Staying Connected

Tips to Speed Up Your Computer - Maintenance

Computers must be maintained regularly or users will notice a decrease in performance.  Below are some routine tips that can help speed up your computer and increase performance.

1.) Use Disk Cleanup to free up disk space

The hard disk can become bloated with unnecessary files which slow down the computer. Disk Cleanup is a good tool to free up disk space and help increase performance.  Use Disk Cleanup to empty the Recycle Bin, remove temporary Internet files and other unnecessary files.  For average users, Disk Cleanup should be performed once a week.

To launch Disk Cleanup:

Windows XP:  Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. 

Windows Vista/Windows 7:  Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.

 

2.) Check the hard drive to see if Disk Defrag is needed

New Computer not as fast as you like?

The ConnectWise Engineers are finding ways to tweak out all the performance on new computers where they can. Most of the business class machines we install today just come with the standard integrated on board graphics card, and they work pretty good in a business environment. But, users that like to have lots of windows open may notice that the screen seems to drag at times, which is typically a result of having Aero Glass turned on (by default in most cases). Scott on our help desk makes this great recommendation to tweak your graphics settings on a Vista or Windows 7 computer for optimum business performance by turning off the full Aero Glass effect. 

How do you do this? Pretty Simple, these settings can be found in the control panel under System > Advanced System Settings

Cloning...It's Not Just for Sheep Anymore.

Have you ever downloaded a program from the Internet and found out that it is an .ISO file rather than an .EXE or .ZIP?  Maybe you’ve tried to install software from a server because the disk wasn’t available but again found that you couldn’t do anything with an .ISO file.  The reason is that your operating system requires an .ISO file to be loaded from a disk drive like your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

Here are your options.  If you are running any Windows OS prior to Windows 7, then you must acquire .ISO burning software.  You cannot simply copy the file to a disk; it will not work.  You must acquire and use .ISO burning software.  That is inefficient and wastes a disk when you don’t need to. if you are running Windows 7, you can use the built-in software to burn the .ISO image to a disk, then install the application from the disk.  That is a little better, but still takes time that is unnecessary and uses a disk when you don’t need to.  The best option is to mount a virtual drive.

An easy way to do that is to use Virtual Clone Drive produced by Slysoft.  Virtual Clone Drive is free to download and use.  What it does is creates a virtual drive that the .ISO file can be mounted to, then installed from.  This prevents you from having to burn the .ISO file to a disk before installing.  This is very convenient for any time, and it is a life saver when you do not have a disk with you to burn to.

Your iPhone sync appointments with Exchange have the wrong time?

Here is a quick tip for iPhone users that our Help desk recently came across: If your iPhone is being synced with an Exchange server, and your calendar appointments don't match up to the correct time, check the timezone support under Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calenders and make sure they are configured for the correct timezone.

Looks like the issue is corrected in the latest version of the iPhone (3.0), but if you have an older device (and not upgrading) this may prevent you from pulling your hair out (or missing that important haircut appointment!)

Use Microsoft Streets and Trips for Your Business

Let’s say you make deliveries or you have a sales team that does onsite visits.  Microsoft Streets and Trips can help you create efficiency in those routes.  If you have to make multiple stops, you can enter in all the addresses on the side, then click “Optimize stops”.  Streets and Trips will then calculate the most efficient route for you.  This is a great way to reduce the amount of time and gas that it takes to complete the stops. 

Each route will show the addresses in order of the most efficient path, the driving directions including turns and mileage, and a map with the route highlighted.  There are plenty of options in Streets and Trips including an automated calculator that will determine how much fuel will be used based on the MPG that you enter in.  You can also enter in the current cost of gas and it will determine fuel cost as well.

Click image to enlarge

 You can make preferences on route selection based on quickest or shortest.  In other words, taking the interstate might be 1.5 miles longer, but because you are driving at 65mph, you get to your destination 10 minutes earlier.  You just click which one is more important to you and it will optimize accordingly.  You can also base your preferences on road type.  So if you are towing a large trailer and you want to avoid high speed roads altogether, you can set that preference as well.

With a single click, you can download updates to the map that will reflect current road construction updates.  You can also click to show nearby places, then select the categories of nearby places that you want to see on the map.  Categories include gas stations, ATM’s, restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, paid parking lots, and more.

