<![CDATA[Techmonkeys.co.uk]]>

<![CDATA[Techmonkeys.co.uk]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/ Tue, 22 May 2012 20:16:35 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[How to make a website in under 10 minutes]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=14 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:24:43 +0100 Techmonkey http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=14
So I thought I would make a very quick blog post on how to create a fully functional website in under 10 minutes.

Step 1 - Get some hosting with cpanel access

There are lots of companies out there offering unlimited bandwidth and unlimited space for next to nothing. This is all very nice but when you are running a website the most important things are reliability, support and features.

One of the most important features in a web users arsenal is CPanel. Cpanel is a control used to maintain and manage all the different parts of your hosting account from web sites, to ftp to email addresses.

TSOHost are one of the cheapest and most reliable hosting companies I have personally come across that offer all the features mentioned above and more, all for £14.99/year

Step 2 - It's fantastico!

Once you have your hosting account, log in to your cpanel and click on the fantastico icon

Step 1 - Get some hosting with cpanel access

Step 2 - It's fantastico!

Once you have your hosting account, log in to your cpanel and click on the fantastico icon

Now click on Wordpress on the left hand menu, choose New Installation from the menu on the right. Choose the domain you want to install on from the drop down menu. Type in the directory you wish to install it in to. Enter a username and password you wish to use to log in to your new site with. Give your username a nickname. Enter your email, the name of your site and a description.

Click Install Wordpress.

Done!!!

That is literally it, your website is now fully operational and your ready to login and do what you want with it.

You will need to buy a domain name if you dont already have one, so you can do that through many companies including 123-reg.co.uk

- Techmonkey
Happy Surfing!]]> <![CDATA[How do I make a website? - A Newbies Guide]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=13 Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:21:51 +0100 Techmonkey http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=13
Let me start by saying I am no expert in web development and design, but I do know how to get started with basics and that’s what I intend to share in this blog post.

So How Do I Make A Website?

As with all things there are many different ways of setting up a website, in this blog post I will discuss the 2 main ways which I shall call The Manual Method and The Easy Method.

If you have no interest or have no time to start learning how to program and script a website using code then it is advisable to skip straight to the Easy Method, however if your wanting to get in to making websites properly it is advisable you go down the Manual route.

The Manual Method

Creating and setting up your first website manually needs to be split in to 5 parts;

Design
Development
Hosting
Domain Name
Search Engine Listing & Links

Design

So before you head off to register domain names and planning what your site will be used for, the first question you need ask is "What will my site look like?".

If like me your about as graphically talented as a house brick then start by making simple sketches of the basic layout of the page using pen and paper. Doesn't matter how crude they are as long as you get the idea.

Make sure you take in to account things like headers, banners, footers and menu systems as well the obvious content. Take a look at other websites to get ideas of nice layouts and what works or doesn’t work.

You know have 2 choices you can either attempt now turn this in to a good looking digital image by designing it in your favourite graphics package or ask someone to make the digital design for you.

Unless you have a good friend who also happens to be an excellent freelance designer then your unlikely to find anyone to do this for free, so one of the best places you can get paid for services is freelancer.com. It is essentially an eBay for work. You post up what it is you want done and how much your maximum budget is, then designers bid for your work saying how much they will do it for.

When using a site like Freelancer.com then make sure the person your hiring to do your design also is willing to slice the images up for you in to template files. 1 big image is no good to you as when developing your site you will need it split in to smaller parts to allow you to put the images as backgrounds to the webpage content.

As with eBay make sure you check out any work they have done before and check their feedback before choosing who want to do your work.

Development

So you now have your design of what the site will “hopefully” look like, now you need to develop the site in a to functioning page or set of web pages.

The problem is that if you have never made a website before then you are going to have a pretty steep learning curve as you need to now know how to program in a minimum of HTML and CSS. However if your wanting to make a website that can be added to easily and updated simply then your going to need a server side scripting language also such as PHP or ASP. As well as these you will need a functional knowledge of backend databases like SQL.

Of the above the ones I would recommend learning at the HTML, CSS, PHP and MySQL as these are all free technologies and the tools needed to develop and administer them are also free.

Now if all that looks a little daunting then it is understandable, but start with the html and css tutorials in the links above and then work your way through to the PHP and SQL stuff after.

Hosting

Once you design and development are somewhere near your going to need somewhere for your website to live so that it is accessible by the world via the internet.

There are ways to host the site yourself, but doing this is generally unreliable and slow for the other users to access.

What I will be explaining here is how to use a hosting company instead. There are a lots of hosting companies out there. Some very expensive, some very cheap, all offering different levels of service, support and reliability.

I have tried many of these hosting companies form the ones that charge a couple of pounds a month to the likes of Rackspace who charge thousands of pounds per month. However are more orientated to businesses and offer a service second to none.

The hosting company I like most is TSOHost.co.uk I came across this company after getting fed up with a succession of unreliable cheap hosting. Their prices are very fair, but more importantly their hosting is fast, reliable and their support is faultless.

