Configuring Firefox to Open to Your Home Page

It's no secret that I love Firefox and encourage all computer users to use it instead of Internet Explorer. That's because Firefox is a safer and more secure internet browser. It also allows you add a lot of cool user-friendly plug-ins which make your internet experience more enjoyable.

The other day, I learned something new about Firefox and I wanted to share it here in case others experience what at first appears to be a problem - but really isn't.

Regardless of what browser you're using, when you open it, the first page you see is called your "home page". For many users, it's the MSN page or Google search page. While those are great pages, many of us like to configure a different home page. For example, I have a Google home page which allows me to configure it anyway I want (and I do). When I open the internet, that is the page I want to see first. Configuring a home is easy and you can read the instructions for setting up a custom home page by clicking here.

However, even after configuring firefox to use a custom home page, you may notice that each time you open Firefox, it may open the last internet pages you visited instead of your home page. This can be frustrating. But the good news is that fixing this problem is a simple configuration change.

Here's how you change it:

1. Open Firefox and on the menu select TOOLS and then OPTIONS ( a window will pop up)
   
2. On the new window, look near the top for the words "When Firefox Starts"
   
3. Click the Pull-down arrow and select "SHOW MY HOME PAGE".
4. Click OK at the bottom of this window.

That's all there is to it. Firefox allows you select multiple options for start pages so feel free to experiment with the others to see if you prefer any of the others.

Health Care Reform Chart

I love the internet! Thanks to the internet, you can now find news, charts and other information that you couldn't find anywhere else. I care very much about politics (domestic and foreign), my country, and what's happening in America now. I'm one of those people who takes the time to dig up truths rather than just accept what the media feed me ... and so when I came across this chart, I had just had to share it. You can click on the chart to see it in more detail.

If the Health Care Reform Bill passes, it will create several new layers of bureaucracy in health care. The image above will be the new organizational chart for health care. If you look at the items I've circled, on the left is YOU (the consumer) and on the right are doctors. You will have to work your way through this maze to get to your doctors.

Can anybody name where bureaucracy has helped and not hindered your life? I can't. My dealings with most government agencies and employees has resulted in time delays and frustration. But if socialized medicine passes in this country, this is what we have to look forward to!

By the way, Congressman John Flemming (Louisiana) just introduced bill H.R. 615 this week which would require all members of Congress and Senate who vote for Health Care Reform to sign up under the plan. In other words, if our elected leaders feel strongly that this new health care system is the right thing for American, then they should be more than willing to sign up first under the new plan. This is common sense. Congressman Flemming also promises to keep track of voting records on this issue on his web site.

By the way, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated yesterday that the Health Care Reform Bill would cost more than a trillion dollars.

The internet is a great resource for digging up truth (although you do have to be careful, because it's full of lies too). Here's a list of some trustworthy sites you may find useful:

CNS News: http://www.cnsnews.com/public/default.aspx

One News Now: http://www.onenewsnow.com/default.aspx

Open Congress: http://www.opencongress.org/

Citizens Against Government Waste: http://www.cagw.org/

How to do Basic Background Checks

If you pay attention to the news, you've probably seen the story about the Florida couple with 13 adopted kids that was murdered. So far eight people have been arrested in that case. This morning Fox News Channel mentioned reported that one of those arrested was a Realtor and some of the others were folks who have done work on the house.

Sadly,this is not an isolated story. More and more often now you hear stories of how murdered victims had relationships or ties to their killer. It's getting more difficult to know who to trust anymore as the news continues to remind us that you can really never know a person.

While most of us don't spend the time or money to do proper background checks on people who may be working around the house for us or others we encounter that can pose a potential threat, there are some basic step we can take for a preliminary check.

There's very little privacy today in America. And while many of us think that's a bad thing, it does allow you to find information on others more easily these days. Anytime you invite strangers to your home (realtors, landscapers, handymen, repairmen, computer techs, etc,), it's prudent to do a quick check on those people to see if any red flags are raised.

