Because of my background in computers and IT, I get asked a lot of “How do I…” questions regarding people’s PC’s. I’ve found one website in particular helpful with respect to these questions: HowToGeek.com

For the things I can’t remember off the top of my head or for the how to’s that are easier explained with visual aids, I search for the issue on this website and almost always find the answer. If you find yourself answering others’ How To PC questions all the time, or have those questions yourself, you should check it out.

For example, today I showed a coworker how to set the default Word 2007 save file type to .doc (instead of the original default which was .docx).

I was signing up for the play station network earlier today and the username “mofomon” was taken.

who took it?
how can this be?

Oh well, I had a backup!

I just spent the last hour yelling at my TV while playing one of the world 3 levels of Mario Bros Wii. So great yet so frustrating at times.

Speaking of Mario, check out this Mario Game Family Tree

I have a Google Wave invite to give out. Who wants it? best comment with a one liner joke gets it.

Now that Windows 7 is being sold on PC’s, time to explore what the best utilities are to keep your Windows machine in shape.

Check out this article I wrote outlining the Best Windows 7 Utilities.

How to view hidden disconnected devices in the device manager on Vista?

In case you ever need to uninstall a device that is no longer connected to your Windows Vista machine, here is how you enable viewing of these devices in the device manager:
Go to Control Panel
System
Advanced System Settings
Environment Variables
New ( user variables if just for you or system variables for all users of your computer )
In the Variable Name box type devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices and in the Variable Value type 1.
Then you need to OK it twice.

Now return to the Device Manager, click on view, and show hidden devices.
The Hidden/Disconnected devices will now be displayed in gray. Have fun right clicking and uninstalling.

Have Windows XP or earlier? Try this:
Go to c:\windows\system32, find cmd.exe, right click and choose “run as administrator”
In the command window which opens, type:
Set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 (press enter)
Devmgmt.msc (press enter)
In the device manager window which opens click View=>show hidden devices.

Came across this great article that discusses tips and tricks to save battery power on your smartphone. It has general tips and then tips broken down by phone type / OS type. Some of the tips include turning off extra services when you aren’t using them (like GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G), tweaking your back-light to be slightly dimmer or turn off quicker, and some apps that will put your phone into a deeper “sleep” mode or turn off signal searching when you’re in an area with no signal.

Check it out - Saving your smartphone’s battery life (via lifehacker)

Recently I was upgrading my computer and when restarting it took longer than usual I had a short panic attack that I may have corrupted my hard drive and lost everything on it (you know photos, papers, that nasty email I saved from my ex-bff…).  What was worse is that I realized that I hadn’t backed up my data in over 2 years!  My computer ended up booting up just fine but this quick scare was enough to get me to look into the best ways to back up my data.  Here is what I’ve found:

• There are two types of backups, File backups (backing up folders and files) and Full image backups (backs up your entire computer’s “image” meaning you can restore your computer exactly to the way it is now, settings and all).
• You can use the built-in windows backup utility for this (here is another guide for that)
• You can also use various software suites to do your backups (like syncback) and here are a few guides for that: guide 1, backup software guide 2. 

You can store your backups on DVD’s or an external hard drive.  I will be doing a little of each.

This site has a test which plays a tone usually only heard by those under 25 years of age.  Can you hear it?  I did.

Apparently this sound is being used in places where they want to prevent the youth from loitering… how awful.

• Can you hear it?

When I first started hosting my own blog I was a little weary about upgrading Wordpress.   I wasn’t sure why I should be doing it and manually upgrading it was just a pain.  I was worried that I’d accidentally miscopy files, or delete files, and screw up my entire infrastructure.  Now, I know upgrading is vital…

• Why?  Security Patches! As hackers find security holes, wordpress releases patches to close these vulnerabilities.  The last thing you want is a hacker taking over your website causing you to lose control, goodwill, and advertisers.  Secondly, wordpress is also releasing new features to make your life easier…  Who doesn’t want to make their life easier?
• How?  Wordpress Automatic Upgrade Plugin!  This plugin allows for one click easy upgrading of your wordpress engine.  With this you pretty much have o excuse to not upgrade, it even provides options to backup parts of your blog in case something goes wrong.  Just as a quick note, I usually disable the plugin when I’m not actively upgrading (no need to have it running). 

Happy Upgrading.