DELETE THE "READ THIS FIRST" ICON ON
YOUR DESKTOP
3/10/2009
For those of you who have had your systems in for service in the past, we
recommend that you DELETE the Power Point Presentation on your desktop named
"READ THIS FIRST". That Power Point tutorial on protection software is no longer valid.
We will instead be offering tutorials here on our website to assist you with
the ever-changing process of keeping your computer clean and virus free. See
our INFO section for the latest recommendations.
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NORTON or MCAFEE HARMFUL?
3/10/2009
If
you are currently using NORTON (Symantec) or MCAFEE (Network Associates)
virus removal software, we strongly encourage you to look up some
comparisons online. A few years ago, these were very good
products, but their quality and effectiveness has diminished greatly over the
past several years. There are several FREE products that do a MUCH
better job of protecting you from viruses and won't slow your system down in
the process. If you do go looking be sure the page you are viewing is recent.
There are lots of web pages of such comparisons that are many years old.
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GET RID OF AD-AWARE
3/12/2009
As of the end of March we will
discontinue converting the Ad-Aware updates for the SE version from
2007. We did this through 2008 because the 2008 version caused a
wide variety of problems on certain systems and we recommended that
you continue using the older version. The new 2009 ANNIVERSARY
edition of Ad-Aware seems to be fairly stable and we suggest that
you switch to that new free version or to our NEW recommendation -
Super Anti-Spyware. Links to both of these are available in our
DOWNLOADS section.
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BETTER THAN AVG?
Updated
3/15/2009
We are
gradually making a change AWAY from AVG antivirus. We are instead
recommending Avira. There are many reasons for
this change, but primarily we are finding that Avira
is a faster running and more effective
program. Visit our LINKS section to download the free version of
Avira. Other products will be changing as well. To keep up with our
current recommendations and tutorials on working with these
products, visit the INFO section of our website.
If you are still using Windows 98 you will
need to stick with AVG 7.5 -
HERE is a link directly to the download
for that older version of AVG. Avira does not work on 98.
As time goes on, support for 98 products will certainly dwindle.
Users of Windows 98 should consider moving forward to a newer
operating system. Many 98 systems will handle Windows 2000 and is a
viable NT Kernel alternative that will allow the use of newer
programs.
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SETTING YOUR
HOMEPAGE
Added 3/30/2009
This is a lot more difficult than it used
to be. There are numerous browsers, and various versions of all of those with
different methods for setting a home page. We will try to explain as many as we
can and if you have another browser or version not included that you would like
to see here, just let us know. We will start with the most common and add as
time goes by and requests are made. In each case below you will need to go to
the page you wish to set as your homepage so that you are viewing it in your
browser window before starting the procedures (Except in those cases where an
exception is noted)
|
Browser |
Set
Home Page |
|
Internet Explorer
(Single home page) |
Once you are viewing the page you
want as a home page, click the TOOLS menu, then click INTERNET OPTIONS.
On the GENERAL tab click on the USE CURRENT button. It should insert the
info for the page you are viewing. Click OK to save your changes. |
|
FireFox |
Click on the TOOLS menu, then
click OPTIONS. Be sure MAIN is the selected heading and then click the
button USE CURRENT PAGE.
(Alternate method) You can also drag the icon for the page in the
address bar (image right in front of the web page address) and drop it
on top of the HOME button. You will get a confirmation request – just
click on YES to confirm. A bit easier than the first method. |
|
(Using Multiple Tabs) |
In the newer versions of Internet Explorer (and other
browsers) you have the option of using multiple tabs as a home page. In
other words, you can have two or more pages set to open every time you
open your browser.
To accomplish this, you need to experiment with getting the tabs you
want opened first. There are multiple ways to do this. You might open
new tabs (by clicking the small tab next to the last open tab) to a
blank page, then either searching or typing in a new address etc. If you
know if a link on an existing page, then RIGHT click the link and
choose, OPEN IN NEW TAB. Once you have your tabs open to the pages you
wish to use, then click the TOOLS menu, then INTERNET OPTIONS. On the
GENERAL tab click the USE current. ALL of the open tabs will be added to
the homepage window.
(Alternate Method) In you toolbars there will be an icon with a small
house (indicates the HOMEPAGE button which when clicked will return you
to your chosen Homepage) – to the right of this is a small dropdown
arrow. If you click this arrow with your tabs open to the group you
want, then click on ADD OR CHANGE HOMEPAGE a window will appear. Choose
USE THE CURRENT TAB SET AS YOUR HOMEPAGE. Then click OK. You can also
use this tool to add individual pages to an already selected group of
tabs by choosing the ADD THIS WEBPAGE TO YOUR HOMEPAGE TABS option.
FireFox does not have this alternate method. |
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Safari (Mac Users) |
Select GENERAL from the Preferences menu, which is now
overlaying your browser window. Once GENERAL is selected, you will
notice a section labeled Home Page in the main window of the Preferences
dialog.
Directly below this edit field you will see a button labeled SET TO
CURRENT PAGE Clicking this button will change your home page setting to
whatever page you are currently viewing within the Safari browser.
Once you have completed your changes, close the Safari Preferences
dialog by clicking the red circle/x located in the top left hand corner
of the box. |
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