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A Common Misunderstanding:

Just a friendly warning to those about to re-install Windows and/or have someone format your hard drive: while you can backup your personal data files and documents, most or all of your software applications (Quickbooks, photo editors, MS Excel, games, etc.) cannot be “backed up” in the same manner and restored. Because of the nature in which most software applications are written and executed on your computer, you must have the original disk(s) you purchased. If you purchased the software online with a credit card (i.e. Norton Internet Security), you must have a way to re-download that program’s installation file over the internet.

It’s always a good practice to keep those CD-ROMs that came with your computer in one place (along with all your other software), so that if the unthinkable happens–such as a hard drive gone bad or even a nasty virus/spyware infection–you won’t be scrambling to find them at the last minute. This is an especially good idea for small business owners who rely on their computers for day to day tasks. I have seen this issue time and time again, and I’ll admit that I was at one time guilty of scattering my software installation disks around, too! If you downloaded the software from the internet and purchased it with a credit card, then there is usually a record or account set up at the time of purchase that will allow you reclaim your software without having to buy it again. Print out or save any confirmation e-mail you received at the time of purchase, and remember the password you registered with them! You’ll be glad you did.

As you may know, backing up your data and personal documents is always a good thing. Getting a run-of-the-mill external USB drive is a good investment (you can purchase one from your local supplier of gadgetry for $100-$200). USB drives can store a very high volume of data these days and, if you bought your computer in the last 10-12 years, chances are you have a USB interface. This will also keep you from having to divide your data among 20 or 30 CD-ROMs or DVDs. Who has time for that? You could make the argument that an external hard drive could eventually fail, but if you only plug in the power to the external hard drive when you’re backing up, and keep it in a dry & safe place when you’re not, it will last indefinitely.

At badbrain computers we are all dedicated not just to provide you with good service, repairs and troubleshooting, but also to provide you with the know-how to avoid pitfalls associated with computers and equipment we use everyday in our homes and offices. We love computers and really appreciate your business!

Posted by Aaron | Filed under: General — on 7/29/2007 @ 12:57 am

Tabbed Browsing

One of my biggest gripes with IE 6 (may it rest in peace) was that it had no support for tabbed browsing.
Firefox, Safari, and Opera have included support for tabbed browsing for quite some time, and thankfully, the latest version of Internet Explorer now does too.

What, you may ask, is tabbed browsing? Think of it as a task bar in your web browser. It allows you to open multiple web sites in one windows, thereby keeping your valuable task bar space uncluttered. For example, let’s say that you want to open CNN.com, msnbc.com, and Google News all at the same time. In IE 6, you’d have to have three windows open, and you would have to use Alt+Tab or click on the task bar and select a window each time you wanted to navigate between them. If you wanted to have 14 web pages open, you’d have 14 windows open. That’s a lot of task bar and desktop space, not to mention a lot of memory for each copy of Internet Explorer you have open.

Now, in Firefox, Safari, Opera, and IE7, all you have to do is open three tabs in one window (see below for ways to do this) and open the sites you want. One window, and up to 16 tabs per window. When you want to select a tab, you just click on it underneath the address bar or use Ctrl-Tab to navigate through them. You only use memory for one instance of the web browser you have open plus a little bit extra for each tab, so there’s not nearly the same drain on system resources as there is when you have a bunch of windows open. And the REALLY nice thing about tabbed browsing is that when you minimize a window, the tabs stay in the same order that you left them in. Lots of nifty organization, very little effort.

So, how does one go about using this tabbed browsing thing? Simple.

To open a new tab in any of the big four (Firefox, IE7, Opera, Safari) that support it, select New Tab from the File menu or hit Ctrl+T (Cmd+T if you’re using a Mac).
To close a tab, select Close Tab from the File menu, hit Ctrl+W (Cmd+W on a Mac), or click the little “X” button in the tab itself.
To switch between the tabs in a given window, just click on the tab you want. You can also hit Ctrl+Tab to cycle through the tabs in a window from left to right (IE and Firefox only).
To rearrange the order of tabs in a given window, click on a tab and drag it around.

There are also a bunch of program-specific tab tricks you can use to get extra functionality out of your web browsing. You can find more information by clicking one of the links below.

Tabbed Browsing in Mozilla Firefox
Tabbed Browsing in Safari
Tabbed Browsing in Opera
Tabbed Browsing in IE7

Posted by Grant | Filed under: General — on 1/8/2007 @ 6:59 pm

Why do we get so much spam?

There was a great article in Wednesday’s New York Times about what spam is, why it’s gotten so bad, and what people are doing to combat it. The New York Times no longer requires registration to read most online content, so I highly recommend this.

Posted by Aaron | Filed under: General, Hosting, Services — on 12/8/2006 @ 10:05 am

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A Common Misunderstanding:

Tabbed Browsing

Why do we get so much spam?