HTTP or HTTPS: What’s the difference and why should I care?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/02/26 16:24 Posted in General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (5)

(Another question from one of our readers…thanks for helping me with ideas!)

I don’t know about you, but as each day passes, I find that more and more of my daily financial transactions occur on the web. I check my bank balances online. I write checks online. I get my statements online. I order books online. I rent movies online. The list goes on and on and on. We all hear horror stories about people whose identity has been compromised. Without getting overly paranoid, and worrying every time you press the ‘submit’ button, how can you make sure that the information you enter is safe?

You may or may not notice when you go to a website that typically, the URL (the web address) begins with ‘HTTP’ (which, for those of you who care [I’m not one of those people] stands for ‘HyperText Transfer Protocol’), but there are a few along the way that begin with ‘HTTPS’ (the ‘S’ standing for ‘SSL’).

There is a basic rule that I try to follow: Before entering personal information (particularly financial or credit card info), make sure that the website you are on begins with ‘HTTPS’. When the site begins with ‘HTTPS’, it means that there is a ‘combination lock’ put on the information you enter, and only the bank/merchant has the combination to unlock the information. A more technical term for this is that the data is sent in an ‘encrypted’ format.

When you go to a secure site (one on which your information is sent via encrypted mode), the URL switches from ‘http’ to ‘https’. I’ll use a popular bank’s website as the example. Here is what the URL looks like on the Home Page:

image of an HTTP URL

This is an UNSECURE site – it is presenting information, rather than gathering ‘sensitive’ information.

Now, when I click on the ‘login’ area, the URL switches to this:

image of an HTTPS URL

Additionally, in the lower-right corner of your browser window, there will be a little security padlock on an HTTPS URL icon (it’s a little, gold padlock). I always look for the padlock, as opposed to the ‘https’ (no reason, just what I pay attention to).

That little gold padlock means that you can enter sensitive information – like SS #, Credit Card #’s, etc. here and it can’t be ‘read’ without the combination to decode it.

There are sites which are not secure (i.e. those which begin with a simple ‘HTTP’) which ask for Credit Card info or SS #’s. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they are bad, but those sites are NOT encrypted, and people (i.e. hackers) CAN intercept the information and ‘pluck’ your personal info and use it for evil (I have no idea how they do it, but they can and do). That doesn’t mean that they WILL do that…just that they CAN do it. I have given my CC over non-secure sites when I’m fairly sure that that site is not a major target of hackers, and I have entered the site from the browser by entering the URL (as opposed to clicking on a link in an e-mail). I know that I take a calculated risk by doing this, but I admit that I have done it.

I’ll give you an example. I’ve been a nut for Lucy the Elephant in Margate, NJ since I was 5-years-old and gave money to ‘save’ her with change from candy purchases at the penny-candy store.

Lucy the Elephant, Margate, NJ

(Sidenote: “Lucy” was a novelty hotel in the early part of the 20th century. She has been restored and is now a wonderful museum…make sure you visit her if you’re at the Jersey Shore.)

When I heard that some of her ‘skin’ had blown off during a storm, I wanted to donate to help repair her. I went to this link on the “Lucy” site to donate:

http://www.lucytheelephant.org/donate.html

You can see that it is NOT a secure site (no ‘HTTPS’). Anyone (well, anyone with a certain skill-set) could have plucked my CC # and Security Code from the ether. I thought about mailing the check, but wasn’t at home. Instead, I took the calculated risk that there wasn’t anyone ‘camping out’ on that site to harvest my info, and hit the ‘submit’ button. Nothing bad happened, but it COULD have and it would have been my fault. I try to make that kind of an event a rarity, rather than the norm.

Bottom line: Just because a site is NOT secure doesn’t mean that your information WILL be compromised, it just means that it CAN be harvested. THINK before you CLICK!!!

Convert a PDF Document back to Word
(or Excel or Powerpoint)

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/02/15 21:14 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, Tech Tips  |  Comments (13)

(This topic is at the request of one of our readers. If you have a specific request, please feel free to drop me a note and I’ll see what I can do!)

