Looking For Free CD DVD Burner Software

Looking for a free software alternative that will cater to most of your CD , DVD burning needs.

There are 2 alternatives to use

First you could use CD Burner XP

CD Burner XP will:

• Burns discs - Data and Music
• Creates boot discs 
• Converts iso's 

It is suitable for Windows XP , Vista , 7 and Windows 8

And remember it is Free , I have been using it for a while now and highly recommend it

More information and the download are available at CD Burner XP

The second chioce is InfraRecorder

"InfraRecorder is a free CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows.

It offers a wide range of powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration.

Features

Create custom data, audio and mixed-mode projects and record them to physical discs as well as disc images.

Supports recording to dual-layer DVDs.

Blank (erase) rewritable discs using four different methods.

Record disc images (ISO and BIN/CUE).

Fixate discs (write lead-out information to prevent further data from being added to the disc).

Scan the SCSI/IDE bus for devices and collect information about their capabilities.

Create disc copies, on the fly and using a temporary disc image.

Import session data from multi-session discs and add more sessions to them.

Display disc information.

Save audio and data tracks to files (.wav, .wma, .ogg, .mp3 and .iso)."

Zip Files - Use 7-Zip

Looking a free zip program that is an alternative to Winzip that can assist you with unzipping , packing , unpacking windows files including rar files.

rar files are compressed files that need a program to extract the file embedded inside.

Then try 7 - Zip a Free program that runs on Windows.

After installation locate the file you want to open

Then right click on the file

Then pick a destination for extracting the file by clicking in the box at the end of " extract to"

In this case I have selected the desktop

Once you press OK it will put the newly extracted file on the desktop

Geek Uninstaller - A Better Uninstaller

Looking for a really good uninstaller that is an alternative to the add / remove programs.

I have been using Geek Uninstaller on a variety of Windows machines for the last few weeks and have nothing but praise for it.

Geek Uninstaller works with all versions of Windows 32 bit and 64bit ( including Windows 8)

Geek Uninstaller will remove all files and on the " force removal " setting eliminates all registry entries.

Make sure you download the " Free " version

Download Geek Uninstaller

Flash - Time To Give It Up On Tablets

I am always asked about Flash on tablets.

Flash does not run on the iPad or the new Android tablets and Adobe will only allow access to Flash on Android devices that already had Flash Player installed and will not support Flash from Android 4.1 onwards.

Adobe implemented this from Aug 15th 2012 - you can read their press release HERE

If you are looking at watching TV or playing certain games , on your iPad or Android device, which on a computer you would watch or play through the internet browser , you will need to go to their app or download the game and not use the internet browser.

There are some ways to watch flash on these tablets but with the constant changes to software , they may not be a long term solution.

Capture Your Computer Screen

Screen capture software can be a great tool for the computer user which will enable you to:

• Capture your computer screen or a section of your computer screen
• Record what you do on your computer screen and have it saved as a video flash file which makes it ideal for training etc.

You can then share the video or the "shots" of your screen that you have saved.

Have a look at JING, available for the pc or the mac and it comes in a free or paid version with the paid version offering more options.

On the mac there is the " Grab "application which allows you to capture any section of your screen or the whole screen and save it as an image.

You can also use Quicktime to record what you do on the screen with it's " screen recording" setting , available under Mountain Lion.

Available for Windows in Windows 7 and Windows 8  is the " Snipping Tool " which enables you to take screen shots in varying modes.

"You can use Snipping Tool to capture a screen shot, or snip, of any object on your screen, and then annotate, save, or share the image. Simply use a mouse or tablet pen to capture any of the following types of snips:Free-form Snip.  Draw an irregular line, such as a circle or a triangle, around an object.Rectangular Snip.  Draw a precise line by dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.Window Snip.  Select a window, such as a browser window or dialog box, that you want to capture.Full-screen Snip.  Capture the entire screen when you select this type of snip."

Need To Play A Video / DVD - Try VLC

if you are looking to play a video from the internet or a dvd then try VLC.

This is cross platform software  ( you can use it on Windows or Apple) 

VLC Features Include

"Simple, Powerful and Fast 

Plays everything, Files, Discs (DVD, CD, VCD, Blu-Ray), Webcams and Streams 

Plays most codecs with no codec packs needed:

MPEG-2, H.264, DivX, MPEG-4, WebM, WMV player 

Completely Free, No Spyware, Ads or User Tracking 

Works on most platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix... 

Media Converter and Streamer"

Check out the website for the full list.

Save Your Work - Don't Lose Your Work In Office

What do you do when the power goes out or your computer crashes and you were working on an office document?

How do you avoid losing your work?

Make sure you have turned on Autorecover and Autosave in Word

1. Click the File tab.
2. Under Help, click Options
3. Click Save
4. Make sure the Save AutoRecover information every "x" minutes check box is selected

In Word 2010 , 2013 , Excel 2010 , 2013 and PowerPoint 2010, 2013 make sure the "Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving" check box is selected.

Please Note:  The Save button is still your best friend.

To be sure you don’t lose your latest work, click Save  (or press CTRL+S) often.

