Windows 365 is Changing

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Starting August 1st Windows 365 will be part of the I Can Do Tech News letter.

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Windows Media Formats

In my attempt to not over whelm you with a lot of techincial term and stuff. I have am going to have to have up take a look at some of the file formats that Windows Media player user and their purpose.

Keep this in mind. For after we go through some of the tother media player we will compare who who uses what formats.

File type (format)	File name extension
CD audio	.cda
Intel Indeo video technology	.ivf
Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)	.aif, .aifc, and .aiff
Windows Media audio and video files	.asf, .asx, .wax, .wm, .wma, .wmd, .wmv, .wvx, .wmp, and .wmx
Windows audio and video files	.avi and .wav
Windows Media Player skins	.wmz and .wms
Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)	.mpeg, .mpg, .m1v, .mp2, .mpa, .mpe, .mp2v*, and .mpv2
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)	.mid, .midi, and .rmi
AU (UNIX)	.au and .snd
MP3	.mp3 and .m3u
DVD video	.vob

Winodws Media Player

We are going to start our journey through the land of media players, with the one that comes with every new windows based computer. It is an okay is an good media player. Buy whay does so many other media players so popular.

We my use of Windows Media Player is limited to programs or presentations that come from Microsoft. I ususally go to other media players that I can use, because with version 10, and 11 turned me away from them.

Media Players - Who are they?

Currently, I know over 30 different media players. They are all software programs design to play music, video or internet media feed. Below is an listing of just a few.

Bearshare, BS.Player, cmus, Foobar2000, iTunes, MediaMonkey, Napster, PowerDVD, Quicktime, RealPlayer, VLC Media Player, Windows Media Player, Yahoo! Music Jukebox, MusicMatch Jukebox

I can say without reservation that you have at least one media player on your computer, if not two. Now the question is have you made a good choice for a media player? Is there a better choice for what you would use a media player?

Media Players - What are they?

Yesterday, I had to download media player to hear some streaming audio I wanted to listen too. I already have 3 media players on my computer. One would think that of those three one would be able to play that streaming audio file.

In my search to make a close look of media players, I will share with you what I learn.

Media Player is not always refer to Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player is one of many software programs.

For our purposes, the term usually refers to computer software used to help the computer play, video, music, if it be on a the hard drive, CD, memory stick. Media players , also take download media form the internet and play them on your computer.

On Screen Keyboard

Windows has a way you can view a standard keyboard on you monitor screen.

• Left click on the Start button
  
• Left click on Run
  
• Then type in osk in the box
  
• And left click OK

History of Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows has been around for over 30 years. Their critics sound like their are the bumbling fool that has only been around a few years.

As a little review below is a brief history of Windows.

• 1985- Windows 1.0
• 1987- Windows 2.0
• 1990- Windows 3.0
• 1993- Windows NT & 3.11
• 1995- Windows 95
• 1996- Windows NT 4.0
• 1998- Windows 98
• 1999- Windows 98SE
• 2000- Window ME
• 2000- Window 2000 Professional
• 2001- Windows XP (Home & Professional)
• 2002- Window XP (Media Center & Tablet
• 2007- Windows Vista

For more details on the evolutions of Windows check out Microsoft History

No readers

What do you do when no one reads your blog? Especially when you have tried all you can think of to do.

What am I doing wrong???

More Than One Print Types

Some people have just one printer connected to their computer. Some have a All-in-One fax, scanner, and printer combo. Then their is people like me who have a printer along with print type programs.

Yes, I said print type programs. These are programs that print to a file, not a physical printer. The The most common ones print to a PDF format. (Portable Document Format) These printed type files save paper. This allows emailing of a document that can be later printed.

You don't have to buy a program that prints to a PDF format. Quicken, and Microsoft come with it packaged with it's product. Then there is a number of free programs that act as a printer from most any program that allow you to print to a printer.

