Tech Better's Tech Tips

Preventing Spyware On Your Computer

2008-09-05T16:46:00.001-04:00

"How do I stop spyware?" is quite possibly the most common question we at Nexxtep get asked. Below I have tried to list some guidelines that will help you protect your computer.

Keep all software updated. People who develop malware are always looking for security flaws in software and software vendors are continuously fixing these flaws. Software updates are important.
This can be automated with software.
Develop a policy that prohibits the visiting of websites that contain spyware, gambling, and pornography.
This can be enforced with a network device.
Develop a policy that prohibits peer-to-peer file sharing software, freeware and shareware.
This can be enforced with a network device.
Do not open any e-mail from unknown people or from known people with an unexpected attachment. If you are unsure, call the sender to confirm the email before you open it.
Implement a spam filter to prevent unwanted email from reaching your inbox.
Install a firewall; it can prevent spyware from sending information out to the internet.
Lock down your computers so only network administrators can install software. This prevents against accidental spyware installation.
Install an anti-spyware solution.

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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Stealthily Leaving Voice Mail

2008-09-05T16:22:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had to call someone but you did not want to start a long conversation? So, you dialed the person's number and the entire time the phone was ringing you were hoping the person did not pick up. Well rely on hope no longer. SlyDial is a service in which you dial the SlyDial number then enter the cell number you want to call. SlyDial will call the cell and automatically put you through to the person's voice mail. I have tried it and it works great.

The down side to this tip is that now every time I leave someone a voice mail, they will assume I used this service because I did not want to talk with them.

Happy teching,

An Easy Way To Clean Up Your Computer

2008-08-29T17:01:00.001-04:00

Over time we all accumulate junk files on our computer. Files that were important at one time but not anymore may linger on our computer needlessly taking up valuable disk space. One program that can help make hard disk clean-up easier is FosiX. FosiX scans your computer and visually graphs the space each folder is utilizing. The bar graph is clickable so you can drill down into folders as you discover which folders are responsible for consuming disk space. I used the program to analyze my computer before writing this entry and easily discovered a folder of audio files which I had completely forgotten about. I deleted this folder since I no longer needed the audio files, and I instantly freed up over 2 GB of disk space.

You can download FosiX here:

http://www.hushpage.com/FoSi/fosi.html

Happy teching,

Giving Guests Internet Access Securely

2008-08-29T17:00:00.001-04:00

Businesses offering wireless Internet access to their guests is a very common practice these days. Typically, this wireless access is offered in one of two ways. Either each guest laptop must be individually configured with the proper wireless security settings; or the wireless access point is left completely unsecured (not recommended). In either case, once the guest has established a wireless connection, the guest typically gains direct access to the host business' network resources (most people don't realize this). Obviously, this is less than ideal.

Thankfully, a new very economical device named GuestGate is available that allows your guests to easily establish a wireless network connection with no configuration and gain access to the Internet. The beautiful thing about the device is that it shields your network from your guests. The guests can share your Internet connection without seeing any of your network resources or anyone else on the wireless network for that matter.

The solution is perfect for any business that has a waiting room where people might want to jump online or for those businesses that have occasional visitors with laptops.

Happy teching,

What still amazes you?

2008-08-29T16:57:00.001-04:00

I had a conversation with a client/friend this past week about things that still amaze us even though they are commonplace. For me, the two things were overnight delivery and the Internet. Our children will never know a world that is not "connected." They watch their cartoons "on demand" from cartoon websites. I remember when we had to wait until a specific time to watch our favorite cartoon.

If you are interested in the origin, growth and adoption of computers and the Internet, here is a phenomenal interactive website in which you can browse and explore the history of the Internet. It includes videos and other interactive content. It is in and of itself a good example of just how far Internet multimedia has come. Checkout The Birth of the Internet presented by the National Science Foundation.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/nsf-net/

Happy teching,

Automated Project Management

2008-08-20T13:50:00.001-04:00

No matter what business you are in, you have projects. Projects are how businesses make progress. How does your company manage projects? What tools do you use? Email, white boards, post-it notes? Something I see all the time is people managing projects with Microsoft Excel. Although Excel can do a fine job of tracking projects, it is very manual. Obviously, Excel is far better than sticky notes. However, technology makes project management so much easier nowadays that it is almost sad to see businesses struggle with a manual project management methodology.

