215.html

Links and Files for the Talk at the Kinnelon Library June 20, 2013 -- Gadgets for the Desktop in Win 7, 8 and Vista, etc.

2013-06-25T15:11:00.001-04:00

Just Plug it into a USB port and ...

So we want to know what's going on with our computers but we don't have the "Dashboard Instruments" to tell us what the equivalent of RPM, Oil Pressure, or Water Temp is for our PCs.

They are available.

Following are links to the Win7, 8, and Vista Gadgets which you can install to your Desktop and which will tell you how hard your CPU is working, what the temperature of your CPU is, how much RAM is being used, what Programs and Processes are using the Most CPU time, the Most Memory and doing the Most Disk IO. You will know if and when you are having Network Connection Problems, what your Internal and External IP Adresses are, and what the level of your Network Activity is.

Check them out in your Security Scanner of choice, install them. For those of you using Norton 360, right mouse click on the file you want to check, which brings up the context menu, and left click on Norton 360 and Scan Now before

For Windows 8 there are some special instructions to get Gadgets working which I will include further along.

Gadgets we talked about can be found at the following links:

1. http://www.addgadgets.com/
2. http://windowslivegadgets.com/gallery/88/system-controls-gadget-for-windows/
3. http://benhollis.net/software/sidebargadgets/
4. http://blog.orbmu2k.de/sidebar-gadgets/volume-control-sidebar-gadget#more-23

For those of you who want to install Gadgets on Windows 8, go here:

http://8gadgetpack.net/

and follow the instructions.

Next, here is a list of Tablet recommendations and reviews:

http://www.zdnet.com/best-android-tablets-june-2013-edition-7000016283/#photo as of 6/3/2013

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-tablets/ as of 6/17/2013

Go to Apple for the List of Apple Tablets: we are up to 4th Gen now.

Finally, here is a list of Cloud Based Backup Service Providers:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2288745,00.asp as of 3/30/2013

Good Luck,

~Ted

Cloud Backup, Tablets, and What's My Computer Doing -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thursday, June 20 @ 7PM

2013-06-18T23:58:00.000-04:00

Taking Care of Your Computer for Home and Business

All Good Computers Go To Heaven
Make Sure Yours Is Backed Up
Before It Does

--How to Backup to the Cloud

Carrying On with the Theme

--Tablets -- How to Choose, What are the Differences

Picking the Tablet With The Right Stuff

Is My Computer OK? What is It Doing?

Stupid, but, You Know ... True

3 Topics for the Price of One -- Free!

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday, June 20 at 7 PM, which is the 4th of 9 such planned talks this year, roughly a month apart, on the subject of taking care of your computers, tablets, and phones, new or old, with special attention in Part 4 to:

Backing up your device to the Cloud, to an Internet Backup Service for Free
What Cloud Backups Are Good For and What They Are Not
What is a Good Tablet to Buy Now and What It Will Cost -- Tablet Differences
What You Can Do with Your Tablet Instead of Your PC and What You Can't
How Can You Tell What Your Computer is Busy Doing and If It Is OK?
What Programs Is It Running? Is the Machine Itself OK? How to Tell

Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP, Tablets and Phones

No Reason for this Image -- I Just Liked It
Also, Let Me Say In Advance, It Is Meaningless

Photo Credits:
http://howthehelldidienduphere.wordpress.com/tag/adventure/
http://www.kt70.com/~jamesjpn/images/Diff-Men-Women.JPG
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/2/15/1329324709547/Cumulus-Clouds-007.jpg
http://www.hotforsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/top-10-funniest-spam-images-5.jpg

Software Links for The Internet Security Talk at the Kinnelon Library on April 28, 2013

2013-05-06T11:29:00.000-04:00

I promised all of you who attended the talk on April 28, kinks for:

MalwareByte

Revo Uninstaller

and

CCleaner

These are links for the free versions of the programs, and the free versions are very good. I also recommend the for-pay versions with added functionality, Check them out.

Remember to run the Malware Bytes quick scan whenever you suspect something may have infected your computer or compromised its security.

Do check your installed programs at least once a week to see if anything has piggybacked in on other installs, and uninstall anything installed within that week that you do not recognize or that comes from an unknown publisher.

Also remember to uninstall with Revo Uninstaller if Windows Uninstaller can't do the job.

Good Luck and Safe Surfing!

~Ted

Date Change for Internet Security for Your PC -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library will be Thur April 25, 2013 @ 7 PM

2013-04-17T17:12:00.000-04:00

Those interested in the talk at the Kinnelon Library on Internet Security, originally shown as scheduled for tomorrow Thursday April 18, should make note of the change to Thursday April 25, one week from tomorrow.

