Tiplet expert tips & tech support

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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March 18, 2009

How to Disable Browser Cache

Filed under: Internet,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

The first time you visit a Web page, your browser stores the file in your cache so that when you visit again, the page loads quicker. The stored files load from your hard drive instead of having to be downloaded from the Internet. This is a useful feature because it makes your Web surfing much faster. Sometimes, however, browser caching is undesirable – it may cause you to miss updates on a Web page that changes frequently. There are several ways around this. You can bypass, clear, or even disable your browser cache so that each time you visit a page all the files are freshly downloaded.
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March 17, 2009

Where Did “Spyware Threat Has Been Detected on Your PC” Come From?

Filed under: applications,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

As you surf the Web, you may be startled by a window that pops up with a message like one of these:

warning spyware threat has been detected on your pc

spyware threat has been detected on your pc

Sometimes the window jiggles nervously in a way calculated to make you anxious. Always, there is a button to click for a “free spyware scan.”
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March 14, 2009

How to Enable and Disable Cookies

Filed under: Internet,privacy & security — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

In an Internet world, cookies are no longer just sweet, bite-sized baked treats. Now, they’re an important element of your Web browsing experience. Some sites require you to have “cookies enabled” in order to access the information there. Some people, on the other hand, want to disable their cookies for privacy reasons. What exactly are cookies, and how do you enable and disable them?
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March 13, 2009

How to Disable or Enable Firewall in Windows XP

Filed under: computer performance,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

Windows XP comes with a built-in firewall, which is a great tool for protecting your system from unauthorized access by malicious programs that you may stumble upon while you’re online. Sometimes, however, you’ll want to turn the firewall off in order to install a desirable program or to allow a remote technician access to your computer for technical support. After that, of course, it’s important to re-enable the firewall so that your computer is less vulnerable to attack.
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March 11, 2009

How to Detect Potentially Malicious Processes Running on Your Computer

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

by Tina Gasperson

If there’s one constant with Windows computers and the Internet, it’s that one must always remain vigilant. The Internet is a dangerous place for computers because some people with too much time on their hands are always looking for ways to exploit weaknesses in your system, whether those weaknesses come from your computer itself, or from operator error. One way you can stay on top of the nasties is to keep an eye on running processes to make sure nothing malicious is there.
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Best Ways to Get Microsoft Windows Updates

Filed under: computer performance,privacy & security,Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by David Hakala

Microsoft Windows needs to be kept up to date to close newly discovered security vulnerabilities and patch bugs that can degrade performance or crash your computer completely. There are several ways to get Microsoft’s frequently released Windows update packages, including one that works with Web browsers other than Internet Explorer.
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March 9, 2009

How and Where to Store Your Passwords Securely

Filed under: Internet,online computing,privacy & security — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

Even a fairly casual Internet user has a list of several different passwords for things such as email, banking, shopping, and discussion forums. Do you have trouble keeping track of your passwords? Or are you one of those who have decided to use the same password for all your accounts? It’s easy to see why someone would want to do that, but it’s a very insecure way to manage your Internet life. All a cracker has to do is figure out one password and they have access to all your memberships and accounts. It’s much better to make and maintain separate, hard-to-guess passwords for each and every online login you have.
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March 7, 2009

Help, My Task Manager Is Disabled

Filed under: computer performance,data storage and recovery,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 2:00 pm

by David Hakala

Windows’ built-in Task Manager is a pretty useful tool. It can help you shut down programs that are frozen or misbehaving. It can even shut down background processes that may be causing problems. Many people use Task Manager almost every day, so they are startled when they click on the Taskbar or press Ctl-Alt-Del and get something like this:

“Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator.”

If you work in an office that has a systems administrator go talk to him or her about the problem. But if you don’t have an administrator, how did Task Manager get disabled and how can you turn it back on?
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March 1, 2009

Using the NAME Function in Excel 97, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2007

Filed under: applications,computer hardware,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 9:00 am

by David Hakala

Excel formulas may require a lot of arguments. It can be hard to remember that “12*4” means 12 monthly payments for four years. It might be easier to read your formula if that argument read, “12Months*Years”. Well, you can give arguments and cells easily remembered names in Excel.
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February 27, 2009

How Can I Avoid Being Fooled by Internet Myths?

Filed under: Internet,privacy & security — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by Gabe Goldberg

The Internet is often like a big echo chamber: some yodels never die out — they echo from user to user, growing ever fainter, until someone sends them to a new mailing list or set of friends and they come roaring noisily back to life. Google “Craig Shergold” for an example of something that was real, is long outdated, and which keeps circulating.

If you’ve been online for a while, you likely receive abundant email every day, including jokes, spam, hoaxes, and alleged urgent warnings of terrible danger. But how can you tell a real threat from a bogus hoax?
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