8 Reasons Why It's Not Your Fault If You Feel Like A Computer Dummy, 6 Secrets That Skyrocket Your Skills

If you're like a lot of people, you feel confused by computers and wish you had more confidence and skill.

You know you're not as good as you want to be, and you end up frustrated by them a lot.

Maybe you feel like you're missing out on something that other people enjoy, and wish you could learn the basics of computers so you can join in but you aren't sure about what you're doing.

If any of this seems familiar to you, then it's important to realize that you're not alone -- a lot of people feel this way about computers.

You also need to understand it's not your fault.

I've been helping people with their computer challenges for a long time, and I've spent years researching exactly what causes people to get stuck, and what makes them feel frustrated and confused.

I've discovered there are 8 main reasons why most people fail when they try to learn computer basics and get better at computers -- and none of those reasons are your fault at all!

If you have always felt like a dummy, it's because the game has been rigged against you -- the traditional ways people try to learn computers are almost designed to make you fail!

Here are 4 of the common experiences people have when they try to
learn the basics of computers:

1. You try to learn from someone you know like a neighbor, family member, or someone else who may seem like they understand computers, but who in reality doesn't really know that much and ends up passing on misinformation, misunderstanding, and bad habits.
   
   It's like a 16-year-old trying to get someone a few months older to teach them how to drive: not a good idea.
   
   
2. You sign up for classes, but end up feeling frustrated and like you've wasted your hard-earned money because the teacher goes at the pace of the fastest student, and you end up like most of the other students: left out and left behind.
   
   
3. You hire a computer consultant who probably knows what they're talking about, but while they understand computers, they don't understand the first thing about teaching.
   
   They talk in confusing technical terms that they can't or won't explain clearly, and often get impatient or annoyed with you when you don't get it.
   
   
4. Because of the expense, you only hire a consultant once in a while, and when you do, you want to cover a bunch of stuff in one long lesson to save money on repeat trips.
   
   But you end up wasting your money because you tried cramming in too much at once, so most of it goes in one ear and out the other.
   

Here are a few important things to understand about how people's mind work and how we learn that is critical to remember when learning any skill, including computers:

1. When we learn a skill -- reading, writing, using computer, or anything else -- we have to start off focusing on the little details, or little steps, and work up from there: letters before words, words before sentences, paragraphs before pages.
   
   Most professional computer trainers are way up at a level where they see the big picture and have trouble thinking back to when they focused on the little steps.
   
   Because of this, they have trouble explaining to you and don't really understand why you don't get it.
   
   
2. Scientific studies have shown people need to learn in short lessons of half an hour or less, with a break between lessons.
   
   When most classes or lessons from consultants run an hour or two long, is it any surprise you forget it all?
   
   Obviously, when you're working around somebody else's schedule, and you're paying by the minute (plus travel time in a lot of cases) it seems to make more economic sense to have a single long lesson that lasts an hour or two, instead of several short lessons.
   
   But in reality, you end up wasting money on those lessons that go on for more than half an hour, since you end up forgetting a lot of what you're taught!
   
   An unfortunate catch 22.
   
   
3. Repetition builds skill: nobody learns a skill in just one lesson. But because of the cost and today's busy schedule, almost nobody ever gets computer lessons more than once in a blue moon, so they end up stuck in a frustrated rut.
   
   Know how to ride a bike?
   
   I bet if you do, then you had to practice a while before you got good at it.
   
   At first it was a struggle to keep upright, but you kept doing it. Eventually, you could ride around like a pro without even thinking about it. Maybe even with no hands!
   
   And the nice thing about learning computers is -- no skinned knees!
   
   
4. Focus on one subject, and only go off on side topics if it directly relates and helps understanding of the main thing you're trying to learn about.
   
   Jumping around to a bunch of different things in one lesson is no way to learn.
   
   True, some people are what I like to call "non-linear learners" (think ADD) and they want to jump around a lot or they get bored.
   
   But even hyperactive people (I'm one of them) really learn best with short, focused lessons, and the *choice* to be able to jump from one topic to another -- as long as each short lesson is complete and not a jumbled mess.
   

These are a few of the things I discovered were holding people back from the confidence and skill that they deserved.

These understandings I gained from my years of studying this problem did lead me to a solution.

Over the more than twelve years that I've been a computer coach, I -- through a lot of hard work on my part, and a lot of thought and care -- figured out how to explain things in plain English.

I use metaphors and analogies, relating the complex and normally confusing terms to everyday, understandable objects like a table, a rug, a car. Things that you can relate to and that make sense to anybody, even a so-called "computer dummy".

I also learned how to bring things down to your level of understanding -- helping you grasp what I'm talking about, even if you're a beginner and still focused on the tiny details -- all without talking down to you.

But because of the limitations of teaching as a consultant -- the expense, the busy schedule, the need to have long lessons, and everything else I've just talked about -- I still couldn't help people get really comfortable with computers and advance the way I wanted them to.

