Category Archives: Computers

Computers, Troubleshooting, Windows, Windows Secrets

Lost Desktop Folder

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I ran into this problem this morning. Somehow I had lost a folder on my desktop. Maybe Windows got confused. Maybe I had moved it off-screen. Maybe it was under another folder. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t get it back Here’s how I solved the problem.  (It’s so simple that you’ll kick yourself for not thinking of it. I know I did!)

1. Right click your desktop. The following menu appears:

A Selection of Options for Your Desktop
Right click then choose 'Sort By'

Once you see this menu, choose ‘Sort by’ and this next menu will come up:

Right Click the Desktop to Get This Menu
Choose any arrangement you want. They all work to recover the lost folder.

These are the choices to sort all of the items on your desktop. If you sort by type, everything will be lined up on the left side according to file type with folders at the upper left. Your missing folder will be among them…hopefully.

If the folder still isn’t there but you can see it in Windows Explorer, see if you can find out where it is by choosing ‘open file location’ in the right click menu. Then you can track it down. Good luck!

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

Computers, Free Software, Internet, Windows

Five Must-Have Pieces of Free Software

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Everyone loves free stuff, right? I’m writing this post just after Christmas and free software is about the only thing that I can afford! I’ve mentioned all of this software in other posts. In this one I will simply highlight the best of the best of the best.

1. VLC Media Player – VLC is amazing, really. Not only is it the fastest player out there, it’s a wizard when it comes to repairing video files. If you’ve got an AVI that is somewhat corrupted, VLC will repair it. Save the repaired version and you’re done. As far as playback is concerned, VLC lets you slow down the action or speed it up with a simple keystroke for each. I don’t use VLC for music playback but it does that, too.

2. Irfanview – Once you have tried Irfanview, I defy you to live without in the future. I’ve been using it for years, putting it on every computer in the house. Irfanview is quick, efficient and offers a feature list that boggles the mind. Screen capture, batch processing…it’s got it all. Make sure you download the plugins and make sure you download it from Tucows. CNET is reportedly putting malware in its downloads.

3. Google Chrome – Why is a browser on this list? Aren’t they all free? Sure, they’re all free but other browsers pale in comparison to Chrome. I can safely say that Chrome has opened up a whole new world for me, simply because it translates every website that I visit. The Internet is more than the boring English sites that you’re used to surfing. Check out what people around the world are doing on the web, visit and investigate your next international vacation spot, or just see what cool things are for sale in, say, China or Japan.

TIP: One of the best things about the Internet is that most sites are designed in English, even if they use another language for navigation. If you’re stuck on a site and can’t figure out what some of the buttons do, simply hover your cursor over a link and look down to the left of your window. Nine times out of ten you’ll find out what the button leads to, written in plain English.

4. Dropbox – Dropbox is both software and a service. With 1 gigabyte of free storage, Dropbox allows you to share documents from one computer to another around the world. Even if you are on someone’s computer in India, you can access your files via the Internet. There is no need to have the Dropbox application installed. Additionally, you can share files of any type with friends and relatives by giving them guest access to your online folder. Need more than a gig of storage? Open up a few free accounts. You can’t go wrong.

5. Burnaware Free – Burnware is a free, fast and dog-simple burning app. DVDs/CDs/ISOs, Burnaware takes care of it all. Roxio makes a fine product from what I hear but I have only used Burnaware for the past ten years or so. In my opinion, you don’t need any more than this for your daily burning chores. I back-up my computer religiously and you should too. DVDs are cheap and losing lifetime photo memories is expensive. Don’t let a crashed hard drive ruin your life. Get Burnaware and some DVDs for 20 bucks and relax. Your kids will thank you!

All of these applications have full sets of options and features that will make your computer experience much more fulfilling than any piece of retail software would. For that reason, if you’re a bit flush with cash, consider making a donation to the creators. Good karma will follow.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Computers, Flash Drives, Hardware, Monitors

More Gifts for you Computer

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In my last post I discussed gifts that involved the care and cleaning of your computer. Today, I’ll discuss some real gifts to spruce up your rig. Cost will be an important criteria so we won’t be getting into a new video card, know what I mean?

