Keith's Computer Tips

Computer Repair Scam (what a shame)

2011-10-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

I post my services on Craigslist for computer repair and recently I got the same type of e-mail from 5 different people. One reads,

Hello Tech

I would like to know if you are capable of repairing 5 Dual core Dell Inspiron Laptop. Anticipating on your response

Another reads,

Hello let me know if you are capable of repairing computers in volumes.
And one more reads,

Good day,

Am looking for a professional computer repairer? I permanently work
on offices and investors computers,i have been contracted to fix up
five HP laptops but at the moment i am far away attending to some
other jobs.In view of this i want a professional computer repairer to
handle the fixing of the laptops on agreed terms.

What needs to be done on each laptops.

1 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard
2.(2)Adobe Acrobat
3.AVG Virus Software
4.Microsoft Office Package
5.Format Hard Drive and Install Win XP with Service Pack and screen
and other case.

If you can handling this get back to me with the total cost for
handling each unit based on a total cost of Five units.I have the
necessary software for the installations if you will need them. Please
get back to me as soon as you get this,so we can proceed and i can go
ahead to arrange moving and its will be drop off delivered at your
residence and payments.

Regards,

If you receive e-mails like these, then just delete them. These are people just trying to scam other people out of their hard-earned moeny. Plus, they are targeting people that just want to help people and make money with a small business.

I just wanted to put this tip out there for scammers that think they can just earn money by taking what isn't theirs. What a shame!

Did you know you can turn your screen without tilting your laptop?

2011-10-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

Did you know that if you hold down CTRL + ALT and then press an arrow key, your screen will turn that direction? For example holding down CTRL + ALT and the down arrow will turn your screen upside down.

I don't know what the practical reason would be to do this, but it is kind of fun to do. Just remember that the up arrow will turn your screen right side up.

Pass-Through Query in Microsoft Access

2011-10-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

If you would like to use a SQL query that does not have to be formatted to be used for Microsoft Access, then you can use a Pass-through query. Go to SQL view of the query and click on the option of Pass-through query. There you can build your query for an ODBC connected database (i.e. MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle) directly to the database rather than using a linked table in the Microsoft Access database.

This works well if you don't want to change your apostrophes to quotes for string values or apostrophes to pound signs for dates. And you can use the specific SQL language of the database you are querying.

Save files often

2011-10-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

If you are working on an Excel file or a Word file or anything for that matter and the power goes out! When that happens, you wish that you had saved your file so you don't have to retype everything. This has happened to me so I always make sure I save often.

Making Internet Explorer the Default Browser

2010-12-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

If you have ever installed a new Internet Browser other than Internet Explorer (i.e. Mozilla, Google Chrome) and you no longer have Internet Explorer as the default web browser, then this tip is for you.

To make Internet Explorer the default browser, first open the Control Panel:

Next you would choose Internet Options and go to the Programs Tab

While you are on the screen above, you can click on the Make Default button or select the option to have the computer tell you if the Internet Explorer is not the default browser. Once done, click on Apply and then OK.

SQL Query vs Microsoft Access Query

2010-11-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

There are subtle differences in the way that you write queries depending on if you use SQL Server or Microsoft Access to write your query. One difference is that Microsoft Access uses the pound(#) sign for a date and SQL Server uses an apostrophe(') for a date.

SQL Server Example: WHERE Date_Found BETWEEN '11/1/2010' and '11/20/2010'
Microsoft Access Example: WHERE Date_Found BETWEEN #11/1/2010# and #11/20/2010#

Another difference is with the LIKE command. When you use the LIKE command with SQL Server, you would use the percent(%) sign. With Microsoft Access, you would use the asterick(*).

SQL Server Example: WHERE Example LIKE '%this%'
Microsoft Access Example: WHERE Example LIKE "*this*"

As you can see, Microsoft Access utilizes quotes(") for strings and SQL Server utilizes apostrophes(') for strings. These differences can cause errors, and even though you may think you are writing the correct query, you are actually not.

