Computer Care: Look for more QR codes in the future By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: January 7, 2012 1:00 a.m. Everyone has seen them. They are in newspapers and magazines and on websites. No, I'm not talking about celebrities or politicians. I refer you to Quick Response Codes. They are those two-dimensional square mazes of black lines and white spaces that you may have seen. For the longest time, I had no idea what they were. I felt the same way many years ago when bar codes initially came out on products at the supermarket. They were on things like Cheerios long before the stores even had bar code scanners. What were those lines, I wondered. Those original vertical bar codes' design included a minimal amount of information embedded in them. Those initial bar codes are high-tech price stickers. They tell the customer what an item costs and allows a merchant inventory control. The purpose of the new QR codes is to show us products and educate us about them. We can also get discount coupons via a scan, go to a website, buy something, read an article or watch a video. QR codes have the ability to store more information in them than bar codes and will soon be seen on just about anything consumers use, from drink cups to business cards; anything they may read from periodicals to websites; and television to storefronts and even restroom walls. They are already in use at trade shows and conventions. I have seen them in brochures and flyers. They have even made it to billboards in some cities. The QR is easier to scan than the ones at the self-checkout counter. You can do it from a distance. Currently, a common use of the QR code is the ability to get apps for your smart phone. New York City's Central Park adapted them as park codes to show tourists more about the park. They are strategically scattered around the park on signs for visitors to scan. See the video here. According to my wife's friend, Kathy, the Weight Watchers bar code scanner app for use at the supermarket will help you make smart decisions while shopping for food. Whether you're in the store or at home, you can easily scan foods to keep track of the points in your diet. I thought calculators on the buggies were high-tech. Although this technology is new in our country, it's been around for a while in Canada and Japan, where it was invented in 1994 for use in the automotive industry. These soon-to-be-ubiquitous codes will be a boon to advertisers, but will create yet another source of possible malware. As long as you trust the source, just as in web browsing, this shouldn't be an issue. However, if you scan a code that you don't know, there is the possibility it will direct your phone to an infected site. You will then have what is known as a "brick." Your phone will be useless. To be clear, the code is not what is malicious; where is sends you to is what may be. To answer your next question, yes, cellphone infections are absolutely something we should be concerned about. The more mobile we become, the more we become dependent on our phones for information. It is simply easier to scan a website address (the code), than to type in the address on a tiny mobile keyboard. Although it is more efficient, it is yet another possible source of infection for us. Many anti-virus applications now include protection for your mobile device as well as for your computer. If you haven't yet considered this, perhaps now is the time. Check your anti-virus suite. You may already have protection for your mobile phone. If you don't yet have an app for your smartphone that reads QR codes, you can download a free one. Be sure you get the app specific for your platform, whether iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry or Palm. Use the link to your app store on your mobile phone to get the download. In most cases, the scan will activate the software. You usually don't even have to click the shutter release button on your phone. All you need to do is accept or deny redirection to the link that the QR code wants you to go to. Should you want your own QR code, there are many websites that offer them at no cost, with no strings attached. A few of the many sites that will allow you to create them are qrstuff.com,quikqr.com and qrcode.kaywa.com. Simply tell the code generator if you want an email, text or a URL (web address) embedded in your code. Create it and right-click the newly generated image, then save it to your computer to use as you wish. You may not have seen many economical comprehensive data plans for your phone lately, but I think you will be seeing a bunch more QR codes in the coming year. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Vipre is currently having a

 "Buy one year, get another free" Sale.

I like it because it doesn't slow my system down. You, my readers will like it because it is a great deal.

