18-26 Gadget Survival Guide

Picture this...


You're getting ready to go to college or university. You know you're budget is going to be tight over the coming years, but you know you need the right equipment to get you through!


What do you do?!


First things first... don't panic! Theres absolutely nothing to panic about! Sit yourself down in the quiet for an hour or so, grab a pen and paper (yup... to solve your tech needs you'll need a pen and paper) and analyse and evaluate your potential circumstances.


Good questions to bear in mind:
1) Location - Where are you going to be the most? Classes, Bedroom, Library?
2) Activity(s) - What are you going to be doing the most? Internet, Word processing, programming, media?
3) Frequency - How often will you be doing said activities? Hourly, daily, weekly?


Going from what we considered earlier this week when selecting a Computer/Laptop, remember the criteria! Know the terminology and understand the specifications. Have a budget and stick to it. Be prepared to compromise.


Laptop or Desktop?... both?
Power and performance or battery life?
Price or quality?


If you can afford it, and if you're smart about it, you could get away with both a Desktop to do the bulk of your work, and a simple standard laptop to give you that mobility factor.


Obviously If you can't... you cant. But one thing I will suggest is if you go for the Laptop, get the following:
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Monitor
- External Hard Drive


These additions will prolong the life of your laptop and heavily reduce the wear and tear!


Think Smart. You're Welcome.

Cavtec Systems Limited

Cavtec Systems Limited, established 1991. Providing the finest quality computer support and additional services to Small Medium Enterprises and Home users. Newcastle upon Tyne, London and East Grinstead.

http://www.cavtec.co.uk

admin@cavtec.co.uk

Following on from yesterdays post...

This isn't a ploy to get you to buy anything, its just some information and insights for your reference. Yesterday I outlined the criteria that you should use. We'll bear that in mind always. Sometimes you might get a smaller hard drive in the refurb/open box, but it might be worth the compromise. It takes a lot to fill 140GB!


Here's an example following on from yesterdays post.


NEW Samsung R540 - http://bit.ly/kwmqi1 - CCLOnline - £414.13
Intel Pentium Dual Core (P6100) 2.13GHz 
4096MB 
640GB 
15.6 inch WXGA LED 
WLAN 
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit 
(Intel GMA HD Integrated) 
(Silver)


Refurbished - Cavtec - £359.99


It really does pay to ask! You're welcome.


Cavtec Systems Limited

http://www.cavtec.co.uk
admin@cavtec.co.uk

Buy IT smart

A very simple, yet very misunderstood concept.


"Buy cheap, buy twice!"


However... "Buy smart. Enjoy."


When it comes to buying a computer/laptop or anything like that, it really does pay to do you're homework first and don't get sold on the first thing going. There are few points to consider:

1. Know the criteria - CPU, RAM, OS, HDD etc... know what they are, get specifications, know the criteria!
2. Set a budget - Compare prices
3. Use "trade-offs" - learn to compromise, but do it effectively. Some things just shouldn't be compromised. Aesthetics Vs performance Vs value for money...? You need to be realistic.
4. Evaluate your needs/wants

Following these simple principles will allow you to be better prepared for your next tech purchase.

Another thing to bear in mind... Refurbs/Reconditioned or "Open-Boxed" goods.... This stuff will save you a fortune! Its surprising just how many of us will go out and buy the latest item, but only to realise that in 6 months (even less) its out of date! If you see something you like, great. Wait. Be patient. It will come down in price a lot and you can save a few £££££'s. Alternatively, ask about for Open-boxed goods or refurbs of your desired item. Said goods are heavily reduced, due to a corrected fault, aesthetic damage or other description. Again, learn to trade off, compromise on what you want Vs value for money.

Just something for your to think about.

Cavtec Systems Limited

Cavtec Systems Limited, established 1991. Providing the finest quality computer support and additional services to Small Medium Enterprises and Home users. Newcastle upon Tyne, London and East Grinstead.

http://www.cavtec.co.uk

admin@cavtec.co.uk

The Internet: Principles of how it works : How to Manage it

A lot of Internet users these days dont really understand how it all works. Im not talking about your broadband connection, WiFi or anything else like that, I'm talking about the principles the Internet and how it works.


In the simplest of terms...

1. You connect to the Internet
2. In the form of a URL (e.g. www.cavtec.co.uk) you request information pertaining to that domain from the server where the files are hosted
3. The Server "serves" you the requested pages, which are then downloaded through your connection to the Internet to your PC/Laptop/Tablet/Phone
4. Through your website browser, the files are then presented on your screen along with any data or information.

This is the general concept of the Internet and how you use it to request and navigate websites.


So what about those files you downloaded to view a website...?


They form your Internet History/Temporary Internet Files/Cache/Images/databases etc....


