Solutions Computer Services

Have you ever felt that your internet speed was slower than what you thought you were paying for? I did, and when I got my provider to check my history, it was found out that I had paid for 18 months for an internet upgrade that was never turned on.

Use one of these utilities to check your service speed, and match it with your internet bill. Make sure you are getting what you are paying for. These are connection testers and may work for other providers as well.

http://speedtest.net/

Sask-tel

http://www.sasktel.com/internet/speedtest/index.html

Shaw

http://speedtest.shaw.ca/results

The inside of a computer is like a giant magnet for dust and other airborn particles. These particles can build up on the circuit boards inside the computer, or clog vents, which can lead to overheating. An overheated component can basically burn itsself out. Once a year, remove the cover, and blow out the inside of the case with some form of compressed air. This can help to avoid issues caused from overheating.

Be sure to do this outside if you have a serious case of dust bunnies.

Not all video files will play in every media player program. Older version of Windows Media player can give a “codec error” on some videos. If you are having trouble playing certain video files, try playback with a free program like VLC player. It can play almost every video format.

http://download.cnet.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10267151.html

Are you a person that has a lot of files in your Inbox? Have you created a few extra folders under your Inbox to sort your email? If you have not also saved these important emails in a separate location, there is a chance you could lose all of these files in the event of a system failure.

Here are the steps for Microsoft Outlook:

Locate the file named outlook.pst (mine was here – C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook) and save it in a different location. Do not have your email open while trying to save. This single file contains all of the computer data that is your Inbox, Outbox, Sent, etc. If your computer crashes, you can reload this file and it will recreate all of your email files.

Do you feel left out because you just can’t get the hang of texting? Or would you like to join the texting generation but don’t own a cell phone? Many people are not aware that you can send/receive text messages on your computer. Have your friends send a text message from their cell phone to your email address instead of a phone number. You can then reply to the message like you would any other email, and it will go right back to the person’s cell phone in the form of a text.

The manufacturers of hard drives have a longer warranty than the place you bought it from. People have taken their computers into a shop with a damaged hard drive and had the seller replace it for them (for a fee of course). You naturally assume that the old hard drive has been disposed of. However, in some cases, the vendor has shipped the old drive back to the manufacturer and had it replaced with a brand new one for free. The vendor has made money off of you for the sale of the product and the labour to install it, don’t let them benefit further because you don’t know the guidlines. Typical manufacturer warranty is three years, some conditions do apply.

Does your laptop feel abnormally warm on the bottom? This could be due to a clogged heatsink (the grill next to the internal cooling fan). Overheating can cause serious damage to components in your computer, even to the point of a complete system failure. Cleaning this part can be quite easy in some models, contact me to find out how to do this.

A lot of people are not aware that it is possible to recover data from a hard drive that has been erased, formatted, had Windows re-installed, or sometimes, even if it shows that the drive is unreadable. Contact me if you have accidentally erased or covered over any important files.

There have been many people caught by a popup that states that some sort of malicious content had been detected, and offers a free scan to fix the problem. In some cases the popup can even contain color schemes and logos that resemble actual virus protection software. This is a fake alert, if you accept to run the scan, it can cause harm to your system. The fake alert will install rogue security software onto your computer, and if you accept the offer and pay for it with a credit card, you may have more problems than just a corrupt computer.

A good rule of thumb to remember is that there are no companies or organizations anywhere on the planet that roam around the internet doing random scans for free to help protect people from corruption.

Very often people will receive emails from websites that they are signed up with (like ebay, Paypal, or maybe even from your bank), that will request personal information or ask you to update your ID’s and passwords. They will even supply a shortcut link in the email to make it quicker for you to update your profile.

DO NOT SELECT THE LINK!

This can be extremely dangerous, and could cost you your identity. No companies that store your personal information will ever give you a quick link to update your profile. For more information on this form of potential identity theft, contact me directly.