How secure are the user names and passwords you have selected? In this article we will outline a few things to consider when selecting passwords for computer or online accounts.

Here are a few guidlines to consider.

Do NOT use the same password for multiple accounts. Ideally you should not use the same user name or password for any account.

Use long passwords which employ at least eight characters with a combination of numbers as well as lower and uppercase letters.

Often hackers use utilities designed to randomly generate letters and numbers. These utilities try different combinations of letters and numbers and will attempt to randomly guess passwords in multiple attempts over a selected time period until the password and user name are found.

Do not use common names such as titles, well known names or nicknames. This includes the names of your children, pets or the model of your vehicle.

The biggest mistake I see is people using default passwords such as “password”. If your account has a default password change it immediately.

When selecting numbers to use do not select birthdays, social security numbers or any easy to remember number that may be associated to you.

The best practice would be to randomly generate unique user name and passwords. There are many programs available which can generate and store user names and passwords, and then store this information in a password protected database. Once again if you use these types of software be sure to make your initial password at least eight characters with upper and lower case lettering and include numbers.

Does anyone else find it hard to pick up work after vacationing? Having completed a weeks worth of vacation I am back to the grind….well….sort of.

I am using this day to read up on new stories and technologies for new content on the site. Please bare with me while I compose myself and get my head out of the vacation cloud. Of course this is not easily done…

As you can see from the last post we are now taking posted questions to better serve our users. As well I would like to add if there is a new technology or concern you would like for me to address please post a comment to this blog. I would be happy to research and address topics for our users.

After all….It is you the end user for which we create the content.

The page file is used by the Windows operating system to store random information. This file is used by Windows when there is not enough room in RAM to store this information.

If you use more than one hard drive there is an option you can use to tweak the performance of the page file. This option does not really improve performance in a two partition scenario but must be used with a secondary drive as you can move the paging file to the secondary drive leaving you c: drive free to perform other actions.

First check to make sure you have a secondary drive. You must first log in with an administrator account.

1. Click Start, Run (just Start in Vista)

2. type diskmgmt.msc, and press <Enter> to open the Disk Management utility (click Continue in the User Account Control, if prompted).

The bottom pane shows each disk installed on your system and the corresponding drive letter. When considering which drive to use choose the fastest drive to store the page file on.

Note: Internal drives are faster than an external drive in most cases.

3. Right click “My Computer” and choose properties

4. ON the system properties page choose the “Advanced” tab

5. Under performance choose the settings option and then the advanced tab on the subsequent window

6. Under Virtual Memory click Change. In Vista, deselect Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.

7. In the drive list select a partition on a different drive where you want to add another paging file

8. Select Custom size if you would like to set the size yourself and type in the initial and maximum size (Microsoft says making them the same amount is most efficient configuration)

Note: If the partition you select contains another installation of Windows you will receive an error message warning that the file pagefile.sys already exists. If the two operating systems are not running at the same time through virtualization then it is safe to overwrite pagefile.sys.

You should receive a notification upon completion that the settings will not take effect until you perform a restart.

In order to alleviate hardware issues in Windows Vista, Microsoft has added a few diagnostic utilities to aid in the detection and prevention of such failures.

To aid you in keeping your PC running smoothly without a lot of effort Vista contains several built-in diagnostics. These utilities help resolve external problems that affect the way Vista performs. These utilities provide diagnostic scenarios which include Network Diagnostics and troubleshooting—to help address the most common issues as well as other types of failure detection software.

Built-in diagnostic scenarios in Windows Vista include the following as described by Microsoft:

Disk Diagnostics. The built-in Disk Diagnostics in Windows Vista detects impending disk failures and guides you through data backup, disk replacement, and data restoration procedures. When Windows Vista detects a potential disk failure, it warns you of the problem and guides you through the backup and recovery process to minimize the likelihood of data loss.

Memory Diagnostics. Defective computer memory is difficult to diagnose. It can mimic software or operating system problems. Memory Diagnostics in Windows Vista works with Microsoft Online Crash Analysis to detect crashes that might be caused by failing memory. It provides guided support and prompts you to schedule a memory test the next time you restart the computer.

Network Diagnostics and troubleshooting. The Windows Network Diagnostics tool in Windows Vista helps you identify the top potential issues preventing network connectivity—and it automatically takes appropriate steps toward correcting them.

Resource Exhaustion Prevention. Occasionally when you are running a large number of applications, the computer will simply run out of system resources, leading to hangs, crashes, and data loss. Resource Exhaustion Prevention warns you when critical resources are low—before a hang or crash occurs. It also identifies which processes are consuming the largest amount of a given resource and helps you reclaim that resource, it logs events in the event log that include detailed data useful for subsequent analysis.

Microsoft seems to be understanding the needs of users. These utilities can aid users in resolving issues commonly faced by the end user.

Having problems with Windows Vista?