Powering off a stuck computer

2010-11-19T15:41:00.000-08:00

If you have ever experienced a time when your computer has frozen and nothing can be done with the keyboard or the mouse. Well, some people unplug the computer, but there is a simpler way to shut down the computer. All you have to do is hold down the power button until the computer shuts down itself. I wouldn't recommend doing that unless it was your last option. I say this because you have no chance to save anything that you have been working on. Plus, don't power off your machine if the computer is doing something for you (the hard drive light is flashing). But if the computer is frozen, it should be fine.

This is a simple tip that I will start with after being back from my blog vacation.

I am back

2010-11-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted something on this blog. I have been on a blog vacation but now I am back to write more about the things that I like, computers and programming.

I will try and write more frequently so there are more tips and advice for computers and the computer industry. The industry changes so often that there are endless things to discuss.

Folder options with Windows 7

2010-05-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

I have been using Windows 7 for some time now and I am still figuring things out with it. The folder options aren't new within Windows 7, it has been utilized in older version of Windows as well.

First go to the Conrol Panel and then click on Folder Options

On the General Tab, you can be able to open an item with a single click instead of double clicking something. I prefer double clicking but some other people prefer to single click on things to open them.

On the View Tab, you can hide the extensions for known file types. This option is normally already checked. If you would like to see "FileName.doc" instead of "FileName", then you would uncheck this option. You may also choose the option to show hidden files and folders. These are files like autoexec.bat or config.sys (or other system files that are hidden). If you don't want to mess with these types of files, then use the "Don't show hidden files, folders, or drives" option.

Full screen mode on Internet Explorer

2010-05-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever ended up in full screen mode in Internet Explorer and don't know what happened. Your taskbar is gone all of a sudden! Well, when you hit F11, the computer puts Internet Explorer into Full Screen Mode. Pressing F11 will also take it out of Full Screen Mode.

If you have kids that like to push keys, this can happen also. I hope this tip helps you out and you don't get stuck in Full Screen Mode without knowing what to do to get out of it.

Shortcuts while typing

2010-04-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

If you want to use Bold, Italics, or the Underline, you can change your text to these things with these simple shortcuts:

(Control Key + B) - This toggles on and off the BOLD feature
(Control Key + I) - This toggles on and off the Italics feature
(Control Key + U) - This toggles on and off the Underline feature

You can use all 3 of these together or alone within your text. These shortcuts help when you don't want to stop typing to use the mouse to find the Bold, Italics, or Underline icons.

Become a ChaCha Guide

2010-04-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

I have been a ChaCha Guide since January of this year and I love it! It's like playing a game on your computer and you get paid too! A Guide answers the questions that people text to ChaCha.

You start out as an Expeditor which is the person who cleans up the question and answers it quickly (if needed to) and sends the question on to a Specialist / Generalist (or Guide) so the question can be researched.

I started out in Points Mode. You collect points per question (or query in ChaCha terms) and those points transfer to cash at the end of the month. This is called the GuideShare program. Every point is worth between $.005 and $.007 depending on how many total sessions (or questions) have been completed.

You can also choose to earn money through Traditional Mode (or cash mode). This mode gives you $.02 per question for an Expeditor and between $.10 and $.20 for a Specialist / Generalist. If you don't have a lot of time on your hands and only do this during the night, then the cash mode is a better option. I say this because if you get in the Top 25 points earners (in Points Mode), you get double your money.

After a month of being an Expeditor, I was able to become a Specialist / Generalist (or Guide) which I like better. If you would like to try out to become a ChaCha Guide, go to http://becomeaguide.chacha.com. If you decide to try it out, please use my e-mail address, khochschild1@msn.com, as a referral during registration.

I hope you join me as a ChaCha Guide because it is very fun and making some money while having fun is a great thing!

Tabs or no Tabs?

2010-04-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

This post is not really a tip, it is just to see what people like to use. I myself like to use separate windows for a web browser. While other people like to use tabs within the web browser. Are you someone that likes to use a bunch of tabs or do you like separate windows for opening different websites.

Some people like to close the web browser before opening up a new web site. I sometimes do that to not have clutter. I believe that Mozilla Firefox is a great browser for someone that likes to use a bunch of tabs for opening up web sites. Internet Explorer works great too but Firefox is a much better browser for it (in my own humble opinion).

