It is amazing how FEW viruses I see causing any problems on a computer - and  how MANY  computer malfunctions are caused by antivirus programs. I’d say that it is about a 5-1 ratio. That makes antivirus programs 500% more likely to cause a problem on your computer - especially if an antivirus / firewall is misconfigured. Sometimes it really does seem like Antivirus programs are a real scam that plays off of the fear of end-users - the constant threat of a virus.

Still, any systems administrator will tell you that a proper firewall and antivirus program is necessary to the security of your system - not just to protect your computer from the internet, but also from you! Click one wrong pop-up advertisement and then click OK, suddenly you can have a radiation logo as your background and warnings that your system is infected and you now need a new antivirus program that you’ve never even heard of - Antivirus 2008. This is, in truth, a virus itself.

There are so many antivirus / internet security programs out there - all claiming to be the best. How do you know which one to choose?

At Rent-A-Geek, LA we always recommend ESET NOD 32 for these reasons:

1. Best Detection: Test results from the authority on antivirus programs: VB100 (virus bullitin) are far above and beyond McAfee, Kaspersky, and Norton.
2. Fastest Performance – Highly optimized code ensures file scanning and updates. Quick and efficient, without perceptible decreases in system performance.
3. Smallest Footprint – Utilizes less system resources than competitors.  More room for other business applications and extends the life of PCs.

Contact us if you are interested in purchasing ESET NOD 32 - it has a funny name, but it really is the best antivirus program out there.

Office 2007 is new and strange..

The first thing that you should do when you get Office 2007 is to tell Word and Excel to save files in the .doc and .xls file format (respectively) instead of the .docx and .xlsx formats with which most people will be confused by when they can’t open it. This is because those new XML document formats are supported by previous versions of Microsoft Office.

To tell Word and Excel to save in the old version as a default. Start Word/Excel and for each one separately, click on the glowing orb with a windows logo in the top left corner of the window. Then click the Options button at the bottom right of the popup window. Once in the options, click on Save and choose the file version that ends in: 97-2003 - that is the version that is compatible with the older versions of Microsoft Office that everyone is still using.

FWIW: There is also a converter that you can download from Mircosoft if you need to convert docx to doc or xlsx to xls.

Next… If you are using Outlook - you should show the BCC field in the Message Editor. This has been hidden by default, to unhide the field, follow these steps:

1. From the Outlook toolbar, click New and select Mail Message.
2. A new message window will appear.
3. Go to the Ribbon and select the Options tab.
4. In the Fields section, select Show Bcc.
5. The Bcc field will appear. Place the address(es) you wish to send a blind carbon copy.

Please feel free to email us with any questions, concerns, or comments: fixme@rentageekla.com

In our world, we see a lot of common computer problems. In the battle of Mac vs PC, we thought it would be a good comparison to compile a list of problems and how troubleshooting them is different in a Mac vs a PC. This article contains information for how to troubleshoot a wireless connection on a PC and a Mac.

NO CONNECTION TO INTERNET (Wireless) - WINDOWS AND MAC INSTRUCTIONS

Wireless connections are very unreliable. So, everyone has problems with them… Often a wireless connection can be detected, but the computer will not connect to it. Beyond the obvious step of restarting the computer and router/airport, these are some of the things that I would try to resolve the problem and how they are different on a Mac or PC.

All Apple computers use the Airport wireless managment utility… On a PC this is more complicated than on a Mac… The first thing that you have to find out is how does your computer manage it’s wireless:

I would first try to identify the manner in which the wireless connection is managed. There are lots of different connection managers installed on machines out there - wireless zero configuration (WZC - comes on all Windows XP and Vista machines), Intel Proset, Belkin Wireless Network Configuration…

Because may different manufacturers make wireless products, they each have their own program to manage the connection.

FWIW: Attention PC Users - You do not need extra software to run your wireless adapter - all you really need from the install disk is the driver. I would recommend everyone to use the wireless management program that comes with windows (WZC) and to not install unnecessary software on your PC.

