There are thousands of tips pages on the web so I am going to try and provide some good ones that you can't read elsewhere. Well some of them must be on the web or I wouldn't have read them. There are few that I do take credit for. I tried to provide some information to help intermediate users. There seems to already be an abundance of help for total newbies, or technical experts with a large gap in the middle. I will try to address some of the mistakes I see most often and provide some links to my sources of information. There will be explanations of why certain things are correct, regardless of who does not agree. I know they are only my opinion however on this page that is the only opinion that counts. I have absolutely no official qualifications for anything in the computer field. In fact the only qualification that I do have is "I can do it" can you? These tips are on windows. My knowledge of *nix and Mac is in the stage of reading tips. Hopefully you will increase your knowledge and have a much more enjoyable computer experience after reading my tips.
1. RTFM This is the single best piece of advice on computers you will ever get. Although it may seem easier to have a friend who read the manuals, they will not always be there, nor will they continue to provide free advice to a person who does not attempt to do things on their own. Ask when you do not understand something, the people who do know will help, as long as they can tell that you tried.
2. Dedicate yourself to RTFM. This does not have to be boring or painful. Allow yourself 15-30 minutes every time you get on the computer. After a few months you will be pleasantly surprised by the increase in your knowledge. Be careful, when that computer starts working better it becomes fun and you might turn into a geek. Note: Most people waste 15 minutes reading spam before they delete it. Menu
3. Beware of the plague. I am not referring to the many viruses. There are plenty of virus scanners and web sites which cover this topic. Personally I don't run my virus scan unless needed. Any virus scanner will use some of your resources while serving no worthwhile purpose. I am talking about the re-format plague. Most of these reformats are not actually needed. Search for another fix to your problems. Do not have a phobia about using DOS or editing the registry. There may be a solution which takes 5 minutes of work instead of 5 hours. The things you have heard about doing something which will screw up your computer are true, however if you do screw it up, all that means is you need to reformat. Instructions on how to format at this site might help. Doing a reformat without fixing the real problem quite often results in the user running the same programs and having the same problem return. NoMore's instruction pages can solve many problems, without a reformat. When all else fails, remember to go to the Windows Update Site since the reformat will clear all your updates. Any time a reformat is done there is also a good chance you did not completely adhere to the three items mentioned in tip number 4.
4. Backup, Backup, Backup. The number of people who never heard of, or choose to ignore this continues to amaze me. Menu
5. Control your urge to be download happy. I have no idea how many programs are out there claiming to be magic wizards, which will speed up the internet or do some customized fine tuning. The truth of the matter is, at least 90% of these are simply window dressing, and all they actually do is call something that already exists in windows. Commercial demos and shareware are designed to sell or die. Even when you uninstall and delete the folder(s) they all leave something behind to prevent a reinstall from bringing them back to life. It is a common practice for programmers to rename that useless registry key which protects the worthless software you deleted. It can be difficult if not impossible to identify everything left behind. Think before you download. Menu
6. Since I brought up the subject of thinking, let me say this. Think before you hack. Gaining unauthorized access to a computer system is illegal. Are the rewards worth the risk of the penalties when you get caught? Yes I said when. I had a crypto clearance in the U.S. Army and a Q clearance while working in a nuclear research facility. Big Brother IS watching. It is truly disgusting that government response is much quicker when the hacking effects the rich people's money than when it only effects the little guy, however the fact of the matter is not that they do not know, they just don't care...yet. Menu
7. There are many HTML editors and pages with copy and paste scripts, even a few script generators around. Which one you use is a personal choice. There are also some good tutors and regardless of what anyone says, learning enough to use notepad or other text editor for the finishing touch is the only to get a good web site, unless you want to pay someone to make the pages. Avoid using frames. If you must use frames, use them for your site. Use target=blank for your links to other sites. This opens a new window so the visitors don't leave your site. Think about it, if your page is any good others will link to yours. When that happens it might be time to surf elsewhere, because seeing your frames in their frames will present those beautiful graphics you made in a thumbnail sized window with a left to right scroll bar. Menu
