Fix My Own Computer

If you’re sharing a computer with more than one person, it is strongly recommended that you have a separate account for all the users. The reason for this is, you have files that you want to keep private, therefore you will limit their access to certain drives or folders and you can also allow or disallow people from installing or uninstalling software. User accounts also allow each individual user to customize their own Windows experience to his or her liking, from screen saver to desktop wall paper, default web browser and much more.

If your a beginner or an intermediate computer user and would like to get a better understanding about many aspects of a computer and computing then this 24 part videos training series is a good place to start.

In light of the new presidency, here are a few COOL video tutorials uncovering some of Windows XP tricks, hacks and secrets. These tutorials are usually safe and should not harm your computer.

Every time you download or install a new game, application, or software update, you make changes to your computer. Sometimes that change may make your system unstable and even cause the dreaded BSOD, aka Blue Screen of Death. Windows XP and Vista come with a handy feature that allows you to go back in time to the working state of your computer prior to the change. This feature is called Restore Point, and should be used as the first step in troubleshooting Windows is not booting up.

If you’re running Windows XP and have a flat panel monitor, chances are you are completely selling yourself short on the quality of the text resolution which you should be getting. Windows, by default, turns off a feature called cleartype which improves text resolution, on flat panel monitors, by using a technology called subpixel rendering.

If you’re on of those people who thinks that the Start menu has a life of it’s own and things magically appear and disappear in it, then this video is for you. An organized Start menu can drastically increase the productivity of your day to day tasks. In a nutshell, the Start Menu provides a customizable nested list of programs for the user to launch, a list of most recently opened documents, a way to find files and get help, and access to the system settings. Happy Cleaning!

Sometimes a faulty device can be a real nightmare for any user. Some of the signs of a faulty device could be slowness, crashes, freezes and headaches. One of the first places I look in when users complain that they are experiencing these issues is in the Device Manager. Device manager is a control panel where all the installed hardware could be found. This is a short video how to access, remove and reinstall devices in the Device manager. Detailed instructions on how to access the device manager in other Operating Systems is after the Video.

I’ve had multiple people approach me recently to find out how they can access someones computer without knowing the password. There are few ways to accomplish this… The easiest way is with an application called Ophcrack. Ophcrack is an open source application designed to crack Windows using LM hashes through rainbow tables.

Time to get organized! Clean up and tune up your Start Menu.