Back in December, we wrote about creating PDF’s for free (to check out that topic, please click here), and why you might want to create a PDF document, rather than sending an ‘open’ document (be it Word or Excel or anything else) to a client, vendor, etc.

Here’s the flip-side of that discussion. What happens when you RECEIVE or have a PDF, but don’t have the original document. If you want to edit the document, include portions of that PDF in another document, utilize a portion of an existing contract as the basis for a new contract, etc. WITHOUT RETYPING, what do you do? Can you get it back into an ‘open’ document? The answer: It depends. Huh?

The first thing that you need to do is to figure out whether the PDF was created as an image or not. How do you do that? Easy. Open up the PDF in question. We’re going to be using two as samples here:

This is a PDF created from a Word document:

PDF Created as Text

This is a PDF that was created as an image from a scanned document:

PDF Created as Image

What’s the difference, you ask? They look the same as the PDF, don’t they (well, different words, but the same ‘look’)? They do until you try to copy/paste from within the documents:

This is the one where the PDF was created from the original text document:

PDF Created as Text

Click here to try to highlight the text version for yourself.

This one was the scanned document that turns into an image during the scan:

PDF Created as Image

Click here to try to highlight the image version for yourself.

You’ll see that the one that was created from the original Word document highlights as distinct lines. The one that ended up as an image simply highlights in its entirety.

If you find that your PDF highlights when you try to copy like the image immediately above, sorry…you’re probably going to have to re-key the document. Its not likely that you can readily convert it.

If you find that your PDF highlights as individual lines, as the first example, you’re in luck! You have options for conversion. You’ll have pretty good luck in converting your PDF back to text you can manipulate.

The easiest option is simply to copy the PDF and paste into a Word document. You’ll lose formatting, but you won’t need to rekey everything. Just edit and reformat and away you go.

A copied/pasted document might look something like this after you copy it back to Word:

PDF Converted to Word by copy/paste

A PDF run through a free converter called “Free PDF to Word Converter” which is available for download and readily installs on your local computer looks like this:

PDF Converted to Word by free conversion

A PDF run through a FREE online converter called “PDFtoWord.com” (no installation required on your computer – you upload the PDF to be converted, and the converted file is e-mailed right back to you) might looks like this:

PDF Converted to Word by free conversion

You’ll note that none of the ‘converted back to Word’ documents are identical to the original PDF, but all are serviceable. You can easily reformat them back to their original brilliance! Different conversion utilities will produce different results depending upon the contents of the document. Try more than one if the original try isn’t satisfactory.

There is another FREE online tool which converts PDF’s back to Excel. PDFtoExcelOnline.com works just like the PDFtoWord online converter. Upload the file, enter your e-mail, and the converted file is e-mailed to you.

Powerpoint presentations that have been converted to a PDF can also be converted back to Powerpoint using the FREE online tool ConvertPDFtoPowerpoint.com

Bottom line: There are a bunch of FREE tools available that can help you convert PDF’s back to their original files. Each alternative (and I’ve named just a few of them here) ends up with slightly different results. So, if you don’t like the results from one alternative, try another. (Suggestion: Google “free converter pdf to _____” and insert what you’re trying to get back to in the blank to find alternate tools).

More Keyboard Shortcuts – highlighting a word or paragraph

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/02/09 17:17 Posted in Tech Tips  |  Comments (5)

This is just going to be short and sweet today, gang. Somehow, the number of hours in a day are simply not stretching to cover the amount of work on my desk!! 🙂

A few weeks back, I did a post on Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts. People seemed to enjoy picking up one or two new useful tricks, so I thought I’d pass along a couple of more.

This week, I ran across two keyboard shortcuts that I’d forgotten about that are really useful. Most of us know that we can left-click and drag our mouse across a word (or paragraph) to highlight it. For those of you who might not know, you might do this in order to delete a word, make a word bold, or make a word italicized, etc. Maybe you want to copy a word or paragraph and paste it somewhere else. If you want to do any of these things, you start by highlighting the word (or paragraph).