When you surf for a long time, requesting page after page, loading image after image, you use up a lot of space and sooner or later your computer/device is going to use up a little too much space! So how do you rid yourself of this redundant data?


There are programs out there that with a simple click of a button with do it for you. I'll explain the long-winded method after this. Programs like Ccleaner or Glary utilities will sort you out. The are completely free to download and use with options to Donate if you so wish. Its recommended that you run these programs once a month (or as often as you like!).


Ccleaner - Now also available for Mac


Glary Utilities


If you're the sort of person that likes to know whats going on with their computer and likes to stay in control of things, this is how you can do it.

1. Open your Web-Browser (or browsers) of choice
2. Find the Options or Tools menu
3. Find within there the Clear Browsing History/Delete Browsing History
4. If there is an option to specifiy when to clear from/upto set it according to your own preference.
5. Close your Web-Browser(s)
6. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Run "Disk Cleaner"
7. Tick all the Check-boxes to ensure you clean up everything.

After you have either ran the downloaded programs or cleaned it up yourself, its always recommended to perform a Defrag : Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Run "Disk Defragmenter"


Hope this helps!

Cavtec Systems Limited

Cavtec Systems Limited, established 1991. Providing the finest quality computer support and additional services to Small Medium Enterprises and Home users. Newcastle upon Tyne, London and East Grinstead.

http://www.cavtec.co.uk

admin@cavtec.co.uk

Make the most of your Microsoft Windows experience

Are you making the most of your Windows experience? 


I know for a long time now, I have only really known the basic shortcuts when using the OS (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, etc...). Yet for the longest time, when setting up a PCs/Laptops, or finding information on my own system, I would go the long way. Why!? Why should we have to when there is a whole dictionary of shortcuts and key combinations that allow us to navigate around our systems so much faster!


The following shortcuts we taken from: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449


Windows system key combinations
F1: Help
CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
ALT+F4: Quit program
SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently
Windows Logo+L: Lock the computer (without using CTRL+ALT+DELETE)

Windows program key combinations
CTRL+C: Copy
CTRL+X: Cut
CTRL+V: Paste
CTRL+Z: Undo
CTRL+B: Bold
CTRL+U: Underline
CTRL+I: Italic

Mouse click/keyboard modifier combinations for shell objects
SHIFT+right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
SHIFT+double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
ALT+double click: Displays properties
SHIFT+DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

General keyboard-only commands
F1: Starts Windows Help
F10: Activates menu bar options
SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
CTRL+SHIFT+ESC: Opens Windows Task Manager
ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
ALT+SPACE: Displays the main window's System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)
ALT+- (ALT+hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window's System menu (from the MDI child window's System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window)
CTRL+TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
ALT+F4: Closes the current window
CTRL+F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
ALT+F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)

Shell objects and general folder/Windows Explorer shortcuts
For a selected object:
F2: Rename object
F3: Find all files
CTRL+X: Cut
CTRL+C: Copy
CTRL+V: Paste
SHIFT+DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
ALT+ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object
To copy a file
Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.
To create a shortcut
Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

General folder/shortcut control
F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer)
F5: Refreshes the current window.
F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer
CTRL+G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only)
CTRL+Z: Undo the last command
CTRL+A: Select all the items in the current window
BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder
SHIFT+click+Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

Windows Explorer tree control
Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection
Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection
Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection.
RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child
LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent

Properties control
CTRL+TAB/CTRL+SHIFT+TAB: Move through the property tabs

Accessibility shortcuts
Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off
Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: Toggles FilterKeys on and off
Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: Toggles ToggleKeys on and off
Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off
Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off

Microsoft Natural Keyboard keys
Windows Logo: Start menu
Windows Logo+R: Run dialog box
Windows Logo+M: Minimize all
SHIFT+Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all
Windows Logo+F1: Help
Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer
Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders
Windows Logo+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop
CTRL+Windows Logo+F: Find computer
CTRL+Windows Logo+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)
Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialog box
Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item

Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType software installed
Windows Logo+L: Log off Windows
Windows Logo+P: Starts Print Manager
Windows Logo+C: Opens Control Panel
Windows Logo+V: Starts Clipboard
Windows Logo+K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialog box
Windows Logo+I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box
Windows Logo+A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)
Windows Logo+SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys
Windows Logo+S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off

Dialog box keyboard commands
TAB: Move to the next control in the dialog box
SHIFT+TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialog box
SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option.
ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)
ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button
ALT+underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item

Cavtec Systems Limited

Cavtec Systems Limited, established 1991. Providing the finest quality computer support and additional services to Small Medium Enterprises and Home users. Newcastle upon Tyne, London and East Grinstead.

http://www.cavtec.co.uk

admin@cavtec.co.uk