Technology Tips
Save money on color ink and toner.
Set your printing defaults to black and white. Color is great when you need it but b&w is adequate for most documents. To make it even easier to switch between b&w and color, configure your printer as two printers in Windows. Set one to b&w and make it your default printer. Set the second one to color. Then it's easy to choose the color printer when you need it rather than having to change the printer properties.
Conserve your laptop battery.
You can extend your laptop battery life by turning off your wireless adapter whenever possible and unhooking any USB devices when not in use. Also, change your screen saver to the blank screen option; colorful, busy screen savers make more work for your computer's biggest power draws: the CPU and monitor.
Don't use "Flash" or "Thumb" drives for backup.
These devices connect to your USB port and provide anywhere from a few megabytes to several gigabytes of storage. Even though they are referred to as "drives," these devices do not contain disk drives but rather provide storage using non-volatile RAM. They are sensitive to static charges and electrical impulses when connecting or disconnecting the device and can lose ALL of their data suddenly and without warning. Flash drives are a great way to move data from one computer to another but should only be used when the data is easily replaced because they aren't a safe method of backup. Better backup solutions are CDs, tapes, and external hard drives.
Installing your own DSL?
Most providers include a CD that allows you to install your new DSL modem. Unfortunately, their CD will also install a lot of unnecessary software that you may prefer not to run on your computer and is difficult to remove. It is possible to install and activate DSL service without putting all of that on your machine. If you'd like help with that, give us a call.
Installing your own DSL?
Most providers include a CD that allows you to install your new DSL modem. Unfortunately, their CD will also install a lot of unnecessary software that you may prefer...