But, I figure I can do it.  After all, I went from standard shift to automatic.  Once I quit stomping my left foot through the floor boards, it turned out to be easier!  And so it is with the computer (usually!).

And I have Kim Komando and her great website to help me along.  This information is from her, and is excellent.

Make your passwords unbreakable but memorable

Criminals are very good at cracking simple passwords. Take the recent case at Twitter.

Such a password could look like this: IwIhl@M$bi86. So, how do you make this memorable?

But nothing is foolproof. You don’t want to use the same password for everything. If you do, once one account is compromised, all are compromised. So, use different passwords. But again, remembering all of those passwords isn’t easy. Luckily, there are several simple solutions.

You could try a password manager. These programs store all of your passwords in an encrypted file. You only need to remember one password to access them. Try KeePass, or LastPass

You could also modify your one strong password. Add or change a few characters for each account. Say, you have a Gmail account and Amazon account. You’ll use the original password as the root. And then, you’ll add characters related to the service.

For Gmail, I’d use IwIhl@M$bi86Gm

Obviously, these are not really my passwords. But using a system makes it easy to remember all of your passwords.

Good ideas, and fun creating !

I was thinking about my brother today.  (He was killed 2 years ago), and how I used to bug him by leaving all the addresses on forwarded emails.

Every time I did so he would send me instructions on how to not do that.  But, of course I would do it again anyway!  Part of the job of kid sisters.  Isn’t it?!

It occurred to me that perhaps some of you are not sure about how to erase them, or why one should.  So, if you already know, or don’t care, end your reading of this posting here!  Otherwise, read-on …

The reason you remove the addresses is that it is possible for a spammer to get a hold of all those addresses (don’t ask me how) and suddenly everyone is getting tons of junk…make that tons more junk!

So here’s how:

1.    go to forward, or reply, as you normally would

2.    highlight everything you want to erase, (do that by holding down
the left mouse button and running your cursor over the words you
want to erase.)

3.   find that little pair of scissors on the tool bar and click  (Or right click and cut)

Occasionally, if there is lots to be erased I find it works better to do small batches.

There ya go!  This ought to make brother Dave happy!

If you have no computer guru, and would at times like to toss your PC out the window, then read on.  You might find a bit of help here.

Do you take care of the hard drive on your PC?  Do you even know it’s a good idea?  It can help things run faster if you do.

It is quite easy actually.

There are three basic chores:  repel viruses etc., start on a diet, clean your room.      (That sounds like what one might say to a teenager.)

#1 Repel Viruses

Protection via spyware, and  anti virus programs.

There are many.  Some better than others..  I am not qualified to judge.  But, I will tell you what I use and have been very happy with.

For Spyware, I have used Spy Sweeper for several years with good results. There is a charge but it is reasonable.  www.webroot.com This can be set to run automatically.

I also use Avast, a virus protection.  Free at www.avast.com This one you have to remember to run, but it is super simple.  And effective.

Lately we’ve been subject to malicious malware.  There is free protection for that as well.   www.malwarebytes.com . Vista has its own.

#2 Involves how many programs are running at start-up.  This is where you diet!

Programs can put themselves on the start list.  You may not even realize it when it occurs.

To check, click on start.  Everything on the left  side list, lower half, is a program that runs when you start your computer.  It doesn’t mean that you can see it, or use it without clicking on it.  It basically means it is at the ready.

Left click on anything you don’t think you want or use often and on the pop-up list you can click Remove From This List.

This is way simplified.  But, if I try to get very technical I will cause a serious problem.!  There are internal windows files that run at start, but, I believe it best for most of us to leave those be. You can get good thorough advice  on this, from the “stump the pc club” at www.ocregister.com/link/pcclub

#3 is a bit more complicated.

By proper terms it is disk clean-up, disk error checking, and defragging.

To me it is cleaning up the file room.

I think of my computer as a big file cabinet.  Naturally, things get put into the wrong file folder now and then.  And things that don’t even belong, {child’s toy?} occasionally show up.  Of course there are the things I thought I wanted, i.e. news paper article, but no longer do.

Windows accumulates debris or what are known as temporary files for several reasons which can result in quite a bit of wasted hard drive space over time.

One source is due to how your Internet browser functions. Each time you visit an Internet site, the page that you are viewing is downloaded to your hard drive and it resides there until it is removed. These are called temporary Internet files and they accumulate over time. You don’t need them, as the next time you want to go to that site you would not try to find it on your hard drive, you would just type in the address.

These accumulated files can slow down your computer and should be removed periodically.

One good reason is that when an anti-virus program scans your disk, it wastes a lot of time scanning these junk files in addition to everything else.

One way to cleanup your drive is to use the built-in “Disk Cleanup” tool.