Below is list of my printers. Only one is a phyical printer. It is the LaserJet 4L.

Printing; Stop and Start

I am more than likely the worse when it comes pushing my computer to the limit. This holds true for my printing habits. I will my printer backed up waiting to print an invoice, map, and special instructions for a job.

Don't worry printers have what is called a queue. This is a holding area for print jobs waiting to be printed. You can see what is in your printers queue by follow the steps below:

1. Double-clicking the printer shortcut on the Windows desktop. If you haven’t made such a shortcut, right-click the printer icon in the System Tray. This is found on the far-right side of the Windows taskbar. select Open All Active Printers and Faxes on the pop-up menu that appears.

2. The window with the print jobs queued up for your printer opens, you can do any of the following things to the contents:

• Pause the printing of the documents in the print queue,
  
• Choose Printer
  
• Cancel one or all Printing
• Remove a particular file from the print queue
• Change the position of a document in the print queue, drag the print queue description to a new position in the list

Note: You can not move a print job to a new position in the queue if the document status shows that the job is currently being printe

Cache Pronounced Cash,

As computer developed over time. Programmers and engineers saw that computers were going to be required to do more with less. They build into computers a little thing called Cache.

Cache is extra storage of memory. There is Cache in any storage device on your computer. It is a good thing. So when you are buying your next RAM or Hard drive, and you see a number in front of Cache; it is a good thing.

Record Sounds

During the end of the school year, my daughter was practicing for a talent show. I got tired of hearing her walk around the house singing out of tune. So set up her computer with a headset and microphone. I used the Windows Sound Recorder.

I left clicked on the Start button. > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Sound Recorder. This open the Sound Recorder and select File menu then New.
All she needed to do to begin recording, is left click the button with the big red dot.

When she was finished all she had to do was press left click on the button with the black square to stop recording. To play it back all she had to is left click on the triangle button. This way she could hear how she sounds when she sings.

Windows Sound Recorder can save it in a wave file, for future reference. This is done by left clicking on File menu, select Save then give your new file a name, and then click the Save button

Power Nap for Your Computer

A program hanging up, the computer running slow is not a time to panic. If you don't turn you computer off. Maybe it is time to give your computer a Power Nap.

All those electrons running through the processor, to RAM don't get much rest. If you bounced around like they do, you would get tired, also.

If you work you computer, like I do. The best thing for it is to turn it off 3 or 4 times a week. You will find that your computer computer will run better.

Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop is based a Microsoft service. Remote Desktop is a tool for remotely logging on to remote computers. This can be your home/work computer when you cannot physically sit in front of it.

Remote Desktop connects to a computer, with a new session every time it connects, remotely. A session is establish sessions with computers that have no interactive sessions running (no users logged on locally). The computer only needs to be turned on, and have an internet connection.

Click here to read about Remote Desktop.

Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance is a tool for helping users troubleshoot problems with their computers. To use Remote Assistance, both the User (also called the Novice) and the Helper must be present on their computers. Unlike Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance does not create a new session.

Instead, Remote Assistance allows the Helper to work in the existing session of the User. The User’s desktop gets remoted to the Helper, who can then view the User’s desktop and, with the User’s consent, share control of the desktop. At Microsoft.com is more details.

Virtual Memory

The main memory in your computer is the physical memory, or RAM (random access memory). This physical memory generally is not large enough to hold all of the running programs so Windows sets up some additional virtual memory as a file on the hard drive. It then swaps portions of the programs between the physical and virtual memories, always having the currently active portion of a program in the physical memory.

Windows sets virtual memory size from 1.5 to 3 times that of the RAM. Windows then manages the actual size, expanding and contracting it as needed within these limits – provided you have adequate space on the drive. You can override this and set the minimum and maximum limits of virtual memory yourself; however, I usually do not recommend this for most users.

The message that virtual memory is low means that the programs you are running need more space. Windows cannot find enough within its limits. If the message keeps popping up then it is time to add more RAM in the computer.

