February 4, 2009

Windows Live SkyDrive

I’m always moving my files from one computer to another using my flash drive, but sometimes it’s just not practical to use it. One of my computers only has a USB port in the back, which makes it hard to access and even more, sometimes my drive gets so full, I can't fit anything else on it. Well, that's when Windows Live SkyDrive comes in handy. Let's check it out!

Windows Live SkyDrive is like a USB drive, but it’s Internet based. Simply put, you can upload your documents and download them on any computer that has access to the Internet. Want to learn more? Well, here’s how you can get the service for yourself!

1.) First, go to the SkyDrive Web site here.

2.) Next, click on the Get Started button at the bottom of the page.

3.) You’ll need a Windows Live ID to use SkyDrive. If you already have one, go ahead and sign in. If you don’t, there’s a Sign Up button on the next page.

4.) Once you’re all logged in, you'll find yourself on the SkyDrive personal homepage. To edit your profile, click on Edit Profile.

5.) Here’s how I set up my profile:

6.) Once you’re done editing, click Save.

7.) Now, to add files to your SkyDrive, click Add Files, which is located half-way down the page.

online cialis src=”http://imgsrv.worldstart.com/ct-images/drivesky4.jpg” border=”1″ width=”450″ height=”68″ />

8.) Select the folder you want to add your files to (documents, favorites, etc.) and then use the upload tool to upload to your heart’s content!

To access your files again, simply log in and click on the file you want. Easy as pie!

Permalink • Print • Comment

Windows Installer Cleanup Utility

Today, I'd like to share a little Microsoft utility with you that just might save your day! It's a free download and it's called the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. It has a couple of small, yet helpful features if you ever happen to find yourself in a bind. Let's take a look!

Have you ever started up your computer and had the Windows Installer open automatically and try to install a program? If that's never happened to you, you're one of the lucky ones. When that type of problem happens, there are some very complicated steps to fix it. Luckily, Microsoft realized that and they created the Installer Cleanup Utility. In most cases, the utility will fix those issues.

The utility also fixes installer issues that are caused by incomplete installations. If you've ever had an install fail and you can't get it fixed on your own, the Cleanup Utility may be able to help you as well!

The Windows Installer Cleanup Utility is simple to download and run. Simply go here and scroll down the page a little bit. Then click on the link that says "Download the Windows non prescription cialis Installer Cleanup Utility package now."

At that point, you can choose Save or Run, depending on whether or not you want to save it to your computer. Either way, this utility is a great resource. Enjoy!

Permalink • Print • Comment

Giving It a Clean Boot

Have you ever tried to install a program and it just wouldn't go? You know, you try it several times, but no matter what you do, it just doesn't install properly. I bet almost everyone out there has run into this at least once and today, I'm going to share a tip with you that I use daily when helping people install programs.

You know about safe mode, right? It's the way a computer can be started to try and fix problems when it won't boot up correctly. Safe mode is great for fixing major problems, but most of the time, it's too restrictive to try and fix less troublesome issues. If you're having trouble installing a program and safe mode doesn't help you, you may want to try a lesser known startup mode, called clean boot.

The clean boot mode is somewhat like safe mode. It makes the computer start up with fewer features running and no background programs. The main difference is while safe mode won't allow you to do many things with your programs, the clean boot mode will. That way, you can start your computer in the clean boot mode, try to install the troublesome program and finally succeed. So, without further ado, here's how you can start your computer in the clean boot mode!

For Windows XP:

1.) Go to Start, Run.

2.) Type in "msconfig" (without the quotes) and click OK.

3.) Under the General tab, you should see that your computer is on Normal Startup. Select Selective Startup and then uncheck the following boxes:

  • "process system.ini file"

  • "process win.ini file"

  • "load startup items"

When you're finished with that, your screen will look like the picture below:

Note: If your computer was already on Selective Startup, you may want to consider not finishing this tip. If your system is already set that way, someone has already modified your startup configurations. Therefore, you may end up altering those configurations by switching over to the clean boot and that may cause undesired results.

4.) Next, go to the Services tab and put a check next to "Hide all Microsoft services." Then click on the Disable All button.

5.) Click OK and you will be prompted to restart your computer.

After your system restarts, it will be in the clean boot mode. Try to install the program you were having trouble with. After you're done, you'll need to put your system back into the normal mode. Here's how:

1.) Go to Start, Run.

2.) Type in "msconfig" (without the quotes) and click OK.

3.) Under the General tab, select Normal Startup.

4.) Click OK and then restart your computer once more.

For Windows Vista:

1.) Go to Start and type "msconfig" (without the quotes) in the search box. Then hit Enter on your keyboard.

2.) If you're prompted for an Administrator password or for a confirmation, type in the password or click Continue.

3.) You'll then see a screen labeled "System Configuration." On that screen, select Selective Startup and uncheck the box that says "Load startup items."

Note: If your computer was already on Selective Startup, you may want to consider not finishing this tip. If your system is already set that way, someone has already modified your startup configurations. You may end up altering those configurations by switching over to the clean boot and that may cause undesired results.

4.) Next, go to the Services tab and put a check next to "Hide all Microsoft services." Then click on the Disable All button.

5.) Click OK and you'll be prompted to restart your computer.

After your system restarts, it will be in the clean boot mode. Try to install the program you were having trouble with. After you're done, you'll need to put your system back into the normal mode. Here's how:

1.) Go to Start, type "msconfig" (without the quotes) in the search box and hit Enter on your keyboard.

