by ·Comments Off on How to Setup an HTC HD7 on Windows 7
Zune with HTC HD7

Zune with HTC HD7

I have a HTC HD7 for a phone.  I’ve been synchronizing it with my Windows 7 laptop, until my laptop’s disk drive got corrupted, and I had to re-install the original manufacturer’s image on it.  When I did, I had to re-install a few things to get my HTC HD7 phone to work with my laptop again.  For my benefit, I document what I had to do and where I obtained the software to make things work again.

  1. Download and install Microsoft’s Zune software.
  2. Download and install the HTC Sync Manager.

Install these and your phone will be detected by Zune when it is plugged into your computer.

At this point, follow the setup prompts from the Zune screen:

Click Next.

Zune start of setup

Zune start of setup

Name your phone, and click Next.

Zune Name Phone

Zune Name Phone

As soon as it links with your phone, it will start doing some initial synchronization.

Zune synch info

Zune initial synch

Now click Settings.

Zune Settings

Zune Settings

You’ll see a detailed synchronization settings page.

Detailed Synch Setttings

Detailed Synch Setttings

Once you’ve made your choices, click OK and you will see the updated synchronization to match your specifications.

Zune Now Synching

Zune Now Synchronizing

That’s it!

by ·Comments Off on Free Cloud Storage Everywhere!

Cloud Storage (photo credit: Forlanda)

I’ve meant to write about this for some time.  Now is as good a time ever, especially with the recent release of Google Drive.

As of this writing, you can get several Gigabytes of cloud storage for free.  Yes “FREE”.  Everyone likes free, and this article will list several places where you can get anywhere from 2GB to 7GB of free space.

These sites offer free storage in the “cloud”:

There is another cloud storage solution called the Adrive  which provides 50GB free.  This is not a typo, it is 50GB of free storage, web interface only though with ads.  There is an app for it on Android OS, but it’s not free.

Each solution below supports the following platforms:
  • Dropbox:  Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone, Apple iOS (e.g. iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), Apple Mac, Android OS
  • Skydrive:  Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone, Apple iOS (e.g. iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), Apple Mac
  • Google drive:    Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, Android OS
  • Amazon cloud drive:  Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS (e.g. iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), Apple Mac, Android OS
  • Apple’s iCloud:  Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS (e.g. iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), Apple Mac
 Sign up for cloud storage now if you don’t have one.

Word of advice…only put files there that aren’t confidential in nature, or information you cannot afford to lose.  Also backup your cloud files to a separate external USB drive.  It will help ensure you aren’t caught unprepared if your cloud storage provider all of a sudden dissolves.

Are you using other cloud storage solution?  If so, please share.

by ·Comments Off on Tablets Computers: The New Mainstream Personal Computer
Q1 2012 PC Vendor Market Share

Q1 2012 PC Vendor Market Share (credit: Apple Outsider)

Since the introduction of the Apple iPad in April 2010, then the entry of the extremely affordable Kindle Firein November 2011, the sales of traditional computers like laptops and desktops have slowly dwindled.

Check out the graph which clearly shows the trend in sales for the Apple iPad.  Notice Q1/2010.  This is when the iPad was released.  With the exception of Lenovo, all PC vendor market shares were trending down.

Look at Q4/2011. Notice that the Lenovo market share begins to show a hint of a downward trend.  Q4/2011 was when the Kindle Fire was introduced by Amazon.com.  For $199 a pop, the Kindle Fire quickly moved up second to the iPad in the tablet computer market.

I work in the IT (Information Technology) field.  My general bias is to people who happen to have the traditional personal computer.  But, based on recent conversations with people considering a new purchase of a computing platform, most see themselves as buying a tablet computer.  The reason being is that most users have really been using computers to do one or more of the following activities:

  1. Check e-mail
  2. Stay connected via social networking
  3. Shop online
  4. Read the latest news and gossip
  5. Watch movies
  6. Listen to music

If I missed one, let me know, but based on what I’ve heard directly from people who aren’t that computer savvy, these are pretty much all they do!  If that is so, then the tablet computer is the new paradigm of personal computing.

With Microsoft joining the bandwagon of tablet computing, there is no going back.  I bet you, when the next holiday season comes a long, the tablet computer will be the number one purchase.  There will be so many tablet vendors clamoring for consumer attention that tablet features will be full while at the same time prices will be amazingly low!

