|
Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 15, 2005
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Close Multiple Programs Quickly
Tips & Tricks: What's This?
Keyboard Shortcut: Context Menu
Featured Computer Term: Wizard
Question: Turn Off Microsoft Error Reports
Question: Close Browser Toolbars
Question: Check Email on Different Computers
Websites of Interest: Brain Explorer; Gardening Database; Solemates: The Century in Shoes; Adventure Network
Important Reminder: Change Your Passwords
It's a good idea to periodically change your passwords. It can be inconvenient and annoying, but that’s a small price to pay to prevent your sensitive information from being accessed.
**************************************************************
Special Feature: Close Multiple Programs Quickly
Let’s say you have five programs open and you want to close thereof them. Here’s a quick way to do that:
Hold down the CTRL key and click the taskbar buttons of the programs you want to close. Then, right-click one of the depressed buttons and select Close from the resulting menu.
Take a look at the menu you get after right clicking. Depending on your version of Windows, you can also minimize, maximize, restore, cascade, or tile these windows using this technique.
**************************************************************
Tips & Tricks: What's This?
There is a very easy way to find out what different features do in Microsoft products. Just right-click the item and a little box will come up that says What's This? Left click that box and you get a description of the object you right clicked on.
For example, open Internet Explorer. Click Tools, then Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab. Point to any item in the window and right-click.
If the item has a description associated with it, you will see the What's This? box. Left click it and a description will appear.
Try this in different windows. Every object may not have a description, but many will.
**************************************************************
Keyboard Shortcut: Context Menu
Hold down Shift and press F10 – it does the same thing as a right mouse click. Once you open the menu, use the arrow keys to navigate to the item you want. Press the Enter key to select the item.
**************************************************************
Featured Computer Term: Wizard
A Wizard is a tool to guide you through the steps of a process or task by asking a series of questions or presenting options. A Wizard might help you to start up a word processing document, install a new program, or create a database file for the first time.
Is there a computer term or phrase that you'd like to see an explanation of?
Email it to info@computerkindergarten.com and we'll put the term and its
definition in an upcoming newsletter.
**************************************************************
Question: Turn Off Microsoft Error Reports
When I have a problem with my computer, I get a message asking if I want to send an error report to Microsoft. I don’t want to do that – is there a way to disable this?
Answer:
Windows has this feature enabled so that Microsoft can get reports on errors that occur and determine if there are bugs in Windows, or MS programs, that need to be fixed.
To disable this feature, follow these steps:
Open Control Panel and then open System. (if you are using Windows XP, click Performance and Maintenance and then open System) click the Advanced tab and then click Error Reporting.
In the Error Reporting window, click Disable error reporting. Click the OK button to close all open windows.
**************************************************************
Free Computer Dictionary
If you see a computer term that you would like a definition of, you can get one at our Computer Dictionary on our website.
http://www.stsico.com/html/dictionary.html
**************************************************************
Question: Close Browser Toolbars
I have extra toolbars (Yahoo and Google) in Internet Explorer that I don't use. Since they are taking up precious room, can I turn them off?
Answer:
Yes, you can. Here’s how:
Click View on the menu. Point to Toolbars. In the resulting menu, click to uncheck the toolbar(s) that you do not want displayed.
If, in the future, you change your mind, to turn the toolbar on again, open the menu and re-check it.
**************************************************************
Question: Check Email on Different Computers
Question: I just switched from AOL to Optimum Online. When I used AOL, I could check my email on my computer at work and at home. With Outlook, if I read my email on one computer, it doesn’t show up on the other computer. Why is that?
Answer:
Outlook moves your read emails from the server (your ISPs computer) to your computer. It then removes the email from the server. AOL leaves read emails on the server for several days and then deletes them.
You can change the settings of Outlook to leave your read emails on the server. Then, you can read them again on your other computer. Here’s how:
Click Tools on the menu and then click Accounts. Click the Mail tab. Choose your e-mail account and then click Properties. Click the Advanced tab. Click to select Leave a copy of messages on server. Click the OK button.
if you want messages removed from the server when you delete them, click to select Remove from server when deleted.
**************************************************************
Thank you for reading our newsletter. We hope you enjoy it. We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.
info@computerkindergarten.com
**************************************************************
Websites of Interest:
Brain Explorer
Want to learn more about your brain? Visit this fascinating website to learn about the structure, functions controlled by each part, emotions, and much more.
http://www.brainexplorer.org
Gardening Database
Are you into gardening? This website claims a database with information on over 7,000 different types of plants.
http://www.pfaf.org
Solemates: The Century in Shoes
Just for fun – take a look at 100 years of changing footwear fashions. See if you find a pair you owned.
http://www.centuryinshoes.com/intro.html
Adventure Network
A good website for outdoor product reviews, camping, hiking and climbing information, safety tips and more.
http://www.adventurenetwork.com |
