How to Clean Your Devices, Part 1

One of the most common questions I am asked is how to clean a particular device.  Most people know that they should not use a wet rag with soap, but they are unsure exactly what is appropriate.

Obviously, you will want to shut down your computer and remove the battery (if possible) prior to cleaning it.

Desktop Computer Case (Exterior) – Cleaning a desktop case is the one instance where it is appropriate to use soap and water.  Use a moist (not wet) rag with a light amount of soap, and stay away or use caution around any ports or vents.

Desktop Computer Case (Interior) – Once the side panel of the case has been removed, use of water must stop!  However, isopropyl alcohol is a great substitute for water, and it is safe to use around most computer components because it dries quickly and will not conduct electricity.  Some people say that you can even take out most components and dip them in an alcohol bath, but I do not recommend this unless you are working with a computer that you can spare.

For a quick clean, I recommend taking the computer outside and using compressed air to blow the dust out of the case.  This is a cheap and quick way to get most of the dust out.  A can of compressed air usually costs between three and five dollars, and you can find them at any electronics store or Walmart/Meijer.  Use short bursts of air; don’t just push the trigger and keep spraying!  If you want to give specific components a more thorough cleaning, read on:

Case Fans – Case fans are fans that are actually attached to the metal case itself.  If compressed air isn’t getting the job done, use a Q-tip with isopropyl alcohol.  You may want to remove the fan to be able to get both sides of it, but make sure that you make note of the arrows that point the direction of airflow and replace the fan in the same direction.

CPU/GPU Fans and Heat Sinks – Your processor is covered by a large series of metal fins, called a heat sink.  In most cases, a fan then sits on top of the heat sink.  If you have a separate graphics card, this it may have a heat sink and fan.  Again, compressed air is best, but for a more thorough clean, use isopropyl alcohol.  Be careful if you choose to remove the heat sink from the processor.  If you do remove it, be sure to clean the heat sink surface and the top of the processor with isopropyl alcohol, and then reapply thermal compound (available at most electronics stores) once it is dry.

Motherboard and Expansion Cards – If compressed air is not cleaning your motherboard or expansion card, then your best option will again be a Q-tip with isopropyl alcohol.  Be sure to leave enough time for the alcohol to dry before restarting your computer.

Hard Drives / Optical Drives – Due to the sensitive nature of these components, do not use ANY liquid on a hard drive or optical drive.  If compressed air is not cleaning an area, try using a dry rag.  Otherwise, the dirt or dust is something you will have to live with.

Power Supply – The power supply is the unit that receives the cord from the wall and then distributes power through a variety of wires.  Like your hard drive, do not use any liquid with the power supply.  Use compressed air and a dry cloth.

Desktop Keyboard – Use compressed air to blow out any dust or debris under the keyboard.  (Flip the keyboard over or remove the keys to allow it to escape easily.)  If you remove the keys, you can use isopropyl alcohol on the contacts underneath.

Mouse – For an optical mouse (with a laser), use a Q-tip with isopropyl alcohol in the area of the LED.  For a ball mouse, remove the ball and wipe with alcohol.  If the buttons on the mouse come off, then remove them and clean underneath with alcohol.

Monitor - The easiest way to clean a monitor is to buy a package of monitor wipes and keep them on hand.  Carefully wipe the screen without pressing too hard (this can damage the pixels).  If you want to do it by yourself, you can use water with a light amount of soap, but be careful not to let the water run into the bottom and sides of the screen.

Quickly Undo and Redo Changes

Have you ever been working in a document or spreadsheet and deleted something you actually wanted to keep?  Don't worry!  There's no need to remember what you wrote in order to recreate it.

Most programs (including all Office programs) make use of an undo and redo feature.  The undo feature does exactly what it sounds like it does:  it allows you to undo recent changes.  In most cases, it will not undo changes letter-by-letter, but it will undo typing blocks of text in small chunks.

If you are undoing changes and accidentally went too far, it's time to make use of the redo feature.  This will undo your undo-s.  It is also useful if you want to compare the original text with your recent edits.  The redo feature will only work until you make another edit.  Once you make a change, the ability to revert what you just did with the undo button disappears.

In Office 2007 and later, the Undo and Redo buttons are located at the top of the screen, near the logo for the program you are using.  In other software, you will usually find them somewhere on the toolbar.  The Undo button is usually an arrow pointing to the left, and the Redo button is usually a similar arrow pointing to the right.  These features can also be accessed from the Edit menu.

However, these features have a standard keyboard shortcut.  Ctrl + Z will undo your changes, and Ctrl + Y will redo them.  These keyboard shortcuts work in a variety of programs, including many that do not have undo and redo buttons built in.  For example, I was just able to undo a change to this text as I typed it inside a browser window.

What Do CC and BCC Mean?

It seems obvious:  when you are sending an email to multiple people, you list them on the "To" line.  While this is the most common way to email multiple people, you actually have two other options: CC and BCC.