So why should you consider a more automated approach to project management? Well the number one reason in my mind is communication. Many projects fail because of a lack of communication, and if there is anything technology is good at, it is communication. Here are some examples of automated communication:

- Emails to people when they are assigned a task

- Emails to remind people when due dates are approaching

- Email alerts to management when due dates are missed

- Email alerts to management when customer interaction takes place

- Emails to customers when a task pertaining to them is updated

- Email alerts to management when AR balances exceed a certain threshold

There are also other ways technology can automate project management including:

- Logging who reads and edit files associated with a project

- Prompting for change orders when the project scope changes

- Verifying resources (people, projectors, trucks, conference rooms, etc.) for each stage of the project

Basically, if you can dream it, there is probably a way to automate it. What we at Nexxtep love about this type of automation is the return on investment is strong and easy to calculate. If you would like to learn more, please feel free to give me a call.

Google Tricks

2008-08-20T13:49:00.001-04:00

These days everyone has either heard of or used Google. I personally use it every day, as most of you probably do to. That's why this week's tip deals with enhancing something you use every day. There are many tips and tricks you can perform with Google's search engine. I'll go over a few that I think apply to everyone:

-You can track packages by typing the tracking number for your UPS, FedEx or USPS package directly into the search box.

Example: 1Z9999W99999999999

-To see the weather, type "weather" followed by the city and state, zip code, or city and country.

Example: weather 31605

-To find reviews and show times for movies playing near you, type "movies" followed by the city and state, or zip code.

Example: movies 31605

- Looking for a map? Type in the name or U.S. zip code of a location and the word "map".

Example: Valdosta map

-Want to search within a specific website? Use the word "site:url" followed by the keyword.

Example: site:ncare.com consulting

More tips can be found here: http://www.google.com/help/basics.html

How to Instantly Communicate with Many People at Once

2008-08-15T15:48:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had to call and communicate the same information to numerous people? (For example, to cancel a meeting, to change a meeting location, or to tell everyone you'll be late for an event.) I know I have.

At Nexxtep we are all going in so many different directions helping clients throughout the day that we usually try to converge at the same place for lunch so we can all touch base. We have two ways of disseminating the lunch location to our team. The first method is via a text message group. We send a text message to an SMS group and everyone gets a text message with the lunch location.

The other way we can disseminate the information is via Phonevite.com. I'm sure everyone is aware of those phone tree solutions that call a bunch of people with a prerecorded message. Well Phonevite.com does the same thing and it's FREE if you are calling less than 25 people. To setup Phonevite just go to their website, create an account and create groups for your contacts. Then, assign a telephone number to each group. Now all you have to do is call the assigned telephone number for a group and record your message. Phonevite will call every number in the call group and play the recorded message to them. Even if you can't find a legitimate reason to use this service it's still worth trying.

Happy teching,

Should your company have an INTRAnet?

2008-08-05T12:25:00.001-04:00

Company Intranet's have been around for a long time. However, nowadays they are easier to create than ever. Using Microsoft's SharePoint, businesses can create and manage an Intranet with relative ease.

So why should businesses consider creating an Intranet? The short answer is dissemination of information. We use our Intranet to disseminate information such as:

Company announcements
Our event calendar
Policy and procedure documents
Insurance information
Training class schedules
Our company directory
Links to frequently accessed websites
An online discussion forum
And, our company knowledgebase where we store all of our "how-to" manuals

This is just a sampling of what an Intranet can be used for. If you want to take things a step further you can use an Intranet as a full blown document management system or an online forms routing and approval system or you can display real-time information from your business management systems such as accounts receivable, work in progress, or even vacation days remaining for each employee based on login. The possibilities are endless.

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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Nutritional Facts On The Go

2008-08-05T12:23:00.001-04:00

Have you ever been eating out and wondered about the nutrition facts of the meal you were about to order? Well wonder no more. Just send a text message to DIET1 (34381) and type the name of the restaurant and name of the meal you are about to order. Within seconds you will receive a reply that will tell you the number of calories, fat grams, carbs and protein in the meal. Use this with caution, however. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

For example, send an SMS to 34381 with the following text:
McDonald's Big Mac

Diet.com will reply with:
Cal: 540
Fat: 29g
Carb: 45g
Prtn: 25g

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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Purchasing Windows XP

2008-07-25T14:48:00.001-04:00

As you may or may not know, retailers can no longer sell computers with Windows XP preinstalled. Microsoft designated June 30, 2008 as the end-of-life for Windows XP. However, if you absolutely have to have Windows XP on your next computer there is another option. Through the end of December 2008 you can take advantage of Windows Vista Downgrade Rights.

With Downgrade Rights, customers can purchase select versions of the Windows Vista operating system, including Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate, but have Windows XP Professional installed instead. Businesses that choose this option will receive a backup disc for Windows XP Professional and an installation disc for Windows Vista. Plus, as long as the vendor has installed the operating system, you'll be able to receive technical support for the duration of the system's Limited Warranty.

