A VERY Important Tip
For optimum performance and to avoid potential problems with your hardware - Be sure your computer is running COOL! Be sure vents on the computer and monitor are not blocked. Most towers have vents down low on the bottom, one side or both. Easy to get them blocked! Unless you have a flat screen monitor, yours will have vent on top, sides and back. Be sure there's room for good air flow, especially if it's enclosed in a bookcase or desk.
Here's one more - Update your virus checker regularly - NO, not once a year, do it every week at least and right away if you hear about a new virus.
Click on the link to go to the referenced section
Copy and Paste Two of the most useful keyboard shortcuts in Windows. (Probably in Macs, too). Ctrl key and C copies highlighted "stuff" and Ctrl V pastes it where you position your cursor, even in another program or email. Those commands are also found under the Edit menu if you're a mouse person.
How to do Blind Copy emails - If you missed this demo but are interested, go to Use Blind Copy in Emails.
Fraud Information
There is a site is sponsored by the United States Postal Service, the FBI,
and other U.S. organizations. It identifies common types of fraud,
gives contact information for filing a complaint about fraud, and
provides other helpful links.
http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/index.aspx
Important Keyboard Shortcuts:
CTRL+z -- undo
CTRL+y -- redo - if used right after an undo
CTRL+a -- select all
CTRL+x --cut
CTRL+c --copy
CTRL+v --paste
CTRL+p – print
CTRL+s --save
Windows logo key - brings up your Start Menu
Windows logo key + d - takes you to your desktop
Windows logo key + f - opens your Search dialog
Windows logo key + e - opens your Explore directory
Click here to see Keyboard Commands list on the Past Tips page)
LCD Monitor Caution and other cautions
Be very careful about touching an LCD monitor. The membrane can be scratched and the glass beneath the membrane is rather fragile.
"Any grime, but especially from cigarette smoke, can corrode exposed metal contacts". Enough said? [Quote from PCWorld magazine]
It sure is handy to have a list of the items you have been working on right at your fingertips, so to speak. You can reopen them from the Recent Documents list on your Start Button menu.
To display the My Recent Documents folder on the Start menu if you don't have it there:
1) Right-click Start, and then click Properties. Or, if the Start menu is already displayed, right-click an empty area of the Start menu, and then click Properties.
2) Choose Customize.
3) Click the Advanced tab.
4) Under Recent documents, click to select the "List my most recently opened documents" check box near the bottom, click OK, and then click Apply and OK. The next time you click Start, the My Recent Documents command is displayed on the Start menu.
WordPad is a small program that comes as part of Windows. Handy little fellow! It can open various types of files - like Word docs, and Rich Text Files. So if you have Works instead of Word, but get a Word document from someone, open WordPad, tell it to open your .doc. You can find it by going to the Start button, then All Programs in XP or Programs in earlier versions, Accessories, and WordPad. Then use WordPad to open your document. It can display all the fonts, highlights, colored text and even most graphics.
There is a site is sponsored by the United States Postal Service, the FBI, and other U.S. organizations. It identifies common types of fraud, gives contact information for filing a complaint about fraud, and provides other helpful links. http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/index.aspx
Information from a recent article in Smart Computing magazine says that because the process your computer uses to burn CDs is different than commercial, mass-produced ones, they are not a long-lived and need careful handling. The recommendation is to buy known brand media, store them away from heat and humidity and preferably upright rather than flat. For archival storage, the National Institute of Standards and Technology suggests media with a gold, reflective layer.
He says: "I shut my computer down every night. If I'm going to be gone several days I not only shut it down, I unplug the computer from the wall and unplug the phone line from the wall. [Mary Lou's note: Remember, we've mentioned that quite a few times at our meetings]
You are wearing your fan motor out and pulling dust thru your computer. Your hard drive may be running more. If you get a big surge of electricity that jumps your surge protector, having it turned off may save your computer.
Your surge protector is passive and works whether it is turned off or on. When it is off, the surge has to jump the switch and the surge protector to get to your computer.
The only good thing about leaving your computer on is that you can get rid of the dust bunnies on your floor, the fan will pull them into your computer and Kentucky Utilities will love you.
With the increased use of always on DSL and Cable Internet and with the growing threat of hackers and worms, it makes even more sense to shut your computer down when not in use. A computer not running and not connected cannot be hacked."
Free Font Viewer: How many fonts? What do they look like? For a very nice font viewer that shows you all your fonts on one page (scrollable) check out Free & Easy Font Viewer - small program, easy to install and use.
Your Handy Windows Logo key (you know, the one on the bottom row of your keyboard with the flying window graphic) will open the Start button menu.
One handy use for your Windows Key: To minimize all open programs and get quickly to your desktop - Windows Key and D. (It's a toggle -- so doing it again gets you back to the window you had open before.) Use it in Windows versions from 98 through XP.
