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.

You hear that phrase tossed around quite a bit but what does it really mean?

Taking your trucking business to the next level may mean:

• searching for and taking better paying loads,
• signing on with a different carrier
• expanding your business by adding another driver or two, or
• getting your own authority

Your next level will be different than the next drivers next level.  You decide and set the goals you want to achieve for your business.

Getting to that next level will involve some work on your part.  It means you need to have your finger on the pulse of your business.  You need to know where your money is going, how much are you spending, and what you are spending it on.

Evaluate your business and know where the fat is and begin the trimming process.  Do this often on a regular basis.  Why pay for services you aren’t using and things that are not necessary.

Since we have cell phones and no kids as home anymore, we got rid of our home phone last summer and haven’t missed it.  I now pocket the money I was spending on a home phone that was seldom used anymore.  All our friends and family got the email or snail mail regardlng the phone change and cell numbers.   Everyone likes being able to reach us wherever and whenever.  I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not.

OK,  its time to start with paper and pen.  Sit down and write down your business goals and your plan to get you to your goal.  Like mapping out your route to your next drop, you need a plan.  Sometimes there are detours, but take them as they come and don’t worry about them ahead of time.

Put to paper what you want to achieve in your business, for example, by year end.    Then start thinking about and writing down all the things you will need to do to reach your goal.  Be realistic with your goal setting too.  You want to be able to achieve your goals.  Analyze your map of things to do often and decide whether or not your goal is achievable in the time frame and tweak things from time to time to stay on track.

Also having good trucking software to help you keep track of all your business income and expenses is key.  Getting the reports you need to evaluate your business is also a must or you are shooting in the dark.  Easy Trucking Software can help you with this at a very affordable price.

Dropping our home phone is just one of the things we did to save money.  Now it’s your turn to trim unnecessary expenses and take your business to the next level

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