PC Memoirs

I am amazed at the number of households still using unsecured wireless networks. If you drive through a residential area with your PDA or laptop, you’ll see that there are many networks around that you can easily connect to. Someone with advanced computer knowledge could use this and access your private files. Others could simply surf the Internet for free.

If you don’t want your neighbors to use your Internet connection and download movies, then you should protect your network with an advanced security protocol and an encrypted password. This may sound highly technical, but it’s not that difficult to set up. Your router has in-built security options that you only have to turn on. You just have to select one of the security protocols and choose a password.

There are options such as the basic WEP protocol, but that one is not very secure. Its password is quite easy to crack. WPA-PSK and WPA-PSK2 protocols are more secure and I recommend that you use one of these. However, you can select an even stronger protocol if you are given the option.

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Are you tired of the same look of your Windows XP desktop? Do you think Microsoft could have included more than three color schemes in Windows XP? If you ask me – blue, olive green and silver is not enough variety. I wish there were more choices.

Fortunately, there are ‘aftermarket’ styles you can download for free or buy and easily apply to your desktop. This will change the look and feel of your operating system and it will look like a brand new Windows. You can even make it look as modern as Windows Vista but keep the reliability and familiarity of Windows XP.

I tried TGTSoft’s Style XP and I was quite happy with the variety they offered. I tested several themes but my favorite was the orange theme. It made Windows XP look so bright, colorful and interesting. TGTSoft also offers Style Builder, with which you can create your own custom style. Unfortunately, these programs are not free. They cost $19.95, but that’s not very expensive if you want a change desperately. (Unfortunately, in 2016 TGTSoft website doesn’t exist anymore).

There are also other sites that offer visual styles. Please visit Mohsinnaqi Devianart and StudioTwentyEight for some cool new themes. These ones are free.

Almost every PC user I know had this problem at some stage: a computer that freezes. I bet you’ve seen it too: you are surfing the Web, writing a document or playing a game, when suddenly everything stops and you can’t do anything with your PC. It doesn’t respond to input from your mouse or keyboard. The screen shows the last working picture and it doesn’t move. If you were writing a document, it’s quite possible that you’ve lost everything since the last save operation (unless you try the autorecovery option).

There are many reasons why this is happening. The most common reason is some kind of hardware fault. If you added some component recently and you know which one, try to remove it and see if that helps.

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I found a great article on how to use speech recognition in Windows XP and Office 2002 and 2003. It is published on eHow.com and it lists 9 steps on how to configure the program for first use.

You’ll need Internet access, speakers and a microphone.

Before you visit eHow.com, you should also take a look at this Microsoft support page, which explains what speech recognition is used for, how it works and how to install speech recognition software.

You use it for converting spoken words to text, so you won’t have to type your letters, reports and other documents any more. All you have to do is dictate the text into the microphone and it will be displayed on the screen. You can use it in all Office programs and in programs where this function is enabled, such as Internet Explorer.

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Today’s post is about changing the way users log on or off in Windows XP. If you want to get rid of the prompt that requires you to type in your user name and password every time, or if you want to add it for extra security, please follow these steps:

• Click on the Start Menu
• Go to the Control Panel
• Click on User Accounts
• Select the Change the way users logon or off link
• In the next Window, untick the Use the Welcome screen option for extra security (if you want the users type in their user name and password)
• Otherwise, if it’s ticked, users will simply click on their logon name and type in their passwords (if they have one)
• If you don’t have a password and you don’t want to use the logon screen, make sure the Welcome screen is ticked. On the other hand, if you do have a password and you still don’t want to use the Welcome screen, then you’ll have to remove the password

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