As previously written in my first installment of being more productive on the computer, I shared some tips and tricks to working faster on your computer with common keyboard shortcuts and faster mouse paths to getting things done, such as sending off an e-mail, replying to an e-mail, or saving documents quickly and efficiently. This [...]

With proper care, the expensive lithium-ion batteries in your notebook PCs and other portable gear can run well for many, many years. Common battery-care mistakes will reduce your batteries’ run times and lead to needless environmental waste and costly early replacement. Heat is the biggest offender to lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries. It is best to keep [...]

Most computers today might have what has traditionally been a mechanical hard drive; a noisy metal rectangle shaped box about 3.5 inches wide that generates a lot of heat and has little metal platters inside that spin about several thousand times a minute and holds your data and computer programs. But there is a new [...]

Most computer users are confused between the two types of computer memory. There is the one type of memory that if you increase it’s capacity, you get a dramatic performance boost. Then there is the other type of memory where if you increase that capacity, you get to store a lot more music, photos, videos, [...]

Pretty much anyone who has dealt with ordering goods and services online or doing online banking has heard of encryption. But what exactly is it and how important is it really? I would say it is absolutely crucial that any personal information being transmitted online be encrypted to the highest level possible. Modern web browsers [...]

In my previous newsletter regarding my take on Windows Vista, I stated that I was going to wait until Windows 7 comes out in 2010 before building myself a new computer. Well, I went ahead and took the plunge! Despite the fact that I was going to push my circa-2005 computer into a 5-year stretch, [...]

Ever since I upgraded my computer to Windows 64-bit, as well as QuickBooks 2009 up from 2007, I’ve experienced a lot of lock-ups with QuickBooks. More specifically, these lock-ups would occur whenever I tried reconciling accounts, saving an invoice or estimate as a PDF, or sending an invoice via E-mail from within QuickBooks. Upon further [...]

I am currently in the process of building myself a new server. This server will primarily serve as a file server as well as a learning platform for Windows Server 2008 and other various utilities such as Microsoft CRM 4.0, System Center, and others that come with the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription. I’m a Microsoft [...]

Computers and the Internet have made all of us incredibly productive. Long gone are the days of writing letters on paper with a pen. With typing speeds on average of 30-45 words per minute, computer users can type up an e-mail and send it off far quicker than mailing a letter via the United Slow [...]

Do you regularly backup your data? I cannot stress the importance of regular backups simply because it’s not a matter of if your computer or server’s hard drive will fail, it’s a matter of when. Also of equal importance are regular backup checks. Do you really know if your backups are actually backing up? Check [...]