Green computing is defined as using computer resources efficiently.  Green computing can also save money as well as help the environment.  A while back we wrote about recycling computer parts, that is one of ways to be more green with electronics.  However there are other things you can do:

Buying energy efficient computers

A lot of vendors now carry energy efficient computers.  This includes using much more energy efficient power supplies.  Normal power supply units (PSUs) are generally 70-75% efficient.  However now there is a new initiative called 80 plus which certifies that power supplies are at least 80% efficient.  The great thing about these power supplies is that you can usually put them in your old computers.

Another thing to look for on a computer is a RoHS label.  RoHS is the Restriction of Hazardous Substances.  It restricts the use of six hazardous materials in electrical equipment: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavent chromium and 2 flame retardants.

Old CRT monitors are a very large waste of energy.  Switching to a thinner LCD monitor can reduce the power it uses by 60%.  However don’t just throw those CRT monitors away.  They contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, tungsten and other toxic materials.  Be sure to recycle those old computer parts and monitors at a local eCycle.

Hibernate or turn your computer off at night

If you don’t have a reason to have your computer on at night, then turn it off.  If you don’t like waiting for your computer to boot up in the morning, then try using the hibernate function instead.  It will start your computer much faster and it doesn’t use all the energy that your computer would normally use if it were on.

Buy refurbished equipment

Electronics carry lead and other toxic materials which are health hazards.  A lot of the time, refurbished equipment is still in great shape.  Most vendors will test all refurbished equipment and make sure that all the hardware is good.  You can buy refurbished computers, servers, printers and pretty much any other electrical component.

Recycle your old computer parts and electronics

Recycling your old computer parts and electronic equipment is very easy in St. Louis.  There are quite a few eCycle locations around the St. Louis area.  Just look one up and drop your old equipment off.

Since Microsoft has introduced Windows Vista they have been rapidly trying to get rid of Windows XP.  You already can’t buy Windows XP from OEM or Retail.  However system builders can still buy Windows XP up until January 31 2009.  After Jan 31 2009, supposedly you will not be able to buy Windows XP anymore.  That doesn’t mean you can’t use Windows XP, that just means you won’t be able to buy new copies for your computers.  Microsoft will still be supporting Windows XP until 2014.

Last week we went over some Microsoft technical jargon terms, this week we will add some more:

Out of Box Experience (OOBE) - Correct initial presentation of Microsoft Windows to the end user.

Office Ready - A program that allows you to preinstall the 2007 Office suite on computers that you build, even if your customers don’t purchase the software at the time of the PC sale. By placing a 2007 Office system “image” on the PC, your customers can try the 2007 release free for 60 days. They can then convert the image to the fully licensed system by purchasing a Medialess License Kit from you.
The 60-day free trial is NOT offered with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007.

Client Access Licenses (CAL) - If workstations are networked, and will access a network server to perform certain functions such as file and print sharing, a client access license or CAL may be required. A CAL is not a software product; rather it is a license that gives a user the right to access the services of the server.

Software Asset Management (SAM) - An overall process that lets your customer know what software is in use, what licenses have been
acquired, and how to properly manage software installations and acquisitions on an ongoing basis.

Volume Licenses - Multi-License programs address different customers licensing needs. When it comes to Windows licensing. Volume Licenses cover Windows license upgrades only, and all PCs must have an underlying Windows License. Office and Server have separate license structures.

Academic Licenses - Academic Licenses provide flexible ways for academic customers to license the latest Microsoft technology.

Enterprise Agreement - Microsoft Enterprise Agreement is a Volume Licensing program designed for corporate customers with 250 or more PCs. With Enterprise Agreement, customers can license Microsoft software to standardize on their choice of Microsoft enterprise software (such as Microsoft Office Professional, Windows Professional upgrade, and Core Client Access License) at discounted prices, based on a three-year agreement term.
Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Royalty - The Microsoft ISV Royalty Licensing Program integrates Microsoft licensed software into software business applications, replicates the business solution, and distributes a fully licensed solution.

