Using Computer Technology to Increase Business Productivity
March 2003 Computer Newsletter
March is upon us, and it’s
time for the Corvus Networks March Newsletter. Here are a few more tips to
improve your PC’s performance and increase your productivity.
Tool of the Month: Ad-Aware
Get rid of adware, spyware,
trackware and pop-ups by downloading and running LavaSoft’s award winning
application, Ad-Aware: (from the LavaSoft web site) “Most people
are familiar with freeware, shareware, cookies, media players, interactive
content, and file sharing. What they may not realize is that some of the
aforementioned may contain code or components that allow the developers of
these applications and tools to actually collect and disseminate information
about those using them.”
“They can track your surfing habits, abuse your Internet connection by sending this data to a third party, profile your shopping preferences, hijack your browser start page or pages, alter important system files, and can do this without your knowledge or permission. The security and privacy implications of these exploits should be quite obvious and undesirable on any system or network!”
Corvus routinely installs Ad-Aware on the computers we service to get rid of these uninvited and performance robbing intruders. LavaSoft allows free downloading of the standard edition of Ad-Aware 6 at their web site: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/. LavaSoft also offers support via email, an online support forum and a set of well developed help pages included in the application. We’ve never had any problems with Ad-Aware, but please take a look at the help pages before running the software.
Do you need more RAM?
Insufficient RAM, fast electronic Random Access Memory, can have a large negative impact on the performance of your computer. When all available RAM memory is in use, your computer must fall back on its hard drive to make up the deficit. Hard drives are about 1/100th the speed of RAM and the computer performance goes way down whenever hard drive space is substituted for RAM.
Computer manufacturers have continually increased the standard amount of RAM built into new computers, doubling the amount about every 2 years. A middle-of-the-road desktop computer built today will come with either 256 or 512 megabytes of RAM. New versions of software, like Windows XP and Office XP 2002, require substantially more RAM than previous software versions. It is almost inescapable; as you add more powerful and capable software to your computer, you will require more RAM to maintain performance.
If your computer is 2 or more years old and you’ve updated the operating system and applications, or have added new, powerful applications, your computer probably needs more RAM. We recommend a minimum of 256 megabytes for any computer built in the last 6 years unless the computer is only running software the same age as the computer. You can check the amount of RAM in your PC by going to: Start\Settings\Control Panel\System. The amount of RAM installed is listed under the General tab.
The good news is: RAM is the cheapest of the three or four hardware components that affect computer performance. When RAM is the limiting factor, it is almost always cost effective to add RAM to a computer. Additional RAM is quite easy to add to computers as well. However, if RAM is only one of several limiting factors, replacement of the whole computer may be a better option. Call Corvus Networks if need help adding RAM to your computer or need help tracking down a performance problem.
Quick Tips:
1) When sending email to a long list of people, put the email addresses in the Blind Carbon Copy (bcc:) address space. Your message will not reveal the addresses of the other recipients. In an Outlook message, bcc: is toggled by going to View and selecting Bcc field. In an Outlook Express message, bcc: is toggled by going to View and selecting All Headers.
2) Get comfortable using the right mouse button! Many, if not most features in an application are available by right-clicking somewhere in the application. Right-clicks are especially useful for cutting and pasting, providing a short-cut to the Edit menu. Try a right-click the next time you need a function in the menu bar. It may save you a trip to the top of the screen.
3) Does your computer have a CD burner? CD-RW drives have become much less expensive than they once were. Take advantage of mail-in rebates offers and “burners” are downright cheap! The ability to burn CD’s adds many capabilities to a computer. Besides giving you the ability to make a backup copy of important business data or your favorite music CD, a CD-RW disk can be used as a giant floppy, adding 700 megabytes of readable, write-able and portable disc storage space to your computer. In addition, free software available on the Internet allows you to collect and compile video files from diverse sources and burn it onto video CDs (VCDs), playable through most modern DVD players.
Brought to you by Bill Radmer at
Corvus Networks, Inc. We welcome feedback!
http://www.corvusnetworks.com/
651 287-0849