chrisfixit

Is Skype Annoying You?

chrisfixit — Fri, 27 May 2011 07:33:46 +0000

If you are a Windows 7 user you may have noticed and be irritated by the Skype icon always being present in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen when you are signed in, rather than just nicely tucked away in the system tray on the bottom right by the clock – well if you update to the latest version of Skype – Skype ->Help->Check for Updates – and then go to Skype->Tools->Options->Advanced and uncheck the ‘Keep Skype in the Taskbar when I’m signed in’ box, your ‘problem’ will go away

PAYG 3G Broadband on Paros

chrisfixit — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:31:40 +0000

If you a regular visitor, someone on holiday or a part-time resident who doesn’t have a land-line, OTE now offer a Pay As You Go mobile package available from Germanos in Parikia.
For €50 you get the USB stick receiver and €20 credit which you can top up anytime.
The USB stick is yours to keep so you can use it on repeat visits or lend it to friends perhaps when you are away.
Credit can be spent in three ways, either 1 day for €5 with 1 GB allowance, 10 days for €15 and 3 GB or 30 days for €40 and a 5GB allowance.
These allowances are fine for ‘normal’ everyday use, browsing, emails, Skype etc.
Coverage is very good in most areas of Paros, but check with me or Germanos before buying.
Vodafone offer similar packages but at the time of writing 3G speeds are only available in Parikia and Naoussa, and Wind wouldn’t give me any details of their coverage or let me borrow a stick to try.

Germanos: Call Pablos on (30) 22840 28070.

For Sale – Sony Vaio

chrisfixit — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:38:40 +0000

LAPTOP FOR SALE

Sony VAIO VGN-FE11H Laptop

Windows XP SP3 English
4 years old
Very good condition
Brand new battery
DVD drive replaced 1 year ago
1GB RAM
100GB Hard Disk
15.6” screen

Microsoft Office 2007
Picasa
Anti-virus

Suitable for everyday internet use, accounts, pictures etc.

€275 or near offer.

Firefox 4 is released.

chrisfixit — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:41:59 +0000

Mozilla have finally released the long-awaited (by some) Version 4 of Firefox.

In a nutshell it is faster and has a cleaner look, a bit more like Chrome.

I suggest if you are going to install the new version it may be time to clean out all the old unused clutter that may have collected over time with successive updates.

There is an excellent article by Martin Brinkmann here:

http://www.ghacks.net/2011/03/22/resetting-firefox-how-to-start-fresh-with-firefox-4/

that will show you how to do a fresh installation.

Of course if you wish you can just update Firefox as normal from the

‘Help’ -> ‘Check for Updates ‘menu.

For a concise guide to help you find your way around the new Firefox you need go no further than another article by the same author:

http://www.ghacks.net/2011/03/10/6-tips-to-get-you-started-with-firefox-4/

N.B. Please be aware that not all your ‘add-ons’ may work with Firefox 4 automatically until the authors update them – there is a workaround, detailed in the above article, that should ensure that most will.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Keep Your Bookmarks and Passwords Safe.

chrisfixit — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:49:37 +0000

It’s easy with the help of two free tools: -

Xmarks http://www.xmarks.com/ installs in Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari so you can use it on Windows or Mac and it keeps your bookmarks in sync across multiple computers.

So your bookmarks are available on any computer you use.

LastPass https://lastpass.com/ does the same for your passwords, storing them securely encrypted – once you’ve used these tools you’ll wonder what you did without them!

And of course you can use them if you only use one computer – if your computer breaks or is stolen your passwords are safely stored and not on your computer so that the thief can access your accounts.

(Xmarks will also store your passwords, but I prefer the flexibility of LastPass.)

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Released

chrisfixit — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:53:13 +0000

Microsoft has announced the release of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 – really a collection of updates and security fixes in one big pack.

It will be available via the normal Windows Update or you can download it directly from Microsoft here .

Microsoft recommends you download from Windows Update as it will be a smaller download customised for your particular computer.

What do I open this file with???

chrisfixit — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 07:24:01 +0000

We’ve all come across files that we can’t seem to open – Windows asks you what program you want to use and of course we have no idea.

If you ask Windows to find a program it invariably fails… well now there’s a great little free program that usually has the answer!

You can download Smart File Advisor from http://www.filefacts.net/sfa.php or you can just enter the file extension (the 3 characters after the ‘.’) on the home page http://www.filefacts.net .

Change the Language of your Windows 7 or Vista Computer.

chrisfixit — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:04:30 +0000

Officially only Windows 7 and Vista Ultimate Editions (the most expensive version) allow you to switch between languages – but with the free and excellent Vistalizator software you can add additional languages to any other Windows 7 edition, like the Home Premium most of us have.

Just visit www.froggie.sk and follow the instructions – so whether you buy a computer in a different language because it’s cheaper or you live in a household or have a business where the different users of your computer prefer a different language here is your answer.

You can switch between languages as you wish with just a reboot of your machine – it’s fast – it works well and it’s FREE.

