Tiplet expert tips & tech support

January 14, 2009

How To Disable Active Desktop

Filed under: computer performance,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by David Hakala

The Active Desktop feature, available in Windows since Windows 98, allows the use of many kinds of files as the desktop background. Before Active Desktop, only static bitmap (BMP) images could be used as desktop backgrounds. Now your background can be a live Web page constantly updated with news, weather, and sports; a movie file; or just about anything you can display.

But who stares at their desktop background all day? Most users find a static image is all the diversion they need or have time to glance at in between opening and closing application windows.
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Setting up Windows Mail under Vista

Filed under: e-mail,social networking — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by Ross M. Greenberg

Getting Windows Mail to function properly under Vista is easy – especially if you use the Windows Mail Setup Wizard. It runs automatically when you first run Windows Mail. Windows Mail, by the way, Is the Vista replacement for Outlook Express, including the ability to read and post to NNTP newsgroups, something Microsoft’s Outlook product is still lacking.

Fill in the appropriate details for each page that that pops up in the wizard: your name and e-mail address, etc. The type of e-mail you expect to exchange with your Internet Service Provider will generally be POP3 (Point of Presence). Next you must enter the user name and the password assigned to you by your ISP – your machine logs on to the ISP’s machine to retrieve e-mail waiting for you. Make sure to check the “Remember Password” the box on this is screen – as Windows Mail will be logging in unattended on a regular basis. You can fine tune how often your system will check for mail a later.
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How to Select and Install the Appropriate Antivirus Software for Your Computer

Filed under: privacy & security — Tags: , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Tina Gasperson

These days, it is completely unadvisable to go online without a currently updated antivirus application running on your Windows-based desktop system. An unprotected computer is vulnerable to all manner of viruses, spyware, and Trojan horse programs that can take over your system without your permission. These unwelcome bits of software enter your computer when you download and run infected applications or visit Web sites that inject the malicious code through your browser. A good antivirus program will run in the background as you browse, protecting you from immediate dangers, and will also scan your entire system on a regular basis, using information from the latest known threats. Your antivirus software can save you hundreds of dollars in repair costs, and reduce the stress associated with losing important files and information stored on your hard drive. So what can you do to insure that your system is protected by a good antivirus program?
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January 13, 2009

How to Set up a Mailman Listserv Hosting Provider

Filed under: e-mail — Tags: , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by David Strom

If you want to run a mailing list of several hundred to several thousand recipients, the best software that I have found is Mailman, which runs on Linux and Unix. There are several hosting providers that offer Mailman services, and the one that I use is from EMWD.com. They charge $4 a month per list plus a $10 startup fee, and don’t require anything for their services other than that you have access to your own domain name. It takes just a few minutes to sign up for their service.
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Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows XP

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , — admin @ 2:35 pm

by David Hakala

You may have any reason to change the way Windows XP starts. Perhaps you want to shorten the countdown pause. You might desire to see Recovery Console as an option. You may have added another operating system, such as Linux or Vista, and want to choose which OS to load upon startup. The boot.ini file is the key to making such changes.
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Setting Up a Web cam for Video Chats

Filed under: Internet — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:00 am

by Tina Gasperson

Video chatting is a fun and easy way to keep in touch with people too far away to visit often. Grandparents love to use this method to “see” their grandchildren and interact with them remotely. Sometimes parents who have to work long hours set up video cams with sound at home to feel closer to their family. Others use video chatting as just the latest way to “do” chatting – instead of typing your conversation and reading the responses, you just speak and watch.

To start video chatting, naturally, you’ll need a computer with a broadband Internet connection – DSL, cable, or FIOS. Dial-up connections are too slow to have a Jetsons-style video chat. Make sure you purchase a Web cam that has a built in microphone, as this makes the entire setup process much easier. Microsoft’s Lifecam series of Web cams have built in microphones, are optimized for video chatting, and are reasonably priced. Or search Google Shopping to find a full range of web cams to suit your needs.
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January 12, 2009

Setting up a Home Network on Vista

Filed under: computer networks,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

Ross M. Greenberg

Out-of-the-box Vista is an extraordinarily easy system on which to base your home network. My setup here is with a high-speed DSL, wired to my Vista Ultimate with wireless connections to my son’s Vista Home Premium and my wife’s XP Media Center.

The first thing to do is to make sure that the XP machine is using the NTFS file system. This is the newer file system that allows for more granular file permissions – permissions can be set to deny or allow remote file access to directories, shares, individual files and so forth. This is based upon the credentials a remote user or a remote machine uses to access another on the network. To offer a full transparency of access it is vital that the users of one machine have the same login ID and password on each machine on the network. Secure information, such as the password, does not have to be visible in plain text or accessible to other users.
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How and Where to Host Your Web site

Filed under: Internet — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 2:10 pm

by David Strom

If you are looking to start up a new Web site, or if you are unhappy with where your existing Web site is hosted, you have three basic choices for where you actually put your content. You can use a free blogging service, or use GoDaddy or the services of your domain registrar, or you can pay someone to set up a virtual Windows or Linux server and set it up on your own.

The costs vary for each method. Using the Web hosting facility at a registrar such as GoDaddy starts at $5 a month and can be as expensive as several hundreds of dollars a month for the virtual servers. What is the difference? The cheaper plans use pre-set Web sites and aren’t all that flexibly, while the virtual server plans means that you have a complete Windows or Linux OS that is sitting in their data center and yours to set up as you wish.
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Disable Windows Balloon Tips

Filed under: Vista,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:00 am

by David Hakala

Whoever at Microsoft thought I wanted animated comic book pages on my desktop was nuts. I’m talking about those annoying balloon tips that pop up every time something happens in Windows XP or Vista, even something trivial like “LiveUpdate is up to date.” Fortunately, balloon tips can be disabled everywhere in a single operation under XP or Vista. Both techniques are covered here.
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January 11, 2009

Figuring Out Windows Programs When You Can’t Find the Manual

Filed under: applications,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 2:56 pm

by Gabe Goldberg

Which Beatles song describes an under-used PC resource for solving problems and answering questions? It’s not “Ask Me Why?” or “Do You Want to Know a Secret.” It’s “Help”!

Since Windows’ early days, Windows itself and most applications have included information on setting configuration options, usage, and problem determination. Being able to access this material lets you deal with problems whenever they occur, rather than waiting to call an expensive or frustrating support line during working hours. It leads to better productivity, can be faster than Google searching or pestering friends, is available when you’re offline, and it can even make PC use more enjoyable by revealing techniques which impress those around you.
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Free or Cheap Alternatives to Photoshop

Filed under: applications — Tags: , , , — admin @ 9:00 am

by Tina Gasperson

For creating and manipulating digital graphics, many consider Adobe Photoshop to be the standard. Professional graphic artists use this tool to work their magic on images for online use and in print publications of all kinds. Photoshop is such a powerful tool that most people need to take at least one class to even come close to learning how to use it to full effect. Most “regular” computer users only need a few of the features included in Photoshop and may find the program, if not the price tag, intimidating. So, what low-cost software is available for the “rest of us” who only need to perform basic manipulation of our digital images? Depending on what you need to do with your images, there are several applications available for you to try in your search for image editing software that fits the bill.
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