Computer Backups and Cobian

2008-07-22T08:27:00.001-04:00

I am often asked what is the best way to backup work and home computers. Today, just about everyone understands the importance of backups. If you don't, consider this: 100% of hard drives will fail at some point. They are mechanical devices with moving parts. They will fail.

In my opinion, the only way for a backup scheme to be successful over the long run is for it to be automated. A program you might want to consider for this is Cobian Backup. Cobian Backup is a FREE simple backup program developed by Luis Cobian. The program can be executed as either a normal application or as a Windows Service. (Normal applications have to be initiated by a user, either by logging onto the computer or by manually launching the application. Windows Services, on the other hand, do not have to be initiated by the computer user. As long as the computer is turned on, the program is running.) The program can schedule automatic backups for files and directories locally, to shared folders on other computers or to FTP servers, and it can use file compression and encryption.

You can download Cobian Backup here: http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/programz/cbSetup.exe

I recommend backing up to external USB hard drives or file servers. For laptop users, I recommend having two backup jobs scheduled. One to backup to a USB drive in your office during lunch, and one to backup to a USB drive at home when you bring your laptop home in the evenings. This way you have multiple copies of your data in the event something happens to either location.

The most important thing is to get at least one backup every day with the process being automated. There are other automated ways to backup office computers which require a network administrator to implement. However, even if you have one of these solutions in place, I still recommend having personal backups of your own. You cannot have too many backups, and I have had to fall back to them too many times to leave anything to chance.

If you have never implemented anything I have recommended in this blog, please do this. Backup your computer daily. Hard drives do fail. I see it all the time.

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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Computer Backups and Cobian

2008-07-22T08:12:00.001-04:00

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Product Review: TeleNav + Google Maps = Successful Road Tip

2008-07-09T17:57:00.001-04:00

Greetings all. This is a special summer vacation product review tech tip. My family and I just returned from a weeklong vacation in which we spent a lot of time driving. I'm sure every rational person reading this is already thinking that with gas prices being so high I must have a screw loose. So if I told you I did so with two children ages four and one, you'd probably think I was really nuts. Then, if I told you about halfway into the first day's drive, we realized our one year old had a stomach virus and proceeded to pass the virus to each of us over the next couple days, you'd just begin to get an idea as to how much fun we had on our vacation. But that is a story for another blog. :-)

In this tech tip, I'm going to discuss one technology and two software applications that were a rare bright spot in this year's vacation. The technology was GPS. Now, I realize GPS is old news, but the two software applications I relied on are still relatively young. The software apps were TeleNav (http://www.telenav.com) and Google Maps (http://www.google.com/mobile/default/maps/index.html) both running on my cell phone. A TeleNav subscription runs $10 per month, and Google Maps is free. The combination of the two made this year's vacation road trip a breeze. Here are the highlights:

The beauty of TeleNav is that you can plan your trip itinerary on TeleNav's website, and when it is finished, you can easily synchronize the itinerary with your cell phone. This allows for easier searching and inputting of addresses and points of interest along the trip. Another feature TeleNav offers that Google Maps does not is spoken directions. If configured to do so, TeleNav will verbally prompt you when and which direction to turn as with most vehicle navigation systems. However, unlike most other vehicle navigation systems, both TeleNav and Google Maps are always up-to-date with the latest maps because the maps are downloaded real-time from the internet via the cell phone's internet connection each time a route is planned.

Now, you may be wondering where Google Maps fit in to the summer vacation plans. I'm sure the suspense is killing you, so I'll tell you. Google Maps will also provide real-time driving directions, but unlike TeleNav it will not speak to you. You have to pay attention to the screen which can be dangerous. For this reason alone, I use TeleNav while driving. Google Maps does do two things better than TeleNav in my opinion. If you want to search for an impromptu place of interest, Google Maps' search feature seems to be a bit more robust and accurate, not surprising since searching is Google's bread and butter. The most used Google Maps feature for me on this trip, however, was the "favorites" feature. Since cell phone GPS is accurate to within about 3 meters, each time we parked the vehicle to walk I pulled out the cell phone and marked the vehicle's location in Google Maps using the favorites feature. This placed a star on the map which I labeled "vehicle." We then set out to walk the town, the nature trail, the mall or whatever. When we were ready to leave, I just pulled out the cell phone and found our current location in relation to our vehicle. We didn't need this feature all the time, of course, but it sure came in handy when we did need it.

Well that's about it for this tech tip. If you are considering using either or both of these apps for your next road trip, I highly suggest purchasing a windshield suction cell phone holder. This way you can position your phone above your vehicle's dashboard, and you won't have to take your eyes off the road. It is also helpful to have a cell phone with built-in GPS. You can use an external GPS receiver but having the GPS built into the phone is much more convenient. I use a BlackBerry Curve however there are many phones that offer built in GPS.

