organizational time management and effieciency

[Anonymous]

Hello i am back and i wanted to update you on me getting organized and efficient ha smack you know people write things i read teh comments i am trying hard not to be offended but i wrotE ABOUT A PARAGRAPH IN CAPS YOU SEE ID DO IT CAUSE I KNOW ITS YELLING AND I AM SENSITIVE SERIOUSLY DONT BE OFFENDED BUT I WROTE IT DONT BE OFFENDED BUT HA SO YOU CAN SEE THE STUPID POST DUH NOW DONT BE OFFENDED well i am not offended but heres an update i brought my computer in the hard drive failed and i bought a new compter laptop and it came with ta da MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 sigh i have been on my laptop day in day out putting things into it

i spend four days on a calandar logging things rofm my paper dytimer and threw out the pages three weeks ao to my lapto p what do i do i delete the thing by accident

i go back to where i bought it and i say what happened to my phone book and what happened to my calandars and out look what have i learned about windows 7

outlook express no longer available you need to purchase

outlook express renamed

phone book renames

all the stuff is renamed help me i bouth the thing to make my life easier and more efficient and instead its been a mass stress ball my learning curve is not a curve but an uphill battle searching and looking for everything i type in the name of programs and they are not recognized y they renamed it to something else

i am wanting a really good calandar organizer agenda download for windows 7 that works and is syncable and more important FREE THAS RIGHT FREE NOT A FREE TRIAL BUT FREE i know that yes you get what you pay for but the calandars i go just do not suffice with me i would like a super organizer i can download that is free and syncable yet to get a black berry but it will come once my contaract is finished but i need something that is free and hassle free i spend a total of four days in the last three weeks tyring to set this thing up and is still not set up for every day use i discovered one noe and its greagt but still learning alsways learnging but windows did it again i know let rename most programs and so when peole type in the name of the old program it not recognized y i skipped vista and went from xp to windows 7 thanks once again for my adventures in organizaion oh rick are you able to help out in this department maybe you should give organization tips and hlep us withe efficiencey no pressure i am sure it already iexists i jsut want to cry cause i got no clue i bought windows 7 4 dummies and it comes with dvd interactive and sectiond so ive been watich and listening its pretty basigc helps me but i need to know how to getm my laptop to use in my life and make things easier raher than pulling my hari our i also love one note its intereresting i wish i know haow to use it i feel broke im not broke but i fel broke and when they keep charging for stuff ist suckds so i want freee

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[Patte Rosebank]

Gotta love Microsoft. Always innovating to give people what they THINK those people want (not what the people have actually SAID they want), and always screwing up.

One problem with all that innovation is that previous stuff is often arbitrarily rendered obsolete, so you need to rename your old files, so the new operating system will recognize them. An example of this is the new Word document file format (.docx). Just what was wrong with the .doc file format, which worked so well ever since the first version of Windows?

Another problem is that each new Windows version eats up more and more system resources. And when you use so much of your system resources, just to keep the operating system running, it leaves a lot less of those resources for you to do stuff with.

Finally, there’s the problem of instability and bugs in each new version of software (including operating systems) that Microsoft rushes out the door. After the debacle of Vista, many people uninstalled Vista and installed Windows XP in its place.

Windows XP is the most stable version of Windows. I’ve been using it for years, and even when I do eventually get a new computer, I want to run XP on it, instead of whatever new version of Windows Microsoft decides to load onto it.

I’d suggest taking your new computer to the techies at the place where you bought it, and asking them to uninstall Windows 7, and install Windows XP in its place. That way, you’ll be able to run all your old programs, and you’ll know your computer is much less likely to crap out on you. You will have to pay the techies to do this for you, and you may even need to buy the Windows XP installation discs, but it’s well worth the cost.

Once that’s done, there’s something YOU can do to keep your system running properly: Forget the “WIndows for Dummies” book, and anything else that tells you you can fix your computer yourself. They’re very dangerous in the hands of non-techies, because they make people think that they can do this stuff, but actually just turns them into “bashers”.

A basher is someone who tries to fix computer problems themselves, by trying various things at random, thinking they’ll eventually find the solution. Or thinking that they know the solution right from the start. (see the video “If Bill Had a Hammer”) Before they know it, they’re in way over their head, with no clue what they’ve done, so they can’t re-trace their steps and restore the system to where it was before they started trying to fix it. This makes it much, much harder for the techie who has to try and repair the damage that’s been done. And the harder it is, the longer it takes, and the more it’ll cost you for tech support. Sometimes, the techie’s only option is to wipe your system clean and re-install Windows from scratch.

If you ever watch a techie at work, they make a system backup disc before they start, so that if anything does go wrong, they can restore the computer to the way it was before they started working on it. Also, they take notes and screenshots as they go, so they have a detailed record of what they’ve done, and why. Again, this is so that if they need to retrace their steps and undo anything they’ve done, they can do it.

Even if you’re not making any repairs to your system, you should always copy your important files onto a DVD, every week or so. That way, even if your system totally craps out, you’ll have copies of whatever was lost.

Also, BEWARE OF FREE SOFTWARE. I can’t say this enough. Free software is often a Trojan Horse, which secretly installs all sorts of nasty stuff onto your computer without your knowledge, along with the software you want. You think you’re installing a great free organizer program. What you’re actually installing is spyware (keeping track of every website you visit and/or every key you hit on your keyboard—including credit card numbers and passwords) and adware and maybe even a virus. This can slow your system to a crawl, and expose all of your personal and financial information to hackers and identity thieves. It could also make your system totally crap out, and erase all of your files.

