This past week, my computer failed and I was left without a working computer. Yes, computer failures happen even to the experts! Fortunately, I practice what I preach and had several good backups to use to rebuild my computer system. In fact, while rebuilding my computer system, I made additional backups to protect me as I worked through this problem. Everything is working perfectly now thanks to my backups.
For those of us who are installing a new Windows computer or simply want to improve the performance of an old one, Mark Kaelin, Chad Perrin and Scott Lowe at Tech Republic prepared 3 great lists of things you should and shouldn't do:
10 Things You Should Do to a New PC Before Surfing the Web
Boost Security by Disabling These 10 Windows XP Services
We all do dumb things now and then, and computer users are no exception. Inadvertently pressing the wrong key combination or innocently clicking OK in the wrong dialog box can change important settings that alter a computer's behavior or even crash the system.
By Gene Barlow
User Group Relations
Copyrighted June 2009
(Ed. Note - In preparation for Gene Barlow's webinar at the August 12th General meeting, this article is reproduced with his permission.)
Backing up your computer’s hard drive on a regular basis is the most important thing every user should be doing on their computer. The hard drive on your computer will eventually crash and when it does, you will be protected if you have a good backup. Without a backup, your computer will no longer function and all of your important files and pictures will be lost. Start doing backups today and be safe!
From Linux, Open Office, Firefox and GIMP to a growing list of other applications Open Source has become a popular alternative to costly commercial software. Open source software is developed by a community of programmers with peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in. (Presented by Maurice Green at the August 2008 General meeting. Additional material and links have been added.)
For those of us who are installing a new Windows computer or simply want to improve the performance of an old one, Mark Kaelin, Chad Perrin and Scott Lowe at Tech Republic prepared 3 great lists of things you should and shouldn't do:
Kevin will demonstrate shareware tools for Windows XP and VIsta.
