The Teaching Box

The Future of Online Learning, Education and Technology

Which Browser should I Use?  How Do I clean up my internet surfing history?  This video will answer both of these important questions.   

I agree with the author in this video.  He says that it is best NOT to use Internet Explorer, although it is already installed it is the slowest of all browsers.  He recommends Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera.  I personally have not used Opera, I have tested Google Chrome, and found it pretty good.  I use Firefox almost exclusively.  This is mainly due to the extensive variety of Plugins that are available. 

I would recommend that you try them all and see what you like.  They are all web browsers, but they do have subtle feature differences.  The bottom line is that to have the Fastest computer Do NOT use Internet Explorer. 

The second half of this video talks about cleaning up your Internet Browsing.  Cleaning up your browser history is a good practice from a speed perspective as well as a security one.  The author of the video talks about Internet Cleaner.  It it a good program, although it is Not free.  This program consolidates the cleaning of your internet browsers across all the browser platforms.  If you are not willing to pay for such a program of course all of the browsers have internal utilities to clean up.  A little searching around the internet and you can discover how to perform this task manually. 

So here is the video, only one more left to go in the series!

Speeding it up: Internet Browsers and Internet Cleaners

The type of Internet Browser you use can make a huge difference in how fast your computer can respond to the Internet.  We’ll explore how using other types of browsers will allow you to have a faster surfing experience, and yet a more secure one.  Did you know that everytime you visit the internet, your computer saves all those pictures and data to your computer?  Eventually your computer becomes this huge wasteland of files you don’t need.  Learn how to remove those unwanted files.

 Here are the Six Video Topics with links to the ones we have covered thus far:

  1. Introduction
  2. Spyware, Malware, Trojan Horses
  3. Antivirus and Firewalls
  4. Speeding it up:  How to speed Vista up
  5. Speeding it up: Internet Browsers and Internet Cleaners
  6. Speeding up:  Start Up Programs, Defragging, Buy More RAM
Share/Save/Bookmark

 

There are many tips and tricks on Windows Vista.  This next video will add to this knowledge in order to help your PC run as well as possible. 

This video is specific to Vista, but the underlying information is also applicable elsewhere.  The ability to disable "eye candy" features will always help your computer run faster, regardless of the operating system.  I do similar tweaks to my Windows XP installations.

I know lots of people who bought computers when Vista first came out, and they have systems with 512MB - 1 GB of memory.  This is the absolute minimum amount of memory to have running Vista.  A memory upgrade is first and foremost what you should do to speed up ANY computer, but if you are not able to increase the amount of memory you will need to conserve what you have. 

In this tutorial you will learn the basics on how to return the look of your PC to the Classic look of windows, thus saving memory and speeding it up.  If performance is more important to you than fancy looks and visual features this video is for you.

Speeding it up:  How to speed Vista up

If you’ve used or owned Vista, you know that Vista uses a lot of RAM or memory because the design and way it was created.  However did you know that there are small tweaks you can make to Vista that will speed it up?  You’ll learn just that in this video.

Here are the Six Video Topics with Links to the ones we have covered so far:

  1. Introduction
  2. Spyware, Malware, Trojan Horses
  3. Antivirus and Firewalls
  4. Speeding it up:  How to speed Vista up
  5. Speeding it up: Internet Browsers and Internet Cleaners
  6. Speeding up:  Start Up Programs, Defragging, Buy More RAM
Share/Save/Bookmark

Having a reliable Antivirus program installed on your computer is NOT an option in these days of high speed internet.  In the third episode of the Tune Up Your PC Video Series you will learn about Antivirus software and Firewalls. 

This author likes Avast Antivirus (the free version), and shows its basic operation.  I personally use AVG Antivirus, (the free version) and have had great success.  After viewing this video, I will be trying out Avast.  

He talks about using the free version of Zone Alarm as a firewall.  Using a NAT router makes a Firewall not totally necessary, but having one can save a person who is not very internet savvy.  If you are running Windows XP or Vista you will already have the Built-In Windows Firewall installed by default.  Whether or not you use a firewall, I like his simple and straight forward explanation of how a firewall works.  It’s all about education of users, right? 

So without further delay here is the Video!