I hope you found this tech tip useful. As always, if you have anything you'd like me to address in future tech tips, please contact me using the information below.

Ryan Williams

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Product Review: Xobni (MS Outlook Plug-In)

2008-06-25T10:15:00.002-04:00

I am going to start a new series of blog entries in which I will review new or lesser known technologies and software I think people will find useful. This week the software is Xobni. Xobni is a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook and it loads to the right of your inbox in the Outlook window. Xobni tracks and indexes your email communications and provides some interesting information about each email. For instance, when you highlight an email message in your inbox, Xobni will show you the following about that email:

Rankings, graphs, and statistics detailing how you and your contacts use email
A list of every other email the person has sent you sorted by conversation thread
A list of every attachment the person has sent you
Phone numbers that exist in the emails
The top people the sender of the email also sends to
Plus more…

The plug-in also provides a pretty quick full-text email search which is helpful. Some of the features are trivial but interesting nonetheless. The product's website says the plug-in is currently in beta but I have not had any trouble with it. Oh and by the way, at least for now, the plug-in is free. In my opinion, it's worth checking out. You can find the download here.

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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Copying and Pasting

2008-06-11T09:48:00.000-04:00

This week's tech tip is on copying and pasting. I am going to go out on a limb and assume everyone already knows what copying and pasting is. So I am going to address what I consider one of the most annoying aspects of copying and pasting in Windows which is text formatting. As I'm sure you have noticed at one time or another, when you copy and paste text between two programs, the pasted text usually keeps the formatting of the copy source rather than matching the formatting of the paste destination. This can be quite annoying at times because you usually have to spend time reformatting the pasted text to match the formatting of the place in which it was pasted. There are two simple solutions to this problem.

If you are working in Microsoft Word 2007, there is an option for how to handle copy and pastes located in the Word Options menu and then the Advanced section.

Click here to see where MS Word 2007 Options are located.

Click here to see where the Advanced section is located.

My favorite solution, however, is a little more old school. I prefer this solution because it works in all scenarios, not just in MS Word. This solution is to open Notepad which is the free text application that comes with MS Windows. To launch Notepad follow these two steps:

Click on the start menu and then the Run option.
Click here for an example image.

Type "notepad" in the Run window and press OK.
Click here for an example image.

(You can also find a shortcut to Notepad by clicking on the start menu, then programs, then accessories.)

If you paste anything into the Notepad program window, Notepad will clear all formatting and keep just the text. Then you can copy from the Notepad window and paste anywhere you like with no formatting. This is especially helpful when copying text from Web Pages where you may encounter embedded images and links in the text. Using this simple technique will strip away everything except the text and allow you to paste the text anywhere formatting free.

I hope you find the tech tip useful.

Happy Teching,

Ryan Williams

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What every company should be doing to protect their network and data.

2008-06-11T09:41:00.001-04:00

Backup files regularly.
This should be automated to happen every day, not once per week or less. I have seen companies go out of business because they lost their accounting data and didn't even know who owed them money.

Test restoring from backup.
It is important to occasionally test your backups to make sure they are working properly. I have seen companies have backups that complete successfully every day, however, when a restore was attempted, the business realized they had been backing up the wrong folder.

Keep a copy of your backups offsite.
This step is too easy and too important to ignore. Natural disasters, fire, theft, and malicious employees are just a few examples of times when an offsite backup may come in handy. With automated offsite backup solutions, this process does not even require effort.

Keep your anti-virus software turned on and the virus definition updates current.
This goes for every computer on your network.

Have a professional install and setup your firewall.
Just having a firewall on your network does not solve anything. It must be configured properly.

Install a web content filter on your network.
This will help guard against employees browsing the internet and accidentally clicking on internet links they should not and being tricked into installing spyware and viruses. It happens all the time, and no virus or spyware protection is 100% fail proof.

If you have wireless in your building, make sure it is secured with the latest encryption.
Most people would be surprised at how many wireless access points within businesses are completely unsecured and open to the public. Make sure your wireless is secure.

Keep all your software current with updates and security patches.
This includes Microsoft Windows, Office and other Microsoft products as well as your specialized business software solutions. In general, it is a bad idea to fall behind on the major updates to your software. Pay maintenance on your software and keep it current.

I hope you find this tech tip helpful.

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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Better Search Results Browsing

2008-04-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

This week's tech tip is a simple one to help you navigate the Internet better. If you are like me, you find it cumbersome to peruse Internet search results because every time you click a search result link the webpage reloads and you lose access to your original results page. Then, after you are finished reading the linked site you have to click the back button and wait for the screen to rebuild which takes time. Also, occasionally you come across a webpage in which the back button does not work and you become trapped. You must then resort to some browser trickery to get back to the results page.