With most hosts you are offered 2 main types of hosting. Windows or Linux. If you have decided to learn ASP then you will need a Windows hosting account, however if you chose to learn PHP then Linux or Windows will do, but generally the Linux hosting is the one you want as traditionally it is cheaper and more stable.

For most people choosing TSOHost.co.uk the “Lite” package will be more than adequate. 0.5Gb of space may not sound like a lot, but unless you planning on hosting movies and/or pictures then it will be plenty of space for a website.

The main things your looking out for when choosing a hosting company and package is that they support the technologies your using ASP or PHP and that they offer access to the server control panel.

Once you have your hosting package then you need to upload all your files for your website to the host. This is done using FTP normally and your hosting company should provide with an ftp address and username/password. You will need FTP client program and one of the best around at the time of writing is FileZilla, it is simple and intuitive to use.

Domain Name

At the moment you will only be able to access you website by visiting a strangely worded url eg: http://www.tsohost.co.uk/~techmonk. Obviously telling people this URL is not going to roll off the tongue so what you need a domain name that is unique to yourself. A domain name is the name of your URL eg: http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk

With domain names you don’t buy them outright instead you rent them for a period of a year or more from a Registrar company. The one I normally use is 123-reg.co.uk. There are lots of registrars out there and they all charge different prices, but I find 123 Reg the easiest and well priced registrar around.

So head to their website search the domain name your wanting to use. The chances are your domain name will be taken so spend a little time thinking of alternatives and trying variations of the domain name you want adding a hyphen (-) if the name is two words etc. Try to avoid long complex domain names though, when you think of one before you register it think about how it sounds when you tell someone it. You don’t want a domain name that is complex to spell or explain to someone.

Search Engine Listing & Links

Now you have your shiny new website working with it’s lovely design and unique domain name and all your all ready to roll, but how do people find your site. How do you get Google to find you and Yahoo , Bing, Ask etc.

The first step you need to take is submitting your site to the search engines which is essentially telling them your site exists and they may want to start looking at it (also known as indexing).

These are the links you need for submitting your site to the various search engines:

Google: http://www.google.co.uk/addurl/
Yahoo: http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ukie/express/splash.html
Bing: http://www.bing.com/webmaster/SubmitSitePage.aspx

Ask however is different and the way to get on Ask is also a good way to move up the ranking with the other search engines also.

What you have to do is to get other sites to link to your site. There are lots of sites out there that offer link exchanges whereby you link to them and they will link to you. However it is better to try and get links from sites that are on a similar subject matter. For example I run a tech support site specialising in Virus removal so I got links from sites such as http://www.vitalsecurity.org, merijn.org (the original creator of HiJackThis), and various others.

Getting these sites to link to you is only a matter of contacting the owners and seeing if they are willing, you will get lots of No’s but 1 or 2 yes’ can make a big difference.

The more sites that link to you, the more important the search engines will begin to think your site is and the further up the listings you will move.

There are many more techniques to getting high rankings on search engines and lots of other methods for making sure your site is found, but to cover them here is not feasible. Instead do a little research on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

If all of the above seems like far too much work then you may want to use

The Easy Method

These are steps need to get a website off the ground quickly and simply with little or no knowledge of programming, scripting or design.

You do still however need to look at the steps above concerning, hosting , domain names and search engines, however this method takes the bulk of the hardwork off your hands.

What you will need is a CMS system and access to a wide range of templates.

Content Management System (CMS)

Many years ago people started realising that users did not want to start learning how to program just to get their websites online for the world to see. Likewise if someone had already made a good method of designing and managing a website why should you need to do the same, why not share the wealth of their knowledge.

With this in mind people started releasing pre made website engines that had everything you needed to make a website, but with the ability through control panel to simply modify and change the look and content of the site. These are called Content Management Systems and are normally referred to by the initials CMS.

There are lots of CMS’ out there, some very good, some very bad, but the main one I like to use for a general website is WordPress. Wordpress is primarily designed to make blogging sites, but can be tweaked and modified to make any type of website.

Another benefit of the Wordpress system is that there are a wide variety of plugins that allow you to add new features and content to your site, also a huge library of free templates available meaning you can change the look of your site at the click of a few buttons.
Setting up a Wordpress site couldn’t be simpler. You need some hosting first (see above) then simply head http://www.wordpress.org and download the latest version.

Once you have the download, unzip it to a folder on your PC then using your FTP client upload the contents of the unzipped folder to a directory on your host.

Now using your web browser head to your domain name followed by “/wp-admin/install.php” eg: http://example.com/wp-admin/install.php

Now simply follow the on screen instructions and your off ? See told you it was simpler ?

IF you need more detailed instructions on setting up and configuring Wordpress the best place to go is their help files which thankfully are nicely laid out and easy to use. http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page

If you have more questions about hosting or setting up your website then please don’t hesitate to post a question on the Techmonkeys webpage where one of our users will be only too happy to help.

