What's New

There have been some changes at PC Anytime since the last newsletter. Nick has moved on to greener pastures, only to be replaced by... Nick, who thankfully, is called Vash for some unknown reason. Vash has spent a lifetime fixing computers, (mostly his own, but that's beside the point) and in customer services and brings his technical and people skills to the job. Be sure to say 'hello' and make him feel welcome when you call or drop in.

Our first 'Closed Door Sale' is still in the works. This is where we open our workshop doors to selected clients and offer a whole bunch of both new and second-hand hardware at crazy prices. We intended to hold it earlier, though somehow the weather doesn't like our plans and keeps interfering. It is just too cold and miserable, so we will probably wait for the longer days and warmer nights of Spring.
Because we can only comfortably fit a couple of dozen people at a time, selection will be by lottery, so if you get an invitation, please let us know as soon as possible if you are coming or not. Oh, and some lucky punter will win an ultra-cool gadget, just for showing up, so it might pay for you to come along. If you want to book a place at one of these sales, (some already have so thanks for your patience), drop me an email and we'll put you on the guest list.

Please keep signing people up for the newsletter; as reported last time we are nearing the 1,000th recipient, though to be honest the response has been slower than anticipated (it must be the weather!). If you are the 1,000th person, or you are the one who recommends our 1,000th recipient, we will reward you with a surprise gift. It may be a cool gadget of some sort, or it might be a bottle of wine or some movie tickets. If you want your name in, don't mess about, or you might miss out. The link is down there at the bottom of the page. Please, if you are going to recommend someone else, check with them first - we really, really hate spammers and don't want to be seen to be spamming anyone!

Computer Tips

Due to the limited amount of space the newsletter, there won't be much in the way of major tips. I will be posting some of the more easily explainable tips though, so make sure you check the newsletter out carefully each month so you don't miss any.

The first one is for Vista users. I bet you are sick and tired of clicking away that horrible User Access Control dialogue that asks you every time you want to do something if you really want to do it. AARRGGHH! What were they thinking! Disable it by going into the Control Panel, User Accounts and clicking the link 'Turn User Account Control on or off'. Make your choice and click the Apply button. All done! No more nagging dialogues. Note: I know one software title that doesn't like having this turned off, but no-one uses it anyway!

This tip is for those who never remember to defrag their hard drive. As we know, defragmenting your drive can boost performance, and should be done once a week if your machine gets a lot of use. Here's a neat way of doing it. Download JK Defrag (the link is at the bottom of this page). Unzip and note that there are two 'screensaver' files in the package. Extract and/or copy those files to c:\windows\system32. When done, right click on your desktop and select 'Properties' from the menu, or find the display settings in the Control Panel. Under screensaver, you should now see JK Defrag as an option. Now when your screensaver comes on it will defrag your hard drive for you. Neat huh? More next month.