Most of the class time was spent on the basics of Excel. It is a spreadsheet program from Microsoft. You could also use other programs such as Google docs or LibreOffice/OpenOffice. If you don't own a copy of Excel and have Vista or 7 you can download a free Starter Edition or use your Windows Live Account to use the free online version.
Get the handout at http://rwevans.com/cccgc/SpreadsheetBasicsCCCGC8-1-2013.pdf
We also looked at adblocker. We tried to install it in IE but there was not a version available. It is available in Chrome and Firefox. On the machine I am using right now it has blocked 29,321 in total. By blocking these unwanted ads I avoid clicking on the wrong button and getting software and often malware I did not know I was asking for.
Talked about speedtest and what the numbers mean--ping, download, and upload. The ping value should be fairly low like 10-30, but depends on how far you are from the server. Download should be what you are paying for or greater. If it is consistently much lower you need to call your service provider and have them fix it. Upload speeds are usually much lower than the download.
Discussed brands of computers to buy. I have used Dell, Acer, HP, and Toshiba without any serious issues. I look for the bargains and do not necessarily go with the fastest out there. All I do is office and Internet. I do not use my computer for gaming or downloading and watching movies. If I did I would want a fast processor, plenty of memory, a large hard disk drive, and a fast Internet connection. I like to buy online when I can, but prefer to use large stores like Staples or Wal-Mart. That way if I have a problem I can return it locally.
Last week we talked about Crypoprevent and ADWcleaner. Discussed these again today. See last weeks summary for more information and links.
The club is now suggesting another backup program called Macrium in addition to EaseUS. I have also been experimenting with one called Redo. They all work well and each one creates an image of your hard drive and allow you to recover your drive should it fail or become infected with rensonsare. I suggest you take one of Ron’s classes on backup.
And suggested a schedule for maintenance offered by a member last week:
Monday ADWcleaner
Tuesday Ccleaner
Wednesday Glary Utilities
Thursday MalwareBytes
Friday SuperAntiSpyware
Weekend Image Backup to an external drive
No comments:
Post a Comment