So what I came up with is a new system: short, easy computer lessons (for both Macs and Windows computers) where you get to pop a CD into your computer and sit back and watch and learn more easily than you ever thought possible.

The lessons are short, focused on one topic, in plain English, and so easy to fit into even the busiest of schedules, since you get to learn at your own pace on your own terms, for a fraction of the cost of classes or a consultant.

And I even back it all up with a complete, no hassle, no arguments full one year iron-clad money-back guarantee.

If you try them out and they're not for you, no hard feelings. Just return them within the YEAR (no pointless "ten day trial" like some places) and I'll happily give you your money back, including shipping!

And remember, they're all broken down into simple, short, easy lessons that you can just sit back and watch, that makes computers as easy as the click of a mouse.

All you need to do is click here to get easy computer lessons for Apple Mac or easy computer lessons for Windows.

It's really easy, it's fun, and you get a whole year to try it out risk free. So all you have to lose is your frustration and confusion around computers.

And give up calling yourself a "computer dummy"!

You'll be glad you did.

Worth Godwin

Easy Editing Tips and More Computer Basics That Make Life Easier

Computer users have a wide range of experience and levels of understanding of their computers. The great majority of users have just learned the most basic features of a few of the thousands of programs out there. It really can be a help for you to learn computer basics that you may haver been taught.

But that’s nothing to be ashamed of — even the most advanced computer user was at that level at some point, myself included. Even if you’re just using your computer for word processing, learning a few simple skills can make your life a lot easier.

• First and foremost: save often! If you type a long letter, or make a lot of changes to whatever you're working on, and the power goes out or something else happens, you could lose everything you haven't saved!
  
  Just imagine how upset you would be if you'd worked on something for half an hour, an hour, or longer, and *poof* it vanished. Just going to the File menu and clicking save can help you avoid losing all that work.
  
  
• If you're working on a large project — such as a story or essay, where you write multiple drafts — periodically use the "save as" option from the File menu to save your file with a new name.
  
  That way if the third draft had something good you deleted in the fourth draft, you can bring it back for the fifth.
  
  For example, if you're working on a file called My Letter.doc and you've made a lot of changes since your last save, go to "save as..." from the File menu, and change the name to My Letter2.doc. This way, you have both versions.
  
  
• Remember you can click anywhere in the document with your mouse and make changes wherever you place the cursor (the blinking vertical line which indicates where what you type next will appear).
  
  So if you realize you’ve made a mistake two lines back, just click where you want to make the change instead of deleting everything back to the mistake, then retyping it all. When you’re done, just click at the bottom and pick up where you left off.
  
  
• Cutting and pasting: If you want to move a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or even a page of text, you can cut it and paste it someplace else in the document.
  
  To do this, just highlight the section of text you want by dragging your mouse (click and hold the left button, then drag) across the text. You’ll see a highlight appear where you drag. Let go of the mouse button then go to the edit menu.
  
  In the edit menu you can select "copy" to make a copy of the text, or "cut" to remove the text that is highlighted. Then go to the part of the document where you want to move or copy the text and click there so the cursor appears where you want your text to appear.
  
  Go back to the edit menu and select paste. Your text will appear where you clicked.
  
  You can use this to move text around in a document, or copy and paste it into an other document or even an email, and vice versa. Copying and pasting also can work with graphics or even files and folders in some situations.
  
  
• Undo: if you make a mistake the "undo" option in the Edit menu will allow you to undo the last thing you did. Accidentally highlighted and deleted a paragraph in that letter? Just undo before you type anything else and it comes right back.
  
  
• Learn the common keyboard shortcuts which work in most applications:
  On Windows PCs, the common keyboard shortcuts include: CTRL-S to save, CTRL-C to copy, CTRL-X to cut, CTRL-V to paste. ALT-F4 will close a window or program (or prompt you to shut down Windows if you are not in a program).
  
  On a Macintosh computer, common keyboard shortcuts include: Command-S to save, Command-C to copy, Command-X to cut, Command-V to paste. Command-W will close a window, and Command-Q will quit the program you're in. The Command key is the one next to the space bar that has the Apple logo on it.
  
  In all cases, these key combinations are done as follows: hold down CTRL (or Command), type the other key, and release both. Just like using the shift key to type a capital letter. On both Macs and PCs, these and additional shortcuts are typically printed in the menus next to the option.
  

These are just a few computer basics that can really make your life easer!

Of course, there's a big difference between reading about something, and seeing it in action -- being able to watch something done really makes new skills a lot easier to get. This is one of the reasons I put together my easy computer lesson CDs where you get video lesson CDs for Mac or Windows delivered to your door, packed with short, easy lessons on a lot of different topics.

On the "Sampler CD" (one of the CDs I include when you order), you get a video lesson where you get to watch exactly how to cut, copy, and paste right on your screen while you hear me describing how it all works with step-by-step instructions in plain English.

I also cover lots of other easy computer basics like this that makes your life easier.

Try it out -- I give you a full one year 365 day money back guarantee, so it's risk free!

Choosing the right kind of Internet service provider (ISP)

In this article I'm going to explain some of the differences between different options for ways to connect to the Internet.