Well typically, I click to the space immediately to the left of the word(s) that I want to highlight, and then I hold down the left-click button on my mouse, and drag the cursor across the word to highlight it, ending by releasing the button. Then, I do whatever I want to it. I can click the ‘B’ button on my toolbar to ‘bold’ the word, etc.

Click-in in front of the word:
click in in front of a word

Hold the left-click button down and drag to the end of the area to be highlighted:
drag to highlight a word

That’s all fine and dandy, but it requires some manual dexterity to do it accurately. It can be particularly tedious for people with a touch-pad mouse which is either overly sensitive or too ‘dull’.

Anyway, here’s the trick (I know, I know…get to the point already!! I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew what I meant by highlighting text).

Simply double-click on the word (to highlight a word) – anywhere in the word – OR – triple-click (yes, TRIPLE click) in a paragraph to highlight an entire paragraph. Voila! You’ve highlighted either the word or the paragraph in one fell swoop. Much faster than dragging to highlight because you don’t need to worry about the precision.

If you single-click in to a word, it will appear like this:
single-click a word

If you double-click on a word, the whole word highlights:
double-click a word

If you triple-click anywhere in a paragraph, the entire paragraph highlights:
triple-click a word

From there, you can do whatever you wanted…right-click and copy, hit CTRL+B to bold the word/paragraph, hit CTRL+I to italicize the word/paragraph…the possibilities are endless!! All from a simple double-click or triple-click. (NOTE: when I say something like ‘CTRL+B’, it means hold down the ‘CTRL’ key on your keyboard, then press the ‘B’ key – press the ‘CTRL’ key PLUS the ‘B’ key)

(See, I threw in a couple of extra keyboarding shortcuts – just for good measure!)

From the ashes (well actually, puddles) of a disaster…

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/01/28 18:19 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (6)

Backups…one of ‘those’ words that no one wants to think about/deal with/contemplate. I know, it should qualify as a 4-letter word. Alas, it’s a lonely, 6-letter word (or 7-letter if its plural). I’ve ‘learned the hard way’ often enough (meaning I’ve lost data when a hard-drive fried or whatever) to be pretty good (Note: pretty good is NOT great, nor is it an acceptable plan) about backing up. Well, I learned recently that pretty good just doesn’t cut it – and I’m changing my habits.

The lesson goes like this: I’m sitting in my office and the phone rings. Before I even get out the “Good morning, this is Sandy”, a semi-hysterical voice on the other end says, “Sandy, please tell me that you have our data!” Not a good opening sentence – no matter the scenario.

Needless to say, the person was a client of mine. Now typically, I don’t keep client data in my office. There are times, however, when I have a copy for development purposes. It’s not a backup, it’s usually not even current…but it is (or was) an accurate representation of their data at some point in time. “Well, I may, but if I do it’s at least a few months old – WHY!?!? Don’t you have backups?”

The short version of the story is that ‘yes’, my client diligently backed up their data every night to an external hard-drive (one of those hard drives that plugs into a USB port in your computer onto which you can copy however much of the data from your main computer(s) you consider important). Here’s the rub…

The external hard-drive sat right next to the server in the closet that houses the computer equipment. Well, during the night, a pipe burst DIRECTLY OVER THAT CLOSET and drowned not only the main server, but also the external hard drive. They were both, to use a highly technical term, kaput. The main computer was dead and the backup wasn’t any good, either. They were in deep doo-doo (another technical term!).

We don’t need to recount the painful recovery here. What we want to realize is that a ‘disaster’ – including, but not limited to, your computer crashing – can happen to ANY of us. Buildings can burn, floods can happen (seen that one up close and in person), robberies can occur, etc. So, in order to have a LEGITIMATE backup plan – for your personal information OR your business records, you need to have OFF-SITE BACKUP!!

