Software

Backing Up Your Files

September 26, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

EJ wrote to ask about backing up his computer:

Terry, what program do you use to back up your files

I use two programs routinely.

First, every evening, I use Karen’s Replicator (www.karenware.com, free for personal, non-business use) to copy my data files to another computer across my home network. Not only does this give me a backup copy in case of the inevitable, accidental error (such as editing a file, saving it, and then realizing that I forgot to save it with a different file name), it also gives me a backup in case of a failure of my hard drive.

Replicator lets me set up multiple tasks and specify the day of the week and the time for them to be performed. If I set several for the same time, they will run in the order listed.

I also use Replicator to make a backup of certain files on my hard drive to another location on my hard drive. This gives me an easily accessible copy for that brain-freeze error.

Then, on a weekly basis, I use Acronis True Image Home 11 to make an image of my C: drive. I have True Image set to store that image on another computer on my home network.

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Filed Under: Backup, Software, Storage, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized

Choosing to Send Plain Text or HTML in Outlook Emails

August 29, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

One of the first things many people do, when they find that Outlook will let them use different fonts and stationery in their emails, is to start experimenting.

While personal friends may think these are cute, we quickly realize that many others don’t want to all the glitz and glitter — they read emails and mailing lists for information. In some cases, the email programs display all the formatting codes in addition to the text we wrote, so the message effectively becomes unreadable. By he way, these emails are formatted using HTML (the language of web browsers like Internet Explorer) by default.

Fortunately, Outlook allows us to easily…

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Filed Under: Communications, Software, Tips & Tricks

VIPRE Does Vista!

August 23, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

Sunbelt Software’s VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware does Windows Vista — not just Vista home, not just Vista 32-bit. VIPRE does Vista!

According to the VIPRE requirements page, it supports the following operating systems:
# Windows 2000 SP4 RollUp 1
# Windows Server 2003
# Windows Server 2008
# Windows XP SP1, SP2, SP3 (Home, Pro, Media Center, Tablet) 32 and 64-bit
# Windows Vista+ (All flavors) 32 and 64-bit

Read my review of VIPRE or click here for more information

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-Spyware, Anti-virus, Software, System Security, Tips & Tricks, Vista, Windows Xp

Speeding Up the Windows Boot Process

July 29, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

I recently made some boot changes to a notebook computer that resulted in a remarkable increase in the boot speed.

It was a small, light Sony — one of the 12-inch monitor models.

Tech Humor
With notebooks, you can get small, light, fast and cheap.
Pick any two…

In this particular case, the notebook took 4.5 minutes to boot, and it’s owner wanted it to be much faster.

I referred to my favorite tool to get his boot process under control — Winpatrol Plus.

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Filed Under: Admin Control, Free Software, Software, System Security, System Stability, Tips & Tricks, Vista, Windows Xp

OpenOffice to the Rescue

July 13, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

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Subscriber Helen wrote about a software problem:

Terry, while my computer was being worked on I was told I had word pad but needed the code to be able to open it. Can you help me open it in order that I might be able to use it. I do not like notepad which I am able to open. Helen

I responded to Helen, hoping to clarify the problem.

The computer repair person probably told her that she had Word installed, meaning Microsoft Word, rather than saying Wordpad. Wordpad is included in Windows at no extra cost.

Word, on the other hand, often comes as a pre-installed TRIAL verion — that will cost you full price to register. You have to have a Product Key code to run Microsoft Word; you don’t for Wordpad.

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Filed Under: Free Software, Office 2007, Software, Tips & Tricks

Sunbelt Personal Firewall Now Does Vista!

July 11, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

Sunbelt Software released a new version of their Sunbelt Personal Firewall, which is my choice for my compute and my family’s computers, on July 7th. The new version supports Windows Vista, which Sunbelt has been promising.

Why do I use the Sunbelt Personal Firewall and not just the Windows XP firewall? The Windows XP Firewall would only stops attempts by other computers to access my computer. The Sunbelt Personal Firewall is a two-way firewall to control inbound and outbound communications. That way, I can control programs that want to "call home" or otherwise access other computers.

Why would I use the Sunbelt Personal Firewall and not the Windows Vista firewall? Microsoft finally woke up and made the Windows Vista firewall a two-wa firewall. However, I expect that it, like the firewalls from some of SPF’s competitors, allows Microsoft’s products to freely communicate with the Internet. I like the Advanced installation setting of SPF because it does not pre-authorize any programs.

For those who want free software, Sunbelt Personal Firewall has a free license for home non-business computers. Of course, like many of its competitors, the paid version has more features than the free version. Either way, the program you download is the same — it’s a fully-functional trial for 30-days.

After 30 days, you can purchase a license for the paid version. If you don’t purchase a license, or after your license expires if you don’t renew it, if you qualify, you can use the free license for the reduced-function free version. The web site clearly shows which functions are included with the paid license that are not available with the free version.

I have the "paid version" on my Windows computers and my family’s computers.

The 1-year license pricing options are: $19.95 for one license, $24.96 for two computers, $29.94 for 3 computers, or $39.95 for the 1-year Unlimited Home Site License (which lets you put it on all your home non-business computers. They have similar discounts for 2- and 3-year options, too.

Download the full-function 30-day trial of Sunbelt Personal Firewall

Or, read my review of Sunbelt Personal Firewall

Google Pack Now Includes StarOffice

July 9, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

Google made a big change in the Google Pack recently. The free Google Pack software package started out with free Google applications like Google Earth, Google Desktop, the Google Photos Screensaver and Picasa (the photo-editing program that Google purchased). All of those are great, but Google didn’t stop there.

Google began including other programs like Firefox (with the added Google toolbar), Adobe Reader, RealPlayer, Spyware Doctore (Starter Edition), Norton Security Scan ,Google Talk, and Skype.

Now, you can add Sun Microsystem’s StarOffice to the list! What’s StarOffice?

We have to go back four or five years for the answer. Sun Microsystems purchased an office suite and named it StarOffice. Originally available for Linux, Unix and Solaris, StarOffice was a complete suite including spreadsheet, word processor, database, fonts, themes and more. Some of these were from the original and/or developed by Sun. Others were licensed third-party products incorporated into StarOffice.

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Filed Under: Free Software, Software, Tips & Tricks