Want to enlarge the font on an email or a web page?: If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel (very handy, those) hold down the Control key and scroll down with the mouse wheel. Or, lacking a scroll wheel mouse, you can go up to the View menu, choose Font Size, then pick the font size you want.
Make a new folder the easy way: Did you know - In Word, at least the later versions, you can create a new folder for your file from the Save As dialog box? There is a Make a New Folder icon amongst the icons to the right of the Look In: space near the top of that dialog box. Looks like a folder with a little star on the top right corner. How handy!!! Same feature in my version of Works and Word Pad. Probably also in Word Perfect, but we don't have that so I can't take a look, Maybe some at the meeting will tell us. We'll look for it in orhter programs, too.
Password words of wisdom - Build a better username and password:
Don't use your actual name for your username, use an unassociated or random word as your username. It sure would be easy to get you address and phone number from the phone book. ----- Notice that we don't follow our own advice ;-)
For a password, don't use common word, name or phrase and don't use personal information such as your child's name, mother's maiden name or a birthdate. Much of this information is available on-line.
Use a combination of random numbers and letters, capital and small case.
Don't use the same password for all your internet business.
Use Blind Copy in Emails
Blind Copy addressing is a very valuable tool. It prevents exposure of all the email addresses you are sending to from being vulnerable to "harvesting" by spammers and such nefarious lurkers. It also prevents all those addresses from being exposed if a message is forwarded. Below are two methods to use this tool:
In Outlook Express -- Use Create Mail to start the email if you have such an icon in the row at the top. If not, go to File > New > Mail Message. (This allows you to see the Bcc line that usually is not visible).
As you send the message the name and/or email address in the To: box will be visible (and only that name).
I have two entries in my address book, for example, for the Computer Group. One is listed as Computer Club List - this has only my email address associated with it. This will be the one that recepients see in the To: line of the message. The second, which is a group listing with all the recepients associated with it, is labeled "CompCl". This is the one that goes in the Blind Copy (bcc) line. No one will see these.
Many people us the "Undisclosed Recipients" style for blind copy emails.
The procedure is this: Use the above technique to open the email.
Type "Undisclosed Recipients" in the To: field, followed by your own email address in "<,>" braces.
The To: field should look like this -- To: Undisclosed Recipients < you@example.com > -- with your address: .
Put all the recipients' email addresses in the Bcc field, separated by commas.
The Bcc: field could look something like: Bcc: first.friend@example.net, second_friend@example.net, stillanotherfriend@example.com .
Compose and send your message as usual.
(If you send emails to undisclosed recipients frequently, you can add your own email address to your address book with "Undisclosed" as the first name and "recipients" as the last name. Then, instead of filling in the To: field manually, you can then use the address book entry.)
If you send distribution lists to specific groups, we'll show you a few of those at the meeting.
Go to http://email.about.com/cs/netiquettetips/qt/et100603.htm to learn how to do it in other email programs.
That Handy Command for the Lost - "Find": If you know the name of a file but can't find it (or even a major word in the name of it, use the search feature of Windows - it's in all versions and you can bring it up with the Windows key and F. Once you have it in the search box, you can double click on it to open it or right click on it to find the menu list with Properties. By clicking on Properties, you can find out where the file is stored. If you have trouble, ask at a meeting.
Keyboard Commands for Undo, Copy, Paste, Cut, etc.
Very handy if you're busy typing and don't want to take your hands off the keyboard:
The Edit pull down menu has these listed to the right of the commands. Check them out there.
Other Keyboard Shortcuts Control + "a" will quickly and easily select everything in a document in most all Windows programs, then you can Copy or Cut or invoke some formatting command.
More About Keyboard Shortcuts: Lots of keyboard shortcuts are right there in plain sight - Look up at the menu line across the top of most every program. Notice File, Edit, View, etc. each have an underlined letter. That letter with Alt will open that menu. It doesn't stop there! Most entries on the menu that opens up also have an underlined letter. Since the menu list is open, you don't use the Alt key, just the underlined letter. Very handy! So, to Insert a picture into a Word document, hit Alt I to open the Insert menu, then P (as is underlined in the menu choice for Picture).
Get to your desktop in one easy step:
To minimize your open screens so you can get to your desktop, use the Windows key and D. It's a toggle, so doing it again opens those minimized items again and you can go right back to whatever you were working on. Pretty handy!
Some Very Important Internet Tools!!
This is a long discussion, bear with me:
Still haven't installed those spyware zapping programs we've mentioned at nearly every meeting?????
Make it your New Year's Resolution.
We run ours at least once a week, maybe more and usually find 15 or so. I recently read an article by one of the columnists in one of the magazines who runs his every day. Are you getting the hint???
One of the first things mentioned in every Q and A about the Internet slowing down on a computer is whether the user has run their anti-spyware regularly.