First off, let me explain the two *general* types of Internet connection before getting more specific about some of the more specific types within these two general categories.

When looked at as simply as possible (or as "big chunk" as possible, to use a term I explain on my special report "Secrets Of Skyrocketing Your Computer Skills" that's available on CD from my website) there are two common types of Internet connection: dialup and "broadband".

Dialup is, of course, the old fashioned way to connect to the Internet, using a dialup modem. Dialup modems have been around far longer than most people realize: I bought my first one around 1986.

It was a "1200 bps" (bps is a measurement of speed) modem that I paid about $200 for back in the day. Dialup modems capped out at 56K bps a good ten years or more ago, and now sell for under $10 if you know where to look.

So that's about 46 times faster, and 20 times cheaper.

Now you might be thinking "I think I read somewhere that my computer has a 56K modem in it. That must be pretty fast then!"

If you're thinking that, you're wrong.

Dialup is old technology, and hasn't really improved in about ten years, which if you remember my article from a couple of weeks ago where I mentioned Moore's Law, means it's about 150 years out of date in relative terms!

So the simple way to think of it is, dialup = slow.

Many people are using dialup still, either because they don't see any reason not to, or they have no choice where they live.

But what I want to tell you is that even if you are currently using dialup and think "it's good enough, so why bother upgrading?" -- you're making a mistake.

I'll tell you why in a minute.

First, let me explain the general alternative to dialup. It's called "broadband", which basically just means "fast ".

Broadband comes in a number of varieties, with a range of speeds, all of them a lot faster than dialup.

Aside from being much faster, broadband generally doesn't tie up your phone line, so people don't get busy signals if they try calling you, and you can make phone calls while you're online.

The two most common types of broadband are cable and DSL. Cable internet comes over the same cable as cable TV, and is offered by a variety of companies with different brand names -- Roadrunner is one example of cable internet.

DSL actually comes over your phone lines like dialup, but is much faster and, like cable Internet, you can make phone calls while you're connected.

You also have less-used options like satellite, which gives you fairly fast connections to the Internet over a satellite dish like satellite TV. It is pretty slow for broadband, but a lot faster than dialup. It's mostly used by people out in the boonies who don't have any better option.

What I suggest to most people is to get DSL, if they can get it where they live. In most cases it's only slightly more expensive than dialup is, and in some cases it's the same price or even cheaper!

It's not usually as fast as cable Internet, but it is plenty fast for most people, and lets you do a lot of things that just aren't possible (or are very very annoyingly slow) on dialup, such as watching videos on YouTube or other sites, or downloading large files.

Which brings me to one of the biggest reasons I think people should stop using dialup and switch to some kind of broadband -- downloading large files.

You might think that you never do that, but not so fast... Maybe you do (or should be) and don't realize it.

First off, people are sending around large pictures (or several smaller pictures) via , and even videos via email all the time now. If you're on dialup and you tried checking your email one day and it never seemed to be able to get the new messages, or it took forever to do it, you may have become a victim of this.

So there's that reason.

But there's an even more important one: computers have things called "security updates" or "patches" which are critically important to download. It's important for both Windows or Macs.

Without these patches, your computer can be vulnerable to attacks by viruses, worms, and more.

But these security updates (think Windows Update, or Macs' Software Update) sometimes can be very large files.

So large that it can take hours and hours, or even DAYS to download. And if you don't download them, your computer is vulnerable.

Which leaves you between a rock and a hard place if you're still using dialup.

So think about switching if you haven't already, and forward this to your friends who haven't.

In my next article, I'll talk a little about switching ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and how to do it without losing all of your bookmarks, email addresses, etc.

until then,

Worth Godwin

Understanding the Computer Terms Web, Internet & Email

In this article I want to help you understand the computer terms Web, Internet, and Email.

Now you may think you know what these computer terms mean, but I've found that in fact, most people misuse and misunderstand 2 or 3 of those words every day!

Now please understand me -- it's not your fault if you sometimes get computer terminology wrong. It's just never been explained to you the right way for you to really get it, and chances are, you've been hearing other people misuse the terms too, since it's pretty common to mix them up.

Let me see if I can make it easier for you.

Let's start with email -- this is the one that most people get basically right, although they still misunderstand one important thing about it (more on that in a minute).

Email is, of course, "electronic mail" -- a pretty simple concept to get. Its the computer equivalent of a traditional letter. Traditional mail through the post office is often called "snail mail" these days because it takes days to get to the person you're sending it to, unlike email which can take seconds (although sometimes can take hours).

Even snail mail is pretty amazingly fast compared to how it used to be back in the day, when it could take weeks or months to get to someone.

Just like regular mail, email has a sort of post office that it goes through - something called a "mail server".

There are two types of mail server - POP and SMTP. But I prefer to use the terms incoming and outgoing because it makes more sense than the technical terms.

Don't worry about what the letters POP and SMTP stand for. Just remember:

POP = incoming, for mail that's coming in to you

and

SMTP = outgoing, for the email you're sending out.