Off-Site backup simply means having a copy of your important files somewhere besides the primary location. So, if you have an office, keep a copy of your backup at your house. If you work out of your house, keep a copy of your backup at your mom’s house, or in a safe deposit box. There are all kinds of ‘off-site’ storage facilities available that don’t cost anything. With the cost of external hard drives so low (a 4GB flash drive is under $10.00 while a 500GB external hard-drive can cost under $75.00), you can buy several, and rotate them out…always keeping the most recent copy in a DIFFERENT LOCATION than the computer.

If, however, you find it difficult to be disciplined about making those backups and moving them off-site, then perhaps you should consider one of the many on-line backup services which are very affordable nowadays. These backups go to the ‘cloud’. In other words, your computer backs up over your internet connection, and the data is stored in a server far, far away from you. If disaster ever strikes, your data is safe…just download it when you have a computer set up again.

Personally, I have used the ‘keep a copy in the safe deposit box’ method for a number of years. I’ll admit, sometimes I’m better at remembering to refresh that copy than others. After this client’s ‘near death’ experience, they went with a ‘cloud’ solution, and I found their experience so positive that I tried it as well. Now, I back up to the ‘cloud’ virtually continuously. For under $50.00/year (I use mozy.com, but there are a bunch of reputable companies out there who provide this type of service for a very reasonable cost), all my files – both personal and professional (don’t forget all those digital photos that are so precious, or your family tree research that live on your personal computer) are backed up to the cloud.

I have tested recovering files, and it works just fine (an online backup isn’t any good if you can’t recover a file that you’ve lost for some reason). I was very skeptical about ‘losing control’ of my data, but based upon research I’ve done and discussions I’ve had with people who have far more experience than I have with online backup/storage solutions, I believe that my data is safe. [If you want to read about a bunch of people’s opinions on the subject check out this CNET Forum discussion: “What’s your take on online backup services?”]

So, there are a BUNCH of alternatives to help you avoid a disaster like my client had to deal with. The only alternative that is NOT acceptable is doing NOTHING. Create a backup plan. Make sure that it includes keeping a copy of your important data somewhere else. Follow the plan! Regularly test the recovery process by recovering a file that is on the backup to verify that the backup plan is working. WHEN trouble strikes (and it is just a matter of ‘when’ and to what degree, not ‘if’), you’ll be prepared. Annoyed that you have to deal with it, but not devastated by the event itself.

Dealing with Technophobia (fear of technology)

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/01/22 17:09 Posted in General, Social Media, Tech Tips  |  Comments (7)

As some of you may have picked up during these discussions, while I am often considered a ‘techie’ by people who are intimidated by technology, I’m really not an early adopter (typically) of technology. I tend to take my time, allow other people to ‘take the lumps’, and then, when the technology (whatever it is) gains a little bit of traction (or ‘a-lot-a-bit’ of traction), I’ll consider including it into my technology portfolio. I consider my approach prudent. You can argue with that, but that tends to be my approach.

That said, there are certain people who are really technophobes. Wikipedia defines ‘technophobia’ as:
The fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. The term is generally used in the sense of an irrational fear, but others contend fears are justified. (Wikipedia definition)

I do NOT consider myself a technophobe, but I can be resistant to adopting new technologies.

Currently, I am being resistant to several things:
1. Office 2007/2010 (Office 2003 is just so darned comfortable)
2. Trying a Mac (I don’t know why…I tell myself I don’t want to pay the premium for the Apple product, yet I have an iPod)
3. Digital Book Readers (I like the ‘feel’ of a book in my hand)

Here’s what I’ve found helps when I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the technology around me:

1. Find someone else who has/uses that technology and try it out – or get them to show you the BASICS (note: the BASICS, not all the fancy stuff). It’s far less scary when you try it with someone who already uses it.

