Hello everyone,

I am so tired of background programs (software applications) that load and run without even being launched! These numerous programs (called services) are invisible to the average computer user and suck up precious computer resources. While many of these services are needed, many more are not, and can easily be shut off. Today I’ll tell you which services to stop in Windows Vista (in a previous post I covered Windows XP) so that your computer will boot faster, run faster, and not be bogged down by these unneeded resource leeches.

The best way to stop a service is: Start Menu>Run Option>Type services.msc. The Services window will open (see above photo).

These are the services that I always disable in Windows Vista. I have never had any system problems whatsoever after disabling these services, but you may not want to turn off all of them (because you use them for some reason). I suggest that you turn them all off and then if you need one (your computer will alert you) just turn it back on.

1. Computer Browser
2. Function Discovery Resource Publication
3. IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules (change from Automatic to Manual)
4. Infrared Monitor Service
5. IPsec Policy Agent
6. KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator
7. Offline Files
8. Portable Device Enumerator Service (change from Automatic to Manual)
9. Print Spooler (only if not using a printer)
10. Remote Registry
11. Secondary Logon (change from Automatic to Manual)
12. Security Center (change from Automatic to Manual)
13. Tablet PC Input Service
14. TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
15. Terminal Services
16. WebClient

I can guarantee you that turning off these sixteen services will do wonders for your computers response time! In a future post I’ll cover the services to disable in Windows 7.

Professor Randy says: Don’t let your computer do whatever it wants! Control it yourself by turning off all services that you don’t need!

Hello everyone,

Enjoy all of this great, up-to-date tech information by following the links.

1) LimeWire Alternatives See Huge Increase In Downloads

2) Lars Rasmussen Quits Google, Joins Facebook

3) Girl Pretends To Phone With iPod Touch To Scare Kidnapper

4) Firesheep: Web Connection Hijacking Made Easy

5) Rumor: Samsung Will Announce The Nexus Two On November 8th.

6) New Benchmarks Show 13-Inch MacBook Air Rivaling Its MacBook Pro Counterpart

7) How To: Avoid Getting Fleeced By Firesheep

8) Ray Ozzie: Dawn Of A New Day

9) To Save Students Money, Colleges May Force A Switch To E-Textbooks

10) 100 Mbps DSL Is Here & 800 Mbps Is Around The Corner

11) Teen Model Sues Apple Over Stolen iPhoto Pics

12) 10 Geek Sins That Will Get Your Geek Card Revoked

13) No More Windows XP Preloads Allowed On New PCs

14) Credit Cards Soon To Get A Modern Makeover

15) Will Deleting Cookies Slow Down My Computer?

Professor Randy quotes Henry Van Dyk: “Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”

Hello everyone,

As I have stated in a previous post, my two favorite pocket video cameras are the Flip UltraHD and the Kodak Zi8.

These small video cameras are so easy to use because once you have your video, you just plug them into your computer via USB and simply copy the video over to your computers Hard Drive.

Both cameras claim to shoot 1080p (“Full HD”) but this is really not the case. “Full HD” means 1,080 lines of vertical resolution (1,080 horizontal scan lines) and these cameras because of their very small sensor cannot actually achieve a native video resolution of 1080p (the “p” stands for progressive frames per second).

The video that these cameras produce is quite good, but what is actually going on is the process of “upscaling”. The Flip UltraHD and the Kodak Zi8 are “upconverting” their video signal from a lower resolution to the higher resolution 1080p. Upscaling a video signal to 1080p is not the same as recording it with a native resolution of 1080p.

But not to worry because you don’t really want to import your video at 1080p anyway. Go ahead and shoot the 1080p (upscaled), but import at 540p (less data) and your video will be much faster and much easier to edit. Video at 1,080 lines from top to bottom at 60 frames per second is too much data to be importing!

If you import at 1080p you’ll have to heavily compress the video (which makes it look bad), or if left uncompressed will take you forever to edit! Import at 540p (half of the 1080p resolution) and your video will still look fantastic – better than DVD quality!

Professor Randy says: The Flip UltraHD and the Kodak Zi8 are both awesome! Enjoy them even more by importing their video at 540p resolution!

Hello everyone,

Follow these fifteen links to some of the most interesting tech information available. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

1) Windows Phone 7: What It Needs To Succeed

2) Updated: Kaspersky Hit By Cyber Criminals?