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If you found this information useful, please take a moment to leave a comment.

- Techmonkey
Happy Surfing!]]>
Let me start by saying I am no expert in web development and design, but I do know how to get started with basics and that’s what I intend to share in this blog post.

So How Do I Make A Website?

As with all things there are many different ways of setting up a website, in this blog post I will discuss the 2 main ways which I shall call The Manual Method and The Easy Method.

If you have no interest or have no time to start learning how to program and script a website using code then it is advisable to skip straight to the Easy Method, however if your wanting to get in to making websites properly it is advisable you go down the Manual route.

The Manual Method

Creating and setting up your first website manually needs to be split in to 5 parts;

Design
Development
Hosting
Domain Name
Search Engine Listing & Links

The Easy Method

These are steps need to get a website off the ground quickly and simply with little or no knowledge of programming, scripting or design.

You do still however need to look at the steps above concerning, hosting , domain names and search engines, however this method takes the bulk of the hardwork off your hands.

What you will need is a CMS system and access to a wide range of templates.

Content Management System (CMS)

Many years ago people started realising that users did not want to start learning how to program just to get their websites online for the world to see. Likewise if someone had already made a good method of designing and managing a website why should you need to do the same, why not share the wealth of their knowledge.

With this in mind people started releasing pre made website engines that had everything you needed to make a website, but with the ability through control panel to simply modify and change the look and content of the site. These are called Content Management Systems and are normally referred to by the initials CMS.

There are lots of CMS’ out there, some very good, some very bad, but the main one I like to use for a general website is WordPress. Wordpress is primarily designed to make blogging sites, but can be tweaked and modified to make any type of website.

Another benefit of the Wordpress system is that there are a wide variety of plugins that allow you to add new features and content to your site, also a huge library of free templates available meaning you can change the look of your site at the click of a few buttons.
Setting up a Wordpress site couldn’t be simpler. You need some hosting first (see above) then simply head http://www.wordpress.org and download the latest version.

Once you have the download, unzip it to a folder on your PC then using your FTP client upload the contents of the unzipped folder to a directory on your host.

Now using your web browser head to your domain name followed by “/wp-admin/install.php” eg: http://example.com/wp-admin/install.php

Now simply follow the on screen instructions and your off ? See told you it was simpler ?

IF you need more detailed instructions on setting up and configuring Wordpress the best place to go is their help files which thankfully are nicely laid out and easy to use. http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page

If you have more questions about hosting or setting up your website then please don’t hesitate to post a question on the Techmonkeys webpage where one of our users will be only too happy to help.

---------

If you found this information useful, please take a moment to leave a comment.

- Techmonkey
Happy Surfing!]]> <![CDATA[I have a virus, how can I get rid of it?]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=9 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:41:03 +0100 Techmonkey http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=9
The problem is in 3 parts

All viruses are different and range from easy to remove to "almost" impossible.
No single program will remove all viruses.
Even if a program does appear to have removed your virus it may still be lurking in the background.

All viruses are different and range from easy to remove to "almost" impossible.
No single program will remove all viruses.
Even if a program does appear to have removed your virus it may still be lurking in the background.

All viruses are different and range from easy to remove to "almost" impossible.

Asking how to remove X virus from your system is like saying, how do fix my car?

It entirely depends on what car you have and what problem it is. There are also lots of ways to acheive the same thing.

There are some tools that are used as standard by the AV experts when it comes to removing viruses, but without a thorough checkup of your system these tools are not flawless.

The programs generally used by the experts are:

Combofix: http://www.combofix.org/
MBAM: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
HiJackThis: http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/
Spybot Search & Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org

There are many others but these are the most common.

It should be noted though that some of these programs, notably HiJackThis and Combofix, should only be used under the guidance of a malware expert

No single program will remove all viruses

There are litterally hundreds of AV programs available, all with their own benefits, abilities and success rates.

However the one thing that is true with them all is that, no one program can kill all viruses. The reason for this is that the people creating the viruses are always one step ahead. With the Anti Virus people creating updates to catch new viruses, but if you get the virus before the update is released, your stuffed.

Likewise there are lots of AV programs out there which just fail miserably. If in doubt over which product you should buy or download for free then it is always better to consult the experts

Even if a program does appear to have removed your virus it may still be lurking in the background.

Most modern viruses these days infect multiple areas of your computer all at once, some viruses even download more viruses on to your system once they are activated.

Some viruses hide in parts of your computer that the Anti Virus products cannot see or reach. Others will put a copy of themselves in to your system restore folder, so should you restore your PC to an earlier date, you will be reinfected again.

The worst viruses are the ones you never know you have, your system could be fine and your AV product could be happy, yet in the background your system could be being used as part of a bot net, what is more commonly known as a zombie PC.

To completely and utterly be sure that you have removed a virus infection from your machine it is better have your system logs reviewed by a competent malware specialist.

Thankfully this is something you dont have to pay for and there are dedicated professionals who give their free time to help others like you.

