We’re down to optional software now, things you might find handy in some situations but not every day. The longer you use your new computer, the more these programs will make sense.
1. GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is a powerful and FREE image editor, easily as good as Photoshop or any of the editing software that came with your digital camera. You can work on RAW files, too.
2. Cathy is a free tool that lets you keep track of your backup CDs and DVDS. First you burn the CD/DVD with all of your data on it, then you have Cathy scan it. Once you do that, you can search Cathy’s database for the exact file you want and know immediately what disc it is on. You don’t install Cathy. It runs from a your desktop or from your Dropbox folder. The files it creates, in other words the databases for each CD or DVD, are stored with the program and you can move the whole Cathy folder around with you, moving it from computer to computer.
3. WinDirStat does one thing and it does it very well. It creates a map of any drive that you have attached to your computer. As hard drives get larger and larger, keeping track of your files gets very difficult. WinDirStat creates an image of a drive, showing you graphically what files are where. Large files are shown as large squares, color-coded depending on the type of tile they are. As you download videos or edit large digital photos, your hard drive can get pretty crowded. Use WinDirStat to find and archive your precious videos and images. Here’s a screenshot:
Names at the top, images of files on the bottom.
4. LibreOffice is a full-fledged office suite, the equal of Microsoft Office but with one big difference. It’s free. LibreOffice will interact with Microsoft Office perfectly so there is no need to feel that you won’t be able to send documents around to your friends or co-workers. Here’s a screenshot of the various parts of LibreOffice:
Six apps within one suite.
5. Calibre takes care of all of your digital books, keeping track of them on your computer and converting virtually any Ebook format to any other Ebook format. It’s fast and free and works perfectly.
These are five free programs that are available. Sure, there are more but the selection that we’ve described in our last two or three posts will get you on your way. If you have favorites, please let us know.
Once you’ve got an email account set up and your anti-virus software working, it’s time to start setting up Windows. You did some of that the first time you turned it on but now it’s time to take a look at Windows Update.
As you probably know all too well, Windows needs to update itself almost daily. Millions of hackers around the world are trying to find ways to get into your computer and Microsoft spends time and money trying to keep you safe. Windows Update is a part of Windows that automatically sends you the latest changes. Here are the settings available to you:
We’ve chosen to take a look at the updates first, then choose which ones to download and install.
We would suggest the second choice (third from the top) if you are new to computing. That way, you can choose the time to install the updates as opposed to Windows doing it for you. Why? Because Windows doesn’t care if you are in the middle of something when it is updating your computer. If you let it, Windows will restart your computer when it needs to as opposed to you choosing to do it when you want to. We know what we’re doing, most of the time anyway, so we like to see what Windows is installing before it is installed. We don’t expect you to do that. For the most part, you’re safe using the ‘Download updates but let me choose whether to install them.”
TIP: Don’t forget to check for updates at least once a month, every two weeks is better. There will be a little icon on the lower right of your taskbar that will indicate an update is available:
Windows Update Icon
Next comes the fun part, at least for us. Every computer we set up has a set of standard software that we download and install after we’ve got the security features enabled. NOTE: All of the following programs are completely free. Yes, FREE!
Here’s the list:
1. Although Microsoft pretends that Internet Explorer is totally safe and vital to the future of the free world, we immediately download and install Google Chrome. Then we stop using Internet Explorer completely. No matter what Microsoft says, Internet Explorer is NOT safe. It’s also molasses slow. Don’t use it. Use Chrome.
2. Once Chrome is installed, we feel safe and start to download the other software that we need. First up is the Video Lan Player. Windows 8 doesn’t come with a DVD player, believe it or not. No matter, VLC will play any video file or DVD that you throw at it. Download it, install it and relax.
The VLC icon. You’ll get used to this one, we think.
3. Next up is Irfanview. We’ve written about this superb free program before, many times. You can view all of your photos with Irfanview plus it has a few tools to help you work with your digital pictures. Download it and install it and make sure you download the plugins too. The plugins will open up virtually any type of RAW file there is. No need to use the software that came with your digital camera unless you really want to. Irfanview does it all. Check out our past posts on this brilliant program (go to the main page and search for irfanview). It’s simply the best there is.
4. Burnaware , the free version, is necessary to backup your data (photos, videos, documents) to CDs or DVDs. Use blank DVD -R, they’re cheaper than CDS and have a much greater capacity. Once Burnaware is installed, all you have to do it pop in a blank DVD, choose your burn options, drag and drop files into the window and that’s it. Click the burn button and you’re done.
