Tiplet expert tips & tech support

March 24, 2009

Troubleshooting Windows Installer

Filed under: applications,computer performance,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Sometimes, you will get an error message saying that there is a problem with Windows Installer, or that Windows Installer cannot open an installation package of software. Here is some background on Windows Installer and steps you can take to remedy such problems, you may be able to “repair” it using one of these methods.

Windows Installer is a component of Microsoft Windows that allows software developers to configure installation packages that are easy for users to set up. Several versions of Windows Installer are available, the latest being 3.1+. To see which version of Windows Installer you have,
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When a Non-Secure Site Wants Personal or Financial Information

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

by Gabe Goldberg

Twice recently, e-commerce Web sites have taken me to dangerous checkout screens — that is, Web pages which transmit data “in the clear” (unencrypted) — to complete online purchases. One of them even assured me “All orders are processed on secure servers.”

But without the reassuring padlock (or other secure-page symbol displayed by the browser when viewing a secure Web page) and Web address beginning “https” (instead of the usual “http”) I wasn’t about to provide information requested such as address, mother’s maiden name, credit card number, etc.
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March 23, 2009

How to Convert HTML and Flash Files to PowerPoint

Filed under: applications,digital media,photos and video,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

Q: How do you convert HTML and Flash files to PowerPoint? — Kevin

A few tiplets ago I showed you how to convert your PowerPoint slideshows to video files that you could upload to services such as Youtube.com. Now a reader wants to know how to convert Web pages (.htm) and Flash animated files (.swf) into PowerPoint. Kevin, you don’t convert these types of files, you import them as slides. And it’s very easy to do.
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How to Erase a Hard Drive Safely and Completely

Filed under: applications,computer hardware,data storage and recovery,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

If you plan to sell, give away, or just toss in the trash an old hard drive, you really should erase your personal data from it first. If you’re like most people, your hard drive contains things you don’t want strangers to see: private correspondence, bank account numbers, passwords, your children’s pictures, names, and where they go to school… think about it, then take a little time to wipe that hard drive really clean!
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How Can I Avoid Losing Real Email in My Spam Folder?

Filed under: e-mail,Internet — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Gabe Goldberg

Spam — junk email offering scams, lost-relative fortunes, exotic romance, drug deals, etc. — is a nasty curse on the current Internet. Technologies are being explored to curb or cure it, and law enforcement has occasional successes shutting down king spammers, but in the meantime, we deal with it.

Most ISPs (Internet service providers) and most email software offers options for handling spam, selecting methods of detecting it and customizing what’s done with it. And add-on software products promise wonderfully precise protection. While these choices can help, they all unfortunately have disadvantages.
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March 22, 2009

How to Disable Group Policy on Your Computer

Filed under: privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 4:59 pm

by Tina Gasperson

Group policies are set by the network administrator to control the desktop experience of network computer users and to help prevent security risks. Network administrators can prevent users from running certain programs and applications or from seeing certain folders and drives on the network. Disabling a group policy is probably not going to earn you any Brownie points with your employer, so you may want to think twice about performing this operation. Not only that, but you’ll be making changes to your Windows registry – and if you’re not very, very careful, you could make your computer unbootable.
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Open Office 2007 Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Files With Office 2003 Versions

Filed under: applications,Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

There is a bit of a battle going on among Microsoft Office users worldwide. Some have upgraded to Office 2007 while others stick with Office 2003. The problem is that the default file format in which Office documents are saved is not the same for both versions. So users of Office 2003 cannot open documents created and saved by Office 2003.

“Save it in 2003 format!” they cry.

“No, you upgrade!” reply the state-of-the-art crowd.
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Disabling Sleep Mode in OS X

Filed under: computer performance,Macintosh — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Dee-Ann LeBlanc

Some people for a variety of reasons want to shut off their Mac’s sleep mode. Maybe they want the computer to keep running as a juke box, or to do some work in the background.

In general, it’s recommend to disable sleep mode only when you really need to. For one thing, if the computer never sleeps, it’s burning a lot more power over time. Speaking of burning, it’s also generating heat. Never sleeping means never cooling off. Over the long term, you can damage a computer this way.
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March 21, 2009

What to Look for When Searching for an External Hard Drive for Windows XP

Filed under: computer hardware,data storage and recovery — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

If you store photos, videos, and other multimedia files on your computer, or you’re a computer gamer, chances are you’ll need extra hard drive space at some point. You don’t have to buy a new computer to gain that space, or install a new interior hard drive. External hard drives are inexpensive, portable, and very easy to use.
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How to Use Whois to Learn Who Is Behind a Web Site

Filed under: Internet — Tags: , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

It pays to know who you are contacting over the Internet. Before you give any personal information, even an email address, to a Web site, you should have some idea who owns it and what their reputation is. If you buy something online, you should know how to contact the vendor in case there is a problem. Think worst case: where and upon whom would you have a lawsuit served?

Most commercial Web sites have an “about” page that tells you about a company, and usually a “contact” page giving the firm’s street address, phone number, and legal name. If you don’t find such information on a site, a red flag should go up and you should do a bit of sleuthing before parting with anything of value.
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Launching an URL When the Computer Thinks It Is Text

Filed under: Internet,Macintosh — Tags: , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Nathaniel Poor

The Mac OS and most applications do a good job of recognizing URLs so you can click on them to go to their location, either directly or with the contextual menu (usually via the right mouse button). Either click on it if the computer knows it is a URL, or right-click (or control-click with the main mouse button) on it and choose “Open URL” from the contextual menu.

But this does not always happen. Not every application recognizes a URL, even with a “www” in front of it. There are a lot of programs and possible scenarios, and the end result is sometimes you have a URL right there in front of you but the computer doesn’t understand that the text is a URL.
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