Care for your new computer

Computer Care: Boot up, connect, protect that new computer properly By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: December 24, 2011 1:00 a.m. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hanukkah, chances are someone in your family is either giving or getting a computer for the holidays. Setting up a new computer, transferring data from an old one or adding new peripherals can be a daunting experience for anyone not comfortable with technology. Connecting your devices to the computer, if you have a desktop, is easier than it appears. Most cables will connect to only one port; just be sure the plugs are oriented properly. USB plugs can go in any USB port and audio cables are color-coded. The Ethernet or Internet plug is like a phone plug on steroids and will fit in only one port. If you got a new monitor, it is probably high definition. Use the new cable that came with it and connect it to the corresponding port on the computer. You can use the VGA cable if the new computer has no HD port. Plug in the power last. Know where to connect your printer, but don't plug it in yet. Install it through the software on its CD and wait until it says to plug it in. If using an existing printer, go to the (HP, Lexmark, Epson, Canon) website and download an installation program and driver compatible with your new operating system. The old XP disc that came with your printer will probably not work with Win 7. Also, be sure to choose whether it's 32- or 64-bit. After you get all the cables and devices connected, Windows 7 will walk you through the initial setup. All you will need to do is name the computer, chose a time zone (Greenwich/GMT minus 5 hours for Eastern/EST) and hit "Next" a few times. Reboot the computer and customize your settings and your desktop. More important is to be sure you have an anti-virus program installed prior to any Internet browsing. You may have one that came pre-installed on your new computer, but realize it is a trial version and will be good for only a month. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it. Other programs may be cheaper or more thorough. Be sure to include a malware utility, whether incorporated with the anti-virus or a standalone. After the above installation is finished, take time to configure it. I find more computers that fail to have a schedule set up for any scans other than a defrag. The network setup is easier than ever with Win 7. If you have a laptop and need the wireless capabilities of the operating system, it will walk you through it. Windows will detect your network for you. You just need to know what its name is and make sure it is set up with encryption to keep the e-prowlers out. The next step is to create system emergency discs, usually two. One will boot up the computer in an emergency, the other will have an image of all of your stuff should you experience a techno-disaster. Look under "Maintenance" in the program menu to find how to create these discs. The first one will require a CD, the second a DVD. If you have lots of programs installed and have transferred old data to the new system, that second disc may turn into multiple discs, depending on how much stuff you have to save. If you plan to give away your old computer, be certain that no sensitive data remains. Just dragging files to the recycle bin isn't the most secure way to erase your data. Any good hacker could still access your files if they really wanted to. The truth is, Windows simply deletes the file's name, but the file remains on your drive. Download Eraser, a free open-source utility that writes random data across yours, ensuring nobody could have access to it. When you install programs to your new computer, add a good utility to help keep it in good shape. Advanced System Care from Iobit is a good one. If you video conference, don't forget to install Skype if it didn't come on the new computer. Foxit Reader is a faster pdf file reader than Adoble Reader. Also, download Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox. Both are better browsers and faster than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, in my opinion. Let me add one piece of advice about installing programs: Be careful about allowing them in your startup group when running the installation. By default, they all want to go there. This will slow down your system. So whether you are hanging stockings or lighting candles this weekend, if your gifts come from under a tree or you get one each night, may your computing be happy and may your troubles be slight. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Defrag your hard drive

Computer Care: Keep your cheese clean by defragging often

	By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: December 10, 2011 1:00 a.m. For the moment, let's say your hard drive is a block of Swiss cheese. If you could somehow relocate all of the holes to one corner of the block, then theoretically you'd be able store something where all the holes are, right? Yes, you could, and no, this is not the Cheese Corner. I am simply making a cheesy analogy about hard drives and defragmentation or defragging, as we geeks refer to it. Defragging places data (the cheese) on one part of the drive and free space (the holes) on another. It also keeps individual files in good shape, while deleting remnants left behind from downloads, installations and abrupt shutdowns. Naysayers believe that defragging is no longer necessary. I say it is. Even with the new generation of hard drives with their huge capacities, (Muenster drives?) defragging can still prove to be beneficial. Even a large drive will fill up eventually. By keeping contiguous free disc space, all the data resides on one part of the drive. When you install a program to a clean, optimized drive, all of its folders go to the same locale. Thus, when you click an icon to call up that application, it will open more quickly because the files are all together. In a badly fragmented hard drive, you could spend a minute or more watching the hourglass tumble, as the system looks for parts of your program that are scattered all over the drive. I'm not saying your defrag utility should run nightly. However, to keep your computer running more efficiently, I would suggest you run it at least every couple of weeks, adding additional scans if the system becomes sluggish. You can't over-defrag it and the scan can be paused or terminated at any time without incurring any damage to the file structure. All defrag utilities have buttons that will stop and pause the scan function, similar to that of your CD/DVD player. The only downside to defragmenting is that as with scanning for viruses or malware, system resource use is high. It can be difficult to check your email or do anything else while a scan is running, defrag included. There is a defragmentation utility incorporated into Windows, but there are better ones that you can get online, some at no cost. Many free utilities lack the bells and whistles that come with the paid versions. In this case, what you really need a scheduler so you can set it and forget it. Windows 7 does allow you to schedule a defrag session, albeit with limited choices. Technical support is also something you get only with the paid versions. As always, with the freebies, you're on your own. This shouldn't be an issue with a defrag program though; they are pretty straightforward and easy to use. The more elaborate programs provide more options and let you choose how the disc is defragmented, from placement of free space to choosing varying degrees of disc optimization. Some let you choose where to allocate more resources, to the utility for a faster scan, or the system to let you continue to work while it scans. Some may defrag the boot portion of the drive, making Windows load more quickly. Others will offer to defrag an external drive, not just the "C" or "D" drives, while a few will hone in on specific files of your choice, even the Windows Registry. If you have an all-in-one utility suite, scrutinize the menus. You may find a defrag program built into it. Smart Defrag from Iobit.com, Disk Defrag from auslogics.com and Defraggler from piriform.com are three of the top free defrag utilities available for download. UltraDefrag is an Open Source (free) alternative that will also defrag the registry and page file. Find it and much more good free Open Source programs at sourceforge.net. As always, also check download.com for more programs and see how their editors rate them and what users are saying about them. Any of the paid versions will allow you to try before you buy. You may decide that $24 is not too much to pay for a good utility. Keep in mind that your computer is an expensive piece of technology and you have valuable data on it. Sometimes it's worth getting a better mousetrap to keep it safe. All defrag utilities will suffice, free or otherwise. Some may do it quicker, others more thoroughly, but using any is better than using none. Should you decide to not buy or download one, there is always the Microsoft version. In all versions of Windows, find the native defrag utility in "All Programs," then go to "Accessories," then to "System Tools." Before you run any defrag scan, it's best to ensure your system is in good shape. Clean the drive of junk files first; there's no point in organizing garbage. Even if you have a terabyte drive with tons of free space, it's still a Gouda idea to run defrag every now and then. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page.