USB 1.1 and USB 2.0???

If you have a computer more than a few years old, and you plug in a memory stick or any USB device, you get prompted to upgrade to USB 2.0. What is the difference? The memory stick, printer, camera still work.







Well, it all boils down to speed. USB 2.0 is faster. How much faster? Look at the speed rating below;

• USB 1.1 has data transfer speed of 1 to 12 Mbps
• USB 2.0 leave USB 1 in the dust with 480 Mbps

EULA - End User Licencse Agreement

If you ever installed a program on your computer, you had to agree to an End User Licencse Agreement. Did you read it or did you just click through it. Maybe you should take some time and read through one. You may be shocked a what it has to say.

I have wrote and read about EULA's. No one really takes note as to the legal binding agreement they put themselves in just by clicking the YES box before starting a software installation.

Just for giggles read Coding Blog. He put a good overview of what you need to know.

Schedule Task

Go to Start button > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks.
Double left clicking on Add Scheduled Task.

Click Next and select the program that you want to start when your system wakes up. Click Next.

In the following three screens, select the Daily option, the time that you want your system to wake up, and then type a username and password with Administrative privileges.

On the last page, select the Open Advanced Properties check box and click Finish.
When you see the Properties dialog box for the scheduled task, choose the Setting tab and select the Wake The Computer To Run This Task check box.
Click OK.

Now, you're computer will be ready and waiting for you each morning.

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Professional editions.

Google Advance Search - Colon

Search engines have gotten so good that I sometimes forget that they offer fantastically useful syntax for more specific results. I'll point these out from time to time, but here are my top three most useful Google search modifiers that use a colon:

1. site:URL and search term. As in, site:www.efcussins.com "media downloads." Insiders points out that this modifier is even stronger if you drop the www. You can also drop the domain name entirely and search, for example, only .gov sites.

2. define:word. This brings up definitions, related phrases, and offers to translate the word.

3. filetype:file extension and search term. It may be obvious, but this lets you search for files with a certain extension, such as PPT for a PowerPoint presentation on your topic.

Google Advance Search - Wild Card

The "*" symbol is a wild card. This is useful if you're trying to find the lyrics to a song, but can't remember the exact lyrics. Type in "Jeremiah was a *" will return the Clearwater song you were trying to remember.

This will help you find certain domains, such as government or educational organizations: "*.gov or *.edu].

Google Advance Search - Number Range

A little known feature is Google can search for a range of numbers. For example, US Presidents1800..1900 will return lists of President for the years from 1800 to 1900 (You will need the two periods between the two numbers).

Google Advance Search - Movies

Want to know at what theather a move is playing along with the times? Type in the movie title and your zip code. Google will give you where the movie is playing along with the times.

Google Advance Search - Similar

Use the "~" symbol to return similar terms. This can be better than a looking up similar word or term in a book I can't spell.

Google Advance Search - Exact Phrase

Do you know part of a phrase,but can not think of the who said or wrote it? In Google to search for an exact phrase, use quotes. "I can do all things". This will find that exact phrase.

Google Advance Search - NOT

If you are looking for greyhound dogs but don't want any results including bus. Then use the "-" symbol.

This hold true for any search you want to narrow. I recommend that you put a space the the minus sign, then type what you want to exclude. This seems to give more refining results.

Google Advance Search - either/or

Google normally searches for pages that contain all the words you type in the search box, but if you want pages that have one term or another (or both), use the OR operator -- or use the "|" symbol (pipe symbol) to save you a keystroke.

This is especially helpful if you are not sure how what you are looking of is worded. Below is an example.

WordPad - Note Pad

If you notice that in All Programs > Accessories is a program named Note Pad. Note Pad is a more basic version of WordPad. WordPad is more for letter writing. Note Pad is used of basic scratch pad type notes.