Here are some free checks you can do quickly and easily:

• Search the person's name in Google, MSN and Yahoo
  
• Search the person's name on MySpace.com
• Search the person's name on Facebook
• Search the person's name on WhitePages.com
  

These are just some of the basic steps you can take without spending money. But often times they will give you more information about the character of the person you're dealing with.

If you need more detailed information about a person, then you should spend the money to do a proper background check. It's not as expensive or complicated as it sounds. But if you're hiring a nanny, babysitter, etc. then you should really consider doing a proper background check.

One of the best sites open to the public is Intelius. This site offer a variety of different searches for a small fee.

Can't Install Java Because of Error: 25099?

Java is one of those free programs that everybody needs to have on their computer. When you buy a new computer, it usually comes pre-installed. And Java does a good job of telling you when newer versions have been released and make it easy for you to update their software. The only real downside to Java's automatic updates is that older versions are not removed in the process.

Knowing this, I've gotten in the habit of opening the Control Panel and uninstalling all versions of Java before downloading and installing the newest version. Up til now, I've never had a problem. But today, I kept getting error: 25099. Unzipping Core files failed" during installation.

Naturally I went to Java's webpage for help with error 25099, and they claim the error is caused by the "JQS.exe" file running in the background and the fix is to end this process using the task manager. So I followed their instructions and did a CTRL-ALT-DEL to call up the task manager and looked for the "JQS.exe" process in the list ... and it wasn't there.

So then I followed Java's next suggestion and called up the command prompt and typed the line they suggested, "net stop "Java Quick Starter" and hit enter. That didn't work either. I got a message back saying that process was running.

I tried a few more things, like downloading the full Java update for offline installation (that didn't work). I double checked the control panel to make sure Java was not installed (it wasn't). I tried redownloading Java several times and reinstalling. All of my attempts failed and I kept getting the 25099 error.

Finally, I was able to fix the problem by opening the Program Files folder and deleting the Java folder in there (which apparently was a remement of the uninstallation). After I removed that folder, I was able to install Java.

So if you run into this problem, and none of Java's recommendations appear to work, check the Program Files folder for a Java folder and remove it if it's there. This fixed the 25099 error which prevented Java installation in my case.

More Info on Windows 7

I've been getting asked a lot of questions about Windows 7 lately and wanted to share the answers so that everybody could benefit from them.

First, you've heard before that Windows 7 was due to be released this summer around August. The official release date (as of today) is October 22, 2009 (just in time for the Christmas season).

How did Windows 7 get its name? According to Microsoft, this release is the 7th significantly different operating system they've released, so they named it "Windows 7". What were the others?

• Windows 1 (released November 1985)
  
• Windows 2 (released November 1987)
  
• Windows 3 (Win3.0, Win3.1 & WinNT)
• Windows 4 (Win95, Win98, Win98SE, & WinME)
• Windows 5 (Windows 2000, and WinXP)
• Windows 6 (WinVista)
• Windows 7 (Win7)

How does Windows 7 compare to Windows XP and Vista? Let me first say that Windows 7 looks and feels like Windows Vista. So if you're looking for Win7 to look and feel more like WinXP, you're out of luck. You'll still have to get used to the new layout, terminology and features. And like Vista, there will be several different versions of Win7 released (including Starter (or Basic), Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise).

Okay, so folks hate change ... I get that. But aside from those changes, the real complaint against Vista was that it wasn't as stable as WinXP. Aside from that, Vista has some nice new features (but many folks weren't willing to give them a chance). And those features are still present in Win7.

There was another big complaint about Vista - and that was compatibility. When XP was released, any hardware or software programs that were less than four years old pretty much worked. You may have had to update a driver or two, but at least you could still use that piece of hardware or software. When Vista was released, compatibility became a major issue. Folks were forced to buy new hardware and software that would work with Vista. Unfortunately, the same will be true in Windows 7.

Perhaps Microsoft didn't have to "fix" something that wasn't broken when moving beyond WinXP. But they are in business to make money and therefore need to stay fresh by releasing new products. I like XP - but I do like some of the features of Vista too.

Except for a few startup problems from time to time, I personally never had any real trouble with Vista. I used to get annoyed by the popup window asking me if I really want to continue my action, but I quickly learned to ignore it ... and I do understand that they incorporated that extra step to help stop people from inadvertently messing up their software. So I'm willing to overlook that minor annoyance.

