Computer Loop

Typing Spanish Accent Marks On A Computer

2012-04-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

Ever needed to type something in Spanish on your computer or in a word document file? Or in a vast number of programs? Some examples of these accents are:

Niño
Mañana
¿Como Estas?

These are simple Spanish words/phrases that carry accents in them...
A tedious way of achieving these characters are by copy pasting them in. A smarter way of doing this is by installing a Spanish Keyboard which will allow you to use accent marks in any program... this is available for Windows only though. Fortunately for MACs, accented characters are embedded into the operating systems. This is very good.

Here is the webpage that you may use as your guide and reference to achieve Spanish accent characters:

http://faculty.weber.edu/tmathews/grammar/Compmark.html

Mountain Upgrade

2012-03-03T16:05:00.003-08:00

Post contributed by Hilton Miranda

Although I enjoy visiting our vacation home in the mountains, I can never stay there for long without feeling out of touch. It’s nice to go up there and unplug and unwind but after a few days I begin to worry that something important may have happened and I missed it. We don’t have television service or internet there but I’m thinking of changing that. I went to www.satellitestarinternet.com/ to look at internet options and found that I can get internet service at the mountain house. I don’t need much, I just want to be able to check my e-mail and look at the newspaper to make sure I don’t miss anything life changing! I’m sure the kids will appreciate having it as well. It’s like pulling teethto get them to go up there with me but maybe now that they don’t have to totally disconnect from the real world they’ll be a little more excited to come along! I’m still holding off on television service. I think for now the internet will be enough!

Mac vs Pc

2012-01-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

The famous endless debate of which platform exceeds which platform has been going forever and will probably not end anytime soon. Both are competitive and outdo themselves every time they upgrade, at least sometimes. Now before you read on, keep in mind that it is very biased and I do favor one over the other, and yes, I am probably basing this opinionated post on irrelevant observations and a time frame that is limited, but hey, everyone has their own opinion. I have used both Pc and MAC for many years. So... this is what I think about the Mac vs Pc issue.

Asking pure Mac citizens about Macs won't get you anywhere... they only know Mac and no other, so do not expect them to even care for PC, in fact, expect insults. I remember Windows (at one point) was behind in terms of operating systems... Mac did have some features that was ahead of its time from as early as 2005. Mac has a feature called "spotlight" where anyone can type in a file name or file type and instantly get a list. Now I can't be sure when exactly this feature was introduced, but I have noticed that it was available in Mac's latest OS during 2006. XP had a search function that in my opinion was often annoying to use during that time and was still annoying even after the service packs were been released.

I will say however, that I did not like the way Mac was so closed doors with the open source world. Windows was always compatible with many programs. Or maybe I should say it the other way around, programs were and are more in tune with Windows because Mac always had to be so "special". There was a time I wanted to go 100% Mac. I was convinced that Mac was the power horse that PC could never be. I was wrong. What drove me to know Windows, was the fact that I could not afford a Mac at the time. The prices were ridiculous. Around 2006 I began to research on computers in general and began a journey to build my own machine. I learned that for less than a 3rd of the price for the latest Mac, I could build a far more powerful PC machine with XP as the operating system. I eventually assembled my PC (it is the same machine I am using today at home). After doing so, I began to distinguish the idea of even getting a Mac at home because of its sky-high prices.

After seeing a little preview of Windows 7, I am convinced that Mac has met its match and is probably now behind W7. The spotlight feature Mac has, W7 has an equivalent built unto the taskbar.... it is fast and it is flexible to most programs. Mac astonished me with its simplicity and look. XP was more on function (and I have no problem with that- which is why I am using it to this day) ...W7 however, has function, style, and is intuitive... you can lock windows into place and maximize screen space between different programs, it recognizes mouse gestures and has a built in notepad that recognizes your handwriting when using a pen tablet for notes.... it can recognize (some) older software made for XP.... it installs as 32 or 64 bit, whichever tickles you. It does so much.

I am a practical person who loves function... W7 and a PC computer will give me that. Mac will always look awesome, but they are just priced way too high in my opinion. You can buy and/or make 2 high-end Pc computers for the price of one Mac desktop which would beat the Mac desktop in graphics, speed etc. Before you call me a Mac hater, I have one last thing to say, even after using both machines and deciding to use a Pc at home. I recently decided to invest in a Not-So-High-Priced Mac for the purpose of familiarizing myself with the latest in both environments so that I may have the continued ability to use both machines without doubt if a situation ever calls for it. So as much as I love to hate Macs, they are no doubt in the market and staying competitive, therefore I must not let pride get in the way of reality. I am in a business that uses computers, and no matter what, computers are computers regardless of brand. They all have their uses.

