When you add software to your computer, that software usually insists on adding itself to your start menu. What does this mean? It means that, sooner or later, your computer will run slower and slower and/or it will take forever to boot. Here’s a quick way to speed up your computer without deleting any software.
1. Head down to your Start button:
That little search box is what we’re looking for.
2. Type ‘msconfig’ in the ‘Search programs and files’ slot:
msconfig is what you type, then hit Enter.
3. In the window that opens, and it might take a while, look for Startup:
Click on Startup.
4. What you see next is a list of everything that ‘starts up’ when your computer starts. By this we mean software, of course. Windows has many things that run in the background but, for now, we’re only dealing with software that you’re installed. This list is pretty straightforward. If an item is checked, it starts when your computer starts. If it isn’t checked, most of the time it doesn’t start when your computer starts. We say most of the time because some software, malware, adware and things from Apple (usually), start up even when unchecked. We’ll tell you how to get rid of those things a bit farther down.
5. Even if you don’t uncheck anything, this list gives you an idea of why your computer is slower than it used to be. Things on this list are in chronological order so the original stuff is at the top, the things you have added on later are lower down the line. If you scroll down, you’ll see some things like this, perhaps:
The one we hate is the Yontoo Desktop. We don’t know how we got it but we know we got rid of it.
6. Usually, the sketchy stuff is at the bottom. Nothing bad will happen if you uncheck something, so don’t worry about wrecking your computer. Unchecking something only means that you’ll have to wait for a bit before you can use the software. Want to run Spotify? Well, you’ll just have to look for the shortcut on your desktop and double click it, it won’t be on your taskbar after you uncheck it here.
7. Down on the lower right of your taskbar, you’ll see a row of icons. Those icons are the programs that are running right now on your computer. Yes, they are running but you probably aren’t using them. Some programs, Skype is one, have an icon on the right of your taskbar and another on the left. The icons on the left side usually are the ones you are actually using, as opposed to ones that are just running in the background, waiting for you to click on them. After you uncheck some of the items in the list, there should be fewer icons down on the right of your taskbar.
8. OK, so now you know why your computer is running slowly. If you can’t stop something from starting by unchecking it in msconfig, go to the program and find its preferences. Somewhere in the preferences is a menu where you can choose to uncheck ‘start when Windows starts’. Quicktime, Adobe Reader and some other third party software (as opposed to Microsoft software), want to run all the time, just in case you decide to use them. This eats up your resources and slows your computer down. Now you know how to stop them from starting!
9. Finally, remember those icons on the lower right? Sometimes you can right click them to get to the preferences menu. Here’s an example:
A right click on the icon brought up this menu.
This is a handy way to tell Open Live! Central 3 that we don’t it to start when Windows starts. We also chose to uncheck the second part, too. You’ll have to make your own decisions on all of this but you can use msconfig to control what starts and what doesn’t, most of the time. Next time, we’ll tell you how to use it for something else. Stay tuned!
We added two new hard drives to one of our computers this week. It had two drives already but we wanted to install Windows 8 and decided that a new drive would be a good thing to add. We had a 2 terabyte drive ready to install then we and a 3 terabyte to the collection. That gave us four, one for Windows 7, another for Windows 8, one for Linux Ubuntu (already installed) and the last one as a spare for storing important files.
Before we could partition the drives, we had to initialize them. What does that mean? Contrary to popular belief, it does not mean ‘formatting’. Let’s say someone gives you a book. There is nothing on the outside of the book to tell you what it is. Therefore you have to look inside it to see what it is. You ‘initialize’ the book when you look inside. Now, that book has nothing in it but once you open it, you know it has nothing in it. At this point you recognize that book as a book with nothing in it. This is a rough description, of course. In reality Windows puts its own little notes on the drive so it will know what that drive is. There are two types of notes that Windows uses. Here’s how to figure it all out.
1. Add the new drive to your computer. That part is quite simple but if you have a problem with it, enlist the aid of a techie friend.
