Archive for June, 2009
Fonts and typography tools
If you like fancy fonts and typography, take a look at the collection of tools and font downloads discussed at this Lifehacker feature by Gina Trapani.
How to hide sensitive files on your computer
Most of us probably have material on our PCs that we regard as confidential. Lists of passwords, income tax data, bank accounts, and many other possibilities come to mind. Many average home PC users are unaware that there are a variety of methods available for either hiding or encrypting sensitive material. I like the free [...]
Enable the Quick Launch bar
Here’s an update of another tip from October, 2005. For Windows XP, the tip was:
The Quick Launch bar is a handy area in the Taskbar where shortcuts to frequently used programs and folders can be kept. However. in many XP systems the default setting does not have the Quick Launch bar enabled. The setting is [...]
Keep hardware drivers updated
It’s bad enough that we have all those programs that have to be kept updated but there are also hardware driver updates to watch out for. Microsoft Windows update includes some common driver updates but its choices are not always the best. There are a number of services that will check and update your drivers [...]
Keep software up to date
Software is constantly being updated. Keeping track of updates for all the programs we have can be a a daunting chore. Although some programs warn you when an update is available, many do not. I’ve mentioned the program from Secunia that helps keep track of security problems in some common software. However, there are also [...]
How to alphabetize the Programs and Favorites lists
This frequently requested tip was first posted in October, 2005:
A surprising number of PC users are unaware of the simple method that is available to keep the (Windows XP) Start-All Programs list in alphabetical order. As new programs are installed, they are often tacked onto the end of the list and after a while the [...]
About the BIOS
When you first turn on a PC, it doesn’t know how to do anything. The operating system hasn’t been loaded yet and the PC needs instructions. It gets them from information permanently stored in something called the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). Home PC users rarely have to worry about the BIOS but it wouldn’t hurt [...]
How to assign or change drive letters
Do you use external USB memory devices and find Windows changing the drive letters? This is a common complaint and I posted about it in three years ago:
These days many systems are likely to be using USB external drives of one sort or the other. Also, hard drives have become very large and many systems [...]
Guide to setting up a network
Not too sure what goes into connecting your computers to the Web and to each other? Baffled by wireless terms like WEP and WPA? MakeUseOf has a guide for you. Download the PDF guide and learn. Here’s a description:
Networking is still a delicate subject for many people. Today, everyone needs to know how to set [...]
Listen to the sounds from your PC
In my previous life as a university professor, I had research labs with a lot of electronic equipment. I learned to pay attention to the sounds that came from the mechanical parts of the equipment since they were sometimes warnings of incipient problems.
I carried that lesson over to PCs and have diagnosed problems more than [...]
Searching the “Deep Web”
I’ve commented before on the problem of searching the so-called “Deep Web”, collections of information not covered by conventional search engines. Although Google has vowed to index all the world’s knowledge, there is a long way to go. The Online College Blog has collected a list of specialized search engines:
Experts say that typical search [...]