I would like to end this post with a little tip. If you would like to change your homepage on Mozilla Firefox, click on Tools, then options.

Either type in your Home Page and click OK or use one of the provided buttons. Use Current Page will use whichever web site that you have opened. Use Bookmark will use a bookmark that you have saved. Restore to Default will restore the original Home Page that was put in when you installed Mozilla Firefox.

In order to change your Home Page in Internet Explorer, click on the arrow by the picture of the house on the top of the screen. Or type in (ALT+M).

Click on Add or Change Home Page. On the next screen, you can choose:
1) Use this webpage as your only home page - creates the current web site as your home page
2) Add this webpage to your home page tabs - adds the current web site to your home pages

You can have multiple home pages, but I normally just choose one to avoid confusion.

Entering a web address

2010-04-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

This short little tip will help you where you don't have to type out a whole web site address to get to it. In all web browsers, the "http://www" is understood when you put in an internet web address.

For example, you only need to type in ebay.com instead of http://www.ebay.com to get to E-bay. Or amazon.com instead of http://www.amazon.com. For the people that do not know this little trick, have fun!

Quick Keyboard Shortcuts

2010-03-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

I thought I would add a tip on doing some keyboard shortcuts, instead of having to use the mouse (or if your mouse stopped working).

CTRL = Control Key
ESC = Escape Key
TAB = Tab Key
ALT = Alt Key

(CTRL+ESC) - This is a shortcut for the Start Menu or "the orb" on the bottom left of the screen
(Holding ALT while pressing TAB) - This scrolls through open programs on your computer
F5 - This refreshes web pages

That is all I have for now.

"I wish I knew how to..."

2010-03-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

What kinds of things did you always want to do on the computer but you didn't know how to do it? Do you have a problem with your computer or software and don't know how to fix it? Or did you need help with something that you are trying to do, like with e-mail or excel?

I am writing this blog post to give you the chance to ask me for help on something or to give you a tip on something specific that you have a problem with. Maybe your problem or tip will be shown on the next post.

If you wanted to share a computer tip of your own, that would be great too! I love to learn new things and the computer world pretty much changes every single day.

One tip before I leave this post: the HOME key on the keyboard will bring you to the beginning of a line when you are typing. The END key on the keyboard will bring you to the very end of a line. Have a wonderful day!

Change Date, Time, and Time Zone

2010-03-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Note: This tip is being done on Microsoft Windows 7. Microsoft Windows Vista is very similar to this.

If somehow you are seeing the wrong date or time on your computer and cannot remember how to change the settings, here is how you do it.

Find the date and time on the bottom right of the screen and click on it. You will see something like this:

Click on "Change date and time settings" to change either the date and time or the time zone.

Click on "Change date and time" to change either the date or the time or both. You can click on "Change time zone" to change the time zone.

The screen above is where you can change the date and/or the time. If you don't want to change it, click on the Cancel button. Otherwise, clicking on the OK button will update the date and time to what you changed it to.

The screen shown above is where you can change the time zone. I am in Minnesota, so I am in the Central time zone. Sometimes you can have the wrong time just by not having the correct time zone. The west coast is the Pacific time zone, then there is the Mountain Time Zone (Colorado is a state in this time zone). After that, is the Central time zone, and then the Eastern time zone.

Unable to open a Microsoft Office 2007 file

2010-03-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

If you have ever come across an Excel file or a Word file from someone in an e-mail and you were unable to open it. A good reason for this is that you do not have Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) installed on your system and you have an old version like Microsoft Office 2003 or earlier.

You can do 1 of 3 things to be able to open the file:
      1) Ask the sender of the e-mail to resend the file in an older format. You can tell if a file is saved with the
        new format because an extra "x" will be attached at the end of the file. (e.x. Excel2007.xlsx versus
          Excel2003.xls)
     2) Get a copy of Microsoft Office 2007 and install it
     3) Install the Microsoft Compatibility Pack from Microsoft

If you don't want to have someone reformat an Excel or Word file every time or you don't have the money to get a copy of Microsoft Office 2007, then the third option would be your best option.

The Microsoft Compatibility Pack can be downloaded here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en. This gives you the ability to open Microsoft Office 2007 files while having an older version of Office, like Office XP or Office 2003. Click on the Download button after clicking on the link at the installation will follow you through it.