2. Start your computer and, once it’s booted up, click on the start button the look for the word Computer. Right click Computer and choose Manage. This is what this all looks like:
Start then Right Click the word Computer.
2. When Computer (used to be My Computer) opens, look for Disk Management down on the lower left:
Disk Management is what we want.
3. Windows will take a few moments to think about your request then, when it sees that one or two drives are not initialized, you’ll see this menu:
MBR or GPT?
4. We installed two drives at the same time. As it turns out, we could use the MBR partition style for one drive but not the other. Remember that one drive was 2 terabytes while the other was 3 T? MBR only works for drives smaller than 2 Terabytes or for partitions smaller than 2T. Since we wanted a full 3 T partition on one drive, which would allow Windows 8 to do what it wanted to the drive on installation, we opted for GPT on the larger drive.
5. We could use GPT on both drives, keep that in mind, so your choice might be just to opt for GPT right from the start. Unless you are using Windows XP, you are quite safe using GPT. No worries.
6. Once you initialize your drive, this is what you’ll see:
Now the drives are showing their correct size and you can interact with them.
Across the top you’ll see that two of the drives are unformatted but Windows knows what they are and tells you the size, etc. Down in the middle, you can right click and choose what kind of volume you want. Since there are a number of options, we’ll leave that for you to investigate. We might do another post on that later on but, for now, we’ll leave this as it is.
TIP: If you’re starting out with a new computer, a new drive and a new installation of your operating system, that operating system will take care of all of this.
How did we get into this? We tried to install Windows 8.1 on one of the new drives. During the early stages of the installation we saw a message that we’d never seen before, and we’ve installed Windows at least 50 times over the years, maybe more. At that point we thought that if we initialize the disks, Windows would install itself on one of the new drives. We were wrong.
We’ll give Windows 8 a shot next to see if it works but at least we were able to teach you about initialization, right? If you have questions, make a comment below and we’ll answer it as soon as we can. Better yet, like our Facebook page and you can ask us on it. Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook.
Initially, we thought that the new Translation app on Facebook would translate posts and comments from other languages into English. Were we wrong or what? The new Translation feature is for Facebook, not its users. Here’s where you find it on the new Facebook look:
On the far left of the new look on Facebook ‘Translation’ appears.
Click on Translation and this is what you see:
Reading this, you’d feel all warm and fuzzy about helping people, wouldn’t you?
However, when you click on ‘See Translation App Terms of Service’, Facebook suddenly turns it all around, making it about Facebook, not you. Here are those terms of service:
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The Translate Facebook application collects translations, comments, suggestions, ideas, feedback and other information (“Submissions”) from you and other users in connection with Facebook’s language translation project to provide access to Facebook and applications and websites that use Facebook’s platform in multiple languages (the “Project”).
You understand that your participation in the Project is for the benefit of the Facebook user community as it will allow users whose participation is currently limited by language to participate more fully. You acknowledge that your participation in the Project is entirely voluntary and you understand that no monetary or other compensation will be given to persons, including you, for Submissions. You may provide as much or as little input into the Project as you wish and can cease contributing to the Project at any time.
In consideration of Facebook permitting you to participate in the Project and the benefits to the Facebook user community of which you are a member, you acknowledge and agree that any Submissions that you provide to Facebook will be owned by Facebook. Accordingly, you irrevocably assign to Facebook all right, title and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to all Submissions, and Facebook is entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of these Submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment, consent or monetary, or other tangible compensation, to you. To the extent that the foregoing assignment is or becomes invalid or unenforceable to any degree or for any reason, you grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive, fully-paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide right and licence, with the right to sublicense, use, reproduce, display, perform, create derivative works of, distribute and otherwise exploit the Submissions in any manner.
