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Documentation

Defensive Computing Cheat Sheet

Since this blog went live in July 2007, there have been over 70 postings. For my all but mandatory end of the year review, below is a cheat sheet to the postings to date. I maintain a full blog index on my personal web site.

2007 Individual Postings

Prepare for networking failures by reading the lights on your router July

The pros and cons of LEDs for backlighting LCD screens July

Ask Leo Notenboom your computer questions July

Be careful when downloading software August

Task Manager in Windows XP August

Scan a suspicious file with 29 anti-virus programs August

What … Read more

The blinking lights on a router are talking to you

Can't get on the Internet? Can't print to network printer? It's bound to happen sooner or later. Wired Ethernet networks are pretty reliable, wireless ones can be brutally finicky. But no matter what type you're using, it's good to be prepared for networking failures in the future.

When there is a networking problem, the knee jerk reaction may be that there is something wrong with the computer. Perfectly understandable.

But the first step in debugging a networking problem should not involve any of the computers. Rather, you should look at the lights on the box(… Read more