Gem State Computers

Quick Tip - Windows

2009-01-20T12:31:00.003-07:00

Want to minimize all windows at once? Try this key combo, Windows Key + D. The same combo will restore all windows if repeated.

William - GemStateComputers.com

Quick Tip - Firefox

2009-01-20T12:26:00.002-07:00

Like using tabs in Firefox? Hate having to right click to select "Open Link in New Tab"?
Then you will love this tip.. Just hold down the Ctrl button while you click the link you want open in a new tab.

William - GemStateComputers.com

Norton 2009

2009-01-05T00:58:00.003-07:00

If you have read anything that I have written about AV software, you probably know that I have not been fond of Norton's products. This year however they have made some changes, and the changes are for the better. I absolutely love their new AV package. It does only what it needs to do and nothing more. Great AV great AS (Anti-Spyware) good deal for about $40.00. You should still avoid Norton 360 and their Internet Security Suite though.

William - www.GemStateComputers.com

Click here for a 90 day trial of Norton 2009 (make sure you get Norton 2009 and not Norton 360)

Happy Computing

Quick Tip - File Explorer

2007-12-31T12:56:00.001-07:00

Are you one of those people that are constantly using my computer to get to files on your hard drive? Well if you are and you don't want shortcuts all over your desktop, try this key combo to speed things up. Windows key + E. Opens the file explorer for you.

William - GemStateComputers

Tip - HD Computer monitor

2007-12-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

Quick tip for everyone that got a HD-TV this holiday season. It can be used as a display for your computer. Just hook it using the appropriate cable and blammo, you have a huge monitor.

William - GemStateComputers

Name Change

2007-11-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

We have officially changed our name from Computers Plus to Gem State Computers

William - Gem State Computers

www.GemStateComputers.com

Where did my Hard Drive go?

2007-08-01T20:32:00.000-06:00

Out of hard drive space? Don't know what is taking up all your space. Well tryout spacemonger. Spacemonger will give you a visual representation of what is eating your hard drive. It is a great program for demystifying what is in your computer and if you stick with v1.4 it is free.

William - ComputersPlus

www.KillerTechSupport.com
www.The-Computer-Helpers.com
www.TheComputerSurgeon.com

Tired of transfering your phone info

2007-08-01T20:20:00.000-06:00

Are you sick of transferring your phone info by hand. Or perhaps you just want to keep a backup of the info on your phone. Either way I've got the answer for you. www.DataPilot.com

So check it out. Let us know if you like it.

William - ComputersPlus

www.KillerTechSupport.com
www.The-Computer-Helpers.com
www.TheComputerSurgeon.com

Tip - E-mail

2007-05-03T12:29:00.000-06:00

Ever get E-mail from someone where it has a paragraph or more of others E-mail addresses? Ever thought that might be considered rude? Well don't be an offender. If you mass mail then do the polite thing. Use BCC: instead of the TO: line for addressing. BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy. It means that the persons on the list get the E-mail without seeing who else got it. Now you can E-mail your heart out and not worry that you will be giving away others addresses.

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

Tired of Adobe Reader, then Foxit

2007-04-17T12:57:00.000-06:00

Are you tired of Adobe PDF reader and all its "I need an update every time I start" glory. Or perhaps you are just sick of it taking thirty seconds to load every time you use it.

If so try out Foxit. It is free it is small and it is fast. It also has all the features of the Adobe Reader as well. So give it a try and say bye bye to Adobe

William - Computers Plus

www.KillerTechSupport.com

Bookmarks Simplified

2007-04-01T12:55:00.000-06:00

Do you have multiple computers that you often use to browse the internet? Are you sick of not having the same bookmarks/favorites on each of your computers? If so, I've got a couple programs for you.

If you use Fire Fox (and I hope you do) then check out Fox Marks

If you prefer IE7 (I'll forgive you) then check out Zinkmo

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

Good Passwords

2007-03-26T14:28:00.000-06:00

Get sick of trying to create good passwords. Don't know what a good password entails? Then check out GRC's Password page it also has a password generator for most types of passwords. GRC is also the home to what in my opinion is the best hard drive utility around "Spin Rite"

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

Quick Tip - Google Home

2007-03-26T06:43:00.001-06:00

Do you use Google as your home page? Did you know that you can personalize it to your specific needs? They also now released themes that you can apply to the page as well. Just click select theme on the right side of the page near add stuff. Try it out you will probably find some stuff you like.

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

Security Update - Wireless Access Fix

2007-03-15T12:39:00.000-06:00

If you are using and or your computer has wireless capabilities, then I have an update for you. This will fix a problem where you computer will try and connect to other computers with out your knowledge. You should download and install the fix ASAP. You can get it from Microsoft or you can access it at my file server - (login = security / pass = update) you will find it under the security updates folder.

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

Quick Tip

2007-03-13T20:32:00.000-06:00

Do you use the icon in the upper left corner of system and application windows? A quick double-click closes the window (instead of a single click on the X at the upper right). Though Microsoft left the icon out in Vista, the function remains.

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

Remotely Control your PC

2007-03-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

Have you ever needed to run a program on your computer while you are away from home? Or maybe you just want to tell you computer to do a defrag of the hard drive and you happen to be sitting in your office at work. It's too bad you can't access your computer over the internet while you are away. But wait you can. Many solutions exist. My current favorite is LogMeIn they have a free version which is adequate for most people. The free version will give you the advanced controls for 90 days free anyway. Now all you need is access to the internet and you can take control of your PC while away from the keyboard.

