Computer Tips Archives - Complicated To Simple

When Should I Replace My Computer?

The question of when to retire a computer is a subjective one at best. It depends on many things. However, there are some basic rules of thumb you can use to help make the decision easier.

The first question to ask yourself when considering computer replacement is, “why do I want to replace my computer?” The answer to this question will be very helpful in deciding if it’s a good idea.

If your “why” is that you’re just tired of your old one and want something new, then by all means, indulge yourself. In this article I’m not addressing the question of affordability or if your spouse thinks it’s a good idea. You’ll have to decide those issues for yourself. The purpose of this article is to address the technical aspects of the decision.

If your “why” is that the old one doesn’t perform up to snuff or won’t run some of you programs, that’s a different story. Then you need to look at some other things before making your decision.

Very often, a computer’s performance problems are caused by things we can easily correct. If your hard drive is too full, you can clean it up. If too many programs are running at once, you can control which ones start and which ones don’t. The performance settings can also be tweaked to best fit the kind of work you do. I won’t go into how to do any of that here. I do however go into quite a bit of detail about it in my free “How to Turbo-Charge Your Computer” video e-course. You can get instant access to that course by clicking here.

If you’ve tuned up your computer and that hasn’t helped, there may still be a thing or two you can do before purchasing a new one.

One of the most common things to do is reload the operating system. This is not usually necessary on Macs (but sometimes it is!). It definitely applies to Windows computers though. The older your version of Windows, the more you will probably gain by doing this.

Windows XP especially benefits from an occasional reload. I like to compare Windows XP to the old Pac Man game. You remember…the one where the little yellow chomping faces eat up everything in their path. Well, that’s how Windows acts too.

Each time you start up Windows XP, the longer you go before restarting, the more the system performance degrades. It’s like the little Pac Men eat up more and more pieces of your system until it won’t run anymore and needs to restart. The problem is, it’s like that in the long run too. The more months and years you go without reloading, the more your system degrades.

So the question becomes, do you want to reload and have an OLD computer that works like it did when it was new? Or do you want a new computer that runs like new and will do so for a few years?

The most I’ve ever gotten out of a Windows XP installation was about 5 years. Admittedly, I probably run my computers far harder than most people do. If all you do is browse the internet and read email, yours may last much longer.

I knew it was time to reload when I could only start up QuickBooks one time. If I closed it and tried again, it would not start without restarting the computer. Also, if I wanted to change printer settings, it took nearly 10 minutes for the dialog box to come up. Normally, it should come up instantly.

I figured out that Windows was the problem and not the hardware with a novel test process that cost me nothing. I just reinstalled Windows on a new partition of my hard drive. Since it was on the very same hardware, the only difference was that the installation was new. It worked beautifully…just like new!

However, even though this worked, I decided to replace the computer anyway. As I said earlier, there are many reasons for replacing a computer. In this case, I didn’t want to go to all the trouble of reloading all my programs (many, many programs!) and still be on the same ancient hardware and operating system. This process takes over a day and I’d much rather have sometime more modern to show for my work.

On the other hand, if you have an abundance of time and don’t wish to spend the money on a new computer, you may want to give this a try. It’s quite easy to do.

Just back up your data to a USB drive and make sure you have installable copies of any programs you want to keep. You also will need a copy of Windows. You don’t necessarily need YOUR copy of Windows. As long as you record your license number before erasing everything, just about any copy of Windows will do. Just make sure it’s the same version of Windows as your license number is for. The one exception I’ve run into is if you have a copy of Windows that was made for a specific computer. Sometimes it will only allow installation on the computer it was made for.

Many computers have a recovery drive on them. If yours does, it should have a recovery program on it too. This program, when started, gives you the opportunity to change your computer back to the exact state as when it was new. You’ll be amazed at how well your old computer will work after you do this. Just like new!

If you have no copy of Windows and no recovery drive, you can often use a friend’s copy. You can also buy a copy on Craigslist or EBay without a license number since you already have your own. I recently purchased a copy of Vista this way for around $5. This is perfectly legal and can be installed as many times as you like as long as you have a unique serial/license number for each computer you put it on.

If you commonly use software that is upgraded regularly, you may not want to do this. As I said, you end up with an old computer that runs like it did when it was new. That may not be adequate if you’re trying to run software that was written years after that computer became out of date. That’s one reason I generally build a new computer instead of reloading Windows after years of use.

Just remember to tune up your computer before you make any decision to replace it. Not doing so is like selling your car because it needs an oil change or a tune up. Of course your car will run poorly if not maintained! The same goes for your computer.

So grab a copy of my free video e-course and make it run like new again. You should see significant improvements in speed, less locking up (or none), and no more blue screens of death. You’ll be able to spend your time on those important, fun things in life instead of constantly waiting for your computer to respond.

It will make your computer fun again and your computer will love you for it!

If you still don’t’ like your old computer after going through the course (and maybe reloading Windows), at least you’ll know that you did everything you could to get the best from it. You’ll also have the immense satisfaction of not having to pay anyone to check out an old computer! You can go shopping with a clear conscious and have fun finding a new computer!

If you enjoyed this article, please click the Facebook “like” button at the top left of this page. Feel free to share it with your friends too. If you have questions, please add them to the bottom of this page. I try to answer all your questions as soon as I can.

By the way, as an added bonus, if you get the free video e-course I mentioned, you’ll also get free access to our e-zine that’s packed with other tips and tricks to simplify your life!

Thanks for visiting and I look forward to seeing you back here soon!

About Robert Seth

Robert Seth is a CPA in the Clark County, Washington area who has been serving individual and small business clients for the last 25 years. His business includes a growing number of remotely serviced customers throughout the United States. He’s also a writer and technology expert. He has a passion for improving the lives of others by helping them simplify the complicated stuff in their lives.

How to Maximize Battery Life of Your Windows Laptop

Of all the features that laptop manufacturers try to sell us on, the battery life often becomes the most important feature.

(To read the MAC version of this article click here)

They’re constantly adding new features and updates. They improve processors, video cards, memory, screen resolution and all kinds of other things. They are constantly in competition with each other to convince us that their Windows based PC is better than everybody else’s.

However when you read reviews and look at the kinds of things that people like the least, it’s usually short battery life that makes them the most unhappy. After all, laptops are supposed to be portable and that’s what we buy them for.

If a laptop has to stay plugged in most of the time, it’s not much better than a desktop.

One thing you can’t do much about is the maximum advertised number of minutes a battery will last between charges. When manufacturers do testing to come up with this number, they generally use very unrealistic scenarios.

Every piece of the computer gets put into its absolute minimum state of power consumption. Most people would not use a laptop in this condition as it would run too slow and the screen would be too dim.