To be extra safe, enter a small number in the minutes box, like 10. That way, you’ll never lose more than 10 minutes of work.
On the other hand, if you want to make Office faster, try entering a larger number in the minutes box, like 20.
AutoRecover saves more than your files. It will save your workspace (if it can).

Changing Your Antivirus - Here's What To Do

So you have decided to change anti virus software on your computer , here is what you should do.

First make sure you thoroughly remove your current anti virus on your computer.

Your anti-virus solution can be un-installed from the Programs section in your Control Panel however some remnants may remain so you need to go to the manufacturers site and look for a removal tool which will remove all remnants of the software.

I have included some links below for popular anti virus solutions.

Norton Removal Tool

McAfee Removal Tool

Kaspersky Removal Tool

AVG Removal Tool

After removal reboot and proceed to install your new anti-virus solution.

FiveAA / PowerFM Segments For 6th Mar

TABLETS ARE ALL ABOUT THE APPS

Tablets Will Outsell Laptops This Year 

• Both Apple and Android have over 700,000 apps in their stores 
• Both Apple and Android will pass the 1 million apps this year

What are the different things that we can do with a tablet that we may not have considered ?

We know the traditional uses:

• Create documents / Emails / Calendar / Music / Internet Browser

The creative uses:

• Edit photos , make and edit videos , make and edit audio , online video chat

The educational uses:

• iTunes U for the iPad which offers over 2500 free educational courses from top schools , universities around the world and have just passed 1 billion downloads

The Practical Use

• Watch TV or listen to radio - iDTV For iPad - FiveAA - TuneIn Radio 

Lets consider some of the different uses for a tablet that you may not have considered

• Scanner - documents , business cards - using the camera and software - Scanner - Pro Link
• Sign and complete PDF documents and forms - PDF Pro for iPad Link
• Teleprompter – have your speech display and time - Teleprompter For iPad Link
• Security Monitor for video surveillance - Air-Cam Live For iPad
• Interactive Whiteboard from your tablet to computer - Educreations Interactive Whiteboard
• Vital Signs App – measure heart rate and breathing rate - Vital Signs Camera

Tip Of The Day

Make sure you or your business own your domain name

Check your name by entering it at this link  : Who Is

The following screen will appear.

Then click on the whois and you will discover who the owners of your domain are.

Website designers should only be in the contacts and you or your business should be the primary owners of the site.

PowerFM

News

Music sales last year rose for the 1st time since 1999 by .3% to 16.5 billion dollars

• 1 in 3 dollars are spent on digital music
• Digital music grew by 9%
• Out of the digital sales iTunes accounts for 70% of those sales

Tip Of The Week

The 4 Things You Must Keep Updated

• Adobe Flash
• Adobe Reader
• Java
• Windows Updates - Automatic / Optional

App Of The Week

The truly awful Cat Of the Week App where you can get a picture of a different looking cat every minute and for a $1 you can get the companion Dog A Minute 

iTunes Cat Of The Week

Back Up & Restore Outlook

Questions I am constantly asked is

• How do I backup my Outlook file properly ?
• How do I restore Outlook to a new computer or reinstall Outlook on a computer?

The website How To Outlook addresses these issue and more.

There are detailed instructions on:

• Locating your pst file
• Moving the pst file
• Backup the pst file
• Restore the pst file
• Export the pst file
• Import the pst file

There is also a great article from PC World on backing up and restoring Outlook

PC World Back Up and Restore Outlook

Make iTunes 11 Look Normal Again

iTunes 11 was a big change in appearance and layout for many , here is an article about getting it to look how it used to look.

5 Tips To Make iTunes 11 Look Normal Again

PowerFm Segment For 13th Feb

On This Week In Technology

In 2009 iFart sued Pull my finger for infringement

Infomedia the owners of iFart mobile asked a judge to rule that Pull My Finger ( made by air-o-matic ) is a common phrase and doesn't fall under trademark laws. 

Pull My Finger also claimed that the owners of iFart were publicly saying things that damaged their product.

Discussion Points

Its patch Tuesday ( yes its wed )  time to check your windows updates , there are 57 items in Windows that need patching. Click here for details : February's Big Patch Tuesday

Getting a new TV – get it installed correctly by professionals to avoid tragedies

Office 2013 you might run into some install issues on your computer if you have to reinstall Office as you may not be allowed to reinstall it. Click Here for details : Does your copy of Office 2013 die with your computer ?

Apple has sold its 25th billion song on iTunes and to give you some idea of how much money Apple makes from iTunes , they made more money from iTunes 5.5 billion dollars in the last quarter of 2012 ,  than any other companies phone revenue apart from Samsung ( Nokia , Motorola . Sony ) or Microsoft XBox and Windows phone division.