In Google, the dominate search engine, there is a preference for launching all links into a new browser window or tab depending on which browser you are using. Using this preference, you can peruse the search result sites without losing access to the results page and you can view multiple search result sites at once.

To access this preference click the Preferences link which is to the right of the Google search box.
Example Image

Next scroll down the Preference page until you find the checkbox for Results Window. Check the box beside Open search results in a new browser window.
Example Image

That's all there is to it. No more having to constantly click the back button after each site visit. Also, as a corollary, in any web page whether it be a search result page or any other webpage, if you hold down the Shift key when you click a link the link will launch into a new window. If you hold down the Ctrl key while clicking a link, the browser will launch the link into a new tab.

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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Save Time with Pre-addressed Emails

2008-03-27T09:11:00.000-04:00

Do you find yourself emailing the same people over and over? Here is a way to create pre-addressed emails and launch them with a single mouse click and no typing (because clicking and typing are entirely too much work).

First of all, to get the most out of this tech tip you'll need to read and configure your desktop using my Ultimate Desktop Layout tech tip (click here to read the tech tip). If you choose not to arrange your desktop as mentioned in the earlier tech tip, this tip will still work, it just will not have the same punch.

Step By Step

1. Find an MS Outlook shortcut on your Quick Launch bar OR on your Start Menu OR on your desktop and with your "right" mouse button drag and drop the icon somewhere on your desktop. When you release your right mouse button a context menu will appear asking if you want to copy or move the icon. Select copy. You should now have another MS Outlook shortcut on your desktop.
Click here to view an example image.

2. Right click on the new MS Outlook shortcut and click Properties on the context menu.
Click here to view an example image.

3. On the Properties window add the following characters to the end of the Target path which ends in "…outlook.exe". The characters are { /c ipm.note /m "your email addresses here" } WITHOUT the brackets {}. Where I have "your email addresses here" you can put the email addresses for which you want to pre-address this email shortcut. For multiple email addresses, you can separate each with a semicolon. You can also put a group name there after creating an email group in your address book if you choose to do it that way. Also, for an explanation of what the "ipm.note" is all about, read my previous tech tip on Time Saving Outlook Shortcuts by clicking here.
Click here to view an example image.

4. On the Properties window click on the Change Icon button to select a new meaningful icon for your new pre-addressed email shortcut. Once you have done this, click OK on the Change Icon window.
Click here to view an example image.

5. Click on the General tab of the shortcut Properties window and change the name of the shortcut to something more meaningful. I named mine "New Email to Friends".
Click here to view an example image.

6. Click the OK button on the shortcut Properties window. Now you should have a shortcut that resembles something like this on your Windows desktop.
Click here to view an example image.

When you click this shortcut you should get a new pre-addressed email like mine in the image below.
Click here to view an example image.

Now to get the greatest benefit from this tip you'll need to drag the shortcut down to your Quick Launch bar so that it is never more than one click away. With this single tip we have eliminated several mouse clicks and who knows how much typing. With all this extra time you're saving, you'll have more time for golf.

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

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FREE Time Tracking Application and the Windows Task Scheduler

2008-03-19T09:02:00.003-04:00

If you have ever wanted to keep better track of how you spend your time, this tech tip is for you. For just about everyone who provides a professional service, keeping track of billable time is a necessary evil. It is also A LOT harder than it sounds. Many professionals wait until the end of each week and try to document how they spent their time for the previous 5 days. As you can imagine, this is probably not the most accurate way of tracking time. Even trying to recall how a morning was spent at the end of a single day is often less accurate than you might think.

To combat this problem and make time tracking as easy as possible, I developed a very simple time tracking application which I am giving away for free to anyone who wants it. In order to utilize the time tracking application, you'll also need to become familiar with the Windows Task Scheduler. Therefore, we will cover both applications in this Tech Tip.

The way the time tracking application works is by asking you what you are doing every 10 minutes (you determine how often). The application remembers your responses from one prompt to the next so if you are doing the same thing several prompts in a row, all you have to do is press the enter key to make the prompt go away and log a time entry.

First, you can download the time tracking application using the link below. After downloading the zip file, I suggest creating a folder on the C drive named "TimePrompt" (C:\TimePrompt). Then, extract the TimePrompt.exe executable into this folder. You can put the executable anywhere you choose, this is just my suggestion.
Click here to download TimePrompt.

You'll also need to download and install the Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 if it is not already installed on your computer.
Click here to download the Framework.

Double click on the TimePrompt.exe executable to see what it looks like. As I said earlier, it is a pretty simple application. There are two big textboxes, one for reminders and one for keeping track of how you are spending your time. The application will remember the text in each field each time the application is launched. The first time the application runs it will create three text files, one to store your reminders, one to store your last time entry and one which is a log of all your time entries with dates and times. You can test this now if you choose.

