No More Indexing

Did you know that Windows XP and Vista keep a record of all the files you have saved on your hard disk? Why do they do this? Well, it's basically used for when you do a search for a particular file or folder on your hard drive. Since they both remember everything you have, it makes this process go much faster.
On the other hand though, there is a downside to this. Because your computer has to index all of the files you have stored on your hard drive, it slows things way down when just trying to find that particular one you're looking for. It will drag out the normal file commands, such as opening and closing as well.
So, if you don't usually search for files on your hard drive in this way, I suggest turning the indexing feature off. It will speed things up so much for you. Here’s how you do it.
For Windows XP:
1.Click on Start, Control Panel. (Note: You must be in the classic

Control Panel view for this tip to work).
2.Double click Administrative Tools.

3.Double click Services.

4.Double click Indexing Services.

5.Click on Stop and then click OK.

For Windows Vista:
Almost the exact same process here, only instead of "indexing Services" you'll look for "Windows Search". Stop that service and enjoy increased search speeds within Windows!

Once you have the Indexing or Search option stopped, your computer will be able to find any of the files or folders you want to access much quicker. Everything will just work so much faster and you and I both know, you can't beat that!

Why does my monitor go black after about 15 minutes of not using the computer?
A:
Windows has a Power Management setting that will shut your monitor off after a specified amount of time. If you don't like when it's shutting the monitor off, you can change it by doing the following:
In Windows XP:
1. Hit the Start>Control Panel , then go to Performance and Maintenance link). Then, open the Power Management icon .
2. Look for the " Turn off monitor " drop box. Select the amount of time you want the computer to wait before shutting off the monitor, or tell it not to shut the monitor off at all.

In Windows Vista:
Hit Start>Control Panel then double-click the "Power Options" icon.
From here, click on "Change Plan Settings" under your currently selected plan.

Under "Turn off the Display" set it to "Never" or another desired time, and click "Save Changes"

What's Your Handle?
If you chat online, you probably have a handle, right? Did you know that or are you not sure what a handle even is? Well, it's also known as a screen name. It's just a name you make up to use in a chat room to disguise your real name and information.
Most people probably know of these names as a screen name, but the more technical term is a handle. You can use them in chat rooms, when you're playing online games, when you sign up for certain giveaways, newsletters, jokes, etc. You can always use a handle whenever you don't want anyone to find out your real identity, which is a very smart thing to do.

One Update Takes Care of Them All
When you use MS Word do you find yourself updating the exact same information in many different files?
For example, maybe you have a weekly sales figure that is put into several different Word files each week.
Do you open all the files and change the information in each and every one? Even with a copy and paste process it still can take quite a bit of time.
Or, is there a simpler way? Maybe a way to update the information once and all the documents make the change?
Of course - why else would I ask??
Here's the plan…
Create and save a file with only the information that is frequently updated.
Now copy that information.
Next we're off to the file where the information actually belongs.
Once there place the cursor where you want the information to be inserted.
Now it's time for Paste Special to do its job.
In older versions of Word it's located on the Edit menu.
Word 2007 has Paste Special in the bottom half of the Paste button located on the Home tab of the Ribbon.
When you're in the Paste Special dialog box you need to select Paste link.

Now click OK.
Save the file.
Repeat the Paste Special process into all the files that should contain the data.
The next time you need the information updated in all the documents simply open the file with only the information in it - change the information - then save it.
Now open the other files.
You should find that the update has been completed in all of them.
There is one important piece of information that should be noted here… the link is specific to the location of the information file where it was first saved. If you move it then you're going to have to set new links - so it's best to be sure that you create that first file in a location where it can stay.
And there you have it…
One update can really take care of them all!

