Category: Internet

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Common Computer Problems and Fixes

Lifehacker.com has an article on how to Help Clueless Relatives with Their Computer Problems. These are common problems that come up with most PCs. By following this advice, you can fix your computer or the computer of those who consider you the computer expert in the family.

“It takes forever to start up.”

If your loved one has installed any software on the computer—especially ISP-specific packages that automatically include bundled add-ons—there’s no doubt unnecessary items have planted themselves into its startup. Use our complete guide to speeding up your startup to get rid of the stuff they don’t need, and save CPU cycles and time on boot-up.

“I keep getting a pop-up saying I need to pay for my antivirus software.”

If the default trialware antivirus software that came pre-installed is now bugging your clueless relative to pay for a subscription, uninstall it. Then, check out Lifehacker readers’ five favorite—and FREE—AV packages ready for download and installation. To fast-track to a free replacement, grab the free edition of AVG.

“When I get on the internet things look weird” or “I keep getting these annoying popup ads.”

Thoroughly check your relative’s PC for evidence of malware: like a hijacked web browser that redirects google.com to an Asian porn site, unsolicited pop-up ads, or suspicious programs named things like “Keypress Watcher.” If you suspect nefarious software has glommed onto Windows, get to scrubbing. Back in 2006, we ran down how to fix Mom and Dad’s malware-laden computer and the advice still stands. Go straight for a copy of Ad-Aware Free and Spybot Search & Destroy to get started.

Then, download and install Firefox, set it as the default browser, and replace all the IE shortcuts labeled “Internet” with the fox.

“I can’t find the digital photos I downloaded last month.”

If Aunt Bertha never gets the photos and videos she took with her digicam onto her computer—or she does, but they get lost in the abyss of her hard drive—make sure she has the right software to preview and find ’em. Install Picasa 3 and scan your loved one’s entire hard drive for digital photos to add them to the library.

Relatives who take digital home videos should also get a free copy of VLC installed to insure that they’ll be able to play any clip they’ve got.
“I’m running out of hard drive space.”

If Uncle Marty thinks he needs a new computer because he keeps getting a “low disk space” message, tell him all is not lost. Find out where all that gigabytage is going by visualizing his hard drive usage with free tools that will map what files are taking up what space. Then, declutter his hard drive of the bits and bytes he doesn’t need (and didn’t know he had).

“The internet stopped working.”

The worst family tech support situation to get in is one that involves no (or a very slow) internet connection. Before you head over to Cousin Bob’s house, load up a USB drive with the software you’ll need to troubleshoot things without a connection (or without a broadband connection). TechRadar compiles a list of fix-it tools you can take with you to the family holiday get-together.

Macs Solve These Problems

This list is for PCs only. Macs typically do not have any of these problems, so you might suggest that your relatives buy a Mac if they can afford it and they are regularly having trouble.

Remote Access

Another idea is to install LogMeIn (PC and Mac) on their computer and add their computer to your list so that you can fix problems when you aren’t there. iChat (on Mac) and VNC also work well to remotely control a computer and fix problems.

Speed Up and Slim Down Windows

Other advice for improving computer performance is in our articles on speeding up Windows XP and Windows Vista.

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Online Charity Resources

Over the holidays, it’s good to consider the less fortunate. Now it’s easier than ever to make donations or find a volunteer opportunity from your computer.

NPR has a story called:
How To Use Technology To Donate To Charities

It covers how charities are using technology, from the Salvation Army accepting donations by text messages to giving charity gift cards that allow the recipient to choose their favorite charity.

Although there’s the impression that it can be less personal to give online, Gallaga says he found the opposite to be true when he gave money to DonorsChoose.org, a company that connects students and teachers to people who would like to donate. Gallaga says he got an e-mail from a teacher thanking him and telling him that the money was being used to buy AV equipment at a low-income school in Wisconsin.

“It made me feel more connected to that charity, and it made me feel like I had helped some people,” he says.

The Washington Post covers D.C. area charity issues in their article:
A Season For Giving

Washington area nonprofits, which provide a safety net for those suffering the most, are reeling from the recession. A recent survey found that four in 10 area nonprofits expect to close down programs or reduce staff in 2009. Four in five philanthropic entities reported a drop in assets from 2007 to 2008. (Regional nonprofits may also have lost as much as $1 billion to Bernard L. Madoff’s alleged fraud.) Meanwhile, 44 percent of area nonprofits anticipate an increase in demand for their services in the coming year. In other words, demand for charitable services is greater than ever, while resources are increasingly hard to come by.