Open Value - The Microsoft Open Value licensing program provides small (1-25 PCs) and mid-market (25 or more PCs) customers with simplified license tracking, a more controlled upgrade cycle, and improved management of software costs. Open Value also provides Software Assurance benefits, the ability to spread payments annually, and tools and training.

Open License - A Volume Licensing program with two licensing options: Open License Business and Open License Volume. The Open License program offers discounts off the estimated retail price of full packaged products and is designed for small and midsize commercial, academic, charity, and government organizations with between 5 and 250 PCs. The Open License program provides a simple, flexible, and cost-effective way to acquire the latest Microsoft technology.

Select License - A Volume Licensing program designed for corporate, government, and academic customers with 250 or more PCs and mixed product and purchasing requirements. Select License customers receive a volume price level for each category (“pool”) of products selected—applications, systems, or servers—based on a three-year software forecast.

Mislicensing - Use of volume or academic Windows upgrade licenses as full Windows licenses.

End User Support - The System Builder who installs the software is responsible for providing all end-user support for that software. The System Builder is also required to include their support phone number in the help files of the PC or in the end-user documentation. While the System Builder is required to provide support to the end-user, there is no requirement that the support be free of charge.

Edge-to-Edge Hologram Disc - An edge-to-edge hologram disc features a holographic image on the disc. This holographic image is not a sticker but is part of the disc itself and makes it easier to identify genuine Microsoft software. Genuine Microsoft software comes with an edge-to-edge hologram disc.

Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center - Online tool that makes it easy for customers to manage Microsoft Volume Licensing agreements, download licensed products, and access volume license keys—all in one place.

Validation - A process that helps you to verify that your Microsoft software is genuine. Microsoft will ask you to validate Windows when requesting a genuine Windows download from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update and to validate Office when requesting a genuine Office download.

System Builder Replacement Media - If you or one of your customers received damaged Microsoft OEM System Builder software media, or have damaged media during preinstallation process, you no longer need to contact your OEM Distributor for replacement. You may now request replacement media online by filling out the Media Replacement Form.

Authorized Education Reseller (AER) - AERs are allowed to sell academically-priced Microsoft products to qualified educational users. This includes volume licenses through the Academic Open License, Campus Agreement, and School Agreement programs, as well as Academic Edition Full Packaged Product (FPP).

System Builder - A person who creates, rebuilds, or works on personal computer systems.

Windows Vista has a cool feature built in if you are using a projector for a conference or meeting.  You can now set up Presentation Settings which only effect your laptop if you are connected to a projector.  The presentation settings will do many things such as:

• Your computer stays awake (no sleeping or hibernating)
• System notifications are turned off
• You can choose to turn off the screen saver
• Change the volume of the computer to a particular setting
• Show a certain background picture

These settings can be found in the Personalization control panel.  You can get to it by right clicking on an empty area of the desktop and click on Personalize.  Once that window opens, click on “Connect to a projector or other external display” on the left panel.

Once you click on this, it should open the Windows Mobility Center.  This window has a lot of options that you might use before your presentation.  The main one we’re looking at is in the middle center.  It will either say Not presenting or presenting.

If you click on Turn on, it will enable the presentation settings.  If you click on the picture of the projector, it will open the Presentation settings.  This is where a lot of the settings that I mentioned above are.

At the bottom of the Presentation Settings screen, there is a Connected displays screen.  This screen will allow you to tell your computer that everytime the display configuration is set up, to automatically turn on presentation mode.

That is basically it.  Once you get your settings configured, you can enable or disable presentation mode as you like.

If you have been using Word 2007 for a while you might have noticed that when you save a file, people using an older version of Word can’t open them by default.  This is because Microsoft Office 2007 has different file formats.  Word files save as .docx, Excel saves as .xlsx, PowerPoint as .pptx and so on.  If you see a file with one of these extensions, you can automatically assume that the files were made in an Office 2007 program and saved with Office 2007 compatibility.  That means you have to have Office 2007 to open them.