Identifying File Extensions

2012-01-30T16:02:00.001-08:00

Ever come across a situation where you received a file that you weren't familiar with? There are many different file formats in this day and age and it continues to grow gradually because of branding, standardization, and improvements. So what do you do when you need to identify a file format so that you can take the necessary steps to open it? You can ask the person who sent the mentioned file to you... google it... or you can use the search box below to help you identify your mystery file extension, simply enter your file extension in the search box provided and click search or hit enter on your keyboard.

This search engine currently searches:

File-Extensions

Restore Missing Menu Bar And Address Bar In XP

2012-01-30T16:02:00.000-08:00

It finally happened on my personal computer and I honestly did not know what to do. Every window I opened, whether it was 'my documents' or 'my computer', I just wasn't getting my menu bar and my address bar which I found so useful. I realized their importance when they weren't present anymore. So I googled a few sites here and there and finally stopped at a forum discussion which helped me restore both bars:

www.techsupportforum.com

The helpful folks at the forum recommended a few things to try out which resulted to the restore. I will list them here along with my suggestions (numbers 4 and 5):

What happens when you hold alt+ press 'f'? Does that bring you a toolbar? If so, go to 'View' and select the toolbar and address bar.
Press F11
After restoring the bar/s, right click on any bar and make sure "Standard Buttons" and "Address Bar" are checked.
You may have to re-arrange your bars to make them look how they were before they disappeared on you. To do this, right click again on the menu bar and uncheck "Lock The Toolbars". Move your mouse over the address bar and/or menu bar and hold down the left click button on your mouse while shifting the bar until you bring it to your desired position.
Right click on the menu bar again and make sure "Lock The Toolbars" is checked to avoid accidental movement on your menu bar and address bar.

I have no idea if this works on Vista but it definitely does on XP.

6/22/10 Update:

Should all else fail:
Check out the following links below which suggest to delete a certain file called "ITBarLayout". Though I highly recommend you proceed with CAUTION as the suggested methods require you to tweak with the registry. It is further explained here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962963
also someone did something similar here:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/837411-post27.html

How To Identify Your Motherboard

2009-11-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

There are many ways to find out what motherboard you have in your computer... one way would be to check your computer manual. There will be times though that your manual is missing, or perhaps your computer is second hand and you just didn't get a manual. I will add more resources to this article as they become available. For now, I use one method which has worked twice for me, where I had to identify a motherboard. I use "DriverGuides Toolkit". I thank my brother-in-law Von, for showing this site to me back when I was a super noob.

Here is the link to get you started:
http://www.driverguide.com/ - main site
http://scan.driverguide.com/scan.php - link to DriverGuide's Toolkit

Note: by the way, the picture above is a picture I took of a motherboard for computer I assembled... I plan to post an article about it soon! stay tuned :)

How To Know Which Memory To Use

2009-10-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

There comes a time when a person wants to upgrade his computer. One of the most basic things to look into when wanting to give your computer that extra boost is memory... an lots of it! Problem is, how do you know how much memory your computer will take, what brands?... The truth is there are so many varying memory options to choose from and you can't just go out and buy whatever you like and think it will work right. Save yourself some time and money and ask someone who knows about these things. Trust me. Now then, for those who are no stranger in upgrading their computers and/or confident and set on doing the upgrades yourself, you may wonder how do find out which memory to use? One of the best methods is to look up your motherboard specs... there you will find how what memory is supported. Another method is to use a memory configurator available online. It does not neccessarily mean you have to buy from the site who supplied the configurator... it simply gives you suggestions from their available products.

Below are two links which will direct you to their respective configurator page, just follow the instructions and I hope you will be able to find the right memory for your computer:

I'm sure there are more, feel free to let me know so that I can add them to my list.

Thanks.

Windows Does Not Want To Start

2009-08-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever encountered a situation where Windows just can't start? Well in this post I will describe 2 procedures that I follow when this issue occurs. I use this as a basic way of solving the problem as sometimes with computers, a problem is usually solved in a simple manner rather than a complex manner.