Anti-virus companies accused of ripping off customers.

chrisfixit — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:29:59 +0000

Two of the most well known Anti-virus providers, AVG and Symantec have been accused of ripping off their customers by sending out pop-up messages advising them to upgrade their product immediately and receive a discount – what they don’t tell you is that if you do this the subscription starts immediately and if you have weeks or months to run on your current subscription you lose them.

This is not illegal, but you may well want to change to a different anti-virus when your subscription runs out and in my opinion there is no point at all for home users to pay for anti-virus anyway.. there are plenty of excellent free ones, Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast and Panda Cloud being just three.

Save on Spam!

chrisfixit — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:12:58 +0000

Most of us at one time or another find ourselves being asked to give our email address in order to get some information or service and we really don’t want to give our real email address as we don’t want to subsequently get zillions of newsletters and other spam because of our one-off enquiry.

One way around this is to set up another email address, maybe a Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail account which we only use for such enquiries, but a really neat way I’ve stumbled across is to use

http://tempalias.com/

It is so very simple – you just type in your normal email address and it generates a temporary email address which you can safely use for any enquiries – any replies will be forwarded to your normal address without the sender knowing – and you specify the number of days or number of messages the alias account exists for.

Once you reach the limit the account ceases to exist for ever.

Easy, useful, and of course, free.

McAfee update cripples Windows XP machines

chrisfixit — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 03:52:24 +0000

Many people running Windows XP SP3 and using McAfee VirusScan Plus, McAfee Internet Security Suite and McAfee Total Protection products will have had their computers crippled by a recent routine update.

The update wrongly identifies essential Windows processes as a virus and shuts them down, causing the computer to crash or reboot endlessly.

McAfee have released a fix.

My advice, don’t use McAfee in the first place – not because of this problem, but there are excellent free alternatives for home and small business users like Microsoft Security Essentials.

Fake OTENET email..

chrisfixit — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:58:31 +0000

Many people have been receiving an email purporting to be from OTENET asking for your account details…

Dear Valued Customer,

This is to notify all OTENET account holders again that upgrading/maintenance of our server that was initially scheduled for this week has been postponed till next week March 5, 2010 for technical reasons. Once again, all account holders should endeavor to confirm their information as failure to confirm the requested information will lead to automatic system deactivation (ASD) after the upgrade and maintenance. You may experience login problems during this period. We are also having congestion due to the anonymous registration of accounts and on this note, we are deactivating some accounts that are no longer active and your account may be deactivated if no response to this e-mail.

To confirm and keep your OTE account active during and after this upgrade and maintenance, you are advised to forward your primary account information as below. Note you are to forward your primary account information not sub-account.

* E-mail:

* User ID:

* Password:

* Re-Type Password:

* Home/Office Address:

* Date of Birth:

Your OTE account shall remain active after we have successfully confirmed and upgrade our server.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you for your co operation and your swift response to this notification.

It is a FAKE (phishing) email.

Don’t answer it, delete it and if you have already replied notify OTE as soon as possible.

Remember, no company or bank should ever contact you by email, phone or letter asking for security details.

Watch out, watch out, there’s a ballot about..

chrisfixit — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:05:34 +0000

If you are a Windows XP, Vista or 7 user and you have Internet Explorer as your default browser AND you live in the EU, at some time from next week onwards you will receive a Windows Update that will show you a screen allowing you to choose a different browser, e.g. Firefox or Google Chrome.

You may well be wondering why – it’s because the EU in their infinite lack of wisdom spent millions of Euros deciding that the evil Microsoft should offer a range of browsers to Windows users, despite the fact that all the alternative browsers are easily available to download and free.

Anyway, all this will do is confuse a lot of people, allow unsavoury companies and individuals to design similar looking screens in order to fool people into installing dangerous spyware and cause havoc for IT support staff as they receive a deluge of calls from bemused users.

Any questions, as always, feel free to contact me

Get a Facelift..

chrisfixit — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:35:14 +0000

..if like me you are a Facebook user but are driven to distraction by the constant quiz pop-ups and that bloody Farm stuff that affronts you every time you log in, help is at hand.. you can get Facebook Purity here.

Simply follow the installation instructions for your favourite browser and you’ll have a nice clean Facebook with all the basic functions and none of the rubbish.

The iPad, What Is It Good For…

chrisfixit — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:05:08 +0000

Absolutely nothing… say it again…”
Oh Dear, whether or not we’re fans of Apple most people will agree that their products are at least sexy, but iPad?? – I’ll let you do the jokes.

But for those of you who missed ‘the big launch’ of Apple’s latest product, it is basically an oversized IPod Touch with a screen about the size of an average netbook.

“An oblong box that lights up” is one description.

The Pros

It looks very nice.

The Cons

It will only run Apple applications.
It will only do one thing at a time – no multitasking.
It has a 4:3 screen not widescreen, so watching movies is a pretty lousy experience.
It doesn’t support Flash, so there will be large chunks of many websites missing.
There’s no camera.
There’s no USB port.
There’s no HDMI socket so you can connect to your TV
There’s no SD cardreader to download your photos.
Expensive – don’t know how expensive yet, but expensive.