If you have Word 2007, you can save a file with compatibilty for Word 97-2003.  This will allow people using Word 2003 to be able to open your files.  However this might be annoying to change the file type every single time you save a file.  Microsoft lets you change the default way a file is saved and here’s how:

1. Open Word 2007
2. Click the big Office button at the top
3. Click on Word Options
   

   

4. Click the Save item on the left side of the menu
5. Under Save files in this format, choose Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)
   



6. Press OK

And that’s all there is to it.  Now what happens if you have Office 2003 and some one sends you an Office 2007 file and you really need to open it.  Well Microsoft has provided a free tool that you can install and it will let you read Office 2007 files.  The Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint 2007 File Formats is available here.  You just download and install it.

There are a lot of acronyms and technical definitions that are thrown around in the computer world and it can get confusing fast.  Luckily Microsoft released some technical definitions that are easy to understand:

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) - A system that delivers additional benefits to fully licensed customers of Windows, helps protect honest businesses from counterfeiters, helps Microsoft better protect its intellectual property, and combats Windows piracy. WGA is one of many programs Microsoft uses to address the problem of software piracy.

Naked PC - A PC shipped without a licensed Operating System.

End User License Agreement (EULA) - When end users acquire software, they are acquiring the right to use that software. They don’t “own” the software, as it is intellectual property and is generally “owned” by the developers of that intellectual property. The right to use the software is governed by the End User License Agreement.

OEM System Builder License - Authorization affixed to the side of all Microsoft OEM System Builder Packs, providing the terms and conditions for legally distributing and licensing Microsoft OEM software and hardware. The person opening the OEM System Builder software or hardware pack acts as a System Builder and agrees to comply with the terms of this License.

Transfer of OEM License - The End User License Agreement (EULA) is granted to the end user by the System Builder and relates to the license on the PC with which it was originally distributed. System Builders cannot support a license that has been moved from a PC they manufactured to one that they did not.  This is one of the key reasons why an OEM System Builder license can’t be transferred.

Refurbished PC - A computer system that has had substantial hardware modifications, including a new motherboard, that may require a new operating system license—because the modifications have essentially created a “new” PC.

Used PC - A computer system that has had few or no hardware changes. The license for OEM software on a used PC may not be transferred to a new or different PC. However, the entire used PC, including the software media, manuals, and Certificate of Authenticity, may be transferred to another end user along with the software license rights.

OEM Preinstall Kit (OPK) - OPK is an acronym for the OEM Preinstallation Kit, which allows you to automate loading, branding, and customizing Windows.

Medialess License Kits (MLK) - A kit that lets System Builders activate a customer’s full OEM licenses for the preinstalled 2007 Microsoft Office suite simply by entering a product key code. The MLK may only be used with a new PC and contains valuable licensing information for the end user, such as how to obtain backup media.

Product Activation - Technology aimed at reducing software piracy as well as ensuring that Microsoft’s customers are receiving the product quality they expect.

Full Windows Desktop License - Each PC must have a unique full Windows desktop license. Microsoft Volume Licensing programs such as Open License, Select License, and Enterprise Agreement cover Windows operating system upgrades only, and do not provide a full Windows desktop license. Once the  PCs have a full Windows desktop license, a Windows Volume License agreement can be aquired and used to provide version upgrade rights.

Full Packaged Retail Product (FPP) - Shrink-wrapped boxes of licensed software that can be purchased in a local retail store or through any local software retailer.

Certificate of Authenticity (COA) - A label to help you and your customers identify genuine Microsoft Windows software. Without it, your customers will not have a legal license to run their Windows software.

WGA Enhanced Notifications - When users do not activate or if they fail validation they will receive these persistent notifications. Every hour, options to activate are prominently displayed and chosen desktop  is replaced with a plain black background. This feature is included with SP1.