3) Video: Steve Job’s Epic 5-Minute Anti-Google Rant

4) Microsoft Sees “Unprecedented Wave” Of Java Malware Exploits

5) Ray Ozzie Hangs Up His Chief Software Architect Hat

6) Expect More Apple In Your Future

7) Smartphones: Our National Obsession

8) Video: Singing Humanoids

9) Angry Birds For Android Gets Two Million Downloads In Two Days

10) Borders Targets Bloggers With New E-Book Publishing Platform

11) Costco Dropping iPod Over iPad Snub?

12) The Texting Revolution Is Here

13) John Sculley On Steve Jobs, The Full Interview Transcript

14) Facebook Lands In Skype 5.0 For Windows

15) Microsoft Shares The 7 Lists Of Favorite Windows 7 Highlights

Professor Randy quotes Thomas Fuller: Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.

Hello everyone,

I am so tired of background programs (software applications) that load and run without even being launched! These numerous programs (called services) are invisible to the average computer user and suck up precious computer resources. While many of these services are needed, many more are not, and can easily be shut off. Today I’ll tell you which services to stop (Windows XP) so that your computer will boot faster, run faster, and not be bogged down by these unneeded resource leeches.

The best way to stop a service is: Start Menu>Run Option>Type services.msc. The Services window will open (see above photo).

These are the services that I always disable. I have never had any system problems whatsoever after disabling these services, but you may not want to turn off all of them (because you use them for some reason). I suggest that you turn them all off and then if you need one (your computer will alert you) just turn it back on.

1. Background Intelligent Transfer Service (you’ll have to get your Microsoft Updates manually)
2. Distributed Link Tracking Client
3. Error Reporting Service
4. Fast User Switching Compatibility
5. Help and Support
6. Indexing Service
7. Messenger
8. Machine Debug Manager
9. Network Location Awareness (NLA)
10. Portable Media Serial Number Service
11. Remote Registry (Found In Windows XP Pro)
12. SSDP Discovery Service
13. Terminal Services
14. Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
15. Wireless Zero Configuration (If you going wireless leave this service running)
16. Windows Time
17. WebClient
18. Task Scheduler

I can guarantee you that turning off these eighteen services will do wonders for your computers response time! In a future post I’ll cover the services to disable in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Professor Randy says: Don’t let your computer do whatever it wants! Control it yourself by turning off all services that you don’t need!

Hello everyone,

In a previous post I told you how to properly configure a wireless router. Connecting to the Internet without being hindered by wires/cables is just plain awesome! The router sends out radio waves that are picked up by your desktop or laptop computer and you can easily access the Internet anywhere within a 200 ft. area or so (more or less depending on the type of router).

Certain obstacles (brick walls, metal frames, aluminum siding, etc.) will adversely affect the wireless signal and your connection will suffer. Also the farther away you are from the router the weaker the signal will be. Wouldn’t it be nice to greatly increase the range of your wireless router without having to spend a lot of money to do it?

The video that you are about to see will “knock your socks off”!. And the best thing is, is that it works! All for the amazing amount of about 25 cents!

And so, without further ado, let me introduce you to the Windsurfer Antenna:

Professor Randy says: Now is that cool or what? Genuinely increase the range of your wireless signal without spending one dollar! You owe it to yourself to check out the Windsurfer.

Hello everyone,

It is with great pleasure that I present these fifteen links to you! By following these links you will be able to enjoy some of the most interesting tech information available at this moment in time. Have a great weekend and by all means enjoy the fine fall weather!

1) Verizon Wireless Offers iPad At Stores Nationwide On October 28

2) Lessons I Learned When My Laptop Was Stolen

3) All 160 Million Users Now Have The New Twitter – Old Site Dying In A Few Weeks

4) Two Million US PCs Recruited To Botnets

5) Apple’s Share Of U.S. PC Market Cracks The 10% Barrier

6) A Look At Microsoft’s Products And Services Offering For The Current Holiday Season

7) A Fix For Media Center’s Black Screen Of Death?

8) More Ways To Stay Secure On Facebook

9) iPhone4 Has 82% Increase In Reported Broken Screens Compared To The iPhone 3gs

10) 5 Reasons Why Windows Phone 7 Will Be A Hit

11) Bill Gates Talks Education Tech

12) How Do You Share A Web Page (Link) With Someone?

13) Apple TV vs. Roku XDS: Let The Content Streaming Begin

14) My Mail Account Has A Virus, How Do I Get Rid Of It?

15) The Truth About Ditching The iPhone For Android

Professor Randy quotes Amelia Earhart: “Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying.”

