I have been online for almost two years but I am still woefully unskilled in using most of the features available, even on this site where I spend the most time. From the beginning I have used Internet Explorer (is that called a browser?), and when I came across something I wanted to be able to find again, I would just add it to Favorites. That soon becomes unwieldy and I need to organize it into topical folders, I think.

I am now using Mozilla Firefox also, and it does not seem to have a "Favorites" that I can add a link to. My computer seems to have slowed way down since adding a second browser. Is that normal, or just a coincidence?

On the vn750 board I have noticed at the bottom of each page of a thread, that there are 4 bookmark icons. Who is using one of these bookmarks? Can I bookmark a single post, or even just part of a post, or do I have to mark a whole thread?

Would this be an efficient way to organize topical folders titled similar to the various tech forums so I can find specific service or maintenance tips later when I need them? ie. fergy`s spline lube procedure, or lance`s fork tube tear-down, service and reassembly.

If anyone would like to give me a few tips on how I can use the computer more efficiently, I would welcome the help. It may be a slow and frustrating job, because I don`t know enough to even ask the right questions sometimes. I do have the book "Windows for Dummies", if some of these questions may be addressed there. Thanks for any insight you may have to offer.

Hi Gordon,

Folders are the most efficient way to store stuff on computers. I use to tell my students to think of them as filing cabinets with drawers. Take motorised stuff for example. You could have a folder (filing cabinet), called Powered Stuff. In there would be other folders (drawers) called VN750, Chevvy pickup, Snowmobile and so on. In the VN750 folder you could put other folders (files) called Engine, Clutch, Electrics etc etc. The folder system can be used anywhere. Your Powered Stuff folder could sit on your desktop ready for instant access.

With regards to the computer being slow there are several things you can do.

Firstly, if you don't need a program don't have it on there. I am a CAD Technician, and apart from Windows XP, I've got AutoCAD, Microsoft Word & Excel. Most people have the full Office package, but how often do you use Access or Powerpoint? Unless you work with them of course.

Don't let other people download stuff all the time and put it on there. If you've got kids, get them their own system and password protect yours!

Clear out unneccesary stuff from the Start Up folder.

Do a disk cleanup & defragment at least once a month (I do mine weekly).

Download and install Page defrag. It's free and is authorised by Microsoft. This defragments the page file every time the computer is fired up.

It's here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897426.aspx

Get some anti-virus software. AVG is good and it's free.

Finally, don't forget, before you do anything to your system do a back up so that you don't lose anything. I must have a few million quids worth of construction drawings on mine. If I lose any of that I may as well leave the country!!!

Awesome advice FartinMartin!

Computing is a hazerdous hobby these days. As a security analyst, I see all sorts of underhanded tactics used to attack PC users. The tips listed are a great start for keeping your machine happy and healthy.

I would also suggest adding the NoScript addon to FireFox. It's a pain in the tail sometimes because you have to allow JavaScript to run on sites you trust, but it prevents a significant amount of client-side attacks from malicious hackers.

The disk cleanup and defrag is a good thing to do, but once a month is more than enough for an "average" user. More won't hurt, but it's not going to make a significant difference in that amount of time.

Something that is overlooked on FM's list is updating software. Windows is expecially important- you should allow automatic update to run and install any new security updates on the machine. I haven't had to update a personal windows machine in more than a year. Other software (Java, Adobe, Anti Virus programs) will also need manual intervention regularly. With the number of attack vectors out there, it critical that these are kept up to date on any machine connected to the internet.

What I also find helpful is the use of a password manager. I prefer the freely available KeePass (http://keepass.info/). This program lets you keep all passwords stored in the safe behind one "master password". This is important because too many people use the same password for EVERY site they visit including banks, forums, and shopping sites. Using KeePass allows one to generate strong passwords and store them in a safe (and encrypted) place. Mathematically, even if a hacker does get your password file, the sun would burn out before they could decrypt it.

I have much more but seems like you have a good starting point now. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions! It's nasty out on the information superhighway.. don't let the bandits run you off the road and take your money. With roughly 285 million records compromised in 2008, we need to be more aware when we're online!

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On the vn750 board I have noticed at the bottom of each page of a thread, that there are 4 bookmark icons. Who is using one of these bookmarks? Can I bookmark a single post, or even just part of a post, or do I have to mark a whole thread?
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The bookmarks that you see at the bottom of the screen on the forums (Digg, Google, StumbleUpon, and others) are links that allow you to indicate to other users on the internet that you found this page interesting. They're not for organizing your pages.

In Firefox you can click on Bookmarks (on toolbar at top left of window) and from the dropdown list select "Organize Bookmarks..."

So start saving interesting webpages by using Bookmarks...Bookmark This Page (or you can hold down the CTRL key and press the letter "D" to do the same thing). Once you've saved a lot of bookmarks you can then go in and Organize them into some hierarchy that makes sense to you.

From the Organize Bookmarks screen you can Backup your bookmarks and Export to HTML. This allows you to create a file of your bookmarks that you can email and share with others.

Keep asking questions, geeks love to talk about computers.

Thanks guys. I just perused these posts, and will come back to read for comprehension a little later. I have some other things to do.

My younger brother is an electronics tech and computer geek. He just spend an hour and a half here trying to figure out why my computer is running so slow. He had to go back to work, but is coming back later today or tomorrow to finish. Just before leaving, he found a list showing that something called system processes is using 96-98% of the processing time.

I will start working on security and filing organization soon.

Regarding the slow PC... Do you already have a good anti-virus program installed, and does it have a CURRENT subscription, and are the definitions updated? If not, I can almost guarantee your computer is infected and turned into a 'zombie'. Those "system processes" could be your PC doing the work of it's hacker controller. An unprotected computer gets hacked on the internet within hours.

If you don't have current anti-virus, start with that. If your computer is a remote-control zombie, there's not much you can do to speed it up until you exorcise the demons. My favorites are Webroot and Kaspersky, but there are decent freebies out there. Trend Micro does a good free one, just Google the name.

If you DO have current anti-virus, there are plenty of other good suggestions above to try. Good luck!

Use free AVG anti-virus to find and remove virus attacks. Then run Spybot Search and Destroy, CCleaner and Autoruns(from Microsoft) several times to remove Crapware that builds up. You can do searches to find them all for free. It's a pain for someone who's not sure what they're doing. I know the feeling, I get it when I pick up that socket set and walk towards the bike....