Turning off the touchpad on a laptop computer

2010-03-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

Some people like to use an external mouse on their laptop rather than having to deal with the touchpad or that little blue circle on the keyboard to move the cursor around the screen. On a Dell laptop, you can hit the Function key and then F7 to stop the touchpad from working while you have an external mouse connected.

You can get to your touchpad settings by going into your Control Panel and then go to Mouse. It might also be on the bottom right of your screen on your taskbar. After you click the Mouse option in the Control Panel, click on the touchpad picture to get to the options screen for the touchpad.

For a Dell touchpad,

You can enable or disable the pointing stick (the blue thing on the keyboard) or the buttons for it. You can also enable or disable the touchpad and the buttons for it. If you want the touchpad to not work at all while you have an external mouse attached, click on the option that says "Disable TouchPad / Pointing Stick when external USB mouse is present".

Your options may be different depending on what brand of laptop that you own. You may not even have a pointing stick (the blue circle on the keyboard). I hope that this tip is helpful and have fun!

Copying something on the computer screen (Screen Capture)

2010-03-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

This tip can be accomplished in any version of Windows

If you want to copy something from the screen, there are 2 ways to do this. This is also known as Screen Capture. If you want to copy the whole screen and put it in a Microsoft Word document or create a picture (jpg) of it, hold in the Control Key and then press the Print Screen key. (CTRL + Prnt Scrn). Open up Microsoft Word and then either right click and click on Paste or hold down the Control key and press the V key (CTRL + V). You should be able to resize the picture after you paste it.

Another place to paste a picture would be in Microsoft Paint. You should be able to get to it by going to Start --> Run. In the Run command window, type in "mspaint" without the quotes and hit the Enter key. Microsoft Paint will open up. Paste the same way that you did in Microsoft Word. In Microsoft Paint, you can edit the photo however you would like. Save the picture as a jpg file or whatever picture format you would like.

If you don't want to copy the entire screen and only the window that you are currently in, like a Error Message window that pops up unexpectedly, you hold down the Alt key and then press the Print Screen key. (ALT + Prnt Scrn). You would paste the copy that you made from the keyboard shortcut the same way you did for the whole screen. That is CTRL + V if you can't remember or right click and click on Paste from Menu.

Have fun grabbing pictures from your computer screen and pasting them in Microsoft Paint or Microsoft Word (or wherever you feel it should go).

Filtering E-mails in Hotmail

2010-03-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered how to have certain e-mails go to a specific folder when they come in instead of going to your Inbox? If you go to Hotmail options and follow these instructions, it should be pretty easy to do so. Suppose you have e-mails coming from someone special and you want those e-mails in a folder for easy access.

The first thing to do is log into Hotmail and go to your mailbox. Click on Options on the top right of the screen and then click on More Options.

You will be directed to another screen within Hotmail. Find "Customize your mail" and then click on "Automatically sort e-mail into folders" underneath it.

When you see the screen below, click on New Filter. Note: if you already have an e-mail filter, it will show here too.

First, you need to choose what part of the e-mail you would like to filter from. You can choose from 4 options:
     1) From Address - This is the e-mail address of the sender
   2) From Name - This is the name of the sender
   3) Subject - This is the subject of the e-mail
   4) To or Cc lines - This would be the recipient of the e-mail or anyone that was copied (Cc)

Next you will choose how the filter will work for the text that you supply. There are 6 options for this:
   1) contains - if the specified portion of the e-mail contains any of the text supplied
     2) ends with - if the specified portion of the e-mail ends with the text supplied
     3) equals - if the specified portion of the e-mail equals the text supplied
     4) doesn't contain - if the specified portion of the e-mail does not contain the text supplied
     5) starts with - if the specified portion of the e-mail starts with the text supplied
     6) contains word - if the specified portion of the e-mail contains the whole word of the text supplied

Next you would type in the text (if you haven't done so already). For example, you could say "Filter e-mails where the From Name starts with Sam". If an e-mail came in from Sam Here, then the e-mail will be filtered. After doing that first step, it's on to the second step.