2. See if there is a portion of the technology that you can try before you fully commit. A couple of examples are: a. Test out the ‘trial period’ version of software. Oftentimes, you can get a 30 day peek at a software without shelling out the dollars. Then, at the end of the 30 days, if you like it, you can purchase it. b. Sign up for a service and just lurk. Watch what happens. Social Media is a prime example of this. Just because you sign up for a Facebook account doesn’t mean that you HAVE to actively participate. ‘Friend’ a couple of people (or accept one or two friend requests that you already have out there). ‘Like’ a merchant or organization that you want information from. Sit back and watch…you’ll get the feel for it without a huge time investment.

3. Determine whether its something that you’ve ‘gotta have’ or whether you’re doing it ‘because everyone else is’. In this day and age, you probably HAVE TO HAVE a computer, but you don’t NEED TO HAVE the biggest/fastest one.

4. Wait a bit – until the initial adoption phase is over. Let someone else work out the big kinks. Just don’t kid yourself that 2-3 years is the ‘breaking in period’…in that amount of time, the technology has changed totally.

5. Don’t worry about ‘everyone else’ using it/doing it. If the technology that you have does what you need it to do, stick with it until it breaks. THEN invest in the more modern technology. Not only will you have fewer issues because other people have shaken the kinks out, but it will probably cost less because you won’t be paying for that ‘latest gadget’ premium.

Lessons from my 83-year-old Uncle

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/01/15 16:59 Posted in General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (12)

Do you ever have those moments of total clarity? Moments when you step back, look at something, and say ‘why didn’t I see that before’, or ‘why didn’t I think of that’, or whatever? Some people call them ‘Aha’ moments. Well, I recently had a two MAJOR ‘aha’ moments.

Let me set the stage. My uncle LOVES technology. Yup. You read correctly. He’s 83, but he never hesitates to try out something new gizmo or gadget. In fact, he dives in with both feet, so to speak.

This past fall, he decided that the DVR provided by the cable company didn’t really do all the things that he wanted it to do, so he went online, researched Tivo, called them up and ordered a Tivo box. When it arrived, he dismantled the existing configuration and inserted the Tivo box. His TV setup now allows him to record four different shows at one time – two on the Tivo, one on an old DVR, and one on an old VCR. All of them are set up with the gorgeous flat-screen TV that he purchased some five years ago – before most people had flat-screen TVs. Last year, he bought, and installed, a sound bar, so that he got stereo quality sound, rather than the weaselly sound that comes out of the TV speakers.

My uncle doesn’t call other people to do the installations. He doesn’t wait until someone shows up in the house who can do the installation. He just jumps right in and tries it. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, then he’ll begin researching from the point of the breakdown and try any suggestions that he comes across. Most of the time, he solves any issues himself.

His love of technology doesn’t stop with the A/V stuff. He has a computer network (which he installed) in his house, and 3 computers on which he works (one is a Netbook, one is a laptop, and one is a desktop). He has a proper backup system installed, so that he doesn’t lose his work.

He set up a website locally on his laptop to ‘try it out’. This wasn’t just static web-pages either, but a SQL driven website! Really!

He subscribes to PC World magazine, and reads it cover-to-cover the day it arrives. He saves them, so that if he needs to research something later, he’ll have the issues handy. If he can’t find it in the magazine, he’ll try online at pcworld.com or cnet.com.

OK, Sandy…get back to the ‘moment of clarity’. Actually, there were TWO moments of clarity.

The first: He asked me what I thought about digital book readers (e.g. Kindle, Nook, etc.). I told him that I wasn’t all that jazzed about them because I like the feel of a book in my hands. ‘Why are you asking?’, says I. ‘Oh, I’ve been researching them [this time Consumer Reports was the backbone of the research], and I’ve decided to get a Kindle’. WHAT!?!?! I don’t want to give up my paper books, and my 83-year-old Uncle is going to? Yikes.

The second: Before he starts any project, he READS THE DIRECTIONS!! What a concept! If the directions don’t come with the product, he’ll find them online and print them out. It’s amazing what reading the directions will do to make a project run smoothly. (I’m more of a ‘jump right in with both feet’ kind of person, and often have to backtrack to clear up issues I’ve created for myself).

My ‘aha’ moments?