So while you may get close to that number of minutes, you will probably never go over it. The only way to go over is to exchange the stock battery for an extended one.

That being said though, most people don’t even get close to the advertised number of minutes. There are quite a few things you can do to get much closer to this maximum figure.

On any given laptop, probably the most important thing you can do to get the most minutes is keep your screen brightness as low as possible. This is especially true the larger the screen you have.

Screen brightness on Windows laptops is generally adjusted with the function keys at the top of your keyboard. Some use other means so if yours does not use the function keys, consult your user manual or documentation to see how to do it.

Another area where you can make a big difference in the minutes you get on each charge is in the Windows Power Options. To get there click on the Power Options icon in your taskbar. If the icon is not in your taskbar, refer to the next section.

You can also get there by clicking on Start, Control Panel, and Power Options if you’re looking at the icon of classic view. If looking at the category view in the Control Panel, click on Hardware and Sound (Windows Vista and 7) or Performance and Maintenance (Windows XP). Then Click on Power Options.

Just as a side note, I always recommend using the classic, or icon view. Microsoft introduced the category view in Windows XP and it has been a constant source of confusion ever since. With each version of Windows they rearrange the categories and call them by different names. If you stay in the classic, or icon view, you won’t have to deal with this issue.

Windows XP

In Windows XP, after you click on Power Options, select the Power Schemes tab. You don’t get a lot of choices here but you do get the important ones. Clicking the drop down under Power Schemes allows you to select a configuration.

For a laptop you would choose Portable/Laptop or Maximum Battery. Once you select one, you can change the settings in the lower box on the screen. The shorter the time interval you select in Turn off monitor and Turn off hard disks, the longer your battery will last.

I do not recommend using system standby or sleep in Windows XP as these have never worked very dependably. You can spend a great deal of time getting your computer unfrozen when these are used.

Windows Vista and 7

After clicking on Power Options in Windows Vista or 7, you will have quite a few more options than in Windows XP.

Instead of a Power Scheme, you will choose a Power Plan. Windows comes with three plans already set up. These are Balanced, High Performance, and Power Saver. If your primary considerations are making your battery charge last the longest, chose Power Saver.

Windows did a couple of things with Vista and 7 that give you lots of options. First, they made it so you could adjust any setting within any of the three plans.

Click on Change plan setting next to any of the plans and you’ll be able to adjust when the screen turns off and when the computer sleeps. You get settings for both Plugged in and On battery.

On the same screen click on Change Advanced Power Settings. Here is where you have the option to change the settings for most devices on the computer for both Plugged in or On Battery. For example, if you know you’re not going to be using your wireless network for a while, you could turn it off.

I won’t go into what all the other advanced settings do here. Just know that they are there and can be changed. For details on any you don’t understand, I suggest doing a Google search and learning a little about it before making adjustments.

The other cool thing Windows did is they made it so you could make up your own power Plan. Look at the left margin on the Power Options Window. You’ll see a menu item called Create a Power Plan.

When you click on this you’ll be asked to select an existing plan that most closely resembles the one you want to create. Click Next and then choose when to turn off screen and put computer asleep. Click Create and you’ll be taken back to the Power Options screen.

When you click on your new plan from here, you’ll then be able to go to the advanced settings and make very detailed adjustments as discussed above.

Other Considerations for all Versions of Windows

There are a number of things you can do that are the same regardless of which version of Windows you’re using.

First, make sure you’re only running the programs you need. Every program running on your computer uses some power even if it’s minimized. Try to close browser windows when not needed and programs when you’re done with them.

Programs that use system resources extensively will use lots of power. These include Video, photo, and sound editing programs and video intensive games. Just realize that no matter what you do, your battery is not going to last long when using these types of programs.

Another fairly easy battery extender is to keep your fan speed as low as possible. Excess fan speed sucks battery power at an alarming rate. There are several ways to keep fan speed at a minimum. The simplest is to make sure your air vents are not obstructed by clothing or anything your computer is sitting on.

Be sure to keep your fans clean too. If you don’t know how to do this, you might want to bring it to someone a couple times a year and have them clean it out. Hopefully, I’ll be writing an article about how to do this yourself on Windows computers so stay tuned. If you’re using a MAC, you can watch my cleaning video by clicking here.

Lastly, to keep fan speed low, try to use your computer in the coolest place you can find. Because laptops are so small, their cooling systems are tiny and not very efficient. A small increase in ambient air temperature can cause your fans to have to work much harder to cool things off.

Another area that can help is to keep your hard drive defragmented. The harder you drive has to work to find a file, the more power it will use.

I won’t go into the details of using the defragmenter here, but you can get to it by clicking on Start, All Programs, Accessories, System tools, and Disk Defragmenter.

The last thing we’ll discuss here is keeping your drivers up to date. If you read the MAC version of this article, which can be found here, you remember that this was a pretty big area. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Windows.

MAC driver updates are tested better and almost always cause an improvement in performance. With Windows, updating your drivers can actually be a gamble. Some Windows screens will actually tell you not to update if things are working okay.

Some Windows and other software updates can leave your computer virtually unusable. It is a very sad commentary on Microsoft that their own software updates are sometimes the most damaging software you can install on your computer.

While I would not recommend across the board updates in Windows, I would recommend you keep your video card drivers up to date. Video cards can consume a surprising amount of power so it’s important they are running as efficiently as possible.

Windows security updates are also important for keeping your computer secure. However, some of these updates are the type that can cause trouble. One of the things you can do to check on updates is do Google searches on them before you install. If there is a major problem with one, you should get many Google hits talking about the problem. You can then wait a few days until a fix for the update is published.

So for now I leave it up to your best judgment whether or not you install other updates. This really is beyond the scope of this blog post. I think this is a very important subject though and certainly does warrant an article or two of its own.

So let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in reading about. You can comment here about that, or this article in general, or anything you want. The comment section is here for you and I love to hear what you have to say.

Please take advantage of it and tell me what you think. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook or Twitter.

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Thanks for visiting!

About Robert Seth

How to Extend MacBook Battery Life

Make your laptop as portable, fun, and frustration proof as possible by taking these simple steps on How to Extend MacBook Battery Life.

(Click Here for Windows version of this Article)

Apple continue to upgrade processors, memory, video cards, screens and all kinds of other things. But if your MacBook battery life doesn’t last very long, all the rest can sometimes seem pretty useless.

After all, your MacBook is supposed to be portable. If you have to stay plugged in all the time, it’s not much better than a desktop.

You can’t do much about a battery’s maximum advertised time it will last between charges. But there’s lots you can do to get the most from each one of those charges.

Of the things you can do to get the most minutes from a charge, managing screen brightness is probably the most important. On a MacBook Pro 15” or 17”, this can make a difference of as much as three hours.