5. Most of us use Skype to communicate with friends and relatives. Microsoft has purchased Skype so now you can sign in with your hotmail or live account. You can chat with video, video and mic or just by typing in the chat window. Skype to Skype calls are always free and while you could investigate making telephone calls using it, we think there are better alternatives. There are many ways to make free phone calls, depending on where you live. If you’re in North America, free telephony is as easy as opening a Gmail account. We use WeChat and Yahoo Messenger as well as QQ for our international video conferencing but we do use Skype with relatives in our own country.
These are the programs that we can’t live without when we get a new computer. There are others, of course, that we like to add. Tomorrow, we’ll outline some of them. Remember that every piece of hardware that you add to your computer, things such as printers, scanners, webcams, external hard drives, etc, will want to add their own programs. Some of these programs do double-duty, too. This means that they work with the hardware that they came with but they also do other things. It’s worthwhile to check what else some of these bits of software will do that might be helpful.
We’ll run through some optional programs in our next post. These would be programs that we find useful but, depending on your computer use, might not interest you. Stay tuned for that.
Yesterday we posted about computing for seniors. Well, today we headed out and gave some assistance to the prospective purchaser. Things worked out better than we thought and we ended up with a very good deal on a 14″ Acer touchscreen laptop. It had good specs (8 gigs of ram and a healthy sized hard drive, Windows 8) and seemed to be just the right size. We weren’t looking for a desktop replacement, but a Chromebook would have been far too small. In addition to the computer, we picked up a small wireless all-in-one inkjet printer by HP. Total for everything, including 500 sheets of paper and a spare black ink cartridge was less than $700.00, proving that you don’t have to break the bank to get online.
This is what we got, a slim mid-size touchscreen Acer.
Once everything was settled, we started to consider the setup process. As you may know, there are a few things that you should do before heading to Google or Youtube. Here’s what we’d suggest, step by step:
1. All new computers come with what we call ‘bloatware’. Bloatware is software that is loaded onto the computer by the manufacturer in the hopes that you might actually buy some of it. This usually includes various versions of antivirus software, Internet ‘safety’ kits as well as games and, usually, a free-ish version of Microsoft Office. Our first step would be to eliminate as much of this bloatware as possible, starting with the antivirus applications.
Microsoft has its own antivirus application that’s free, believe it or not. It’s called Microsoft Security Essentials. Click on the words to get it. Once you install it, you’re just as safe as with any of the other professional (meaning pay) software. Windows already has a firewall built into it so that’s all you need. Make sure you update the virus database at least once a month and either scan your computer on a weekly basis or set up a schedule for scanning.
2. Every ISP lets you use their email for free. Well, we’re not fans of ISP email programs, preferring free online options such as Outlook or Gmail. Outlook has pretty much dropped the ‘hotmail’ domain name, switching to ‘live’ instead, so you don’t have to worry about being old-fashioned. Gmail is an option too but Windows 8 seems tied to all things Microsoft and Outlook might be your best bet. We have both but we use Outlook much more often.
Why use a free email service? Mainly because you will always have that address, even if you change ISPs. These online services have strong anti-malware checking built-in to the site. You have to go out of your way to get something nasty on your computer if you use one of the free sites. Lastly, your email stays on their site, not on your computer. You won’t lose your messages or photos if your computer crashes. They’re online so they’re safe.
TIP: Don’t confuse the Outlook application that is on your computer with the outlook.com site. The software that is on your computer is obscure, to say the least, and is very confusing to use. Yes, you can access your email from it but it’s much more difficult to understand. Head to outlook.com, sign up for a free account and you’re away.
TIP: Make your username as unusual as possible. If your name is Elsa, for instance, choose something like elsa_elsa_85. Why? Because spammers make up names and spam them automatically. If you use some arcane username, more than likely the spammers will never find you. We have a couple of email accounts that get NO spam at all. Others, with more easily imitated names, get spam every day.
TIP: Don’t get hooked into extra-cost warranties or anything to do with Microsoft Office. There is usually a free version of Microsoft Word on any Windows computer and, if not, there is always Libre Office , a totally free, open-source alternative. Buy the computer, that’s it, no matter what the salesman says. If they get too persistent, just walk out of the store.
That’s enough for now. Next time we’ll look at what software we would install on a new computer. If you have questions or suggestions or comments, feel free to use the form below to contact us.
We mentioned Miro in a previous post. Read about it here: Miro We think Miro is superior to viewing Youtube and other video sites when compared to your normal browser. (That browser should be Chrome, by the way.) One of the best things about Miro is that you can record most of the videos you see plus, and this is the best part, you can set it so you can view videos from around the world. Let’s just say that censorship in North America is quite different than it is in other parts of the world. Here’s how to tune Miro to let you see videos from everywhere:
1. Once you download and install Miro, sign in to Youtube. Remember that you don’t need a Gmail account for this, any email account will do. Why sign in? Well, if you’re signed in then you can change your settings and Youtube will remember them. You will also be able to subscribe to any Youtube account that you like. That way, you can keep track of any new videos that are posted by the accounts you subscribe to.
