Keeping You Connected

AS Consulting's Monthly Newsletter

Must have downloads:
Refer to my downloads page to get these critical applications!

In this issue:

►Be Prepared for the Daylight Savings Time "Bug"

►Windows Vista

►Clearing up unused icons

►Do you have a bad driver in your home?

►How to tell what is auto loading on your computer

►Forget LoJack. The ultimate theft deterrent! 

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(805) 968-6366

Ad-Aware Personal SE (version 1.06)

Windows Defender

Because this item was so important, I sent out as separate mailing to remind you of this important item. If you still have not gotten around to patching your computer, please read on...

In 2005, Congress passed a bill to extend Daylight Savings Time, to keep it brighter longer. This year Daylight Saving Time (DST) extends by approximately four weeks.  In compliance with this provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, DST dates in the United States and Canada will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November).

What does this mean to you? If you have older software that is not aware of these changes, your times in various programs may be off by one hour. Examples of this would be that your calendar program alerts you to an appointment one hour earlier or later.  The media is hyping this as the "Year 2005 Bug", a takeoff on the big hoopla over the "Year 200 Bug".

Details of the updates for Microsoft Windows and affected Microsoft applications, how customers can acquire them and when they will be available can be found on the Microsoft website at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_homeuser#howto
. 

Be aware that Microsoft does not support Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME, They do lead you through how to manually update your DST settings.

Essentially, if you have a program that is date and time sensitive, you should spend some time verifying what the ramifications are and if the vendor has a patch. For Microsoft products, make sure that you either have automatic updates on, or visit Microsoft's website (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com).

McAfee's Stinger, downloadable virus removable tool

Clearing up unused icons

Question: When I start my computer, I get a message that I have unused icons. It asks if I want them removed. I don't. Can I make this message go away?

Answer: This is one of many aggravating messages in Windows. I guess it is intended to help those who are utterly clueless. But I find it irritating.

It's easy to turn off. Right-click an empty area of the desktop. Click Properties and select the Desktop tab. Click Customize Desktop. Clear the box next to "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days." Click OK>>OK.

The Cleanup Wizard removes icons that aren't seeing much service. You'll be given a list of icons that are rarely or never used. You can deselect them if you want to keep them.

When you remove icons, the Cleanup Wizard creates a desktop folder. The old icons go there. So you remove a few icons from the desktop, then add a folder. Hmmmm.

Anyway, to restore an icon, double-click the folder. Drag the icon you want onto the desktop.

Personally, I'd just rather delete icons if I don't want them. I click the icon once, and press the Del key. But that's just me. Others may prefer the automated method.

Other Important Downloads:

Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0

Norton Internet Security Add-On Pack

A number of my clients have called wondering why several key features of the newest version of Norton Internet Security (2007) have gone missing? For reasons known only to Symantec (they don't call and ask my opinion), they decided to leave out many features found in former versions of the program.  These features include: Norton AntiSpam, Norton Parental Control, Confidential Information Blocking and Ad Blocking. My guess is that they removed them and then had second thoughts. Because you can download the Norton Internet Security Add-on Pack for Windows XP, which contains all of these features. The cost? Free! If you have upgraded to the 2007 version, head on over to Symantec and download your copy.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/custserv.nsf/docid/2006092616462646

If you have a wireless router, remember to enable security!
WEP is good, but WPA is way better.
Feel free to call for assistance.

Do you have a bad driver in your home?

Many computer problems can be traced to a faulty driver (a piece of software that helps your hardware communicate properly with your computer). An easy way I have found to discover if a bad driver is to blame, is to head over to driveragent.com. They have a utility that scans your computer and tells you which drivers need to be updated. (Bad news FireFox users, you'll have to fire up IE to use this tool.)

http://www.driveragent.com

Are you backing up?
These days, a good backup is a must!

If your web pages are not loading properly, you may need this download 

How to tell what is auto loading on your computer

Have you recently thought that your computer was running a little slower than it used to? You may have too many auto loading programs running in the background. Auto loading programs are programs which start every time you start your computer. These can be by-products of legitimate programs you have loaded (like QuickTime which is installed every time you install an Adobe product). Or they can be nefarious programs installed by spyware (adware) packages. The easiest way to see what programs are running in the background is to open MSCONFIG. (Start/Run/ msconfig). Caution: Fooling around with msconfig in the wrong way can cause you major problems! Once there, you want to click on the STARTUP tab. All of these programs are starting each time you start your computer. For the most part, every one of them is desired. But how do you know? Try going over to http://www.sysinfo.org. There, you can enter the name of the program you are interested in and find out whether you can safely disable it or not.

AS Consulting custom builds computers and servers to meet your needs.

Feel free to call for a free quote on an ASC computer system.

Forget LoJack. The ultimate theft deterrent!  

Click on the link to watch a commercial for the best theft deterrent made for your car.

Forget LoJack

AS Consulting is now offering email and website hosting. It is rather affordable and (best of all), I personally handle all of the problems associated with your site (i.e., email addresses, domain issues, etc.) click here for all the info: AS Consulting provided Webhosting

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See you next month!