For the month of January, we took one short trip to our favorite Thousand Trails park in Peace River, Florida. We had a warm welcome and presented a couple of seminars. Next week we plan to go to Thousand Trails Orlando and present our seminars on Feb 8 & 9. Then, in March we're off to Georgia for the Family Motor Coach Ass'n convention. We'll be presenting all 7 of our topics there in addition to our hands-on Computer Boot Camp. Oh! And, if you've visited the FMCA website lately, you'll see a completely new look, including a page on the Computer Geeks! Guess Who?

So you don't miss anything, here's a list of other articles we've posted this month:
Picasa Tip: Scanning Old Photos
Picasa Tip: Out of Focus? I meant that!
Pictures, Precious Pictures
Digital TV for the RV
Picasa Tip: When your pictures get "All Messed Up"
Picasa Tip: Use Captions
Traveling with Computers
We've also picked up our first 'sponsor!' Tengo Internet. We will be visiting parks that offer the Tengo Internet Wi-Fi service whenever possible in our travels.

In this newsletter

• Back to Basics: Memory vs. Storage
• CCleaner
• Email a map with Google Earth

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Back to Basics: Memory vs. Storage

Geek, "I think your computer is running slow because you need more memory. Vista works best with 4 gigabytes of RAM."

You, "But I have 100 gigabytes of free space on my C Drive! So it must be something else."

The problem is a misunderstanding of terminology. RAM memory is a completely different thing from Disk drive storage space. They are both measured in Gigabytes, but that's where the similarity stops. RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is the workspace of your computer ... its brain space if you will. It is temporary, it gets dumped - emptied, whenever you reboot or turn off your computer. Disks are your permanent storage space, they can hold years' worth of data and programs. Nothing is removed from permanent disk storage unless you delete it.

It's like the difference between your desk (work area) and your filing cabinets (storage.) You may have several filing cabinets, maybe even a storage shed full of filing boxes! But you only need a desk big enough for what you are currently working on. The more you need to work on at any one given time, the bigger your desk needs to be. Vista's tools take a lot of memory space - the more you give it, the better it works.

Ccleaner to Clean your Computer

Jim provides a service he calls 'Computer Cleanup' for Windows-based computers. It's kind of like a tuneup on a car. He charges a flat rate of $99 for this service. Sometimes it takes 3-4 hours, sometimes it takes 3-4 days! Every computer is different, and he has a lot of tools and tricks that he goes thru to accomplish the end result. He almost always uses a free software program called CCleaner, and he recommends it for everyone to do standard maintenance on their computers. Here's what he says about it:

"Nearly every computer comes with programs you don't need.  Day to day use of your computer creates files and configurations that can slow your computing experience. 

CCleaner is a popular free utility that helps rid your computer of unused programs and junk files. It is fast and powerful.  It will speed up your Windows and give you more disk space.
CCleaner allows you to uninstall programs from CCleaner itself. You don't need to go into Control Panel.  

It also allows altering your start-up programs, similar to the Windows MSConfig Utility. A Registry Cleaner is included to locate and correct problems in the Windows Registry such as missing shared DLLs, unused file extensions and application paths.
Having a clean computer has many advantages.  Malware scans take less time.  Defragging is faster.  Just using the program makes you more aware of your system and the programs you use.
I use CCleaner when I get a new computer to uninstall unneeded programs and optimize the startup.  I also use it regularly along with other utilities to keep a computer clean and running efficiently.

Because CCleaner is so powerful, it is important to use it with care.  Don't delete things unless you are sure."

Geeks on Tour Paid Members can view a video on downloading and running CCleaner.

Email a Map with Google Earth

Google Earth must be the most fascinating application on the web today. Did you ever have a globe and use it to just dream about far away places? Did you wish you could just point at any place on that globe and dive in - finding out all you ever wanted to know? That's Google Earth. A magic globe that can tell you anything you want to know about any place.

But first, you have to get familiar with the program itself. The video below shows you how to use Google Earth to make your own map of where you are, then send it to a friend in an email so they can find you even in an obscure corner of a campground. You may already do this with other mapping programs, but I think you'll like how it works with Google Earth. And, once you get started using Google Earth, you may never stop! If you can't play the video below, you can view it on this web page.