Youngstown Computer Show notes for August 22, 2009

Segment 1

Talking about the movie nights in Mathi park. If you have an outdoor movie night, nominate your cause for a drawing for a free movie night.

Talking about online communities vs. real relationships. Joe D asks Ian and Adam if they have noticed if they noticed that youngsters communicate different. Joe D feels it is safer to meet people online than in real life. Joe D wants to see Youngstown as a premier wired city to attract tech workers and youngsters. Adam talks about having community wifi.

Talking about the AT&T network and the iPhone. Their service has gone downhill since the iPhone release. Some cities are switching coverage to a lower-speed, but more robust 3G system to try and improve service.


Segment 2

Caller 1
Q: how can you tell if a wifi router is sending out wifi? I can't seem to get any on my computer
A: sometimes you can turn off the SSID from being broadcasted, so you don't see any wireless networks. log into the router setup screens, and see what the SSID is set to, and you can make sure that the wifi is on. you will have to log into the airport and check the settings. reference your setup instructions for the address to go to on your web browser to log into the settings pages on your wireless access point (airport).

Talking about problems you can have with wireless networks, if a neighbor has the same name SSID as yours, it can cause connection problems. So please, set an unique SSID for your wireless. Ian mentioned that his linksys router seems to go down often.


Segment 3

Caller 2
Q: is there a maximum speed for a wireless connection?
A: wireless G is limited to 54Gbps, and wireless N is about twice as fast. most laptops are G, but some newer ones might have N, otherwise you would need both a new router and adapter

Caller 3
Q: after a virus was cleaned up, some things are not working, like I can't change the background
A: the virus probably set the user policies when you were infected, but when you cleaned it out those policies were not turned back on

Caller 4
Q: I can't get on the internet. IE can't display any webpage. I have roadrunner.
A: you will need an expert to check out the settings, please call into the shop

Caller 5
Q: I got AT&T and they switched security on me, the guy set it up to twice a week check everything out, and I was trying to get one day off, it comes on Sunday and Thursday.
A: to change McAffee scan settings, use file -> preferences, look for scheduling, we will have to look that up

Caller 6
Q: problem with Trend Micro antivirus, it seems to be making temp folders and files. there are over 23,000 files. they recommend to delete them, they are debugging files.
A: yes, go ahead and delete them and turn off debugging.


Segment 4

continuing Caller 6...
try to make a backup copy in a different location, like on a external drive, and reboot and make sure everything works before getting rid of those files.

Caller 7
Q: I think I got infected with spyware. How do I check?
A: unwanted pop-up screens, changed backgrounds, unknown icons on the taskbar, try running a virus scan. Look at the task manager to see if there are any processes that are using a lot of CPU, if any of the names look totally random letters and numbers.

A tip to try and prevent infections, if you get a pop-up that says you are infected, use the Alt-F4 keys to close all windows. Don't try to click on a close button, because it might trigger an install.

Caller 8
Q: using firefox, I can't use the online streaming of your show, but it works in IE
A: use the plug-in called "IE tab". It allows you to load a page in IE but still inside of firefox. You will have to download this extension.