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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, August 7, 2005
In this Issue:
Special Feature: More Screen Space
Keyboard Shortcut: Open the Start Menu
Tips & Tricks: Scan Individual Files for Viruses
This Week's Topic: Turn Off Auto Complete
Question: Turn off Internet Access
Websites of Interest: You Can Help Kids; Netsmartz Kids; Happy News
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Special Feature: More Screen Space
If you would like to have more room on your screen for the program you are working on, you can hide your taskbar and have it appear only when you need it. (The taskbar is the bar across the bottom of the screen where the Start button is.)
To do so, right click on a blank area of the taskbar. From the resulting menu, click Properties. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window will open. Click to select Autohide or Auto-hide the taskbar (depending on your version of Windows). Click the OK button.
Now, your taskbar will disappear when you move your mouse away from it and reappear when you move your mouse back.
If you find you don’t like auto hide, follow the above steps and remove the checkmark from Autohide or Auto-hide the taskbar.
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Keyboard Shortcut: Open the Start Menu
To open the Start button menu with the keyboard, hold down the Ctrl key and press the Esc key.
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Tips & Tricks: Scan Individual Files for Viruses
When you download a file you should scan it for viruses. You can do this without doing an entire system scan. Here is how:
Maneuver to the folder that the file is in. Right click on the file. From the resulting menu, left click on Scan with antivirus program (note: either the name of your antivirus program will appear or Scan for Viruses).
Your Anti Virus program will open, scan the file, and inform you of any infections.
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Today's Topic: Turn Off Auto Complete
Question: When I type a website address into my browser, it will sometimes display an old address that I typed. This is annoying. Is it possible to stop it from doing this?
Answer:
Yes, it is. That’s called auto complete. To turn it off, click Tools on the menu and then Internet Options. Click the Content tab and then click the AutoComplete button.
This will open the AutoComplete Settings window where you can turn off auto complete for web addresses, forms, or passwords. Click to remove the checkmark from Web addresses and Forms to stop previous search engine entries and visited website addresses from displaying as you type new ones. Click the OK button to close all windows.
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Question: Turn off Internet Access
I don't want my children using the Internet while I am not home to supervise. Is there a way to disable the Internet on our computer?
Answer:
Yes, there is. And it is a very good idea to do that when you are not able to watch your children’s activities.
First, create a separate user account for your children. In Window XP you should set that up as a Limited account. Click Start, then Control Panel, then User Accounts. Create a new account, type the name, and then follow the steps for the limited account.
Log into your account, which is an XP Administrator account, and disable your modem (if on dial-up) or your network connection (DSL/Cable).
To do so, open Control Panel and right-click Network Connections if in Classic View or Network & Internet Connections then right-click Network Connections if in Category View. Select Create Shortcut. You will be asked if you want to create a shortcut on the desktop, click Yes.
Double-click the new desktop icon and you will see your dial-up modem connection and high-speed connection listed.
If you are using dial-up, right-click your dial-up connection and choose Disable. For Broadband (DSL/cable) right-click your high speed connection and choose Disable.
Your computer will now have no access to Email, Instant Messaging, or the Internet.
To turn access back on, log back in your administrator account and follow the same procedure; clicking Connect instead of Disable.
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Thank you for reading our newsletter. We hope you enjoy it. We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.
info@computerkindergarten.com
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Websites of Interest:
You Can Help Kids
This is a great non-profit site about helping kids. See a list of 101 things you can do for children in your community.
http://www.youcanhelpkids.org
Netsmartz Kids
Visit Netsmartz Kids with your children or grandchildren. This is a wonderful resource to help teach them how to stay safe online.
http://www.netsmartzkids.org/indexfl.htm
Happy News
Tired of reading bad news all the time? Visit this website for positive stories from around the world.
http://www.happynews.com |
