Tag: computer tips and tricks
The FBI recommends you check for viruses
Info from a variety of websites we have reviewed: Last November, the FBI in the U.S. solved a major computer hacking ring that had infected more than half a million computers worldwide. The FBI set up government issued backup servers to prevent internet disruption for all those infected computers until all the “Bad Guy’s” computers/systems came down. On July 9th the backup servers will be taken down.
What this means is if you are infected, after the servers are taken down your computer and internet will not work perfectly. The computer will try to redirect itself every time you try to access the internet. The good thing is, there is a way to find out if you are infected or not. If you go to www.dcwg.org and follow the simple on screen instructions it will tell you if you are infected or not. If you are infected, the website lists a bunch of helpful tools to get your computer back up and running. If you need help you can always Call That Girl at 612-865-4475 or fill out the form to schedule an appointment.
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Why peeking in the Junk Mail or Spam folder is important
Simple blog today folks.
I hear this on occasion, “I found your email in my junk folder,” so I felt there was value to writing up a blog about the junk/spam folder. When I am remoted into a computer repairing Outlook, I usually have to do an email test to insure it’s sending/receiving and many times…my email doesn’t show up on the client’s computer. The same email is in my inbox, but when I reply, it’s in their junk folder. It wasn’t junk! It was a test email and that should not be flagged period. But it is. The subject line was just “test”.
We have two things to discuss.
- Subject lines can get an email into junk
- Any email can get into junk
These two things are important to remember and you might have important emails sitting in your junk folder. I check mine daily and find tons of little goodies sitting in there. Emails from colleagues, clients, my staff, it doesn’t matter…it finds its way there. A good reminder for you is to check your junk/spam folder on occasion and make sure you’re not missing an important email.
My computer won’t turn on -Tips you can try
Nik here with the Call That Girl blog! Today I will be discussing something pretty simple, but something I find more and more people seem to have little idea about; hardware. More specifically what you can do if you are having problems simply getting the computer to start up, or if when you pressed the power button you could hear fans and see lights, or hear beeps, but the PC itself would not get activity on the screen, or get to the “Windows” splash screen. Keep in mind this will not fix major problems, and a deeper diagnosis may be the answer, but just for starters, here are some things you can do yourself without harming your computer that may help.
So basically you want to check all the things you would normally think are fine. You’d probably be amazed how many “problems” are fixed by the primary things.
- Go to the back of your PC tower and check all the cables.
- Jiggle cables and make sure things are secure, or to be certain…unplug them all and plug them back in.
- Check that the power from the wall outlet is working if the PC isn’t giving you any power at all. If you need to, plug it into another outlet or reset the surger.
- Check the power cable to make sure it has not been unplugged (especially in office settings, cleaning crews or other folks can sometimes unplug things.)
- Unplug external hard drives and basically anything you don’t need to have plugged in. I once had an issue where I had checked every connection except the video cable that physically plugged into the monitor itself, and had I checked in the first place, I could have saved hours of time.
- Also, if your PC has the small on/off switch in the back on the power supply (where you plug in your PC) make sure it is switched on, so the small line is pressed down, and not the power circle that is usually on the front panel.
After all is said and done, hopefully when you press the power button your computer boots up and everything is in order! If not, please Call That Girl and have your computer diagnosed at one of our service stations!
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Check back next week for part 2 of this simple guide to hardware and getting your computer to boot up!
Six Outlook Tips That You Need To Know
Many of our clients use Outlook and most of the tips below are things I review with the clients when they call in with problems. Not every tip pertains to everyone, but overall these are great tips for Outlook users.
TIP: Outlook by default opens a PST File (Personal Storage) in a hidden file on your computer. That is where most of your email and folders probably are. Not everyone knows this and it’s very important that you back up that PST file often. If your computer crashes, the PST is just as important as your pictures and music!
TIP: if your Outlook is getting slow to open, you may want to see how large your PST file is. Some versions of Outlook will lock you out if it gets too large. If you have a newer copy of Outlook, you have a lot more room. But keep this in mind, the larger your PST file, the longer it will take to open. I won’t get into technical talk about this, but if your Outlook is slow to open, call us for a quick review on it, we can help you move off old emails to another PST and get your Outlook in good shape again.
TIP: Using multiple computers and am sick of dealing with mail everywhere? I happen to use a IMAP instead of (Pop3) that synchronizes all of my email and folders. I was at a place a few months ago where I had 4 computers I was checking email on and was just tired of all the extra work I had to do to manage the email. If you are interested in learning more about this, contact us for a review.
TIP: Set up rules and make your life easier! I have been doing this for years and LOVE IT. If I happen to get a ton of email from one person, I give them a folder and a rule. When I get an email from that person, it goes right to the folder I need. Outlook marks it unread, so you know there is new email there.
TIP: Looking for a calendar sync tool? I have been using the Google calendar with my Outlook for a couple of months and have to admit, I really like it. As many of you know, I’m not a big fan of using Google for everything, but I am liking this calendar option. You have to invite yourself to the event, and then it syncs to your Outlook calendar. I have my assistant do all the bookings on the Google calendar and I get the invites on my Blackberry and every computer I have Outlook on. I really dig this!
TIP: Be sure to check your junk e-mail folders! So many of us forget to check that folder, and I have found many important emails sneaking in there! Why is that? Because of the subject line. The person sent it with a title that was caught by spam/junk filters. I think checking that daily is important, you can mark what is not spam/junk to make sure that those emails come to your regular inbox.
5 Common Mistakes People Do to Their Computer
Ah, finally…it’s time for the Doctor to tell her patients what they are doing wrong with their computers. One thing I will tell you for sure not to do is, floss at night! But there are many things we find our clients doing that are just flat out bad, wrong and ugly. Your computer will thank you if you listen to this advice.
1.) Never restarting. Many of you keep your computers on all day and night. Give it a restart on occasion! It’s good for the computer to refresh itself.
2.) Never do your updates. I can’t tell you how many computers we look at each week that never get basic updates. These include Adobe, Java, Flash, Windows and your anti-virus.
3.) Shutting off with the power button. You should always try to shut down your computer the proper way by going to your start button and selecting “‘shut down”. This allows the operating system to shut down as it was intended. By just pushing the power button, you are forcing a shut off and sometimes the computer’s operating system will be corrupted after doing that. You may see some repair windows come up the next time you turn it on.
4.) Not buying enough memory for your computer. If you have had a tune up done by us, we conduct a 22 pt checklist and part of that checklist includes checking your memory. It’s important to have enough to make your computer time fun and fast! No one wants a sluggish computer experience. We can help you with memory; to set up an appt, give us a call!
5.) Overspending on a computer. Many of our clients have told us that they paid over $1000 for a family home computer. I’m going to guess that was years ago, because now you can get a decent home tower/desktop computer for well under $500. Before you go shopping, call us and get a consultation done and we will help you purchase what you and your family needs, save you money and save you shopping headaches! Many times we can help you buy it online, get shipped to your home and we can come help set it up!