8. While I am on the subject of those beautiful graphics, those annoying no right click pop ups do not protect them from being copied by anyone who knows how to turn the script off. Nor are they protected from anyone determined and goofy enough to check 3587 images in their cache to get a copy. Of course anyone using Internet Explorer could go to tools/internet options and delete temporary internet files or Edit/preferences/advanced/cache and clear disk cache, using Netscape, then hold shift and refresh or reload and have your graphics as the only pictures in the cache. Another method of getting the graphics is to enter view-source: before http in the address bar and get the URL of the graphics. There are various other methods like image maps and scripts that will make things a little more tricky to get a copy of the graphics, however I can guarantee that if the picture appears on my screen I can email you a copy to prove that I can get it. The whole point of this tip is not to teach anyone how to get the pictures or to prove that it can be done. The point is that if something is truly art it is meant to be shared. For those persons who make money by selling their art try using a policy like the one found in my disclaimer. One more thing to remember about the graphics, never claim that a copied picture is yours or we will get you. Menu
9. Media Player9 is the latest release with a lot of bugs and features which spyware programs do not like. There are too many combinations of hardware and operationg systems to be sure of accurate information. My advice for Media Player9 problems is to try updating your codecs, if that doesn't work try going back to an older version or using a different player. Media Player7 generates a lot of complaints about being a resource hog or skipping when playing mp3. on a less powerful system. You don't need to uninstall and go back to a previous version to fix this. Select any mp3, then shift and right click, choose open with and find mplayer2, in the list of programs, ( if it is not shown, browse to C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\mplayer2.exe ) put a check in the box that says "Always use this program to open this type of file." click ok. This will allow you to play your .mp3s just like they did in the old version, without loading all the cute thingys or any of the .dll's used for all the other media formats. You can also use the export to file option and send your mp3 play lists to the desktop or any place you choose, ( an .asx file) and use this as a shortcut to launch the resource friendly mp3 player. Media Player7 with all the features will still be there when you need it. Menu
10. Confusing settings for more speed are in there. Read ahead optimization has settings which range from none to full. Full can be the fastest setting, if you use one program at a time. People who like to surf the web while playin mp3 and chatting in a message program might go faster with read ahead set to less than full. Depending on the hardware and what you do it is possible that none may be your fastest setting. Windows will read ahead in one program at a time. Should you call for a different program while this read ahead is going on, windows will continue reading and the second program is on hold until windows is done reading. Right click on my computer, then go to properties/performance tab/file system/hard disk tab, change the read ahead optimization setting, click apply, click ok, close system properties. You will get a prompt to restart for the setting change to take effect.
Experiment with this setting and the programs most often used to find out which setting works best.
11. Another confusing term regarding speed is optimal. In this case the optimal setting is for your display adapter. You need the manual for the monitor to get this set correctly. The specs. for the monitor should list a number for refresh rate (or simply refresh). Go to start/settings/control panel/display/settings/advanced/ adapter tab, look at the box that says refresh rate, it most likely says optimal, select the pull down menu, there will be a list of numbers, select the same number you just found in the monitor manual specs (note: if the exact number is not there, select the largest number which is smaller than the number in the manual, the numbers are normally followed by Hz) click apply, click ok, restart your computer. In this case the word optimal is used to describe the windows default which is slow enough to work with any monitor. A word of caution here, forcing the refresh rate to go faster than the listed value can damage the monitor. Microsoft's claim is that windows will not do this and automatically change the setting back to optimal. My monitor specs. list the same number as the largest one in the drop down list, so I was not able to to test the claim of what windows should do. Menu
12. Personally I do not like reaching for my mouse while typing, so I am including a short list of keyboard shortcuts.
MS-Natural Keyboard Shortcuts
Open the start menu Win
Hitting Enter is usually the same as double click the selected item
Start Explorer Win+E
Find Files or Folders Win+F
Find computer Ctrl+Win+F
Minimizes all windows Win+M
Undo Minimize All Shift+Win+M
Win+D Same as Win+M
Wid+D 2nd time same as Shift+Win+M
Display Run Dialog box Win+R
Cycles through task bar buttons Win+Tab
Select the tab in a pop up window Ctrl+Tab
Displays System Properties Win+Break
Pressing the Shift-F10 key will be the same as clicking the right-mouse button.
Close top window or program Alt+F4
Display the items in the menu toolbar Alt+ the underlined letter Many keyboard shortcuts are displayed here.