Sorry for the Confusion,

Ted

All About WiFi -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thur Feb. 21 @ 7 PM

2013-02-19T14:26:00.000-05:00

1st Talk of 2013

Taking Care of Your Computer

All About WiFi

Routers, Computers, Printers, Phones, Tablets

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday Feb. 21, at 7 PM, which is the 1st of 9 such planned talks this year, roughly a month apart, on the subject of taking care of your Windows PC, new or old, with special attention in Part 1 to:

WiFi is 2 Way Radio for Computers and Computing Devices
How WiFi Works on Routers, Computers, Phones, & Tablets, Printers …
How to Keep WiFi Safe – Encryption, Types and Uses
How to Make WiFi Fast – Wireless-N and soon, Wireless AC
How to Set Up WiFi on Individual Devices
When You Should Use WiFi and When You Should Not
How Printing (and Scanning and Faxing) with WiFi is a Special Case

Make Sure You Get WiFi When You Need It -- Your Own!

Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?
2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"
3) Why does my computer ... ?
4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.
5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

Quid Pro Quo

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP

Hands on Windows Maintenance & Year End Wrap Up -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thur Dec 20 @ 7 PM

2012-12-17T11:23:00.001-05:00

9th and Last in the 2012 Series

Taking Care of Your Computer

2013 is Coming!

Are You Ready!

Feel Like You Aren't Winning?

Worried that You Are Under Attack?

Everybody Has to Start Someplace! Even Beginners Can Succeed!

Here is a Year End ReCap of Some of the
Items We Have Covered This Year!

And ...

What You Should Be Doing Thru the Year to Come

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday Dec. 20, at 7 PM, which is the 9th of 9 such talks this year, a month apart, on the subject of taking care of your Windows PC, new or old, with special attention in Part 9 to:

A ReCap of Subjects covered in all Previous 8 Talks:

1) Disinfection with Free Software -- Also Restore and Recover

2) Free Software for Making Bootable Backups of Your Windows PC

3) Best Computers Discounts -- Where and How to Buy a PC, Laptop, Desktop, or Tablet

4) Best Free Software -- to Replace MS Office, Commercial Anti-Virus, etc.

5) How to Work on Your Own PC -- From Buying Replacement Hardware to Getting into the Box

6) How Run Scheduled Backups with MS Supplied Software and How to Buy Backup Hardware

7) How to Print Anything Cheaply in Windows, What Printers to Buy, Free Software to Use

8) Why Bootable Backups are Important and How to Do Them, from Hands-On to Hardware

And, As Always we will have our Open Mike period at the end of the talk and demo, so you can find out why your computer isn't doing what you want:

Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP

Photo Credits:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/how-to-tech/how-to-know-if-your-computer-is-infected.htm

http://www.scottsdaleairparkit.com/2011/11/09/1020/

http://uk.skullcandy.com/blog/2011/05/02/study-proves-stuff-you-already-knew-good-job-studiers

Taking Care of Your Computer for Free -- Hands on Windows Bootable Backups -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Wed Nov 28 at 7PM

2012-11-28T15:52:00.002-05:00

To Boot or Not to Boot, That is the Question

OK, Which Offers Better Protection?

Anyway, I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7 PM, which is the 8th of 9 such talks this year, a month apart, on the subject of taking care of your Windows PC, new or old, with special attention in Part 8 to:

Bootable Backups

1) Why You Need Them

2) How to Make Them

3) Where and How to Buy Backup Drives and Drive Cases.

4) Why You Should Buy Your Own Drive and Case and not a Pre-Packaged External Drive

5) How to Get Up and Running after a System Drive Failure in Just a Few Minutes.

And, As Always we will have our Open Mike period at the end of the talk and demo, so you can find out why your computer isn't doing what you want:

Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP

Photo Credits: http://www.emergingrunner.com/2011/06/barefoot-but-for-my-shoe.html
and http://www.vtarmynavy.com/belleville-boots.htm

Taking Care of Your Computer for Free -- Hands on Windows Printing for Photos, Text, and Applications -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thur Sept 20 at 7PM

2012-09-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

This Poor Woman Doesn't Understand Windows Printing!!

This One Does!

Yes, I Can Reuse the Same Photos and Give Them New Captions!

Anyway, I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, this Thursday, Sept 20 at 7 PM, which is the 7th of 10 such talks this year, a month apart, on the subject of taking care of your Windows PC, new or old, with special attention in Part 7 to:

How to Print Anything Cheaply in Win 7 or Vista or XP -- Desktop or Laptop, including:

1) How to Print and Organize Photos (Mostly for Free) -- Print everything from Wallet sized Snapshots, to Posters, and everything in between. The best Photo Printers and How to Save on Ink! Which is the most expensive part of photo printing!