The engine that makes the TimePrompt application do its thing is the Windows Task Scheduler. The Microsoft Windows Task Scheduler looks quite different depending of whether you are running Windows Vista or Windows XP. Therefore, I have provided step by step instructions for both operating systems. Choose whichever instructions apply to you.

Windows Vista Task Scheduler Instructions

1. Click on the Open Task Scheduler button on the Time Prompt screen.
Click here for an example image.

2. Click on the Action menu and then Create Task.
Click here for an example image.

3. On the Create Task window enter a description for the scheduled task and make sure it is set to run only when you are logged in.
Click here for an example image.

4. On the Triggers tab click on the New button to create a new trigger.
Click here for an example image.

5. Fill out the New Trigger window as I have in this example picture.
Click here for an example image.

6. Next click on the Action tab and then click on the New button to create a new action.
Click here for an example image.

7. On the New Action windows enter the path to wherever you saved TimePrompt.exe when you extracted the zip file. Then click the OK button.
Click here for an example image.

8. Click on the Conditions tab and complete the form as I have in this example image.
Click here for an example image.

9. Click on the Settings tab and complete the screen as I have in this example image.
Click here for an example image.

10. Now click OK on the Create Task window. Your time prompt is now scheduled to prompt you to capture your time every few minutes.

Windows XP Task Scheduler Instructions

1. Click on the Open Task Scheduler button on the Time Prompt screen.
Click here for an example image.

2. In the Tasks window click on Add Scheduled Task. This will open the Scheduled Task Wizard. Click the Next button.
Click here for an example image.

3. On the next screen click the Browse button.
Click here for an example image.

4. In the Select Program to Schedule window browse to the directory to which you saved TimePrompt.exe. My suggested location was c:\timeprompt\. Click Open after you find and select TimePrompt.exe.
Click here for an example image.

5. You should now be looking at a window where you select how frequently to run TimePrompt.exe. Select daily and click Next.
Click here for an example image.

6. The next screen is for selecting the start time of the scheduled task. Select 12:00 AM every day and click Next.
Click here for an example image.

7. The next screen asks for a username. Just leave everything the way it is and click Next.
Click here for an example image.

8. The next screen is the final screen of the Scheduled Task Wizard. Be sure to check the checkbox to open advanced properties and click finish. If you get a warning message, just click OK.
Click here for an example image.

9. You should now be looking at the TimePrompt scheduled task properties window. Check the box beside Run only if logged on.
Click here for an example image.

10. Next click on the Schedule tab and click the Advanced button.
Click here for an example image.

11. On the Advanced Schedule Options, check the checkbox beside Repeat task and configure the rest of the screen as I have in this example image. Click OK when finished.
Click here for an example image.

12. Next click on the Settings tab. Uncheck every box as I have in this example image. Then click OK. Your time prompt is now scheduled.
Click here for an example image.

Now, the time prompt application will prompt you every 10 minutes to ask what you are doing. Each time you enter your comments they will be saved with the current date and time in the timelog.txt file. You can refer to this file at any time to see a log of how you have been spending your time.

Another handy feature of the TimePrompt application is the reminder box. Instead of writing reminders on sticky notes, try entering them in the reminders box. Every 10 minutes you will be reminded of what you should be working on and it should help you stay on track.

Now, not only can you keep better track of how you are spending your time, but you have also been exposed to the Windows Task Scheduler. In later tech tips I will provide additional examples of how you can utilize the Windows Task Scheduler and also some other beneficial uses for the TimePrompt application. I hope you find this application useful. If you experience any issues with the TimePrompt app, please use the "Ask Me A Tech Question" link below. Until next time…

Happy Teching,

Ryan Williams

Ask Me A Tech Question
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Reader Questions: Cell Phone Wi-Fi and the Vista Admin Account

2008-03-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

In this tech tip I am going to address two questions that were submitted recently. Sorry I cannot get to them all.

QUESTION #1: The first question comes from a reader in Texas. The question is "Can cell phones with built in Wi-Fi use the Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet?" The answer is definitely yes. However, phones with built in wireless still have to be configured just the same as a laptop with wireless. If the place where you are trying to access the Internet has wireless security enabled, you will still need to configure your phone's wireless settings to match. The process is slightly different on every phone so I cannot provide step by step instructions, however, having Wi-Fi on your phone is really handy, and it is definitely worth paying for when you are shopping for cell phones. Most cell phones now days allow for surfing the Internet, however, the data connection is often slow and you often have to pay extra for Internet usage. Having built-in Wi-Fi on your phone avoids having to pay your cell phone service provider for Internet access. It is also especially nice for surfing the Internet in your living room while the rest of your family is watching the Food Network.