The second step is "Where do you want to put the filtered messages". There is an option for the Inbox, but since they are originally going into the Inbox, then I don't see why you would need this option. The other options are Junk, New Folder, and Delete. The Junk option would move the filtered e-mails into the Junk folder. For the New Folder option, you specify the folder where the e-mails would go. The last option you can choose is Delete, which is good if you just want to delete the e-mails as they come in.

Click on the Save option on the bottom right and then you will have your new filter set up. There is an option to edit or remove a filter if you need to.

Creating a batch file

2010-03-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

A batch file is something with the extension of ".bat" or ".cmd". This file can be edited through Notepad to do multiple tasks like copying multiple files. It can practically be used for anything, but I will show a sample batch file to copy multiple files from different directories.

Suppose when you make a picture CD and you don't want to use the Windows Explorer every time you put a new CD into your computer. If there are no folders this works perfect.

Batch File:

Every line is like going into Microsoft DOS or the Command Prompt window and typing the lines.
The first line goes to the C Drive.
The second line makes a new directory named "New Pictures". MD is the same as make directory. If you have a space in a name, you have to surround the name with quotes. If it was NewPictures, then the quotes would not be needed.
The third line goes to the D Drive (or whichever drive is the CD drive)
The fourth line copies everything from the root of the CD drive over to the newly created directory, "New Pictures". The asterisk is a wild character which means use everything.
The fifth line doesn't have to be there. PAUSE means to wait for user input on the screen so you can see what is happening with the batch file. If you did not have the PAUSE in there, then the Command Prompt window would go away right after the last line completed.

A lot more can be done with this file and you can do any DOS command that you know within the batch file. The options are limitless for a batch file.

Creating a shortcut on your desktop

2010-03-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

As easy as it may be for some people, creating a shortcut is pretty cumbersome to do for other people. Microsoft Windows XP and above have made it really simple to create a shortcut onto your desktop. Having to Right Click and then click on Create Shortcut to then have to copy it again and paste it to your desktop seems like a lot of extra unnecessary steps.

All you have to do is Right click on the file and then choose Send to --> Desktop (create shortcut). It actually creates the shortcut and puts it onto your desktop at the same time. The Create Shortcut could be used if you wanted a shortcut not on your desktop, but I think that is where the majority of shortcuts end up going.

This was a quick tip and if you knew it already, that is great too!

Using Notepad to create an Excel spreadsheet

2010-03-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

This tip is created with Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Excel 2007

If you ever wanted to create an Excel spreadsheet without having to deal with the complexity of Microsoft Excel, you can use Notepad (which is normally installed on all Microsoft computers). The easy way to get to Notepad is to go to Start --> Run. In the run command box, type notepad and then hit Enter key.

I created 4 rows in the Notepad. Everything is also separated by commas. The first line creates three columns named "Date", "Number", and "Name". The 3 lines below is the data for the columns. The commas represent the lines between each column if you were to see them in Microsoft Excel. Go ahead and click File and then Save As.

I saved the notepad as "New Notepad.csv". The CSV extension means Comma Separated Value. Since everything is separated by commas, this extension makes sense to use. If you used TXT which means text file, Microsoft Excel would not recognize it (unless you imported it into Excel, but that is a different topic). When there is a CSV at the end of the filename, Microsoft Excel is able to see that it uses commas to separate the values. Let's open it up in Excel and see what happens.

As you can see, Microsoft Excel recognized the file and created a spreadsheet from the file. From here, you can save the spreadsheet with an Excel extension. This is a great way to create something quickly without having to tab over between the columns.

Notepad is also a great tool to just jot notes down without having to open up Microsoft Word. There are always new and exciting ways to do things.

Adding numbers in Microsoft Excel with a formula

2010-03-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Excel 2007 are being used in this tip

I don't know how many times I thought, "I wish I could add up numbers on a spreadsheet without having to manually add the numbers with a calculator". Well, here is a way to do that with a formula in Microsoft Excel. First you need to start a new Excel spreadsheet by opening up the program. I started with this:

I started with a column named Numbers and put down some numbers below it. In order to use a formula in Excel, you need to put the equals (=) sign before the formula. This formula is: =SUM(A2:A8). SUM tells Excel to add up the numbers. A2:A8 is referring to a range of cells in the spreadsheet. It is going to look at A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, and A8 (or A2 through A8). It would look like this:

As you can see, the formula added up the numbers without having to use a calculator. If you changed any of the numbers above the total, then the total would change automatically. For example, if you changed A2 to 7, then the total would be 235.

