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Everyone knows they need an Antivirus program. But which one is best? And are any of them free? Let’s break this down. First, you MUST have an antivirus program on your system, free or not. Some of the best for-pay products are Symantec, Trend Micro, and McAfee, and AVG. But what if you don’t have a lot of money to burn. My favorite free antivirus program is, believe it or not, made by Microsoft. Security Essentials does one of the best jobs I’ve seen and doesn’t eat up your computer’s processing power. It ranks well in the industry tests which pit antivirus programs against each other. Once you install it, there’s nothing you need to do. It scans all by itself. It updates itself when it needs to. And best of all, it puts a little cute green house in your system tray. What more could you ask for?

What do you think is the number one question I get at parties?  That’s right, “Why is my computer so slow?”  Folks, there can be many reasons, but let’s start with the most obvious: How old is your computer.  Any computer over 4 years old is probably having trouble keeping up with today’s websites, games, and other programs.  Buy a new computer every 4 – 5 years.  These things aren’t freezers.  Another reason for slowness could simply be a lack of memory – in other words, not enough RAM.  Today, you need at least 2 gigabytes of RAM and preferably 4 gigabytes.  You will be surprised how much faster that simple upgrade can make your system. Here’s how you check your RAM. Finally, a very common cause of system slowness is an infection of some sort.  Malware, virus, spyware – any number of vile little programs could be sitting there eating up your PC’s performance.  Make sure your antivirus is up to date. Who knows, with a little cleanup or memory upgrade, you might be able to extend the life your system by a year or two!

Ok, here’s the scenario.  You have your laptop at a coffee shop, someone’s office, or a friend’s house.  You turn it on and it detects a wireless Internet router.  All you have to do is click connect and you get free Internet, right?  Is that legal?
Well, that’s hard to say.  The closest law in the US that might cover it is “unauthorized access” or “trespassing.”  Most officials feel that the responsibility to lock up a wireless access point lies with the owner.  Many people, however, don’t know or don’t know how to turn on their wireless access point’s security, and so any of their neighbors or even people driving by could access their network.
And that’s the rub.  If you connect to someone elses’s wireless Internet, you are, in effect accessing their network.  So, while the law may be vague, the ethics are pretty clear.
Can others access YOUR wireless network?  Is it secure?  Or can any hacker sit outside your house or business with a laptop and access your files? Depending on where you live, one of our friendly techs can come out and verify your wireless network’s security.  Give them a call at 806-353-0004.

Ok, this will date me.  My first Internet browser, you know that thing you use to look at web pages) was a program called NCSA Mosaic, which was eventually renamed to Netscape.  Soon after, Microsoft realized that this Internet thing was probably not a passing fad, and created Internet Explorer and included it on every copy of Windows they sold.
Internet Explorer quickly became the browser that everyone used.  Firefox eventually showed up and started giving IE a run for its money, but it wasn’t until Google released its browser, named “Chrome,” that I was hooked.  It’s a million times faster and a heck of a lot more stable than IE.  And I love how they’ve implemented the tabs.
To get it free, go to google.com/chrome.  Trust me, you’ll love it!  And for those of you wondering why I didn’t mention Apple Safari, well, its ok.  It’s cute and all, but on the speed-o-meter, it probably ranks between Firefox and Chrome.  Chrome rocks.

Ok, show of hands, how many of you like calling one of those 1-800 tech support numbers?  That’s what I thought.  Well, I have some secrets that will get you farther faster with those guys.
First, make sure you are calling the right number.  Sometimes a company will want to force you to use email or some online form to turn in a problem.  Finding numbers can be tough.  Make sure you bookmark the website, GetHuman.com.  It gives you tricks to talking to a person and avoid the automated voice menu systems of large companies, not to mention the actual phone numbers of their support group.
Second, if you start to get frustrated with a tech, ask this one question: “What would you do if you were me?”  You will be amazed how much faster you find a solution.  Trust me.

Most of you have used Google Maps at some point.  You know, that drag-able, zoom-able online atlas.  Finding locations and directions between two places is simple.  But, listen closely.  I have some secret tips used by the pros.  First, have you ever received a call on your cell phone and didn’t recognize the number.  Well, if it was a business, you can type the phone number in Google Maps and it will tell you which company called.  Cool.  Reverse Phone Search.  It doesn’t work for residences, though, for privacy reasons.  Next, ever notice the little green beaker in the top navigation bar?  This is a link to Google Labs.  These are services Google is testing for later release.  Click it.  You’ll find some really cool options, like distance measurement tools, real-time longitude/latitude calculations, and rotatable maps.  You never knew maps could be this fun!

Getting a program on your computer is easy. Getting it off can be more difficult, though. First rule: Never drag the program to the trash can to get rid of it. When a program installs itself, it usually puts bits and pieces of itself all around your system. Chances are you will miss some of these pieces if you try the brute strength method of deleting. Here’s the correct, and cleaner method of removing unwanted programs using Windows. Click on the “Start” button, and then on “Control Panel.” A window will pop up with many icons. Double-click on “Add or Remove Programs”. In Windows 7, click “Programs.” Once the window opens, you will have a list of all the programs you have on your system. Click on the program you want to get rid of, and hit the “Add/Remove” button.

Every once in a while you will get an e-mail message that appears to be legitimate.  You might even click on a link in that message that takes you to a legitimate site.  However, chances are, you are being duped into giving out personal information.  Very clever spammers are designing fake websites to look like banks and commercial companies and then sending massive amounts of junk e-mail luring people to the sites.  This technique is called Phishing.  Remember this, your bank never “loses” your password.  The department of Homeland Security does not close your bank accounts and then contact you via e-mail.  And, there is no Nigerian prince who needs your help to move a large amount of money around.  The FTC has put out some great information on protecting you from these threats. Always check the validity of an e-mail asking for information by calling the company in question.  You’ll be glad you did.

We’ve all been told not to download unknown programs or install strange attachments. After all, that’s how you get spyware and viruses, right? Well, a new type of attack has emerged: drive-by installations. Here’s how it works. You’re surfing around the Net and happen across some web page. It’s not the one you want so you leave. But what you don’t realize is that by simply viewing the page, spyware, or worse yet, a virus has been transferred to your system. Most pop-up problems occur this way. The newest version of Internet Explorer catches some of them. But, take my advice: make sure you have a good Spyware/Virus removal program like Malware Bytes or Windows Security Essentials, and keep it updated! Trust me, you will be the victim of drive-by installs at some point in the future.

Don’t you just love your digital camera?  After all, you can just snap and snap and snap and never run out of film (or pay for it for that matter).  But now that you have megabytes and megabytes of memories, how do you organize them?

Since your digital camera automatically stores the date and time every picture is taken, I recommend setting up a folder hierarchy.  Start with the My Pictures Folder.  Then, create a folder for the year.  Then put the months as folders underneath. Makes finding your photos a cinch.

If your collection is truly huge, though, I recommend Google’s free Picasa Software.  It allows you to sort and catalog every digital photo you’ve ever taken.  That way you can search for “just pictures of your kids” or photos taken before 2002.  It’s that easy.  Picasa can even do automatic facial recognition on your photos to make finding all the pictures of weird Uncle Harold a breeze.