Please note: Translate Facebook is subject to and governed by these Additional Terms Applicable to Translate Facebook (the “Additional Terms”) as well as the Facebook Terms of Use. In the event of any conflict between these Additional Terms and the Facebook Terms of Use, these Additional Terms control. Capitalised terms that are not defined in these Additional Terms will have the definitions provided them in the Terms of Use. Facebook reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to change, modify, add or delete portions of these Additional Terms at any time without further notice. If we do this, we will post the changes to these Additional Terms on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the date these terms were last revised. You agree to waive any specific notice of such changes and your continued use and operation of Translate Facebook after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Additional Terms. It is your responsibility to regularly check the Site to determine if there have been changes to these Additional Terms.
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In case you missed it, here’s the sinister part: you grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive, fully-paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide right and licence, with the right to sublicense, use, reproduce, display, perform, create derivative works of, distribute and otherwise exploit the Submissions in any manner.
Facebook tells you that the project ‘is for the benefit of the Facebook user community’. Not really. It’s for Facebook. Translating their menus and static pages will allow more users to access the site thus allowing Facebook to pump ads to more people than they can now. Instead of paying translators to do the work, Facebook is reaching out to its users in an attempt to save money to make more money. Our advice? Don’t help. Let the corporate giant that is Facebook spread some money out, paying hard working translators to do the job, not ask for freebies from its users.
Windows can be confusing by times, even for experienced users. Here are ten tips that will help you spend more time working and less time getting frustrated.
1. Multiple Windows Explorer windows: We use Windows Explorer often. Many times, we’re moving stuff around from one folder to another. If you have one window open while you do this, it takes time to do just about anything. Here’s how to get two or more windows open. Click on the folder icon on the bottom left of your taskbar to get one window open then right click the same icon and choose ‘Windows Explorer’. A second window will open up which will allow you to move things around from window to window, one folder in the left and another folder in the right. How do you move stuff around? Read #2.
Drag things from one window to the other. You can have more than two, too.
2. Dragging and dropping is easy, right? Select something with your left mouse button but don’t release that button. As long as the button is pressed, the thing you selected can be dragged around your screen, even from one folder to another. If you want to move a file to another folder, just click on the file, hold the button and drag it to the folder you want it to end up in. You’ll know when to let the button go when the target folder turns blue. Want to select more than one file? Read #3.
3. Multiple file/folder selection: There are several ways to select more than one file. If you click anywhere inside a folder, hitting CTRL and the A key at the same time will select everything in the folder, single files as well as folders. If you click on one file in a line of files, move your mouse down to the last one you want to choose then hold down the shift key and click your left mouse button. That will select the first and last file and/or folder and everything in between. Want to select only a few files? Hold down the CTRL button and click on every file or folder that you want to select. Read #4 to see what you can do with the files or folders after you select them.
4. Right click menus; Your right mouse button is very handy once you have selected something in Windows. Right click a selection and read the menu. There are all kinds of things you can do from that menu. Right now, we’ll choose Copy and Paste. Once you choose Copy, the whole selection you’ve made is copied into Windows memory (RAM). It will stay there until you select something else or until you Paste it all into another folder. Once you decide on a location, click anywhere in the white area (or on a folder if you want to Paste it all into that folder), right click and choose PASTE. Read #5 for a faster way to do this.
There are many choices when you right click a file or folder.
5. Shortcut Keys: If you select something, there are several shortcut keystrokes that you can use to interact with that selection. You have to press two keys at the same time but, believe us, it’s a lot faster than using your mouse. Here are some shortcuts you can use: CTRL/a (select everything inside a folder), CTRL/c will copy any selection, CTRL/x will ‘cut’ any selection (cut removes the selection from its current location while copy leaves the selection where it is and puts a copy somewhere else when you choose Paste later on), CTRL/v will paste anything that is in Windows memory into whatever you choose to paste it into, CTRL/s will save something that you’ve already saved again or it will open up the ‘save as’ window if you haven’t already saved your selection or file, CTRL/z will ‘undo’ whatever action you’ve just performed. Remember this last one. If you move a file or do something drastically wrong, hit CTRL/z and that action will be undone. There are more shortcuts but that’s enough for now.