Why Microsoft felt the need to change the normal folder menu options from (File, Edit, View, etc.) to "Organize", "Options" and "Tools" - I don't know. But it's not hard to relearn the new naming conventions. These are some of the little changes that will annoy a lot of folks at first.

But some the advantages of the Win7 will be these.....

• More stability (than Vista anyway)
• Improved performance (according to Microsoft)
  
• Cool features first introduced in Vista (like Gadgets)
• Better computer search capability (personally, I hated this improved feature in Vista, but others loved it).
• Improved Taskbar
  

For more information about Windows 7, click the links below:

• Microsoft Videos of Windows 7
• Windows 7 News Website
• What's Really Different in Windows 7 (compared to Vista)?
• If You Loved XP, You'll Hate Win7

Keep in mind that every time Microsoft releases a new operating, they eventually stop supporting older versions. So while Microsoft will continue to support XP for a little, they will eventually stop. This means that the day will come when you will no longer be able to get Windows Updates for XP - thereby putting your computer and data at risk from hackers and other malware programs.

Microsoft is in the driver seat and unless you want to dump Microsoft and go with Linux, MACs or some other system, you'll be forced to "upgrade" at some point (either through a new computer purchase or upgrading your hardware and software). So if you're still using WinXP (like I am), then enjoy it while you can and don't worry so much about the changes when the time comes.

Printing Photos Using Microsoft's Printing Wizard

Have trouble printing photos? Microsoft has a nice printing wizard that makes the process really easy. All you have to do is RIGHT click on the photo you want to print and select PRINT - then follow the rest of the prompts.

The process works like this ....

1. First, find a photo you want to print and then RIGHT click on it and select PRINT (a window will popup that reads, "Welcome to the Photo Printing Wizard". Click the NEXT button.
2. You'll see all the pictures currently stored in the folder you selected. The one you right clicked on to call up the wizard will be checked. You can check others if you want to print them too. Click NEXT when ready.
   
3. Make sure the correct printer is selected on the next window (if you have more than one). Depending on your printer, you may see a button that reads, "printing preferences". you can click this button if you want to change any of the settings (such as photo printing, type of paper, etc.). Click NEXT when ready.
4. The next windows offers several options. First, you'll want to make sure "FULL PAGE PHOTO PRINT" is selected.
   
5. Scroll down and you can select the print size (4x6, 5x7, 8x10, etc.). And you can select the number of times you'd like that picture printed.
6. Make sure you have the paper in the printer before clicking NEXT.
7. Just sit back and wait for your printer to print the photo.

That's all there is to it. There are many different ways to print photos, but I think Microsoft's printing wizard is one of the simplest and easiest to use.

How to Boot the Computer in Safe Mode

Safe Mode is a computer start mode that only loads the bare minimum of drivers and startup programs. The purpose of Safe Mode is to help you diagnose startup problems in Windows.

So if your computer is having boot or startup problems, the first thing you'll usually want to do is boot to Safe Mode. If you can get to Safe Mode, then often times you can use System Restore to go back to an earlier time when the computer was working fine.

So how do you get the computer in Safe Mode? First, turn the computer off (use the power button the tower if you have to). When you turn the computer back on, you'll want to keep hitting the F8 key on the keyboard until a menu comes up. In the list of options, you'll see Safe Mode. Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to select it and then hit the key on the keyboard.

Booting to Safe Mode takes a few minutes and you may see a black screen with a lot of text on it for a couple of minutes. Just be patient and wait. After a couple of minutes you should see your computer desktop again (only it will look huge and colors will be off - that's normal).

If the computer never progresses past the black screen with writing (be sure to give it a good 15 minutes) - then you've got bigger problems to worry about. You could try repeating the process to boot to Safe Mode and see if it works next time or you could try "last known good configuration" in the startup menu of options when you press F8.

If neither of those work, then chances are you'll have to reload your computer from scratch again (but make sure your data is backed up first).

Knowing how to boot to Safe Mode can help you solve some computer problems so it's good to know how to this.