Procedure #1:
Power down your computer and check to see if all cables are fitted well... any loose or slightly detached cables could cause startup problems. Connect everything well including keyboards, mouse, monitor etc... move your computer if you must to get to all the connections. Now power up your computer.

If you got it to start then good for you! If not proceed to Procedure #2 if you can...please read the note before proceeding...

Note: Procedure #2 requires that you have some working knowledge and expertise in handling internal computer components and cables and are authorized to open your case/tower (some cases/towers have a warranty sticker which may still grant you free service, so check first before you attempt this procedure). It also requires that you have an Antistatic Wrist Strap so to reduce the chances of damaging any of your internal components. If you are not qualified to do this then seek a computer repair person to do this for you, might as well even tell him/her the problem you are encountering.

Procedure #2
Power down your computer and detach all your external cables so that you can literally place your computer tower/case on a clear sturdy table. Open your case access panel and wear an Antistatic Wrist Strap. Begin checking your internal cables to see if they are all well fitted. This includes all ide cables, all sata cables and all power cables to and from all your devices and motherboard. Make sure everything is well fitted. Take off your antistatic wrist strap when you are done inspecting all cables. Close your case/tower. Plug all external cables again... mouse, keyboard, power cables etc. Power up your computer and hopefully windows starts up normally!

The 2 procedures are very basic and could save you a trip to the repair person if you can perform procedure #1 and are qualified to perform procedure #2 should #1 not solve your issue.

Opening .dat Files On A Mac

2009-06-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

I ran into this problem once when I received an email from someone who wanted me to read a pdf he/she had attached. It might have been from a windows user, but I did not have time to ask and simply needed to read the darn thing. I expected a pdf file and instead got a file that had the .dat extension. Imagine the frown on my face. I quickly did a little research on such formats in relation with macs and came across a nice site that carried the solution to my problem:

http://www.joshjacob.com/macdev/tnef/

It is free and easy to setup, and you will be able to extract the pdf/s from the .dat file with ease. Hope this helps.

Increasing Font Size On Windows

2009-06-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is fairly simple to achieve:

On Windows XP

right click on desktop
select properties from the pop-up menu
select the "Appearance" tab
under "Font size", you may choose from the 3 available options (normal, large, or extra large)
after making your preference, click "apply" and then "ok"

Recycling In Retrospect When Hard Drive Is Full

2009-06-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

Retrospect is a handy back-up management software which anyone can use to automate a back-up for important files at work or at home. Those of you who have never used it and are looking for a back-up solution should consider taking a look at it. Now for those who have been using it, some of you have probably came to a point where Retrospect cannot back-up anymore due to insufficient space. What to do? Well here I will enumerate a step by step procedure on how to 'reset' your hard drive so that it can go about its back-up business until it needs to be 'reset' again. The following procedure may be customized to meet your needs:

open retrospect
automate
scripts
double click "EasyScript Backup"
click schedule
click add
check "single date" and hit "ok"
enter [todays date] and [adjust time to preferred time]
under action set to [Recycle Backup] to [current backup hard drive plugged in]
click "ok"
click "ok" again
close "Backup: EasyScript Backup" window
click "save" on pop-up window
close retrospect
wait for it to run at the time you specified and it will recycle (reset) your hard drive resulting in more available space for Retrospect to conduct its operations

Internet Speed Test

2009-06-07T23:25:00.000-07:00

I found this cool and handy tool to test your internet speed. Feel free to test your connection anytime!

Note: If the speed test does not seem to display correctly, just click Here and it should do the trick.

Restore Missing DVD Drive

2009-06-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

So your dvd-rom icon under My Computer decided to runaway?! I had this happen to me early this year and have only recently had the urge to fix and restore my missing dvd drive. Restarting many times did not help, and at one point I almost came to the point of reformatting my computer. Instinct had me do a more comprehensive search in the internet before using my last resort option of having to reformat. I found to forums which helped me fix and restore the missing dvd drive:

The first link is pretty straight forward with instructions and the second link has a more in depth explanation with instructions along with instructions for various windows operating systems.

Printing Comment Indicators In Excel

2009-05-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

I found myself one day having to print those little comment ticks that we all see when we insert a comment on a specified box in Excel. After surfing the web for some clues as to how to achieve this, I stumbled across 2 sites that carried the solution:

The process is not as easy as anyone would like it to be. But it does the job.