CC stands for "Carbon Copy".  (I have also heard it referred to as "Courtesy Copy" or "Copy Circulated" .)  Carbon Copy goes back to the days of typewriters, when a typist would insert a carbon sheet in between two pieces of paper to create a duplicate letter that could be saved or sent to a second person.  Now, it is usually reserved to list people who are being informed of the email exchange but do not need to reply or get involved in the conversation.  It can also be used when you reach the limit on the number of names in the "To" list.

BCC stands for "Blind Carbon Copy" (or "Blind Courtesy Copy" and "Blind Copy Circulated").  Addresses on the BCC line cannot be seen by recipients on the To or CC line.  The BCC line is commonly used to keep email addresses on a list private when a user is not using mailing list software.

Web-based email software used to include a "To" line, a "CC" line, and a "BCC" line in the Compose window.  However, most software now only includes the To line and includes links to add a CC or BCC line.  Yahoo's email even requires you to add a CC before you have a BCC option.  If you don't see these options by default, look for a link to add them.

The Biggest Threat to your Online Security

It's scary being online these days.  We're afraid to swipe a credit or debit card out of fear it might be compromised, and we're also afraid that our password and photos might be stolen and shown to the world.  There are many threats to our online security:  hackers from Russia and China, poor security practices by companies we purchase from, and card skimmers installed on an ATM or a gas pump, to name a few.  Plus, this does not even touch the low-tech methods that have been around for years, such as a waiter or waitress copying down your card information while they are processing your payment.

However, the biggest threat to our online security does not come from other people, other companies, or even other nations.  This threat has unlimited and complete access to every part of each device you own.  It is present on your network at all times of the day or night.  It knows all your secret passwords, security questions and answers, and PIN numbers.  The biggest threat to your online security is you!

Most security breaches on your personal computers and other devices will occur with your permission.  You will choose to install the game or program that secretly comes with a keylogger to steal your personal information.  You will click on the link in an email to "update your information" and hand over your online banking password to criminals.  You will fail to completely secure your computer or router and leave a way for someone to access your network.  You will choose to visit a shady website that will download malicious code to your computer.

Do not mistake this warning for criticism.  I have come close to falling for some of these scams, myself.  If the "computer guy" can be tricked into clicking on a link, I know that my readers and customers will be even more likely to click that link.  I broach this subject not to criticize anyone who has ever fallen for these scams, but to make you aware of three important points regarding online security.

First, attacking humans online is the most successful form of attack.  We hear about the millions of credit cards hacked from Target or Home Depot, but we do not hear about the people who are tricked into giving up their banking passwords or wiring money to some foreign entity.  There's a reason why you still get the "Nigerian prince" scam emails:  even after all these years, they still work!

Second, online attacks are growing because the cost of data is so cheap.  I remember when hard drive sizes were measured in megabytes.  Now, they are usually measured in gigabytes (over one thousand megabytes) but soon, we will be measuring them exclusively in terabytes (over one million megabytes).  It takes very little time and money to craft a nice looking email, link that email to your own database, and then send it to thousands of people at a time.  If one person hands over their credit card number, you can probably just about cover your costs.  If two (or more) people do it, you will be making big money.

Finally, we must take responsibility for our own security.  Antivirus software used to only protect against threats it could find in its database; now, these programs are becoming better at protecting us against other threats.  However, no amount of security software or hardware will ever keep us 100% safe.  I am thankful for the many times my antivirus software has kicked in and protected me, but I never assume that it will keep me safe from the next attack.  Each time I am notified that it is protecting me, I review my personal habits to see what clues I should have caught, and I try to be more vigilant the next time.

Keep Your Child Safe Online

The internet can be a wonderful tool for your children, but it can also allow them access to many things you don't want them to see.  In yesterday's tip, I discussed how you can set up a separate account for your kids that will keep them from installing software or making major changes without your approval.  (If you want to read that tip, you can read it here.)  Once you've set up that account, you can also use built-in tools to monitor and control what your kids are doing online.

In my tip yesterday, I mentioned that you could create a single account for all of your kids.  However, some of these tools work best if you create a separate account for each child.

Once you have your user account/accounts configured, go to the Control Panel (Start -> Control Panel in Windows Vista/7 or Charms -> Settings -> Control Panel in Windows 8), look for "User Accounts and Family Safety", and select the option for "Set up Parental Controls" (Windows Vista/7) or "Set up Family Safety" (Windows 8).  Then, select the first account you want to configure for parental controls.

On/Off - The first option is to turn these controls on or off.  Since you are reading this tip, I will assume you want to select "On, enforce current settings".  If you accidentally turn this on for an adult's account, you can come back here to turn it off again.

Activity Reporting (Vista/8) - If you want Windows to log the internet activity on this account, select "On".  You will then be able to come back to this page and click on "View activity log" on the right-hand side to view the logs.

Activity Reporting (Windows 7) - In Windows 7, Microsoft moved the activity log and content filtering to a separate utility.  To enable this, you will need to go here to download and install Windows Essentials.  You can either choose to install all programs, or you can choose to only install the Family Safety program.  Once installed, you can type "Windows Live Family Safety" into the search box to set up monitoring on specific accounts.  The activity reports will be accessible through the Family Safety website.