Hello everyone,

When I first started buying digital music online I always bought from the MSN Music Store. I just loved buying those high quality WMA files, Microsoft’s own proprietary format. I was very disappointed when the MSN Music Store shut down in 2006.

When the MSN Music Store shut down I was directed to Microsoft’s Zune Store and Real Rhapsody, but I got a little confused. Should I continue to download my music in the WMA audio format or should I use the RealAudio format (the proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks)?

Then along came iTunes which used the AAC audio format by default. AAC was not an Apple proprietary format but was DRMed (copy protected) with Apple’s FairPlay codec. Sony had it’s own proprietary format called OpenMG.

So by now I was really confused! To which company was I going to trust my precious audio files? To which hardware and software devices was I going to “wed myself” in order to play that company’s audio format? What if one day my chosen company goes out of business and their authentication servers are no longer running when I want to access my precious music?

I decided not to trust my music to any company. No non-standard audio format for me. No DRM protected music for me. I would never again see the message: “Can’t play, burn, or sync this protected file”

The Choice Was Clear! I Decided To Go With High Quality Bit Rate (256kbps) MP3 Files, And The Open Lossless Format FLAC.

MP3 files at 256kbps sound great and don’t take up that much space. MP3 files are supported by every audio device and media player. Since MP3 files aren’t protected by any DRM scheme, they will play anywhere. MP3 files do loose a little quality when compared to the original recording, but most people can’t even notice this loss at a higher bit rate (192-256kbps).

If you have great ears and Hard Drive space is of no concern then by all means choose FLAC. FLAC is a lossless format and will reproduce your music in an exact duplicate of the original. No quality loss whatsoever! The FLAC files are larger however and consequently will take up more space on your computers Hard Drive or media device.

And best of all, MP3 and FLAC are here to stay. They’re not going anywhere because they are both universally supported. You will always be able to get your audio data from these two formats because they aren’t “wrapped up” in any Digital Rights Management restrictions.

Professor Randy says: Enjoy your music forever! By trusting in the MP3 and FLAC audio formats you will do just that!

Hello everyone,

Here are this weeks carefully selected links that will transport you to some great, up-to-date tech information. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

1) What Did Microsoft And Adobe Talk About?

2) Spotify Crashes Into Apple On The Way To U.S.

3) Xmarks Victory For The Users, By The Users

4) Patch Adobe Reader And Foxit Reader NOW!

5) TV’s Future Is (Almost) Here: Apple TV And Roku Box

6) Dual-OS To Become Standard For Acer Dual-Core Netbooks

7) New Groups In Facebook: Stay Closer To Groups Of People In Your Life

8) Microsoft Wants ‘Sick’ PCs Banned From The Internet

9) Apple Fan John Gruber: Windows Phone 7 “Really Nice” And Better Than Android

10) The Future Of Google’s Street View

11) Windows 7 Family Pack Returns (While Supplies Last)

12) The Anthropology Of Hackers

13) How To Convert Videos To H.264/MP4

14) The OS Doesn’t Matter…

15) What Steve Jobs Learned In The Wilderness

Professor Randy quotes John Wooden: “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

Hello everyone,

In my area of the country I’m seeing a few computers that are still running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows 2000. These old Operating Systems are of course running on old computers with low resources and old hardware. We’re talking Pentium II and Pentium III processors with a whopping 128 MB of RAM memory, and a 40 GB Hard Drive.

When my clients upgrade their computers they tell me to just throw away the old machines and be done with it. But I say “not so fast”! I know something that they don’t! Do you know it too?

Do you know that there is an Operating System that can run on as little as 128 MB RAM and only needs 2 GB of Hard Drive space? This Operating System is very secure (you will never get infected), very powerful (built on the UNIX Operating System which underlies the modern Android and Mac operating systems), and it’s FREE!!

Sounds too good to be true? Meet Xubuntu, a great Linux Operating System that you have to see to believe! From the Xubuntu Website;

“Xubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops and desktops. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Xubuntu contains all the applications you’ll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools.”

“Xubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Xubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing. Everything you need comes on one CD, providing a complete working environment. Additional software is available online. The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily. A standard installation should take less than 25 minutes.”

“Once installed your system is immediately ready-to-use. We provide you with a desktop offering that includes a full set of productivity, internet, drawing and graphics applications, and games.”

Now is that amazing or what? Xubuntu – sometimes truth is stranger than fiction! You’ve gotta download and try this!

Professor Randy says: It sounds too good to be true but it is!! Check out Xubuntu as soon as you can and don’t throw away those old computers!!