Missing drivers!

How many times have you made changes to your computer only to find out once you restart it that you’ve now got missing drivers and some of your programs wont work correctly?(of course if you have Vista running you can just do a driver rollback I think?) Now you get to hunt all over looking for just the right driver for each program, take the time to download, install it and hope it really is the right driver. There really should be a one stop program to do it all for you.

Another scenario is that you have added new hardware and its working. When your in doubt as to whether or not a driver is installed, right click on the device in the Device Manager to see the Driver information.

How about when you try to hook up that old printer thats been sitting in the closet? Nope, its almost impossible to find drivers for outdated printers. Occasionally you will get lucky and run across the driver needed for your particular printer, but 9 times out of 10 it wont happen. Might as well head to Wal-Mart and pick up a new printer! Now if you have a fairly new printer, and have just misplaced your disk to install the printer’s software you should not have a problem finding the needed drivers for your printer on the manufacturers website. Sometimes you may need to email the manufacturer if you dont see your particular driver on their site, or you can do a search for the needed driver via Google or any other search engine. Sometimes you can skate by and try a similar version of the driver and luck out and have it work. Sometimes.

 

  

 

Startup Issues at hand

How many of you have plopped down at your desk and turned on your PC only to find there are errors preventing it from starting up as it normally would? That is always so irritating to me. Everything was just fine when I shut this baby down last night and now some gremlins have had their way inside while I slept. lol While they may look frightening in first light, most are relatively simple to fix.

Know your limits though! If it looks way too complicated check around for some pricing guides and call local shops to see what your particular problem might run. Sometimes you can fix it yourself and for allot cheaper than taking it in somewhere or calling someone to come fix it for you. Some techie fixes are just not cost effective and your better off saving your money and picking up a new machine.

Some common problems are caused by RAM going bad, a hard drive going bad or a program loading on startup that is hanging everything else up. Once you boot up your machine, watch the lower right hand corner system tray and see how many programs load. These autoloaders can wreak havoc and slow your PC down considerably. You really should turn most of those things off, and only open them when YOU choose to open them. To see which programs are autoloading, and stop them from starting with your PC startup go to START>RUN then type in msconfig. In the pane on the right you will see several entries with check marks beside them. Simply un-check all items you do not want running at start up and select OK. Make sure you DO NOT un-check your Anti-virus software. You will be prompted to restart the machine. When you start up you will see a message stating you are using selective start up. Just choose *do not show this message again*. This should help with any slow startup issues you may have been having.

Stay tuned as I will add to this particular thread often with more tips on startup issues.

More on PC Registry Cleaner

Maximum Software’s PC Registry Cleaner

Does this sound familiar? You open your PC, or more correctly you attempt to start your PC and lo and behold, it can takes eons to even do a simple boot up. Files that used to be readily available are now seemingly in suspended animation, it they load at all, and just try and get around the web. No can do. Your PC, if it does anything at all comes back with unrecognizable error messages that you have absolutely no hope of figuring out, And to top it off, this usually happens at the worst possible time for you (IS there a good time?!?) and you are now stuck with a computer that’s stuck on itself! You no doubt can use a service like PC Registry Cleaner.

The PC Registry Cleaner download(updated for Windows Vista) performs a scan of your PC for free, enabling it to discover many of the problems ailing your computer. Almost none of these ailments would be found by yourself, unless you happen to have Geek written across your forehead. PC Registry Cleaner is a registry cleaner that accesses the Windows Registry on your PC, that magic place where all of your hardware and software configurations, user preferences, and all the various setup info for your PC. You can have your very own registry cleaner program in the comfort of your own home.

PC Registry Cleaner is a quick and easy download that zips through it’s scan in no time, and very quickly you are presented with the causes of your PC’s sporadic, and very unwelcome behavior. Leftover files and deleted drivers, as well as invalid shortcuts, missing dll files, invalid device drivers, runtime errors, Internet Explorer errors are just a few of the gremlins that cane take up residence in your Windows registry and keep your PC from blazing along as it should. Clean these guys out and it’s as if you’ve went and got yourself a new brand new PC!

Once the scan returns this list of evildoers, it will offer you the fixes. It is a very low-cost service, and one that you will want to purchase. Look at it this way: to do this yourself would be next to impossible, and to have a tech come to your home or business is a large expense, and the mere thought of taking your computer into the “shop” sends shivers down your spine, then you’ll see why the modest cost of PC Registry Cleaner is well worth the $29.95!

PC Registry Cleaner works on all Windows systems including 98, XP, ME, 2000, and Vista. It is 100% safe and secure, and is guaranteed to do exactly what it says it will do.

If you’ve ever entertained the thought of simply junking your not so old PC as a “lemon” because of poor performance, then you know exactly how much a program like this can benefit you. What’s more, the amount of time you’ll save in regained productivity will be well worth taking a look at the PC Registry Cleaner download today. You’ll soon find after applying the fix that your PC will return to near-new condition, and the molasses like performance will be but a dim memory as your PC speeds into overdrive!