1. That maybe I should be more willing to try out new technology before it becomes ‘old’ technology.
2. The next project I begin (regardless of what it is), I vow to actually READ the DIRECTIONS!!!

Take it from an 83-year-old…technology is something to be embraced!

Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/01/07 16:15 Posted in Tech Tips  |  Comments (12)

Hi, All! Sorry that I’ve been remiss in my postings…its not for lack of subject matter, but more from a hectic holiday season and end of year work. Anyway, that’s not excuse, but it is an explanation (of sorts).

Now, I haven’t upgraded to Windows 7 as of yet, but I know that more and more people are migrating from XP. I will make that leap with my next computer…it’s just not time yet. I know some people who love it, and some who dislike it, but overall, it seems to be a sound operating system (the best of Vista without alot of the overhead in Vista).

I always love picking up keyboard shortcuts for any program in which I work. For instance, if I want to copy something to my clipboard, I almost never hit “{edit}{copy}” from the toolbar:

copy menu

I also don’t use the button style icons for copying information:

copy buttons

Instead, I use the CTRL+C command which means that my fingers never have to leave the keyboard and go to the mouse. I hold the Control button down (the one on your keyboard labeled ‘CTRL’), then I hit the ‘C’. That copies the file/information into my clipboard (think of the ‘clipboard’ as a virtual storage center for information on the move – any of the three approaches – the menu, the buttons, or the shortcut do the same thing…its just three different ways to accomplish that same task – don’t think that they are three different commands. They are NOT.), then I put my cursor wherever I want that copied item pasted, and I hit CTRL+V (i.e. I hold the Control button down (the one on your keyboard labeled ‘CTRL’), then I hit the ‘V’). That will paste the information from the clipboard onto my document (or into another file, or whatever). Copy/Paste (CTRL+C and CTRL+V) work anywhere – copying from cell to cell in Excel, or copying/pasting information in Word, or copying a file from one place to another. (By the way, CTRL+X is the ‘cut’ command and physically removes the information from location #1 and moves it to location #2 when you ‘paste’ it (CTRL+V or the equivalent).

Anyway…sorry for that detour, but some people might not know what a ‘keyboard shortcut’ is…I find that these ‘keyboard shortcuts’ save me amazing amounts of time. So, when I just ran across a document containing 200 Windows 7 shortcuts, I downloaded it immediately.

“The Complete Windows 7 Shortcuts eBook by Nitin Agarwal” appears to be FABULOUS. It is FREE, and is available as either a PDF or XPS document. Some of the shortcuts are the same in XP as they are in Windows 7. Some may not exist in XP, but its worth giving it a shot if you find an interesting command and aren’t on Windows 7. I’m going to try some of the ones that I didn’t know about, and see if they exist in XP. If they do, terrific. If they do not, then it will be an encouragement to upgrade.

If you want to find out more, please go to:

Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

You don’t even have to enter your e-mail address…the file is there for downloading. Scroll to the bottom of the screen, and look for this link…this is the download:

keyboard shortcuts

Let me know which are your favorite shortcuts! (Mine might be Windows Logo key+D to display the desktop without minimizing all of the open programs).

Does a sluggish or slow computer mean I need to buy a new one?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2010/12/29 13:46 Posted in General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (13)

I don’t know about you, but I get very annoyed by the concept of ‘disposable technology’. What you ask, is that? “Disposable technology” implies that there is a planned obsolescence in the gadgets and gizmos that we buy. In truth, that’s correct. Technology is being developed so quickly, that before you even unpackage that brand new thingamajig, it’s replacement is already in the pipeline. That said, just because something is available for sale doesn’t mean that YOU need to purchase it!

Case in point: My 3-year-old laptop. My laptop is getting cranky. It takes a longggg time to boot. Programs crash for no apparent reason. Searches require a trip to Starbucks to get coffee to stay awake while the process is running. Sounding like I need a new laptop, right? I could very well justify the purchase, as I typically tell people that a laptop is only designed for 2-3 years of use (desktops for 3-4 years). Once you’ve gotten that much out of the machine, it doesn’t owe you a thing! OK, but I don’t WANT to purchase a new laptop right now!!! The computer works fine (thank you Lenovo for building a fairly rugged piece of equipment)…its just terribly, slowwwwwww.

