Varnes Computers Blog

I made a post about The Gutenberg Project a while ago, and here is something very convenient for those of us who spend a lot of time driving, and do not have a lot of spare time to devote to reading. Librivox is a project to put on tape, and distribute all books in the public domain. Their catalog is quite extensive, and the selection is great. The content is read and uploaded by site volunteers, so the quality of the reading itself can be... hit or miss. Still, if you are looking for a new free book on tape that is totally legal, it is worth a shot!




Varnes Computers, LLC provides high quality, affordable computer service, help, and repair to the Denver metro area and beyond.

Contact us at info@varnespc.com

It has often been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When it comes to taking care of your PC, this is very much the case. To put it basically, your computer slows down over time because too much clutter accumulates within it. One of the best ways to take care of this is to simply minimize the amount of clutter in the first place. With the proper attention, a computer can go for a long time with no noticeable slowdown, but it takes a bit of an effort on the users part to make sure this happens.

Good things to keep in mind:

1) Browser add-ons:
There are a very wide variety of companies out there that offer toolbars for your internet browser that can give you some sort of benefit. A lot of the time, these toolbars are designed to target your computer with advertisements, or track your browsing history. Many can be responsible for pop up windows, strange computer behavior, and an all around slow down. Even if they do not act maliciously towards your computer, they do consume resources, and having 4-5 completely innocent toolbars on your internet browser can still cause a noticeable drop in speed. If a pop up appears asking you if you want to install an add on that will alert you to the latest coupons and offers... Just say no.

2)Spyware and Virus Protection:
Every PC absolutely needs proper protection from viruses and spyware. Varnes Computers recommends a combination of AVG Antivirus Free Edition, as well as Spybot Search and Destroy. Norton Antivirus, as well as many of the other big name companies will actually bog down your system quite a bit, and can be very difficult to remove once fully installed. If you are purchasing a new computer, we would advise you to trash the 30 day trial subscription to whatever antivirus program comes with the computer, and just go with a working solution that is free from the get go.

It is also worth while to mention that some users have a nasty habit of overdoing it with spyware and virus protection. Every antivirus, or anti-spyware program that is placed on a computer consumes resources. While it is important to be well protected, having 4 spyware programs on a computer is unnecessary. On a few occasions, we have found that cleaning up spyware removal programs was very effective in speeding up a customer's computer.

3) Registry Cleaners:
Generally it is a good idea to avoid registry cleaners, and registry repair tools. They often do not know what they are doing to your computer, and can cause more harm than good. With modern computers, the registry has to grow exceptionally large for there to be a noticable difference in computer speed, so generally there can be other ways to address speed. If your registry does need work, it is best to consult with a professional first. After all, without a working registry, your computer just won't work.

4) Routine Maintenance:
It is an excellent idea to run the built in system tools, such as Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter on a regular basis. Many modern computers will schedule the defragmenter to run automatically, but not the disk cleanup tool. To use the disk cleanup tool, simply go to Computer, then right click on your C: drive and choose properties, then go to tools, and select disk cleanup. Follow the prompts and you are done!

Questions, inaccuracies, feedback?
Contact info@varnespc.com

Many people spend way too much on software without realizing there may be a free comparable program online that can accomplish everything they need.

Open source software is generally just as easy to use as the larger companies product, but it it created in an entirely open, and not for profit manner.

Today's good recommendation:

Gimp! is an open source image editing program that is quite comparable to Adobe Photoshop. It has some really great photo editing features. The major benefit that gimp has, of course, is that it is free. Give it a try!

Whether you are a personal user, or a business owner, Varnes Computers strives to bring you the software solutions you need at the lowest price possible.

I am a huge fan of open source software, and will attempt to convert most people who I meet. The idea behind open source software is that it is free, and completely non-proprietary. Anyone who likes can have access to the original source code of the program and modify it as they see fit. This results in a lot of independent geeks helping the companies to make the software better, and more reliable. Almost all open source software is adware free.

What can you do with open source software? You can do an amazing amount.

All of our company documents and spreadsheets are created and changed using open source software.
If you use firefox, you are already using open source software.
This blog is powered by open source software.
Our HelpDesk ticketing system is powered by open source sofware.
This website is maintained using an open source editor.
Open source software can be used for spyware removal, photo editing, word processing, server management, and just about anything else!

So here are a few more useful open source programs to take a look at and try out!

Open Office is a productivity suite very comparable to Microsoft Office. It does not include an outlook equivalent, and last I checked, it could not open Microsoft Office 2007 .docx files, but other than that, it is very stable, very usable, and has plenty of features!