If you have a computer that is slow by today standards, these two program are great to use in place of Microsoft's Office Word. They don't have a lot of bells and whistles that most of us don't use anyway.

WordPad - Good Writing Tool

WordPad does not have all the bells and whistles that Microsoft Word. This makes WordPad a great tool if you have a older slower computer.

The toolbar looks a like Word 2003 and earlier. In fact it is a great beginners/low budget tool for writing.

WordPad

Part of the Windows XP is a a program called WordPad. You can find this program starting at the Start button. Left click on All Programs. Guide your cursor to Accerories. As it's sub menu opens, left click on WordPad.
Word Pad is a scaled down version of the Office Suite program. However, as you will learn in the next few days, it has a lot of unknown/unused features that is sitting there waiting to be used.

Outlook - Open The Easy Way

If you are constantly searching for way you can spend less time in front of the computer. We here is two tips to shave off a few seconds off you time in Outlook.

• If you are reading your email from you Inbox, then want to write a new email. Hold down the Ctrl and the N key. A new email dialog box will open up. This also works for being in Contacts, or Calendar to open a new contact or new appointment.
  
• If you are reading and want to add something to your calendar. Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys, then press the A key. This will open an appointment dialog box.
  

Outlook - Restore Files

A backup of any files is not any good unless you can use it to restore the files that have been damaged. Ideally, a test of backup data should be done monthly, on a separate computer. This way if the back up is corrupted it won't damage what you have on your production computer.

The same steps for restoring damaged or corrupted files should be used in testing your back up files.

• Select File | Import and Export... from the menu in Outlook.
• Select Import from another program or file.
• Click Next.
• Highlight Personal Folder File (PST).
• Click Next again.
• Now use the Browse button to select the backup copy of the PST file you want to recover from your backup location.
• Make sure Replace duplicates with items imported is selected.
• Click Next.
• Finish the import process with Finish.

Outlook - Backing Up

Don't get caught without any back of your all important Outlook files. Below are the steps you need to take to create a copy of your mail, contacts, calendar and other data in Outlook for backup or copying:

1. Go to your Outlook folder in Windows Explorer.
2. Highlight all files ending in ".pst".
   • Make sure in particular your selection includes "outlook.pst" and "archive.pst".
3. Select Edit | Copy from the menu to copy them.
4. Open the folder where you want to put your backup copies in Windows Explorer.
   • Ideally, this will be on another computer, on a removable disk stored far away from your home, somewhere on the Internet, or at least on a different hard disk.
5. Select Edit | Paste from the menu to paste your .pst files to the backup location
• I strongly recomment the backup location be a memory stick or external hard drive.
• These back up should be done daily, or weekly.
  

RSS -The Quick and Easy Way

Getting updated information from a website or blog has been made easy. Websites that you want to read regularly have a button to help you to subscribe to their RSS feed.

All you have to click on the type of RSS reader button you want to use, and after a couple more clicks it is adds the feed to your reader. So when the web page is updated a summary of the new content is sent to your reader.

RSS - Google Style

Google has it's own type of home page. You can plug in and arrange your RSS feeds according your preferences. The first thing you will notice is that Google does not near the number of advertisement that Yahoo has with it's home page.

All you need to do is sign up for a Free Gmail account. As you can see above I have so many RSS feeds that I have to organize them with tabs. Note: these tabs are custom to the feeds I have going to my Google home page.

RSS - Yahoo Style

If you can look behind all the advertisement. Yahoo may have a simple way to all of your RSS feeds and news. Yahoo call it My Yahoo. All you knew to do is sign up for a free email account.

I mentioned that it has a lot of advertisement. And that it is free. Well, you pay for it by the advertisement you have to look at. Some people can just block the advertisements out of their mine.

Once you get your free email account you can start setting up your My Yahoo page. Here you have and RSS reader. Plus the extra of brining them all in one place. You can even arrange them however you want.

