I have been written to by several of the "Double Click" readers as to why I have not mentioned Microsoft Windows 7 very often. The answer is that there are about 50 bazillion other geeks out there, who have written about it relentlessly since it rolled out to the public in October, 2009. I figured I would let the clamor die down some before I started.
Today I come out of hiding with W7 (get used to the abbreviation, it saves column space).
I will start with the question that I usually get first. "Do you use W7, yet?" Yes, I do, everywhere! I have been testing the pre-launch versions of W7 for about a year now. I have been using the final version since it launched.
All of my computers run this new Operating System (OS) including my wife’s notebook, save one. I still run Vista on my home desktop because that computer has more software and data on it than any of the others. Rebuilding that particular machine will take several days to get "just right". Procrastination wins!
The next most common question I get is, "Should I switch to W7?" That really depends on you. If you are not happy with your current OS (Vista?) and you have the extra money, sure go ahead and make the change. If you do not have any complaints, why fix it if it ain’t broke?
That being said, I will as good as guarantee that if you do go to W7 you will like it. It looks similar to Vista. However, it is much faster since it uses less system resources. It has many very positive features that you will like.
When conversing about W7 the next question usually is, "What do you like best about the OS?" My wise guy answer is, "Everything." However, the primary element I enjoy was also present in Vista; though, it did not function nearly as well…the search feature.
Say for instance I want to run Excel. I can click the orb (used to be called the start button when it was rectangular) or press the Windows key on my keyboard and just type, "excel". A menu list is generated with everything on my computer that has "excel" in it. The Excel program is at the top of the list. All I do is press the Enter key and Excel starts right up.
If I know that I have a file with the words, "Windows 7" in it. I just type it, like I just did, and three files are listed. Three columns which I wrote; one each in April and June of 2009 and the one you are reading now.
That is a great, efficient and very speedy way to work. So thanks, Microsoft, for that as well as the additional features we will be talking about in the future.
Tags: excel, microsoft, orb, Ron Doyle, vista, windows, windows 7, xp
Mentioned on today’s show:
- Learning curve will be large if you’ve never used computers.
- Courses at BRCC and MTC which are excellent
- I have had students from 16-96
- Retired person 96 who just wanted to learn more
- One woman in 80s who had a hobby and wanted to sell her hobby online.
- I taught her to build her own web site and did a great job and sold her items
- Desktop or Portable?
- Screen Size
- Can change text and graphics in most all programs
- Size of monitor may be hard to navigate if too small
- Still need “room” to move around on the screen.
- Weight
- My backpack weighs 11 lbs. would that be feasible for all?
- How much do you want to carry around for a Notebook (~5-8 lbs.)
- Small Netbook computers (~2 lbs.)
- Tablet – iPad all the rage as of yesterday (~1 lb.)
Tags: citizen, computer, computer help, Jeff Ishee, Jim Britt, newspaper column, Ron Doyle, senior, WVSA
I got an email from a reader in Mt. Crawford over a month ago asking an excellent question. They wanted to know if there was a way to keep all of their programs up to date, keeping the latest version always on their system.
In talking back and forth with them we came to the conclusion that there should be something on the market that was similar to “Windows Update”. WU comes with all versions of Microsoft windows as all of my readers should know. It allows you to check and see if there are any new versions of your MS products that need updating. If there are, it allows you to update them so that you can stay ahead of the curve.
After a little Googling and searching I found a program called Secunia-PSI. I have no idea what “Secunia” means but PSI is for “Personal Software Inspector”. This program does almost everything the reader wanted. I have been testing it for a little over a month and it seems to work very well.
You can go to secunia.com to read about and download the personal edition of the application. There are actually three different versions of Secunia. They are OSI (Online), PSI (Personal) and CSI (Corporate). I tried the OSI and it was adequate but does not look for as many programs as the PSI and CSI versions. The CSI version is really for the corporate environment and home users do not need it. All three are here: bit.ly/bx3f5u.
All versions are free but I recommend downloading/installing the PSI version which seems to be very thorough. You will find it in the middle of the three on the page recommended above.