To increase the battery time, try to keep your screen brightness as low as possible. This can be controlled manually by using the F1 and F2 keys on your keyboard.

Brightness control can also be controlled through systems preferences. Click on the Apple menu and select System Preferences, Hardware, and Displays.

In this dialog box you’ll find a slider to control brightness. It can also be controlled automatically by checking the box, Automatically Adjust Brightness.

The beauty of checking this box is that you can still adjust the brightness manually. So if you don’t like the setting the computer selects, you can adjust it yourself with the keyboard keys. This does not cause the Automatically Adjust Brightness box to become unchecked

While you’re in the Displays dialog box, notice the screen resolution settings. The most efficient setting is the screens native resolution. Changing this will make the screen somewhat easier to see (especially for older eyes). But it will also shorten the useful time between charges.

Different color profiles will also have an effect on battery life. The more basic the setting, the more efficient power usage will be.

You can change the profile from the Displays dialog box. To get there, click on the Color tab next to the Display tab in the Displays dialog box. Here you can select a preset profile, or invent one yourself.

Another place to improve battery life is in the Power Saver settings. To get there, go to the Apple menu, System Preferences, Hardware, and Power Saver.

Any boxes checked in this screen will help increase MacBook battery life. Also, the farther you move the sliders on this screen to the left, the longer your battery will last.

The top slider controls when your computer sleeps. Setting this too low will cause you to have to wake your computer up all the time. So you’ll want to find a good compromise between battery life and system performance.

The bottom slider just puts the display asleep sooner. It wakes back up quickly though so you can set it very low without much inconvenience.

Some Macs have dual video cards. If yours does, there will be a box at the top of the Power Saver screen entitled Automatic Graphics Switching.

This is one of those ingenious Apple features. Your computer has one basic video card for simple tasks and one advanced one for more difficult tasks.

The advanced one takes much more power. So if you check this box, the advanced one will only be used when necessary. This can save lots of power and greatly increase MacBook battery life.

Another thing you can do to increase battery life is to only run the programs you need. Try to close browser windows when not needed. Also close programs when you’re finished with them.

However, this process only goes so far. There are times when you simply will not be able to do much extending.

Programs that use lots of system resource will use lots of battery power. These include video, photo, or sound editing programs, and video intensive games. When using these you’re going to get less battery time no matter what you do.

Another fairly easy battery extender is to keep your laptop as cool as possible. Increased fan speed sucks battery power at an alarming rate.

To keep fan speed as low as possible, keep you fans clean and try not to block your vents. If you have a choice, try to use your laptop in the coolest place you can find.

Fairly small increases in ambient air temperature can translate to big differences in battery life. If you think your fans might be dirty, click here to see my article on cleaning them.

Lastly, there is one more thing you can do to extend your battery life. It’s not something you would normally think of. However, depending on the extent of this issue, it can make the biggest difference of all.

This one thing is to keep your software and drivers up to date. MacBooks do a fantastic job of this automatically by default. Just make sure your default settings have not been changed.

To check them, click on the Apple menu, System Preferences, System, and Software Updates.

Make sure you’re looking at the Scheduled Check tab. For maximum automation, make sure Check for Updates and Download Updates Automatically are both checked.

The frequency of checking is up to you. Weekly is probably adequate. However, if you notice you battery suddenly not lasting very long, you might want to come in here and click on Check Now.

You can also check for updates by clicking on the Apple menu and just clicking on Software Updates. Your computer will begin checking instantly.

I can’t stress enough how important this issue is. Let me give you an example which is both extreme and quite recent.

I have Parallels on my MAC which is a program that allows me to run Windows (or any other operating system) on my MAC along with the MAC operating system.

When I upgraded to Lion recently, my battery life went from 8 to 9 hours, down to about 1 to 2 hours. This reduction was also accompanied by generally higher fan speed.

The problem was that Lion required a whole new set of drivers and software updates. If you made this switch to Lion, you probably noticed your computer doing lots of updates afterwards.

Anyway, to make a long story short, my battery problem was completely solved by upgrading Parallels. Parallels came out with an update the same day Lion was released.

The upgrade was quite extensive and took a while to download and install. However, the wait was worth it as it worked flawlessly afterwards.

The moral of the story is, when your computer asks if you want to install updates, you should allow it to do so as soon as possible.

So there you have it. If you keep these simple ideas in mind, you should be able to remain untethered from the power outlet for quite a while between charges.

If you have a Windows computer, check out the Windows version of this article here.

If you enjoyed this article or have anything to add, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment.

If you would like more tips on improving computer performance, click here to grab a copy of our free video course on turbo charging your computer.

Thanks for visiting!

About Robert Seth

How to Stop a Frozen or Unresponsive Program in Windows

It seems no matter how sophisticated our computers get, we still have to deal with unresponsive or frozen programs.

Last week’s article was about how to do this on a MAC. Today we’re going to look at how to do it in Windows.

Click here to read the MAC version of this article.

Unfortunately, this does not usually work as well on a Windows computer as it does on a MAC. Windows computers generally have more instances of programs freezing up. They also have many more instances of the entire computer freezing up.

That being said however, it still works quite often and can save you a lot of time. It usually only takes a few moments to stop a program. It can take many minutes to start Windows back up though.

It’s also not good for your computer to be shut down in the middle of running something. This can leave files in an open state instead of being closed in an orderly manner. It can also cause information to be lost and your Windows installation to degrade over time.

Always try to shut down a non-responsive or frozen program before hitting the power button and shutting the computer down.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this process of stopping a program can sometimes take a long time. I’ve seen it take 10 to 20 minutes before. I’ve also had seemingly stuck programs take that long to respond.

What that means is sometimes we need to be very patient. Let’s say you have Microsoft Word open. You’ve been working on a very important 200 page document. You click on print and then try to change the printer settings.

Suddenly everything stops and nothing inside Word will work. This is the time to ask yourself a few questions. Have you saved the file recently (you should save important files frequently!)

How important is this document? How much time do you have to deal with this problem? The answer to these questions will determine how you will deal with the problem.

Let me explain. When a program freezes up, often times it is not permanently frozen. As I said earlier, sometimes it can take as long as 20 minutes to respond. If what you’re doing is really important, it’s best to let Windows figure out the problem.

Once the problem is figured out and the program responds again, don’t continue working. Close the program if you can and then shut down the computer using the shutdown command in Windows. When it restarts, the problem will usually be fixed.

Just as Windows installations degrade over time, Windows sessions do too. Shutting it down occasionally resets everything and will usually drastically improve your computing experience.

If the program will not quit no matter how long you wait, then you need to try and force it to quit. The simplest way to do this is to right click on the program in the task bar and then click Close (Windows XP and Vista) or Close Window (Windows 7). See the screen shot below.

Again, give the program a chance to close before moving on to the next step or shutting down the computer.