Antivirus and Firewalls

What about protecting from outside attacks?  …and viruses?  Like I said earlier.  Most people have antivirus softwares, but a lot of people forget about a personal firewall.  Especially if you use wifi and you’re computer is not protected by your router’s firewall, how will you monitor people or programs trying to get onto your computer? 

Here are the Six Video Topics:

  1. Introduction
  2. Spyware, Malware, Trojan Horses
  3. Antivirus and Firewalls
  4. Speeding it up:  How to speed Vista up
  5. Speeding it up: Internet Browsers and Internet Cleaners
  6. Speeding up:  Start Up Programs, Defragging, Buy More RAM

Enjoy the Video!

-Loren

Share/Save/Bookmark

SpySpyware, Malware, and Trojan Horses - three things that should strike fear into the PC user.  Learn what these are, and how to NOT get them.  TheTeachingBox is happy to present the next installment of this great educational video.

The first installment was popular, and here is Video #2 in the Tune Up Your PC Video Tutorial Series.

As with the Introduction Video, this again is a basic introduction into the concept of these three evils that can infect your computer.  I believe the author does a very good job of describing this threat, what it does, and how to deal with it.  

He talks about Keeping Spyware out of your computer and mentions my personal favorite program (Spybot Search and Destroy).  I have had great success with this program, and best of all it is FREE!.  He also mentions Spy Sweeper as a good tool.  To be truthful,  I was not impressed with Spy Sweeper when it first came out a few years ago, but I have read good things about it of late, so I would recommend it if you want to head down the Pay route for Spyware protection.

So without further delay, here is the Link to the Video:

Spyware, Malware, Trojan Horses

Have you experienced un-necessary popups that come out of nowhere when you are simply surfing the web?  Or has your Internet surfing experience slowed down to a crawl?  It’s possible it is your connection, but if it used to be fast and now it’s slow…the problem is likely to be spyware, malware, or some sort of trojan horse.  Now, while you don’t need to know those technical terms, these types of security attacks, generally run behind the scenes on your computer, w/o appearing to you.  Their job is to spy on your, your important data, and what you type, and send it back to the hacker.  So while you can speed up your computer by removing them, you will also protect your personal data.

In order to keep you interested, and coming back.

Here are the Six Video Topics:

  1. Introduction
  2. Spyware, Malware, Trojan Horses
  3. Antivirus and Firewalls
  4. Speeding it up:  How to speed Vista up
  5. Speeding it up: Internet Browsers and Internet Cleaners
  6. Speeding up:  Start Up Programs, Defragging, Buy More RAM

Sit Back and Enjoy!

-Loren

Share/Save/Bookmark

TheTeachingBox.com is proud to present the Tune Up Your PC Video Tutorial Series.  Part 1 - Introduction

In the ongoing battle to help you keep your computer running at peak efficiency I will be rolling out a series of videos.  This  is a series of 6 tutorials.  They come from a series called PC Tune Up. 

I consider the content of these videos basic computer knowledge that everyone should have.  I encourage you to follow along with this series.  I was very pleased with the quality of the videos, and the content. 

As with some of my earlier postings, these are flash videos, so they should play easily on your computer.  They stream well, and I have them open in a new window so you can focus on the content.

Because TheTeachingBox.com provides a focus on Teaching and Technology, these video tutorials are a perfect fit with this theme.  If you are interested in your own personal copy of the tutorial set it is available for a small fee at my store:  EbookPackageDeals.com

Here are the Six Video Topics:

  1. Introduction
  2. Spyware, Malware, Trojan Horses
  3. Antivirus and Firewalls
  4. Speeding it up:  How to speed Vista up
  5. Speeding it up: Internet Browsers and Internet Cleaners
  6. Speeding up:  Start Up Programs, Defragging, Buy More RAM

I will be starting out with the Introduction, not the most exciting of the videos, but in it you will get some useful background information. 

1) Introduction

You’ll get an introduction of your computer, how viruses and malware can affect it, and the basic understanding that is necessary before we move onto the rest of the video series. We’ll also talk about different types of security attacks so you know what to expect.  It’s better to know what to expect than not know at all.

Sit Back and Enjoy!

-Loren

Share/Save/Bookmark
Subscribe to The Teaching Box