Let's talk about the word "Web" now.

The Web is what most people think of as "the Internet" -- it's the web pages, or pages of words, pictures, and sometimes sounds and videos even, which you go and visit using your "web browser".

A web browser is just a program that lets you look at web pages -- most Windows people click on the blue E, which is Internet Explorer (made by Microsoft and given away with every copy of Windows, which is why most people use it. NOT because it's the best option).

Most Mac people with fairly new Macs use Apple's web browser Safari, which looks like a little compass.

Other people, both Mac users and Windows users, use a different program called Mozilla Firefox.

For a lot of good reasons, I strongly strongly recommend that Windows users do NOT use "the blue E" -- Internet Explorer -- the main reason is because it is very unsafe and is almost a guarantee that your PC will get infected with something nasty.

Mac users should not use "the blue E" (Internet Explorer) either, but more because it's very out of date and just doesn't work with many modern websites anymore.

One way to think of a web browser is like a car that lets you drive around on the "information super-highway" as they used to call the Web back in the 90s.

Some brands of cars are safer than others -- you could almost think of Internet Explorer as one of those old Poison Pintos, and Mozilla Firefox as a Volvo -- not a guarantee to save you from harm, but a lot safer than a Pinto!

One point of confusion some people have is that sometimes you can use web browsers to read your email. Like if you use Yahoo mail or Hotmail.

In that case, you are looking at your email through what's called "webmail" because you are using Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple's Safari to view your mail.

It's kind of like going to the post office and reading your mail there. Throwing some of it away, and then putting the stuff you want to keep back in the post office box for storage.

Using an email program like Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Eudora, or Apple's OS X Mail, is more like reading your mail at home, and storing the stuff you want to keep at home instead of at the post office.

Now let's talk about the last term: the Internet.

This may be, out of the three terms I've been talking about, the one that is most mis-used.

Here's the thing: the Internet contains BOTH the Web AND email.

But many many people, probably most people in fact, talk as if the Internet was a separate thing from email or the web, when in fact the web and email are both just *parts* of the Internet.

Or another way to put it is that the web and email are just certain ways of looking at all of the information that's available on the Internet as a whole.

The Internet is really just a big "network" of interconnected computers that talk to each other and share information. Some of it is presented as web pages, some of it as email, and so on.

Hope that all makes sense.

Thanks for reading,

Worth Godwin

Why you're taking a gamble when you ignore error messages and odd computer behavior

A lot of people take big risks with their computers without even knowing it every day.

In a sense they're playing with fire.

Let me give you some advice that I hope you take to heart: if you start getting unusual error messages on your computer, don't ignore them.

Especially pay attention if you keep getting them frequently or regularly.

Also pay attention to other unusual behavior, like it shutting off or restarting suddenly, or odd noises -- especially clicking or ticking types of noises coming from inside the computer.

Let me tell you a story about a client of mine -- a vet office here on the island -- who made this mistake.

They'd been a client of mine for a couple of years or more, and a while ago I'd set them up with a system (the same one I recommend on my "5 Computer Mistakes" CD that you can get for free from my web site or as part of my soon-to-expire $27 deal) to back up their computer.

They were backing up regularly, just like I tell people to, so you'd think they'd be protected. But unfortunately they ignored a problem to the point where it even defeated the backup system I'd set up for them.

They kept getting weird error messages when they opened certain programs. It happened every single time, for weeks on end, but they never let me know about it or did anything about it at all.

Eventually, it got worse, and they finally called me up and one Monday I drove up to help them out, not realizing the full extent of the problem over the phone.

I ended up spending three hours up there working on it, ran out of time, and had to leave with the system -- one that was absolutely critical to their business -- "mostly" working. Which was the best I could do because of how bad the problem had gotten and because I'd run out of time.

So I went back on Thursday, the next time I was able to open up in my schedule.

I ended up there for another SIX hours, plus my travel time.

It basically took TWELVE HOURS -- at $75 an hour -- to get everything completely cleaned up.

And even though I hate laying blame, I had to tell them it was pretty much their fault because they'd ignored the problem for so long -- the problem was a bad hard drive that corrupted many files, plus several side issues that weren't directly related to the bad hard drive.

You see, if hadn't ignored the error messages they were getting, and had gotten their system looked at right away, the files wouldn't have been corrupted.

If they'd gotten their system looked at fairly quickly -- even not right away -- they wouldn't have backed up all of their files, including the corrupted ones, onto their backup hard drive, destroying all the good copies that were there.

If I had been able to go and look at the computer and use a good backup copy to "restore" from, I would've been there about an hour or an hour and a half or so, and then they would've been all set.

So if your computer is acting up, giving you weird error messages, running really slowly -- and it happened suddenly, or it gradually started to happen, get it looked at before it's too late.

It's a gamble you don't want to take.

until next time,

Worth Godwin

P.S. Something that's *not* a gamble is taking advantage of my offer to get $525.00 worth of easy computer lessons for just $27... if you act right away.