The other way to shut down a program is by using the Task Manager. To start the Task Manager in Windows XP, press CTRL, ALT, and Delete at the same time. Only do this once. It may take a while to respond. If you do it twice, when the computer does respond, it will shut down completely.

In Windows Vista and 7 pressing these keys will bring up an intermediate screen where you can click on the Task Manager to start it. To skip the intermediate screen, just press CTRL, SHIFT, and ESC.

When the Task Manager starts, go to the Applications tab. Scroll down to the program you want to stop and then click on End Task at the bottom of the window. Give the program adequate time to stop.

If these methods don’t work, you will probably have to restart your computer to fix the problem. If the rest of your computer is working, you might want to try doing something else and seeing if the program eventually stops.

There is one more thing to show you. If a program is frozen and your mouse is too, you may still be able to stop the program. Windows has provided a way to do this just using the keyboard.

Press the Windows Start Key. This has the Windows symbol on it and sometimes the word Start. It’s between CTRL and ALT at the bottom left of your keyboard.

In Windows XP, use the arrow keys to get to the Run command on the right side of the start menu.

When Run is highlighted, press Enter. Type Taskmgr.exe in the box that comes up next. Then tab down to OK and press Enter.

In Windows Vista and 7, just type Taskmgr.exe into the box that comes up after you press the Start (Windows) key.

The rest of this explanation is the same for all three versions of Windows.

When the task manager opens, use your arrow keys to select the Applications tab. Then press the Tab key to go to the list of open programs. Now arrow down to the desired program and press Alt E to end it.

If your mouse or keyboard is locked up during any of this, you will want to restart your computer after you get all open programs closed. To restart using the keyboard (assuming it’s working) press CTRL, ALT, and Delete again, all at once.

So there you have it! Now you know how to correctly stop a stuck program in Windows. If you enjoyed this article or have something you’d like to share on this subject with my readers, please leave a comment. it’s always a pleasure to hear from you!

If you you are enjoying the site, please click the “Like” Button in the “Find us on Facebook” box in the left sidebar. If you’d like to learn more about making your computer work better, check out my free 5-day video e-course called How to Turbo-Charge Your Computer. Just click here, enter your name and email, and you’ll get immediate access. Your computer will love you for it!

Thanks for visiting!

About Robert Seth

How to Stop or Force Quit an Unresponsive Program on Your Mac

(Click here to read the Windows version of this article)

No matter how sophisticated our computers get, the problem of programs becoming unresponsive is still with us.

In mild cases, a program will just “hang” for a while. If given enough time, it may become responsive again.

In more serious cases, the program just stops working and you get a perpetual spinning color wheel. In the more serious cases, the entire computer locks up and must be restarted.

While this is usually more of a problem with Windows based computers, MAC programs do occasionally become unresponsive. And while it takes much more to do it to a MAC than a Windows computer, a MAC will occasionally lock up and have to be restarted too.

What does not seem to be common knowledge among Windows or MAC users however, is that the computer does not necessarily have to be restarted if a program becomes unresponsive. I’ve lost count of the number of time I’ve been told by a client that they just hit the power button when a program stopped working. Restarting your computer by simply powering it off during normal operation is NOT recommended.

The computer should never be shut down with the power button when programs are still open. This can cause files on your computer to become stuck in an open state. Normally when a program is shut down, all files are closed and updated in an orderly manner. When not allowed to shut down in an orderly fashion, they can become corrupted and eventually not run at all. Always try to shut your computer down by clicking on the Apple menu and then on Shut Down.

If a program become unresponsive or locks up, there are basically two ways to force it to close without shutting down the computer. This assumes that only the program is unresponsive and not the whole computer. If the whole computer will not respond, your only alternative is a complete shutdown.

The first way, which is the easiest, is to simply right click (two fingers on the track pad) the program in the Dock and select quit. This is really the same as selecting quit inside the program. However, since it’s outside the program, it sometimes works if the program has become unresponsive.

If that doesn’t work, then you can use the Force Quit feature. This can be accessed in two ways. The first is to click on the Apple menu in the corner of your screen and select Force Quit. This will bring up a list of programs that are running on your computer.

Select the one you want to force to quit by clicking on it and then on the Force Quit button at the bottom of the window. In my experience this almost always works and a complete shutdown is usually not necessary.

The other way to access the Force Quit option is by pressing the Command, Option, and Escape keys at the same time. This will bring up the same menu as previously mentioned and you can proceed the same way.

If none of these ways work, your only alternative may be to just power down your computer. As I mentioned earlier this is not recommended. But sometimes it’s the only way.

If this happens more than once with a particular program you may want to investigate a solution before running the program again. Programs that continually lock up can cause corruption in other parts of your system. This is especially true if they cause you to have to power down the computer to restart.

Hopefully this article will keep you from having to restart your computer quite so often. It you have enjoyed it and it’s been helpful, please leave a comment. If you like the site, please click the “Like” button in the “Find us on Facebook” box in the left sidebar.

Thanks for visiting!

About Robert Seth

How to Clean the Dust from the Inside of Your MacBook

Your MacBook laptop needs the dust cleaned out periodically to keep it in top working order. Here’s how to do it yourself and save some time and money!

Your MacBook laptop is much more sensitive to dust accumulation than a desktop. This is because desktops have more room and larger fans to dissipate the heat.

By comparison, your MacBook laptop has very small fans with even smaller heat exchangers that look like tiny car radiators. This is necessary because of the limited space inside of the MacBook.

With the introduction of the sleek and slim design of Apple’s newest MacBooks, getting rid of extra heat became an even bigger challenge. Apple created an engineering marvel, however, that does a great job of getting rid of most of the heat most of the time.

Trouble comes when the machinery that performs this marvel starts getting coated with dust. Dust acts like insulation inside the computer. It does not allow heat to be transferred from internal components to the outside air.

It also clogs up passageways that are designed for heat to escape through. As dust builds up, your MacBook has to work much harder to get rid of extra heat. You will start to notice more noise as the fans run faster and longer.

Your MacBook will also run hotter and may become quite uncomfortable to hold on your lap. You may also notice your battery running down much faster. Excessive fan speed drains battery power very quickly.

Cleaning the dust out is easily performed with a couple simple tools. All that is necessary is a screwdriver and a can of compressed air.

Be sure your MacBook is turned off before you begin. Flip it over so the bottom is facing up. Remove all the screws you see on the backside of the computer.

A number zero Phillips screw driver is the perfect size for this task. It is available at Radio Shack and most hardware stores. You will want to purchase one as this task should be performed on a regular basis.

If your home is on the dusty side because of pets or a wood stove, you’ll probably want to do it more frequently. Perhaps as often as every three months. Otherwise, every six months or longer may be appropriate.