With Windows XP or Vista, go to “Start,” then “All Programs,” “Accessories,” “System Tools,” and then “Disk Cleanup.” If you have more than one disk drive, you can choose the disk to cleanup by clicking the drop-down box. Normally, you will only have one drive, the C-Drive.

A new box will appear and tell you what windows thinks could be removed (cleaned up). You have the choice to check or uncheck each item.  When you click OK the window will go away and the job is done.

These tasks should be performed in this order. You’ll want to clean up your hard drive prior to performing the other tasks so you don’t waste time processing unwanted files. Also, you will not be able to run a successful defrag if your drive has any errors on it — that’s why Disk Checking should be performed prior to defrag.

The easiest way to run Disk Checking is to open My Computer, right-click the drive you want to check, usually the C drive, and select Properties. Select the Tools tab and click Check Now.

When the next window opens place checkmarks in both boxes. Windows will inform you that this task will run the next time Windows starts up. If you want to do it now, close all programs and go to Restart.

As the computer restarts the checking will begin. You’ll get a black screen with white writing.

Allow some time for this to take place depending on your hard drive size and speed. For me it took over 2 hours. I have a 450 GB hard drive and am on the internet a lot.

Depending on your pattern of usage it is a good idea to clean disk every 3 to 6 months. The more you do so, the less time it will take.

Don’t go away. You’re not done yet! We still have to put all those miss-placed papers in the proper file folders.

If you are watching this whole process happen, you’ll like this part. It is more colorful!

You can start the defragging process by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. It will pull up a screen that has two wide bars across it.
One shows before defrag, the other after. So you can watch the process!

If you click the Analyze button first, another window will open allowing you to view a report. If the fragmentation is above 10 percent, it’s a good time to defragment your drive.

The directions above apply equally to Windows XP and Vista.

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. Or follow it in the Orange County Register.

Thank you to Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member, for his help with this article.

Microsoft has a new search engine which seems to pop up now and then when not expected. Apparently it also does little tricks that some people don’t care for!

The following is from Kim Komando. It is the best explanation, and offers the only solution, of the problem I have found.

“Bing is a new search engine from Microsoft. It’s trying to move beyond simply providing a list of related links. And it uses some innovative tools to do that. Unfortunately, one has backfired big time.

All search engines let you search specifically for videos. But Bing provides in-result video previews. Roll your mouse over a result and the video starts playing. You get about a minute preview, complete with audio.

It’s actually a neat idea. You can preview videos without leaving Bing. But the site doesn’t distinguish between a funny YouTube clip and pornography. The right search turns Bing into a porn theater.

This can circumvent parental controls. And it leaves no trace. The porn site won’t be logged in the browser history. You may have no idea what your fifth grader is watching.

Bing has built-in obstacles for porn. Unfortunately, any knowledgeable fifth grader—like yours!—can evade them.

Bing does have built-in search filtering. It’s called SafeSearch. It’s intended to block sexually explicit content. It has three settings – Strict, Moderate and Off. By default, it’s set to Moderate.

Technically, the default setting should block porn. But it isn’t perfect. A child could accidentally find porn. Setting SafeSearch to Strict works better. I could tell you how to do that. But there really isn’t a point.There is no way to lock in SafeSearch settings. Anyone can change them. There is even a Change button at the top of search results.

This problem has raised a storm of concern. Microsoft, which has big hopes for Bing, reacted quickly. It set up a separate domain— explicit.bing.net—to filter porn. You can block that domain in your browser.

Someone could still look up porn. All the results will still be listed. But explicit videos show up as black boxes.

I could show you how to set this up in a browser. But again, there isn’t a point. The black boxes still work. Hover the mouse over a black box, and you still get porn.

Additionally, the explicit filtering isn’t perfect. Bing fails to recognize some porn videos. Any way you block it, some crud slips through.

Your best recourse is to simply block Bing. I hate to say that. I want to like Bing. It does some innovative and useful things. You should see what it can do for travel planning. It’s sad that this single oversight ruins the experience.

I’ve blocked Bing at home and at the office using OpenDNS. It’s a free service that lets you control Web access.

You don’t have to download anything to use OpenDNS. It’s available through a simple change of Internet connection settings. The OpenDNS site includes instructions for changing these settings in Windows. There are also instructions for those who connect through routers.

Once you’re set up, log into OpenDNS. Click your user name at the top of the screen. Click the Settings tab. Find the Manage Individual Domains heading. Set the dropdown box to Always Block. In the blank field, enter bing.com. Click Add Domain. Select “Block bing.com – just the individual domain.” Click Confirm.

For now, blocking Bing is your best option. It looks like Microsoft is working to clean the site up. It just hasn’t gotten it right yet.”

Copyright 2009 WestStar TalkRadio Network.  Reprinted with permission.  No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written consent ofWestStar TalkRadio Network.  Visit Kim Komando and sign up for her free email newsletters at:  www.komando.com