It's not a gamble because I've put a year and a half of hard work (plus over a dozen years' teaching experience) into making my system really work, and really easy. And I've backed it up with a full one-year guarantee, so you can only win if you grab it before the price goes up.

I'm also going to be including lessons in my Gold Club monthly CDs (2 months, or 4 Gold Club CDs are included in the $27) that make it easy for you to "troubleshoot" common problems. So you can avoid sitting forever on hold to find out it was something you could've fixed in 5 minutes if you'd known how, or know if it really is time to take the computer into the shop for a repair.

So go and read more, check out the testimonials, see all the details of what you'll get by going now to:

www.WorthGodwin.com

Hurricane blues - using a UPS to protect your system during storms and more

Note: I wrote this for my email newsletter August 13th, 2007, the day before posting it here.

As I write this, it's a bright and sunny day outside, with nothing to hint at the fact that we're under a hurricane advisory. Hurricane Flossie is bearing down on us and could hit tomorrow or Wednesday, so people are scurrying around all over the island stocking up on bottled water, food and other supplies.

But there's one thing they should have that most of them probably haven't thought of.

It's called a UPS -- not to be confused with the shipping company of the same name -- which stands for "Uninterruptible Power Supply", and it's an important thing to have to protect your computer even if you're not being threatened by a hurricane.

Let me explain what a UPS is, and what it does.

First off, let me back up a step and make sure you know what a surge suppressor is, since the two things are related.

A surge suppressor is a power strip with a bunch of power sockets in it that is designed to "take the bullet" for your computer if there is a "power surge".

In other words, the electricity that comes into your house is supposed to be at a certain level. Sometimes, like if there is a lightning strike, or the power goes out (like a blackout) and comes back on again, there is a "surge" of power.

Imagine a huge wave coming in on a beach -- normally the waves are within a certain level, and so are safe. But if a huge wave comes in (like a tsunami or tidal wave maybe, but not necessarily that big even) it can be dangerous.

So if a big surge of power comes up the line for whatever reason, if you don't have a surge suppressor to "suppress" the extra power, it can fry your computer's circuits -- or a TV or any electronic device for that matter.

So it's absolutely essential to at least have one of those to protect your computer and other electronics. And when you buy one, remember that power surges can come up phone lines and even cable lines (like if you have Roadrunner or other cable internet) and fry your machine that way. So when shopping for a suppressor, get one that covers everything.

So a UPS is like a surge suppressor, but it does even more to protect your computer.

A UPS basically is a big surge suppressor that has a battery inside it.

Because of this, if the power goes out, an alarm goes off (in case you didn't notice the lights go out, or it's daytime) and you have several minutes to save what you're doing and shut down the computer safely.

Every UPS is labeled with a number measured in VA -- the higher the number, the longer the power lasts. I suggest getting one that is at least 650VA.

The other benefit a lot of people don't know about that you get from having a UPS is that if you live in an area (like here on the Big Island) where the power grid is, shall we say, less than reliable, you get protection from brownouts.

Brownouts are when the power level falls but doesn't go away, so it's one step below a blackout. This can often happen without the lights dimming or anything visible happening. But it can still hurt your computer if this keeps happening.

Getting a UPS will protect you from the gradual damage done by brownouts, which you can think of as hurting your computer (or TV, etc.) the way that erosion gradually wears away at a beach.

So if you have a UPS you're protected both ways. For $100 or less, that's a good buy.

Oh, and one last thought -- another nice benefit of having one or more UPSes in your house is if the power goes out, you can plug a light into it and not have to sit in the dark!

This works best with fluorescent bulbs, of course. Since they use so much less electricity than an old fashioned "incandescent" bulb, the battery in the UPS lasts a lot longer.

A lot of times, if your TV and cable box (or cable modem for that matter, if you use cable internet) is hooked into a UPS too, the cable still works in a power outage -- so you get TV to entertain you, or maybe even the Internet!

So get a UPS or two to protect your electronics, and maybe even give you something to do on a dark night when the power's out.

until next time,

Worth Godwin

What A Firewall is and Why You Must Use One

As you may know, a firewall is a protective barrier for your computer, which acts to shield it from threats on your local network and the internet. It's kind of like a security system for your house. Where I live in Hawaii, many of us leave our doors unlocked all the time, and never have a problem.

Unfortunately this is a really bad idea on the internet – when your computer is online (which if you have high speed internet like DSL or cable, is all the time) it's as if the entire world is next door to your "house," so unfortunately you have to act as if your neighbors are all criminals, since someone in Nigeria can get to your computer just as easily as someone in Captain Cook, Hawaii.

Your network or internet connection (an internet connection is also a type of network connection, it just connects you to the world instead of one or more computers in your home or office) is actually split up into what are called "ports" -- imagine a house with many many windows, some open, some closed -- many ports have a specific purpose, like port 25 which is usually used for sending email.

What a firewall does is seal off all the ports that aren't needed, just leaving open the ports you need to send and receive email, browse the web, and so on.