2.) If natural cialis you're prompted for an Administrator password or for a confirmation, type in the password or click Continue.

3.) You'll then see a screen labeled "System Configuration." On that screen, select Normal Startup and click OK.

After your computer restarts again, you'll be back to normal. Yes!

Permalink • Print • Comment

Google SearchWiki

Have you heard the good news?! Well, Google Search has just become a bit more like Wikipedia. The new feature is called SearchWiki and as long as you’re logged in to your Google account, you can access it. It's so easy to work with too. For example, you can tell if it’s on or not by simply looking at your search results:

And here’s what those little symbols mean:

This is the Promote button. You can click on it when you like the search result it’s next to and you would like it to appear at the top of your search results in the future.

This is the Remove button. When you don’t want a search result to appear again, click this and it won’t bother you anymore!

This is the Comment button. You can leave comments about a certain search result and other users will be able to see it as well. It will use your Google account nickname, so if that's identifying at all, you may not want to use this feature.

You could say I’m a bit of a Web search purist! I mean, I don’t even like the ads on the right hand side of the Google search pages. Unfortunately, for people like me, SearchWiki is included by default. But if you don't want it, there are two ways you can get around it.

1.) Add the tag "&hl=all" to the end of every Google search URL you submit. That can be a little repetitive, but it's one of your options.

2.) Install the Greasemonkey script here. If you're not quite sure, Greasemonkey is an add on for Firefox that allows you medicament cialis to change how Web pages are displayed for you. Either way you go, happy Googling!

Permalink • Print • Comment

A Simple Home Network

A home network has many uses. With a home network, each computer in the network may have access to every other computer in the network. This way, all of the music can be on one computer, your kids can play games against each other at the same time (or do homework), all of the computers can share one printer, and countless other reasons. As the high-speed Internet access trend continues, the need for a home network becomes almost necessary.

Here is how to set up a simple home network between two computers using a DSL modem:

The Hardware Setup

Before we configure Windows, we must first make sure everything is plugged in correctly. We must begin with the device that the phone company sent to you. This is called a modem or a router. We must make sure that the first computer can access the Internet before we move on to the second. Below are the steps to follow to set up the hardware in your home network:

1. Plug in the DSL modem that the telephone company gave to you next to a phone jack.
2. Plug in a telephone line from the phone jack to the DSL modem.
3. This is where the home network begins. If you just had one computer in your house, you would connect it directly to lowest cost cialis the DSL modem here. Instead, we are going to connect a switch to the DSL modem. Below is a LinkSys switch that you may purchase at your local computer store:

Plug the switch into the wall now.

4. The wire used to connect the switch to the DSL modem is called a straight through CAT5 cable. Connect one end to the DSL modem and the other end to the Uplink port on the Switch. When you are finished connecting the switch to the DSL modem, the switch should appear as follows:

5. Now we can connect any of the leftover LAN ports to the computers that are in the home. Simply connect another CAT5 straight through wire from the back of the PC to any of the leftover LAN ports on the switch:

6. Turn your computers on. If your computers were on, it is still OK. The green lights on the switch will indicate that your computers are talking to the switch.

This is all that is required of the hardware setup. This is called an Ethernet network. If you would like to setup a wireless (802.11b) network in your house, simply substitute a wireless switch (or hub) for the Ethernet switch shown above. Please note that your computers will then require wireless network cards.

The Software Setup

Yesterday, we learned how to install a home network via a DSL modem. We must now configure Windows to allow the computers to talk to one another. Below are the instructions required to setup a network in Windows: (see below for Windows XP instructions.)

1. Using the Windows start menu, proceed to Start, Settings, Control Panel .

2. This will bring up the Windows control panel. Once the control panel appears, double-click on System .

3. This will bring up the system properties configuration tool. When this comes up, click on the Network Identification tab.

4. Once this appears, click on the Network ID button. This will bring up the Network Identification Wizard. Click Next .

5. Once the next button is clicked, the wizard will ask if this computer is going to be part of a business network or for home use. At this point, we would like to choose the “This computer is part of a business network, and I use it to connect to other computers at work” option. Of course, a home network is not at your work or business, but we are going to select this in order to connect to other computers.

6. The next step in the wizard is the Domain step. A home network is not part of a domain. Therefore, we would like to select the “My company uses a network without a domain” option. Once this is selected, press the Next button.

7. The next step is the Workgroup step. Please insert a suitable name for your workgroup in the space provided. Once a name has been chosen, click Next . Note: All of the computers on your network must be a member of the same workgroup.

8. Finally, we are finished with the Network Identification wizard.

Simply click the Finish button and restart your machine. The computer you just configured is now a part of the workgroup that you created. To add more machines to your home network, go to step one and start over on the new machine.

XP Users:
Simply click on Start, Control Panel. Then select Network and Internet Connections, followed by Network Connections. In the next window, select "Set up a home or small office network" from the left side bar. This will bring up the Network Identification Wizard. Click Next after reading the Welcome and the Network Identification Wizard will begin to walk you through the set-up procedure much like stated above.

Once you are finished, all of the machines on your home network can now see each other. It is now possible to configure your computers to share hard drives, printers, and other devices that are connected to all of your computers. This way you won't have to keep moving floppy disk around when you want to print something on another computer.

Permalink • Print • Comment
« Previous PageNext Page »
Made with WordPress and an easy to customize WordPress theme • Sky Gold skin by Denis de Bernardy