And of course once you are done with your planning, you can either print everything out or send all the information to your cell phone or to a GPS device.  If this is a route that you run regularly, or if you just want to keep track of your trips, you can name and save the route so you can open it up later.  You can get everything that is described in here for $39.95.  There are other versions that cost more and do more.  You can check out all the options at Microsoft’s Streets and Trips webpage.

Check Your Work Email From…Anywhere

Did you know that OWA (Outlook Web Access) is available to you if your company uses Exchange or Hosted Exchange?  OWA allows users to check their work email from anywhere that has an Internet connection. 

When you login, it will look just like your Outlook that you are used to seeing.  You will have all of your emails in your inbox, sent items, public folders, custom folders that you have created, etc.  Also, all of your calendar items, contacts, and tasks will be there.  If you make any changes, then when you get to the office, you will see those changes.  Likewise, if you make any changes at the office, when you check your email via OWA later that day, you will see those changes as well.  This is a great way to keep in touch, no matter where you are.  Here’s how to use it.

For those who use the Hosted Exchange service:
Open up your Internet browser and type in webmail.connectwise.com.  That will take you to a login page.  Enter your email address and password, and you are in.  Easy!

For those who are using your own Exchange server:
By default, Exchange automatically sets up OWA and it configures OWA to be reachable by the following web address – https://mail.yourdomainname/exchange. There a couple of points to notice here.  First of all, the beginning of the web address is different than usual.  You are used to seeing http. This starts out with https.  If you type "http://" instead of "https://", it will not work. 

Secondly, the “yourdomainname” part of the web address is the last part of your email address.  If your email address is JDoe@acmewidgets.com, then your OWA web address would be https://mail.acmewidgets.com/exchange.   Enter that in your Internet browser address bar and the login page should pop up.

Keep in mind, this is the default setting for Microsoft Exchange.  The setting can be changed, and some companies choose to change the web address for reasons that work for them.  If you follow the above instructions, and the login page for OWA does not show up, then your Exchange settings may have been changed.  In that event, talk to your network engineer and find out what your OWA web address is.

Gazopa Helps Find Similar Images

Gazopa is a newcomer in the field of search engines, but what makes it unique is that it looks specifically for images that are similar to a defined picture.  So if you have or if you found a picture of someone riding a horse, but it isn’t exactly what you are looking for, you can use Gazopa to find other pictures on the web of people riding a horse.

When you first go to Gazopa.com you will see that there are different options for selecting the original key image.  You can either upload an image that you already have, you can paste in the URL of a picture, you can actually draw an image using a basic art-draw utility, or you can search by keyword.

Gazopa is only in Beta right now, but it is accessible to the public and anyone can use it for free.  I took it for a test drive, and it was fun, but still needed some work.  What the engine thinks is similar and what I think is similar can be two different things.  The engine takes into consideration things like color, size, shape, tone, etc.  The subject of the image is not always the top priority.  For example, I uploaded a picture of a tall, oval standing penguin that had tones of black, white, gray, and blue.  The results I got back were pictures of other penguins, some buildings that were tall and oval shaped, a kid wearing a blueish-grayish snow jacket, and other such images. 

Nonetheless, I will probably use it from time to time just for fun, and to help me think outside the box, but I will be happy as time goes on and the core search engine gets better at making more accurate matches.

SharePoint: Connect your Outlook to your SharePoint calendar

If you're a user of SharePoint, and have a calendar to keep track of events or even shared schedules in SharePoint, here is a short (15 minute) training course from Microsoft to link Outlook & SharePoint together.

What would you gain: plenty! By connecting the SharePoint Calendar to your Outlook, you would be able to:

• Perform side-by-side viewing with your main Outlook calendar.
• Use Outlook to edit SharePoint items directly, even if offline.
• Copy items between the two calendars
• Get reminders for SharePoint calendar items

Check out the training course, with animations on how to do everything at: http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC102550981033

Was this tip helpful or do you have any comments? If so, please leave a comment below!

Power of SharePoint: Tips & Tricks with Documents

If you use Document Libraries in SharePoint, then here are a few handy tips for using SharePoint in the browser or Office 2007 programs:

• Use the power of search

SharePoint has a pretty powerful search index, allowing you to search not only for titles of a file, but the content of the files. It takes too much time to open files one at a time. Use the search box, filtered to your Document Library to make quick work:

Power of SharePoint: Versions in Document Libraries

So yesterday we discussed under utilized features of SharePoint Document Libraries and covered the reasons to use the check out feature. Today I'm going to cover another cool feature, Version Tracking.

