Tech Help Videos

Keeping your computer clean is not just wiping the dust of it with a cloth. What I mean is that it is very important to not let your computer get infected with virus and spyware and also to not install a lot of junk unless if you have no choice. Viruses and Spyware can be avoided with a good Security Suite. However, there is no program that prevents you from installing a program. It is up to you. I recommend installing the software that you really need and the ones that you trust. Installing more and one security suite and anti virus program can cause them to not function properly and to conflict each other. Also, although you uninstall a security suite or anti virus program, compartments of that software can still be stored in the back ground of your PC. That is why it is better to stick with one Security Suite than try out a different one each year. Another important point is to prevent installing trail out software and betas. Installing too much of these can cause your computer to slow down. Take this real example, When I first bought this ASUS laptop, I upgraded to Vista and then installed nearly everything I could. I kept the trial software, installed five web browsers and all these other freebies and performance enhancement utilities. When I start-up the laptop, it took about 3 minutes and 3 minutes to shut-down and 70% of RAM were already used up. So then I wanted to install Windows Live OneCare and it was a total nightmare. (Read my nightmare story here)

After reinstalling Windows, I was too scared to install any other junk on my laptop. Although some performance enhancement software does help your PC’s speed, they may conflict your Windows default settings and too many of them can cause your computer to crash. So, I do not want you to experience my nightmare and having to reinstall Windows. I have done it and I have experienced it, so you don’t!

Question: Keep your drivers up to date is the next thing you should think about after updating your operating system. Having the latest drivers help to keep your computer running smoothly, secure and also compatible with other devices. But checking if you have the latest drivers weekly is a very idiotic thing to do. So how can I automatically know if there is a driver update?

Answer: There is a program program called ‘Driver Agent‘ which can automatically detect if you have a driver that is out of date. Although this program is not free and costs $24.95 (this is a special offer for PC World readers - all you have to do is to subscribe to one of their newsletters via email), it such a time saver.

But the good thing is that you now get a free scan! This free scan will detect if you have any old drivers. ‘Driver Agent’ is compatible even with Vista. To get your free scan please click HERE

Question: I cannot write nor reply email in Hotmail. I am using Firefox. However,  I can view email. When I try to write or reply email, I am presented with only the ‘Subject’ and ‘To’ boxes. There is nowhere to write my message.

Solution: It is very likely that the problem is caused by an Firefox add-on. ‘AdBlock Plus‘ is one that I has trouble with. If you have Adblock Plus or any other Adblock add-on, disable it for Hotmail and you should be able to reply and write email again.