If you would like your logs reviewed by an expert and to be sure your system is clean then pop over to http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk main site and post a question in the Virus and Spyware Support section of the website.

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If you found this information useful, please take a moment to leave a comment.

- Techmonkey
Happy Surfing!]]> <![CDATA[How do you take a screenshot on a PC?]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=8 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:43:30 +0100 Techmonkey http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=8
What does "Screen Shot" mean?

A screen is simply an exact copy of what is displayed on your screen. Think of it as taking a photo of your computer monitor, without the need for a camera

What use are they?

Screen shots come in handy in lots of situations. For example if you were creating a manual or tutorial on how to do something with a computer then a screen shot of a specific menu or program can be a lot simper to get your message across then mere text.

Go on then how do I take a screen shot?

Taking a screen shot couldn't be simpler. All you need to do is find the Print Screen button on your keyboard. It is sometimes labelled as Prt Scn, PrintScrn or some other abbreviation.

Now look at the Window you would like to take a screen shot of and tap the button once, it may appear as though nothing has happened, or you may get the hour glass appear for a second or two.

Thats it you have now taken a screen shot.

Wait a minute where is it? How do I see my screen shot

Ah yes of course, now you have your screen shot taken what do you do with it. That entirely depends on what you are using it for. If for example it was for a document in Word, simply go to where you want the image to appear in the Word document and click Edit > Paste on the toolbar.

Your image will now appear in your document and you can add as many more as you want.

There are a lot of things in the screen shot I dont want or need?

As said above when you take a screen shot it grabs a copy of your entire screen, including your start bar and any programs you have open in the background.

Sometimes all you need is one specific window. In this get the window you want a screenshot of and hold down the ALT key on your keyboard then tap the print screen key. This will make it so it only captures the active Window, saving you having edit out parts you dont need.

Optionally you can always open Paint Brush and paste your image in there and edit it to highlight certain areas or remove confidential data.

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Hopefully you found this information useful, if so please take the time to register and leave a comment.

- Techmonkey
Happy Surfing]]>
What does "Screen Shot" mean?

A screen is simply an exact copy of what is displayed on your screen. Think of it as taking a photo of your computer monitor, without the need for a camera

What use are they?

Screen shots come in handy in lots of situations. For example if you were creating a manual or tutorial on how to do something with a computer then a screen shot of a specific menu or program can be a lot simper to get your message across then mere text.

Go on then how do I take a screen shot?

Taking a screen shot couldn't be simpler. All you need to do is find the Print Screen button on your keyboard. It is sometimes labelled as Prt Scn, PrintScrn or some other abbreviation.

Now look at the Window you would like to take a screen shot of and tap the button once, it may appear as though nothing has happened, or you may get the hour glass appear for a second or two.

Thats it you have now taken a screen shot.

Wait a minute where is it? How do I see my screen shot

Ah yes of course, now you have your screen shot taken what do you do with it. That entirely depends on what you are using it for. If for example it was for a document in Word, simply go to where you want the image to appear in the Word document and click Edit > Paste on the toolbar.

Your image will now appear in your document and you can add as many more as you want.

There are a lot of things in the screen shot I dont want or need?

As said above when you take a screen shot it grabs a copy of your entire screen, including your start bar and any programs you have open in the background.

Sometimes all you need is one specific window. In this get the window you want a screenshot of and hold down the ALT key on your keyboard then tap the print screen key. This will make it so it only captures the active Window, saving you having edit out parts you dont need.

Optionally you can always open Paint Brush and paste your image in there and edit it to highlight certain areas or remove confidential data.

------------

Hopefully you found this information useful, if so please take the time to register and leave a comment.

- Techmonkey
Happy Surfing]]> <![CDATA[Which is the best free Anti Virus/Spyware application]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=7 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:53:27 +0100 Techmonkey http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=7 What is the best free Anti Virus? being asked over and over again on many of the sites and forums I frequent.

The question is a bit of an ambiguous one as there is no clear answer to which is the "best".

How would you measure it? Which ever detects the most viruses? Whichever has the lowest impact on system performance? Which has the most success in removing viruses? Which has the most success at stopping them infecting in the first place?

The list of measurements is endless. There are some companies that have started independent work to answer some of these. Such as AV comparitives.org and Virus Bulletin VB100 Awardsto name two. These of course test more than the free ones and still sometimes come to no conclusive answer as to which is the best.

However what we can do is take a look at the info they provide and if one of the AV vendors scores highly, check to see if they have a free version. If so then it is likely their free product is also fairly robust.

Two of the most highly regard "paid for" AV products are NOD32 by Eset and Vipre by Subelt. These are the ones I see experts in the field recommending time and time again. I have also used the NOD32 product extensively myself and found it to be excellent in all areas mentioned in the questions above.

Enough of your waffle, which is best?

Ok fair enough I do tend to get carried away.

Looking at the tests mentioned above we see the following names mentioned:

Avast!
AVG
Avira

All received the VB100 awards in the latest round of testing and all have paid for and FREE versions

Deciding which is the best out of the 3, is from here on in, down to personal preference.