If the other ports are left open, that increases the ways a person or a program (such as a worm) can just stroll right in, just like if you leave the doors or windows open in your house.

If you have a router (which is a device used to share a DSL or cable connection with more than one computer, or to make your internet connection wireless) then there should be a firewall in the router. This is what's known as a hardware firewall (since it's part of a piece of equipment), as opposed to a software firewall, which is a program on your computer.

Some people assume that having a router with a firewall is enough to protect your computer, but while it will help, you really need to have a software firewall too.

Windows XP & Vista, as well as Mac OS 10.2 and higher both have a software firewall built into them. Earlier versions of Windows and the Mac OS do not. If you have Windows XP with service pack 2 installed, or Windows Vista, then the firewall is almost definitely on.


Different kinds of software firewalls.

There are two general types of software firewall: you can think of them as "active" and "passive" firewalls.

In other words, a passive firewall just sort of sits there, and blocks the needed ports to keep things out and that's about it. An active firewall on the other hand, does the same thing, but also sort of sits up and pays attention to what's going on inside your computer, and gives you control over what programs can get out.

So if you have a piece of spyware on your computer that's trying to "phone home" to report in on what information it's collected about you, the active firewall can block it to protect you. And the byproduct of this is you're safer.

Both the Windows XP and Mac OS X firewalls are passive.

This is a lot less of a risk for the Mac, since there are no malicious programs infecting those systems (at time I'm recording this, there are a small number of programs like this written for Mac, but they're not circulating or infecting computers). You definitely need a firewall on a Mac to protect from outside attacks, but a passive one, at least for now, is enough.

On a Windows machine, a passive firewall is not enough, since there are thousands of malicious programs including worms, trojans, and spyware which, if they're on your computer, will try to sneak information out of your computer.

So if you're just using a passive firewall like the Windows firewall, you can fall victim of so-called malware without even realizing it.

You see, what happens is this; a piece of malware will get onto your system and usually does one of three things: either it invites more malware in, opens a "back door" for someone to come in and snoop around, or it collects information about you and sends it out to persons unknown.

An active firewall will let you control what programs can get out to the internet, not just what can get in, which is very important.

To go back to our security system metaphor, if you have a passive firewall it's kind of like locking your doors and windows -- it does make it much harder for someone to break into your house or office from outside.

Unfortunately, the thieves are really smart, so they sneak someone inside when you're not paying attention and that person hides himself somewhere and then opens a door or window to let his buddies in, or rifles through your belongings and hands them through the window to someone outside.

If you have an active firewall, it's like a security guard is constantly patrolling inside the building, and only allows you or people you trust to use the doors and windows. If a stranger has gotten in, he's held until you can decide if he's OK or not, or his hands are tied so he can't steal anything.

Does that make sense?

So what do you need to do?

Well, if you're running any computer, you absolutely must have a firewall or you run the risk of someone hacking into your computer, or allowing a malicious program in. Macs are safe enough with a passive firewall, but because of the thousands of worms, viruses, spyware, etc. a Windows machine is still very vulnerable without an active firewall.

Windows users have a lot of options, like buying Norton Internet Security, (which includes not just Norton Antivirus but also Norton Personal Firewall), or using Zone Lab's ZoneAlarm.

One option I recommend is ZoneAlarm – even the free version is a really great product, and can protect your computer very well.

A better option is Kaspersky Internet Security, which aside from being arguably the very best antivirus programs around, also has a good firewall program built in.

Do not rely on the Windows firewall as it does not give you enough protection. Keep in mind active firewall programs do need some configuration to block and allow the right programs.

The firewall program usually asks you if you want to allow or block a program (and you can usually allow it or block it once or always) the first time a program tries to connect to the internet.

If it's something like Outlook, Firefox, or any other legit program that needs to connect to the internet, you want to allow it. If you're not sure if a program is legit, the firewall usually tells you the name of the program it's asking you about, so you can type it into Google and look it up.

Chances are, if you see a lot of search results talking about viruses or adware, then you should probably block it and try to get it cleaned up.

Setting the firewall program up the right way can be a little tricky, especially for a lot of more basic computer users, which is why I make it easy in my video course on easy and safe internet. I show you how to install the free version of Zonealarm, and exactly how to use it, step by step.

Mac users who want a little more security than the built-in
OS X firewall program provides, can check out a program called Little Snitch. This is an active firewall program, like Zonealarm. The demo version of Little Snitch is a free download, which works on a trial basis.

Using a firewall is a vital part of keeping your computer, and all the files on it, secure. Don't make the mistake of running your computer without one.

A Simple Secret To Improving Your Basic Computer Skills (or If You Dig Yourself a Hole, Bring a Ladder)

Once upon a time, many years ago, I didn't know a thing about computers. People who know me, and especially my clients, often have trouble believing this.

But it's true; I wasn't born with some built-in ability to use computers. I started off as a complete novice, and had to learn as I went along.

In this article I'm going to explain something that I was very lucky to figure out on my own, way back when, that helped blast my computer skills into the stratosphere compared to where I started.