These are free and downloadable (These are not the only ones of their kind but each of these come highly recommended):
(The companies are trying to sell products so naturally they will promote paid items, but there are free versions, just read down until you find them.) Ask about it a the meeting if you are interested in seeing the sites.
I'm also including a site from PCWorld magazine for each that makes it easier to download when I can:
*AVG Anti-virus Free Edition at http://www.free.grisoft.com/ is the Zianet recommended free antivirus program. It also comes well recommended by various magazines.
*Spybot at http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html ferrets out any spyware on your computer that may be sending information about you back to some web site.
A better place to find this is: http://find.pcworld.com/42748
*WebWasher at http://www.webwasher.com filters out unwanted advertising banners, pop-up windows, animated images, Javascripts, Java applets from Web pages. The free download option is located on the right hand side of the very bottom of the page in small print.
A better place to find this is: http://find.pcworld.com/42760
*Zone Alarm at http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp (or go to their homepage) at http://www.zonelabs.com This is one of the best firewalls to keep outsiders from accessing your computer. There is a paid version with more features, but the simpler one is free.
A better place to find this is: http://find.pcworld.com/42750
*Ad-Aware at http://www.ada-ware.com gets rid of those nasty pop-up ads that multiply so fast.
A better place to find this is: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,7423,00.asp
Be sure you choose the Ad-Aware SE verr 1.05 as it's the free one.
And last of all is Spamihilator http://www.spamihilator.com to get rid of spam, smart too; it learns as you go. It's Freeware.
Most of these tips are from the magazine PCWorld at www.pcworld.com):
Want to see a PowerPoint presentation? Don't have PowerPoint?
Or do you have PowerPoint and want to share a presentation with someone who doesn't?
Microsoft does some handy, convenient things once in a while after all - Microsoft's Power Point is a popular presentation program, part of MS Office. Microsoft offers Power Point 2003 Viewer ppviewer.exe, a small program (1190 kb)to view Power Point presentations that can be downloaded free. Either search for it with your browser or go to "find.pcworld.com/39962. It runs under most of the Windows versions up through XP and can be used for Power Point presentations made with versions 97 through 2003. We usually include it on CD's that we make to share Power Point presentations with anyone
Where are the Programs? Check Your Desktop Shortcuts - Want to find the actual location on your computer of the program represented by that Desktop icon? Right click the icon and choose Properties from the menu (usually at the bottom). Then choose the Shortcut tab. You will find the path to the executable for the program there in the Target box. There is a buttom near the bottom that says Find Target. Choosing that will take you to the location of that executable file. Ask us to look at it at a meeting sometime.
Heard that Microsoft no longer supports Windows98? - Yes, Virginia, it's true, as of July 11, 2006. However, the Microsoft Windows 98 Web Site is still available at www.microsoft.com/windows98. This is an archive of how-to-articles for Win98 and access to Win98 downloads. PCWorld magazine says the information has not been up-dated, but is still available. By the way, did you know that Windows 98 came with Troubleshooters that provide on-line help for a variety of topics. To start a TroubleShooter, according to the magazine, Click Start, then Help. Select the Contents tab, click Troubleshooting, click Windows 98 Troubleshooter, and select the appropriate topic.
Another source is the SmartComputing Web Site at www.smartcomputing.com/techsupport. This site lets you search for help with error messages, trouble shooting information, a Q&A archive, a solutions database, and various other helps.
Don't forget that hardware manufacturers usually have web sites with information and helps.
Need to save your email file to a CD or some sort of back-up?
This would be helpful if you wanted to transfer the inbox to another computer.
In Outlook Express it's a .dbx file and George's "Smart Computing" magazine, September 2006 p 86, says it's located at C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{a long code string of numbers between curly brackets}\Microsoft\Outlook Express. Actually it's probably easier to do a Find (Remember, it's (Windows Logo key + F) and search for *.dbx. And..... your Address Book is a .wab (for Windows Address Book). Treat it the same way.
Stop large emails
This helpful hint is from PCWorld magazine July 2006 - In Outlook Express, create a rule by going to Tools - Message Rules - Mail - Modify, then scroll down through the Conditions in the first box and Check "Where the message size is more than size (it's about the ninth choice in our list), In the Select Actions for your rule menu, scroll and check Do Not Download it from the server. In the Rule Description box click the size link, set the maximum allowed size, click OK then OK again. I would think that 1 Meg (1000 K) would be the maximum you would possibly want if you have dial-up connections, or perhaps smaller.
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In Outlook 2003 (but no instructions for any Outlook earlier than that, so you may want to try this in your version to see if it works), Choose Tools - Options - select the Mail Setup tab, click Send/Receive - Edit and check Download complete item including attachments and then also Download only headers for items larger than ----- which you choose from a dropdown menu. The magazine goes on to say Be sure to check the box next to Receive Mail Items.
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