And get a good virus program, and set it to auto-update. I use Avast, which is one of the few free programs that is safe to install and use. Plus, unlike Macafee, it doesn’t require huge amounts of memory to run. Macafee uses so many resources that it has actually crashed computers.

I really know what I’m talking about, but I’m not a techie. I’ve just learned all this stuff the hard way.

So, to recap:

1. Take your computer back to the store, and ask them to uninstall Windows 7 and install Windows XP.

2. Beware of “free” software.

3. Get Avast http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download, install it, and set it to auto-update.

4. If anything should ever go wrong with your computer NEVER attempt to fix it yourself.

5. Copy all of your important files onto a DVD. Copy recent files onto a DVD every week. Label the DVDs with the date, and keep them in a safe place.

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[Anonymous]

oops

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[Anonymous]

oops

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[Anonymous]

Here’s an exception to the rule re: Free software : Zimbra. It’s stable. It’s good enough for Yahoo to use as the mail software for their clients. It keeps me organised – all my documents are in one place and the wiki links within those documents can link to any other info. If you are not savvy enough to use wiki links, it works fine without them.

BTW, anyone looking for a cool niche to serve the ADHD population will find one right here. The help files that come with Zimbra, and every other software application for PIM or related stuff, tells you how the software works, but not how best to use it. An entrepreneurial type (I’d LOVE to – but I’m still being titrated on my meds, and will burn water, trip over own feet, haven’t seen my keys in days or my purse in months – you get the picture) could do really well bundling this with a document about how best to use it. You could even add Open Office (another exception to the free software rule) that allows for more sophisticated spreadsheets, document formatting, etc. (Anything you’d expect from a full office suite.) And yes, I have 45 folders, Get it Done, Doing it Now, and a host of other Get Organised books, ebooks, software, etc. (The best so far: Sidetracked Sisters, and Fly Lady, but I digress. The adult ADHD’ers need their own PIM tech guru online.) Charge for the documents and the DVD itself, not the freeware, and for personal assistance. Skype is free, too, btw. And they offer a cheap 800 number.)

I don’t work for these folks, nor do I own stock or in any other way profit from having you switch to zimbra, etc.

Here’s some sites to get started (free &stable stuff) :

Firefox in British English: http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/ (I like this better.)

Firefox in US English: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

(still not available in 64 bit)

zimbra: http://www.zimbra.com/products/product_editions.html

open office: http://www.openoffice.org/

On most of the computers here at home we’re running Fedora. You might want to marry a techie before you try this, or become one. Fedora is a type of Linux (free operating software) that will run tons of free applications that are reliable and Trojan/virus free. Trying to get the drivers to run your monitor, modem, keyboard, printers, web cam, etc. can occasionally be a hair-pulling-ly long trial-and-error experience. (Builds character, right? Yeah – I’d rather set my shorts on fire. My big screen TV is currently running with a generic drive, and looks great esp. in HD from youtube.com, etc., but I’ve lost a little functionality in not finding a specific drive – no picture in picture, that kind of stuff.)

Way shorter learning curve: http://mail.google.com

plus: http://docs.google.com

– google docs have come a long way – you can make drawings, spreadsheets, etc.

and sign up for google calendar, reader, etc. (Except Buzz. Stay away from Google’s Buzz until privacy

issues are addressed.)

The big plus here is whatever you store online will not be lost should your computer crash, or if your laptop is lost/missing/stolen /thrown out the window in a fit of rage (perhaps by you spouse after a 3 day warcraft marathon….)

There’s always more new, free stuff. If you find something that looks really interesting – cool enough to make you want to install it, and spend a few hours learning how to use it, cool enough to risk losing some data and possibly passing a virus on to you contacts (even the best virus software in the world won’t catch everything) then GOOGLE FIRST. Buyer (or down-loader) beware. Always Google first. Read the BAD reviews only – you don’t need to read the good ones – you’re already sold. Read the bad ones, as these were not written be the program’s author under a pseudonym. The bad reviews will tell you if the app/plug-in/whatever hijacked their browser and downloaded a gig of k*ddie p*rn, or if it uses an esoteric file format that no other application can make use of, or that it’s just flaky or whatever.

Have fun !

eimat

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[Anonymous]

Rats. Sorry. How can I delete the extra posts?

I changed them to read “oops” rather than the whole entry, but I can’t seem to delete them entirely.

My firewall barfed when it saw the “k*ddie p*rn” comment. I thought it wasn’t posting…

again, sorry!

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[Patte Rosebank]

Another good, stable, free program is Thunderbird (for e-mail). It’s by Mozilla, the company that gave us Firefox.

It’s based on the Netscape platform, which is much more stable & secure than Outlook.

Between Firefox, Thunderbird, and Avast, my computer is humming along very nicely.

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[Anonymous]

I’m going to copy this thread tomorrow. This is so helpful. I’m having these incredible problems and know that it’s because of layering programs and creating so many errors. Oh, drives me nuts…. My computer is XP and is moving backwards at this point!! This is so informative. It’s like going to the grocery store and trying to figure out what cereal is good for just you!!! Sometimes, I know I’m making matters worse.. and then the frustration compounds… and I lock up… So Eimat and Larynxa thank you… I just started to use Google Chrome to help with speed and was using Firefox and enjoying it until one day it just slowed way down and I couldn’t figure out how to correct whatever caused the problem. Anything that will help me bring out the best of me… I thank you…

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