But first I want to tell you about a client of mine named Peter.

One day I was at Peter's office, helping him with a problem he'd had with his laptop. Peter has a problem which is very common – his computer skills never improve because he's afraid that if he tries something new, he's going to break his computer or mess things up somehow.

Maybe you've felt this way too.

So I was talking to him, and was telling him about when I first started driving.

When I first got my beginners permit, I wasn't very confident about what I was doing, and would get nervous when a car passed on my left, then a mailbox would be coming up on my right, so I ended up swerving, just a little, back and forth in the lane.

It probably looked pretty funny.

Of course, I didn't have to do this -- there was lots of space on both sides, and I wasn't going to be hit by anything.

All I had to do was just relax and drive instead of worrying about what might go wrong.

I've met a lot of people over the years who use their computers the way I used to drive back when I first started. And unfortunately, while I quickly got over this with driving, a lot of people never get past this problem with their computer.

The thing is, once I stopped worrying about something going wrong, and just relaxed and drove (while still, of course, paying attention to what was going on) I got a lot better at driving.

Turns out that Peter was kind of the opposite from me when he first drove. He actually "borrowed" his dad's car when he was just fourteen years old, and drove to a friend's house!

He dove right in and just did it, and probably really enjoyed himself...

...right up until the moment the cop pulled him over!

His attitude was great, and made it a heck of a lot easier for him to drive (even without lessons) than it was for me at first when I started to drive. If he'd just balanced that out by being a little more careful (or maybe waiting until he had his license!) he might not have gotten into trouble.

The attitude Peter had when he was a teenager about driving a car is the attitude I had about using a computer when I first sat down in front of one. I dove right in and just played around with it to see where I could go with it. And just by having that mental attitude, it made it a lot easier to learn computer basics, and improve from there.

But there was something else I did.

When I was exploring somewhere new with my computer, trying something I hadn't done before, I paid attention to what I was doing. I made a point of remembering how to get back to where I was, and what I did, so I could go back and fix it if it caused a problem.

So for example if I wanted to change a setting in a program, or try doing something new in a program, I first made sure I had some idea what would happen when I did it.

If I had no idea, I either looked it up, or left it alone.

If I did have some idea what I was doing, then I'd try it and see what happened, but would make sure I knew exactly what I'd clicked, and where it was so I could reverse it if I didn't like what happened.

And I'd only change one thing at a time, so if something went wrong, I knew what caused it.

The way I like to put it is "if you dig yourself a hole, bring a ladder."

Remembering this tip, and remembering to have the right attitude when it comes to computers will do a lot to help you feel more confident and empowered with the computer than you used to think you could.

So don't be afraid to try new things – just make sure you bring a ladder when you do!

Email Hoaxes May Have You Fooled

I recently got an email from a client who forwarded a message on to me and I don't know how many other people. The subject was:

"Fwd: PLEEEEEEASE REEEEEAD! IT WAS ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA TODAYSHOW"

In the message it talked about how Bill Gates was testing out a new "email tracking program" and that he wanted you to forward the message on to as many people as you could, supposedly to keep people from switching away from using Internet Explorer (which is a very good idea by the way -- and is something I talk about on my special report "5 Common Computer Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them Yourself" -- but how forwarding the email to a bunch of people would stop people from doing this is beyond me).

In exchange for forwarding the email, Bill would supposedly send you up to $245 for every person you sent it to, and even pay you for the people that it got sent to after that!

It sounds nice, and the email throws around a lot of important sounding names like Bill Gates & Microsoft, AOL, and others, and talks about how "my brother's girlfriend" got a check, and other details that are there to help convince people.

But of course, it's all a big hoax.

If you sit down with a calculator, it's pretty easy to figure it out. Let's say you forward the email to 10 people. That'd give you $2,450. So far, that sounds pretty believable. After all, Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world.

But if those people each sent it to 10 more people, that would be 100 more people Bill would have to pay $245 for. So now the total is something like $245,000. But hey, Bill can still afford that!

But if those 100 people then sent it on to another 10 people each. That's another 1,000 new people Bill would have to shell out $245 each for. So suddenly the total is (I think -- this is a lot of zeros and my calculator is starting to smoke) $245,000,000! Even Bill Gates would have to think about it before writing a check that big, at least when he's not really getting anything out of it.

And if that 1,000 people each sent it to another ten, well, the number is too big to fit on my calculator's screen. And it's more money than even Bill Gates has, and we all know he's a billionaire!

So applying a little common sense to these things can go a long way to keep you from getting fooled. Of course, there's no real risk in the Bill Gates hoax, or any of the dozens of variations that have floated around the Internet since 1997 when a bored college student dreamed up the original.

But the same tactics are used by scammers out to get your money, like the Nigerian 419 scams or phishing scams, which have cost a lot of people a hell of a lot of money. Those scams come through email too, and are a lot worse than the harmless prank I just told you about.

