No PC is immune to a crash.  And at some point during your PC ownership it will happen to you.  Knowing this will happen and being prepared to deal with it are key.  Don’t Panic!

First some terminology:

The term Crash, this is when a program or your entire PC stops working and may also include a frozen screen.

Reboot means to restart your computer.

Control Panel is the windows feature that gives you access to your system utilities and settings.

OK, with that said, the best thing to do when your PC crashes is nothing.  That’s right, I said nothing.   Give it a couple minutes, it could be your computer is working on something behind the scenes and has not crashed.

After a few minutes and nothing has happened try the “3 finger salute”.   The “3 finger salute” is pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys at the same time.  From here you can either restart your computer or in the Task Manager box you can End Task the program that is giving you the problem.

If your computer is still unresponsive, repeat the “3 finger salute” and click Shut Down on the dialog box.

As a last resort, press the Reset button on your CPU.   But again, this is a very last resort.

Taking care of your PC should cut down on the crashing frequency.  Here are a few thing to watch for:  Always keep about 25% of your hard disk free.  Anything less than that and your hard disk will struggle.  To find our how much free space you have go to My Computer (XP) / Computer (Vista) and right click on the hard disk icon.  Choose Properties from the drop down menu.

If your hard disk is filling up fast, delete any programs that you rarely or never use.  Do that by choosing the “add or Remove Programs” icon from the Control Panel.  This should help free up some space for you.  Deleting large audio or video files will also help.

We at Easy Trucking Software www.easytruckingsoftware.com can’t say enough about backing up your files.  We recommend using a flash drive with our program because it is inexpensive and can save hours of time having to rekey information into the program.  Use a Flash Drive, external hard drive or internet storage.  You decide what is right for you and then DO IT!  Do it on a regular basis and it will make your life much easier in the event something happens to your PC and you need to restore a program or file.  I personally have an external hard drive attached to my computer that mirrors the capacity of my hard disk (i.e. 30 GB computer hard disk and a 30GB external hard drive).   I back up everything!

Programs also need a certain amount of RAM (random access memory) to work properly.  Each program will tell you what it needs by selecting Control Panel and click on System Tools and then System Information.  Toward the bottom of the list is the total available physical memory.  Software with lots of graphics, video or sound usually need the most RAM.

Keep your hard disk (C: drive) cleaned up too.  Some regular housekeeping is necessary to keep your PC running at peak performance.

Defragment your disk by going into System Tools and click Disk Deframenter.  This process may take quite a while depending on the size of your hard disk.  Just start it and walk away and do something else for a while.

Remember – A healthy PC is a happy PC.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

If computer terminology gives you a headache just thinking about it and trying to figure out what it is, keep reading.  Here are some common computer questions to help you better understand the terminology and how it applies to your computer.

What the heck is a firewall?  I know I have one in my car and truck, but what is it doing in my computer?

Your computer firewall is a piece of software or hardware that sits between your computer and the internet that restricts what types of data can flow into your computer or out from your computer.  Viruses can be prevented by using a good firewall.  It will filter or block certain types of network traffic entering your computer.  Things like viruses, worms or unwanted/unauthorized remote access into your computer are blocked at the firewall.  The firewall is built to know the difference between a virus and email and can be configured to allow certain kinds of connections from the outside.

There are two different firewalls, hardware and software.

A hardware firewall would be a broadband router that filters traffic before it even gets to your computer.

A software firewall is a software program that runs on your computer and filters and prevents traffic from getting through to your operating system of your computer.

If you are looking for more information about firewalls, do an internet search on firewalls.

What is the best virus scanner around and will it catch all viruses trying to enter my computer?

