If you are using a public computer then you may not wish for your internet history to be tracked within the browser. Internet Explorer 8 has a neat feature called InPrivate browsing which disables browsing history (and associated information) from being retained within the browser. This provides an added level of privacy protection for your internet browsing. Other web browsers (including Firefox, Chrome and Safari) also implement similar functionality under different names.

To protect my computer from unwanted people and processes attempting to access the computer it is running the Windows Firewall on the network connection. However, when the firewall is enabled both Windows Update and AVG 8 will not operate correctly and refuse to download updates. The error code being reported is 8024402c. Can you provide a suggestion as to why this problem is occurring? Additionally, I have been considering upgrading to a more powerful firewall that can also do outbound program blocking. However, all the packages that I have reviewed require the user to make a decision about which programs should and should not access the internet, with many of these programs having rather cryptic names making it difficult for the average user to make an informed decision. Can you recommend any programs that are easier to use? Finally, can you advise whether I should be running a registry cleaner on the computer? When searching Google advertisements for such utilities regularly appear, but I am unsure about their usefulness and effectiveness. The computer is running Windows Vista. (more…)

Office 2011 for Mac was recently released bringing some major enhancements, including a very similar look-and-feel to Office 2007 for Windows (making transitioning between the two products much easier) featuring the Office Ribbon. Office 2011 for Mac comes in two versions – Home and Student Edition and Business Edition (which includes the new Outlook 2011 for Mac). Multi-licence packs are also available for users with more than one computer. Office 2011 for Mac is available now from most computer retailers.

I would like to wipe the hard drive on my computer and perform a clean reinstallation of Windows XP Professional. What is the easiest way to “wipe” the drive? Also, are there any major pitfalls which you can foresee in a clean reinstallation? (more…)

If you are an iPhone user then most likely you have a passcode enabled on the phone which is a very good idea in case you lose the phone, as it will help prevent the casual user who finds your phone from viewing all your information. Until recently you could only have a four digit passcode on the phone. However, with the introduction of iOS 4 you can now have an alphanumeric passcode. If you go into the Settings > General > Passcode Lock and disable “Simple Passcode” you can then create a longer and more complex alphanumeric passcode.