Similar to the series of posts about “Free” alternatives (which are just as good if not better than the paid-for software), there are also “better” alternatives to some other free programs that most people use without thinking. Use Mozilla Thunderbird (Tb) instead of Outlook Express (OE) It’s been so long since I used OE, I […]

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There are many benefits of “Housekeeping” (in computer terms 😉 ) some are technical, some are time-saving. A few minutes each week sorting out your files will reduce the amount of time you need to think about “where did I save that file/picture” etc. If you save your all your files to your computer hard […]

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Similar to the series of posts about “Free” alternatives (which are just as good if not better than the paid-for software), there are also “better” alternatives to some other free programs that most people use without thinking. Use Mozilla Firefox (Fx) instead of Internet Explorer (IE) Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) is better than IE6 was, […]

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Spyware Detection Spyware is a form of “Malware” (short for “Malicious Sofware“) a generic name for software which intentionally performs actions which can damage data or disrupt systems. Usually only a problem for Windows computers, not those that run Mac OS or Linux. Spyware is software that secretly gathers information about a user while he/she […]

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It really isn’t possible to over stress the importance of backing up your data. If you are only saving your documents to one place e.g.”My Documents” then you need to do something about it now! There are too many ways of losing your data to list them all, but some are: User error – accidentally […]

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Software Firewall A Software Firewall (or Personal Firewall) helps to keep your computer safe. It can stop malicious crackers (hackers are the good guys ;)) on the Internet from secretly gaining access to your computer and either planting malicious code (e.g. a virus) or using your computer by remote control to attack other computers. A […]

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This “free” alternative isn’t as obvious as the first but, along with those to follow, it is more important. AntiVirus (AV) Software Every computer running Microsoft Windows should have AV software installed. Anti-virus software can identify and block many viruses before they can infect your computer. Once installed, it’s equally important to keep it up […]

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The most obvious one first: OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office OpenOffice.org (OOo) is not a clone of Microsoft Office (MSO). Things don’t work exactly the same, and no-one can guarantee 100% compatibility between the two programs, but for most users OOo will do everything they will ever want and more. It actually gives you more […]

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I’m not going to denigrate paid-for software. In fact I think there are some commercially available programs that are well worth the money. However, I think it is unfortunate when unsuspecting users are given trial versions of software pre-installed on their computer and, when the trial runs out, don’t realize that there is an alternative […]

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This blog (weblog) is here for a few reasons, those I can think of right now are: As the tagline says, it’s easy to update It shows what a sub-domain is: blog.pjwright.com is a subdomain of pjwright.com I can easily post tips and advice for clients and friends Clients can post feedback/comments on the work […]

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