2) How to Make Your Applications Understand Your Printer -- Make sure Windows and Your Printer are on the Same Page. Literally!.

3) Where and How to Buy Printers, Ink, and Supplies -- No, it's not at Staples.

4) What Printers to Buy and Where to Buy Them -- The Cheapest and Best Printers for Photos or General Printing.

5) How to Handle Internet Printing and Making the Fonts and Pages Sizes Print Right -- Like it Says.

And, As Always we will have our Open Mike period at the end of the talk and demo, so you can find out why your computer isn't doing what you want:
Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 7, Vista and XP

Photo Credits: And I do not make this stuff up!!!
http://womenwantme.com/attract-women-with-your-facebook-pictures.html and various sites for the unahppy woman.

Taking Care of Your Computer for Free -- Hands on Backup Software and Live-Virus Dis-Infection Demo -- Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thur July 19 at 7PM

2012-07-17T11:28:00.001-04:00

This Poor Woman hasn't Backed Up Her Computer!

This One Has!

I will be giving a talk at the Kinnelon Public Library, Thursday, July 19 at 7 PM, which is the 6th of 9 such talks a month apart, on the subject of taking care of your Windows PC, new or old, with special attention in Part 6 to:

How to Set Up MS included Backup Software in Win 7 or Vista -- Desktop or Laptop, including:

1) How to Configure the Backup Software -- Do you want to backup Files, an Image for the While Disk, both … ???

2) How to Run the Backups -- You can backup your computer manually and automatically and restore -- it's nice to know how before you absolutely have to.

3) How to Schedule the Backups and When to Run Them -- I will walk you through it.

4) What Hardware to Buy -- Do you need an external or internal hard drive, or a flash drive, or ...?

5) What about 3rd Party Backup Software – If you buy an external hard disk from Seagate or Western digital it will often come with Free Backup Software -- it is any good and how is it different from what comes with Windows. What about cloning or mirroring?

And, if we have time I will walk us through the killing of a Live Virus using readily available free software such as Malware Bytes which I have discussed in other talks and which can be found in other articles on this Blog.

And, As Always we will have our Open Mike period at the end of the talk and demo, so you can find out why your computer isn't doing what you want:

Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems, such as:

1) Is my machine too old? When do I need a new machine?

2) How can I "pin" that program to my Taskbar, and what is a "Gadget?"

3) Why does my computer ... ?

4) If you have a laptop with a problem, bring it along and we'll take a quick look.

5) Questions and on-the-spot diagnosis will be limited by the time available!!!

All of you Kinnelon and North Jersey people, and everybody else, are welcome to come.

Call the Kinnelon Library at 973 838 1321 and reserve a spot.

See you there!

~Ted

PS: This talk pertains to PCs running Windows 7, Vista and XP

PPS: Note this is a change of date from June to July due to an equipment issue.

Photo Credits: And I do not make this stuff up!!!
http://womenwantme.com/attract-women-with-your-facebook-pictures.html and various sites for the unahppy woman.

The Talk -- How to Work on Your Own PC -- Part 5, Talk at the Kinnelon Library Thurs. May 24 at 7 PM

2012-06-05T12:31:00.000-04:00

Where the Parts Go

Once again, I meant to get this posted last week -- sorry!

Thank you, all of you, who came to the Thursday evening talk at the library. It was nice to take a break from slide shows and talking and do some hands-on demonstration with a Desktop PC. As promised, following is a slideshow of the presentation you saw.

Do remember that since we have no movie of the actual demo of a PC teardown and parts replacement you will not get THAT from the PowerPoint Slideshow.
Any of you who want to subscribe to the Working Computers Blog, just go the right hand side of the page and look for the "Enter Your Email Address" box and click on "Subscribe", or click on the "Subscribe in a Reader" icon. The first choice will get you the once a week articles on computer use and maintenance problems you face as a home or small business user. The 2nd will allow you to see the articles in your RSS reader -- if you do not know what that is, make the First Choice!
If you have any questions feel free to drop me an email at the address to the right.

Take Care of Your Computer Part 5 -- How to Work on Your Own PC

View more presentations from Ted Whittemore.

The next Talk at The Kinnelon Library will be Thursday, June 14 at 7 PM on:

Hands-On Backup Software and Live Virus Dis-Infection Demo for Your PC:

Including Installation and Configuration/Operation/Scheduling and Testing of Microsoft Backup and Free Disk Mirroring Software

And Step-By Step Dis-Infection of Live Virus on a PC with Free Software

Plus Little Known Browser and Google Search Tips

Ask Your Questions about Your Computer and Computer Related Problems.

See you then!

~TED

Photo Credit: http://www.uproxx.com/feature/2010/06/how-to-build-your-own-computer/