The Tech Wizards Blog

Save Office 2007 documents as PDF or XPS documents March 24, 2009

A free Office 2007 plug-in provides the ability to create and make a PDF copy of an Office document or publish and convert the Office document into Adobe Acrobat PDF file format.  Acrobat PDF format is the popular and widely used format for document sharing and transmitting, and previously, a third party utility such as Adobe Acrobat was needed in order to convert a document or workbook into a PDF format file.

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Change network settings quickly and easily March 24, 2009

NetSetMan is a small freeware (for home use) tool designed to allow you to change your computers network settings quickly and easily. Lets say you take your laptop to work (which requires certain network settings) but at home you have to change the network settings to match your home internet connection or home network configuration. Then you go back to work the next day and have to change the networks by to those of your employer’s network.  Once you return home, you have to once again set it all back to the way it was for home use.

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Internet Speed Tests (Free Service) March 24, 2009

INTERNET SPEED TEST LINKS:   

 Time Warner     AT&T     SpeakEasy     PC Pitstop

Test the speed of your internet connection. Multiple tests may be needed for accurate results.

How to successfully send email from anywhere in the world August 1, 2008

Most computer users use their Internet Service Provider’s (SMTP) server to send email messages from within their email program (like Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail or Thunderbird).  When traveling with a notebook computer, they may find that although they can receive email while connected to a network away from home (like in an airport, a Starbucks, or another businesses’ offices), they can’t send emails.  But if you’ve got a free Gmail account (you can get one here) you can use Google’s SMTP server to send email messages.

To do so you will need to set up a POP3 account in your email program.  Click here for a guide for setting up a Gmail POP3 account in the major email programs (Outlook, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, Entourage, etc.).  Creating a Gmail POP3 account in your email program you will also be able to send and receive messages from your Gmail account whenever and where ever you are connected to the Internet.

When traveling, be sure to send your messages via the Gmail account if you cannot successfully send them from your regular account.

Note: If you want the emails that you send using the Gmail account (their SMTP server) to show your regular email address in the “From” and “Reply To” fields (rather than your Gmail email address) you will need to add your regular email account to your Gmail account and add a custom “From” address.  Click here for instruction on how to do that.