- Simply push and hold the  power button down until your computer turns off.

Most computers will power down after about 5 seconds, but some will take as long as 10. While this method isn’t recommended, because it may result in unforseeably problems (like corrupt files), a slightly safer alternative is to simply tap the off button once. If windows hasn’t completely frozen up at this point, it will start to close out all of your programs before shutting down.

Whenever you are registering on a site, you can enter a + sign followed by a tag after your Gmail user name. For example if you are signing up for a car newsletter and your actual address is example@gmail.com you can instead enter example+car@gmail.com, the mail will still be sent to your normal inbox however if at any time down the line you notice spam being sent to this extension, you can not only tell where it originated from but simply filter all mail sent to example+car@gmail.com directly into your spam folder.

If you discover a site has spread your email to advertisers, simply:

1. Go to the Settings link at the top right of the Gmail homepage
2. Click on Filters, then Create a new filter
3. Type the tag you used (+car)  into the “To:” field
4. hit Next Step

From there you can set Gmail to simply delete all emails you receive addressed to that particular tag.

How Do I Fix It?

Double click any grey area in your task manager that isn’t a button or a menu item. This will toggle your window mode back and forth between the original and compact view.

Windows Key + D – Takes you directly to your desktop and minimizes any open applications.

Windows Key + L - Logs you out of your current Windows user account.

Windows Key + R - Brings up the Run menu, allowing you to easily start applications, such as those listed in the Start-Run Shortcuts list.

Windows Key + F - Opens up the Windows search where you can look for files.

Ctrl + Shift + Esc - Opens up the task manager, usefull when applications crash or stop working and you need to end them.

Prt Scr/Sys Rq - Most people have no idea what this button by their number pad actually does, when pressed it will copy a snapshot of your screen to your clipboard which you can then paste into any editing program such as MSPaint and save as a screenshot.

Alt + Prt Sc - Same as above, only it will capture just the window currently in focus.

Windows Key + Pause/Break - Brings up your system properties dialogue, same as right clicking ‘My Computer’ and selecting Properties.

Ctrl + T and Ctrl + W - Most browsers that support multiple tabs such as firefox will use these shortcuts to open a new tab or close the current tab respectively.

Shift + Enter - Will insert a line break in most applications that would otherwise use Enter as a ‘send’ command, such as messenger programs.

Most of these tips will work on Windows XP or Windows Vista, and some work on other operating systems as well.

What are File Extensions?
File extensions are the few letters and numbers that follow the last “.” (period, or ‘dot’ as it is commonly referred to as) at the end of your file, that associate it to a particular program. That is to say, windows keeps a list of file-types, and based on your system settings, will try to open that file-type with whatever installed application it has available (and associated to that file-type). For example, if you have an image file like MyDog.jpg, windows may try to use MSPaint to open it.

Why Can’t I See Them?
Good question! Microsoft likes to disable that little feature in case you don’t know what you’re doing. Should you accidentally rename a file extension (.xyz), windows will no longer know how to open that file. It’s a fail safe. Once your system is set to show file-types, it is important that you only rename the first portion of the file name. Ex. “MyDog.jpg” becomes “MyBestFriend.jpg“. The .jpg must stay the same in order for windows to still recognize that particular file as an image.

Alright, I get it. How do I show file-types?
1. Double Click any folder, or the Computer icon on your desktop
2. Tools->Folder Options
3. Click on the View Tab
4. Uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”
5. OK

*Note* – The instructions above are intended for Windows Vista, but should be very similar in other windows versions as well.

There are exceptions to the rule, and even ways to bend the rules a bit. Computers are very tricky business. In most cases, the below mentioned file types should be okay. I would like to caution against Microsoft Office file types, however, since those may contain macros that have the ability to execute malicious scripts if you don’t pay close attention.

( Reference:  How to Show File Extensions )

Here is a list of commonly used safe file types:

- Image Types -
jpg, jpeg, bmp, png, tif, tga

- Audio Types -
mp3, mid, ogg, au, wav

- Video Types -
mov, mpg, avi

- Office Documents -
xls, docx, doc, txt, rtf, ppt

- Compressed / Zipped -
(While the actual compressed file won’t be infected, note that what’s inside could be. Always check.)
zip, rar, ace, 7z, gz

The above mentioned file types are very common, and should under almost all circumstanced never be “infected”.

- Common File types that could potentially be infected -
(Always scan with an Anti-Virus if you’re not sure)
exe, bat, vbs, cmd, pif

In any case, knowing this tid bit of information goes a very long towards keeping your computer intruder-free. Always have a trusted anti-virus (ex. AVG, which is free) and try to download only from trusted websites and friends.