This is just on the consumer side of the fence.  I’ve noticed a strong trend on the business side as well.  Where I work, the standard computing device is a Windows-based computer.  However, within the last 3 or 4 months, the strong demand for tablet computers has forced iPads into our business environment.  Note that this is an IT department who is a strong Windows proponent.  This is simply amazing.

This technological revolution can certainly be attributed to the following things:

  • The tablet operating system is extremely easy to use that even a two or three-year old could operate it.
  • The battery life of these devices blow away those of laptops.  Tablet battery lasts anywhere from 8 to 10 hours.
  • Tablet prices have been going down; for $199, anyone can have one.
  • Tablet applications are plenty and extremely cheap.  In the good old days of PC software, $20 or higher software prices were typical.  Today there are many free apps; and for those you buy, the price ranges from $0.99 to $9.99.  Most are only $0.99!

Enough of my ramblings.  The tablet trend is definitely here, and there is now getting around that.

What do you think?  Is the tablet the new personal computer?

by ·Comments Off on Who Needs Backups?
Backups

credit: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We all do!

This month has been a very busy one; as such, I have not been able to write something for April 2012; however, I did write something about computer backups on my Hubpages titled Computer Backups:  The Last Thing on Our Mind.

Check it out; it may save you some serious headache later.

I should have something in May 2012.

by ·Comments Off on Mind Map: 3 Awesome Ways to Use It

I learned about mind mapping over two decades ago.  Within the last year, it has recently come back into the scene, at least my scene.

If you are not sure what “mind mapping” is, then this is your opportunity to learn something new.  If you already know what it is and were taught to use it a certain way, you may be surprised of its other applications.

In this article, I will cover three (3) awesome ways you can use and apply Mind Mapping.  In discussing these mind mapping applications, I will cover the following areas:

  • What is mind mapping?
  • What tools exist and where can I find them?
  • What are the three awesome ways to apply it?

Mind Mapping, What Is It?

Basically, a mind map is a way to represent ideas or information where the connections or relationships between the various information is represented in a visual way. The collection of ideas all revolve around a central idea, represented by one or more words.  The act of doing this is called mind mapping.

The image below is an example of a mind map.

Example of a Mind Map

Example of a Mind Map (click for full view)

Tools That Exist and Where to Find Them?

There are many tools that exists out there to help you create mind maps using your computer.  There are two that I have personally used–both free and with wide range of platform support.

  • Freemind – open source product, available at http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page.  I personally use this on my Windows 7 laptop.  It is very high quality and certainly does the job.
  • Mindjet – this is a free product as well; it is available on various platforms including tablets (iOS or Android based); it is available through their respective app stores

Three Awesome Uses

The original intent of mind mapping was to map ideas and how they connect/relate to each other.  That hasn’t changed, but it can be used from a  slightly different perspective, making it an indispensable tool.  Below are three awesome applications for this tool:

  • Brainstorming–out of ideas?  use a mind map to come up with new ideas
  • Taking Notes–it doesn’t have to be as linear as traditional notes; makes for easy review
  • Project Planning–if you don’t want to miss crucial project details, use a mind map

Brainstorming

I do a lot of writing.  When I want to write about a particular topic, sooner or later, I run out of things to write about.  When I discovered mind mapping as a brainstorming tool, I no longer experience this problem, because the best way to come up with new ideas and other ideas related to it is to brainstorm using a mind map.
Give it a try and you’ll see how well it works.  Believe me it definitely works.  Through mind mapping, a topic which seems pretty limited will quickly open up into various areas you may not have ever thought about.  When you mind map, new ideas can easily come to mind because you are forced to think of other things related to the topic at hand.
Here’s an example of a mind map I built to help me figure what to write on a topic related to “casual running”.
Running Mind Map
At first I thought I didn’t really have much to write about, but then after doing a mind map, I can see that I have more than enough topics to write about.