App Of the Week

Vjam - Have your movie soundtrack scored by Hans Zimmer 

Click Here for : iTunes Link for Vjam

http://www.vjamapp.com

FiveAA Notes For 12th & 13th Jan

Why You Should Pay More Attention To Google

Remember Google is an advertising company that uses its search component to make revenue

Google can help you whether you have a computer , tablet or smartphone – what you do one is duplicated on all ( Windows / Apple / Android , tablets ,computers , smartphones ) – cross platform , cross device syncing with all saved in “ the cloud”

Everything you do on Google is done and backed up online

Google accounts, tailors your search to your tastes, 2 people can search for the same subject but Google will tailor your search to past searches

Search can be done in so many ways but we rarely scratch the surface , search by time , location , images , shopping , time

Everything you do on Google is done and backed up online

Key Features Of Google

Emails

Establishing a Google account will give you a Gmail address

Forward your current email address to a Gmail account then all your emails will be stored in the cloud - never lose another email again

Click here for gmail tips

Document Creation

You can create documents , spreadsheets , presentations , you can do all this without a traditional office suite all through Google

How To Use Google drive

Calendar

Your appointments are synced across all your devices

Google Calendar Tips

Translate

Translate any document in most languages and write a document from English into those languages

Forms

Google gives businesses the ability to put forms on their website to capture information from forms

Google Forms Tips

Google Maps

The best way to find your way around

Tip Of The Week

Microsoft are due to release a swag of updates today , so manually go in and check all your updates , including the optional ones.

Why ?

"Because keeping windows up to date is your first line of defence "

Windows 8 Pricing - Going Up 1st Feb

The cost of Windows 8 will rise the first week in Feb.

Windows 8 will rise from just over the $40 mark to over $200

Remember if you are thinking of upgrading it may pay you to pick up a copy now.

Java - Time To Update Now & Uninstall The Old Java

Due to the security issues with Java which resides on most peoples computers it is time to update to the latest version and uninstall the old versions.

You should read this article from Computer World

How To Be As Safe As Possible With Java

To quote from the article " 

there is a chance that Windows users running Outlook can get infected just by reading their email "

So uninstall the old versions of Java first , here are the instructions.

How Do I Uninstall Java From My Windows Computer ?

Now install the new version by going to Java.com

Click on the Free Java Download 

You will get to the following screen , click on install

You will then be asked about installing the Ask Toolbar - take the tick out the Ask Toolbar is an insidious piece of software that you do not need .

Taking the tick out will not impact on the software

When you see this screen with no tick , you can proceed and see the following screen.

Say Goodbye To Outlook Express

I have seen several machines in the last few weeks that are still running Outlook Express and they all are having issues.

As Microsoft has not updated Outlook Express in years , but all the other software and operating systems has marched on with time.

So what are the free options now?

• Gmail
• Windows Live Mail

The paid option is obviously Outlook , a part of Microsoft Office

Time has well and truly passed Outlook Express by.

It really is time to switch for features and security enhancements.

Here is a link to help you with the transition from Outlook Express and getting your emails and contacts out of Outlook Express.

Export Mail and Contacts From Outlook Express

Windows 8 - Restore, Refresh or Reset Your Computer

On FiveAA today i talked about one of my favourite features of Windows 8 , the ability to refresh or reset your computer.

Refreshing your PC reinstalls Windows and keeps your personal files, settings, and the apps that came with your PC and apps that you installed from Windows Store. 

Resetting your PC reinstalls Windows but deletes your files, settings, and apps—except for the apps that came with your PC.

This is ideal for times when things have gone wrong with your Windows installation.

More information can be found here: How to restore, refresh, or reset your PC

Microsoft Security Essentials - The Free Antivirus Software I Recommend

I am always asked which antivirus software I recommend.

The free one I recommend is Microsoft Security Essentials available from Microsoft.

Microsoft claim that it " provides real-time protection for your home or small business PCs."

Having used it and installed it on many clients computers I can corroborate these claims.

So who would switch to this and why.

Well if you run one of the alternative free software antivirus ( AVG , Comodo ) you should look at swapping because this solution fits well within the Windows environment because let's be honest here , nobody knows Windows better than Microsoft.

Remember also that virus's and malware are written to exploit holes in the Windows Operating system and that is why you need to update your operating system with Windows Update.

After installation you will have the following displayed on the bottom right hand side of your computer screen.

Notice the green " castle" with the tick in it .

That means all is good , so all you ever have to remember is, green is good"

If it is orange then it wants you to do something ( usually a quick scan ) and if it is red it can mean an issue.

If Microsoft Security Essentials finds a virus then you will get a warning and an instruction on the screen as to what you should do with it.

Don't Download Or Install Voodoo Products To Your Computer

If while you are surfing the internet you see an ad for a program that says:

• "Speed Up Your PC"
• "Optimise Your Ram "
• "Virus Checker".

Don't click on them as they will not work and will open up your computer up to infection , malware , trojans and if you have paid for it ,wasted your money.

This especially applies to registry cleaners which in my experience fall under the " voodoo" category.

If your computer is that bad that you think you need a registry cleaner , then format your hard drive and reload your operating system.

Reduce The Size Of A PDF In OS X

Open the file you want to reduce 

Go to File - Export

Next Open the Quartz Filter

On the drop down menu click on Reduce File Size

Then click SAVE

The size you get will depend on the amount of images in the document