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Home PC Tips for better performance
While our team of certified professionals is monitoring and supporting your business PC and laptop we do occasionally get questions about home PC issues and how to avoid them. To help keep your home PC running at its best there are a few things we recommend be setup (and most are free!).
- Windows OS updates: Microsoft periodically releases updates to your operating system to fix security issues and other bugs. To ensure you have all of the latest updates you should set your Windows updates settings to ‘Auto Update and Download’. This will ensure you get the latest updates installed as soon as they are released.
- Malware Protection: The unfortunate reality today is that malware is everywhere! Infections are becoming more and more common in home PC’s. We recommend MalwareBytes and encourage home users to purchase the full licensed version to receive the best protection. The best way to protect your home PC is to stop malware before it has the chance to infect your PC. (We also recommend you have a licensed A/V software which will work in conjunction with your anti-malware software)
- Performance Options: Those of you running Windows 7 may realize there are many new and ‘flashy’ options for your desktop. These cool new features are mostly just fluff and ‘overhead’ on your PC and can impact performance. If you really want the most out of your home PC set this feature in Windows 7: Go to ‘My Computer > System Properties > Advanced > Performance – Settings > clikc option ‘adjust for best performance’
Have a Technology Question That We Can Answer?
Each month in our XPERTECHS technology experts will answer questions submitted by our friends, clients, and site visitors! Questions can be anything technology related and will be provided a simple business centered answer.
Q: I cannot connect to the Internet or wi-fi access point from my laptop. What is wrong?
A: Believe it or not this is a common (and usually easy) issue to diagnose. Take a close look at your laptop and all the light‐up buttons and options below the screen. Many laptops have a small icon or button which (separate from the power button) which controls the wireless card and allows a user to disable (often by mistake) its function. Look for the Wi-Fi logo and check out our knowledgebase screenshot.
Q: I have too many programs open on my desktop and cannot seem to find the right one?
A: Hello multi-taskers! This is a common reality at our busy service desk. Our solution for increasing productivity is click‐free navigation by way of ‘Hot Keys’ or quick keyboard commands. Most users don’t know that MS Office programs (Word, Excel, PowrPt) have hundreds of built in ‘hot keys’ or keyboard short cuts. Here are our favorites:
- Quick switch between windows/programs: ‹Alt›+‹Tab› [Hold ‹Alt› and press ‹Tab› to toggle]
- PowerPoint Quick Copy: Hold ‹Ctrl› button while dragging an object/shape to create a copy
- Quick Copy: Select object (or text) and press ‹Ctrl› + “C” (Works in all programs!)
- Quick Paste: Select area to paste and press ‹Ctrl› + “V” (Works in all programs!)
Q: How can I protect my MS Office documents from unauthorized users?
A: The security and safety of classified or otherwise private business materials should be a top priority for employees, staff, and management. To help protect and secure data from in the form of a spreadsheet, word document, presentation, or other Microsoft document the ‘Encrypt’ option is available. The function will allow the document owner to password protect the document. Users will not be permitted to access the document unless they have the password. Here is how to encrypt the document within MS Office 2007.
Q: How can I delay or ‘Schedule’ the delivery of an email message?
A: This is a common question from our client who do business via email and have either time-sensitive or content sensitive email correspondence that must be sent at ‘just the right time’. Microsoft Outlook makes this task easy