Email Etiquette
Windows all versions - all email programs and Web mail
EMAIL ETIQUETTE
• Do not send messages without a subject line
• Do not send a 2nd email to complain "the first" was not answered quick enough; keep in mind some people are not on their computers every day
• Do not click reply to an old message and talk about something completely different from the subject line
• When responding to a message leave the original message intact
• Do not include oversized attachments in email; try to keep them below 500 kb, or send an email to the recipient and warn them you have a large file ready to be sent
• Do not send exe files in email; many email services will block the email
• Never pass on warnings or other alerts by email that say "send to all your friends". The vast majority of them are hoaxes.
• Do not use "Spam Challenge" emails and expect people to prove themselves, especially to a company since most companies would not be able to do this. And, spammers could send these same mails and fool people into "proving" they exist for nefarious reasons.
• Do not use "vacation responders". Your close friends will know if you are gone; everyone else can wait until you get home. If you really need to access email use a web mail account like Gmail you can access from anywhere
• Do not use or expect others to allow "read receipts". If someone wants you to know your mail has been read, they will respond to you .
• Don't send mails with cc's of all your friends; be sure you use bcc.
• Don't assume because you have a high-speed connection that everyone else does too. There are still many people using dial-up. Nothing is more irritating to those folks than receiving an embedded video they can't watch, or a huge embedded image that takes them fifteen or twenty minutes to download.

Windows All Versions/All email programs
There is no such thing as a perfect spam filter if you don't get in the habit of checking your spam folder frequently. So, with that in mind, we'd like you to read the following tip and hopefully follow our suggestions. If you don't you're going to end up losing some good, possibly important emails.
A few simple rules to follow before you delve into that dark, foreboding, spam folder:
1. Don't click links in email from senders you don't recognize; especially if they're selling something or trying to get you to download something.
2. Don't click any links in emails that appear to be from banks, governments, financial institutions or stock trading companies you can bet these are phishing scams.
3. When in doubt, delete it out.

When you go to delete a file from your computer
what do you do? Do you send it to the Recycle Bin and then empty that? Do you then leave your computer thinking that took care of it for you? Don't feel bad if you do, because you're certainly not the only one. Depending on the Recycle Bin to remove the data from your computer "for good" is one popular misconception.

I'm sure you're wondering what you can do to actually delete those files, There are utility tools, called shredders, that you can use to get the job done and there just so happens to be several available on the Internet today. There are various different kinds, depending on how much deleting you're going to be doing, but they are all handy in every situation. Some of the more popular shredders are ShredIt, Wipe & Delete and File Shredder 2000. Start shredding your files today and be rid of them forever!
HULU is a site that allows you to watch all of your favorite TV shows without having to hunt around for them or do anything illegal. Here's how it works:
All major TV networks these days put their newest TV shows on the internet. After a show airs on TV, they will put it on their website for people to watch. This is really awesome for people that don't have cable or forgot to watch their favorite show on the day it was first aired. The problem is that nobody wants to go to each of the network's websites and hunt down the shows.
For example, I watch shows on NBC, ABC and FOX. If I wanted to watch my favorite shows online, I would need to go to NBC.com, ABC.com and FOX.com to find the specific programs I wanted to watch. This can be a time consuming process since each site has different ways to find their shows. If they were all available in one spot, it would be much easier.
Well, that is where HULU comes in. HULU.com brings together all of the separate networks' shows to one site where you can watch them all. Just sign up for free and you can watch all the TV you can put your hands on. How cool is that?
So until now, people that wanted to use HULU would have to go to HULU.com and watch the shows through their web browser. For many people this was OK, but for others (like me) it still seemed like something was missing. I always wanted to have a program on my computer that would connect to HULU so I could watch everything without needing to have my browser open. This is where HULU desktop comes in.
HULU desktop is a free program made by HULU that eliminates the need to use your browser to watch all of the awesome HULU content. Just download and install HULU desktop and start watching. This program makes it simple to browse through the thousands of TV shows and movies on HULU.com. You can even use HULU desktop to queue your favorite shows so you don't miss anything.
If you want to check out HULU desktop, you can find it here: http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop

PS: To use HULU desktop, you will need a HULU account. You can get one for free here: https://secure.hulu.com/signup