How can I make my computer faster?

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:08:40 +0000

By admin at . See the original post at How can I make my computer faster?.

A common question I get asked by family and friends is “How can I make my computer faster?” If I am not asked this question I am asked to “make it faster”. In order to answer this commonly yet broad question we need to take a look at what slows down your computer in general.

1. Hard Drive Clutter

With Hard Drive Clutter I am referring to a build-up of old applications that are no longer used. Many of these applications actually appear when you start up your computer.

Hard Drive Clutter can be caused by internet browsing. Everytime you visit a website your computer automatically downloads a portion of the site. This allows the site to load up faster next time you visit it. The problem with this is there are millions on top of millions of websites out there. So as you browse the internet your computer is consistently filling up with the junk from each of these websites.

CCleaner is a great tool (and its free!) to clean up your temporary internet files and other junk that is building up on your hard drive. Now while this tool is free you need to watch the setup steps carefully, they try to install a toolbar. Make sure this is removed.

Your Hard Drive can also get maxed out by installing a bunch of programs you may no longer need anymore. These can be cleaned up easily with the following free software. (Note: Know exactly what you are deleting before you delete. Deleting a core system application or other items such as adobe reader, browsers, wi-fi assistance software can affect your computer in a negative way. If you have questions about software, ask us. We may be able to help.

Glary Utilities. This software which is also 100% free provides a whole package of cleaning tools in one software. Easy to use and very easy to analyze your computer status.

2. Internet Surfing

Does your IE/Mozilla/Chrome toolbar look like this?

If it does, that is a big problem. While you may find some of the toolbars above useful, in reality they aren’t as they slow down your browsing experience. Most if not all of these are reporting information back to another software to determine your browsing habits to better deliver ads to you that you may purchase. Clean up those toolbars!

Make sure you have multiple browsers as each have their pros and cons. You don’t want to get stuck with one browser not working and you can’t download another. Also keep your browsers up to date. When they release patches, many of these have fixes to exploits and other areas that malware could take advantage of and wreak havoc on your computer. Go to the following sites to download one of the top browser platforms or to upgrade:

3. Spyware & Viruses

Yep. They are out there folks. Now many of you have started reading this and said I already have protection its installed and good to go. Well now what if I asked you the version of your anti-virus or spyware removal tools? What if I asked you when was the last time you immunized your browsers from the new threats and exploits? Just downloading an anti-virus software and software removal tool is not enough. You need to ensure they both are getting updated. Schedule monthly maintenance checks to do virus removal and spyware immunizations. Both can be done with a push of a button.

Check out some of the recommended and FREE tools for personal use below:

AVG – One of the most used free Anti-Virus softwares. They are turning quite a bit more commercial but they have a free version available still for personal use.
Spybot – Spybot is one of the best spyware protection tools out there. It not only monitors your computer for threats but has an immunization function in which you can immunize your browsers to prevent them from even getting on your system or having to worry about them. But as mentioned you need to ensure Spybot and its libraries stay up to date.
Lavasoft – Lavasoft has two products called Adaware – Malware Protection and Adaware – Anti-Virus Protection. Both of these tools are good and free to use for personal use but you must keep them updated.

4. Operating System Damage

One of the last areas I want to highlight on is operating system damage. This can occur overtime from bad sectors on your hard drive to malware and viruses wreaking havoc on your machine. Most computer manufacturers have a recovery partition on the computer now a days but in the past you would get a set of discs. Use these discs or the installed “repair” features that your manufacturer has provided. Repair the operating system and you may experience a great boost in performance. Be sure you back up all of your files before you start working on the operating system files.

I hope you’ve found this blog post useful. Share it with your friends and family and help get them protected and running faster for free! All it takes is a little time!

an Information Technology Solutions Company providing Computer Services, Web Design & Search Engine Optimization based out of Lynchburg, VA 24502.

It’s Time to get OFF the Fence with Social Media

matthew.bangert — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:30:25 +0000

By matthew.bangert at . See the original post at It’s Time to get OFF the Fence with Social Media.

Earlier last week Google announced “Search, plus Your World” . This announcement has brought a lot of attacks from tech writers across the world. This is an attempt for goole to promote its social media network Google Plus. With this change Google Plus users will have their search adjusted to show Google Plus content at the top of every search rather than just organic searches. This new change will be problematic for Google Plus users who don’t want to see the new results. They will have an option to opt-out of this feature but it will be turned on by default.

Twitter has been one of the loudest digitally speaking out against this big change Google is rolling out. This is no small change and regardless of the flack Google is receiving right now we don’t think that is going to stop or modify this change.

