April 2008, or Thereabouts

My taxes are in. It's time for a fresh start. It's been far too long since I sat down to write something. It's time for me entertain you with techie tips and my next occasional newsletter!

I present myself as the "Computer Wizard." I am the technical person with social skills who brings productivity improvement to your 2 to 25 computers, servers, software, hardware, and Internet applications in your office network.

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Microsoft VISTA is one of my new toys. I have it running on one PC so I can practice. XP is still on store shelves and will be there until June or so. I hope for the best from Microsoft. Updates in Vista Service Pack 1 have been released online. The rest of the world is catching up.

Do you want Vista on a PC that you already use? It will run slower than XP and will demand more memory and processor speed. Before you upgrade, run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. Then consider just buying a new PC.

Are you feeling lucky? You can phone Microsoft VISTA Technical Support at 800/936-5700.

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CD Jumble? If you stored all your Microsoft program CDs in the same box and can't tell which one goes with which of your computers, you are still in luck. On the flip side I list a utility which will tell you which product keys are in use on a particular PC.

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Always log out when you leave your PC. You might have financial accounts open that someone else could access. You might have a database open that could become corrupted if someone else turns off your PC. What if the power goes out?

If a second user logs on while your programs are still running, your PC could get really slow. Someone else might wander by, check their email, and download who knows what? When finished, simply close those doors.?

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Restore Points can save you from a disaster. Open Help & Support in the Start menu. Select "Undo changes to your computer with System Restore." Create a Restore Point. You can come back to this point if something gets corrupted in your PC. Your data will remain unchanged, but your programs will be rolled back. Recent spyware and bad drivers will be gone. The instructions on how to perform a roll- back are also in "Undo changes" page.

Also, get either a flash drive or external hard drive for backup. Plug it into a USB port. Think hurricane!

Never use a link in an email to go to your financial institution. Always type in the address you want. Also, never use Windows automatic login for such accounts.

Spammers will send you a warning email with a phony address, hoping you will respond with your pass codes. If they get access, they will empty your account into Nigeria or Romania.

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Now is the time to learn one thing new in technology. Now is the time to delegate the other computing puzzles to someone who actually finds them interesting: your Techie. Now is a good time to check your backups and to refer the people who serve you well.

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