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E-mail |
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Contacts and Calendar |
If you use e-mail software
on your computer e.g.
Outlook,
Outlook Express, Endora,
etc, and want to have the
same
contacts (address book) and
calendar on multiple
computers
e.g. desktop and laptop,
you can do this easy with a
free
service from Plaxo
(www.plaxo.com).
It has the added
pluses
of both backing up your
contacts and calendar
folders and
automatically. updating
your contacts if your
contacts are
also Plaxo users You
download and install
software from
Plaxo to all the computers
you want to be synchronized
and
follow the instructions I
have found the free service
version to
work seamlessly with MS
Outlook. |
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Executable File
Attachments |
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Most e-mail
services block
messages containing
executable file
attachments (files
names with
extensions ending
in .EXE.
I most
cases, a way around
this problem change
the file extension
name to something
like .TXT.
When you do
this change, ignore
the Windows message
that tells you that
the file maybe
unusable.
In your
e-mail containing
this new file,
remember to tell
the recipient to
change back the
file extension to
.EXE. |
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Large File Attachments |
Large file attachments to
e-mails often cause
problems such as
limits on size by either
your internet provider (IP)
or your recipients
IP.
One solution is to
send these files via free
file transfer services.
There are several such
services available.
I use You Sent It
(www.yousendit.com) which I
find easy to use.
You go to
their website give name of
e-mail recipient, write a
short note to recipient,
upload the file you want to
send and then send it off.
Your recipient then
only receives your short
e-mail which includes
instructions on how
to download the from You
Send It.
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MS Outlook Distribution
Lists |
If you update a
contact's e-mail
address and that
contact is in
a distribution list, the
contact's e-mail address is
NOT automatically
updated
in the distribution list.
You must update the
distribution list
manually by opening the
distribution list, deleting
the outdated contact,
and then select and add the
contact back onto the list. |
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MS Outlook Personal Folders
Back-up |
If you use MS
Outlook 2003
and 2007
to read your
e-mails, MS has a
free downloadable
piece of software (www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8B081F3A-B7D0-4B16-B8AF-5A6322F4FD01&displaylang=en)
which can
automatically back
up all your folders
e.g. inbox,
calendar, contacts.
It is easy
to install and
download.
If you
back-up to an
external hard drive
or a CD, you never
have to worry about
having lost your
e-mail files if
your computer
fails.
I backup to
a
folder on my
external hard
drive. |
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Internet |
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MS Internet
Explorer 8 |
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If you have
installed IE8 and
now have a problem
reading some web
pages properly, it
is likely caused by
some websites not
updating their
formatting. The
potential fix is
using the the
compatibility
button in IE8
(looks like a torn
piece of paper).
It appears,
when the browser
detects defects, in
the top toolbar,
just to the right
of the address
field. |
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Printing Web Pages |
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When you print web
pages you often get
lots of stuff you
don't need or want
printed.
One way
around this is to
just highlight the
text you want on
the web page you
are viewing, copy
it, open MS Word to
a blank page and
paste the copied
material.
Alternately
you can use the
free web service
Print What You
Like.
Just copy the URL
of the webpage you
want to print, go
to
www.printyoulike.com
in your browser, in
the box on Print
What You Like's web
page paste in or
type in the URL
which you copied
and follow the
instructions. |
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Software |
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Anti-virus &
Malware/Spyware |
Never
install or run two
anti-virus software
programs on a computer
as potential conflicts can
arise. It is,
however, normally okay to
have
multiple malware/spyware
programs installed.
I have found it useful
to run several of these
programs as that sometimes
one (or more) of
the malware/spyware
programs do not detect
potential problems.
In
addition to having
Norton Internet Security
which includes a spyware
program, I have the well
recommended
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
(www.malwarebytes.org )
installed (free).
Also I run Microsoft's
malicious detection and
removal software tool
which is found bi-weekly in
the an MS Download
Notifications free
newsletter and which
you can sign up for
at
https://profile.microsoft.com/RegSysProfileCenter. |
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Computer & File Back-ups |
If you don't
already own an
external hard
drive, you should
seriously consider
getting one for at
least using it to
backup up your
important files or
entire computer
hard drive.
Large external hard
drives have
become really inexpensive
and easy to install
(connecting to a USB2 port
on your computer. They
require no software for
operating systems such
as MS Windows XP as these
systems recognize the drive
and assign it
a letter just like your C
drive and you can create
folders on the external
drive just like you do on
your C drive.