Avast! http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

A great program with little to complain about. If I had to mention anything it would be the user interface. There is nothing wrong it functionally, but if your like me someone who like to tinker, then this is a little on the clunky side at times.

AVG http://free.grisoft.com

Another superb free Anti Virus. The only thing I don’t like about this one, is the need to re-register every year to continue using it. Not really a bad thing, but can be annoying if you install it for lots of people as you need lots of email addresses to register each copy to.

Avira http://www.avira.com/en/downloads/

This is my personal favourite. It scores highly on all tests and doesn’t require registration. Its only downside is that when it updates every day, you get a pop up advertising it's paid for alternative. A small price to pay for a great free product.

Surely there are more than this?

Of course there are, there are loads if you search the web for them, these are just three main ones that are used and recommended by security professionals.

While these are excellent Anti Virus products, if you are looking for free tools to remove existing viruses on your system that your current AV product cannot get rid of, then here are the tools used by the experts in the field.
Note: Most of these tools should only be used with expert guidance as some can cause damaged when used incorrectly.

MBAM: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
Combofix: http://www.combofix.org/
Spybot Search & Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
HiJackThis: http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

Avast!
AVG
Avira

MBAM: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
Combofix: http://www.combofix.org/
Spybot Search & Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
HiJackThis: http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

If you would like guidance and help removing viruses using these tools, then please post a question in our
Anti Virus and Spyware forum and one of our Malware Monkeys will be glad to help.

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As ever if you found this information useful or you think there are any errors please take the time to register and leave me a comment.

- Techmonkey
Happy Surfing]]> <![CDATA[How to download videos from Youtube]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=6 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:49:55 +0100 Techmonkey http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=6
In an effort to stop posting the same info over and over I thought it would be better to create a post detailing the answers I normally give out.

Is it legal to download videos from YouTube?

The answer is that it entirely depends on what you are download from them. As long as it is not copyrighted material, then yes there is nothing stopping you

How do I do it then?

There are many ways to acheive this in fact and what you need is some form of program to capture the flash content.

These progams come in many forms from broswer plugins, to websites.

Some of the most popular around at the moment are:

KeepVid
IE8 Youtube downloader
http://download-youtube-videos.org/
Voydo

These are just a few examples, but there are many more out there.

Remember things like this should always be free, so if something asks for money go back and try a different program.

All the ones mentioned above are free and working.]]>
In an effort to stop posting the same info over and over I thought it would be better to create a post detailing the answers I normally give out.

Is it legal to download videos from YouTube?

The answer is that it entirely depends on what you are download from them. As long as it is not copyrighted material, then yes there is nothing stopping you

How do I do it then?

There are many ways to acheive this in fact and what you need is some form of program to capture the flash content.

These progams come in many forms from broswer plugins, to websites.

Some of the most popular around at the moment are:

KeepVid
IE8 Youtube downloader
http://download-youtube-videos.org/
Voydo

These are just a few examples, but there are many more out there.

Remember things like this should always be free, so if something asks for money go back and try a different program.

All the ones mentioned above are free and working.]]> <![CDATA[Why is my computer so slow?]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=5 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:55:46 +0100 Techmonkey http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=5
First lets answer the question;

Why is my computer so slow?.

The truth of the matter is that with time and age all computers get slow, even with regular cleaning of your computer it will in time seem slow and sluggish.

The reason is that when you first get your shiny new PC it is only loaded with Windows, this means everything seems nice and fast simply because it only has to do one thing.

Then over time you start adding to Windows; Microsoft Office, MSN Messenger, Anti Virus, Games, RSS readers, etc.

These all start to take their toll on the computers resources causing it slow down a little with each addition.

Note: There is also the possibility of virus infection slowing your machine down, but this will be covered in another post

How can I make it fast again?

To get the computer running quickly again there are some basic house keeping tasks that should be run a minimum of every 6 – 12 months to ensure smooth running of your machines:

Uninstall the programs you don’t need/use any more.

Windows XP/2000

- Click START then SETTINGS then CONTROL PANEL
- Click Add/Remove Programs

Windows Vista/7

- Click START then CONTROL PANEL
- In the Programs section click Uninstall a program

Now scroll through the list and uninstall anything you no longer need or use. If your not sure what something is, then it is best to leave it just in case.

Run a “reputable” cleaner program.

There are lots so called file and registry cleaners available if you search the internet, but some can do more harm than good. However there are a few that people in the industry know and use on a regular basis.

The one we will be discussing here is CCleaner. This is a completely free and reliable program. However please consider making a donation to the CCleaner site to enable them to keep making it free.

Download the program and install CCleaner, accepting the default options (however I would recommend not installing the Yahoo toolbar seeing as how we are trying to clean your machine up).