Outlook as Your RSS Reader

Very few people use Outlook Express for more than email. Below are steps and tips on setting up the Outlook Express Newsreader for viewing and posting to the Microsoft newsgroups.

1. Open Outlook Express or if you have Outlook configured, open Outlook.
2. From Tools menu, select Accounts.
3. Click the Add button and select News.
4. This will launch the Internet Connection Wizard.
5. Type the name you want to appear in the "From" column in the Display field.
6. Type your email address, this can be any email address, but I suggest creating an anonymous email account just for newsgroup posting.
7. Enter msnews.microsoft.com for the NNTP server. Since the Microsoft public newsgroups do not require a password, leave the checkbox "my newserver requires me to log on" unchecked.
8. In the Newsgroup Subscriptions dialog box, type microsoft.public.windowsxp. to display all Windows XP newsgroups. Click the newsgroups you're interested in, then click Subscribe.
9. When you have subscribed to the desired newsgroups, click OK
10. From OE Tools> Options> Read> Set the number of headers to retrieve to 1000. Uncheck the checkbox to download all the messages in a newsgroup. (recommended, but takes a considerable amount of time. OE Newsreader will give a much higher estimate of the posts to download. Estimate is over a million headers for the general group, but actual number is around 90 to 100 thousand.) The XP newsgroups have a very high volume and average posts in some groups exceed 1000 posts per day, using the default 300 headers to download would give only a fraction of the posts and replies to the newsgroups.
11. From View> Current View select Show All Messages.
12. From View> Sort By select Sent
13. Optionally From View> Layout> Preview Pane, select open preview pane, then 'below messages' or 'beside messages' and finally Show preview pane header. This option allows you to see messages as you select them.
14. Use Help for more tips on configuring OE for newsgroups.

RSS (part 3)

Once you have selected you wanted to get the RSS feed. In this case Cnet.com, you are taked to a web page with some of their feed articles. From this point you are given a link to add this RSS feed to you Internet Explorer Favorites.

RSS (part 2)

Internet Explorer 7 put the little RSS button in it's toolbar.

It is grayed out when Internet Explorer 7 does not recognize the view website as having a RSS feed.

When the RSS feed is available, it goes from gray to orange.


Left clicking on the down arrow to the right of the RSS will give you what RSS feeds that are available from that web page.

RSS (part 1)

To use RSS, you need a special news reader or aggregations that displays RSS content feeds from Web sites you select. You can choose to read your news feed from a web page or get them in your email.

There are many different news readers available, many of which are free of charge. Most are available as desktop software that you download and install on your computer. Several Web-based news readers are available as well.

A quick search will produce an extensive list. Yahoo RSS Readers and Google RSS Readers give you a lot to choose.

The first thing you need to decide if you want your news feed from you web browser or in your email.

RSS and News Feeds

Windows offer you multiple ways you can keep up with you favorite news source. RSS or Really Simple Syndication is the most powerful. However, Yahoo, Google, MSN, and many other have just buttons you can left click on to subscribe to a blog, or news website.


Pick the news source you want to read with your morning cup of coffee.

Email - Web Based / Server Based

There are two basic types of email. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages.

The most common type of email is web based. You find this kind of email from Yahoo, Hotmail, Hushmail, and many others. The big advantage of web based email is that you can access it from any computer that has internet connection. The downside is that you will have to put up with advertisements along with your email.

POP email, is more secure. You can only get this type of email from one computer with the setting to download email from a specific email server (post office). This is the type of email system used by most business.

I have a free web based email account for when I am on the road. I also have a POP based email for I am in the office or on the road.

Oulook - Out of the Office Reply

There is nothing better, in my opinion, you get an email that lets me know when I can get a response about a topic I emailed someone. Many business do this so they can keep their clients when they can expect a response.

The out-of-office-reply can be done with the auto responder for web based email. If you use Outlook can set up an out of office auto-reply can be pretty simple. However, you should not that it is better left click the HELP menu for your specific version of Outlook. Each version of Outlook is a little different.