Individuals who are interested in giving, but who are not sure where to start, should look through “The Catalogue for Philanthropy: A Guide to Giving, Greater Washington.” The catalogue highlights some of the smaller but more effective nonprofits in the region. Donors who want to help charities that provide essential services, including food and shelter, should consider giving to the Community Foundation’s Neighbors in Need Fund, established in response to the economic crisis. Those who want to volunteer can find ample opportunities through Greater D.C. Cares organization.

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SSL What Why Where

What

SSL stands for secure socket layer.  It is the technique used to encrypt and secure data over the internet.  It is most known for use in web browsers.  When you go to a secure web site (known as http over SSL or https), you will see a little lock icon somewhere which shows you that the site is secure.  Things get complicated when you shop for SSL certificates where you can also get site seals or EV SSL and you’ll find a wide range of prices ranging from $30/year to over $1,000/year.

Terminology

  1. SSL certificate – A basic SSL certificate is all you need for a lock to be displayed in a browser.
  2. Site seal – If you purchase an SSL certificate, it often comes with a site seal which is a little graphic you can display on your site which will tell visitors that your site is secured by that SSL seller.
  3. “Deluxe” or “Premium” SSL – Most SSL sellers offer some more expensive version of SSL which is typically the exact same SSL certificate accompanied with a site seal or more advanced site seal.
  4. Multi-domain SSL – It is possible to purchase one SSL certificate that can work for multiple domains which makes it much easier to manage if you need to secure many domains.  This is typically only worth getting if you have a lot of domains.
  5. Extended Validation (EV) SSL – This is the latest and most expensive SSL which in addition to basic SSL will also cause a green security bar to be shown in the latest web browsers.  The green bar means the SSL purchase was verified as a real business which is supposed to make the visitor feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Considering it isn’t that hard to make a fake business, I never get that feeling.  Also, less than 1/3 of browsers in use right now can show the green bar and most people don’t even know what it means yet.

Why

Without encryption, everything you send from your computer to a web server is totally readable by anything in between.  Things get even more unsafe if you are at an open wifi spot at a cafe where anyone around you can watch all the unencrypted data you are sending and receiving.  As a result, some actions such as site logins or purchasing online must be encrypted with SSL.

Where

There are several places you can buy SSL certificates.  Many are extremely overpriced for no good reason.  From cheapest to most expensive, I’d recommend the following:

  1. GoDaddy.com – The standard SSL from GoDaddy is $30/year and you can typically get a discount off of that with a promo code.  They also offer EV SSL for $500/year.  Sadly, that is relatively cheap for EV SSL.  One complaint I have about GoDaddy is their site to manage your SSL is ugly and confusing.  Another problem is they are not a top tier SSL provider so you have to install what’s called a certificate chain file in addition to the certificate.  If you can handle the extra work and poor site, they are the cheapest way to go and in the end, the SSL works the same.
  2. Geocerts – This is a site that resells GeoTrust certificates for cheaper than GeoTrust sells directly.  GeoTrust certificates are easier to install than GoDaddy because you don’t have to deal with a certificate chain.  They also make the process quick and easy.  Their basic SSL is $99 and their Premium is $129.  If you want a good site seal that is clickable that brings up a useful dialog box about your SSL, GeoTrust Premium is the way to go.
  3. VeriSign – These guys have been around for a long time and they do a good job but their prices are nuts.  $400 for basic SSL and $1000 for EV SSL.  If money is no object, you can consider them.
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“Dial a Human” to Reach a Person

Are you tired of automated call distribution (ACD) systems that force you to listen to long option trees? They start by saying “please listen to all the options because they have recently changed.” In the past, you could just press “0” repeatedly to reach an operator. Now many companies have stopped that and even created complicated trees so that fewer callers reach a person, thereby saving the company money.

This web site compiles company phone numbers and directions to reach a person:

Dial A Human

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Make Palm-sized Paper Booklets

Many D.C. area organizations do not allow people to bring in cell phones, PDAs, laptops, or any other electronic devices for security reasons. A great solution is to make a paper booklet for your information. There are two Flash-based websites that do a great job at this for free:

PocketMod

PocketMod includes lots of built-in templates: calendars, organizers, lists, references, games, RSS fees, and more. You can edit several of these to include your information. Creating a booklet is as simple as dragging the pages you want into your booklet and clicking Print PocketMod!

BookletCreator

BookletCreator prints any PDF (Adobe Acrobat file) file in a booklet form. If you have a long list of contacts that you want to print out, this works well. First you will need to turn your content into a PDF, as we explained how to do earlier.