Now these are the basic steps to troubleshooting a wireless connection…

1. Check the wireless password on the computer:

The most common thing to be wrong is the wireless password. Sometimes, if the password is wrong you can still connect to the wireless internet - but the browser and email will not work at all.

The first thing that I look for is the method which the wireless management program “remembers” networks - they are usually kept in a list that the user can edit. In this list, you can see what networks it remembers and remove and re-add the network that you may be trying to connect to.

On Windows XP this can usually be found by going to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections. Right-click the wireless connection. Choose Show Wireless Networks then click Advanced settings on the left side. There should be a list called Preferred Networks. Double-click your connection in that list and re-enter the password, then click OK.

On OS X 10.4 (Apple), go to System Preferences > Network > Show: Airport (from the drop-down). Double-click your connection in that list, click the checkbox that says “Show Password” and re-enter the password. then click OK.

2. Check the wireless password on the router\airport:

Many times, the encryption password gets mixed up - often forgotten! So I check what the router says that the password should be (since the router defines the password for the entire network). It’s good practice to tape a piece of paper on the bottom of your router with your wireless password so you’ll always know what it is if you forget.

For most routers (including Linksys, D-Link, Netgear) - on your computer, open a web browser and type in the IP address of the router. (How to find the IP address of a router)… Enter the username and password for the router - if you have not changed it, it is commonly the same word for the username and password [ admin ]. Otherwise, you can identify your router model and use the default username and password from this list. If the default user/pass do not work, then hold the reset button with a pin for 15 seconds and the device will be reset to factory defaults. Now retry the username and password from this list.

(If you use a router made by 2Wire then you have to look on the bottom of your router for the “Wireless Encryption Key”).

Now look for the menu tab that says Wireless - click it - and then look for Wireless Security - click that. Your password should be stored in there - commonly it is called WEP and the data that you will need is listed under “Key 1″ - This information is in the hexidecimal format (0-9, A-F). Whatever it is… WRITE IT DOWN.

If you have an Apple Airport, go to your Mac and plug an ethernet cable from your computer to the airport. Then go to your Applications > Utilities folder. Open the utility called Airport Admin Utility or the newer version Airport Utility. Double click your airport in that list and enter the username and password that you set on it. If you do not know your user/pass, then hold the reset button with a pin for 15 seconds and the device will be reset to factory defaults.

Now double click the name of your airport in the utility and go to the top menu where it says “Base Station” then choose “Equivalent Network Password” - WRITE THAT DOWN. Often non-Apple machines will require this password to be hooked up to your Airport wireless network. This is also true if you want to hook up a Nintendo Wii or other videogame system to your wireless network.

You can use the password that you get from your router/airport to configure the wireless connection on your computer using the steps under 1. above.

Finding the IP address of your router is easy on both Macs and PCs. First of all, the most common address for routers is 192.168.1.1 - try this before following these steps.

First, on a Mac running OS X:

1. Go to the apple symbol in the top left of your screen and choose System Preferences
2. Now look for the icon that looks like a gray globe and says Network underneath
3. Make sure that the second drop down box reads Show: Network Status
4. Choose either Airport or Built-in Ethernet (whichever has the green light next to it)
5. If you choose Airport - click on the tab that reads TCP/IP - else, skip this step
6. Now look for the number halfway down the window that says Router: 192.168.1.1

That’s your IP address for your router. Go to your web browser’s address bar (where it displays the http://www.rentageekla.com). Delete whatever is in there completely and enter the number that you’ve found. Press enter.
On a PC computer running Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows Vista there is one guaranteed way to find out the IP address of your router no matter which operating system (OS) you are using:

1. Go to the start menu or windows logo (Vista) in the bottom left of your screen
2. Choose Run (if it is an option) and type cmd then press enter
3. If Run is not an option - look for the Command Prompt (aka DOS) program in your list of Programs under Accessories
4. A window will pop up with a black background and white text
5. Just type in: ipconfig    - then press enter
6. In the results of this command, look for the number next to Default Gateway. That is the IP address of your router.

Go to your Internet Explorer’s address bar (where it displays the http://www.rentageekla.com). Delete whatever is in there completely and enter the number that you’ve found. Press enter.