Creating an Auto Responder - In 20 Steps

A curious email that says you have got someones email and will get back to them as soon as possible, is a great personal touch. You can do this in Outlook by following the steps below.

1. from the menu in the main Outlook window select Tools > Rules and Alerts...
2. Left click on New Rule
3. Click on Start from a blank rule
4. Make sure Check messages when they arrive is selected
5. Click Next
   
6. Check Where my name is in the To box under Select condition(s)
7. Alternatively, you can leave all boxes unchecked to make the auto-responder reply to all incoming mail.
8. Click Next
9. Check reply using a specific template under Select action(s)
10. Click on a specific template under Edit the rule description
11. Select User Templates in File System under Look In:
12. Highlight the template created before
13. Click Open
14. Click Next
15. Check Except if it is an Out of Office message under Select exception(s)
16. Click Next
17. Type the desired name for your auto-responding filter under Specify a name for this rule
18. Optionally, check Create this rule on all accounts
19. Click Finish
20. Click OK

Keep in mind, though, that filters do not work with Hotmail and other HTTP accounts, then you have to use and alternate method.

Yahoo Mail - Customize

The second column of the Yahoo email options page give you six setting you can do with your Yahoo mail.

Mail Addresses - By left clicking on the link in the first section you can change who your Yahoo address is displayed. You can even set up your Yahoo email to be received in Outlook or other email client.
Filters - Filters is not only for sorting out spam email, but it also allows you sort your email by incoming subject or individual.
General Preferences - Here you can set your outgoing mail display and how your web browser displays you email.
Signature - This is where you can customize your email signature.

Vacation Response - Ever want to let people who email you that your won't be emailing them back for a while, because you are on vacation. Yahoo has this feature for you.
Announce Email Address - If you switch to Yahoo email you can send out announcements of your new email address. Yahoo helps you by left clicking on the bottom link.

Yahoo Mail Spam Filter

After left clicking the Options link, you will be taken to another window. The left column give you filtering options on your Yahoo mail.

The top options allows you to set up your spam filtering options. By left clicking on Spam Protection will open a box that allows you decide what is spam and image blocking.

Block Addresses is just what it says. You can block email from an individual email address. This is another good way of blocking unwanted email.

Yahoo Mail Options

Yahoo mail is the leading free web based email service. It is followed by Hotmail and then all the others. Being free you have to put up with advertising. Eventually a lot of people put up with the advertising to have the free email service.

I know Yahoo mail is free, but Yahoo gives several options Yahoo gives you to customize you email. They also give you a spam filter that works quite well.

Accessing these options is done from the email overview window. On the right side double left click on the link that reads options.

Cursor, Cursor, Cursor

The cursor is the that moves on your monitor, when you move your mouse. Unless you have your cursor totally customized, each time it changes shapes, means something different.

The arrow is pointing objects (or icons) waiting for you to left click. Most of the time a cursor will stay in the shape of an arrow.

When the cursor turns to a finger pointing, it usually means that you can left or right click on a link in a web page or a program.

When you move the cursor in to an are that your can type text the cursor turns into a capital i. After you move away, the cursor is changes into a blinking vertical line. This means that your computer is ready for you to start typing in that text area.

Windows Key + Break = System Properties

Every person that sits behind a computer has a little different way of performing a task. That is what I like about Windows is that they give several ways to do the same thing.



Hold down the Windows Key then press the Pause|Break key will bring up the System Properties dialog box.

Creating Custom Signature - Part 2

• Left click the Signatures button at the bottom on the dialog.
• In the Create Signature dialog, click the New button.
• Type a name for your new signature.
• Click the Next > button.Right-click in the Signature text box.
• Select Insert Image from the pop-up menu.
• In the Picture dialog, click the Browse button.
• In the Picture files dialog, navigate to the image file you would like to use.
• Highlight the image file and click Open.
• In the Picture dialog, click the OK button. Your image will appear.
• Add any other text as needed.
• Click the Finish button.
• Click the OK button.

