Receive faxes on your computer

Has your fax machine died? Or maybe you want to receive and send faxes wherever you are instead of on a machine back at the office. Sign up for an electronic fax service to have your incoming faxes converted to a file (TIFF, PDF, etc.) and mailed to an e-mail address of your choice.

fax-compare.com has a handy comparison chart of e-fax services, complete with prices and features. Most cost about $10 - $15 per month and offer a free trial period.

Typically the e-fax services give you (rent to you, actually) a new fax number in your area. If you don't want to change numbers, maybe because you've published your existing fax number, check with your local phone service to see about forwarding your fax number to the new number.

Fixing the "Oops!" - Windows System Restore

If you've ever wanted to transport your computer back in time to when it worked, then System Restore may be just what you need! It can restore your computer settings to the way they were, while leaving your data files, e-mail, etc intact.

Here's an informative article about System Restore. Read it now and print it for when you need it.

Windows XP and Vista occasionally make restore points automatically -- typically when the system boots. You can make your own restore points if you're about to do something potentially dangerous, like install a new version of a program or device. If something goes wrong with the installation, you can easily undo it.

System Restore is not perfect, though... I've found it to work only about half the time, but maybe that's because I often am called to rescue really messed up systems. If System Restore doesn't work, it will tell you so and give you the opportunity to try another restore point.

How does your CPU compare?

It's been said that the best thing about standards is that there are so many of them. The same can be said of computer performance benchmarks. The trick is to find one that closely matches the way you use your computer, and includes the processors you're interested in. TomsHardware.com is a great resource for processor comparison, but the quantity of material can be rather daunting.

What if you just want a quickie comparison between similar (or dissimilar) processors? Check out PassMark Software's CPU Benchmarks charts! 5 easy-to-read yet comprehensive comparisons of old and new processors. Lots of interesting results to ponder.

Look at the Low-End CPU Benchmarks chart, for example. Notice that the result for the AMD Sempron 3000+ (PassMark=357) is almost the same as for the AMD Athlon 2600+ (PassMark=355). These very similar processors have different numbers because AMD compared them against different Intel processors: The Sempron processors are numbered to match Celeron processors, whereas the Athlon processors were numbered to match Pentium IV processors.

Another interesting comparison on the Low-End CPU Benchmarks chart is the Mobile Intel Pentium 4 at 2.66 GHz (PassMark=363) with one of its successors, the Intel Celeron M at 1.60 GHz (PassMark=365): The Celeron M has virtually identical performance at 40% lower clock speed! That shows how much better processors with the "M" suffix are than their predecessors with the Mobile Pentium 4 nomenclature.

Best Antivirus for Microsoft Windows systems

What's the best antivirus software for Microsoft Windows systems? Have a look at this summary of AV-test.org results as reported by Virus Bulletin.

Important! If your Microsoft Windows computer doesn't have up-to-date antivirus and antispyware, you're in danger from hackers and identity thieves. The free antivirus programs usually don't include spyware protection.

Consider NOD32, Avira, Avast, and Trend Micro as alternatives to Norton and McAfee... They have as good or better protection with less system slowdown.

Spyware and Viruses - What's the point?

You may have heard that people who write viruses do it for amusement or to impress their "friends". But it's more than that: It's also about power and money. Spyware is used to steal personal, business, and financial information. Viruses and other forms of malware can be used to take control of your computer to send out spam, attack other computers, and bring down Internet servers.

Here's an article at PC World that gives some insight into how networks of hacked computers, called botnets, are used.

Don't let your computer become a tool of cybercriminals! Apply Microsoft's critical updates to your operating system. Keep your antivirus and antispyware software up-to-date. Get a "second opinion" by scanning your computer for malware with proven malware fighters such as Spybot Search & Destroy, Trend Micro Housecall, or Ad-Aware. And be careful about what software you and your children download from the internet.

Further reading:
Why is my computer so slow?
Computer Security Essentials

My computer is smaller than your computer!

Actually my computers are pretty much normal size, but if you're interested in a tiny computer, check out the article about Itty-bitty, teeny-weeny Linux PCs by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols.

Keep in mind that most versions of Linux require much less processing power than do Windows XP or Windows Vista. This means that Linux computers can be smaller, lighter, use less electricity, and run cooler.

Here's a link to one of the featured systems, a computer that's less than 5 inches square, fanless, and very affordable: the ENC-iGLX Computer.

Microsoft Office 2007 compatibility

So, someone has sent you a document from Microsoft Office 2007 and your version of Office can't read it? That's because Office 2007 creates its files in a new format.

Several fixes are available for this situation:

1. Contact the person who made the document. Tell them that most other people who use Microsoft or other word processing programs can't read the files they are creating. Suggest that they save the document in the older, more popular Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP/2003 format.
To do so, they should manually select the “File Save As” option instead of just clicking on the Save button, then select the file type and format as “Word/Excel/PowerPoint 97-2003 Document” (.doc, .xls, .ppt) format in the dialog box prompt.

2. Better yet, have the Office 2007 user set their default output format to the Office 97/2000/XP/2003 format. That way they don't have to remember to save every document in the older format. Instructions for Word and Excel are available in this PDF.

3. Okay, so you've done your part to help that one Office 2007 user. Sooner or later you'll receive an Office 2007 document that you just have to open. Prepare for that situation by installing the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack:

First, make sure your Microsoft Office is up to date. Quoting Microsoft, "To install the Compatibility Pack in Office XP or in Office 2003, update Office, and then install the Compatibility Pack. If you are running Office 2000, there are no updates that you must install before you install the Compatibility Pack." You can update your Microsoft Office at Microsoft's Office Update site. If you're running Office 2003, you can download Office 2003 Service Pack 3 here. I hope you're not in a hurry; Office 2003 SP3 is 117 megabytes!

After you've updated Microsoft Office you're ready to download and install the Compatibility Pack. You might find it listed under Popular Downloads here, or you can download it here. Complete instructions can be found here.