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What's New With Microsoft Office 2010?

If you own a computer then I don't need to explain what Microsoft Office is. The word processing, email organizing, spreadsheet creating, and power point presenting office suite has done it yet again! Microsoft has come from what was once just a word processor to a complete office suite of useful applications. If your familiar with Office and haven't upgraded yet, than I bet your wondering what's new?

What's New With Microsoft Office 2010?

Depending on what version of the Office suite you purchase, this will determine exactly what's in the box. It looks like the designers of Office have put a lot more effort into the look and feel of Office 2010. Not only is it "prettier", but they've also made tools and functionality a lot more accessible throughout the suite. For instance, in Office 2010, Outlook has gotten a complete overhaul making the application so much easier to use, easy to add accounts, create signatures, manage contacts and update your calendar. Word and Excel have a great tabbed design making all the other features easy to find. Each tab displays all the different functions and tools you can use in your documents or spreadsheets. Another great application in the suite that doesn't get much attention is One Note. One Note is a planner and note taking application. This makes it so much easier for a quick post-it entry and for managing your schedule.

Should I Upgrade?

Coming from Office 2007 myself I have to admit I was a bit weary on upgrading to the new 2010. My concerns were migrating my email over, and usability. If you currently are using Office 2007 you won't be seeing to much of a startling difference, but if your a pre '07 user than I believe you'll need sometime to learn where everything is at. Regardless, I can tell you that I enjoy the software, it was simple to move my mail over, I lost no data and now I am a 2010 believer.

More Information

For more information checkout the Microsoft Showcase online.

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Symptoms of an Overheating Computer

Computers have a shelf life like all electronics. Desktop computers seem to run a longer than notebooks due to design. Most computers systems will give you a 4 - 6 years depending on you. Computers can last much longer with preventative maintenance and careful use.

An overheating computer can give you multiple symptoms and errors. When a computer is over heating, it is hard sometimes to tell what's going on whether it is software or hardware related. Despite the obvious, a hot or running loud machine, there are many other symptoms an overheating computer will give you.

For example:

Symptoms of Overheating

- Turning off on its own
- Not wanting to boot up after it turns off
- Freezing
- Blue Screen
- Is hot to the touch
- Loud fan running
- Frequent memory errors

So, one question you probably want to ask next is, What Causes Overheating? A computer can overheat because of poor maintenance, neglect, gaming, hot environment,  or the failing of a hardware component(s).

The Dangers of an Overheating Computer are, the system will run noticeably run slower and / or you may even damage the motherboard, CPU, graphics card, and or other components.

Now the big  question is, How Do You Fix An Overheating Computer? To answer your question in short is prevent it from happening. Preventative maintenance like, frequently blowing out your computer with canned air, and keeping your notebook on a hard, leveled surface can do wonders. If you begin to notice any signs of overheating don't wait to the last minute, get it diagnosed  by a computer repair shop immediately. By doing so you will avoid much more heartache.

Before you move on to fixing it yourself here are a few tips before you begin disassembling  your computer. First download Speed Fan, the software will pickup the sensor readings on your computer if any and display the core temperatures of various components. Also, if you have a notebook try purchasing a cooling pad. Lastly, make sure you are dealing with a heat issue and not something software related. Run a virus and spy ware scan if possible. I recommend using AVAST! and Malware Bytes, both have free versions, are very useful, and well trusted programs.

For the Do It Yourself-ers the first thing you should probably do is purchase canned air if you don't have some already, Also, your going to need a screwdriver (see your computer for size and shape) and some empty work space. If you are new to taking your computer apart and don't feel comfortable doing it then call a computer repair technician or computer repair shop to help you out. What you want to do is, just get into your computer enough to find the clogged air vents and pathways.What you want to do is hold the canned air upright and spray them down generously removing any dust. If this is a desktop, this can be preformed pretty easily. For a notebook, turn it over on its back (seeing the battery or serial number) and spray any fans or air vents you see.

This is the easiest way to cleaning up an overheating computer. For more information, please visit us at our website - Computer Repair in Austin . Also, for computer repair video tutorials visit us on you tube. Remember, follow us on twitter for free computer tech tips.

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Issues with Google Chrome

I'm sure you've heard of Google Chrome, the popular Google search engine web browser. A lot of you have probably already downloaded it. If you have downloaded and used Chrome than you've probably experienced many of the issues I'm about to discuss.  I don't know why Google would release a browser so soon knowing there were so many issues with it. Chrome, Google's browser debut, was supposed to be something a lot more than it's really turned out to be. Users of Chrome have reported multiple bugs. Some issues users have reported are hardware, network, site display, and even installation issues. If we aren't able to install the program what good is it to us? Seriously, Google has some the most talented programmers working on advanced algorithms for their search engine, but it looks like they didn't spend much needed time with Chrome.


I guess you can say I am bitter because I expected a lot more from Google. I hope they are working to improve things. I would like to see Google Chrome work for all of us. It's has a  sleek interface, it's fully customizable, and the add-ons are great, but for now, I think I'll stick with Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla may not be as fancy as Chrome but Firefox is very stable. You can download Mozilla Firefox from this website. If you have any questions please visit our website at Computer Repair Austin.

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R.I.P. Notebook PC - Will Tablet PC's be the end for Notebooks?

Will the lightweight, affordable, and 4G Tablet PCs be the end for Notebooks as we know it? The release of the IPad and Galaxy gave us a new door into the digital world. 

