Archive for December, 2006
The best archive/zip utilities
For years I used WinZip as my primary program for opening archived files. I paid for a license back in the days of Windows 95. The company had the policy that once you paid, future updates were free so I went through a number of versions. Then WinZip got taken over and updates were no [...]
Keyboard shortcuts compendium
Keyboard shortcuts can be very useful and periodically I post something on the subject (see the Shortcuts archive). However, there are a large number of such shortcuts for a variety of software programs and most PC users will remember and use only a few. Still, it’s interesting to go over a compilation of shortcuts and [...]
Opening tabs in Internet Explorer 7
You may not have it yet but already Microsoft has downloaded IE 7 to many systems as an update. Most PC users are going to end up with it on their system so unless you use Firefox or other alternate browser, you are going to need to learn the new interface. I’ll be posting some [...]
Beware of Word documents from the Internet
Microsoft is warning about an unpatched security hole in Word that is being exploited on the Internet. Until a patch is issued, exercise caution about opening or downloading any DOC files from the Web. The problem is present in Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, Microsoft Word Viewer 2003, Word 2004 for Mac, Word 2004 [...]
How to remove the text below an icon
Here’s an unusual trick that I’ll pass along for what it’s worth. I can’t remember where I learned it and I don’t use it but some PC users like to remove the text that appears beneath an icon and just have an unlabeled icon. There’s a way to do that that uses the Numeric Keypad [...]
How to install Flash player in Internet Explorer 7
Macromedia/Adobe Flash presentations are very common on the Internet. However, browsers need a player before they can display Flash. Internet Explorer uses an ActiveX component and Firefox another type. Installing the Flash player has always been a simple process in the past. In fact, it often comes pre-installed. I have had no difficulties with Firefox [...]
Search engines for the visually impaired
SearchEngineWatch has an interesting discussion of Google’s efforts to make its services accessible to the blind and to the visually impaired. Accessibility is complicated by the fact that there are different sets of needs. The article explains:
The main obstacle to creating accessible web sites is that needs vary widely—there is no single “fix” that will [...]
How to really remove Norton programs
I’ve railed a few times in these pages about the intrusiveness of Norton anti-virus and other Symantec programs. The fact that Norton is a great big drag on computer performance has been noted by many and is documented at this reference for Norton Internet Security 2006. Many installation problems and faulty product activations have also [...]
Collection of security tips
PC Magazine has put together a collection of 94 tips on keeping your computer safe. There’s nothing new here but if you would like a link with a number of tips in one place, you might take a look.
Putting Windows on a Mac
When Apple switched over to Intel chips, it was a major change in direction. Not least was the fact that Macs could now run Windows. Apple has provided the Bootcamp dual-boot method and Parallels has provided a virtual machine method. An article at Information Week reviews the two methods:
Parallels Desktop continues to improve, and [...]