Now the signature is created and you should be back at the Options dialog. If you look in the signatures section, you'll see Outlook has assigned your new signature to new messages. This means each time you create an email, this signature will appear at the bottom of the email.

Creating a Custom Signature in Outlook

For the next week or two I am going to try to cover some the basics behind email. This section is a result of the number of question that I have gotten from different clients.

The best place to start is by opening Outlook. At the top left click on Tools. From the drop down menu select Options. The Options dialog will appear. Left click on the Mail Format tab. At the bottom of the dialog box is a button labeled; Signatures. This will take you to where you can configure you signature and/or closing of your email.

As a starting point I will start with creating a custom email signature. Since Outlook is the most popular email client, I will be using it the most. However, if you want to know about how to do what I talk about in another email client just put a comment at the bottom of a post or email personally.

How often should a back up be done?

This is one of the hardest question I get asked by a client. Mostly because there are so many variables from one client's computer to another.

I respond by asking three question, that will answer their question.

1. What is the longest period between back up can you feel safe in rebuilding your business?
2. What is the shortest period you feel would be needed between back ups?
3. Which time period between the two would you feel most comfortable in backing up your computer's data.

Something to think about: A complete back up on one media is usually not enough. One full back up should be kept off site and in a secure place. This is insurance to protect you in case there is a disaster i.e. fire, flood, earthquake or some man made one.

Backing Up the Whole Hard Drive

I did a Google search on the term "backup software" and got 226 million responses. Now how am I going to sort through all the options, reviews and repeats to find the right program for me.

1. I want it to be easy to use.
2. I want it to verify the back up is good.
3. I want it to be easy to restore, if my old hard drive fails.

Did you know that Windows XP and Vista come with a back up utility built in to the operating system. Why is it that so many people don't use it? There must be something wrong with it. Otherwise I would not get 226 million responses in Google.

Top Ten Reviews lists the top ten backup programs that are out on the market. I am happy to see that my favorite Acronis True Image, my favorite is listed as number two. It is a great program for backing operating system, programs and data that is on one's hard drive.

We sell it on the TEN Solutions.biz website along with the Good Sync program, I wrote about yesterday. I use Good Sync for daily back ups and Acronis True Image for monthly backups.

Basic Backup Software

The basic back up program that I use a lot is Good Sync. It will back up files and important data without compressing or encrypting them.

• Good Sync is flexible enough that it will compare old files with new files.
• Change only those files that have been changed.
  
• Add files and data that is new.
  
• It will sync to the back up media.
• It will sync to the original drive and files.
  
• File synchronization can be done over a network.
• It is free for personal use.
  

The above list is why I not only use this software, but I strongly recommend it.

Software for Backing Up

You will find over different options when it comes to software for backing up files on your computer. They all can be broken down into two basic categories.

1. Compress and Encrypted - This type of software does what I have titled it to do. Compress into less space and scramble the 1's and 0's. Here is where you not only need the software to back up your information, but you need the same software to read the information you backed up.
2. Simple Copy - This is where the software moves, or copies information from one source to another. Once the information is moved then all you need to read it with a program that can read that same file format.

The frist type of back up software is usually used for large amounts of information. Ready access to the information does not have to be accessed on a daily or weekly basis.

The second type is just a mere copy for access by those who did the back up and/or other individual

Memory Stick or External Hard Drive???

In my humble opinion, in today's world, with today's technology there is only two real choices for backing information.

External Hard Drive -Is for backing up all the information that is on your computer. Usually, this is could be from 10 Gigabytes or more.


Memory Stick - Is great for backing up small amounts of information. QuickBooks data, pictures, or anything under the 4 Gigabyte range.

I purposely left out the CD or DVD as back up media. They are good for one time backups but have become inferior to the memory stick.