Gerard Campain Personal Computer Services

Archive for February, 2011

Are all of your pictures on your computer?

Hard drives die everyday!

Have you…

Call 734.604.0486.
We’ll help you protect those cherished memories.

Here are some things to try as a “sanity check” when your computer misbehaves.

1. Print this out and keep it handy – If your computer is crashed, you won’t be able to get on the Internet to print this!

2. Turn everything off – Power everything down, then go get a cup of coffee. Come back and power everything back up. You’d be surprised how often this will clear simple glitches.

3. Check the Cables – A loose cable can cause all sorts of problems. Unplug your power, keyboard, mouse, video, modem, and printer cables then plug them right back in to make sure they’re nice and snug.

4. Take a Step Back – Most problems occur right after you’ve installed some piece hardware or software. Try removing the hardware and/or software to see if the problem goes away.

5. Make a Backup – Things could get worse, so before it’s too late, try to backup your critical files (documents, spreadsheets, email, music, pictures etc.)

6. Scan for a Virus – Viruses cause problems. More are created everyday. Visit http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner to scan your computer for viruses.

7. Call gcPCs.com at 734.604.0486, for quick response and friendly, efficient on-site or Instant Remote Support.
You can also e-mail: info@gcpcs.cominfo@gcpcs.comThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Back-up your stuff – What’s most important to you?

• Documents – Adobe (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc) Word Perfect (.wpd)
• Spreadsheets – Microsoft Excel (.xls), WordPerfect (.wps)
• Pictures – (.jpg), (.bmp), (.gif)Checkbook/accounting files – (.qif), (.mny), (.qbw), (.qbs)
• Music and Video – iTunes, (.avi), (.mp3), (.wma), (.mp4), (.ogg)

Burn/Copy these files to a CD or DVD for the safest backup and store off-site.
See the frequently asked questions (faq) for instructions.

Run CCleaner – run full Ccleaner scan and registry scan.
Check www.ccleaner.com for more information.
See the frequently asked questions (faq) for instructions.

Windows Updates – Install ‘High Priority’ updates
Verify ‘Automatic Updates’ are turned on in the Control Panel.
Install all ‘High Priority’ updates
Check www.update.microsoft.com for updates and full details.
See the frequently asked questions (faq) for instructions.

Virus Scanner – be sure to use and up-to-date virus scanner.
Download virus definition updates and run a full virus scan.
Use your virus scanner’s scheduling feature to ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ and automate updates and scans.
gcPCs.com recommends AVG Anti-Virus.
Click here to get AVG Anti-Virus.
See the frequently asked questions (faq) for instructions.

Disk Maintenance – Run Scan Disk and Disk Defragmenter monthly to speed-up the hard drive.

If you have any questions please call gcPCs.com for help. Want to watch while we do it for you? Try our Instant Remote Support tool and get help NOW!

734.604.0486

info@gcpcs.cominfo@gcpcs.com

1. First, you need to tell Windows what files you want copied to CD. You can do this a couple of different ways:

Method 1 -

The first method is to ‘right-click‘ the file you want to copy, then select ‘Send To, CD-R’ (or whatever your CD writer is called).

Of course, you can use your CTRL key to select multiple files then send the whole mess to the CD burner. When you do this ‘Send To‘ thing, you’ll get a little ‘balloon’ from your system tray (the area by the clock) telling you that the files have been added to your recording list. Click the little balloon and you’ll open the list of files waiting to be burned to the CD.

Method 2 -The next method is to open My Computer, then your CD-R / RW drive. Then simply drag and drop (or copy / paste) the selected files to the open CD-R / RW drive window.

Note: that when you send, drag, or copy these files, it only puts them on a list of files to be burned to the CD; it doesn’t automatically start making the CD.

2. Now have some files that have been sent to the CD burner. It’s time to burn your CD.

Note: Making the CD is also called ‘cutting’, ‘recording’ or burning the CD.

Insert a blank (writable) CD into your CD drive, open ‘My Computer’ (if it isn’t open already), and double-click the CD drive. You will see a list of files you’ve selected to record.

Note: that you may already be on this screen if you either did a Send To and clicked the balloon or if you did a drag & drop (since this was where you were dragging & dropping to).

Now, look at the top left  of the window for the CD Writing Tasks section.

Click the ‘Write these files to CD‘ link and Windows will start the ‘Windows CD Burning Wizard’. From here, follow the prompts.

Note: if you accidentally put a file on the list that you don’t want on the CD, you can remove it by right-clicking the file and selecting ‘Delete’. Don’t worry, it won’t delete the file from your computer, just from the CD writing list.