The first article in this newsletter outlines a method to Backup your Blog. For anyone who writes a blog - it is essential that you back it up in some way - this is the way I have found to be the best. Article #2 in this newsletter is about 'Maintenance' procedures for a brand new computer. And, the last article is a quick tips on keyboard shortcuts to close windows and fill out forms.

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Backup your Blog

I've been keeping my blog since April of 2003. It has 850 posts. I would be devastated if it disappeared! And it could. Anything that is stored electronically can possibly disappear. That's why we make backups. But how do you make a backup of something that lives on Google's servers?

The first thing I do is set Blogger to email me a copy of each post as soon as I publish it. That's on Blogger's 'settings' page, under 'Email'. Just put your own email address in the space called 'BlogSend Address'. Within seconds of publishing a Blog post, I receive an email from blogger with the post.

I keep all those emails in a special folder and I sleep better at night! But, the pictures are a problem. The pictures aren't actually included with the email, there's just a HTML reference to where the picture lives on the Internet. What if the server that hosts the photos crashes? Yes, I have my originals, but what a pain to go back and recreate all those references to new locations.

Over the years that I've been keeping the Blog, I've uploaded my photos to different locations. It's a mess. I really want a backup method that makes a copy of those photos, wherever they may be, and stores them with the blog backup.

That's exactly what "Page / Save As..." does. It's magic really. It will save your Blog page on your hard drive as whatever you want to call it ... MyBlog. Then, it saves all the images in a subdirectory called MyBlog_files\. *And* it rewrites all the references to the photos so the blog post finds them in MyBlog_files\.

Actually, this is nothing new. I've used this technique as a web-designer when a new client wants me to rework their website and the original web designer, with access to all the files, is nowhere to be found. I can just go to any web page and use File (now Page) Save As to get all the text and images downloaded to my computer. You need to select 'Save As Type: Web Page Complete (htm, html).'

Notice I keep saying 'Page'. You have to do this for each page you want. My blog has 850 'pages'! This is where Blogger's Archives come in. Each month is a page. That still means 48 pages for me, but I consider that manageable. And, if I copy that all to a CD, I can now have a table of contents listing each month. That's what I want.

If you want me to show you how to do this, visit the video tutorial on our website for Backup your Blog.

A New Computer needs 'Maintenance.'

"My computer has gotten unbearably slow ." lamented the gentleman in the spa.

"It could have viruses, spyware, or just too much unnecessary software" I suggested.

"No, I don't think so," he replied, "it's only a month old!"

Actually, it's all too common for brand new computers to have lots of problems because most people are unaware that they need maintenance as soon as you bring them home! When I bought my new laptop back in February, Jim held on to it for 2 days before I was allowed to use it. He did 3 very important things that we recommend for all new computer purchases:

1. Update the operating system
Your brand-new computer may have been sitting on the shelf for a month or so, and it may have been in transit from the manufacturer for a month before that. That means it's at least 2 months out of date in it's operating system. It needs to be updated the first time you get on the Internet. Then, make sure the 'automatic updates' is turned on.

2. Install and Update Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware
We recommend removing the commercial Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware that may have come pre-installed on your computer. See #3 below. We prefer the free anti-virus, called AVG, that you can download from www.free.grisoft.com and the free anti-virus from Microsoft called Defender. Both of these programs automatically scan your computer daily (you can set the schedule) and they automatically update themselves whenever your computer is online. You can set it and forget it.

3. Remove unwanted software
Computer companies have marketing agreements with software companies. They make money by selling you a computer that has several software programs pre-installed. If you don't plan to use AOL, Norton Anti-Virus, or any of the 32 games that came pre-installed on your computer, get rid of them! How? With Control Panel / Add Remove Programs (XP) or Control Panel / Programs and Features (Vista). Click on the program to remove and choose 'uninstall.'

Those are the 3 things that should be done right away. Then, plan to do your BUCS! BUCS is Jim's acronym for Backup, Update, Cleanup and Scan. These are the regular maintenance tasks that will keep your computer in shape. Find more information on our Articles page.

Quick Tips

Using the keyboard to close a window:
Sometimes using the mouse to close a window is inconvenient. A keyboard shortcut is Alt-F4. That means, hold down the Alt key and press F4 on the top row of your keyboard. That will close the current window. It comes in very handy when your mouse has stopped working for some reason!

Tab and Enter keys for filling out forms:
There are lots of forms you have to fill out on your computer screen. If you don't know about the Tab key, you are reaching for the mouse to position your cursor in the box, typing the appropriate information, then reaching for the mouse again to move your cursor to the next box. Tab key will move your cursor to the next box much easier and your fingers won't lose their place on the keyboard. If you missed a box, you can hold down the shift key and press Tab to go back. The Enter key usually can substitute for clicking on 'OK' or 'Submit.' So be careful not to use Enter unless you're done with the form.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Your next issue will be in a couple weeks. Any questions, please email us. If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your inbox. To see the archives of past newsletters, go to www.geeksontour.com/newsletters.

Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com