Another formula that can be used is the SUMIF formula. This will add the numbers based on certain criteria. Here is an example:

The formula ends up being =SUMIF(B2:B8,"Odd",A2:A8). B2:B8 means to look at cells B2 through B8. "Odd" is what I am looking for in the range specified. A2:A8 is the range of the cells that will be added together. I have put Even and Odd in the second column. This formula will add all of the numbers for cells A2 through A8 that have the word "Odd" in column B. The Even total would look similar except you would change the word "Odd" in the formula to the word "Even". The SUMIF formula is a good formula to use if you want to know the sum of numbers for a certain criteria.

I hope you have fun with this tip and I will write another great tip tomorrow!

Use a different font type for pictures

2010-03-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

If you use Microsoft Word and you want to type pictures, all you have to do is change the font type. The normal font type that is used is Arial or Calibri. If you do not have Microsoft Word, then there are other programs that can be used to type in different font types. Here are the different font types that have pictures when you type a letter. These would be great for icons also!

Here is an example of the different fonts that are pictures. These font types are Wingdings, Wingdings2, and Wingdings3.

The lowercase letters will give you different pictures than the uppercase letters. Even apostrophes and commas turn into pictures! I hope you like this tip and have fun!

Calculator on Windows 7

2010-03-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

I just got Windows 7 installed onto my computer and I am loving it! I am now seeing what is new that wasn't in Vista. The calculator was in Vista and other operating systems. You can get there the same way too. To get to the calculator, you don't have to go to the program files --> accessories and blah blah blah. That is a long and tedious way. All you have to do is click on the Start Menu and then go to run. Once in the run command, type in calc and then hit the Enter key. Voila! The calculator shows right up! In Windows 7, you get a standard, scientific, programmer, and statistics calculators. No need to go and find one, it is right here at your fingertips.

This was a quick tip brought to you by me, Keith! Please let me know if you would like to see any special tip or even troubleshooting tips for a problem that you may have right now.

Clearing Internet Cookies to speed up the computer

2010-03-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

This is all done on the Windows Vista operating system.

Are you thinking, what's an Internet cookie? Well, an internet cookie is something that gets stored on the hard drive that is used by the Internet Browser. The browser sees the cookie and is able to load that website information quicker. That sounds like a good thing, but in reality a lot of cookies slow down the computer. It's almost like if you ate too many cookies, you would slow down too.

In order to clear them out and help improve the performance of your computer, you will need to go to the Internet Options for whichever browser you are using. I will show how to do this with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, the two browsers that I use regularly. The reason I use two is because some things only work in Mozilla Firefox and some other things only work in Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer (I am using version 8, but any version should work for this)

There are 2 ways to get to the Internet options for Internet Explorer.
     1) When you have Internet Explorer open, click on Tools and then Internet Options.
   2) Click on Start --> Control Panel. Double click Internet Options in the Control Panel.
           Note: If you are using Windows Vista, then make sure you are on Classic View.
Internet Options screen should look like this:

Click on the Delete button under Browsing History. If you click on the option to delete browsing history on exit, then every time you exit out of Internet Explorer, all of your browser history will be erased.

This is where you can choose which things you would like to remove from your hard drive. Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, and Browsing History have already been checked for you. I recommend those options also. You don't want to remove Form Data or Passwords unless you want to re-enter those things on specific websites. Once you have chosen your options, click Delete.

Mozilla Firefox (I am using version 3.6, but any version should work for this)
There is only one way to remove the cookies from Mozilla Firefox. While in Firefox, click on Tools, and then Clear Recent History (Ctrl+Shift+Del also works). This will open up another window.

Last Hour is already selected for you. You can choose between Last Hour, Last Two Hours, Last Four Hours, Today, or Everything. Only choose Everything if you want to get rid of all Browsing History from Mozilla Firefox. I would recommend choosing Browsing & Download History, Cookies, and Cache. Click on Clear Now and everything that you have selected will be removed for Firefox.

