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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 9, 2004
To all the Moms reading this, Happy Mother's Day!
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Transferring Old Files to your New Computer
Special Feature: Control Buttons
This Week's Topic: Computer Freezes
Questions: The Right Mouse Button
Websites of Interest: Mothers Day
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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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Special Feature: Transferring Old Files to your New Computer
Question: I have been thinking of upgrading from my four year old PC and I have found out if I want to keep my files and software, I must copy them somehow to be able to reload them into my new computer. Is the only way to do this to use a Zip drive?
Answer:
There is more than one way to copy files from your old computer to your new one.
To transfer your data, you could copy the files to floppy disks. This would not require any extra equipment except for floppy disks. The down side to this approach is that you are limited by the floppy disks 1.44MB size, and the process is very time consuming if you have a lot of files.
Another choice would be to create a direct connection between the two computers using a parallel or serial cable. This is a bit more technical in nature, but the only cost would be the special cable. Very clear, detailed directions for this process can be found in Help on your computer.
Purchasing a Zip or CD Writer drive that connects to the serial or parallel port would certainly be another option, but if you will not need to use the drive after the transfer, it would seem to be a little expensive.
Another way to transfer files from an old to a new computer is to remove the hard drive from the old computer long enough to hook it up to the new one and copy the files through Windows. This is a good choice if you are comfortable working inside computers, but may not be for everyone. You could, however take the two computers to a local shop, and have them transfer the files for you. It would probably cost half of what you are thinking of spending on the Zip drive, and you would not have to worry about getting it configured to work on each computer.
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Special Feature: Control Buttons
Question: What are those three little buttons on the top right corner of the window?
Answer:
Those are called the Control Buttons. The one on the left is the Minimize button. This button will shrink the window down and off the screen. The application is still running, but it is invisible. All that you will see of the program is the taskbar button (a button on the grey bar on the bottom of the desktop screen). To bring the program back up on the screen, click its taskbar button.
The middle button is the Maximize/Restore button. This button will make the window as large as it will get, or if already maximized, will put the window into restore mode, which allows you to shrink or increase the window size. If this button has one square on it, it is in restore mode, which is partial screen. In this mode, you can point to an edge of the window and drag it to make the window larger or smaller. If you click on the maximize button, you will make the window as large as possible. You’ll now see that the middle button has two squares on it; this is the restore button.
The button on the right, the X, is the Close button. This will close the window and the application. Always save your work before using this button.
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Today's Topic: Computer Freezes
Question: Quite frequently my computer shuts down. No matter what key I press, nothing happens. It is just stuck. The only thing I can do is shut off the power. But when I put it on again, I get the message that I did not shut down properly. What can I do?
Answer: Probably a program that you are using is freezing up. Instead of pressing the on button to turn the computer off, you can use what is called the alt ctrl del.
That means when the computer freezes, hold down the alt key and the ctrl key (use your left hand) and then press and release the delete key. Then release the alt and ctrl.
You will then see a dialog box that will list all the programs currently running. Do not worry if you see programs in there that you do not recognize -- there are a few programs that auto run behind the scenes. If one program has gone buggy on you, you will see it listed there with the words Not Responding next to it. Click on it; then click the End Task button. You may see another box confirming the close (depending on your version of windows); click through it. Then you should be able to shut your computer down the right way.
If this happens frequently, note if it is the same program that is causing the problem -- if it is, you might want to reinstall the program.
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Question: The Right Mouse Button
What does the right mouse button do?
Answer:
When pressed, the right mouse button displays a context-sensitive menu. When you right click on something, you will open a menu that will give you choices or actions that you can do with the object you right clicked on. The context menu will be different depending on what you right click.
Try right clicking on everything you can see. Even a blank spot on your desktop has a useful context menu when right clicked. (To close the menu, press the ESC key on your keyboard - located top left)
If you'd like to learn more about using the right mouse button, you can view our Newsletter Archives article at: http://stsico.com/html/rightmouse.html
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Websites of Interest:
Mothers Day
For history of the holiday, tips on how to make it a success, poems, pictures for kids to color and more, visit Holidays on the Net.
http://www.holidays.net/mother/
It is not too late to send your Mom an online Mothers Day card. Take a look at this website for a choice of cards:
http://www.123greetings.com/
Here is a nice website with Mothers Day projects for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school children.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/mothersday/
Visit this website to read a very nice tribute to Mothers and Grandmothers and learn the origins of this observation.
http://www.entourages.com/barbs/Mother.htm
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