Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 has a Windows Search Indexing service installed and enabled that allows the operating system to search certain places quickly finding files or programs in a flash. In order to search certain locations on your computer quickly the Windows Search indexing service indexes the contents of each location in advance and stores them in memory to speed up it’s search. This can take up a lot of memory and resources and will certainly affect your computers performance. It might even be indexing locations that you never even intend to search for files on. This is why you need to either disable theWindows Search indexing service or modify its process to do minimal work.

Of course you do not need to alter any settings for the Windows Search indexing service if you have not recognized any performance problems on your computer. However if you want to speed up your computer, this is just one of the tasks you can do.

How to disable the Windows Search Indexing completely for all locations:

1. Go to the Start Menu.
   
2. Type services.msc in the search box. As you are typing you will see items appear in the menu. This is because it is being indexed and can be searched quickly.
   
3. Scroll-down to find the Indexing Service which is called Windows search and double-click it.
   

4.  Press on  the Stop button to Stop the indexing service.

5.  Under Startup type press on the drop down arrow to see choices.

6.  Choose Disabled.

After disabling and turning off the Windows Indexing Service, you will still be able to use the Windows search but it will work more slowly than with the indexing enabled.

Most computer users don't take full advantage of the computer Mouse. Below are computer mouse tips and secrets that help you get the full potential of your computer mouse and increase your overall productivity while on the computer.

Shift key and mouse click

Many text editors and programs allow you to highlight all or portions of text using the Shift key and the mouse. For example, place the cursor at the beginning of a paragraph, hold down the Shift key and click at the end of the paragraph to highlight the full paragraph.

Take full advantage of the scroll wheel

Today, everyone is fully aware of a mouse wheels ability to scroll up and down on a page. However, this wheel can also do so much more, as shown below.

• The mouse wheel is not just a wheel, it can also be used as a button. Pressing down on the wheel will act like a third mouse button. This can be used to open a web page in a tab by clicking the wheel on any link and can also be used to close a tab by clicking the wheel on any open tab.
• Quickly Zoom in and Out on a web page, word document, excel spreadsheet, etc. by holding down the Ctrl key and scrolling up to zoom in and down to zoom out.
• Move forward and backwards while browsing the Internet by holding down the Shift key and scrolling up and down. Scrolling down goes back and scrolling up goes forward.

Select with double and triple click

Any word can be easily selected by double-clicking the word. If you want to highlight the whole paragraph, click the mouse button three times on any text in the paragraph.

Use the right-click

Take full advantage of the right-click any time you highlight text or wish to view the properties of an object. For example, if you highlight a file or text, you can right-click that highlighted item copy it and then right-click anywhere else to paste it.

 If you right-click on any file or text and drag it while continuing to hold the right button, when you let go you will be given the option to move or copy that file or text. This saves you the extra step of having to right-click where you want to paste the item.

 While in a browser pressing and holding Ctrl while clicking on any link will open that link in a new tab.

Ctrl key and mouse click or highlight

While holding down the Ctrl key you can left-click to select multiple objects or highlight multiple sections of text. For example, in Microsoft Windows you could hold down the Ctrl key and click to select multiple files at once. If you wanted to highlight different parts of a paragraph or web page, you could also hold down the Ctrl key and select each section you wanted to copy.

 Mozilla Firefox users can also hold down the Ctrl key and individually click on each cell in a table they wish to copy or drag their mouse down a row to select just that row or text without selecting any of the other text in that table.

Use the mouse side buttons

Many new computer mice have buttons on the side of the mouse. These buttons can be programmed to do anything, however, by default the left-thumb button can be used to go back on a web page. This makes browsing the Internet more enjoyable since you do not need to move the mouse cursor to the browser back arrow button in order to go back a page.

Use the Windows Snap To feature

Take full advantage of the Windows mouse Snap To feature, which will automatically move your mouse to buttons that appear in a dialog box. For example, if you delete a file or close a window you may get a prompt asking you if you are sure you want to perform the task. With the Snap To feature enabled, the mouse cursor automatically moves to the Ok button, so all you will have to do is click the mouse button if you agree. This saves you the time of having to move the mouse cursor over to the Ok button and then click Ok. To enable this feature open the Mouse properties under the Windows Control Panel and check the Snap To check box under the Pointer Options tab.

 While changing this feature we also suggest looking at other available options in the Mouse settings. For example, increasing the Motion speed can also help increase your productivity while using the mouse.

Manage the open window with the mouse

Double-click the top title bar of any window to maximize a window or if it is already maximized resize it to a window. You can also double-click the icon for the window in the top-left corner of the window to close that window.

Move the mouse with your keyboard

Instead of using the mouse that came with your computer you can also enable Windows to use the number pad as a mouse.

Customize your mouse

Finally, if you have a mouse with more than two buttons, installing the included mouse software will allow you to customize the mouse even more. For example, if you don't use the side buttons to move back and forth in a web page change it to something you do more often, such as switching between open windows or opening the calculator.

External Hard Drives have become extremely common use and are very affordable. Why should you use an external had drive and what can you use them for?

External Hard Drives come in multiple options. The first option is a portable media drives, these are smaller in size and capacity usually. The other option is the external hard drive, these are usually bigger in size and capacity. 


What can you use an external hard drive for?

• Storing Music, Photos, Videos on. (since these files usually take up large amounts of space it is best to store them on an external hard drive).  
• Backing up your important files. (making copies of all your important files is essential.) the smallest virus or hardware failure could result in you losing your files.
• Storing install files from software you have downloaded from the internet

Why should you use an external hard drive?

• Easy user friendly way to expand your storage space on your computer with  out having to get a computer tech to install a bigger hard drive into your system.
• It is portable (even the big ones) and can be attached to any other computer.

Internet banking has become a popular way for purchasing goods. Especially with Trademe. We will use Trademe as an example to show how best to make the most accurate transaction and how to safe guard yourself.

Once you have won an auction you will receive your payment information as shown below.

As you can see all the required information is in this email:

• Bank Account Name
• Bank Account Number
• Amount to be paid

Steps:

• Open your banks website and login. (For this example we will use national bank)
  
• Create a new payment as shown below.
  

This may appear to be a long winded approach, however this provides you and the trader evidence that the payment was processed. It also provides you with proof if the trader has provided you with incorrect payment details, or they say you have entered the wrong account information and claims they have not received the money.