After you remove the back, the fans and small metal fins near them should be clear to see. Watch the video to see what they look like.

Try not to touch any electrical connections with your fingers, tools or anything else while performing this maintenance. Technically, you should never touch electronically sensitive parts of your computer without first grounding yourself.

Since we won’t be touching any of that kind of stuff though, you should not have a problem. Just remember though that every electronic repair carries with it some risk of damage.

Even changing the batteries in a flashlight can cause damage to the bulb. So if you are unwilling to accept any risk, it may be best not to perform this operation. Ok, now that I’ve gotten the legal stuff out of the way, let’s move on.

Again, take a look at the video to see how to do this. You will need a can of compressed air for the next step. I recommend you do this outside. The clouds of dust that can come from a dirty computer can be surprisingly large. You don’t want to spend the rest of your day dusting your house to get rid of the fallout.

Aim the straw on the can into the metal fins that are next to the fan. Use the air in short bursts. If you keep blowing for too long at one time, the can will become too cold causing a pressure drop. You will then need to let it warm up again before continuing.

Next, blow off the fan blades themselves. Try to prevent very much spinning when you do this. You might want to hold the blades gently in one place while cleaning. According to a MAC tech I spoke to recently, the fans are quite delicately balanced and could be damaged by allowing them to spin too much. Continue shooting air into all the nooks and crannies until you no longer see any clouds of dust come out.

When spraying, try to keep the can as close to upright as possible. If it’s tipped too much or turned upside down, the coolant can be expelled as liquid instead of a gas. The coolant inside these cans is usually liquid carbon dioxide.

It is cold enough to cause instant frostbite if it contacts your skin. It can also cause damage to warm computer components due to the instant and extreme temperature change. So do your best to keep just gas coming out of the can and not liquid.

When you’re done, simply reattach the back of the computer in the same manner that you took it off. Be sure to get the right size screws back in the right holes.

When turning the screws back in, don’t tighten them too much. They should be snug but not overly tight. If you turn them too hard, they can strip out the threads in the holes they go into. If this happens, it will be nearly impossible for that hole to ever hold a screw again.

Another thing to be careful of is cross-threading. It’s very easy to get these tiny screws in crooked. If you feel the screw is difficult to turn in right from the beginning, back it out and try again.

Do this as many times as necessary to get the screws in straight. You’ll know it’s straight when it’s easy to turn in the whole way until tight.

That’s about it. This is a very easy repair and one that you can do at home for almost no cost. You’ll be glad you learned how to do this. Especially when the warranty on your MacBook runs out and you have to start paying for service.

By the way, this is an Apple approved user repair. That means you can do it yourself without risk of voiding your warranty.

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About Robert Seth

How to Fix or Tune up a CD or DVD Drive and Maintain it in Top Condition

CD and DVD drives are high precision devices that need occasional maintenance to stay in top shape. In this article we talk about how they work and what to do to keep yours at its best.

Have you ever slipped a CD or DVD into your computer or DVR drive only to get lots of noise but no action? I’m pretty sure this has happened to most of us. When it does happen it’s easy to assume the drive is broken. This is often not the case though. The problem is usually that the drive is just dirty. It takes a surprisingly small amount of dirt to cripple a CD or DVD drive. Before we look at how to clean one, let’s take a look at why it’s so easy to mess one up in the first place.

The photo on top is of a typical CD/DVD drive reading mechanism. The critical part that we’re concerned about is the little blue object inside the red circle. This is a tiny lens. The penny on the bottom is provided for a size comparison.

A laser beam is used to read the information on the disk. The beam is reflected off the disk and then passes through this lens when the drive is reading information. The lens is supposed to keep the beam in focus at all times by varying the distance between the disk surface and itself.

This laser beam and the information it must read are very small. Let me give you an idea of just how small. The data on a DVD is arranged in a spiral shaped track. The track has approximately 50,000 complete turns and is almost 39,000 feet long!

In order to fit that long of a track on a disk, the width of the track is only .4 microns. A micron is really, really small! A human hair is about 25 microns. That means it would take about 62 tracks to equal the width of a human hair. So you can see (actually you can’t because it’s so small) how small all this stuff is.

With the information on the disk being so tiny, the laser has to be controlled and focused very precisely. That’s where our dust and dirt comes in. It only takes a little bit of dust on the lens, in just the right place, to get in the way of the beam. This causes it to become out of focus making it much more difficult to read the information correctly.

If it becomes too out of focus, it will not be able to read the disk at all. The drive will just spin and make noise as it tries every way it can to read the data. So if your drive is working poorly, or not at all, there’s a good chance that it’s only dirty and not really broken.

Let’s look at a couple of different ways to clean the dust off and bring your drive to practically new condition.

The first method is fairly simple and straightforward. It’s also pleasantly inexpensive. It involves nothing more than a can of compressed air!

The little straw attached to the nozzle of these cans is perfect for getting into tight places. If your drive is a drawer type, make sure it’s open when you clean it. If it’s the kind that sucks the disk in through a slot, just insert the straw a little ways into the slot. Make sure there is no disk in the drive before doing this.

Move the straw back and forth, and in and out, as you press the trigger to blow in the air. Do this fairly quickly as the liquid in the can will soon become quite cold and lose its pressure. If this happens, you will need to let the can warm up again before continuing.

Be very careful to keep the can upright. If you turn it sideways or upside down you can blow pure liquid coolant into the drive or get it on yourself. This is not good for the computer or you. The liquid is usually carbon dioxide and is cold enough to cause instant frostbite. It can also cause electronic parts to malfunction or crack if their temperature goes from warm to freezing in an instant.

I find that this method works very well most of the time. How well it works for you will depend on how dirty the lens has become. Sometimes there’s just too much dirt to blow it all away. After using this method try playing a CD or DVD to see if the problem has been fixed.

If the blower method does not work, you can try the cleaner-disk method. A cleaner disk looks like a regular disk except it has little microfiber brushes on it that stick straight up off the surface of the disk. They look like a bunch of tiny little eyelashes.

Memorex CD/DVD-Player Laser-Lens Cleaner

(For more information, or to purchase this item, click on the image).

As the disk turns in the drive, these little brushes hit the lens surface and clean the dust off. Kind of like when you use a feather duster to dust the stuff in your house. Cleaner disks sometimes come with a little tube of cleaner that helps remove the dust and also neutralizes static so dust does not stick so easily.

To use the disk, simply insert it into the drive and follow the instructions on the screen. Even if your drive won’t read a disk, the brushes will begin to clean the lens as soon as the drive begins to spin. It may take a few minutes, but eventually the instructions should come up on the screen.

There will usually be several different cleaning cycles to choose from. In addition to instructions, it may also have music for you to enjoy while the disk is doing it’s job. The computer will tell you when the cleaning is done. Just remove the disk and hopefully your drive will be good as new.