6. Screen Captures: Sometimes you want to save a photo or part of something that is on your screen. You can’t always save an image you see so you have to do a ‘screen capture’. On your keyboard, and it varies from computer to computer and laptop to laptop, look for a key near your F (function) keys. It will have ‘PRTSCN’ or something similar on it. Sometimes you have to press another key to make it work but normally you just have to press the key itself. Do that and your whole screen is saved temporarily in Window’s memory, waiting to be pasted into an image program. We use Irfanview for all of our basic image work and we recommend that you do the same. Just open any photo in Irfanview, hit CTRL/v or right click and choose Paste, and the copied screen is pasted into a new photo window, ready to be saved as a picture.
7. Highlight sections of text: Remember we told you about ‘drag and drop’? Well, you can use drag and drop to highlight whole paragraphs on the Internet or in a document, or single words or sentences for that matter. Click your mouse on the first word but don’t let the button go, then drag the mouse over what you want to copy until you reach the end. Everything that is selected or highlighted will turn blue. Right click in the blue section (or hit CTRL/c) and then open Notepad or Word and choose Paste or hit CTRL/v. This is a fast way to copy bits and pieces of text from one area or folder or document to another.
The text in blue can be copied or cut.
8. Zip to the top (or bottom) of a page: If you’re on Facebook and you’ve scrolled all the way to the bottom of the page and want to get back to the top instantly, just press 7 on your keyboard number pad. If you want to get to the bottom of a page, press the 1 key. Note that this only works on a keyboard with a number pad and Numlock has to be off. Some laptops have the number pad, some don’t.
9. Safe Ejection: If you’re using a flash drive or something similar, Windows doesn’t always let you eject it. Windows insists that some program is using the drive and you have to wait until it’s finished. Don’t just yank the drive out, it can be ruined. The quickest way to get it to eject is to log off then back on again. It’s reasonably quick and very effective when a drive and/or Windows is stuck and won’t let you safely eject it.
Switch user will work just as well.
10. Permanent File Deletion: We’ve saved this one till the end, mainly because it can backfire on you. You all know how to delete something, right? Select it, right click and choose ‘Delete’. Whatever it is that you selected is sent to the Recycle Bin. What if you want to get rid of that item permanently? Simply hold down the Shift key and then select Delete. Windows will ask you, Are you sure you want to Permanently Delete this file? It’s your choice to say Yes or No to that. If you choose Yes, that file is gone forever. You’ve been warned….
Make sure before you select Yes.
If you send the item to the Recycle Bin, it can be restored. Use this tip carefully, just in case you make a mistake.
Thanks for reading! Hey, why not Like us in Facebook? Keep up with our posts and updates. Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook
Besides a good password, security questions are another way to keep your different online accounts safe. This is a good thing, isn’t it? Well, it is a good thing if you select the answers to those questions carefully. Remember, you don’t have to tell the truth when you choose an answer. Lie a little.
Here’s an example that you might see on the Internet when signing up for a new service:
Anyone who knows you might be able to answer these questions.
These are typical security questions. Before you simply plunk in ‘Benji’ and ‘Sheboygan’, think about it. Who knows where your parents met? You and anyone that you’ve told the story to. Maybe your childhood friend is still a friend. Maybe he’s your husband! Here’s where you can lie a little, just to keep your accounts a bit safer.
For any security question, use completely different answers, ones that aren’t guessable. For your first car, you could put the answer as ‘123’. Mother’s maiden name? Tokyo. First pet’s name? Smith (assuming it wasn’t named Smith!).
When you use a series of numbers or names or words that don’t match any of the questions, your account is completely secured from anyone who happens to guess your password. Sure, they may have your password solved but they won’t be able to get past your security questions. We showed you last time how to create a strong and secure password using mnemonics. This technique is somewhat similar, using easy to remember words that have no relation to the questions being asked. There are no rule books as far as security questions go. You’re dealing with a computer, not a real person, so you can say anything you want. Lock up your accounts with a good password and crazy answers to security questions and you’ll be a whole lot safer online. Good luck!
