Quick tip: How to use Safe Mode for a Windows/Mac-based computer.

Hello all!  This will be a fairly short blog, and I may start posting these more often.  As an avid computer user, I find interesting and neat tricks that users can use in case of certain scenarios.  If a computer doesn't work as intended, most people end up either asking their friends or calling technical support for help.  I frequently get questions asking, "how do you do this?", "what happens if [insert situation here]?", and "will I get a virus from this?"  That's where I come in.

Today's topic involves the situation where your computer just doesn't work as intended.  Maybe there's some weird error message popping up that says that you're lame, but if you buy our software, you'll be the coolest kid on the block.  Maybe your computer has decided that it doesn't like your taste of music and as a result, it just stops wanting to work.  Or maybe your computer really hates you.  Who knows? For the situations that are relatively plausible, however, there's (almost) always a way to save your computer from problems.

Windows and Mac both have an option to boot into a mode called "Safe Mode."  For the most part, this disables services from automatically running at startup so that only the necessary, core processes are only running.  To run this:

For a Windows-based machine, boot up your computer and continually press/hold F8.  You'll get to a menu that looks something like this:

Windows 7's Advanced Boot Options 

If your computer isn't booting up correctly on startup, you can try one of two things.  I would first try using "Last Known Good Configuration," which (as you can tell by the option) boots your computer based on the last configuration that worked successfully.  In the event that this doesn't work, you can try "Repair Your Computer." This runs diagnostic tests on your RAM, checks your system files for any corruption, and helps restore your system files to factory defaults if some system files somehow have disappeared.  

If your computer does boot successfully, but you get slow-down issues/bugs to fix, then consider running it in "Safe Mode." As mentioned above, only the core processes will run.  This is particularly useful if you have any form of malware, be it spyware, adware, viruses, trojan horses, etc. Run a scanner in safe mode to thoroughly clean up problems.

The process is similar for a Mac-based computer.  Boot up your computer and hold down the Shift key once your hear the startup sound.  You can release it once you see the Apple logo and progress indicator as shown below:

Once you see the progress indicator, you can release the Shift key.

Once you get into safe mode, you can diagnose your computer the same way you would with a Windows-based computer.  While you don't get a plethora of options, the core services still run so you can fix any problems you might find at startup.

That does it for this blog! Post your comments/questions below! As always, be sure to subscribe for more techie news!

Until next time,

Corey

Software Review: Windows Live Essentials 2011

Yep guys, it's that time again! Another blog post. This time, we're going to be looking at some software! I figure that I should jump on the bandwagon and go ahead and review some software that I have found to be very useful to me personally.  People who are afraid to use new software for fear that it will "bloat" their computer and make it slow, fear no more! I'm here to help you figure out what software will work best for your computer!

One piece of software that I've found to be extremely versatile is one made by Microsoft, called Windows Live Essentials.

It is a collection of programs that I have found to be very useful.  In it contains Messenger, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Live Mesh, Writer, Family Safety, Mail, and Messenger Companion.  I will only talk about the first four programs, as they are the meat of this package.

Starting it off:

Windows Live Messenger

Windows Live Messenger is an instant messenger client for users who have a Hotmail/Live account.  It is essentially MSN Messenger polished up, for you people who remember that back in the day.  However, Microsoft has taken their instant messenger to the next level by incorporating the use of interacting with friends through social networks (e.g. Facebook).  This is incredibly and surprisingly useful and very easy to use.  By adding your social networking account details, you can view news updates, pictures, almost anything from your social network through Windows Live Messenger.  Furthermore, you can chat with people through your social network.  This is very helpful for those who get frustrated with Facebook's chat program.  You can also do audio/video chats with those who have Live accounts!  Very simple, pretty, and easy to use.

Viewing Facebook updates through Windows Live Messenger, along with those who are online. Incredibly easy, intuitive, and simple to use!