So why does this matter for small businesses? Well most of you have heard about Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Some may have heard some buzz about Google+ (Plus). Most Social Media Firms have emphasized Facebook and Twitter over Google+, but with the changes to Google Search’s Algorithm (Panda) this past year which puts a heavier emphasis on social media sharing, and now the announcement of Search, plus Your World, times are changing for Search Engine Optimization and placement.

One of two things are going to happen with this change from our perspective. The first of which is the Search volume will change over to Microsoft’s new search engine released a few years ago known as Bing. The second of which is potentially Google will accomplish its mission and get more people using Google+ which means it will be just as important to have an updated Google+ page as it currently is to have an updated Facebook page.

If you’ve been on the fence with social media, it is time to get off and get moving on a social media marketing campaign. Digital Immersions Inc. can assist you with developing your Social Media Strategy for your business.

an Information Technology Solutions Company providing Computer Services, Web Design & Search Engine Optimization based out of Lynchburg, VA 24502.

New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) will it be a revolutionary change or revolutionary flop?

matthew.bangert — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:32:02 +0000

By matthew.bangert at . See the original post at New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) will it be a revolutionary change or revolutionary flop?.

Many of you may or may not know that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began accepting new applications for their new Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program.

This is being considered a revolutionary change for the internet and could greatly affect the way we browse the internet. Many of us that work in the Web Design and Information Technology industry have seen ICANN roll out new gTLD’s such as .biz . Most of these have not experienced great success outside of domain squatters rushing to buy up as many relevant domain names as possible.

So now we may see 100′s of new Top-Level Domains such as .shop, .social or perhaps brand names like .honda . We may also see a whole new breed of internationally recognized 3 letter gTLD’s that will become yet another “virtual land rush” to buy up as many of the best keyword and name combinations. But the question remains will they really be successful or just another business expense?

Late last year we saw the release of the .XXX domains. This was suppose to give Adult Based websites an opportunity to have their own area. The problem is many of the adult based sites prey on those typos we make when we are typing a well known domain. Just 1 letter mix up for a domain and you or your child could be at an adult site. So what happened was the opposite. Businesses, organizations, and universities had to start buying up .XXX domains to preserve their domain and brand integrity and adult sites for the most part stayed where the were.

Now with the potential of unlimited new Top-Level Domains such as .shop .buy .social .local (use your imagination the list can go on) companies may find themselves having to shell out more cash to continue to buy up relevant domains to secure their business brand and identity.

Even though the potential for unlimited new Top-Level Domains exist, it is going to take $185,000 for a single application to bring a new Top-Level Domain into bid. This is a significant investment compared to the average $10/yr cost to buy and sit on domains. This should help control the quantity of new Top-Level Domains to some extent.

We at Digital Immersions Inc., feel this could be another ICANN flop. This starts putting the control of the Top Level Domains into big business and deep pocket investor’s hands. We feel we will potentially see a few good Top-Level Domains come out of this big change but the .com is the standard and that isn’t changing anytime soon.

an Information Technology Solutions Company providing Computer Services, Web Design & Search Engine Optimization based out of Lynchburg, VA 24502.

Why use WordPress for Business?

admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 03:14:00 +0000

By admin at . See the original post at Why use WordPress for Business?.

Top Five Reasons to Use WordPress for Your Small Business Website

SEO – WordPress provides good search engine optimization (SEO) right out of the box. There are a few tweaks you need to make, but there are many seo benefits that WordPress provides for free.
Content – it is easy to update content on your website without knowing HTML. Do you hate the idea of having to learn to use a complex HTML editor tool like Dreamweaver? Do you have to “ask” your webmaster every time you want to make a small change to your website? Well no longer – once WordPress is set up for you, you can easily create new pages or edit existing pages using a simple rich text editor.
Extensions – WordPress has an extensive plugin developer community, many of which are freeware. This allows you or Digital Immersions Inc. to easily add or remove features from a site. This ensures that your site remains dynamic and provides fresh new content and features to your visitors.
Social Media - Most WordPress themes come with Social Media icons integrated into the layout. There are also several plugins out there that you can easily sync your blog to your Twitter account and Facebook!
Blog Sharing – Your visitors can easily share your blog posts with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and many other social media/sharing sites on the net. This can also be done with a simple plugin.

WordPress continues to grow each year and it is gaining momentum in the small business market. With the economy stalled businesses are looking for cost efficient ways to have a professional and dynamic web-site that has easily readable content and interactive features for their visitors. The WordPress Framework allows this easily and with all the pre-built templates out there getting started is cheap. Gone are the days of spending 1,000′s of dollars for a custom built site. Request a Quote Now from Digital Immersions Inc. and lets get started today!

an Information Technology Solutions Company providing Computer Services, Web Design & Search Engine Optimization based out of Lynchburg, VA 24502.