Windows Live Photo Gallery

Do you have trouble keeping your digital pictures organized? I used to, but not since I found Windows Live Photo Gallery. This free software from Microsoft has caused me to un-install the previous camera-maker brand software I used to use (Nikon, Canon, etc.).

Download Windows Live Photo Gallery

Since installing the software, I plug in my camera and the computer automatically groups the pictures by date/time taken, and presents me with a small window to label each one of these groups (to make finding the pictures easily later, I use the format: 2008-08-03 Family Vacation). After you click Import, it creates folders with the group names you used, and imports the pictures from the camera to your computer. It even remembers what it has imported, so it won't duplicate your pictures the next time you connect your camera! After the import is done, it opens Windows Live Photo Gallery, and displays the pictures you just imported. Easy peasy!

Microsoft did a great job with this software, and I highly recommend it to make your photo organizing easier.

How do I read this?

A few of you have commented to me that you like the blog, but want to know whether you can receive updates when I add a new post. Well, the answer isn't all that simple, but I'll try to answer it anyway ...

I like to use something called Google Reader to aggregate all of the blogs that I read. All you need is a free Google account (you already have one if you have a gmail address). You can check it out at http://reader.google.com/. This is really handy because you can open your Google Reader page daily to read all of your favorite blogger's updates in one place. Once you've set up your Google Reader page, just click the orange square with white radio waves on any page that you'd like to subscribe to.

There are also client apps, and other web-based readers to choose from: List of feed aggregators - Wikipedia

Support Available

I've added a new feature to the blog, which is called Support Available. Basically, it's a cool calendar widget that shows hours that we are available to come do computer work. Simply e-mail support@dmlcc.net to reserve a time. Look on the right side of the page, at http://blog.dmlcc.net/.

Extra Credit

I subscribe to the Kim Komando weekly e-mail newsletter (one of my favorite sources for computer information). Kim has a talent for taking complex computer issues, and making them easy to understand for the average person. Here is a link to subscribe to Kim's Weekly Newsletter.

This week, Kim mentioned the ability to use the computer to get a free credit report. This has been around for a few years. You are entitled to a free report from each of the three credit bureaus once a year (which translates into a free report every 4 months if you plan accordingly). Be sure to use AnnualCreditReport.com, which is the ONLY government-mandated site for free credit reports. Stay away from other sites promising "free" reports.

Thanks to Kim Komando for this information.

Security Software - The Big 3

In order to keep your computer free of viruses, trojans, spyware and hackers, you need to make sure it has the latest security software. The "big 3" security pieces are anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware. I recommend the following FREE products for your home computers:

AVG Anti-Virus

ZoneAlarm Firewall

Windows Defender Anti-Spyware

Don't Forget to Back Up

No, not the DMV driver's test ... I'm talking about backing up your important files (documents, e-mails, contacts, pictures, music, etc.) that are sitting on your hard drive. If your drive crashed, those precious files might be lost forever!

PC World - Store It on the Web

I have tried Xdrive, and liked it. You get 5GB for free, and can purchase a 50GB plan for about $10/month. I highly recommend the online backup method, and would be happy to help get this set up for you.

Power interrupted?

You know what I'm talking about ... your power flickers off and back on every week or two. Or worse, the power fluctuates a little bit. Electronic devices (especially computers with an internal power supply) don't like this fluctuation. Wouldn't it be great if there was something you could buy (for less than fifty bucks) to keep your computer safe from such power struggles?

APC™ Back-UPS ES 350 Battery Backup, BE350R, 350VA/200 Watt

Plug your computer into this handy device, and if you lose power for more than 5 minutes, it will shut your PC off for you (using a USB connection and software you install on your PC). If this sounds too complicated, let me know and I can install it for you.