Mozilla Thunderbird Is a reliable and stable email program, similar to Microsoft Outlook... The big difference is that it is free!

Spybot, Search & Destroy is a very powerful anti spyware and trojan program that really just kicks the pants off a lot of other things on the market. This is the only anti-spyware program that we endorse with maximum endorsement.

SharePod Allows you to remove music from an iPod, and copy it to your computer, FREE!

Wikipedia Offers a very comprehensive list of open source programs available to personal users and businesses. Check it out and treat yourself to something cool!

There are thousands of open source applications out there available for free or next to nothing, so if you or your company has a need for new software, shoot us an email, and we will see if we can help you locate a great alternative to highly expensive software!

Questions, concerns, inaccuracies?


Varnes Computers, LLC provides high quality, affordable computer service, help, and repair to the Denver metro area and beyond.

Contact us at info@varnespc.com

This can be a difficult age when it comes to administering proper parental guidance. One of the many difficult topics to consider is that in this day and age, your children's computer literacy may very well exceed your own. This makes it very hard to keep your children safe when it comes to online activity. Many cyber nanny programs can help, but these alone are not enough, and there is a decent chance that your child will be able to get around them if they are so inclined (I could when I was a kid, and my parents knew nothing of it.) There are some very simple steps that you can take to help your children know how to be safe.


Pornography:
It is entirely up to the individual parent how a child should be raised in this regard, but pornography is indeed incredibly abundant on the internet. This is the area of your child's online experience that can be best controlled using additional software on your computer. This software should never be considered a replacement for talking to your children, but it can help to ease your mind when you are not there to supervise. Pornography is more a concern of family health, and there is, in reality, little chance that your child could expose themselves to a predator simply by visiting a pornographic website.

The most reputable of these programs is Net Nanny. They offer protection for both computers, and modern smart phones.

Social Networking Websites:
It is very difficult for programs that you would install on the computer to monitor and effectively deal with threats your children may face that come from websites such as Facebook or Myspace. These sites are extremely commonplace, and your children may very well use them to keep up with all of their friends. It is difficult nowadays to keep people from using these sites all together, so the best thing that you can do is ensure that your children know how to use them safely.

1) Social networking websites have many varying levels of privacy settings for a user's account. You should encourage your children to use the strictest available privacy settings, as this will keep people whom your child does not know from accessing any of their personal information.

2) Encourage your children to be extremely mindful of the photos that they place online for public viewing. A picture of a child in front of their house, with the right supplementary information in their profile can easily give anyone who wants to snoop your home address.

3) Be aware that social networking sites are best used for keeping in touch with friends that your child already has. Discourage them from using the internet to make new friends. There are 2 important reasons for this. First and foremost, anyone that your child meets online may or may not be who they say they are. Also, there is an amazing world out there that has nothing to do with computers.

4) Participate! Check out the social networking sites yourself, and if your child has an account, perhaps you should make one as well. Friend them!

Questions, concerns?

info@varnespc.com

When apple was putting the newer versions of the iPod together, they went through a great deal of effort to make retreiving music off an iPod very difficult. This is presumably because this facilitates the illegal copying of their music, and would cut into the iTunes music store business. While it may be illegal to copy music from an iPod, many people manually manage the music on their iPod, and do not always keep a direct backup of this music on their computer. If the iPod crashes, then... there is a high chance that these people will lose all of their music. Fortunately, some kind soul was good enough to write a program that lets you retrieve the music from any iPod, and store it on your computer. This is a great program to have for a multitude of reasons.

Check Out SharePod Here!

The only glitch that we have noticed is that running both SharePod and iTunes at the same time can cause a bit of a crashy glitch situation.

As a consumer, you should be advised of the relative qualities of personal in house support versus manufacturer support. We had a client last week who called their computer manufacturer before us. This client used his computer for the purposes of creating, and digitally editing music, as a result, he had a lot of data and programs on his computer that he could not afford to lose. The manufacturer explained to him that he needed to reformat his computer to repair a very minor glitch that he was experiencing. He was not thrilled, and called us. The manufacturer was clearly working off a flow chart, and when reinstalling drivers failed, they defaulted to deleting the whole computer as the next logical step. At this point he called us, and with a backup and 3 clicks, his computer was fixed.

I guess the moral of the story is that you should always seek a second opinion if your computer manufacturer is telling you to destroy all of your data.

Techno Specifics:

Problem:
Failed mirroring on nvidia RAID controller card. Error message appearing during start up. No other symptoms.