It's hard to believe we lugged around a 5lb clunker at all. I personally don't think it's the end for all Notebooks though.Computers have evolved so much from punch cards to being pretty much everywhere in today.  What the the Tablet PC provides us with is another cool gadget to add to our collection. By no means should they replace your everyday computer. Some people have asked me "Why even have a Notebook now?" and my response remains the same - you cant get the full computer functionality that you get with a Notebook PC on a Tablet PC. If you go over the system specifications of a tablet and compare it to a Notebook PC the Notebook will run circles around the Tablet any day. I mean, who wants to type a 500 word blog post on a touch screen? Some of us have touch-screen smart phones and we already know how difficult of a task it is just sending a text.

Now I don't want to turn you away from Tablet PCs either, just use them as you should. My idea of owning a Tablet PC would be for a quick Internet search, social networking, or as lightweight entertainment. Just like any other gadget, I'm sure you'll find a purpose for it. Already there are so many different Makes and Models since the Ipad was released. Every heavy hitter is now getting into the game and releasing their own Tablet PC. Samsung's - 4G Galaxy has the epic Android OS! The operating system a lone is brilliant, but to take the experience we get with our Android enabled phones and put it on a Tablet PC is too cool to say the least.

If your interested in purchasing one just remember to read customer reviews and product specifications.

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How to Add Signatures in Outlook

In Outlook, we are able to add an email signature to new and reply messages. To do this its simple. No matter what Outlook version you are using, the setup is generally found in the same place. Please see the instructions below to setup your new signature in Outlook.


Outlook Signature Setup

1. Open Outlook, navigate to tools - options - mail format - signatures

2. Now select NEW to create a new signature. Here is where you can begin to design your signature. You can add text, pictures and hyperlinks.

3. Once you have created your signature click SAVE. At the top right corner you will see your email accounts. Select an account and select the NEW and REPLY signature you would like to use.

This is it, we are done. I hope this has been helpful for you.

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Bad Ram a Jama - How To Test Your Ram

Testing your RAM (Random Access Memory) is essential to your computers overall health. Testing your computer's RAM will allow you to see how much RAM you really have and if it may be damaged.

RAM is an essential component that your computer needs. Your computer uses RAM when running programs and or necessary tasks while your computer is on. This means, if your a multi-tasker and run several programs simultaneously then your computer will require a decent amount of RAM (2GB at least) to perform smoothly. For the average computer user, testing your RAM should be done quarterly in a year. Like any other electronic device, RAM can short out or simply just fail. Hardware failures happen all to often.

Computer Repair in Austin Texas. Please see instructions below to test your computer's RAM.

1. Assuming your computer is already booted up and on the desktop, right click on My Computer and select properties.

2. Select the General Tab. Here  you can see your computer's available RAM. RAM is measured in MB for megabytes and GB for gigabytes.

3. To see the usage of how much a particular process or program takes, back on your desktop hit CTRL | ALT | DELETE. This will open Task Manager. In Task Manager select the Processes tab to see the current memory usage for each process.

4. Now that we understand what RAM is and what it does we can move on to testing our RAM. You will need to download a tool first online. For the MEMTEST86+ test tool please click the link.MEMTEST86+ is a standalone program, It does not require the use of an operating system.You can download the ISO file (Image File) and burn it to a disc using INFRA RECORDER or download the executable file installable on Windows.

5. However you decide to install the application the final step is to run the application MEMTEST86+. Follow the on-screen prompts. If you have any questions, refer back to MEMTEST86+ website or our website Computer Repair in Austin

I hope this helps, please remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For Computer Repair in Austin Texas and its surrounding areas please visit IT Conflict at Computer Repair Austin

Mac or PC?

I get asked which of the two is a better purchase, PC or Mac? My response is generally the same with every circumstance. To answer the question, it's really up to you. If you have been a PC user your entire life and Windows is the only operating system you know, it would be a BAD choice to switch over to Mac. My recommendation would be to stick with PC. Same as if you were a Mac user interested in the Windows world, stick with what you know until you get some hands on experience working with either OS (Operating System).

I am a PC user but to be in the field I'm in you have to be well versed with all computers and operating systems. I do own an old G4 iMac and once I learned my way around the Mac OS in my opinion it's not to bad. It really all depends on you. Take sometime to stop by an electronics store to play around with their computers on display. Open a file, create a text document or browse the internet. Give yourself sometime using the OS before you make a costly decision. Believe me, I have seen people with expensive paper weights sitting on their desk literally collecting dust.

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My computer is slow...

When is it slow? When you power on your PC? While browsing the internet? These are a few questions I ask before I proceed with troubleshooting. A few things to consider when asking these questions are, How old is my PC? When's the last time I had it serviced?


Computers are just like cars in the sense that they need regular maintenance. Set aside an hour or two a week to clean up your computer of temporary internet files, history, cache and cookies. I use CCleaner for this. The program can be found all over the internet.  Just by running this software once a week you can dramatically increase the speed and overall performance of your system.

CCleaner Download

Another thing to consider is avoid cramming your system with programs you don't use, and data you probably don't care to have. Perform your house cleaning. I run through my system deleting old files, folders and even emails I no longer need to have. Once a month I go through my installed Programs and remove any that I no longer need nor want.

Last thing I wanted to mention to speed up your PC is start-up programs. Start-up programs are programs installed and configured to launch themselves in the background when turning your PC on.  For the most part all of these can be remove but please use your best judgment. Anti-virus programs will be configured to start-up with your computer as well so be careful not to remove any of their components.

To do this - Click start, then click Run and type msconfig

This will launch the Microsoft System Configuration Utility

Click the Start-up tab and remove what isn't needed

 

Thanks for reading. Hope this helps!