In all the years I’ve been working on computers, I have rarely seen these two methods fail. Disk drives do wear out occasionally but not very often. It’s usually the ones inside hard-core gaming machines that fail on a regular basis. Regular business and home machines are more likely to fail from dust buildup because of disuse than from wearing out.

I have had many drives that I’ve moved from machine to machine as I’ve rebuilt them every couple of years. Usually if they are retired it’s because more advanced technology becomes available. Not because they break.

If these two methods don’t work, try checking the cables inside the computer. One of them may be loose.

Another thing to try before assuming the drive is dead is rebooting the computer.

Lastly, it’s possible that the disk you’re trying to use might be damaged. Try several different disks before giving up and replacing the drive.

If you do find that one of your disks is scratched, check this article that I wrote on removing scratches for an inexpensive and very easy way to repair it. This repair will only work for scratches though. If the disk is cracked, warped, or otherwise seriously damaged, it will need to be replaced.

There is one other thing I should mention here. There are other high precision parts inside a CD/DVD drive beside the lens. Another place that dust and dirt can cause a problem is in the tracking mechanism which moves the lens across the disk. This tracking mechanism is more robust than the lens so it can take more dirt and abuse before it fails.

The two things that will cause it to fail are a very large buildup of dust, or extreme physical abuse. If too much dust is allowed to build up, it can get packed into various places inside the drive. This can prevent the reading mechanism from being able to move to either the extreme beginning or ending point on the disk.

In cases like this, even though there is nothing really wrong with the drive, it is not usually financially practical to fix. It involves removing the drive, disassembling it, and removing the obstructing dust buildup. If you have a professional do this for you it will probably cost more than a new drive.

If you are a do-it-yourself type though you might want to give it a try. All you have to lose is an already dead drive. It’s also a great learning experience so you can see what’s involved for yourself. Besides, you might actually fix it and not need to spend the money for a new one after all.

The moral of the story is to maintain your equipment. It’s a good idea to get a can of air and a cleaner disk and use them once a week or so. By keeping the dust cleaned out on a regular basis, your drives should last many years and possibly longer than the computer.

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How to Record Sound on Your Computer Without Special Software

Voice recording on your PC or Mac can be done easily and without any additional software. Both platforms come with built in applications that you can use for this purpose.

Of course, as with any software (especially on the Windows side), if you want lots of features and functionality you have to buy something made specifically for the purpose. If you’re just looking for a quick recording though, these programs should do the job nicely.

These programs are also not limited to just recording your voice. They can record any sound. You don’t even need a separate microphone as most computers have one built in. However, if your computer has a microphone jack (which most do) you can plug in an external microphone. This will generally give you much better sound than the built in mic.

Recording Sound In Windows.

The Windows sound recorder is about as basic as it gets. You get sound recording and that’s it. There are no adjustments for anything. You may even have a limit on how long you can record depending on which version of Windows you have. This limit can range from 60 seconds with Windows XP to hours with Windows 7.

To record sound in Windows just click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, and Sound Recorder. A small, rectangular box will pop up with minimal controls. Simply click on Start Recording and recording begins. To stop, click on Stop Recording.

When you click on stop recording a dialogue box will pop up so you can save your file. Select a name for the file and where you want to save it, then click Save. Be sure to make a note of where you saved it so you can find it again.

You can now go to where you saved it and double click on it to listen. A small player box will pop up which allows you to listen, control the volume, pause, or stop.

This file can now be used as you would any other file except it is a Windows audio file which has certain limitations which will be discussed in a moment. It can be added to a web page, emailed, or even burned to a disc. It can also be played on an mp3 player if the player supports Windows audio files. If not, it will have to be converted to an mp3 format first, using a separate converter program.

As I said before, the windows sound recorder is very basic. There is no way to adjust anything while recording. As I look at the Windows 7 version, there isn’t even a way to pause while recording. You either keep going until you’re done, or make several small files and edit them together when finished.

Windows does not come with a sound editor built in. So whether you are editing out sound or stringing files together, you will need separate software to do this.

Recording Sound On Mac.

Macs come with much better built in software for recording sound than Windows. Their application is called Garage Band. It will either be in your Dock at the bottom of the screen, or in your Application Folder, or both.

This program includes a surprisingly extensive studio of sound recording and editing features. This is especially true considering it’s a free program.

Extolling the virtues of Garage Band is not the point of this article. However, it is very tempting to go into rants and raves about it. It’s just one example of the value that is built into Macs that you have to buy separately, or download, with Windows.

So, with my Windows vs Mac blinders on and just staying focused on voice recording, here is how you do it.

After clicking on the Garage Band icon you will see a dialogue box where you can either open a recent project or start a new one. Select New Project.

The next screen will ask you what kind of project you want. Select Voice and then click Choose at the bottom right corner of the screen.

The next screen will ask you for a name for the project and where you want to save it. If the folder you want to save it in does not exist, you can create a new one by clicking New Folder at the bottom left of this screen.

Give the project a name and make a note of where you save it so you can find it later. When finished click Create at the bottom right corner of the screen.

The next screen that comes up will be the actual Garage Band program. Again, I will resist the temptation to tell you all about how wonderful this is.

Select Male or Female Voice, depending on which you are recording. This setting does not make the voice sound like one or the other. It just changes the settings to sound best with each type. When I set it on Female Voice and recorded my guy voice, it still sounded like a male voice but just added some echo as if I was in a cave.

Now just click the red button at the bottom of the screen and recording will begin. In Garage Band, unlike in Windows Sound Recorder, you can pause and start up again without having to make a new recording. You can also replay right in the program instead of having to first save the file and then go find it to play it.

When you’re satisfied with your recording you have several options. You can click File and Save to just save the project. This will just save the Garage Band file but it will not be playable in any other program besides Garage Band.

To save and play in a format that can be used elsewhere click on Share. There are several options under share but to just get a regular file to use anywhere, click on Export Song to Disk.

Pardon me while I digress a bit again. Here is another area where Mac beats out Windows.

As I said before, the Windows Sound Recorder will only save a file in the Windows audio format. That means it will only play on a device that supports that format. To make these files playable by a device that does not support Windows audio files, they will need to be converted using some other program.

Garage band will save your sound file in either the mp3 or AAC formats which are playable on just about any device or computer in the world. Of the two sound recorders, this alone makes Garage Band much more useful than Windows Sound Recorder.

After clicking on Export Song to Disk, the next screen lets you choose which format you’d like to save it in. Select mp3 for a general use file and then click Export.

On next screen select a name for your file and where you want to save it. There is an option there for making a new folder if the one you want does not exist. Make a note of where you save it so you can find it again later. Click Save to save the file.