The default setting for Secunia runs in the background all the time checking your computer’s software for updates. I leave it like that on my desktop since I have loads of memory. However, for my netbook I just run it once a week or so.
I pride myself in always keeping all of my software up to date, so let’s take a look at how my three computers faired after being scanned by Secunia.
My netbook scored 100% as all of my software was up-to-date, yeah!
My notebook didn’t do as well. There were four applications that weren’t up to standards. But I still did better than 15% of users in Virginia; Secunia gives you this info if you register the product. (free)
Now my pride and joy, my desktop computer…oops, I had 11 applications that were not where they should be. I spent about an hour uninstalling some old versions which Secunia advised me to do, before I updated them. I also downloaded some of the new versions from the links provided by Secunia. And I learned a valuable lesson, as the bible says, “Pride goes before destruction.”
Now, let’s look at a couple of drawbacks. It indicated that all three browsers on my system were insecure and needed updates. They are MSIE, Firefox and Google Chrome. Come on, give me a break! They were all updated and as secure as possible. I guess it wanted me to uninstall all three of them. Of course, then my surfing the net time would be cut down considerably. I decided to ignore those threats. You can always make rules to ignore certain warnings.
Tags: application, browsers, desktop, netbook, notebook, PSI, Ron Doyle, secunia, software, update
Several of you continued the USB line of thought from the last column and mentioned portable applications. I thought I had written about these years ago. However, after a search of over 750 columns I’ve written I realized that I had not mentioned them, so here we go.
A quick definition is needed here for what portable applications are and how are they used.
A portable application is a “stand alone” program that does not need to be installed on a computer’s hard drive. When you install a regular program there are files that are written all over your computer. For instance, many entries may be made in your windows’ registry file along with other folders somewhere else. A portable application is installed in one main folder and no other entries are written anywhere else on the system. This is like a step back in time. In the DOS days and the originating days of windows all programs were installed like this; however, things are now different.
The first and predominate portable applications site is called, appropriately enough, “Portable Apps“. If you go there you can install the basic program on your USB stick and it will provide a lot of good “little” programs. It creates a menu system so that when you plug your USB stick in it will pop up and you can run your portable applications from there.
There are three different Portable Apps from which to choose. The differences are in size and what programs you get with each one. The first choice, “Platform Only” will only install the basic program. I don’t find this one to be very useful. It is only 1.3MB in size but it doesn’t do much to help you out.
The other two installs are called “Suite Lite” and “Suite Standard”. These two are respectively
150MB and 355MB in size. The minimum recommended sizes for your USB device is 256MB and 512MB, again depending on which version you choose.
Each of the larger versions include most of the Mozilla apps like the FireFox browser, Thunderbird email, a messaging program, an antivirus program and several other apps. The difference between the two is that the larger version includes Open Office Portable version. That is an excellent substitute for Microsoft Office on a budget…it is free as are all of these apps. You can look for other portable programs online too.
Why would you want to install these or a USB stick? You go to a friend’s house and want to do some work on your newspaper column or your personal budget. You can perform everything you need to on your USB stick after plugging it into their computer. None of your information is left behind on their computer since you have used your portable “system” to do your work and store your files. You can check your email, surf the web, etc. without leaving behind any of your private information on someone else’s system.
It provides a good use for your USB thumb drive other than using it for storage only. There are other portable app sites online – Google for them. Even so; “Portable Apps” is the first, and in my opinion the best.
Tags: computer, Firefox, google, iPod, memory, Portable Applications, Ron Doyle, thumb drive, usb
Thanks to all of you who sent in the kind comments about the year in review columns for 2009(#1 & #2). It is good to know that you are using them, liked the repeat of specific sites and that you are continuing to enjoy the column on a regular basis. So, “Thanks!”
Today I wanted to talk about a very interesting free application that I stumbled upon this week and the website where I found it. Everything USB is an interesting site that has…well OK, you guessed it, lots of information about USB devices. USB stands for “universal serial bus” and is the interface (plug) between your computer, most thumb drives/memory sticks and an array of other items that plug into your computer like camera cables, etc. with the little rectangular interface. Take a look around there and you may find some interesting info.
