Category Archives: Software

Questions and answers about software and using programs

NoScript with Firefox gives a higher level of security to web browsing

Posted on April 30, 2014 by quill

Web browsing is full of hazards. Even reputable websites can have poisoned banner ads from third parties, which can attempt to hack your machine or browser settings. You don’t even have to click on a “bad” website to be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, Internet and Networking, Mac questions, Security, Software, Viruses and malware | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What do I need to burn DVDs and CDs?

Posted on July 20, 2012 by quill

DVD-Rs are a good format for backing up data files and for distributing data and software. Because files on a DVD-R cannot be changed once burned (and therefore cannot be deleted or affected by viruses or hard drive breakdown) I … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. Are there free alternatives to Photoshop?

Posted on July 19, 2012 by quill

Photoshop is the top professional image editing / photo retouching program, but it is expensive.  There are some cheap and free alternatives available: Adobe Photoshop Express (online image editing, requires sign up at Adobe’s site) http://www.photoshop.com/tools/overview The GIMP is open source … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I have a problem with my iTunes purchase, who do I contact?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by quill

If you have a problem with a download you purchased within the Apple iTunes store, such as the download didn’t work, or you were charged for multiple copies of the same item, you can address it directly in iTunes, First … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I am being offered some used software for sale. Is this legitimate?

Posted on June 5, 2012 by quill

In most cases, used software can be sold if it is no longer needed – but there are some strict requirements for it to be legal.  The reason for this is that you don’t purchase software outright, you purchase a … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What are the most useful keyboard shortcuts?

Posted on April 3, 2012 by quill

Most computer programs have keyboard shortcuts – these are key combinations that substitute for commonly used commands – this avoids having to grab the mouse and taking the cursor up to the menus at the top of the screen.  Learning … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, How-To, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. Is there free software for recording and mixing music?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by quill

Audacity is a great program for Windows and Mac – here are some links for it and for additional resources www.computer-answers.ca/2011/music-recording/q-i-downloaded-audacity-to-edit-mp3s-now-how-do-i-use-it/ Sony Acid Express (Win only)  www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/freestuff MULab Free (Mac and Win shareware) www.mutools.com/mulab-product.html Rosegarden (Linux) www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/Rosegarden/ And of course, … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, How-To, Mac questions, Music recording, instruments, hard & software, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. What software do I need to make professional recordings?

Posted on May 28, 2011 by quill

When you are setting up a digital recording studio, the first question is to choose the Digital Audio Workstation software that you will base your studio around. That will drive the choice of the computer. A DAW combines recording of … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Mac questions, Music recording, instruments, hard & software, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Q. My program disappeared from my Mac’s Dock.

Posted on May 28, 2011 by quill

You probably inadvertently dragged the icon off the Dock. Don’t worry, you didn’t delete the program, only the alias to the program that was in the dock.;  Let’s take iCal as an example. In the Finder, open the Applications folder … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Mac questions, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. Where can I get free software?

Posted on May 28, 2011 by quill

Commercial software is not legal to download for free, but there is a large amount of freeware, open source and shareware software available. I don’t recommend downloading from random websites or bittorrents, because downloads are a playground for virus writers … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Free stuff, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I deleted one of the Apple applications from OSX

Posted on May 28, 2011 by quill

How do you reinstall one of the bundled Macintosh applications? Let’s take iPhoto as an example. First of all put in your installer DVD and look on it for a package called Optional Installs. Double click on that and you … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Mac questions, Software | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I can’t read new Word docx files in my older Word

Posted on May 27, 2011 by quill

With Office 2007 (Win) 2008 (Mac) and later, Microsoft has moved to new file formats for documents – .docx instead of .doc for Word, .xlsx for .xls in Excel, .pptx for .ppt in PowerPoint.  Older versions of Office applications cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Favorite: Windows utilities from Piriform

Posted on May 18, 2011 by quill

Some utilities you use once in a blue moon. Some utilities you end up using every day until they become indispensable.  One company that makes shareware that is part of my everyday toolkit is Piriform. CCleaner cleans out cache files, … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Favorites, Free stuff, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Q. How do I use Photoshop?

Posted on May 17, 2011 by quill

Here is a collection of learning resources for Adobe Photoshop, the premier image editing program. I like the Missing Manual series of books the “Missing Manual” series http://missingmanuals.com/ Peachpit Press has good instuctional books, and video podcasts here http://www.peachpit.com/podcasts/index.aspx Adobe … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, How-To, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. I have Illustrator – how do I use it?

Posted on May 17, 2011 by quill

Adobe Illustrator is an immensely powerful vector graphics drawing program. It can be intimidating for first time users. I recommend any book in the “Missing Manual” series http://missingmanuals.com/, and the Peachpit Press “Non-Designer’s Book of” series by Robin Williams   … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, How-To, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment