I Cannot Open An Attachment

Posted by admin on Oct 30, 2007

Have you ever received an attachment or file that you cannot open?  The problem is likely that you do not have the right program to open the file.  What you need to do is find out what program you need, and install it.  The other option is to have someone convert the file into something you can use.  Here are a few examples:

.XLS – Excel Files.  You can use the free viewer from Microsoft.
.PPT – Powerpoint Files.  You can use the free viewer from Microsoft.
.PDF – Acrobat Files.  You need the free Acrobat Reader.
.RM – Real Media.  You need Real Player to watch these movies.
.ZIP – Compressed Files.  You need Winzip to open them.
.MOV – Quicktime Movie.  You need Quicktime to watch them.

You can also use Google to search for the file extension, and see what program opens it.


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The Computer… male of female?

Posted by admin on Oct 30, 2007

A language instructor was explaining to her class that French nouns, unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or feminine. Things like ‘chalk’ or ‘pencil,’ she described, would have a gender association although in English these words were neutral.

Puzzled, one student raised his hand and asked, “What gender is a computer?” The teacher wasn’t certain which it was, and so divided the class into two groups and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine or feminine. One group was comprised of the women in the class, and the other, of men. Both groups were asked to give four reasons for their recommendations.

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How The Internet Began

Posted by admin on Oct 30, 2007

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she had been called Amazon Dot Com.

She said unto Abraham, her husband, “Why doth thou travel far from town to town with thy goods when thou can trade without ever leaving thy tent?” And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, “How, Dear?”

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Installing Husband 1.0

Posted by admin on Oct 30, 2007

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance – particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

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A Snakey Computer Problem

Posted by admin on Oct 30, 2007

A gal has a problem with her computer so she makes a phone call…..

Hello, technical support. How can I help you?”

The female:

Last night my computer started making a lot of hissing noise at me so I shut it down. This morning when I turned it on, the computer started hissing and cracking, then started smoking and a bad smell, then nothing.

SUPPORT:

I will have a technician come over first thing this morning. Just leave the computer just like it is so they can find the problem and fix it or change it out with another computer. Give me your address and telephone number and the technician will be there just as soon as possible.

When the technician got there, the lady showed the technician where the computer was and told what happened to it. This is what the technician found wrong.

Take a look at the pictures… you won’t believe your eyes!!!

And you thought you had computer problems…

snakesystem1.jpg snakesystem2.jpg snakesystem3.jpg snakesystem4.jpg


The Benefits of a Virtual PC

Posted by admin on Oct 29, 2007

We here at ICS like to try out lots of new software and hardware.  The problem is that when we constantly install and remove programs and drivers, our test system gets really buggy and slow.  The fact is, we have had to reformat and reinstall everything several times to keep things running smoothly.  That was until we discovered the Virtual PC.

To get started, just click here to go to Microsoft’s website and download the completely FREE Microsoft Virtual PC 2007.  This program can help you set up completely independent operating systems, that run inside a window of your regular operating system.

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What’s Up With Windows?

Posted by admin on Oct 29, 2007

We have been getting a lot of questions about the different versions of Windows, and the support related to them.  Here is a quick break-down:

July 11, 2006 – Microsoft Ended Support for Windows 98 & ME
October 10, 2006 – Microsoft Ended Support for Windows XP Service Pack 1
January 2008 – Windows XP will no longer be available to consumers
March 2008 – Vista Service Pack 1 will be released
January 2009 – Windows XP will no longer be available to businesses
June 30, 2010 – Windows 2000 will no longer be supported
April 2014 – Windows XP will no longer be supported


Fast Tip

Posted by admin on Oct 25, 2007

Restart Your PC – It’s amazing how many times you can make your problems disappear simply by restarting your PC.  Be sure to leave your system powered down for at least 30 seconds before you restart, though.  As your PC reboots, keep a close eye on the text displayed on your monitor, error messages may offer clues to whatever it is that ails your PC. 


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USB 2.0

Posted by admin on Oct 25, 2007

USB 2.0 is now out.  What is the difference with your current USB 1.1 port?  Speed – plain and simple.  Our research has shown that you do not get 40x the speed, as advertised.  At full bandwidth, the 2.0 ports are supposed to get 480 mbps, while the older 1.1 ports are supposed to get 12 mbps transfers.  The actual rates achieved are closer to 375 mbps.  This is still much faster than the older style ports.  If you are going to connect high speed devices such as digital cameras, external hard drives, CD-RW drives, etc.  then you will want to upgrade your computer to include a USB 2.0 port.  These new ports will still support all the 1.1 style devices as well.


What’s Coming Down The Tech Pipeline?

Posted by admin on Oct 18, 2007

Are you interested in what new technology is just over the horizon?  Some of these advancements have been around for a while, but are just now becoming main stream.

Quad Core CPUs – AMD and Intel both have quad-core processors in the works, and they should be on the market in early 2008.  The only thing that the two architectures have in common is the term ‘quad core’, other than that… they are completely different.  From what we can see, the AMD versions should out-perform their Intel counterparts.  Also, AMD has been known for a much cheaper price than Intel.  Let’s see what happens.

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