Taking Notes

Traditional note taking can be messy.  On top of that, the act of jotting down information the old fashion way is very linear.  This means if I want to add another piece of information into my notes, I would have to figure a way to squeeze it into my hand written notes.  If I’m using a note taking program, I would have to find the line where i want to insert it and type it in.  Finding that line might take a bit of time.
Now, try taking notes using a mind map!  Whether you do it by hand or using an application, the experience is totally different.  I personally feel like it doesn’t matter if I missed jotting down something in the early parts of note taking, because I know can quickly find the place where I want to insert it when the time is right.  I certainly don’t want to miss key information during note taking when I get busy trying to figure out where to put a bit of information; and this can easily happen using the traditional methods; but not as easily on a mind map.
Anyway, with a mind map you can start at the center of the page with the central idea.  From there, bits of information can be connected in a radial way.  Although nothing is linear, it has a clear structure.
I’ve personally have done this during a webinar.  It works great!

Project Planning

What is the one thing that worries you the most when project planning?  For most of us, it is the thought of missing a critical piece of the overall project.
The act of using a mind map helps draw out all aspects of a project.  There is just no way around that.  When you start mind mapping, ideas can flow from map nodes that already exists; in other words, existing information can help trigger the thought of  related or relevant information or activity.
Below is an example of a mind map for a desktop deployment project:
Project Mind Map

Project Mind Map

Conclusion

Mind mapping is the act of using a mind map to graphically draw out an idea or concept.  It is a very versatile tool.

You can do this by hand, but there are many tools out there that can facilitate the creation and saving of mind maps.  The two free tools mentioned here are MindJet (for Android) and FreeMind.

A mind map is not simply a tool for mapping concepts and ideas, but can easily be adapted in various ways.  Three awesome and very practical applications of it are:

  • Brainstorming
  • Taking notes
  • Project planning

How have you applied mind maps?

by ·Comments Off on Why Traditional Radios are Passe
Traditional Radio

Traditional Radio (credit: zirconicusso from www.freedigitalphotos.net)

During the 70s, 80s, and even 90s, FM and AM radios were prevalent.  People used them regularly to listen to music.  There were many type of radio stations–with each station specializing on a genre of music.  People used to turn to radio stations for their preferred music.  If you were within reception range of  your type of music, you are in luck.    This means you can listen to music you like.  However, if you only had a couple of radio stations within reach, more likely than not, it  wasn’t your type of music, and probably had to purchase a few albums or CDs to listen to your favorites.

I was one of the lucky ones, but I was at the mercy of the radio station’s programming.

Fast forward to 2012.  Today people listen to their music everywhere!  Thanks to a development called MP3 player which were later popularized by Apple through their line of iPod devices.  Of course this is still not the same.  You still had to purchase music, thought not as expensive as before.

I too own an iPod player–specifically an iPod Nano.  I use it to listen to podcasts and music during my long runs.  That’s not quite the same radio experience though where everyone in the room can hear the type of music they enjoy from various artists they like without first purchasing the music.

Just last year, I realized what had replaced the radio in my life–Internet radio, specifically through services like Pandora.com.  What makes this experience similar to a radio is the emergence of tablet computers.  I know you can do this through laptops, but that seems overkill.  With tablet computers, you can play the type of music you like simply by having an account with Pandora.com and entering the name of the artist or song you like.  From there, Pandora does the rest.  You can even  fine tune it to the point where you click the thumbs up or thumbs down button in Pandora to help it determine your music preferences.

I started using my tablet computer like a radio last year just after Thanksgiving.  We used to tune into a radio station which played Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving, all the way to Christmas.  They played it 24×7.  A few months earlier my wife bought me a tablet computer, and I decided to use Pandora.com to play the music she liked to hear.  From that point on, we were hooked.

Today and on most weekends, I use my tablet computer to play a certain kind of music that everyone in the family likes.  I leave it on during lunch while everyone enjoys their meal.  The beauty of using the tablet computer as a radio is its battery life.  My tablet can run for over 8 hours without a recharge!  It is certainly better than a laptop computer.

Bottom line is that the traditional radio is obsolete, especially for playing music in the house.  In my house, the radio has transformed into Internet radio on a tablet computer.

 

 

 

by ·Comments Off on How to Deal with Scare Ware

Have you ever browsed the web then suddenly noticed that your computer is telling you it is infected with all kinds of virus and malware?  And here’s the funny thing…you didn’t even know you had this particular antivirus program!

Here’s another funny thing.  If you opt to fix the infection, it asks you to buy a program.

Don’t fall for it.  Instead turn off  your computer right away (hard power off–hold power down for at least 10 seconds) .  Why?  Because you want to stop your computer before the virus or malware embeds itself in startup process; this will make the malware persistent between computer reboots!

