How To Avoid Screen Burn

how to avoid screen burn

Many office users fail to power down their peripherals at the end of the working day, and this causes undue power usage throughout the evening. Consider powering down all of your peripherals at the end of the day to conserve energy costs.

Separate monitors, for example, have no impact on the computer systems they’re attached to. No IT department in the world would ever ask you not to turn off a separate monitor, and you really should for two reasons: one, to conserve power, and two, to avoid screen burn.

How to Avoid Screen Burn

“Screensaver” application were designed for computer users that couldn’t turn off their computers. They display a changing set of images so that phosphorus dots on older monitors did not become over- or under-energized by having the same ‘dots’ active for long periods of time.

Once the ‘screensaver’ was firmly entrenched in the user-space, it became a matter of habit to activate and use it as a justification for not powering down, but with the invention of LCD and other non-phosphorous based imaging devices, the need for a screensaver has completely vanished.

While older, phosphorous based CRT monitors could experience ‘screen burn’ from as little as 3-5 days of constant exposure to the same output, more modern LCD screens can experience several weeks’ worth of continuous stimulation without experiencing ‘screen burn’. But, they still draw power when they’re on. And many draw power, even in the ‘standby’ mode that may be programmed into them by either the computer they’re attached to, or by the manufacturer. This allows them to return to a working state very quickly, but with a constant, low power draw. Turning them off delays return to a fully functional state by a mere few seconds, at most, and requires less power than leaving them in standby mode overnight.

It’s more than worth it to turn off your peripheral monitor at the end of the day, and simple to do so. From our experience, we’ve learned that’s how to avoid screen burn. Just press that little circle with the dash in it on the front of the monitor and walk away. Your screen will appreciate you, and your boss will appreciate you trying to save him some money, and the environment.

This has been another computer tip of the day, brought to you by your tech experts at 4 Corner IT.

Computer Tip of the Day: Managing Account Settings

computer tip of the day managing account settings

computer tip of the day

Windows users enjoy a plethora of options for applications and web viewing. For many, shared computers are a necessity. For the computer tip of the day, learn to manage your account settings.

By managing your account settings everyone gets what they need while the primary user makes sure no one accesses anything they shouldn’t.

From your desktop click on the windows start button located at the lower-left corner of the screen. For newer windows updates it is four white squares, older editions may appear as a box or circle with four boxes that are red, green, blue and yellow. Scroll up to settings, and click on accounts. You can manage many things here, let’s focus on the section labeled ‘family and other users.’

On this screen, you have two options. Add a family member or other users. When adding family members the main administrator gives each member their own sign-in and desktop. They can assign kid safety options so they may view appropriate content, games, apps and may also set time limits. Other users would be those who are not members of your family with fewer search and app restrictions but no access to personal information.

By creating a sign-on screen for each member of the family adults can leave work stored safely on a family computer where kids cannot accidentally make changes or delete any vital information. Parents can also ensure their children are making appropriate time management and safety decisions when they are not being actively monitored.

If you have any questions about user accounts or other IT related inquiries, please contact us.

Computer Tip of the Day: Microsoft Word

computer tip of the day microsoft word

computer tip of the day

Microsoft Word has been a staple writing program for business and home computer users for years. It is often the first program grade school children learn to use in computer class. However, even if you have used Word for many years, there are tricks that even the most seasoned Microsoft Word users may not know. Below are computer tips of the day for Microsoft Word.

Filler Text: What may seem useless at first can be a great tool for any Microsoft Word user. You can start by typing “=lorem(p,l)”. The “p” is for paragraphs and the “l” is for lines, so you would replace those with your desired amounts for paragraphs and lines. What this command does is it fills your desired paragraphs and lines with randomized Latin filler text. This filler text can be useful for people who need to create templates for newspapers or articles. It can also be useful for those who want to see how long their paper or document will be.

