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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, April 20, 2003
In this Issue:
Featured Webpage: Cookies
Featured Computer Term: MFP
This Week's Topic: Avoiding Computer Crashes: Some Things You Can Do
Question: Restoring the Status Bar
Learning Series: Saving Money on Printing Labels
Featured Website: Happy Easter
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Using Links
A Link is a reference to a website. In this newsletter you will see links to many worthwhile, informative and fun websites. Here are the instructions on how to use links:
A link will be used one of two ways, depending on your email program.
If you see the link in blue, underlined text, all you have to do is click on it and a window with the Website in it will automatically appear on your screen.
If you see the link in plain text, you can copy and paste it into the address bar on your browser. Highlight the link with your mouse, click Edit up on the menu bar, and then click Copy from the menu that you just opened up. Open your browser (click the Start Button, point to Programs, click on Internet Explorer); click on the address bar. Click Edit up on the menu bar, and then click Paste from the menu that you just opened up. Press the Enter key on the keyboard and this will take you to the Website.
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Featured Webpage: Cookies
What are cookies? What do they do? Do I have to be afraid of them? Can they harm my computer? Can I erase them? Learn everything you need to know about cookies at our website:
http://stsico.com/html/cookies.html
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Today's Computer Term: MFP
An acronym for multifunction peripheral, an MFP is a single device that provides several functions, generally including printing. Usually, multifunction devices include a printer, a scanner, a fax machine and a photocopier.
These devices are becoming a popular option for small office or home users because they're ordinarily less expensive than buying three or four separate devices and they take up less room.
There are, however, a couple of downsides to combining all these functions in one device:
-- If the device breaks, you could possibly lose all of its functions at the same time.
-- You can only do one operation at a time. For example, you can't print a document and receive a fax simultaneously.
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Today's Topic: Avoiding Computer Crashes: Some Things You Can Do
The easiest way to avoid computer crashes is to make no changes to your computer: don’t add any new software or new hardware. That answer, however, is not realistic -peripherals breakdown, new ones are needed, new programs have features that make them much better than their predecessors. But there are still many things that you can do and some basic rules to follow.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! If you’re happy with your Windows 98 software, and that old printer is chugging along just fine, why change?
An exception to the above is when the software program you’re using is really old. Your computer will be happier and work better with applications designed for 32-bit operating systems. Most software less than five years old is 32-bit but, if you’re not sure, check the documentation that came with your program or go to the manufacturer’s website.
When manufacturers release an upgrade to a program, the version numbers are very important. Going from 2.0 to 2.1, for example, includes minor changes, usually fixes to bugs found in the .0 version, which were discovered after the release. However, an upgrade from 2.2 to 3.0 will generally have major changes. You may want to avoid upgrading to a .0 version, since, if there are any new release bugs in the program, that’s where they’ll be. Wait a little while for the program’s manufacturer to get it all together and then upgrade to the .1 or .2 version; that should be mostly debugged.
Never add more than one new program at a time. When you install a new program on your computer, work with it for a few days before installing the next program. This way, if the computer starts acting buggy, you’ll know which program is the cause of the problem.
If your computer does start acting quirky, and you haven’t made any changes, it’s possible that one of your drivers went buggy.
A driver is a program that controls a device; it acts like a translator between the device and programs that use the device. Every device, whether it’s a printer, disk drive, graphics adapter, sound card, or keyboard, must have a driver program. Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with the operating system. For other devices, you may need to load a new driver when you connect the device to your computer.
If you suspect that one of your drivers is buggy, visit the manufacturer’s website to see if any recommended updates are available for the device. (If you don't know who manufactured your devices, you may be able to find out by looking into your Windows' Device Manager: Right-click My Computer and choose Properties. In Windows 9x and Me, click the Device Manager tab. In Windows 2000 and XP, click the Hardware tab, then the Device Manager button. Click the + sign next to any hardware category to see a list of components in that category. If the component name doesn't include the name of the manufacturer, right-click the entry and choose Properties. The manufacturer's name should be listed on the General tab)
Set up a schedule for doing scan disks, disk defrags and clean up. Visit our website for graphical instructions on computer cleanup and maintenance.
http://stsico.com/html/driveclean1.html
Back Up Back Up Back Up !!!
Do you want to do all that important work over again if your computer does crash? Probably not, so save your files to disk -floppy, cd, dvd -whichever. And keep your backup disks someplace safe.
Don ‘t know how to use that cool new Readable/Writeable CD/DVD ROM drive you just got? Visit our website to review our newsletter article Backup/Save Files to a CD-ROM.
http://stsico.com/html/disk.html
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Question: Restoring the Status Bar
Question: I used to have a bar at the bottom of the Internet Explorer window and when I would click on a link it would show me how much longer it would take. I can’t seem to find it.
Answer: The bar you’re referring to is located in a part of the Internet Explorer window called the Status Bar.
To be able to see it again, open Internet Explorer, click on View in the menu bar, and then click to put a check mark in front of Status Bar.
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Progressive Learning Series: Microsoft Word - Saving Money on Printing Labels
If you ever bought labels for your printer, you already know that they can be pretty expensive. It can be very annoying to print your labels, they don’t line up right and you have to throw out a piece of label paper.
To avoid wasting money, make sure you print a test sheet before you print the labels. Put a blank sheet of paper in the printer instead of the label sheet. When the information is printed on the blank sheet, place that sheet behind a blank sheet of labels and hold it up to the light. The print on the paper will show through the label sheet, and you can see how the text lines up.
The advantage to this is that you save money - regular paper is much cheaper than label paper. You can make changes to your label settings as necessary and continue printing your test sheets. When you are satisfied with how your test sheet prints, then print on the label paper.
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Today's Featured Websites:
Note: if you're not sure how to use the following links to websites, take a look at the instructions on using links at the beginning of this newsletter.
Happy Easter!
Visit these websites for information about the religious traditions and
history of Easter.
http://wilstar.com/holidays/easter.htm
How is the date for Easter computed? Find out at this website:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.html
For the kids: to learn more about how the fun traditions of eggs, bunnies, and candy got started and for some fun Easter projects, take a look at these websites.
Kid’s Domain:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/easter/
BillyBear’s Happy Easter:
http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/easter/fun.htm
Happy Easter.com:
http://www.happy-easter.com/
For Easter menus and recipes including dinner, brunch, egg dyeing, Easter d Easter leftovers, check out this website:
http://holidayrecipe.com/features/easter.asp
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