Display a pop up icon list of all windows in the task bar. Alt+Tab
Hold Alt, Tab to select, release to put selected window on top.
Internet Explorer Shortcuts:
Go ‘Back’ to the previous page Alt+Left Arrow
Go ‘Forward’ to the next page Alt+Right Arrow
Add to Favorites on the current web page Ctrl+D
Open the History folder Ctrl+H
Open the Organize Favorites window Ctrl+B
Lets you open a new web page Ctrl+L
Open a new browser window Ctrl+N
Reload the current page Ctrl+R
Go to home page Alt+home
Close the active Internet Explorer window Ctrl+W
Keyboard shortcut for desktop icons or items in the Start menu (note: icon for the .exe not the folder)
1. Right click the icon
2. Then properties, shortcut tab, in the block that says Shortcut key where it says None, click, then type a letter.
3. Click apply, click ok
4. Ctrl+Alt+the letter you typed is the shortcut for that item
Extra Neato Shortcut !
5. In step #2 with NumLock on if you type a number on the number pad, then click apply and ok the shortcut for the item is the number on num pad.
(note: Num Lock must be on and this shortcut is just the number, no Ctrl+ Alt)To Resize or Move a window:
1.Press Alt+Space
2.Press the S key - To Resize
3.Press the M key - To Move
You can now use the arrow keys to resize or move the window
4.Press X to maximize the window
5.Press R to restore the window size Menu13. Do not believe everything you read about windows multi-tasking. The term shared files might be better described as take turns files. For example many of the shared .dll files can only be used by one program at a time. When the 2nd program calls for a .dll that is in use, the result is the ever popular illegal operation pop up or the pretty blue pop up which lets you try the any key. When troubleshooting a problem concentrate on the problem. Use Ctrl+Alt+Delete to end task on everything except explorer and systray, then try the program which caused the problem. Re-boot is usually good advice, but be sure you do not have the KAKworm or some other virus which activates when you re-boot. Most install programs will recommend closing all others before running the install. Believe the advice, the so called background applications are often the cause of a bad install, especially virus scanners, which shouldn't be running anyway. It is also a good idea to re-boot before installing to make sure windows has a back up copy of the registry to choose when using the scanreg/restore command. The good install programs will prompt you to re-boot to complete the install, remember to re-boot even if they do not prompt. Every little problem or update does not absolutely need to be done this way, however true laziness is better served by taking the time to prevent problems rather than solve them when they are caused by a minor laziness. Menu
14. Upgrading sounds like a good thing, something that everyone wants to do. Well that is not always the case. Keeping your virus signature files and security updates might be the only aspect of upgrading which you really want. Be especially careful when upgrading any media players. Recent decisions by the brided judges have all been in favor of the wealthy companies and © protection software might actually disable or attempt to destroy your mp3 or video files. Obtaining the codecs required to play some newer media files are difficult but not impossible to find. I recommend that you do not accept any automatic upgrades. The RIAA and the congressman they bribed to introduce a rider to an anti terrorism bill failed in their first attempt to destroy your mp3s without fear of punishment. Read the full article about it here. In addition to the horrors of upgrading media players you should also be careful of upgrading freeware, some very good freeware applications have switched to being shareware and will cease to function after 30 days if you upgrade. Heaven forbid that any readers here might be software pirates, but just in case you should be aware that some software companies are offering upgrades, which when detecting what they consider to be an invalid serial number will disable rather than upgrade a program. Menu