Once you’ve turned off you computer you can do one of the following things:

  • Scan your computer in safe mode.
  • Initiate the recovery of your computer
And for your other computers, you may want to begin backing them up, if they get infected in the future.

Scan In Safe Mode

Turn your computer on in “Safe Mode”.  Do this by pressing F8 a few seconds after you power on but before any sign of Windows shows up on your screen.  In Windows Safe Mode, your computer just runs the bare essentials of the operating system.  So even if the malware was able to embed itself into your computer, it would just lay dormant.

Now do the following to begin finding and removing the pesky virus or malware:

  1. First, using another computer, download the latest Microsoft Malware Removal Tool.  Use a thumb/flash drive to transfer and run it to the infected computer.  Hopefully it detects and removes the malware.  If not, continue to the next step.
  2. Next, if you have an antivirus software, run it and do a full scan of your computer.
  3. If you don’t have an antivirus software, see if you can download one using another computer and use a flash or thumb drive to transfer the program installer to the infected machine.  Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)  antivirus is free, and could easily suffice for this purpose.  Use it to do a full scan of your computer.
  4. Finally, using another computer download Malware Bytes, and transfer it to the infected machine using a thumb/flash drive.  Like MSE, Malware Bytes is also free.  Install it then run a full scan of the infected computer.  Malware Bytes is one of the best detector and remover of fake antivirus.
  5. If none of the above detect and remove any virus or malware, then you may have to start the built-in recovery process–the last resort.

Initiate The Recovery Process

When you buy a new computer, it normally comes with a separate drive which holds a copy of the manufacturer’s base image of the original computer.  Each computer model has its own way of reaching the recovery process.  There are three types of recovery methods in order of impact severity (low to high).

  1. Re-install the operating system using the recovery volume
  2. Re-install the operating system using the recovery volume drive image

    Recovery on an HP Ultrabook Folio 13

    Recovery options for the HP Ultrabook Folio 13

  3. Re-install the system, C drive, and recovery volume using backups you made long ago

Re-installing the operating system using the recovery volume has the least impact of all.  It retains your data, but restores the operating system to its pristine state; however, you’ll still need to install your programs.

Re-installing the system using the recovery volume drive image completely overwrite drive C on your computer.  You will lose any data (documents, pictures, videos, etc.) you ever stored on drive C.  Make sure you do this only as a last resort.

If the recovery volume is damaged, you will need to restore the system, drive C, and the recovery image using the backup you made long ago.  Hopefully you created one.  If you have other computers, I suggest backing them up before the same thing happens to them.

 Creating a Backup Image for a Computer

A backup image is an exact copy of your system, drive C, and possibly your recovery drive.  On Windows 7, you can start the backup image creation process through the control panel.

Backup and Restore

Backup and Restore: Creating a Backup Image on Windows 7

Next select System and Security, then Backup and Restore.  From there, look at the left column and click Create a system image.  The video below illustrates how this is done.

If you’ve been infected by fake ware, please share us your experience below.

by ·13 Comments

My grandson loves to play with our Apple iPod Touch.  He plays all kinds of games which keeps him entertained.  Most recently, we received an email that said there were purchases of some coins in a game called Monster Mayhem.  The charges ranged from $19.98 to $99.99 made through iTunes.

We thought, how can this be?

Come to find out, our iTunes account had in it a specified credit card–probably from long ago when the account was first created.  My grandson, in the course of playing Monster Mayhem, touched some buttons which activated the purchase of thousands of coins needed to enable various options in the game.  Note that we didn’t even know this until we got the email notification about the purchase.

Undoing the In-app Purchase

The first thing we did was to see what we can do on iTunes to undo the purchase.  We followed the instructions but the online links just goes around in some circular link reference.  We could not find the place where we can undo the purchase!

Next we called up our credit card company to dispute the charges.  Since the charges weren’t really fraudulent, the credit card company didn’t refuse the charges, but they did get me in touch with Apple customer service.

I received instructions from the Apple support representative on how to undo the purchase.