QUESTION #2: Another reader says she accidentally removed the administrator privileges from her Windows Vista account. Now, she cannot install new software nor do other things that require administrator privileges. This person wants to know if there is another option besides formatting and reloading the entire computer to reestablish an account that has administrator privileges. The answer is thankfully yes. There is another option.

In Windows Vista there is a hidden administrator account that is disabled by default. The following steps will enable this hidden administrator account and allow you to reestablish your personal account with administrator privileges. I suggest that you disable this hidden administrator account after you fix your existing personal account.

Here are the steps for enabling the hidden Windows Vista administrator account.

1. Click on the start menu and type "command" in the search bar. This will pull up the Command Prompt program in the search results above.
Click here for an example image.

2. Right-click on the Command Prompt program and select Run as Administrator.
Click here for an example image.

3. Next, type in the following command at the command prompt and press enter.
net users administrator /active:yes
This will activate the hidden administrator account.
Click here for an example image.

4. Now, log off or restart your computer. You should have the option to log in as the administrator. By default the administrator login does not have a password. I suggest that you disable the administrator login after using it. To do so, use this command at the same command prompt as in step 3 above.
net users administrator /active:no
This will deactivate the hidden administrator account.

That's all there is to it.

If you would like to ask me a tech question, please click on the link below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Teching,

Time Saving Outlook Shortcuts

2008-02-24T17:46:00.003-05:00

In last week's tech tip we covered how to layout the Windows taskbar to make better use of the quick launch bar. (Click here to read last week's post.) This week we will begin discussing some cool things we can do with the new found space we created for the quick launch bar.

Quick note: For those of you who are submitting questions for me to address in future tech tips, I am receiving the questions and will try to address some next week.

In this week's tech tip we are going to cover Outlook shortcuts. Now I know many of you are thinking, "I already have an Outlook shortcut." You may well indeed but these are no ordinary shortcuts I am referring to. The Outlook shortcuts I am referring to will reduce dreaded mouse clicks! Let's get started.

If you read last week's tech tip, you probably noticed some of the shortcuts that I have on my quick launch bar and wondered what they were for. OK, maybe not, but none-the-less I am going to show you what three of my quick launch icons do. Three of the shortcuts on my quick launch bar link directly to functionality within Outlook. In other words, instead of launching Outlook the program, they launch components within Outlook like a new email, task or calendar entry for instance.
Click here for an example image.

The easiest way to create these shortcuts is to find a preexisting shortcut to MS Outlook on your desktop, then right click on it and select copy.
Click here for an example image.

Then right click on the desktop and select paste from the context menu.
Click here for an example image.

This should create a duplicate Outlook shortcut that we can modify without affecting the original.
Click here for an example image.

Now, right click on the duplicate shortcut and select properties.
Click here for an example image.

Now comes the fun part. (Try to contain yourselves.) We can add what is called a "switch" to the end of the command line and get some pretty cool functionality. The valid switches are:
/c ipm.activity to create a journal entry
/c ipm.appointment to create an appointment
/c ipm.contact to create a contact
/c ipm.note to create an e-mail message
/c ipm.stickynote to create a note
/c ipm.task to create a task
NOTE: There IS a space between the /c and the ipm.
Click here for an example image. and another Click here for an example image.

Using this method you can create several shortcuts to launch each of the Outlook components directly without having to first launch Outlook.

Now we need to change the icon for the shortcut so we can visually see which shortcut to click in order to launch the respective Outlook components. To do this, click on the change icon button on the shortcut properties window and select an appropriate icon.
Click here for an example image.

Next, right click on the icons and click Rename. Rename the shortcuts to represent what each will do. When you are finished you should have something that looks like this, depending on which shortcuts you created.
Click here for an example image.

Double click on each of the shortcuts to make sure they launch the intended Outlook component.
Click here for an example image.

Lastly, you can click, drag and drop these new Outlook shortcuts to your newly expanded quick launch bar. With these new icons on your quick launch bar you will be teching like a pro and saving up to 4 clicks each time you want to create a new email, task, appointment, etc.
Click here for an example image.

Happy Teching,

Ryan Williams

Ask Me A Tech Question
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The Ultimate Desktop Layout Tip #1

2008-02-14T15:11:00.001-05:00

The ultimate in efficiency (or laziness depending on how you look at it) is finding ways to reduce mouse clicks when working on your computer. I don't like clicking my mouse button any more than absolutely necessary. Clicking is simply too much effort, my finger gets tired. I want everything just one click away. Fortunately, we can reduce quite a few mouse clicks with this simple modification to the Windows desktop. Over the next few tech tips I am going to focus on optimizing your Windows desktop to reduce mouse clicks. Below is tip number one. "Expanding the quick launch bar."