Computer Care: When switching phones, consider price and coverage

	By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: November 25, 2011 11:00 p.m. As my cell phone contract is about to expire, I find many options before me. I can stay with my existing service provider and retain my current phone or I can try a new company. Either way, I'm eligible to get a free or discounted device with my promise to stay for 24 months. Mobile, or wireless technology is changing faster than the temperature these days. My 2-year-old once high-tech smartphone is so outdated that it will now bring no more than $50 on the Internet. The choices are abundant. There are great phones from manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung, LG, BlackBerry and Apple. Operating systems on the phones come down to Android or Windows on most, while Apple and BlackBerry have their own proprietary software. For decades, I have used and supported Windows on my computers, but when it comes to smartphones, I have to go with the competition. I use Windows Mobile 6.5 on my current HTC phone, but tire of it freezing and not responding as it should. The Android phones I have tried are so much more responsive and the iPhone, well it's in a class by itself. Its interface is superb, but without a discount (of which Apple has none), it is also priced beyond what most of us want to pay for a wireless phone. Occasionally though, when Apple releases new models like the iPhone 4S, the 3G is offered for free or discounted with that omnipresent new two-year contract. There are two main considerations when switching phones or carriers: What can you afford and how is the coverage in your area? Pull up the service provider's coverage map, not of Georgia, but of your neighborhood. Look carefully to see if you get both voice and data where you live. Find out about roaming and long distance fees and if you're charged for activation and porting your number. Look at the plans and compare. Determine your budget and choose from the plethora of plans offered. Often Family Plans are the best bet if you have more than one device. Text messaging and voicemail may or may not be a part of any plan, so be sure to ask. With most smartphones, there is still the need for a data plan to supplement whatever voice/messaging plan you may have. Ask your provider to be sure, under what category your specific phone falls. With some phones without a data plan, you can still access the Web and your email if the device has Wi-Fi capabilities. You can connect to your home network with it. With other phones, you can use them as a hotspot, tethering the phone to connect your computer to the Internet. There are two networks to choose from when it comes to wireless phones: GSM, which AT&T and T-Mobile uses and CDMA, used by Verizon, Metro PCS and Sprint. Globally, GSM is an older, more dominant standard and works in more foreign markets than does CDMA, but both work well here. Resellers like Boost Mobile who use the Sprint network and PagePlus who use Verizon's network, abound. There are caveats though to consider with discounted providers. If you are a PagePlus customer for example, even though you access the Verizon network, when an issue arises, PagePlus alone will deal with it. Metro PCS and PagePlus don't require any contracts, but the former charges more for their phones while the latter asks for payment up-front on their plans. Generally, you may save a buck or two on devices and rates through resellers (especially if you go with a pre-pay plan), but you forfeit the high speeds and local support which are reserved for the owners of the networks. Your father was right: You get what you pay for. No matter how well any phone works at the store and how much you like it, ask if you can return or exchange it within a week's time without any penalty. It may not work as well at your house. Cellular signals are line-of-sight. If there are obstructions in or near your home, the signal may be less than optimal. Things to consider such as hilly neighborhoods, tin roofs, metal studs in your walls, and electronic devices may cause interference. Often, you'll discover the best deals online. You have to do all the work, but by not using a person to assist you, discounts are the reward. You may come across an Internet-only rate as well as phones not offered in the stores. We have gone from bag to belt phones; from typing commands to voice recognition. Now, programming your phone is passé. You need only speak what you want your phone to do. The new iPhone, with its dual processor and gigabyte of RAM, has more power than some laptops that I've recently worked on. As a techie, I require state-of-the-art and believe my next handheld wireless device will be an iPhone. I can only wonder if my next laptop will be a Mac. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page.