Launch the software after install then make the following changes:

Click the Options button on the bottom left, then click Cookies. Scroll down the list on the left and select any important sites you use and move them to list on the right to ensure you keep the cookies and therefore won’t have to log back in again.
- Once you have selected all the cookies you wish to keep, then click the Cleaner button on the left had side to get back in to the main window. If your not the type of person who bookmarks their favourite sites and instead relies on the web addresses appearing as you type, then un-tick the boxes for History and Recently Typed URLs.
Now click the Run Cleaner button in the bottom right. You will be asked to confirm if you wish to proceed, now is your chance to recheck those settings if your not sure. Otherwise click OK.
Once the program completes it will tell you how much space it just cleaned up for you.

Defragment your files

Each time you create a file, delete a file, install a program or uninstall a program it leaves parts of itself behind. Over time files belonging to the same program start to get spread out across your hard disk and this increases the time it takes for your computer to find and locate these files (admittedly with today’s hardware this is likely to be fractions of a second).

This is called Fragmentation and it can be the cause of stuttering and slow down when accessing programs and files.

To combat this Windows has a “Defragmentation” program built in to it.

To access it simply open My Computer, right click on your hard drive (normally called Local Disk (C: )) and click the Properties menu.

Click the Tools tab and then click the Defragment Now button. On the next screen select your C: drive and click the Defragment Disk button.

Note: On Windows 7 and Vista you can schedule your Defragmentation to run whenever you like meaning you no longer have to remember to do this

Move the location of your page file (if possible*)

When you open a program or file, Windows loads this file in to memory (RAM) this makes it run quicker. However should your system start running low on memory as you have too many programs open then Windows starts using your Page file (sometimes called a swap file or Virtual Memory).

What this means is instead of using RAM it creates a file on your hard disk and uses that instead. This not only takes up space, but also slows your computer down.

A page file however is essential for the smooth running of Windows, rather it uses your hard disk than simply dies and refuses to work. You can speed up the paging operations though by ensuring your page file is located on a separate disk or partition to the one where your Windows OS is installed. * If you only have a C: drive then unfortunately this step isn’t for you, do NOT use a USB disk or you will seriously hamper your system performance.

To do this follow these steps.

Windows XP

Right click the My Computer icon and choose Properties, then click the Advanced Tab
Under the Performance section click Settings
In the performance options window click the Advanced tab and then click the Change button at the bottom of the window.
In the Virtual Memory window that appears, select the partition or disk where you intend to move the Page file to, then on the options below choose System Managed Size, then click the Set button.
Now in the top part of the window again select your local disk C: where the page file is at the moment and in the options below select No Paging File and again click Set.
Click OK to all the windows and reboot your PC.

All done!

Windows 7 and Vista

Right click the Computer icon and choose Properties, then click the Advanced System Setting from the menu on the left
Under the Performance section click Settings
In the performance options window click the Advanced tab and then click the Change button at the bottom of the window.
Un-tick the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives”.
Select the partition or disk where you intend to move the Page file to, then on the options below choose System Managed Size, then click the Set button.
Now in the top part of the window again select your local disk C: where the page file is at the moment and in the options below select No Paging File and again click Set.
Click OK to all the windows and reboot your PC.

All done!

Scan your disk for errors and repair them

Hard disks are susceptible to picking up errors over long periods of time and these can cause the computer to slow down dramatically when trying to read data.

Again Microsoft have included a handy little tool for detecting and repairing these errors.

To access it simply open My Computer, right click on your hard drive (normally called Local Disk (C: )) and click the Properties menu.

Click the Tools tab and then click the Check Now button.
On the next screen tick both the Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. Then click START.

If your doing this on your C: drive, then you will get a message asking if you would like to schedule the disk check to run next time your reboot, choose this option and restart your computer, the disk check will begin automatically when you next start your computer.

I have done all this and my computer is still slow, what else can I do?

If you have completed all the above steps and the computer still seems slow, then it is more than likely down to the computers age and specification. The only thing to do here is either upgrade or replace the machine.

Upgrading the RAM is normally a sure fired way to see a major performance increase. The minimum I would recommend in a modern PC these days is:

Windows 2000/XP – 2 Gigabytes
Windows Vista/7 – 4 Gigabytes

Click the Options button on the bottom left, then click Cookies. Scroll down the list on the left and select any important sites you use and move them to list on the right to ensure you keep the cookies and therefore won’t have to log back in again.
- Once you have selected all the cookies you wish to keep, then click the Cleaner button on the left had side to get back in to the main window. If your not the type of person who bookmarks their favourite sites and instead relies on the web addresses appearing as you type, then un-tick the boxes for History and Recently Typed URLs.
Now click the Run Cleaner button in the bottom right. You will be asked to confirm if you wish to proceed, now is your chance to recheck those settings if your not sure. Otherwise click OK.
Once the program completes it will tell you how much space it just cleaned up for you.