Why is it slow? Well, every time you install/uninstall software, little bits and pieces of debris are left along the way. Over time, those bits of debris accumulate into a pile of junk that gets in the way of the computer operating efficiently. No different than your tool bench getting disorganized after a while because you fail to hang every item back in its place. Eventually, you need to do a major housecleaning.

So, what are the alternatives with a computer? A virtual ‘housecleaning’.

Once I’ve tried all of the typical diagnostics (scan disk, defrag, anti-virus scan, anti-malware scan), and the speed is still not what I remember, it’s time for more radical steps – but steps that most people can do themselves if they have a little patience (oh yes, and some time). How do you do a ‘virtual housecleaning’? Reinstall the operating system (in my case, Windows XP), and then reinstall all of the programs. While this is a time-consuming process, it’s not as scary as it sounds – as long as you FOLLOW A PLAN!!!!

This article in PC World gives a terrific step-by-step guide to revitalizing an older computer:
How to reinstall Windows without losing your data

MOST IMPORTANT TIP: HAVE ALL OF YOUR DATA BACKED UP BEFORE YOU BEGIN!!! If you’ve done that, then it’s just a question of time…and all of your critical information will still be available after you resurrect your machine.

Maybe this is one of your New Year’s Resolutions! I know that it is one of mine :-).

Happy Holidays! The Nativity seen through 2010 eyes

By Sandra Clitter  |  2010/12/23 10:30 Posted in General, Social Media  |  Comments (2)

OK…so I hadn’t intended on posting again before next week, but this link just landed in my Inbox and had me laughing so hard that I just had to share it.

Those who really feel that Social Media is intrusive will laugh, as will people who see the value in it. I have no idea who thought of this, but they were certainly creative!!

The Nativity seen through 2010 eyes.

I hope someone else finds this as humorous (and yes, ridiculous) as I do!!

I wish everyone safe, happy and healthy holidays.

Does your computer have alot of programs you never use?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2010/12/21 20:49 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General  |  Comments (7)

It’s almost the New Year (well, 10 days away), and close enough to start thinking about my New Year’s resolutions. Every year, my first resolution (after ‘taking more time for myself’) is to clear off my desk and clean up my computer. I do NOT want to admit how I fare on any of the three categories (miserably, most of the time). I might get my desk clear for a day or two, but it quickly returns to it’s former, cluttered self (I don’t know HOW that happens!?!?!?). I do better some times than others at taking time for myself. The last resolution – cleaning up my computer – rarely gets attacked…or, if it does, half-heartedly.

Why? Well, because its a pain to identify the ‘junk’ on my computer and then uninstall everything. There just never seems to be time in the day to attack this particular issue. I’d rather work on the ‘take more time for myself’ than ‘clean up my computer’ (or my desk, for that matter).

All these reasons for procrastination, or re-prioritization, were rendered moot by an article I happened upon in PC World (one of my very favorite resources for tips and tricks). “How to Remove Crapware and other Unwanted Software from your Computer” offers two great step-by-step sets of instructions (with screenshots) for cleaning up your computer. Honestly, the first approach (going into the Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs) is the approach that I avoid because I’m not always sure what I need and don’t need. The second approach recommended in the article really appeals to me. PC Decrapifier is designed to ‘clean’ new computers of all the extra ‘junk’ that comes pre-installed on them – not the stuff that you install, then decide you don’t want.

I’m going to give this program a try (honestly, I haven’t tried it yet – it’s in my New Year’s resolution list!), and see how it works. I never did that when I initially set up my computer, so there may be a bunch of things just clogging the system. We’ll see. Wish me luck, and let me know how you make out on your New Year’s resolutions – particularly the technology ones!!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!!!!