Computing Tips

[Although this is my 100th column in the Times, this blog is missing a few of my earlier published pieces; the reason why the numbers don't jive.....FYI - ag]

Computer Care: Revisiting some key tips on column No. 100

By Arthur Glazer

glazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: November 12, 2011 1:00 a.m.

When I began writing this column back in 2007, it was sporadic at best. My intent was to assist the novice computer user and not have it sound like a manual. I strayed from that format a few times by expressing my opinions while maligning Vista or praising Windows 7, and I've discussed technology in general many times.

This being my 100th Computer Care column in the Times, I wanted to go back to where I began. So here are 10 useful tips that everyone should be able to appreciate, whether a novice or seasoned user, whether using Windows XP, Vista or 7.

It's always a good idea prior to making any changes to your system, to create a system restore point first. In XP, it's in Accessories under System Tools. In Vista and Win 7, just do a search for it.

Change a desktop icon. If you're tired of looking at the same manila folder icon all over your desktop, change some of them. Right-click on the icon to modify, click on "Properties," choose the "Customize" tab and then click the "Change Icon" button. Pick one from the library or browse to one of your own.

Change a desktop image. In XP, right-click on your desktop, go to "Properties," and then to the "Desktop" tab and choose an image from the list. In Vista/Win 7, right-click the desktop and choose "Personalize," then click on "Desktop Background."

Adjust a power scheme. In XP, again right-click the desktop and choose "Properties." This time go to the "Screen Saver" tab and click the "Power" button. From there you can adjust when the system sleeps or turns off.

In Vista, go to Control Panel, then to Power Options. In Win 7, type "Power" in the search box and from the options, create or edit a power plan.

Unlock the desktop icons. To be able to reorder the icons to your liking, right-click on the desktop in all versions of Windows. In XP, choose "Arrange Icons By," and uncheck the "Auto Arrange" option. In Vista/7 choose "View," and uncheck the same.

Choose which application opens what file. To change this, simply right-click the icon of the file in question and go to "Open With." If for example, Windows uses Picture Viewer or Paintshop to open an image and you want to use Photoshop, from "Open With," navigate to Photoshop. Click "Apply" and "OK." There is also a box to check that keeps this option should you want to keep using Photoshop.

How to save ink. Most printer software has options to change the paper size, paper type and quality of the print. Photo printing uses the most ink; the draft option uses the least amount.

Put web shortcuts on your desktop. From an open browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome), reduce the size to half and drag the icon from in front of the address in the address bar to your desktop. Do this by holding the left mouse button down while dragging. If the name of the shortcut is too long, right-click the new icon and "Rename" it. If you created a shortcut from Firefox, but Chrome is your default browser, the icon will be that of Chrome.

Tidy up your desktop. If you have all types of icons all over your desktop, here's an easy way to organize it. Right-click the desktop and choose "New," then "Folder." Call it what you want. I have one for PDF files, one for Utilities and one I call "Closet," for miscellaneous junk without a home.

Right-click and "Rename" the new folders to call them what you want. The simply drag your scattered files to their respective new folders.

Pin items to your taskbar. XP has a Quick Launch bar near the Start Button on the Taskbar. If it isn't enabled, right-click on the taskbar, click "Toolbars," and then click Quick Launch. To add items just drag them from the desktop to that area of the taskbar, copying them. They are always seen (thus Quick Launch).

