PCTips Box

At TechEd, as you might imagine, there is a lot of wireless noise. There is the conference wi-fi, but there are also a bunch of ad-hoc or computer to computer networks with remarkably similar names. In the wireless list infrastructure and ad-hoc networks have different icons.

You have to question the motives of people trying to fists for wi-fi users like that. while I know better than to go connecting to ad-hoc networks willy nilly, I wanted to remove the risk of accidentally connecting to one with the same name. (more…)

As an administrator you have the power to delete other user accounts. Upon deleting user accounts, you have the option to keep the files or delete the files. If for unfortunate events you accidentally chose deleting files, I suggest the following procedures provided you have administrative privileges. (more…)

In Vista, go to Start, Control Panel and click on the Ease of Access link. This is the same as the Accessibility Options in XP. From there, click on the link that says “Change how your keyboard works.” Once you’re in that window, go down to the middle of the page and checkmark the box that says “Turn on Toggle Keys.” This will then activate a beeping sound every time you hit the Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys on your keyboard. (more…)

Many of the in-home service calls I go on end up being training sessions rather than repair jobs. That’s because beginners often have problems because of their inexperience and immediately jump to the conclusion that the computer is “broken.” Here are a few of the most common ones, which I generally handle over the phone during the initial consultation rather than making a trip out to the site: (more…)

If you have been on the Internet for any length of time, you’ve probably ran across the topic of spyware, adware, or malware. This is software that has installed on your computer, many times without your permission, or accidentally by clicking on a popup ad, etc. The problem with these programs is they will slow your computer down, make changes to your desktop, homepage, search page, load programs into your taskbar tray and otherwise get in the way. In the worst cases, they will even transmit information from your computer to servers on the Internet.
So the question becomes, if your computer is infected with these problematic programs, how do you get rid of them. In most cases, you can run a free removal program to remove these infections, in more serious cases, you may have to download a specialized removal program to free yourself of these problems. (more…)

Every time your laptop connects to a Wi-Fi hot spot, whether it’s in your home or down at the coffee shop, it logs the name of the access point that you connected to in the Windows Preferred Network settings. If you accidentally (or maybe even deliberately) connect to your neighbor’s access point, and then find yourself reconnecting again despite your efforts not to, you need to bump that listing down in your connection list and move your router to the top.
(more…)