1. Keyboard: A new keyboard can add a whole lot of fun to your computer experience. If you are still using the plain, generic keyboard that came with your computer, why not spring for something better, something with more pizazz! Instead of the normal F keys on top and a number pad on the right side, some keyboards add a significant level of control. This means that you can manage things like the sound volume, the eject button on your DVD unit, fast forward or rewind with your media player or even such things as opening web pages or Google search. You’d have to load drivers for some of the new boards but you should be used to that by now.

2. Mouse: As with the keyboard, a new mouse will add some flare to your daily computing life. The two major prerequisites would be USB connectivity and optical (as opposed to a wheel). Every mouse sold today is  USB and I haven’t seen a wheel mouse to years but you never know. If you are a gamer, you can buy a mouse which allows you to control many different aspects of your favorite game, assigning weapons, for instance, to certain buttons. You can consider wireless with both of these gifts but I have found the battery replacement to be a pain. Wireless is mandatory if you use your computer for a media centre but there are custom remotes with digital keyboards that might be better.

3. A USB Key: You may call these flash drives but they are the same thing. Right now, a 32 gig drive can be had for around $20.00. With a drive that size, you can do a few things to make your work go faster. You could use the drive to enhance your RAM. (Here’s a post on Instructables.com about how to do it.) It’s also possible to load a complete operating system on a large flash key, allowing you to avoid using a slow hard drive. Linux has different packages for this and there are many portable apps out there which add  good amounts of fun and function. On netbooks without DVD drives, you could add movies to your flash key and play them from it instead of always using your desktop. This would be faster than streaming but not as fast as copying the movie or video to your netbook hard drive.

4. A New Monitor: CRTs are dead, LCD is the only way to go. Let me rephrase that a bit. LCD is dead. LED is the way to go. If you are energy conscious, consider getting one of the new LED monitors. Bright, long lasting and very energy efficient, these new LED units are a joy to use. Stick to a brand name such as Dell, Asus or any of the other recognizable names. If you see a good deal on a non-brand name monitor, at least do some research on it.

5. Chairs: A few years ago I sprang for a very comfortable, high back office chair. It reclines, swivels and has arms. It’s light so it rolls fairly easily on carpet. I don’t regret the purchase one bit. Ten years or so later, it still works perfectly. Head over to your local big box office supply store and take a seat in a few display models. Whatever you do, don’t get something cheap. I’ve seen a couple of  accidents with cheap chairs, one which could have ended very badly as in spinal or brain injury. Get a brand name or something that is solid. Cheap plastic legs won’t last. Watch for sales or sign up for email newsletters which sometimes include discount coupons. Have some fun with this and make sure you get something that supports your back adequately. Oh yeah, my chair goes up and down, too. To be really comfortable, you have to be at the correct height, right?

6. Speakers: I like to listen to music while I work. Cheap desktop speakers don’t cut it for me, not since I’ve been spoiled by 5.1 surround sound. Logitech is my company of choice for speakers. I have at least five sets around the house. You can choose a solid 2.1 unit or pay a bit more for a mid-range 5.1 setup. The .1 means a sub-woofer which is pretty much mandatory these days. The centre speaker of a 5.1 system usually sits on top of the monitor with the bracket already built-in. Some monitors have speakers with them but, personally, I’d steer clear of these. Multi-function devices usually scrimp on quality, I’ve found.

Happy Holidays and Happy Computing!

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Computers, Hardware

Give Your Computer a Holiday Gift

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It’s the holiday season, people. Your computer has given you a year of yeoman service, right? Why not treat your trusty workhorse to a nice gift for the holidays? Here are some suggestions:

1. Clean it up! If you use a desktop, carefully remove the cabling on the back, take the side panel off and vacuum the interior. I’m sure you will find lots of dust bunnies in there, specially if you keep it on the floor. Make sure you vacuum around the power supply intakes, the front intakes (take the front panel off to get to the dust underneath it) and the bottom of the case. If you are really a techno-weenie, remove the cooling fan from the CPU and vacuum the fins of the cooler itself. If you’re not technically minded, get a buddy who is to do that for you. You don’t have to take the whole cooler off, just the fan. Four screws usually do the trick.

