LANcom Technology Blog

Is you notebook running as well as if could be? HP recommends that the following steps to tune up your notebook be taken four times a year.

Step 1: Preparation

Make sure your backups are stored in a safe place in case any problems occur. You should be backing up weekly if you can not manage it daily. You may also wish to check the free space on your hard drive, which you can do through My Computer by right clicking on the hard drive icon (usually c) and selecting Properties.

Step 2: Scan disk

The scan disk checks the hard disk for errors and should be preformed before defragging. To do this go through My Computer, right click on the hard drive icon, select Properties, then Tools, then Check Now and place ticks in all the boxes. Then click OK and Yes to ‘Schedule a full disk scan when the computer reboots’. Now restart the computer.

Step 3: Defragment

Disk Defragmenter consolidates fragmented files and then rearranges them to increase available space. Depending on your computer, it may take more than an hour to complete. To do this close all programs then click on Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Defragmenter and the follow instructions.

Step 4: Create a system restore point

A restore point is a ‘memory’ of system files and settings at a particular point in time. System Restore can automatically create a restore points or you can create restore points yourself when you need them. To do this Click Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Restore and follow instructions on the System Restore window.

Step 5: Deleting temporary files and directories

These files can build up and cause problems. To delete them, close all running programs and Select Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tool / Disk Cleanup. Place a check next to the type of files you want to delete (temporary files) and select OK.

Step 6: Remove unused programs

This frees up space for caching and virtual memory and is a critical step if the free space has dropped to below 5%. To do this click Start / Settings / Control Panel. Then open Add / Remove Programs. Click the Install / Uninstall tab and select the program to be deleted. Then click the Add / Remove or Change / Remove and OK buttons.

Step 7: Prevent memory leaks

Memory leaks are unused memory that Windows thinks is still valid. You can tell if you have one if your computer runs well when first turned on, but performs slower after several programs are opened and closed. For a permanent fix, isolate the program causing the leak by starting with a fresh session of Windows. Then press Ctrl+ Alt + Delete and select Task Manager. Review the CPU Usage % and the Available Physical Memory under the Performance tab. Open a suspect program then view the System Resources % again and write it down. Close and re-open the suspected program repeatedly, comparing the number to the ones you recorded. Each time, wait ten seconds before opening again. If the System Resources % or the Available Physical Memory continues to decrease, then a memory leak is occurring. You can then contact the program vendor for patches or fixes.

The full version of this article is available here.

Here’s a quick summery of just some of Windows Vista Business’s cool features and their benefits.

• Windows Fax and Scan – Allows you to respond more quickly to customers with integrated faxing and scanning.
• Instant search - Finds information and resources faster by instantly searching everything on your PC
• Windows Defender - Protects your PCs against spyware and other threats.
• Windows Backup and Restore - A simple wizard that automates backups, helps you out of a tight spot if you need to recover your entire system.
• Windows Aero – Allows you to find recently used documents quickly and easily
• Windows Easy Transfer - Automatically transfers all your files to a new P.C

More information on Windows Vista Business is available here.

Microsoft suggests some simple steps to ensure that your password security is the best it can be. Here’s a quick summery.

1. Don’t be complacent –Attacks do happen. There are three different ways hackers can get your password: brute force, dictionary attacks, and social engineering.

   Brute force involves using a program that tries every possible combination of letters numbers and keyboard characters to guess your password. A good password, one using eight characters in a combination of upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers and keyboard characters, can take around two years to crack.

   Dictionary attacks use a custom dictionary filled with names, words and number combinations to quickly crack simple passwords like ‘ilovemydog’ or ‘123456′.

   Social engineering attacks occur when a person solicits a password from an authorised user. For example those hackers who send out a large number of emails pretending to be a person’s bank and ask users to in put there password are using a social engineering attack.

2. Know what makes a bad password –

   -Do not use only letters or only numbers

   -Do not use a persons or pets name

   -Do not use phone numbers, birth dates or any other personal number.

   -Do not use the same word as your login

   -Do not use word’s that can be found in a dictionary

   -Never leave it blank

3. Get proficient at creating good passwords – a password should be easy to remember but difficult to guess. One way of creating a good password is to replace letters with numbers or characters. In the case of the example used above ‘ilovemydog’ can become 1l0ve^^yd0g. It should be at least eight characters in length and have a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and keyboard characters
4. Safeguard your password – Do not write it down. Instead if you are worried about forgetting it: use it straight away, log in and out several times through the day, and never change your password on a Friday or before a holiday. If for some reason you have to give your password out to someone else change it again as soon as possible.
5. Change your password often – Microsoft recommends changing your passwords every 30-90 days.

The full version of this article is available here.

According to the Microsoft website there are three sure fire signs that it is time for a new computer.

1. Your computer plays music when you start it up. This is a feature built in to some motherboards and it is your computers way of telling you that the microprocessor or microprocessor fan is failing. Or else it could mean that that power supply voltages are drifting out of tolerance.

    

2. Your computer makes a grinding noise when you start it up or else a message comes up which informs you that Drive C could not be found. This can be a sign that the hard drive is failing. Rebooting the computer may temporarily fix the problem but if the hard drive is about fail and you are not already making backups of all your information you need start, and fast.

    

3. Your computer can’t handle Windows XP or certain software applications. Windows XP crashes much less frequently than previous versions such as ME or 98. If you are running one of these older versions and your computer can not handle moving to XP, or if there are software applications that you want but your computer will not run, then its time to look at getting a new computer.

The full version of this article is available here. Or if you would like to talk to us about new computers for your business you can contact us at info@lancom.co.nz

Here is a list of short cut keys strokes that may just save you some time when using Microsoft Excel.

(The Alt keys are on either side of the spacebar, the CTRL keys are the left and right corner of the bottom row of keys)

Many of the short cuts key strokes used in Microsoft Word also can be used in Excel such as Ctrl+c for copying the selected text. To view the list of Word shortcut keystrokes see my earlier post ‘Want to save time in when using Microsoft word?’