There numerous
methods to making
back-ups, some of which
are:
1. Manual
Back-ups for Files or
Folders - A. Just copy a
file or folder to
your back-up external hard
drive or to a CD,
B. Use MS Windows Back-up
which compresses the files
and folders so less backup
storage space
(Start - All Programs -
Accessories - System Tools
- Back-up)
2. Automated
Back-up for Files or
Folders - A. There a number
of are
software programs that just
do files and folders e.g.
McAfee Security
Suite comes with one
bundled with it. B Others
software programs can
back-up your entire hard
drive as well as also
individual files and
folders.
e.g. Symantec's Norton
Ghost and Acronis's True
Image Home,
I used
Acronis's True Image Home
to automatically back up my
total hard drive and
set it to make daily
incremental back-ups of
changes from day to day.
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MS Office |
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If you are using an
older version (2003
or older) of MS
Office (Word,
Excel, PowerPoint)
and are now
receiving documents
MS documents you
cannot open, it is
likely that these
documents are in
the newer MS Office
2007 format.
The fix is
easy.
MS has a free
software program
for users of older
versions of Office
which allows them
to open and edit
documents received
in MS 2007 formats.
The
compatibility pack
from MS can be
found and
downloaded at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en |
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PDF File Creation |
Microsoft Office 2003 &
2007 programs have the
built in capability
to save documents in PDF
format. However there may
be times
when would like to save
some other document in PDF
format
before transmitting to
third party. You don't
have to buy the
expensive Adobe suite to do
so. You can use a free
utility PDF file
converter from Bullzip.
Download it from
www.bullzip.com .
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Printing Directory of
Folders in Windows Explorer
(not Internet Explorer) |
If you have created lots of
folders and sub-folders
like I have,
you probably wish there was
a way of printing an index
of these
folders to make things
easier to find. Well the
solution is a simple
to use free piece of
software from Karenware
called Karen's
Directory Printer. You can
download it at
www.karenware.com . |
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Zip Files |
While
there many forms of zip
files with most being able
to be opened
with Windows, there are
some Windows won't open.
In particular
I have found this to be the
case with some free books
zipped with the
file ending "RAR". The
free and easy to use IZArc
file compression /
decompression utility from
IZArc (
www.izarc.org ) will
decompress
almost any compression
scheme.
DO
NOT download it from the
link
on IZArc site.
Download it from
http://download.cnet.com/IZArc/3000-2250_4-1002425.html
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Cell Phones |
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Directions by Phone |
DIR-ECT-IONS, is a free
(other than your normal
phone connection
charge) service for
'directions by phone call
available nationwide to
all cities in the
continental U.S. Anyone can
get driving directions
by calling from their cell
phone -- dial the word
D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N-S
(347-328-4667) tell the
voice-activated service a
starting address
and destination address and
instantly receive a text
message with
MapQuest driving
directions.
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Web Information by Phone |
ChaCha is a free (other
than your normal phone
connection
charge) easy way to ask
questions via Web Search
using your cell
phone. To use
ChaCha, dial 800-224-2242
and state your
question.
In a few minutes you
will you will get an
answer via a
text message.
It allows follow-up
questions if clarification
is
required. |
Wireless
Printer
Connections |
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Given that many of
our computer
devices are moving
more and more to
wireless
connections, I
thought that I
might pass along a
lesson learned
moment to you which
may help you avoid
potentially hours
of grief in the
future.
I recently switched over my
AT&T services (DSL,
landline phone and
satellite TV) to AT&T
U-Verse which controls DSL,
phone and TV wirelessly
through one common modem.
After the installation,
everything seem to work
well with both my desktop
and laptop computers
connecting wirelessly to
internet through the
modem. Naturally after the
installers left, I found
that my one wireless, HP
Laserjet, printer was not
connecting with my
computers. After
dialogistic and
re-installation (always
getting the message that I
have successfully connected
to wireless network but
computer unable to connect
to printer), I called
AT&T’s technical service
but they blew me off saying
it was printer problem. I
then did numerous internet
searches on internet but,
after many additional
hours, could find nothing
that worked although others
had similar problems. I
then proceeded to post a
help message on HP’s site
and got a prompt unofficial
response from an HP
employee to try un-powering
the modem /router then
repower it and then start
over with installation.
This HP advice, which
worked like a charm, was
contrary to the advice of
both AT&T installation guy
who when I specially asked
if I needed to shutdown
modem /router (since it is
good practice to
occasionally do so with
just a simply dsl only
connection so the system
resets) said you never have
to do it. HP person told
me this is a common problem
with routers and they
should be repowered
occasionally to avoid
problems like this one. |
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