So protect yourself with a little knowledge, and stay safe. My articles will help with that, plus the valuable info you can find at www.WorthGodwin.com

Beware the "Storm Worm" - It Could Be Lurking On Your System Right Now

I want to write you to warn you about an email threat that has been going around a LOT recently -- unless you're very lucky, you've probably seen this one.

This one is a pretty big risk, but like a lot of the computer threats these days, they can so sneaky that you'll never know they're happening. Let me tell you how to know if you might be at risk from it.

It's called the "Storm Worm", and it's been going around since January of 2007, but has gotten a lot worse since the beginning of June of '07.

It has a lot of variations, but the way it's been working recently is you get a piece of spam (junk email) in your inbox that says that you've received a greeting card, or an ecard, or something similar from a someone. Sometimes it's supposed to be from a friend, sometimes it's supposed to be from a company like Hallmark.

Whatever exactly the subject line reads, the email tries to get you to click on a link to view the card.

If you get an email like that, do NOT click on the link!

If you have clicked on a link in an email like that, I strongly suggest you get it looked at by a professional, because your computer could be infected even if you don't see any signs of it, and even if your antivirus software doesn't see it.

Fortunately for Mac users, you don't have to worry too much, because at the time I write this (August of '07) there still are no viruses or worms for Mac.

But you should still be wary of emails like this just in case, because we can't assume that Macs will always be safe -- although it's probably a safe bet that they will be a lot safer than Windows PCs for the foreseeable future!

What the Storm Worm "greeting card" does is infect your computer and make it part of something called a "botnet". This is a growing problem these days.

A botnet is a network made up of infected computers that -- without the user even realizing it -- will do things like send out spam and viruses, or group together to attack web sites.

This is done for profit by criminals who hire virus writers to do their dirty work.

So if an unexpected email comes from an unknown source, be careful! And be especially suspicious if the link in the email starts with a bunch of numbers instead of a regular website name.

I cover tips like this in a lot more detail on my easy video lesson CDs, where I'm able to show you a lot more than I can fit into these articles.

So take care, keep reading, and make sure to learn more about your computer -- make it a top priority -- not only will it keep you safe, but it will help you have more fun too!

By the way, remember, when it comes to computers, what you don't know *can* hurt you, so keep reading my emails. Also, if you haven't tried out my easy video lessons for Mac or Windows you really should take a look. You get plain English lessons that are easy to follow, and each lesson is short enough to fit into even a busy schedule, and they all come with a full guarantee. The video lessons let you see every step, every click of the mouse, while you hear me explaining every step in plain English.

I've got a pretty incredible deal going on right now, which you better take a look at before I change my mind. Find out more at:
www.WorthGodwin.com

Why you should avoid Windows Vista like the plague (at least for now) Part 3

In this three-part article I will talk about three big reasons you should avoid "upgrading" to Windows Vista, at least for now. This is part three of three.


I've been talking in the first two parts of this series of three article about reasons you want to avoid getting the new Windows Vista. I called it a real turkey, and gave you two good reasons you shouldn't use it.

In this last in this series of articles, I'm going to give you a third reason that I don't think you should bother getting Vista, at least for a while.

Reason #3:

All the new features are old features stolen from Mac OS X, and not very well.

Microsoft has a history of stealing ideas and presenting them as their own -- all of the basic ideas behind Windows (having information displayed in one or more windows, having a desktop, having a recycle bin or trash can, using a mouse, etc.) were directly taken from the Mac after Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (the co-founders of Apple) invited Bill Gates over to show off their new type of computer.

Bill took notes and ran back to Microsoft to copy it, and he's been doing it ever since.

The new version of Windows -- Windows Vista -- was supposed to come out years ago, but it got delayed and delayed, and finally was released around the beginning of 2007.

Back in 2004, Apple announced the then-new version of Mac OS X, OS 10.4 or "Tiger" (the "X" in Mac OS X is a Roman numeral 10, not a letter X by the way) at their developers conference.

Early in 2007, some internal emails were leaked from inside Microsoft that revealed that when one high-up employee from Microsoft was at the 2004 Apple Developers Conference, he was taking notes (just like Bill did all those years ago) and he confessed Microsoft had to take a lot of features of OS X from Apple to put into Vista.

He was also worried they wouldn't be able to do those features as well.

When Vista finally came out (two and a half years later) I remember watching the promotional video that showed off all of the supposedly new features of Vista.

Every single one was clearly a knock-off of features in the 2004 version of Mac OS X, and in my opinion, not very good knock-offs.

In fact, the Microsoft employee who wrote those leaked emails is on record saying that he'd use a Mac himself if he didn't work for Microsoft.

So why pay for recycled "new features" when they won't really do that much to improve your computer (and as I mentioned in an earlier email, are likely to slow it down) -- it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I won't deny that I like Macs better than PCs too -- and unlike a lot of people who are big supporters of one and bash the other, I am very familiar with both types of computer, and realize that neither type is perfect -- and I honestly think that 99% of the time, you're better off using a Mac than a Windows PC.

So if you're going to get a new computer, which you're better off doing if you're getting Vista, why not get the real deal instead of the pale imitation?

Just my opinion.