Friday, July 31, 2015

Class Summary 7-30-2015

Had some difficulty connecting today. My internet connection is not the best here in KY. I had to use my cell phone and it would not let me use video on a group call. But we made the best of it. Next week we will try using Google hangout instead. I will send instructions along soon.

We had some good interaction about the move to Windows 10. Jerry told us about his experience of doing the upgrade. And how he likes 10.

Here are some good articles that came in my mailbox about the move to 10. Pass them on to others…

Windows 10 is Out Today: Should You Upgrade?
Here’s What’s Different About Windows 10 for Windows 7 Users
Here’s What’s Different About Windows 10 for Windows 8 Users

I mentioned a shortcut to use when deleting files or folders. Sometimes the items being deleted are too large for the recycle bin. Usually you get a message saying so and I button to click to delete them anyway without placing them in the bin. One of our members was trying to delete files from an external drive and was not able to do it. The way to delete and not go through the recycle bin is this. Right-click the folder or file or a group of them. Then hold down the shift key on the keyboard and then click Delete. Ot just hold down shift and press the Del key on your keyboard.

Another member emailed to tell me how she is enjoying the getpocket app on her smartphone. We talked about this one a few weeks ago. Here is the link info once again:
https://getpocket.com/
When you find something you want to view later, put it in Pocket.

And here is a link to a blog that explains it:
http://getpocket.com/blog/2013/09/introducing-pockets-new-app-for-windows-and-chrome-os/

And for those who were on the call, as soon as I got off the phone I found my hidden PC. Now I am updating it with all the current downloads from Microsoft hoping to install 10 on it soon.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Class Summary 7-23-2015

We were back on Skype for another online session. The computer I took with me to RI proved too slow for video, so I just used audio. Will be back to KY for next week and a better computer. And we may experiment with Google Hangouts instead. I will let you know.

Here is what I talked about today:

http://www.pureflix.com/
Christian Shows and Movies. First month is free. After that it is $8 a month. It is a channel on Roku as well as available on your computer.

http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/free-antivirus/
Top rated antivirus that works with XP through 8. It can also be run from a USB flash drive.

Maintenance Programs white paper at:
http://rwevans.com/cccgc/MaintenancePrograms.pdf

Create a Restore Point white paper. Why and how to:
http://rwevans.com/cccgc/CreateaRestorePoint.pdf

And here are a couple of sites to sell things on or to find things being sold by others. Not a retail site, more like online yard sales. Not auction sites.

https://www.close5.com/
Close5 is a new way to buy & sell locally with safety top of mind. Free to list. Free to use.

https://www.etsy.com/
An alternative to eBay. Not an auction site.

Windows 10 coming available next week\. Remember to backup your hard drive before saying yes. Check out the white papers on how to do that at:

Installing and creating an image with Macrium Reflect
http://rwevans.com/cccgc/BackingupwithMacriumReflect.pdf

Creating a Reflect Restore Disk at
http://rwevans.com/cccgc/Creating a Reflect Restore Disk.pdf

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Class Summary 7-16-2015

Talked about many things in today’s online session. I had a connection problem on my end so I was not seen by all but was able to talk and hear fine. Everyone else could see each other fine. Will try and have Skype up and running on my Chromebook for next week.

Talked about making an image backed and using the white paper I posted a couple of weeks ago. I also brought up using Mozy to backup to the cloud critical files. This way if your hard drive crashes you can restore from your last image and then use Mozy to restore the files changed since that backup. Use the code to get an additional .25gb of free space and it gives me .25gb additional as well. Thanks.
http://www.mozy.com/free and use code GFBU22

Faith talked about how much she likes to use TinyURL.com and Bob’s grandson mentioned that Google had a similar free service: http://goo.gl Google’s Tinyurl. Tiny also has a TinyPIC which you can use to upload a picture to and then use the URL of that picture to link to from others places like in an email instead of attaching the picture.

