Tech Help Videos

I have created a new toolbar for Tech Help Videos. The toolbar works for both Firefox and Internet Explorer Version 5+. You will be required to have Windows 2000 or XP or Vista.

The toolbar features:

• Search function powered by Google
• RSS Feed Updates
• Email Notifier
• Weather Updates
• Links to ‘Tech Help Videos’ and ‘Tech Centre’
• Messaging feature
• Customizable Widgets

Download the toolbar here!!

This toolbar will allow you to get the latest tips and tricks from Tech Help Videos, received secret messages and tips, received email notifications, weather reports and forecast, quick access your favourite technology help website - Tech Help Videos! and customize your toolbar with widgets of your choice.

I would appreciate some feedback on this toolbar for version 1.1.

Download the toolbar here!!

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!

Dear Readers,

I apologize for the delay of Part 2 of Computing in the clouds guide. I have been very busy over the last two weeks and I will try to make it up. The second part of ‘Computing in the clouds’ will be published in the next two days and the third part will follow.

If you have any tips or computing tricks, please tell me via email. I will really appreciate it and might published it on Tech Help Videos and give you credit by linking you. This is a great way to get some free publicity and traffic to your site or blog (if you have one). Tech Help Videos is currently ranked 470,271 in Alexa (middle of October) and take into the account that the site is quite new. Unfortunately I am not accepting paid advertising now, but even better, you get linked for free if your tip is good.

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

A lot of software is shipped with our operating system. I find the most comes from Windows XP. However, apart from all those junk trail software where you can’t really use them without purchasing them, there are actually quite a lot of really useful programs. Most of these useful ones are not third-party programs, they are from Microsoft. One great example is ‘Paint’. Paint comes standard with Windows 2000, XP and Vista. Although it does not offer any serious pro tools but it is very easy to use and is enough for a lot of purposes. I use Paint all the time for doing Print-Screens and then copying it into Paint and then do a bit of editing with Paint and sometimes with Windows Live Photo Gallery. You can also do this job is Adobe Photoshop. However, you will have to spend a few hundred bucks and for starters, Photoshop can be very complicated to use and learn. So if you are one of those people who write-off simple applications like Paint that comes standard with your PC, I want you to try using them for some simple purposes and see how you go. 

I have recently added a new page called ‘Books’. As the title suggests, the page is about books. I will add my favourite books here and you can also suggest me books to add and I will give you credit by publishing your name or blog. (if you want to)

A lot of these books are available in audio version. I recommend Audible which is a great way to listen to audiobooks and use your down-time effectively. I use it and I’ll tell you, I love it!

Google Talk is a free chat client. It allows you to do instant messaging, voice mail and PC to PC calls. However, it does not have video chat. Although it does not have the features and functionality of its competitors like Skype and Windows Live Messenger, none can compete with its easy to use and intuitive user interface. Once you see it, you get it. Even very basic users will straight away know how to use it. Google Talk will require you to have a Google account. The small client is very easy to install and is less than 5MB. For a detailed article of the features in Google Talk, please click HERE

Google Talk is great for connecting with your friends and family. To download, Google Talk please, click HERE

Question: How can I minimize the ribbon in Microsoft Word 2007? / I hid the ribbon but now I want it back. How do I do this?

Answer: You can minimize the ribbon is Microsoft Word 2007 by doing the following:
1) Open Microsoft Word 2007. At the very top of the window, click on the little arrow pointing down. (The arrow is next to the default shortcuts on the right of the Office Menu button)
2) In the drop down menu, click ‘Minimize the Ribbon’.

You can make the ribbon appear again, perform step no.1 and then unselect ‘Minimize the Ribbon’ by clicking on it in the drop down menu. The ribbon should appear.

Question: Is there going to be the Ribbon (which is featured in Office 2007 for Windows) going to be present in Office 2008 for the Macintosh?

Answer: No, there will be no Ribbon for Office 2008 for the Macintosh. This is because the user interface of Office 2008 have to look alike to other Mac applications. This means that, instead of the ribbon, there will be the old menus such as ‘File’ and ‘Edit’, etc.

However, from Microsoft will apply as many Ribbon like features as they can to Mac Office 2008 and I am sure that they will make it very ribbon like meaning that there will be lots of visual icons. Although not yet released, there are some screenshots on the web that could very likely be Office 2008 Mac. Below are a screenshot of Word 2008 and PowerPoint 2008:

Although there are quite a lot of significant changes to Microsoft Word 2007, the main one is the Ribbon. As you probably know, the Ribbon is new to any Office application and replaces the previous ‘File’, ‘Edit’…etc with a set of new menus called ‘Home’, ‘Insert’, Page Layout’, References’, ‘Mailings’, Review’, ‘View’ and ‘Add-ons’.So basically the Ribbon is a new Menu with visual icons of features and functions. If you still don’t understand, then take a look at this screenshot of the Ribbon. The second screenshot is of the old Word 2003 menu. Take a look at the difference. (Click to enlarge)

The Ribbon is absolutely excellent to use and work with, especially for less computer literate users. With the Ribbon, you can now visually see the features and functions that you can use. A lot of basic users will probably say ‘Wow, Microsoft must have added a lot of new features to Word 2007’. But actually, there aren’t many new features at all. Most of them were already there is Word 2003. But the problem was that many people do not realize that the features were even there. And that’s exactly what the Ribbon is for; to show users the features available. Personally, I think Microsoft has done a very good job with the Ribbon.The Ribbon is not only present in Word 2007 but also across many other Office 2007 applications such as PowerPoint.