Get yourself hooked up with PC Registry Cleaner today and keep using it for the foreseeable future, as these kinds of problems are unfortunately not one time occurrences. Just by being connected to the Web we are prone to many problems coming around daily, so make PC Registry Cleaner a part of your ongoing maintenance. You won’t be sorry! Get your PC Registry download  today at http://www.pcregistrycleaner.com/

GOOGLE’S latest gadget! GOOGLE-411

Now you can simply call 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone and locate a business number fast and easy. You can choose to either be connected right away or have a text message sent to your phone with the number and a link to a Google map of the business location. What will Google come up with next? They are just cornering markets every where we turn these days. The best part is that its FREE FREE FREE! No more paying the outrageous fees for directory service from your cell phone provider.

Windows update problems?

It seems Microsoft Corp.’s consumer security software changes the Automatic Updates (AU) settings in Windows XP and Vista without telling users or getting their approval. They are denying this of course, but a researcher is saying otherwise. This sure would explain allot of problems folks have been having don’t ya think? It seems that Microsoft OneCare is the root of the problem and is responsible for the changes in settings. No matter which Automatic Update setting the user has set previously, Windows OneCare changes it over to the fully automatic option as it installs with the user none the wiser. Microsoft would like to blame it on the end user, and are claiming we are *absent minded* and must have made the changes ourselves and forgotten. Horse rubbish! OneCare is also turning on Windows services that have previously been disabled by us. How convenient for Microsoft right? Gotta love how they think they know more then we do and that we should ultimately do what they want us to do, irregardless of if its something we want or not.

……………………………………goes to check out the new Macs

Gadgets

Everyone loves gadgets, especially high-tech gadgets, myself included! How about a programmable scrolling LED name tag to take to that next computer software convention or even to the grocery store? How many looks would you get in the produce section with something like that pinned on your sweater? lol Might be a good angle for single guys and gals for sure! Maybe have it read *Why yes, yes I am single*.

How about a keychain that you can display your digital photos on? Grammas everywhere would never be without pics of all of their favorite grandchildren! This little photo display plugs right into your USB port. How cool is that?

What new gadgets are you looking forward to getting and trying out?

Just an FYI about the Big Doctor software

Ive been using it now for a short length of time, but I have to say it seems to be working well for me. I would recommend this to anyone that doesnt want the hassle of having to perform the routine  maintenance on your Windows machine. This program does it all for you in one quick click. Im all about doing things the easy way, doing things the hard way just takes up way too much time! Time I could spend with my family or my critters. ENJOY!

 

 

Maintenance programs?

Is anyone out there using any maintenance programs to keep their Windows running smoothly? Ive been seeing a program called Bug Doctor and thought I might give it a try to see if it is all its cracked up to be. If so then I can recommend it to you folks. I also noticed they have free technical support with your license to Bug Doctor software as well. How can you go wrong there? Im going to order it this evening and I will check back in a few days with you and let you know how it goes. *fingers crossed!* If there is a fix all maintenance program that keeps me from having to do my defrags and all that stuff manually I think it will be great and I will definitely be recommending the Bug Doctor to all of my friends!

If anyone wants to check out Bug Doctor for themselves take a look at it at the bug doctor website. They even guarantee to fix any computer problems you have during your membership. 

Even if the software doesn’t fix your problems their support staff will, and I don’t know of anybody else who does that.

A few things about online identity theft

What can we do today to protect ourselves from online identity theft in this modern day and age of online purchasing? There are so many people coming up with new and more believable scams every day. There is always something new in the old inbox, and someone sure help you if you submit a classified ad online to try and sell something. Then your inbox gets loaded up with offers to purchase your product for 5 times what your selling it for, with just a small catch. lol I cant tell you the number of times my computer illiterate mother has called me in a panic over a phishing email regarding her paypal and ebay accounts. Even AFTER I deleted those accounts completely for her and she still received the phishing emails she was still calling me and forwarding them to me in a state of panic. Worried someone might have gotten hold of her important information. Anyone who does any kind of transaction over the internet needs to make doubly sure they protect themselves and their credit and bank numbers. If your unsure, just don’t proceed. See if the company has a customer service number you can call, if not they probably aren’t legitimate and you should take your business elsewhere.

Something for free?

Seems these days everyone wants something for free ya know? Whatever happened to *ya get what ya pay for**??? I see people complaining all the time that something is not free OR they get some computer program for free and it fries their computer or messes it up so badly they have to pay someone to fix it. If people were not always looking for a magical fix to their computer FOR FREE they wouldnt have these problems now would they? Software companies are not spending money to make programs that really work just to give them away to everyone. How the hell would they stay in business that way? Think about it folks. If something seems too good to be true IE FREE, then its usually not too good it is? If you want good program, that get the job done, dont be afraid to shell out a few bucks to get them. Most programs I see these days are pretty reasonably priced anyways.

Just my $0.02 which dont get ya much at the candy store.