Here are the links that I brought up at the beginning of the session. Take a look at them online and let me know what was useful.

https://tictail.com/
Start your own online store

https://www.masterclass.com/
Learn how from the professionals

http://www.getsidekick.com/
With Sidekick email tracking, get live notifications when someone opens or clicks on one of your emails. Know when, how many times, where, and from what device they opened your email.

https://www.whatsapp.com/
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2099481/facebooks-whatsapp-buy-could-finally-kill-sms.html

http://free-counter.org/
Add a counter to your page

http://crystalrich.com/internetoff/
I have been using internetoff on my XP machine. Works nice.

Maintenance White Paper

This links takes you to a white paper I wrote a while ago on the maintenance programs I use on a regular basis. I have to update it to add some additional programs I have been using lately including the newer image backup from Macrium.

http://rwevans.com/pclibrary/ComputerMaintenance.pdf

Add Blocking

A white paper on how to add AdBlock to Google chrome. I use this extension all the time and so far it has blocked about 49,000 ads! There is an equivalent one for Firefox, but I have not been able to find one for Internet Explorer.

http://rwevans.com/cccgc/Adding%20Adblock%20to%20Google%20Chrome.pdf

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Class Summary 7-2-2015

Our first online class was successful even if there were only 3 of us in attendance. Maybe more will join for next time. The important thing to remember is that you have to ask to be added BEFORE the day of the class. The Skype name is cccgc.club. So go into Skype and request a connection with cccgc.club. I will approve it and add you to the group at the beginning of the session. Then you only have to answer the call join the session.

One of the members was on a PC and we could see and talk back and forth. The other member was on an iPad and could not join the group video but he was with us audio only. Had some good discussion which I summarize below.

http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/
Wonder what that program installed on your computer is used for? Use this site to find out and maybe remove it. I know I have looked at some of those strange program names in the list of installed programs and wondered if it was safe to remove them. Now we have an easy way to check. Thanks, Donna for bringing this one up.

You asked about free TV and movies
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD4EOyXKjfDUhCI6jlOZZYQ
ELI the Computer Guy -- free tech advice

“A smart person learns from his mistakes. I wise person learns from other people's mistakes.”

I found this on YouTube and wanted to pass it on. He has many worthwhile videos posted. You may find some over your head, but others might speak right to an issue you are having.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIOIe0nr6DQ
Backdoor password reset in Windows for the technical savvy user,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOlZl7UmwQ
Boot Windows 8 without having to enter a password. When you installed Windows 8 you had to set up a Windows Live account (or so they led you to believer). Now every time you turn your PC on you have to enter a password. This little trick will let you change that so you will no longer have to enter the password.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoYv1H6-E98
Recover from Forgotten Windows 8 Password. Another one for the Tech Savvy.

http://cccgctraining.blogspot.com/2014/08/disposable-email-address.html
Using a disposable email address and why. This backs you up to a talk given back in August of last year. Check it out.

Was asked why the Windows 10 reservation icon was not showing on the taskbar. To be eligible for the upgrade you have to be running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. And you have to have Windows updates set to automatic. Once all your updates have been applied to your version of Windows the flag icon will appear and you can reserve your copy of WIndows 10 for download on or after July 29th.

Also talked about the Windows 8 PC vs the Surface tablet. They appear the same but are not exactly. And the Windows 10 upgrade applies to the PC. NOthing yet on their tablet. The PC runs executables and apps while the tablet, like the cell phones, only run apps. So do not expect your surface tablet to totally replace your PC. My personal opinion is that if you are using an Android cell phone right now, get an Android tablet. They work alike and the transition to the tablet is pretty easy. YOu can pick up tablet pretty cheap. I just bought one online the other day for $34.

I was asked about adblocker and how to get it. It is not a program, it is an extension or addon to your browser--either Chrome or Firefox. The terms extension, addon, and plugin all mean the same thing just are terms used by different browsers. the adblocker is not available for IE, but is for the other two. Chrome calls it AdBlock and I believe Firefox calls it AdBlocker. Both have an icon that looks like a red stop sign with a hand in the middle.

How do I password protect a folder? In Windows you cannot password protect a file or a folder. There are third party programs that will allow you to do it. The simplest method is to zip the folder or file using a program like WinZIP to compress it. One of the options you get is to add a password to the resulting zip file. Here is a link to their help screen. http://kb.winzip.com/kb/entry/78/