In SharePoint, you have the ability to enable versions on a document library by document library basis. Versions allow you to go back in time to review or restore a document to an older version. You would be amazed at how a file can change over time. You may not even recognize it! So how do you take advantage of versions?

Power of SharePoint: Document Libraries

One of the most under-used features of SharePoint are Document Libraries. Everyone know to use them to store documents, but did you know the power of the Document Library?

The 2 most under utilized features are Check Out/In and Version history. In this post we will talk about the basics of using a document library and some reasons to use the Check Out/In features.

My new Toy... TripIT.com

If you know me, you know that recently I have been a traveling fool. I have taken three trips so far this year, and I have 2 more to go that I know of, not as many as many Road Warriors in my Company, but more than I have ever done in my life.

In the past, I would have posted travel details to my Outlook calendar to have in my phone and created word documents with all of the details to carry with me... that is up until this past June when I found a travel organization gem called TripIt.com

Heads Up Photophiles!

If you haven’t heard about Snapfish yet, you need to check them out.  They offer great ways to organize, share, and enjoy your photos.  You can upload, edit, and arrange your photos then share them with friends and family.  You can create collages and slideshows.  If you want a calendar with photos of your grandchildren for each of the months, you can do that too.  Coffee mug with a panorama of your favorite ski resort?  Check.  It’s easy to sign up and easy to use. 

Use Color Categories to Quickly Identify Outlook Objects

Most people do very well when it comes to recognizing visual cues.  That is why Outlook has color coded categories built in.  However, many people don’t know how to effectively use them.  Any object in Outlook that can have a category assigned to it.  Objects include emails, contacts, calendar appointments, and tasks.  All you have to do is select the object, then click the Category icon.  You will then see the dialog box where you can select which category you want to assign to the object. 

Afterward, the color code will show up next to the object.  If the object is a calendar appointment, then the description block on the calendar will be that color.  By default, the category colors are named according to their color.  That is not very helpful, so there is a way to edit the category names to represent something more meaningful.  Again, click on the category icon.  But this time, when the dialog box opens, click once on a color, then click the rename button.  You can then change it to whatever makes sense for you.  If you run out of colors, you can click New and add a new category color and name it. 

By doing this, you can take a quick glance at your objects and determine what they are and make quicker decisions and better plans.  Someone wants a meeting at 10.  I have two appointments in my calendar, one for 9 and one for 11.  But they are both orange, so I know those are teleconferences.  I can go ahead and commit to the 10 o’clock because I know there is no drive time involved with my other two appointments.  And I can do this without having to open up each appointment and review the details.

Sometimes the inbox can become visually cluttered.  Using this system allows you to see at a glance what action needs to be taken or what the email contains.  RSVP, call back, proposal, and signed contract are just some examples of categories that you might use to help color coordinate your emails.  When you color code your Outlook objects into categories, you end up with more meaningful information quicker.

Save Time: Add Shortcuts to Send To Menu

I'm always looking for tips, tools, or anything to make my job easier.  Here's a great time-saver tip for you.  Did you know that shortcuts can be added to the Send To menu?  If you're not familiar with the Send To menu, you can access it by right-clicking on a file in Windows Explorer and selecting Send To.  You may have thought 'what you see is what you get', but the menu is completely customizable.  Huh?  Yes, the Send To menu can include shortcuts to printers, disk drives, Windows-based programs, compressed (zipped) folders, mail recipients, the Desktop, and the My Documents folder.

To add an item to the Sent To menu is simple.  Just open the Send To folder and drag the item you want to add to the menu into the folder.  For an example, below are instructions for adding a printer.  I know, you can already right-click on a file and select Print, but that only prints to your default printer.  What if you want to quickly print to a nondefault printer?  You can add a nondefault printer to your Send To menu and save time by not having to go through all the steps to print to it.

1. Open the Send To folder.  For XP users, navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\SendTo, and for Vista users, navigate to C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo.

2.  Next, navigate to the Printer's folder showing you the printers available for your machine.

3. Find the printer you want to add to the Send To menu, and drag and drop it into the SendTo folder.

 

Now, you can quickly send a file to a nondefault printer by right-clicking on it, selecting Send To, and choosing the printer.  You can also add other items such as drives and folders.  I hope this tip saves you some time!