Another tip done and I hope this has helped you understand cookies more. Talking about cookies has made me hungry, so I am going to have some dinner.

Finding your IP address

2010-03-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

This is all done with the operating system, Windows Vista

Sometimes you may want to know what your IP (Internet Protocol) address is. This is the address that you connect to instead of the actual name (i.e. 127.0.0.1 is the same thing as LocalHost). First, go to your command prompt. You can get there by clicking on the Start Menu, then run. On the run prompt, type in cmd and hit the Enter key. Or you can go this route: Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Command Prompt.

When you get to the Command Prompt, type in "ipconfig/all" without the quotes. Take a note of your host name and I can tell you about ping later in this post. If you are using connecting through a wireless network, your IP address is under Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection. It is the IPv4 Address. If you are connecting through an Ethernet cable, then your IP address is under Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection. It should be the same as the wireless, the IPv4 Address.

Now go back to the host name that you wrote down. If you type in "ping [host name]" without the quotes (your host name goes in the brackets, but don't type the brackets), you will notice that the IP address that you found above shows up within the "Reply from..." text. When you ping something, you are testing to see if you can connect to something.

If you type exit and then hit the Enter key, then the command prompt window will go away. I find that the IP address is a good way to enter things in case the "name" doesn't work. As a matter of fact, http://www.google.com is the same as 209.85.225.104 if you ping it. Type in http://209.85.225.104 as a web address and it will bring you to the Google site.

I had fun with this tip and I will be back with more exciting tips for the computer!

Review for Linksys Wireless-G Print Server

2010-02-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

I have been using the Linksys by Cisco Wireless-G Print Server for quite some time and I would like to share what I think about it. The device works great when connected with the Ethernet cable. I am actually able to connect to the router directly and any computer that is on the network is able to print from the device. The problem I am having with is that it is very difficult to connect with the wireless option.

Pros: Easy to set up and it steps you through everything. It comes with all the software needed to make it work properly. It stays connected to the network.
Cons: Currently I am unable to connect the device through the wireless option.

Overall, I think the print server is a great thing to have if you want to print from different computers to the same printer.

Tip of the Day

2010-02-28T08:02:00.000-08:00

I thought I would start off today with a computer tip. If you get a pop-up from the internet that will not let you close it (there is usually an OK button or Cancel button but no way to close it), you can go to the Task Manager to close the window. This kind of box looks like it could cause a virus or put spyware onto your computer.

To best way to get to the Task Manager it to press CRTL+AT+DEL and then choose the Task Manager option. You will see a screen like this:

If the window does not show up on the Applications tab, then choose the Processes tab.

Find your program under the list (firefox.exe for Mozilla Firefox or IE.exe for Internet Explorer). Click on End Process and then follow the prompts. The program will close with no problems.

Just starting to blog

2010-02-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

After all of the hype of blogging, I have decided to try it out for myself. This blog is going to contain computer ideas and tips along with reviews of software and hardware that I have tried out for myself. I think this will be a great place to show my knowledge for computers and my love for them too. Technology is booming and there is always something new coming out. As a matter of fact, there is probably some new revision of something coming out right now as I type.

It is hard to keep up with the most current technology as it comes available. Some things have also become obsolete as time has gone by. I started working with computers when Windows 3.1 was the operating system. Right now we have Microsoft Windows 7, which has so much more user friendly options than old operating systems. But in order to run Windows 7 on a computer, you will need a top of the line system, with at least 1GB of Ram and a pretty big hard drive. I wonder what Windows 3.1 would look like on a computer system of today. You wouldn't get all of the fancy things you get with Windows 7, but it would be very fast.

I will not be talking about the Macintosh, because I do not know much about it. The only Apple equipment I own is an Apple iPod shuffle, which I use to work out with.

I think I will have a lot of fun discussing computers and everything about them. I think it will also be fun discussing all of the great accessories that you can connect to them too! Seeing that most computers come with USB technology now, you can pretty much connect anything to them. Wireless Internet is also a great bonus!

I will be saying goodbye for now and I will be back with some more great computer tips and information. Have a wonderful day!