2. Down at the bottom of the page, you’ll see this:
Click the menu button. We’ve got ours set to WorldWide already.
3. Click the little arrow and this will appear (scroll down to see the full list of countries):
Choose a country or, better yet, choose Worldwide.
4. We’re suggesting ‘Worldwide’ but you can choose whatever you want. The best part of this setting is that you can search for videos using any language. While you’re using your own language on the main window, Youtube will search for whatever word you type into the search slot. We think you’ll be amazed at what you can see using this technique. Video production is not restricted to North America. People are the same all over the world as you’ll see. Now, the videos will be presented in other languages, obviously. Some have subtitles, some don’t. No matter. You can still enjoy the sight gags and silliness that you see, regardless. Pratfalls are just as funny in French or Russian or Japanese as they are in English.
Finally, the key benefit to all of this is that you’ll be able to see full length movies in some countries Youtube feed. Do a few searches, let Youtube get a feeling for your ‘type’ of video, then sit back and see what they suggest for you to see. As you know, once you take a lead and view a certain type of video, Youtube suggests others that are visually or thematically similar. We think that you’ll be surprised and thrilled with what you can see once you change the country setting to ‘Worldwide’. We were!
Thanks for reading! Like us on Facebook and you’ll be able to ask us questions, pretty much on a one to one basis. Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook
We’re all getting older, right? Can’t get away from that. As the world moves online, many senior citizens seem to have fallen out of touch with Internet technology. We’ve been asked to consult on the purchase of a computer set-up for just such a senior. We’ve done this before but that was more than ten years ago. That’s an eon when it comes to this kind of technology. Things have changed quite a bit, haven’t they?
You’ll probably hear that Apple computers are much easier to use. Certainly we’ve considered some iPad products and one-piece Macs but the problem with these is the difficulty of our continued support. While the computers themselves may be simpler to use, Apple products are more difficult for us to access online. The great thing about PCs is the outstanding array of software available, including free remote control software.
We’ve written about remote software before. Here is the link: Free Remote Support Software Teamviewer makes the process of repairing a computer from a completely different location as easy as sending an email. Our current target is an 85 year old who has never used a computer before. That may sound like an incredible challenge but with Teamviewer to help us in times of trouble, we’re confident that we’ll be able to succeed.
Here are some of the products that we’re considering:
1. Tablets – You’ve all heard of the iPad, no doubt about that, but there are other brands available. Some use the PC (Microsoft) OS but others use Android or the Google Chrome OS. Still others, the Playbook for example, use very proprietary OSes. By that we mean that interacting with other pieces of technology can be tricky. We’ve found that typing on a touch-screen is difficult and takes us back to the ‘hunt and peck’ technique we spent years trying to eliminate. Still, the idea of a one-piece, very portable computer is attractive.
An Asus tablet which seems quite fitting for a new computer user.
Aside from the keyboard problem which we could quite easily solve with a Bluetooth or USB/wireless keyboard, there is the printing dilemma. Our new user will want to print out pages, emails and snippets of books, we assume, so we’re looking at wireless printers, too. Our experience with wireless has been pretty good but we’re a bit worried because of our experience with network printers in general. It’s better to use a dedicated IP address for any printer.
2. Next, is a desktop or a laptop better? If we decide to ignore the user friendliness of the tablet, we have to decide on what form the new computer should take. We’re not sure that an 85 year old woman is going to be lugging a laptop around her condo but if she does run into problems, bringing a laptop over to our office would be much simpler. Remote software works well most of the time but every now and then she might need some hands-on assistance.
With HDMI output available on a larger laptop, using a large monitor would be a snap. Touchscreens would seem to make sense here as well. With Windows 8, Microsoft seems to be moving away from the traditional mouse, preferring to make use of icons and swipes instead.
A desktop allows for more traditional ‘office’ use. We’re not sold on a senior lounging around on a sofa with a laptop/notebook/tablet balanced on her knee. While the rest of us may be glued to our screens for hours at a time, we think most seniors will want to get online, do their stuff and then return to their traditional lifestyle. Then again, just as the Internet and portable technology has changed our lives, how can we not expect it to change the lives of seniors?
We haven’t yet decided on the best route possible. Maybe this will be a trial and error process. We’re thinking this might be a Goldilocks situation, spending some time with each option before making the final decision. If only we were able to rent or borrow the various pieces of technology available but, as you know, each person’s computer or cell phone is set up just for them. For most of us, lending our precious electronic communicators is simply out of the question.
If you’ve gone through this process, let us know. We’ll make the final decision in the store but maybe you have experience in this area. Share your thoughts and considerations with us, please.
Thanks for reading!
a little bit of hi-tech, a little bit of common sense and a lot of fun