The quick launch bar usually appears crammed to the right of the Windows Start menu and to the left of your open task buttons on the taskbar. The quick launch bar contains shortcuts to frequently used programs. However, most of the time only a very few of these icons are visible.

Click here for an example image.

My suggestion is to expand the quick launch bar so you can utilize it more prevalently. The first step in doing this is to enlarge your taskbar. It used to be that screen real estate was at a premium. Now days, however, with dual monitors and ever increasing monitor resolution, we can spare a little extra room for the taskbar, especially considering the time savings it will produce.

To expand the task bar, right click on the taskbar where there are no icons. This will pull up a context menu. If there is a check beside "Lock the Taskbar," then remove the check by clicking on "Lock the Taskbar." Otherwise, leave the "Lock the Taskbar" option unchecked.

Click here for an example image.

This will free up the taskbar to be moved around. The next thing you want to do is hover your mouse over the edge of the taskbar until the icon changes to indicate that you can move the taskbar.

Click here for an example image.

Once you see mouse pointer change, click and hold your left mouse button and drag the taskbar up one notch so that you now have two rows for your task bar.

Click here for an example image.

The next thing we want to do is move the quick launch bar so that it is on its own row and our open task buttons are on their own row. To do this, hover your mouse over the dividing line to the left of the quick launch bar until the mouse pointer changes. (Note that this dividing line only appears if the taskbar is unlocked which we accomplished above.)

Click here for an example image.

Once your mouse pointer changes, click and hold your left mouse button and drag the quick launch bar to the lower taskbar row.

Click here for an example image.

Now you have two rows on your taskbar, one for running tasks and one for the quick launch bar. Now right click on the taskbar again where there are no icons and open the context menu again. This time click "Lock the Taskbar" to relock the taskbar so you don't move things around anymore accidentally.

Click here for an example image.

As you can see, this modification gives you an entire row of shortcuts at your disposal on your taskbar where you can place any number of shortcuts. The beauty of this modification is since your taskbar is always visible, you only have to click once to launch any program of your choosing. Also, an added benefit is we can now see the entire date on the right side of the taskbar without having to click at all.

Click here for an example image.

Over the next few tech tips I will cover some really cool things we can do now that we have a dedicated row for our quick launch shortcuts. Each of which will save time, effort and most importantly, clicks!

Happy Teching,

Ryan Williams

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How To Determine Why Your Computer Is Running Slow

2008-02-11T08:42:00.001-05:00

This question was submitted by a reader in New Jersey. The reader wants to know how to determine why her computer is running slowly. Thank you for the question. This is a relatively easy thing to do and should help a lot of people.

NOTE: This tech tips uses Windows Vista as an example, however the process is nearly the same in Windows XP.

To check which programs are currently running on your computer, right click on your task bar where no icons or tasks are located.
Example: http://www.techbetter.com/ttimage.aspx?image=runningtasks01.gif

On the context menu that appears after you right-click, select 'Task Manager'.
Example: http://www.techbetter.com/ttimage.aspx?image=runningtasks02.gif

The Task Manager window that appears next will show you every program running on your computer. You can sort these programs by name, by CPU utilization and by memory usage by clicking on the corresponding column headers. I usually sort by CPU utilization percentage when I am troubleshooting why a computer is running slow. The higher the percentage the more CPU the program is hogging to itself. Be sure to click the column header twice to sort the column from highest to lowest so that the programs taking the most resources appear at the top of the list.
Example: http://www.techbetter.com/ttimage.aspx?image=runningtasks03.gif

This is useful because often times when your computer is running slow it is because one or more programs are stealing all of your CPU and starving the rest of the programs on your computer. Examples of when this can occur include when an antivirus program is running a full system scan or when an automated backup routine is backing up your files.

Viewing your tasks in Task Manager will show you which programs are hoarding your computer resources, but what if you don't know what the running programs are for or if they are actually necessary? This is where the website ProcessLibrary.com comes in handy. You can enter the file name of the running program on your computer and ProcessLibrary will tell you if the file is safe and what the program is actually used for. In the following example, I looked up the program dwm.exe which is running on my computer. The website tells me that the program was developed by Microsoft and that the program is safe. If the program was spyware or something similar the site would alert me to remove the file.
Example: http://www.techbetter.com/ttimage.aspx?image=runningtasks04.gif

Using this method it is easy to determine which programs are causing your computer to run slow AND if those programs are legitimate or need to be removed.

I hope you find this Tech Tip useful. If you have a questions you would like me to address, please let me know by clicking the "ask me" link below.

Happy Teching,

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