My good buddy Miles wasn't online, but this is an example of how the chat window looks like through Windows Live Messenger.

Windows Live Photo Gallery

Windows Live Photo Gallery is a photo organizer for your computer.  Windows fans, rejoice! We finally have a photo library program that doesn't have to be incorporated through Windows Media Center/Player! :) This program is similar to Google's Picasa program, and it works very well.  You can organize your images, edit them, share them with friends, tag people in pictures, add tags; just about anything you need to do to an image.  The editing tools are nowhere near as sophisticated as Adobe's Photoshop, but they are solid for a free program.  From straightening the picture, to adjusting the color or exposure, you have many common editing tools at your fingertips.  And if you're lazy, you can even use the Auto Adjust feature, which edits the image based on its conditions.  It's proven to be pretty accurate, but I prefer to edit my images manually.  Also, if you don't like your editing, you can simply revert the image back to its normal state! Windows Photo Gallery keeps the original copy in hand in case you ever need to go back to the original.  Fancy, huh?  There's also tools, such as creating panoramic images, fusing multiple pictures together (very useful post about this tool here), and many more options.  You should definitely check this out if you're into organizing and editing your images.

Photo tagging in Windows Photo Gallery; so useful to find pictures of me or anyone else!

Oh no! I've edited too much and I'm not happy with the results! No matter, after pressing the "Revert to original" button...

The photo is back to normal!

Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows Live Movie Maker is a movie maker/editor; plain and simple.  Like the other products in this suite, it is nowhere as amazing as advanced movie editors, like Sony's Vegas Pro or Adobe's After Effects; still, for beginning to intermediate users, this software works very well.  I haven't used it very much (if at all) since I use After Effects for video editing, but I do know that it is extremely easy to use.  Need to add an intro? It has it.  Need to add text/video/audio effects? It's there.  Need to add credits? Done.  You can record video from your webcam for an easy vlog entry, or you can incorporate multiple videos from your digital camera and music from your media library.  You can also pause videos and take snapshots of them; very useful tool.  It also has transition effects for combining multiple videos to make your movie more smooth.  There are certain visual effects you can apply that will change the tone and color of the movie.  Again, very common but powerful tools used by many, brought to you in one simple program.

Editing in Movie Maker; very simple to use! Let's change the color...

Gives our video a completely different feel! Looks cool, and all I had to do was press a button!

Windows Live Mesh

Last but not least, Windows Live Mesh is a synchronization program that helps manage files from multiple computers.  This program is incredibly helpful for those (such as myself) who have more than one computer and need to keep things synchronized.  I personally use this to make sure that I always have access to my college stuff on any computer.  As long as that computer has Live Mesh installed with your credentials, you can specify which folders you want to keep synchronized.  You must have a Live account in order to to this (it's simple and free!).  It's very versatile and I highly recommend it if you have multiple computers.  You could also use this to keep files synchronized with other users if you wanted to use a Live account to share files in real time (of course, using Dropbox would be much easier to use for this type of purpose).  You must be wondering; how does this work? Microsoft stores your files securely in the cloud. With a Live account, you get 5 GB of free space to store your data in the cloud.  Then, when you register another computer with your credentials to use Live Mesh, the program retrieves the data from the cloud and places it onto your computer.  It's very useful for keeping documents in sync everywhere! You can also access these files online, which is great if you're using a computer without Live Mesh.

Windows Live Mesh syncing my files into the cloud!

I can view the computers that are syncing certain folders. Anyone see the Final Fantasy XIII references?

That's Windows Live Essential in a nutshell.  These programs are highly intuitive and easy to use.  All it takes is a simple installation and you're good to go!  To download this for your Windows computer, just click here! Windows Live Essentials is available for 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista.  There is also a separate link for the Windows XP version here. Note that the XP version does not contain Movie Maker and Live Mesh.

If you have any questions about these programs, place them in a comment and I'll answer them!

Until next time,

Corey