Right click the My Computer icon and choose Properties, then click the Advanced Tab
Under the Performance section click Settings
In the performance options window click the Advanced tab and then click the Change button at the bottom of the window.
In the Virtual Memory window that appears, select the partition or disk where you intend to move the Page file to, then on the options below choose System Managed Size, then click the Set button.
Now in the top part of the window again select your local disk C: where the page file is at the moment and in the options below select No Paging File and again click Set.
Click OK to all the windows and reboot your PC.

All done!

Windows 7 and Vista

Right click the Computer icon and choose Properties, then click the Advanced System Setting from the menu on the left
Under the Performance section click Settings
In the performance options window click the Advanced tab and then click the Change button at the bottom of the window.
Un-tick the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives”.
Select the partition or disk where you intend to move the Page file to, then on the options below choose System Managed Size, then click the Set button.
Now in the top part of the window again select your local disk C: where the page file is at the moment and in the options below select No Paging File and again click Set.
Click OK to all the windows and reboot your PC.

Windows 2000/XP – 2 Gigabytes
Windows Vista/7 – 4 Gigabytes

If you need help with upgrading or advice on a new computer then pop along to the hardware section of Techmonkeys.co.uk and one of our monkeys will gladly help you decide what you need for free.

I hope you have found this useful, if so then please leave me a comment. Likewise if you notice any errors I would appreciate a heads up.]]> <![CDATA[Letter to Cinema]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=4 Mon, 17 May 2010 11:51:31 +0100 Nosnibor http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=4

Ok, so I'm sometimes possibly not the most positive person in the world, and yes it has been said that at times i get a little over the top with the negativity towards the seemingly negligible issues i stumble upon.

Below is a copy of a letter I sent to UCI Cinemas (Now Odeon) before I started university. Three years later and I'm still waiting on a response, so, before i 're'take-up my campaign and take the leap from moaning pessimist to complaining arsehole once again i felt i should check with all who care (and the majority that don't) as to whether you believe my quarrel is just and that it deserves the stampage (currently an astronomical 30p, but that's for another day!) required to deliver it to it's intended recipient! So here you go, leave your thoughts and opinions in comment section below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Ian Robinson, I'm 20 years old and working in a local building society (not a bank... there are subtle differences, even if I'm still looking for them myself!) I like to attend your visual entertainment emporium on an irregular basis whenever i spy a video film which takes my fancy.

The question i pose to your good self on this fine day is thus, under which category in your "Something for Everyone" campaign does a simple 9-5 guy like my good self fit into?

To elaborate, just in case the focus and nature of the campaign has slipped your mind, being so busy and all. You promise to have something for "everyone" and the categories you assume "everyone" could slot into somewhere or other are: Senior, Kids, Newbies, and Director's Chair.
But where, i ask you, does the humble working man fit in?

Unfortunately i pay full bus fair and therefore am not a "Mature Guest" as your website describes the Seniors section. I would however appreciate the free tea and coffee on offer to these most privileged of persons, but as the showings are mid-morning i would be unable to make a caffeine pilgrimage in the middle of a working day!

The Newbies and Kids sections aren't overly relevant either unless i was able to commandeer some young person to pass off as my child. The aforementioned Kids promotion doesn't mention any specific ages, so i was wondering if i was to bring along a decidedly slow friend of mine with a dangerously low mental age could we partake in the "frolics and fun at pocket money prices"?

So the last glimpse of something i could take from this campaign of yours is the Director's Chair showings, but unless watching Anchorman and Old School over and over again makes me a "true film fanatic" then I'm not going to be feeling any vibe from your selection of art-house, independent, and foreign language cinematography!

And back to my original question, what does a fine establishment like yours offer to people like me under your outrageous claim to be able to offer "Something for Everyone"?

On behalf of all in my position (and i know of at least 3 others like me!) i excitedly await your response.

Kind Regards,

Ian Robinson Esq.]]>

Ok, so I'm sometimes possibly not the most positive person in the world, and yes it has been said that at times i get a little over the top with the negativity towards the seemingly negligible issues i stumble upon.

Below is a copy of a letter I sent to UCI Cinemas (Now Odeon) before I started university. Three years later and I'm still waiting on a response, so, before i 're'take-up my campaign and take the leap from moaning pessimist to complaining arsehole once again i felt i should check with all who care (and the majority that don't) as to whether you believe my quarrel is just and that it deserves the stampage (currently an astronomical 30p, but that's for another day!) required to deliver it to it's intended recipient! So here you go, leave your thoughts and opinions in comment section below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Ian Robinson, I'm 20 years old and working in a local building society (not a bank... there are subtle differences, even if I'm still looking for them myself!) I like to attend your visual entertainment emporium on an irregular basis whenever i spy a video film which takes my fancy.

The question i pose to your good self on this fine day is thus, under which category in your "Something for Everyone" campaign does a simple 9-5 guy like my good self fit into?

To elaborate, just in case the focus and nature of the campaign has slipped your mind, being so busy and all. You promise to have something for "everyone" and the categories you assume "everyone" could slot into somewhere or other are: Senior, Kids, Newbies, and Director's Chair.
But where, i ask you, does the humble working man fit in?