Apple Contact Us page

Apple Contact Us

  • Go to the Apple.com support page
  • From there click the Contact Us link
  • Next click the Express Lane for iTunes Player and iTunes Store
  • From the product categories tab, click iTunes, then iTunes Store, and select Purchases, billing, and redemption; click Continue
  • You will then be taken to the issue description page, select “my topic is not listed” and provide a short description of your topic.  I used “unintentional in-app purchase, need to undo”, then click the ENTER button.
  • You’ll need your order number to complete the rest; make sure you have them
  • Upon completion of the process, you will get a case number; you will also get an email

For our case, the response to the problem was quick and sent via email.  They credited my credit card and added credit to my iTunes account.  Whew!  I’m glad it’s over.

That takes care of undoing the in-app purchase.  Now on to preventing future unintentional in-app purchases since I know my grandson will continue to play games on the iTouch.

Preventing Future Unintentional In-app Purchases

Part of the response Apple sent us were instructions on how to prevent unintentional in-app purchases.

Before doing this, the smartest thing to do is to remove any trace of your credit card on your iTunes account.  This is the sure-fire way of avoiding unexpected iTunes purchases.

However, if you do occasional purchases, you’ll want to follow the instructions we got from Apple.

To prevent In-App Purchases from being made in the future, you can block them on your iOS device by following these steps:

  1. Tap Settings on your device’s home screen.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap Restrictions.
  4. If necessary, tap Enable Restrictions and enter a pass code. This pass code will prevent restrictions from being disabled without your permission.
  5. Scroll down to the Allowed Content section. Switch the In-App Purchases option to OFF. Enter your Restrictions pass code if prompted.

That’s it!

If you found this tip useful, please share and comment below and let me know.

by ·Comments Off on Free Online Training: Grovo.com
Grovo.com course tracks

Tracks available on grovo.com

In today’s technology rich world, there are many tools available to everyone.  Yes, everyone is using it, but not to their full potential.  Tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube are some of the more well-known Internet tools or applications out there.  You can learn them on your own by buying a book, or simply doing your own experiment by hunting and pecking at the various options there.  Or you can go to a site like grovo.com and get free online computer based training.

I opt for grovo.com.

Here’s why:

  • It’s free (or you can upgrade to a premium plan, but free will serve most people’s needs)
  • It’s always available and it tracks your progress.
  • They have course tracks which are groups of courses designed to help you in a particular area of interest (e.g. blogging, social networking, beginning Internet, and so on)
  • Include quizzes to test what you’ve learned.
  • Best of all, it’s free!  Oh yeah, I already mentioned that.

The courses are accessible from any computer or tablet.  I didn’t notice any apps for the android or iPad, but I’m sure that isn’t very far behind.

I’m not trying to sell Grovo.com, but I like anything free.  Check it out.  Right now I’m in the Twitter track.

Are you using Grovo.com to improve yourself?  If so, which track are you in?

by ·Comments Off on Re-installing Windows 7 on a Dell Inspiron M5040
Dell Inspiron M5040 Laptop

Dell Inspiron M5040 Laptop

Just a week or so ago my daughter’s laptop–a Dell Inspiron M5040–was hit by one of those fake antivirus.  She was browsing one of those sites which provides access to movies that haven’t been officially released yet on DVD.  Based on my experience, those sites are typically untrustworthy and are infected with fake antivirus.

If you are ever infected, the best thing is to do a cold shut down of your computer (just turn it off; not a normal shutdown).

Not knowing enough on how and what these things can do, she did a restart of her computer, which is one of the things you don’t want to do in such a situation since that pretty much gives the fake antivirus running in memory permission to embed itself into the computer’s registry, ensuring its persistence between boots.  When her computer completed the restart, it continued to report that there were some problems on the computer, requesting a scan of the computer to fix the problems.

I tried to do a recovery through one of the repair options of the computer, but did not succeed.  I wanted to use the built-in recovery image from the disk drive, but for some reason, I could not see it nor could I find anything that allows the system to reload the manufacturer base computer image.

At this point, I realized that the best way to fix this was to simply re-install Windows 7 from a DVD.  I was able to complete this, but Windows 7 can’t seem to detect the following:

  • Video driver for the display on the Dell Inspiron M5040
  • Network ethernet adapter driver
  • Wireless LAN adapter driver

One would think that dell.com would make these drivers easy to find, but no luck.  After multiple searches, I eventually found the drivers at driverswin.com.  These were the drivers I used to get my daughter’s laptop looking and working right:

You should take this approach only if you cannot recover the image from the computer’s existing recovery volume.

Let me know if you find this useful by commenting below.