15. Windows XP is much like any other operating sysyem I have found XP to work quite well when properly maintained and updated. XP users should be familiar with how to use system restore and how to ebable/disable system restore. Considering the effort Micro$oft put into "user friendly" it is quite hypocritical to place so much emphasis on the registration/license agreement without forcing new users to use windows update. Forcing the updates could have saved millions of users from the problems of BLASTER and SASSER worms. The best tool in XP is still the registry editor, learn how to use it here. You can find a few registry tweaks and fixes here. WindowsXP does have virtually all the features and tools of Win9x and Win2000, although they may be hiding under a new name. Try doing a search in XP help and look for "New ways to do familiar tasks" to get a long list of the new names for old features. Menu
16. Email Remember the good old days when the only way to get a virus was to download and run and attachment with a .exe extension? Well those days are over. The new variety of viruses simply need the mail to be viewed, even if it's only in the preview pane. Since the bulk of viruses attack through Outlook/Outlook Express and the associated address book, you can protect yourself from many of them by using a different email client. You can test yourself at this page or this page. These sites have some harmless demonstrations and instructions on how to protect yourself. Another useful tool for your email is some spam blocking software. Mail Washer is free and helps keep spam out of your inbox. This only works on a pop3 account (like your ISP) not web based email. Menu
17. Message Programs. I have no idea just how many message programs are out there, so I'll only address the big four. AIM that's AOL Instant Messenger is by far the best. I am talking about the stand alone version not the one included for AOL users. Anyone using AOL has more serious problems and should close this page and go offline until you find a different ISP and remove the AOL infestation from your computer. AIM is the most reliable, has voice, AIM phone, games, chat rooms, file transfers, avatars (called buddy icons) privacy options to be invisible, uses fewer resources and releases all of them when the program is closed. There is also the option to use Dead AIM, a nice little application to get rid of all the ads. Get DeadAIM here. ICQ has been around for a long time and has many die hard fans, many of whom still refuse to accept the fact that it is now just another piece of AOL. ICQ does have an offline message feature not included in AIM and it also has a long list of features. Unfortunately it is the script kiddies who provided the master list of exploitable features and not the ICQ authors. ICQ uses the most resources of the message programs and does not free them when the program is closed. This may possibly be due to the fact that this piece of bloatware uses many .dll functions and includes 6 copies of the same .bmp file to show the same smiley face. ICQ also includes it's own little server and downloads a lot of files to C:\ProgramFiles\ICQ\AteBrowser\user #\cache the favorite being a 33905 byte .tmp file used to spam your message window. You can download what's needed to keep from seeing the spam here and download older versions of ICQ here.Yahoo messenger has most of the features of AIM and ICQ plus a web cam feature which allows you to see or be seen. The picture provided by Yahoo in not the best quality, the picture through Eyeball chat was way better, using the same cam and internet connections. It is rather difficult to say what the latest version of Yahoo messenger may be, but all version5 builds are known to have security issues as well as being vulnerable to the always popular boot codes used by the lamers. You can find some older versions on Yahoo messenger as well as many other Yahoo tips here. The next link will provide Messenger5 users a little demonstration of the evils of browser integration and of having Internet Explorer as your default browser. Netscape and Opera users already know better. Have Yahoo messenger on and click here
Care to try that again? This time click the link with Yahoo messenger closed, you'll get a little surprise or perhaps a BIG surprise if you did something stupid like allow Yahoo messenger (or anything else) remember your ID and password. When all else fails, try this tip to fix Yahoo! messenger, run Internet Explorer repair tool. The interface with Internet Explorer is how Yahoo delivers all those ads we don't want to see. Check this article or this article for how to use the repair tool. Don't forget that just like a system restore the repair tool can wipe out your updates, so go back to the windows update site.
MSN messenger is popular, however after reading about the issues and exploits I decided to not download it. It's not that I think MSN is any worse than the others, I'm simply not in the mood to tweak a program which I don't really need.