There are a variety of virus scanners on the market.  To name one that is the best is subjective and we all have our own favorite program that we swear by.  Pick one and install it on your computer.  Something is always better than nothing.  The advantage of having a real time virus scanner, which is preferred, is it will detect viruses as they they try to enter your computer and are stopped and deleted.  You may notice that your computer runs a little bit slower in this mode but it is worth it if you don’t end up with a virus in your machine and all sorts of computer headaches.  If you feel you need a second virus scanner, run it from time to time to catch anything that slips through the first scan.  There isn’t one anti-virus program out there that will catch every virus.  Each program is a little different from the next.

This is where having a firewall in place is another deterrent of viruses sneaking in and infecting your computer.  Pay attention to warnings you may get from your firewall or virus scanner when downloading anything to your computer, and don’t open an email attachment that is not recognized.

My computer is running slower and slower and where is all this junk email coming from?

What could be happening is you have spyware that has attached itself to your computer, gathering information about your internet habits and sending them back to someplace else.  Suddenly you are getting more and more email from places you have never visited making your email a nightmare to wade through.

There is help!  Do an internet search for Free anti-spyware software.  There are quite a few out there.  Read the reviews and pick one and run it to remove the spyware from your computer.  Do this on a regular basis if you are a regular internet surfer and be sure to update your anti-spyware software too.  The first time I did this to my computer it ran over 30 minutes cleaning out all the “junk” that had attached itself to my computer.  Wow, did it make a difference in my computer speed.  If you can set this up as an automatic function on your machine, so much the better.  Then you won’t have to try to remember to run the anti-spyware.

Just as you want your computer to run smoothly when you need it, so should your business.  Tracking all your data is important to know exactly how much money you are making and the expenses you incur.  That’s where Easy Trucking Software comes in.  Easy Trucking Software will keep track of all your income, your expenses, your fuel and mileage, helping you stay on top of your business every day.  But don’t take my word for it, visit our website at www.easytruckingsoftware.com and get your FREE download (don’t you just love that word FREE).  Try it out before you buy it and remember that your trial download can be turned into the real thing with just a phone call to purchase.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

Diversify

This is my new word of the day.

Definition:  To enlarge or expand the range of their business.

When doing the same thing gets you the same results and your results are poor, it’s time to diversify.

Did you ever wonder why some trucking companies are thriving while others are going under?  Do you think it’s maybe because they are better at money management than the next business?  Sometimes but not always.  Do you think they maybe this great crystal ball that is giving them insight?  Probably not!

When doing the same thing isn’t getting you the results you need, it’s time to look at diversifying.  Making a change isn’t always easy.  It takes out of our comfort zone of something familiar and puts us in a place of maybe having to learn something new.

Trucking companies are having to close their doors and lay off their employees and/or owner operators because of lack of freight to haul.  Lack of freight coupled with low or even lower rates makes it difficult to make money.  I’ll bet you can name off a few companies and people that you personally know in this situation right now.  Life isn’t always fair.

I talked with a trucking company the other day that has diversified what they were hauling and are now growing and making money again.  Good for them.  I love hearing success stories.  This wasn’t always the case though.  They had to figure it out and change direction with what they were hauling.  They had to change their thinking and open up the possibility to change and learn something new.

Change can be a positive word if you let it.  Change can be a good thing, especially if it means the difference between making money and NOT making money.  Change is inevitable and a daily thing.  Think of change like a detour, a detour to making more money.

I don’t have a magic pill that I can recommend to you that will suddenly make you smarter at selecting loads to haul or give you insight to what you should do in your business.

Being an owner operator means keeping on top of your business and making sure it’s profitable.  This may mean looking to haul something else other than what you have been.  Keep your mind open to other possibilities of other freight to haul.  Don’t be afraid to learn something new.

Ask other truckers what they are hauling and who they are working for.  Get input and weigh your options for something better than what you already have.

Get yourself a good trucking program to keep track of your business.  Know where your money is going and what kind of expenses you have.  Easy Trucking Software is a GREAT software that is economically priced and created just for you, the owner operator and small fleet owner.

The economy isn’t going to turn around overnight and we all need to help ourselves as best we can.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.