An Inventory of What's On or In Your Computer

Introduction

This means:

• Every Windows and installed program, the version, and how often the program is used.
• If the program has a key, the key.
• Detailed information on every hardware component

I'd like to highlight two programs I use for this. One, Belarc, does everything listed above; the other, called CPU-Z, focuses on hardware. You can save the results of either program as a "complete web page."
{Note: The links on this page go to a web service called "CNET." Whenever possible I get my downloads from this site. The primary reason is safety. If you run a search on a program name, say "Belarc," the search will return pages of links. In today's predatory environment, it's possible, even likely, that some of those links lead to infected pages, resulting in either an infection on your computer or some creative rerouting of query to a poison page. So, when I am looking for an application, I type "cnet [program name]" into the browser's search field.}

Belarc

Belarc gives the best summary of software on your computer, and does a good job of outlining the hardware and network setup as well. Once you download it from CNET, it takes just a minute to install and run. As it installs, it will ask to update to the latest definitions. Say yes to that. Once it runs, the results are shown directly in your browser. The web page itself is on your computer, not on the internet. (The url shown in the address field of this figure is a file on your C: drive:

You will want to save this web page as a "complete" web page in a place that will be backed up. Or, print it. Run the program every so often, to give you an audit of the applications, system file versions, and hardware on your computer. (If you have more than one computer, do this for each one.)
Rather than give further instruction in this blog entry, I refer you to a bunch of utube "lessons" here.

CPU-Z

This program provide a geek with a wealth of knowledge about the hardware:

It can be obtained from CNET by typing "cnet cpu-z" into your search bar.  Or use the link in the Introduction. As with Belarc, there are a number of Youtube tutorials (here). If you want more RAM memory or a better video card for your computer, then this program is a must to help select the right memory or card!

Senior Discounts

A recent email listing available senior discounts indicated a web site with a list of senior discounts by category.  I googled “senior discount list” and came up with a number of sites.  Here is one. You can google your own.  I’m going to test the Duncan Donuts discount.  Let me know what you find. 

Oh, I found that McDonald’s gives their largest coffee for $1 and free small coffee.  If the franchise uses the premium coffee, it is a really good deal.  Use the comments field below to let everyone know about local upstate offers. 

How to Obtain Software from CNET

Whenever possible I get my downloads from this site. The primary reason is safety. If you run a search on a program name, say "Belarc," the search will return pages of links. In today's predatory environment, it's possible, even likely, that some of those links lead to infected pages, resulting in either an infection on your computer or some creative rerouting of the query to a poison page. So, when I am looking for an application, I type "cnet [program name]" into the browser's search field; eg “cnet Belarc.”  Then I pick the result that has “cnet” in the location.

The result will look like this.  The download will be provided through a large green “Download Now” button on the left side of the page.  (Sometimes there will be more than one button.  This is a little sneaky- they are looking for you to click on the wrong button.  If there are two green buttons, click on the one that looks like the example below.

CNET has become more commercial, so lately its download has looked like this: 

 

Then, when you start the download, you will get something like this:

Click the Run button:

Click the Next Step Button

This is where you get the add or you are asked if you want to download some other program too.  Be careful about checkmarks… if something is checked indicating you accept whatever, uncheck it.  In this case.  Click either click the Decline button or go ahead and support the Cause.

Eventually you will come to the “real” install screen: 

A New Year's Resolution, and Some Tools to Help

2011 is ending with a flurry of software update activity:

• Microsoft- a large number of critical and important updates
• Adobe- ditto
• Apple- ditto
• All apps- end of year updates

Make it a New Year's resolution, and don't put it off, to bring all your applications current + create a backup of your updated system.  I have some tool recommendations for

• Creating a computer inventory list of all system and installed applications, as well as all software keys.  A list of all hardware is also provided  
• Updating and establishing an automatic schedule for future updates for your Microsoft products.
• Identifying and updating your installed apps; creating an automatic alert mechanism.
• Updating apps and the operating system for Apple.
• Full backup of all system and applications files (doesn't include YOUR documents, music, etc, which should be backed up in other ways)

Each of these recommendations is long enough to be a blog entry in itself, so watch for subsequent entries.

Danger! Those sneaky Android Ads

PCWorld, Jan 2012 has an article by Tom Spring on the ads that are "popping up" on Android devices (eg, your Droid).  Those ads are either "full screen" or they appear along the bottom of the display.  They are compelling, telling you that you need to adjust your battery (and we have the app for you), you've won something, etc.  The ads that run along the bottom of the display are particularly troublesome, because you can't make them go away and it is easy to hit them as you flick through the rest of the screen.  Bottom line:  DON'T SELECT THEM; BACK OUT; USE ADVANCED TASK KILLER (free, available at The Market) to avoid the ads.  Most likely, these are dangerous, and you will end up losing your address book, your phone number, your email, your passwords, and the phone's unique IMEI number.

I also have security on my phone (Lookout, free for basic service and available at The Market) and I use Lastpass (unlike the PC/Apple/Linux version, there is a fee for this service) for all user ids and passwords, available at The Market)

When to buy a tablet?

Among the ways tablets are different is the operating system, connectivity, and inherent functionality.  Steve Fox (PCWorld, Jan, 2012) says that he expects it will be the end of 2012 before these factors have all matured to the point where tablets can be purchased "without reservation."  So, if ;you can wait, get one next Christmas.

Most Reliable Laptops and PCs

PC World's Jan. 2012 issue has published lists of most reliable electronics- Desktops, Laptops, Cameras, etc. It is not scientific, but it is consistent with my experience. Some nuggets:

• Laptops:  Dell and HP on the bottom, Apple, Samsung, Toshiba, Asus on the top.
• Desktop:  Dell and HP on the bottom, Apple, Asus on the top

On the service side, Apple is on the top, HP is on the bottom.

Details

The Microsoft IE 9 “Speed up Browsing” Message

(Note: In the following, some of the pictures are kind of small.  To make them larger, double click on the picture.)

Sometime or another, as you run your Windows updates,  you WILL get an update permission request for Internet Explorer (your Microsoft browser).  This has a number of needed security improvements.  You should install it. But… after you install it you will start getting this message at the bottom of the screen:

It will drive you CRAZY!  If you google the problem, you will see pages and pages of discussion and recommended solutions.  The best I’ve seen, though it is technical, is this.
The usual solution, and the one that seems to work OK, at least for the present, involves setting a time limit associated with when this popup is triggered.

To set this time limit:

1. Make sure your menubar is showing:  Right mouse button click on the area at the top of the browser window. In my browser this area is baby blue.



2. You will get a selection list.  Click Command bar



3. The result should look something like this:



4. Left click the Tools entry and then left click the Toolbar entry

5. THEN left click the Disable add-ons:



6. You’ll get a window like this:



This shows a list of all the add-ons and the approximate time required to start the add-on whenever you start IE9.  Note near the bottom it says “Tell me when the delay exceeds” and then a box, which is this picture says 1 second.   The box is a “pull-down.”  Left click on the arrow and a list of times will display. Set that number be significantly greater than the sum of all the start-up times in the above list by left clicking on the appropriate number.  Left click Done.  The message should not reappear unless the total time to start up all the add-ons exceeds that number…. or until Microsoft decides to reset it during a security update.