This file is now completely independent of Garage band and can be sent by email, included in a web page, burned to a disk, uploaded to an mp3 player, or just about anything else you can do with a sound file.

Conclusion.

So there you have it! Voice recording without needing to purchase any additional software. This feature is so handy for all kinds of things. You can record bird calls, your child’s first words, strange sounds one of your appliances is making, or anything else you desire.

Then you can send it to your friends, or the repair man, and they can hear exactly what you were hearing when the recording was made.

With a little imagination, this can save you a lot of money. One time one of my large, floor model power tools was making a strange noise. I recorded it and sent it to the repair facility in the next state. They were able to diagnose it for free without ever setting foot on my place. Since I live in the middle of nowhere, this saved a significant amount of money.

If you decide that these built in tools are not adequate for your needs, you may want to go the route of buying additional software or trying something you can download for free. There are many options available. This may be especially attractive if you have a Windows computer as the Windows Sound Recorder is pretty limited.

I use Adobe Soundbooth for all my sound editing. It is available in both PC and Mac. I’m not making a specific recommendation here. But in case you don’t want to go to all the trouble of searching, you can know that Adobe Soundbooth is a good product.

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How to Remove a Program Correctly and Completely

While it seems like a perfectly simple thing, removing a program from your computer can get kind of complicated. Especially if it’s not done correctly. So this is one of those things you should try to get comfortable with because it can become necessary more often than you might think.

New computers, especially Windows systems, usually come with lots of junk software. If not removed, this junk software can really slow your system down. It also takes up space on your hard drive which, depending on its size, can also slow your system down. It also makes the drive work harder than necessary.

Most people try out new software at least once in a while. Some of us do it constantly. If you’re like me, you do a lot of 30 day free trials. I probably keep one out of every four programs I try out. All those unneeded programs can really pile up if they’re not removed. Again, they slow down the system and take up valuable hard drive space.

Both Windows and Mac have specific methods for removing programs. They should be followed carefully to avoid leaving fragments of the program hanging around on your system. Sometimes an incorrectly removed program can cause so much trouble that it will actually reduce system performance instead of improving it.

Removing a program in Windows.

When a program is installed in Windows, it writes information to several different parts of your hard drive. It’s important to remove it correctly to make sure all the pieces are removed.

To remove a program in any version of Windows, first check to see if the manufacturer of the program has included an uninstall program. You can check for this by clicking on Start and All Programs and then finding the program in the program list.

Click on the program and see if that brings up a program group. If it does, there will often be a separate uninstall program. You can also look in the actual directory on your hard drive where the program lives. To check, go to Windows Explorer and click on the hard drive where the program is installed. Programs are usually in the Program Files Directory. The uninstall program will typically be in the same directory as the application and will be called uninstall.exe. When you find the file just double click on it and it should start the uninstall process.

If you don’t find either of these then you’ll need to use the uninstall process that comes with Windows. In Windows XP, click on Start, and Control Panel. In the Control Panel click on the item Add Remove Programs.

This will bring up a list of all the programs installed on your computer. If the list takes a while to come up, please be patient. If you have many programs on your computer it could take a minute or so to populate the list.

Once the list comes up you can scroll down it to find the program you want to uninstall. Clicking on the desired program will bring up different options depending on what’s available. Some will only have an uninstall option. Others will have additional options like repair or reinstall. Click on the one you want to do.

Once the program begins to uninstall do not interrupt the process. Even if it seems to stall, let it finish up. If you interrupt this process by restarting or running out of power (with a laptop) you can cause nearly irreparable problems with your computer and it will be extremely difficult to finish removing the program.

In Windows Vista and 7 the process is almost identical but the menu items are different. Once you bring up the Control Panel click on Programs and Features. If you’re using the Classic View in Windows Vista the Control Panel will come up in groups. In the Program group click on Uninstall Programs.

Once the list populates click on the item to be removed. Uninstall will appear as an option above the list. Click on it and follow the instructions.

Something to keep in mind during this process is to not remove too many programs at one time without restarting your computer. In fact it’s best to restart after removing each one. Sometimes Windows will ask if you want to restart to complete the uninstall and sometimes it won’t. Always Restart!

Restarting resets the computer to how it should be without the program installed. It also removes any little bits of the program that may be left in memory. If you wait to restart until many programs have been removed, Windows can get confused and end up with problems you may not be able to fix.

Before we leave the Windows side of things, let me mention a couple other things. First, removing the icon for a program from your desktop does not remove the program. It only removes the shortcut and makes it more difficult to find the program later. Most uninstall programs will remove the desktop icon too. If they don’t, only remove the icon after the program is removed properly.

Secondly, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER go onto your hard drive and try to remove the files from their programs directory. This only removes part of the program but does nothing to the Windows Registry which is kind of the brainy control center of Windows.

If you do this, your computer will continue to look for the program when you start Windows. You will get constant error messages that the program cannot be found. There’s also a good chance this will damage the actual uninstall program so it will be unable to remove the rest of the program. Your only recourse will be to purchase a third party program made for fixing this sort of problem or to hire a professional to remove the rest of the program.

Removing a program on Mac.

Removing a program from your Mac is much different from doing so in Windows because the operation systems are vastly different. Special removal programs are not necessary for Mac because Mac programs are not spread all over the computer. There is no such thing as the Registry like in Windows

Mac programs tend to reside more in groups all in one place. This is reminiscent of how DOS used to be. So removing a program from your Mac usually just involves dropping it in the trash. If the application is part of a group, the whole group should be dropped in the trash.

To remove a program, first locate it in the Applications folder or in Finder. Right click (or Control-Click) on the file in Finder and then click on Show Package Contents. Right clicking on the program in the Applications Folder will bring up the same information but as folders instead of a list of files. This will show you if you’re dealing with an individual file or a group.

To remove the program, close the program group if you have it open. Drag the application file, or the program icon (depending on if viewing in Finder or the Application Folder) and hover it over the Trash icon. When trash opens up, let go and drop the program in.

This removes the program but leaves behind some additional things you may, or may not, want to get rid of. The first of these are the program preferences. These are just preferences for how you wanted the program to run or how you had it set up.

Preferences don’t typically take up much space and can be useful if you decide to reinstall the program. You won’t have to set up the whole thing over again. If you’re sure you will never reinstall it, these can be removed.

Go to Finder and click on your hard drive (default is usually Macintosh HD under Devices). Click on Library and then Preferences. The files will be small and probably numerous. You can tell by their names what program they belong to. Be careful not to remove files for programs still installed. This could cause those programs to experience missing information. If in doubt, don’t delete the files!

The other category of remaining information is Application Support. These files can be small or huge. They can be things like video or audio files imported for editing. Again, you may not want to delete these for whatever reason. If you do delete them though, there is a potential for saving lots of hard drive space.