Vista and Win 7 uses the same concept, but uses full-size icons in the taskbar. Right-click and choose "pin" or "unpin" on the icons on the bar.

Refresh system memory. Even when computer programs are closed, not all of the memory used is released. There are utilities that refresh the memory at the click of a button, but they're not included in Windows. What you can do is simply reboot the system: Turn it off and then on again. The RAM will be refreshed and you'll be able to access all that there is, making your system run faster.

Use the last tip for trying to fix anything that ails your system. Often a simple reboot fixes many little things in a computer. It may even stop the dreaded blue screen error messages, although they usually demand more attention.

When in doubt, reboot. It certainly couldn't hurt.

Keep those emails coming, and thanks for reading.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Computer Care: Scrub unused programs off your PC

	By Arthur Glazer POSTED: October 29, 2011 1:00 a.m. Twice annually, I swap out the clothes in my closet. I tend to have a larger collection of shirts than most guys, since my wife owns a clothing store. To make room for sweaters, I need to pack away my tropical shirts. It was also time for me to swap out computer programs on my laptop. As with the shirts, I tend to have more applications than the average guy, being the techno-geek that I am. I do a lot of downloading and experimenting; I need to test the waters so I can report to you if a program is worth having or not. The trouble is, it catches up with me on occasion and on this occasion I found about a dozen apps I no longer use, need or want. Everybody has them: outdated utilities, old kids' games and programs you tried but never used. My experience has showed me that although with good intentions, most people don't correctly remove unwanted programs from their computers. Programs are all over your hard drive. An installed application goes to the Windows program files folder, the start menu, the desktop and to the system registry. Removing an application from one of those locations may stop Windows from loading it, but that will cause other issues by leaving fragments behind. That leads to corruption. When a system looks for something that isn't there it goes into brain-lock. You can first see if the program in question has its own uninstaller. That's the best one to use. If not, use the one included in Windows. In XP, go to the Start menu and then click on Control Panel, then "Add/Remove Programs." Just follow the prompts from there. In Vista or Windows 7, type, "remove" or "uninstall" in the search box and then click on the link to "Add or remove a program." Alternatively, look for "Programs" or "Programs and Features" in Control Panel and follow the links and directions provided after that to uninstall a program. I like to use a third-party uninstaller, mainly because it cleans up after itself. First, it will try to remove the program using the application's own uninstallation utility. If not there, it will use other methods. Then it will flush the system registry of any remnants that reference the program. At this point, you need to remember to restart system. Your program will then be gone. If you have many to remove, uninstall them one at a time and reboot after each one. It's time-consuming, but worth the effort. If you take shortcuts with something like this, it will come back later to bite you. There is a plethora of uninstallers that you can download, many of them free. As always, I recommend download.com as a source. You not only get a reputable program from them, but you know if it is a free, trial or paid version of the product. You also get ratings and comments, not just from the editors of the site (who are unbiased for the most part) but also from users like you and me. There are similar sites, including filehippo.com, majorgeeks.com, freewarefiles.com andpcworld.com that offer files to download. All of these sites are supposed to be clean (virus-free), but it's always a good idea to scan any incoming files to prevent a system infection. The apps that I've tested and liked are available in both free and paid versions. They include: Your Uninstaller, Revo Uninstaller, Advanced Uninstaller, Iobit Uninstaller and Ashampoo Uninstaller. Many utility suites, system optimizers and registry cleaners have uninstallers incorporated in them, as with the cases of Advanced System Care and CCleaner. Programs like Your Uninstaller have various methods to try to remove an app, including using force if necessary. It even has a "hunter" mode that will erase the program from its desktop icon. If your program remover doesn't check your registry, make sure you then use a separate registry cleaner after you uninstall your programs. If the cleaner asks you questions, go with the default choice. When in doubt, don't delete a value if you are not sure about it. This is where you should reboot the computer and then set a system restore point when it comes back. Should something go wrong down the road, that restore point is where you want to go back to. It used to be that only junk programs were free; not so anymore. Even if the one you want is not free, you can usually use it (full-feature) for a week or two before deciding to either buy or toss it. That brings me back where I began. I tend to let those unused apps pile up. Now my closet and laptop are both clean. The computer runs faster and there is less clutter on my desktop since removing all those apps I thought I couldn't live without. I don't miss those unused programs, but I sure do miss my tropical shirts. It's going to be a long winter. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com. glazer.tech@gmail.com