2. A Vaccination Shot: If you haven’t done a virus scan in a while, make sure this is one of the first things you do for the holidays. I use Avast , the free version, and it works well. Just this week I did a fully system scan. First I ran it overnight because a full scan takes hours on my large drives, then I did a boot scan the next morning. Microsoft Security Essentials works well, too. Personally, I wouldn’t pay for an anti-virus program but you’re on your own if you want to spend your money that way. There are plenty of free or very low cost pieces of software that do the job. Lastly, download Malware Bytes and run it. Hopefully you won’t have any malware but if you do, Malware Bytes will get rid of it.

3. Update Everything: If you have everything set to update automatically, there still might be some software or hardware around that needs renewal. Your router? A firmware update is always a good idea. Your BIOS? Your fancy multi-function keyboard? I’m sure you will be able to find something to update. Most software gives you the option to update automatically and that’s always a good option to choose. I know Apple is a total pain with updates for iTunes and iCloud, etc. as is Windows. Whatever your feelings are on that, updates are generally better than the current version of most software. It takes time, sure, but it’s worth it.

4. Back Up : If you haven’t set up an auto-backup system for your computer, now is a good time to archive your personal data. DVDs are cheap and lost data is expensive. Digital photos don’t come with negatives. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. Time to download Burnaware and get busy. It’s free, fast and simple. Do it now, don’t put it off.

5. Get Rid of the Crumbs : My keyboard has served me well all year, helping me write hundreds of thousands of words. It’s time to unplug it and suck out the Triscuit crumbs. While I’m at it I will get a damp (not wet) J-cloth and clean off the various coffee and scotch spills. If you share the keyboard, maybe it’s time for a rub down with some anti-bacteria cleaner, too. Just don’t get it wet! If it does get a few drops of water inside it, put it in the sun for an afternoon to evaporate the moisture.

6. Watch It! : When your monitors are on, they look pretty clean but I can guarantee they probably aren’t. Get a soft cloth, dampen it and give the screen a wipe. Don’t use anything other than water and don’t spray the screen directly. Make sure your soft cloth is only damp not wet, grease free and lint-free. There are special cloths that you can pick up at the local big-box computer accessory store for this purpose. You don’t need any fancy liquid, just water.

Happy Holidays!

Thanks for reading.

Computers, Hard Drives, Windows

Windirstat – What is taking up all the room on my hard drive?

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With today’s huge hard drives it’s sometimes tough to know where all that room has gone. You buy a one or two terabyte drive, use it for a while and then you’re suddenly running out of storage space. Here’s a solution for you!

Windirstat (available here for free: http://windirstat.info/) gives you a real picture of what your hard drive looks like, in terms of which files are taking up all the room. Download the program and install it. I’ll wait. When you’re done, come back to see how to use the program.

Back? Ok. Here’s what you do:

1. Start Windirstat. This is the menu you will see:

Choose the Drive
Select the drive.

Select the drive that you want to take a look at. Usually that is your C: drive. In my case I have three to choose from but most computers have only one or two drives.

2. WinDirStat will nibble away at your drive, setting up an image for you. As it does this you’ll see little PacMans zipping back and forth. It’s kind of cute, actually. Once all of the stats have been collected, here is what you’ll see:

A graphic of a hard drive's files and folders.
This is a graphical representation of my hard drive.

3. Once WinDirStat has collected the information it needs, it shows you this graphic of your hard drive. It may look confusing at first but it’s really pretty cool. On the top right you’ll have a legend which tells you what color represents each type of file. On mine, the blue represents MPEG-2 files from my DVR. Each little section of that blue area is an individual file while the whole blue area on the left is a folder. Each color group represents a folder, each smaller highlighted area is an individual file.

4. Looking at this graphic, you’ll be able to see what files and folders are taking up the most room. If you click on each file, WinDirStat immediately shows you what file it is up on the top left section. If there is one particularly huge file, you can then decide if it’s something you want to save or archive or delete.

5. Some areas that WindDirStat will show you are obviously off limits for deletion. Any of the Windows files, for instance, must be left alone. There are two yellow files on the lower right, as an example, which represent two important Windows files; the pagefil.sys and the hiberfil.sys. These are your ‘scratch pad’ files and are about the same size as the amount of RAM in your system. Don’t touch them.

6. Once you’ve spent some time finding the files and folders that are taking up extra space, delete them or archive them to a DVD. Then you can reload WinDirStat and see what the big picture looks like. I keep pretty good track of what’s on my drives but there are always some files that seem to crop up that I could delete. See what you can find on your drive.

Thanks for reading!