You access Application Support files by going to your hard drive and clicking on Library and Application Support. These files are a little easier to sort out as they’re separated into program directories. For example, if you removed the iWork program, just remove the iWork directory in Application Support and everything for iWork will be gone.

One other thing you should be aware of. Removing an icon from the Doc on your Mac does not remove the program. It’s the same as removing the icon from your desktop in Windows. It only removes the icon but does nothing to the program. If you accidentally remove an icon from the Doc you can open your application folder and drag the program back to the Doc. Hover the icon over the Doc where you want it and let go.

General considerations for both platforms.

Sometimes the manufacturer of a program will include an uninstall program on the original program disk or the disk image used to install the program. This can be the case for both PC and Mac programs. So you might want to check this before uninstalling in cases where there is no specific program for the task.

These uninstall programs tend to be very thorough and will usually remove all the files associated with a program including preferences and Application Support files.

As with all procedures that involve changing things on your computer, there is always potential for problems. This is especially the case if your computer is old and the same version of Windows has been installed for a long time.

So when removing programs, it might be a good idea to make a backup first. You can also set a system restore point (Windows) just in case something goes wrong.

In the event your computer does lock up while removing a program, try pressing Control, Alt, and Delete all at the same time. This will allow you to bring up the task manager and stop the removal of the program. If the computer is completely unresponsive you can hold the power button for five to ten seconds which will power off the computer. Just keep in mind that these methods should only be used as a last resort. They are the same as interrupting the process and can result in partial uninstall that can be difficult to complete.

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How to Do a Screen Capture Without Special Software

Have you ever needed to share exactly what’s on your computer screen but had no idea how to do it?

There are many situations where this is either required or desirable. Sometimes what’s on your screen is just so cool that you can’t wait to share it with someone.

Other times, you need to show the computer repair person something that’s going on with your computer. Of course that’s like bringing your car in for repair. The problem will never show up when the experts are looking!

With a screen capture however, you can capture exactly what’s going on when it’s going on. The little problem-causing gremlins will never be able to hide again!

There are lots of programs out there that you can buy for this purpose. Most of them provide more than just screen capture though. So if you’re wanting to be more creative and add conversation bubbles, circles, arrows, or other enhancements to your screen capture, you might want to check out one of these.

I’ll mention a few of these third party programs at the end of this article.

If all you need is a simple screen capture though, and you don’t want to install additional software, here’s what you can do.

How to capture in Windows.

In Windows there are two main ways to do a screen capture depending on which version of Windows you are using. If you’re using Windows XP you will need to use the PrintScreen method. This is usually done by pressing the alt key and the print screen key at the same time. A different key besides alt may be required (like Fn or Ctrl) for your computer so you might have to experiment and see which combination works for you.

To capture the screen you’re currently viewing, just press both keys at once. This will copy the image to the clipboard of your computer. After capturing open Paint by going to Start, All Programs, Accessories, and Paint. Once Paint opens, go to the Edit menu and click on Paste. This will paste the image from your computer’s clipboard into Paint so you can crop, edit, and save it as you wish.

In Windows Vista or 7 the Snipping Tool is used to make screen captures. You access this by clicking on Start, All Programs, Accessories, and finally, Snipping Tool.

The Snipping Tool Comes up as a small dialogue box. By clicking on the drop down arrow next to New, you can select what kind of Snip you want to do. The choices are Free Form, Rectangle, Window, or Full Screen.

Rectangle is the default option so you can select what you want to capture by simply dragging the cross hairs around on the screen. You can also select the file format you want to save it in. This is pretty handy if you want to edit or enhance the file in another program before sharing it.

By the way, regarding that little dialogue box that appears on your screen when you start the Snipping Tool. It looks like it’s going to stay there and get captured along with the rest of your screen. Don’t worry though. It disappears as soon as you start to make your selection.

How to capture with Mac.

In the Mac environment you have more options for different types of screen capture. There are also several ways to do it depending on if you prefer keyboard shortcuts or menus. If you prefer keyboard shortcuts, here are the different types available. These are for MAC OSX.

Command-Shift-3: Takes a screenshot of the screen, and saves it as a file on the desktop
Command-Shift-4, then select an area: Takes a screenshot of an area and saves it as a file on the desktop
Command-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Takes a screenshot of a window and saves it as a file on the desktop
Command-Control-Shift-3: Takes a screenshot of the screen, and saves it to the clipboard
Command-Control-Shift-4, then select an area: Takes a screenshot of an area and saves it to the clipboard
Command-Control-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Takes a screenshot of a window and saves it to the clipboard

This list courtesy of mac rumors at http://guides.macrumors.com/Taking_Screenshots_in_Mac_OS_X

I have never had much luck memorizing the hundreds of keyboard shortcuts for the Mac! If you’re more like me and prefer menus, here’s how you do a screen capture using menus. How you do this can differ slightly depending on what version of Mac OS X you have.

Most methods use the Grab application. To open Grab, go to Applications, Utilities, and Grab. When Grab opens, go to the Capture menu item at the top of the screen and select what type of capture you’d like to do. The options are Selection, Window, Screen, or Timed Screen.

Once you choose the type you want, a dialogue box will appear with instructions. Follow the instructions and your captured image will appear on the screen. Using the Save or Save As menu items at the top of the screen you can save the file as desired.

In later versions of Mac OS X a screen capture can be made from Preview. Click on the Preview application and the File menu. From the File menu select the Grab submenu ( OS X version 10.4) and continue as above.

In the newest versions of Mac OS X the submenu under File in the Preview application is called Take Screen Shot instead of Grab. Whichever yours has, you will achieve the same results.

Third Party Capture Software.

There are a number of choices available from third parties for screen capture. As I said above, most provide more functionality than just capturing. You do pay a price for this though.

In the case of free software, you may have a watermark or small banner that appears in each capture image that advertises the software maker. Usually you have to upgrade to the paid version to get rid of this. With the paid version, the price you pay is…well…the price you pay!

Some of the more popular software titles for screen capture are Jing, Snapz Pro X, SnapnDrag, and Snagit. I have personally used both Snagit and Jing and they both work very well. Jing has a free and a pro, paid version. Snagit has a 30 day free trial and then cost $49.

Of the two I have used, Snagit is my favorite. For your $49 you get both PC and Mac versions so you can use it on both platforms if you like. It also has many annotations like conversation bubbles, arrows, shapes, and just about anything else you would need to enhance your screen capture. You can even do a 60 second video screen capture.

Since I have not used Snapz Pro X or Snapndrag, I can’t tell you how well they work. However, all the links in this article are active so you can check them out for yourself.

Whichever one you decide to use, or if you already use one, I would love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment so we can all learn from your experience.

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