One of the things that I found and have tried out for a week or so is called, “Predator“. The Predator site says, “PREDATOR protects your PC with a USB flash drive” which is exactly what it does.
I know you have seen spy movies where they have to plug a device into a computer to unlock it. They don’t use the regular username and password we actually use. Be aware that the majority of movies spotlighting computer use show them doing things computers in the real world don’t do at all.
With Predator installed on your computer you have entered the movie zone. Once Predator is installed, you just plug in your thumb drive and get almost immediate access to your computer. When you walk away from your computer just pull the stick out and drop it in your pocket. Once, your USB device is out of the computer your monitor goes black and locks.
When you come back to your computer, plug in your device and it unlocks for you to use.
This program also requires you to set a Predator password just in case you lose your drive and can’t get into the computer. If that is the case you simply press the enter key three times and it asks for the password. You get three tries to enter the correct one. If you fail it will lock down for 5 minutes and you won’t be able to try again during that time. Neat little security trick if your friends at work try to get into your computer.
An interesting Predator feature is that it creates a log which you can read. If anyone tries to log into your computer while you are gone it tells you what they tried and how it failed. For instance, when you get back and check the log you could see if someone tried to get into your system with the wrong password, etc. Check the site’s link above for more details.
Is this better than a username and password? Nope, but it sure is cool.
Tags: add-on, computer, Double Click, doyle, internet, newspaper column, programs, Ron Doyle, thumb, thumb drive, Transferring Files, usb, USB drive, yego
Last week’s column about “Working At Home” and using “Remote Desktop Connection” received many thanks and a couple of emails with suggestions. (Thanks to all of you who write each week; I really appreciate “talking” to my readers even if it is just to say, “Hi”.) One of those suggestions submitted by Daryl in Elkton suggested a site/application that I had not heard of before.
The application is named, “TeamViewer” and is a free and reasonably simple way to log into another computer with the TeamViewer software installed. Keep in mind that this is only available free to home users and not commercial businesses. Go to the site to, “Find out why more than 60 million users trust TeamViewer!”
There are several excellent benefits and one potential drawback. The benefits would start with ease of installation. The site says you can be up and running in 2 minutes. That is a fairly accurate statement, but if you read all the documentation I would plan on 15-30 minutes. Next, you can create a group which has all of your computers in the group. This allows you to login using your group username and password and easily connect to any of your group’s computers. Another benefit is the ability to easily transfer documents back and forth between computers.
Since I have limited space here I will hit one HUGE benefit of TeamViewer. If you set it up correctly you do not have to have the TeamViewer software installed on a computer to access your group’s computers. You can log onto your account using your internet browser. The address is simple (login.teamviewer.com) and once you log in there you may connect to one of your computer’s desktops to interact with your “long distance” computer as if you were sitting in front of it! This is a tremendous advantage over most ways to access your computers from a distance. It sets up a secure site connection using “https” the same as your bank’s website, so security should not be an issue.
The one drawback that does bother me is that they have a menu item that reads, “Enable black screen”. I have tried this feature with computers that are side by side to check that and other features. When I choose to “black” the remote screen it does, but not when I click on the remote screen. The remote computer flashes and anyone can see what is clicked. This is not terrible but I believe it is a security problem. At my home it really doesn’t matter since it is just my wife and me, but if you have visitors or robbers it is different. If someone from TeamViewer would like to contact me and tell me how to correct this issue I would whole heartedly recommend TV to everyone. However, at this point I see that as a possible security issue.
OK, one last benefit. Since you can log onto your computer long distance using your browser it works on all windows enabled computers. I have installed it on my wife’s notebook, our desktop and even my little netbook. Two of these computers run Windows 7 and one of them Windows XP so I can verify that it works well across those operating systems (including Mac OS X 10.4 and up).
Give it a try this week and let me know what you think. And as with all software I recommend, use at your own risk and check their website for issues since I can’t possibly know all the details for all the software I use/recommend.
Last but not least, “Happy New Year” to you and your families!”
Tags: add-on, computer, computer help, google docs, new computer, other computer, RDP, Ron Doyle, Transferring Files, viewer