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com

Cameras & Camcorders

2007-02-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

Looking for a new camera or camcorder? Don't know where you can get reliable and unbiased info. Well, look no further than www.camcorderinfo.com and www.digitalcamerainfo.com
These guys are great and can tell you what is really important to look for. Check them out

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

Wiki What?

2007-02-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia. Possibly one of the most useful Information Sites on the web today. You can use it to look up just about anything. Give it a try

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com

General Tip - Club Cards

2007-02-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

Do you shop? Ofcourse you do. Got a wallet/purse of club cards? Want to consolidate those down to one card? Well with www.JustOneClubCard.com you can.

If you want to print your own bar codes for other things, or just have interest in how they work, then check out www.milk.com

William - Computers Plus
www.KillerTechSupport.com
E-Mail Me

Gates vs. Jobs

2007-02-25T22:59:00.001-07:00

Great Fun

Quick Tip - Eye Saver

2007-02-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

If you are still using a CRT, that is a monitor that is not based on LCDs then you can probably improve your experience by upping your refresh rate.

To do this, first right click the desktop. Select properties. Click on the settings tab. Next click the advanced button. Now select the monitor tab. Check the box to "hide modes that this monitor cannot display". Now from the pull down menu select the highest number listed. This is the refresh rate, the number of times a second that the screen is redrawn. Higher is better because it has less flicker and causes less eye strain. Click apply. At this point you might be prompted to keep the new settings, select yes. Don't be suprised if your screen looks an odd shape now. If you need to make monitor adjustments at this time, do it. If you are uncomfortable making those types of adjustments then change the refresh rate back to what it was before.

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com

Quick Tip - Firefox Font Size

2007-02-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever found yourself squinting to read the fonts on some of these web pages? If so and you use Firefox then you are in luck. just press The Control Key and the Plus or minus key at the same time (Ctrl and + or -) and the fonts will increase or decrease in size. simple as that. if however you use Internet Explorer 7 you are not totally out of luck you can use the same key combinations and it will zoom in and out, effectively having the same results.

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com

Quick Tip - Firefox

2007-02-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

If you aren't using Mozilla's Firefox, here is one more reason to give it a shot. Ctrl + Shift + T
= reopen the last tab closed. Extremely handy. Give it a whirl

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com

More In depth - Data Back Up

2007-02-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to continue my tirade about backing up data. First you need a back up system that makes it easy for you to easily create back ups. I should mention that the data that we are interested in maintaining copies of are usually changeables, that is files that get edited/updated regularly - eg. Documents, E-mails, Contacts lists, Bookmarks etc. There are also the files that you want back ups of that don't change often. Most notably Music, Videos, and Pictures.

So the first line of defense is knowing what to back up, discussed above. Next, where are these files located? Most programs have a default location that they save files to. Again most programs will allow you to change that default location. I highly recommend that you change the default location to a specific "data" folder if not to a independent drive/partition.

From this point all you need is a back up mechanism. Be it a program, I recommend 2nd Copy found here, or an alarm clock that prompts you to do it manually. So you have created you back up files now what? Where to store them and how many you need are the questions you need to answer. I would next like to point out that one copy is not enough. Why you ask? Read on.

Ideally you want multiple copies. You would have a copy on a separate hard drive that is portable for quick and easy retrieval, (fire/flood etc.) and another copy be it, on DVD, hard drive, or the Internet, that is kept off the premises. Trust worthy friends, lock boxes, or whatever works for you. Always try and think worst case scenario.

Data retrieval is extremely slow and expensive. Therefore you want to have some redundancy in your system, hence the multiple copies. Hard drives fail a lot, its not if its when. Modern hard drives are rated in hours till failure. Some of the newer ones have a failure rate of 3% right off the shelf! Now i'm not trying to scare you here. I am trying to prepare you for what can happen and how you will respond to this. Will you lose everything? Or will you only lose the things that have been changed since your last back up?

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com

Life Saver

2007-02-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about the most expensive and arguably the most important part of your computer, your data. Is your data important to you? If not, if you can lose everything on your computer without it effecting you, then great. Skip this one. If however you are like most people. That is to say that you have e-mail, photos, documents, addresses, and basically keep your whole life on your computer. Don't you think that you should have a back up of all that data?

Well, do you? Some people are religious at making backups. Some people can do it manually and never forget. I am neither of those people. So, if you are like me and don't back up enough or would like to automate the process because you don't have the time, then I have the program for you.

It is called 2nd Copy. It works great and is inexpensive. $29.00 You can get it here
They have a 30 day trial, so you can try before you buy. I'm using it and it has plenty of options so you are sure to find a style of back up that is right fro you.

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com

Quick Tip - Reduce Eye strain

2007-02-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

Turn on clear type. If you are using Windows XP try turning on clear type. To do this right click your desktop select properties. Select the appearance tab and click the effects button. Check the box labeled "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" then in the drop down list select clear type. Your eyes will thank you.

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com

Welcome to My Blog

2007-02-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. For those of you who are new to this stuff and don't know what a blog is. I'll start by explaining that. A Blog is user generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blog (shortened version of weblog) The idea being to keep up with a certain person(s) daily life. They also offer interactivity in some cases allowing the users/readers to make comments.

I will mostly use this as an avenue to add my thoughts on computers, tech and the like. I will certainly try and update it as often as time permits. I know however that I will not make those updates as often as I would like too.

Again as I said this will mostly pertain to my site www.killertechsupport.com and any new tidbits of info I might have for the general computer user. If you have specific topics that you would like me to address, please feel free to email me

William - Computers Plus
www.killertechsupport.com