Web Filtering (Vista/7/8) - The Web Filtering tool allows you to set filters on the content your kids can see.  You can also allow or block specific websites to override the filter settings.  This is included in the Control Panel utility on Vista/8, and it is included with the Windows Live Family Settings program in Windows 7.

Time Limits (Vista/7/8) - You can limit the amount of time each account can be logged in.  This is very useful if you have several kids and need to make sure they are sharing one computer.  You can also set curfew times so your kids are not able to sneak on the computer while you are sleeping.

Games (Vista/7/8) - This allows you to control the games (and Windows Store apps in Windows 8) that your kids can use.  You can filter by rating, and you can also allow or block specific games.

Programs/Desktop Apps (Vista/7/8) - Like the Games section, you can limit the programs that your kids are allowed to use.  Although this feature may only have limited uses, it can be very helpful for a computer that is used for both work and home purposes.  If you have programs that you installed for work, you can block access so your kids are unable to get into them.

Keep Your Computer Safe From Your Kids

A customer recently brought in a computer that was running slow and stated that her kids had installed all kinds of games and other programs on it.  This week, she told me that the computer is working much better, and she also stated that she was only letting her kids use it when they were supervised.  I told her that it was possible to create a separate user account for her kids that would stop them from installing any programs without her permission.  When I told her that I would write out instructions, I thought that this would make a great subject for a tip.

Windows comes with the ability to create several different types of accounts.  By default, most accounts become Administrator accounts.  Administrator accounts have full permission to use the resources of the computer (unless the user is blocked by other means).  Standard User accounts have permission to use most of the resources on the computer, but not to change them.  This means that standard users cannot install programs, delete system files, or change settings without entering an administrative password.  There are a few other types of users, but these are the two types you will need to know.

My suggestion was to create a password-protected administrator account for the adults and a second standard user account (which may or may not have a password) for the kids.  Here is how you would set this up:

Windows Vista/7:

1) Log in with an administrator account.  If you are not sure if an account is an administrator account, we will check that in a minute.

2) Go to the Start Menu and choose Control Panel.

3) Choose "Add or Remove User Accounts" under "User Accounts and Family Safety".

4) Check the account you logged in under and see if it says "Administrator" underneath.  If it does, continue.  If not, log out and log back in under an account that does say Administrator.

5) If the account is already has a password, you may skip this step.  If your account does not have a password, select the administrator account, and then choose "Create a password" in the next window.  Do NOT skip this step!  If you do not have a password on the administrator account, anyone using the standard user account will be able to perform the tasks of an administrator with one click.

6) Click the back arrow in the top-left corner to go back to the original screen.  Then, select "Create a new account".

7) Type in an account name (such as "Kids") and be sure to select "Standard user".  Then, click "Create account".

Windows 8/8.1:

1) Log in with an administrator account.  If you are not sure if an account is an administrator account, we will check that in a minute.

2) Go to the charms bar and select Settings -> Control Panel.

3) Click on "Change Account Type"

4) Check the account you logged in under and see if it says "Administrator" underneath.  If it does, continue.  If not, log out and log back in under an account that does say Administrator.

5) If the account is already has a password, you may skip this step.  If your account does not have a password, select the administrator account, and then choose "Create a password" in the next window.  Do NOT skip this step!  If you do not have a password on the administrator account, anyone using the standard user account will be able to perform the tasks of an administrator with one click.

6) Click the back arrow in the top-left corner to go back to the original screen.  Then, select "Add a new user in PC settings".  In the new window, select "Add a new user".

7) Follow the prompts to create either an online Microsoft account (by linking it to an email address) or a local account (by selecting "Sign in without a Microsoft account").  By default, the account will be a Standard User account unless you change it to administrator.

Now, when your kids log in with the standard user account, they will be asked to enter an administrator password if they attempt to install a program or change a setting.  If they want to install a legitimate program, they will only need to get you to enter the password for your administrator account.

Creating a separate account for your kids also gives you the opportunity to enable parental controls on the account.  I will address this in tomorrow's tip!

Fix a Stuck Printer

Sometimes your printer just won't print.  It could be that it is shut off or not connected to the computer.  However, sometimes a document gets stuck while waiting to print.

To manage your print jobs, Windows uses what is called the print spooler, or print queue.  This allows you to send multiple documents to the printer simultaneously.  Without a print queue, you would only be able to send a document to the printer if it was not doing anything.  The print spooler service saves your document in the queue until the printer is ready to print it.

But sometimes, a file gets stuck in the queue waiting to print.  Many times, this happens when you try to cancel a print job after you have sent it, but it can happen at other times.  When this happens, the printer won't print anything until the queue is cleared.

Fortunately, it is fairly easy to clear the print queue.  (Note:  This will not only delete the stuck document, but also any other documents you have waiting to print.)  Even better, one website has assembled a free download that will do it for you!

The free Print Queue Cleaner can clear those stuck print jobs.  There are two versions available just above the Donate button.  The first is a simple utility that you can download and run for one-time use.  The second contains an installer that will allow you to install it on your computer.  Since these problems aren't extremely common, I would recommend that you just save the link and download it as needed.