Manufacturers solution:
Reformat both drives (2x1TB)
Reinstall RAID controller firmware
Reinstall windows

Varnes Computers' Solution:
Back up vital data
Delete malfunctioning array
rebuild and test array
The problem was solvable with zero data loss or destruction.

Questions, comments, inaccuracies?
info@varnespc.com

Having a secure wireless network is very important. When you run an open network, you are potentially exposing anything you transmit or receive over the internet to anyone within range of your router. The range of your router, in many cases, can extend well beyond the walls of your apartment or house. Additionally, anyone who cares to can use an unsecured network to access the internet, and if these people chose to do anything illegal with your connection, it can be traced back to you, and nobody wants that. Securing your wireless network is simple, and there are a few ways to do it.

Use the CD that came with your router:
Most modern wireless routers or access points include a CD that will allow you to set up protected internet access on each computer. This option is fairly straight forward. The only downside to this is that many of the CDs contain "network monitoring" software that you simply do not need.

Set up a secured connection manually:
This option varies in it's steps a little bit depending on what brand of router you are using, but for the most part, they are very similar.

It is easiest to do this if you physically plug your computer into the router for the time being, and then follow these simple steps:
-Open your usual web browser and go to the router's IP address. This is almost always either 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1
-enter the user name and password for the router. This is almost always defaulted to user name admin, and password admin, or user name admin, and password password.
-look for a tab at the top that says wireless, choose the wireless tab, and look for a security sub tab, click on that.
-The screen you are looking at should be fairly simple, it should ask you to choose a security method, and then ask you to provide a pass phrase. The best method to use now seems to be WPA2, so we would recommend you chose that.
Once you have chosen your password and hit save, you can disconnect the computer from the wireless router. Look up your network on the wireless thingy, and enter the password you chose earlier. You should now be both connected, and secure.

The administration section of your router also will let you choose a new name for your wireless network, control access, and log activity. It is a pretty useful tool overall.

Lastly, most modern routers have a push button connection. This is another simple method. All you have to do is push the button for connection on your router, and then locate either the physical or virtual button on the device you wish to connect. Sometimes finding the connection option for this within windows or wireless manager programs on your computer can be difficult, so old fashioned though we may be, we generally stick with the password approach for connecting computers. The push button, though, can be extremely useful for connecting non-computer network devices like wireless printers.

Questions, concerns, inaccuracies?

Contact us at: info@varnespc.com

Lets face it, scammers are rampant on the internet. I often use Craigslist to sell spare parts or equipment around the shop as the need for whatever it is declines from public demand. For every legitimate inquiry I get, I get 2 or 3 scam inquiries. So, here are some tips to avoid getting scammed!

1) Never accept money orders! 99% of all money order traffic on Craigslist seems to be fraudulent, and they will send you a money order that seems good, or clears initially, but then backfires on you, and you wind up with a bank coming after you for fraud instead of the actual scammer. This has happened to an acquaintance of mine, and it could happen to anyone else. The same thing goes for eBay, although that is slightly safer. If I am doing business on eBay, the only method of payment that I will accept is paypal, and I am wary of people who say they cannot pay via paypal, because you do not even need a credit card to have paypal deduct funds from a checking account... That is highly fishy.

2) On Craigslist, pay attention to the email that you get inquiring about whatever you are selling. A lot of scammers will word emails to be about "your item" or I am still interested in "it" sometimes they will copy the listing title letter for letter, and as a result you wind up getting something that reads "Hello, I was wondering if your item, XXXXXXXXXXXX, was still available. Also, I need to know if there is anything wrong with it." I guess the bottom line is that if it looks like it was written by a robot, it probably was.

3) If a friend contacts you on facebook, and says they are trapped overseas and need money, ask lots of personal questions, because their account has probably been hacked. Scammers will break into an account, and then solicit all of the friends possible to send money overseas until the person figures out they were hacked, at which point the account is closed, and the scammmer takes whatever they have made and vanishes. When it comes from keeping your account from being hacked... The best and most reliable solution is to check the address bar before logging in to any service. Many scammmers will try to get your personal information using lookalike sites, but they will not have the same address.

So, if you are trying to log in to facebook, and the page looks like facebook, but the address bar reads something like "http://www.myfacebook.info" or "http://www.facebook.com@fr.eex.us." Don't enter your password, whatever you do!

Questions, Comments, Inaccuracies?

info@varnespc.com

A friend was kind enough to point out to me a service that I had never seen before: The Gutenberg Project Provides thousands of free e-books for download, and it is completely legal! Treat yourself to a classic!