Windows 8

Are you going to get Windows 8?

If you have seen the latest version of the operating system, seems like quite a radical change!

Will you be purchasing it in October?

Let us know via email

What is a Firewall?

Ever wondered what a Firewall is, basically its a piece of software that you just install on your computer and protects you from things like viruses and spyware when you are on the Internet, it does this by monitoring Internet traffic coming from your computer and being directed to your computer.

You can also have a hardware firewall that is built into a wireless router.

It is always advisable to have a firewall installed on your computer as well as Anti-Virus software.

Recommended Downloads - Smart Defrag

Windows has a perectly capable Disk Defrag utility built in, but if like us you would like one that is a bit quicker and more attractive to look at you could always try Smart Defrag made by a company called iobit

Onr particularly useful feature we find is the option to shut the computer down when it has finished the Defrag, this means that you can leave your computer to do the task before you go to bed and it will shut down when complete meaning you don't have to keep checking to see if it has finished.

You can download Smart Defrag, which is free, from here.

"Defrag"

Over time your computer may become slow when trying to access files from the machine, this can sometimes happen when the Hard Dick Drive becomes fragmented.

When the computer saves a file, this is saved in the next available space and not in any particular order, when the computer has to look for the file it has to search over all un-used as well as used space.

One aid to this is to "Defrag" your computer if you are on Windows Vista just type defrag into the machine to find the program and in Windows XP click Start then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and then click Disk Defragmenter.

When the defragmenter starts to work it moves all the data into one logical area so that when you are looking for a particular file the computer can quickly use this logical order to find the file.

Icon sizes

Ever thought that the icons are too small on your desktop well in Windows Vista you can now change the size of them.
Click on the desktop and hold down the CTRL key whilst moving the scroll wheel on your mouse up and down you should now see the icons increase and decrease in size as you move the wheel.

Handy QuickTip - Shutting Down

To quickly shut down your Windows XP computer press the Windows key then press U twice.

Questions

At PCQuickTips we are always happy to answer your questions and we would like to thank everybody who has sent us a message for there question to be answered.
Please keep your questions coming in to us either by emailing us on our contact link or by posting a question under the tips we provide.