Volume License Keys - Product keys that enable your organization to use the software and products that you have licensed. They are issued to you under a specific license agreement. Volume License Keys can be used only with Volume Licensing products; they cannot be used with retail software or software that is preinstalled on a new computer (original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, products).

Academic Volume License(s) - There are four types - Campus, School, Academic Open, and Academic Select that provide a flexible and economic licensing solution for your customers. But they contain a number of details that need to be clarified.  Most importantly, these agreements never cover the initial full operating system licenses—only the operating system upgrade licenses

Genuine Software Initiative (GSI) - A way to promote Genuine Microsoft software—software that is published by Microsoft, properly licensed, and fully supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. Using genuine Microsoft software offers your customers greater capabilities and easy integration with the widest variety of hardware, software and services.

Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) - A program requiring users to validate Office software as genuine before being granted updates and downloads. It delivers additional benefits to customers who have fully licensed versions of Office, helps protect honest businesses from counterfeiters, and helps Microsoft combat Office piracy. OGA is one of many programs Microsoft uses to address the problem of software piracy.

Software Assurance - An offering for Microsoft Volume Licensing customers that provides enhancements such as support, tools, training, new version rights, and the ability to spread payments over three years. Can be added within 90 days if purchased through an OEM, with payments spread out conveniently over three years.

Visit part 2 to get more technical definitions.

Google has a lot of features and cool tools that a lot of people don’t know about.  One of them is Google Alerts.

Google Alerts is used to notify you of a string of text that it finds on web pages.  This can be particularly useful if you want to know what people are saying about your company.  Google Alerts will only find newly add pages however, if you want to find anything older then you can just use Google for that.

You can enter your companies name as an alert.  They have many different types of alerts, I usually choose Comprehensive.

A ‘News’ alert is an email aggregate of the latest news articles that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google News search.

A ‘Web’ alert is an email aggregate of the latest web pages that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top twenty results of your Google Web search.

A ‘Blogs’ alert is an email aggregate of the latest blog posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Blog search.

A ‘Comprehensive’ alert is an aggregate of the latest results from multiple sources (News, Web and Blogs) into a single email to provide maximum coverage on the topic of your choice.

A ‘Video’ alert is an email aggregate of the latest videos that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Video search.

A ‘Groups’ alert is an email aggregate of new posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top fifty results of your Google Groups search.

Then you can choose how often you want to receive the alert.  You can choose from once a day, as it happens or once a week.

Remember though, usually anytime you add a new page to your website, it will show up as a Google Alert.  This is because Google sees your company name on your website.  This can be good for a lot of reasons, it shows you how fast Google is indexing your site.

You can sign up for Google Alerts at http://www.google.com/alerts/

If you ever notice your computer doing strange things; pop ups constantly, your desktop changing pictures or Internet Explorer going to pages you didn’t want to go to, then you probably have spyware.  Spyware is software that has been loaded on your computer, probably without you knowing, that sort of watches what you’re doing and constantly makes changes on your computer that you usually don’t want.

Spyware is one of the most difficult things to remove from a computer.  It can be tougher then a lot of virus’.  There are several programs out there to remove spyware, some actually are spyware.  Lavasoft makes a great program named Adaware that will search through your computer and remove a lot of it.  It’s pretty easy to use.  Just make sure you get all of the update before you run a full scan on your computer.

There is a free version of Adaware available, you can get it from download.com.

Over the weekend Google announced they are making a new web browser named Google Chrome.  They want to innovate the web and add value to the users with this new browser.  The beta of the browser is supposed to be out today but as of this writing it is not available.

Some of the interesting features are:

• Tabs on top of the address bar, instead of below.  This basically will make every tab their own browser.  So if one tab causes a crash, only that tab will crash, not the whole browser.
• Google will constantly be updating the browser with blacklisted sites.  These are sites that might contain malware of viruses.

There are quite a few other features they initally talk about but it mainly has to do with the programming of the browser and how it is ran.