Windows Vista has a unique feature embedded in the operating system. This feature is the Reliability and Performance monitor. If for any reason you are experiencing difficulties with Vista or a third party program that is installed this utility can be used to help identify the source of the issue.

The Reliability and Performance Monitor is a Microsoft Management Console snap-in that includes tools for analyzing system performance. You can monitor hardware and application performance in real time. Also available is the ability to customize what data you want to collect. You can define custom triggers for alerts, automatic actions, generate reports, and view past performance data.

The Reliability and Performance Monitor combines many functions of previous stand-alone tools such as Performance Logs and Alerts, Server Performance Adviser, and System Monitor. It provides a graphical user interface for the customization of Data Collector Sets and Event Trace Sessions.

Reliability and Performance Monitor contains three monitoring tools to aid you in determining a root cause of performance issues such as Resource View, Performance Monitor, and Reliability Monitor. Data collection and logging is performed using Data Collector Sets which must be defined to capture any required information.

Reliability and Performance monitor will be a useful utility for identify issues that may slow performance or cause instability.

Having acquired years of experience with windows and how well it performs (or not) I can assure you it will be in my arsenal of diagnostic utilities for Vista.

Customize Windows Vista

One of the new additions to the new operating system is the inclusion of the word “Personalize” in the user interface. Inside the Personalize interface there are many features that will allow you to customize you computer so that it reflects your needs, style and taste. Some of these features encompass the ability to change the desktop background, the screen saver and Windows Vista color scheme.

Changing the Desktop Background

You can replace your current desktop background with any image that has one of the following formats: .bmp .gif .jpg .jpeg or .png. You can center the image, stretch it to fill or repeat is as many time as necessary to fill the space. You can also create your own background by using a graphic application like Photoshop.

Here’s how you select an image for your background:

Right click on your desktop, select Personalize, and choose Desktop Background

From the Picture Location select a category and click on the picture you want as the background.

If you want an image that is not in any of the categories in the Picture Location, click on the Browse button and select your desired picture.

Change the Screen Saver

Screen savers are moving pictures or patterns that are displayed on your screen whenever there is no computer activity. Screen savers have no real use, other than they are fun to watch.

To change your screen saver, right click on your desktop, choose Personalize and click on Screen Saver. Click on the drop down menu to select your desired screen saver. You can also click on the Settings… button which opens up a dialog box where you can modify with your screen saver settings.

You can also choose when the screen saver will be displayed on your screen by increasing/decreasing the minutes besides the Wait tab.

Change the Color Scheme

You can customize fonts, sizes and colors of certain interface elements by changing the color scheme. To change the color scheme, right click on your desktop, click on Windows Color and Appearance, and select Open classic appearance properties for more colors options. Choose your desired scheme and click on the Advanced… button. Here you can modify the colors and sizes of the scheme.

This guest article has been written by Nick Zara of Windvis.com – Windows Vista help, tutorial and tricks

The list below describes the top ten ways you can speed up your computer through either general maintenance or hardware upgrades. I tried to list some things other than just the obvious ones most places always list.  Now there are of course many more.

First Off, Install PC Power Suite and let it scan and optimize for you.  This will save you loads of time and really give your computer a boost of energy!

10. Check your initial hardware for possible memory, CPU, or hard drive upgrades.

9. Insure your paging files is set to one and a half times the size of the amount of ram installed. If you are using 2 gig or more of ram memory simply turn off the paging file. (To review your paging file right click my computer and choose properties -then choose the advanced tab – Then select the performance settings-slect the advanced tab and modify the virtual memory file size)

8. Run monthly system maintenance such as disk cleanup, disk check, or disk defrag.

7. Clean out your temporary internet files and cookies. (To do this open Internet Explorer and choose the tools menu- Select options- on the main page you can emty the temp files and delete the cookies.)

6. Empty the c:\windows\prefetch folder.

5. Scan your system weekly for spyware.

4. Delete any unused programs by using the add/remove programs utility.

3. Groom your Windows start up file by using the msconfig utility. (This can be done by going to start\Run and typing msconfig then select ok and choose the start up tab)

2. Update your device drivers. If you are using an OEM computer simply visit the manufacturers website for updated software and drivers. If using a custom built computer you will need to visit the hardware manufacturers support site one device at a time to obtain the latest software.

1. Turn off unnecessary services in the services manager.(To access this control panel go to control panel\administrative tools\services)

This little tid bit should allow you to boost your PC performance somewhat. The major improvements will come with hardware upgrades especially increases in system memory (RAM).

We have an entire free video set dedicated to speeding up your computer. You can watch these absolutely free right here.

Feel free to leave me some of your ideas below in the comments section.

I also highly recommend using PC Bug Doctor.  This software has thousands of common fixes built in and they will help you fix just about any computer problem via their helpdesk.  Simply the best support team online.

Patrick
PC911