Shift and F5: Using shift with F5 is a fundamental trick that any Microsoft Word user needs to know. What this combination does, is it allows you to shuffle back to your last edits. Additionally, this keyboard shortcut can be useful when reopening a saved document. By pressing shift and F5 after reopening a document, you can go back to the area in the document that you were most previously editing.

If you have any questions or want to learn more tips about Microsoft Word or other computer related subjects, make sure to contact us.

Optimize Your WiFi Connection – Computer Tip of the Day

optimize your wifi connection computer tip of the day

These days, portability is king. WiFi has allowed devices to be mobile and connected. It also brings several headaches when it doesn’t work or when the signal strength is weak. Luckily, there is something you can do to optimize your WiFi without spending a dime.

Router Placement

Your router broadcasts WiFi signals in a spherical field. To get the most coverage, place your router closest to the center of the area you want to cover. Avoid placing it behind walls and floors as this will weaken signal. Thick layers of concrete, metal, or stone will also hinder WiFi signal strength.

Update Drivers and Firmware

Download and install firmware for your routers from the router manufacturer’s website or through the control panel for your router. Keeping up to date will ensure that your router has all the latest software and is free of all known bugs and performance issues. Likewise, be sure your wireless card drivers on your PCs are up to date.

Choose the Right Channels

WiFi can be slowed by other networks communicating on the same channel. When your device connects to a wireless network, it is automatically set to “listen” to the channel of that network. Your computer also “hears” noise from all other networks broadcasting WiFi on that channel. Most WiFi operates on a 2.4GHz band. Within this frequency, there are three available channels to operate on (1, 6, 11). You’ll want to choose the band with the least amount of traffic from other networks. You can use an app like WiFi Analyzer for Android to scan networks and determine what channel they are operating on.

Upgrading your network infrastructure can be as simple as adding a single range extender and soon you will see huge performance increases. Contact us to see how we make your WiFi perform it’s best.

Keyboard Shortcuts to Save Time

keyboard shortcuts to save time

Keyboard Shortcuts

Have you ever wished there was a faster way to execute a specific command on your computer? Usually there is! You just have to remember a few simple keyboard shortcuts.

Most users know the keyboard strokes for everyday functions like copy, cut, and paste – but there’s a shortcut for just about every commonly used task in most software programs. You can greatly increase your productivity at the office if you memorize just a few additional keyboard combinations.

Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y

The first of the two will undo the change you just made to the document. This can be used several times in a row. Some programs will let you back up to the beginning of that session; others have a limit. Ctrl+Y will redo the undo. (Apple = Cmd+Z and Cmd+Y)

Alt+Tab or Ctrl+Tab

The first shortcut will cycle between open programs. So if you have Firefox, Word, and Photoshop all open, Alt+Tab will switch among those programs. Similarly, Ctrl+Tab will cycle between tabs within the program currently open, such as multiple tabs in a web browser. (Apple = Cmd+Tab)

Ctrl+F

This shortcut will open the “find” function in nearly every computer program. In a browser, this will search for specific text on the page. (Apple = Cmd+F)

Ctrl+Home or Ctrl+End

The first of these will switch the cursor to the very beginning of the document, while the second will send it to the end. (Apple = Cmd+up arrow and Cmd+down arrow)

Ctrl+Backspace and Ctrl+left/right arrow

If you need to delete an entire word, rather than doing it character by character, try the Ctrl+Backspace combination. Using left and right arrows with the Ctrl key will move the cursor a word at a time as opposed to a single character at a time. (Apple = Option+Backspace and Option+left/right arrow)

Ctrl+S

You can use this shortcut to save whatever file or document you’re working on. This is universal for virtually all programs, so use it often to avoid the headache of an unexpected interruption causing you to lose all that work. (Apple = Cmd+S)

Page Up, Page Down, Spacebar

Page up and page down do just what they say – they move the open page one page at a time in either direction. In Internet browsers, the spacebar will move the page down while Shift+Spacebar will move the page up. (Apple = Fn+up/down arrow and Spacebar/Shift+Spacebar)

If you’re in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area and require IT support, feel free to contact us at 4 Corner IT.