FireflyJar.net

 The internet is a dangerous place for your computer, if your computer was not online it would last forever.

All to often I hear computer users complain their computer slowed to a crawl, most likely compromised by a virus or malware.  Viruses not only comes through emails and file downloads but just from browsing the web as well, and does not always get picked up from Antivirus programs.  Even I got hit a few times, then I started using Firefox since most was coming through IE security holes and ActiveX, worked well for a couple years, but now they are getting through on Firefox too.   I set up a computer for a family with 4 kids, every few months I got called in to fix problems, many times I had to reinstall the OS, until finally I put everyone  as ‘Limited user’ and it ran for couple years! wasn’t until one of the kids decided to use the one Administrator login as his/her own and got hit with a virus.

Any how it worked well for home use, but couldn’t do this for an office environment due to some software that they needed would not run under limited user.  So I thought that was it, I couldn’t find away to get it to work and it was the way it was.  Eventually I got a call the office computer is down, now looking back at limited user option and started searching again found some tools that might just work!  A utility to run a program as admin while you are ‘Limited user’, like the Run As in windows but does not ask for a login/password every time you run it. Hope it works!

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sudowin/

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/runasspc.html

There are so many anti virus programs out there! which do you choose?

it is always changing, at one time Norton was top dog, then Bitdefender was at top till 2009 came out, nothing but problems now.
So who’s next?
when I researched for who is at top now, beware that many ‘antivirus review sites’ are just sites that the company put up to market their own product!  so I only trust reviews that has input from editors and ratings by users,   snapfiles.com , pcworld.com , downloads.com (cnet.com).

so I picked Vipre  to try next
http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Home-Home-Office/VIPRE/
Licenses: $30 for single, $40 for 2 computer, $50 for 3+computers

I also picked a new Freeware anti virus to replace AVG grisoft antivirus
Avast! Home edition Free  see http://avast.com/eng/programs.html

give them a try, and take advantage of the free trial before you buy.

Keystrokes takes a little time to remember, but once you start using them you wonder why you didn’t before!

Zoom in/out/reset

Keystrokes:

Zoom in: CTRL-Plus key
Zoom out: CTRL-Minus key
Zoom reset to normal: CTRL-0 (zero)

There are times when you will be sitting at your computer for long hours and your eyes start to get a bit blurry. Even if you have a big monitor it’s a blessing to have a zoom function.

Jump to address bar

Keystroke: F6

You’ve clicked inside a Google or Yahoo search field and typed in a web address before, right? If you remember F6 then you’ll never make that mistake.

Open link in a new tab

Keystroke: CTRL-Click (hold down CTRL, click link)

Make use of the tab feature in your browser. This is one of the best usability features ever invented for web browsers; it’s far easier to manage tabs than multiple program windows. Use it, love it.

Switch between tabs

Keystroke: CTRL-TAB

Once you’ve got those tabs open you can switch to them with this keystroke (and back).

Closing a tab

Keystroke: CTRL-W

You’ll notice that you’ll be using your left hand a lot when doing the tab thing. You’ll be CTRL-TAB’ing about and need to close one every so often. Fortunately CTRL-W is just a few keys away from TAB to close tab(s).

Full-screen mode

Keystroke: F11 (F11 again to return back to windowed mode)

Need just a little extra space to read stuff? Sometimes you do. Pressing F11 will do just that.

Finding text on a web page

Keystroke: CTRL-F

There are times you’ll be confronted with a ton of text in a browser and need to find a specific word or phrase. CTRL-F allows you to do just that.

Note: In Firefox the input field will appear at the bottom. In IE it will open a mini-window which usually appears at the top left (or right depending where you last placed it).

reference: http://www.pcmech.com/article/web-browser-keystrokes-that-are-good-to-know/

good simple site on how to use Word, Excel and more

http://www.fgcu.edu/support/office2007/

it covers Office 2007 see left side for Office 2000

Found this site on learning to type FREE!

http://www.freetypinggame.net

its online tutor and there are games to make it fun!

Take the time to learn to type the proper way with fingers on the home keys, in time you can type without looking at the keyboard, you will thank yourself later.

Here is a backup/synchronize program I keep going back to.

SyncBack

I use it and happy with what it can do
and hey its Free!, but you can also buy a better more powerful version.

http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/compare.html

Enjoy

This is my new Technical blog where I post tips and stuff mostly related to computers.

I have another blog at CindysRC.com for my hobby.

My Husband’s Blog for Photography

> http://davidtothphotography.blogspot.com/