Any messenger program comes with security issues and automatic spam delivery, while providing real time contact with friends, and a wide assortment of features. The actual security of any messenger is directly related to your overall security. I happen to have three of them, mainly because of Real World friends with limited computer skills who prefer to stay with the first thing they used for an instant message. Regardless of which messenger is used the best policy is to accept messages from friends only and be careful on who you choose as friends. If you do not yet have a messenger go with AIM, the most reliable resource friendly of the messengers. There is a link to download at the bottom of this page. Menu
18. Chat is a somewhat general term and not very well understood by many new users. Chat categories are in many ways a reflection of real life, which is why parents should monitor any child who wants to chat. There are chat rooms designed for children. These rooms will have a moderator who functions much like a chaperone and has the ability to "boot" chatters for use of profanity, rude or offensive behavoir, or anything else the moderator feels is not appropriate for children. All moderated chat is not meant for children, there is also X-rated adult chat which is moderated to keep any children and the ones too obnoxious for BDSM away. Any un-moderated chat should be considered X-Rated so be prepared for anything. Chatters tend to fall into two main categories, the real and the fake. Figuring out who is real can be simple and just like in real life we will get along with some people and have no time for others. The fakes are where things can get interesting for a number of reasons. There is a certain beauty to the fake chatter when viewed from the proper perspective. Think back to your school days and the child who had the low grades, wasn't good looking or rich or charming, a chat profile and a few stories and for the first time in their life this person gets to be smart and good looking and just plain cool. When the stories stretch too far and things don't add up, but contain nothing malicious or hurtful to others, I see no benefit from exposing the fake. When the faker is malicious tell your friends and be aware of the fact that others in the chat room will side with the person who lies about most of what they do online. You can find some tips on interner predators here. The horror stories about internet stalkers created some guidelines for chat safety which can create paranoia in some very nice real people. While the anti stalker methods make sense for women and children, I still need someone to enlighten me as to why an adult male needs to hide. Shearologist has a nice page with tips for parents and a list of kid safe sites. Some other tips on protecting children are on this site. Of the places I personally chat, the yahoo computer room are the place I do most of my chatting. Unfortunately these are not the safest places to chat. While many newbies can get excellent help with computer problems there are a lot of not so expert helpers who have a bad habit of telling people to format. As a rule of thumb, if you made it to the chat room there is a 95% chance that format is NOT the answer. The most reliable source for help with yahoo chat is Nhyrvana's site and Forum. There are too many other sites and forums for me to sort out the lamer sites for you so be careful. Be sure to have an official site when downloading yahoo chat clients, YChat, YahElite and Cheetachat (no voice)have stood the test of time, be wary of the numerous fringe clients and claims if you are new to yahoo. If you would rather not download a chat client my alternative login to java chat contains only Yahoo's code (oops forgot to include the code for that annoying spam at the bottom). If you're truly brave and tried out the fringe elements for Yahoo you might want to try IRC. Click here for a list of IRC servers. You're pretty much on your own in the vast wasteland of IRC. JinXy Mirc is the only client I presently have installed. For webcams Eyeball Chat delivers a much better picture than Yahoo cams. Menu
19. The most common problem with ßeta software is user error ! Hold your ears, I can hear the whining with my speakers muted. Before you even start coming up with examples of problems encountered with this ßeta or that ßeta, remember the purpose of ßeta software. Software developers release ßeta versions of their programs with the hope that experienced users will find the bugs and provide feedback. DO NOT expect support, post in forums or ask for help in chat rooms. The support here works in reverse, you are the support for the programmer. Expect problems, provide feedback and wait for the next version to be released. Far too many users fail to recognize their role as a ßeta tester, complaining, whining or telling their friends the software sucks is USER ERROR, and very common for people who should not be running ßeta software to begin with. I do have one tip for any users who fail to recognize the problem as user error, uninstall the ßeta and go back to the latest official release. Menu
This searchable bulletinboard has answers to most of your questions. Windows-help.net
MSKB the Microsoft knowledge base does have a wealth of information and a reputation for being hard to navigate. Start Here or Here or Here
The windows registry is a monster learn how to train it. Here or Here
DOS is still in there, and quite handy when windows fails. Learn how to use this stable part of your system. Here or Here
Learn to write HTML Here or Here
Learn to write javascript Here or Here Menu
Find some copy and paste scripts Here or Here
Need to know what a file format is ? Look Here
Looking for Netscape & Mozilla help ? Look Here or Here
Change the look of windows Here or Here
Find the information about most hardware Here
TweakUI handles a lot of extra settings in windows. Get the XP version info Here or direct download Here Other windows versions info page Here or direct download here
Having trouble with Outlook Express? The fix for most problems can be found Here
If you would like to know what that web page written in a different language says or what they just said about you in chat, try Here
Need to make a copy of that expensive DVD you bought? Better get the backup software before the Rich People's Court takes away your right to a backup. Here
Looking for a few free downloads that actually help, try Here
Need a list of your mp3s or the files in any folder? Look Here
How to use sound recorder (sndrec32) to record for more than 1 minute. Here
Like games find out about my two favorites Here or Here
Get the latest tips, reviews, security information, ect. ect. in e-mail on Monday and Thursday. Sign up Here Menu
Search the web with Google.
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