Unfortunately i pay full bus fair and therefore am not a "Mature Guest" as your website describes the Seniors section. I would however appreciate the free tea and coffee on offer to these most privileged of persons, but as the showings are mid-morning i would be unable to make a caffeine pilgrimage in the middle of a working day!

The Newbies and Kids sections aren't overly relevant either unless i was able to commandeer some young person to pass off as my child. The aforementioned Kids promotion doesn't mention any specific ages, so i was wondering if i was to bring along a decidedly slow friend of mine with a dangerously low mental age could we partake in the "frolics and fun at pocket money prices"?

So the last glimpse of something i could take from this campaign of yours is the Director's Chair showings, but unless watching Anchorman and Old School over and over again makes me a "true film fanatic" then I'm not going to be feeling any vibe from your selection of art-house, independent, and foreign language cinematography!

And back to my original question, what does a fine establishment like yours offer to people like me under your outrageous claim to be able to offer "Something for Everyone"?

On behalf of all in my position (and i know of at least 3 others like me!) i excitedly await your response.

Kind Regards,

Ian Robinson Esq.]]> <![CDATA[Bloody Buses!]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=3 Wed, 05 May 2010 16:37:56 +0100 Nosnibor http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=3
So now I'm paying more for a service that rarely turns up on time (if at all!), is often full up with scary "fragrant" non-locals, and which boasts the smallest amount of leg room per seat physically possible before you would have to start inverting peoples legs into their chests. Sound fair to you? Nope, thought not! Therefore i have started a protest movement, but as i still require this mode of transportation for logistical reasons, I'm going to start my revolution from the inside out. I will continue to get the buses to and from town when required, but i won't enjoy it and to show these most heinous of highwaymen what for, i have decided that as of now i will no longer move back up the bus when requested to! Ha!

This will cause a backlog in the drivers direct "cab" area and he will develop a severe bout of claustrophobia and resign from active duty, this will in turn cause chaos as people complain about the lack of bus services. Ha! I will resume my responsibility to "shuffty" down the bus only when the company agree to level the playing field. I understand there will be a period of disruption incurred but as the saying goes, there's no pain without gain!

No but seriously, bus are pretty rubbish at the moment, they rock up when they want to and charge astronomical prices... not impressed!]]>
So now I'm paying more for a service that rarely turns up on time (if at all!), is often full up with scary "fragrant" non-locals, and which boasts the smallest amount of leg room per seat physically possible before you would have to start inverting peoples legs into their chests. Sound fair to you? Nope, thought not! Therefore i have started a protest movement, but as i still require this mode of transportation for logistical reasons, I'm going to start my revolution from the inside out. I will continue to get the buses to and from town when required, but i won't enjoy it and to show these most heinous of highwaymen what for, i have decided that as of now i will no longer move back up the bus when requested to! Ha!

This will cause a backlog in the drivers direct "cab" area and he will develop a severe bout of claustrophobia and resign from active duty, this will in turn cause chaos as people complain about the lack of bus services. Ha! I will resume my responsibility to "shuffty" down the bus only when the company agree to level the playing field. I understand there will be a period of disruption incurred but as the saying goes, there's no pain without gain!

No but seriously, bus are pretty rubbish at the moment, they rock up when they want to and charge astronomical prices... not impressed!]]> <![CDATA[The beginning....]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=2 Wed, 05 May 2010 16:35:06 +0100 Nosnibor http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=2
Since neither of those seem likely to happen anytime soon i figured i should make the courageous leap onto the speeding band wagon and join the millions of other people already keeping pointless online logs of just about anything and everything.

Yipee!!! Big Grin

]]>
Since neither of those seem likely to happen anytime soon i figured i should make the courageous leap onto the speeding band wagon and join the millions of other people already keeping pointless online logs of just about anything and everything.

Yipee!!! Big Grin

]]> <![CDATA[Hurrah I win the first to set up a blog challenge!]]> http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=1 Sat, 01 May 2010 09:21:32 +0100 Fearless_Shultz http://www.techmonkeys.co.uk/blogs.php?eid=1
For those who don't actually know me, I work in internet marketing as an in house SEO which basically means my job is to try and ensure that when people go to a search engine and type in terms that are important for my company that our website shows up high on the list.

There are lots of ways to do this, some good and pure, some evil and spammy. I will probably discuss points from both sides from time to time, although obviously the latter will be purely from a hypothetical perspective! Wink

I love trying to help people so if anyone has any seo/internet marketing questions feel free to ask! Big Grin

]]>
For those who don't actually know me, I work in internet marketing as an in house SEO which basically means my job is to try and ensure that when people go to a search engine and type in terms that are important for my company that our website shows up high on the list.

There are lots of ways to do this, some good and pure, some evil and spammy. I will probably discuss points from both sides from time to time, although obviously the latter will be purely from a hypothetical perspective! Wink

I love trying to help people so if anyone has any seo/internet marketing questions feel free to ask! Big Grin

]]>