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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Labor Day Monday, September 1, is Labor Day, the day when we celebrate those who toil the year 'round. In honor of this holiday, we will be taking the weekend off. Look for this newsletter again on Sunday, September 7.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.
In this Issue:
From the Editor: Scambusters
Special Feature: Copying Pictures from a Web Page
Special Feature: Blind Carbon Copy
Special Feature: Changing Your Screen Saver
Featured Computer Term: Write-Protect
Tips and Tricks: Quickly Access the Desktop
This Week's Topic: Computer Freezes
Special Feature: Active vs. Inactive Windows
Question: Restoring the Internet Explorer Toolbar
Question: America Online - Screen Names and E-mail Addresses Explained
From the Editor:
This week I received emails from several pretty intelligent friends with the Bill Gates Gives You Money Whenever You Forward This E-Mail hoax.
This scam is about as old as the Internet is. I had not seen this one in quite awhile; probably a good year or maybe even two years – but I am willing to bet anyone that Bill Gates is STILL not giving money away!
It does prove though, that smart people do not always have a feel for what is real and what is not on the Internet. Not all intelligent people are 'Net savvy and able to distinguish the good from the bad. That’s where Scambusters can help.
Scambusters gives clear information on the latest scams and Internet fraud. They also offer a free email newsletter (always an excellent way to learn more about topics of interest) which provides information on the latest scams, spam going around and fraudulent activities on the Internet.
You'll find the link below. It is definitely worth a visit before you forward that email!
Regards, Ceil
Scambusters http://www.scambusters.org/
Learn more about Internet and Email hoaxes and scams, and how to spot and avoid them, at our website: http://stsico.com/html/hoaxes.html
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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: Copying Pictures from a Web Page
Question: My granddaughter put pictures of my great-grandchildren on a website. She told me that I can save those pictures to my computer but she did not tell me how to do it. Can you tell me? I would be so grateful if you would. I’m 89 years old and with your wonderful classes that I took and your informative newsletter, I’m learning to love using my computer.
Answer: Copying a picture from a Web page is easy. When you see a picture or graphic you want to copy, right-click on it.
From the menu that pops up, left click on Save Picture As. The Save As dialog box opens.
In the box to the right of Save In, drop down the menu by clicking on the small down arrow, and locate the folder on your hard drive where you want to save the picture in. (the My Documents folder is always a good place to save your files)
Give it a name in the File Name box - or leave the name that is already in there.
Click Save.
To find your picture, double click on the My Documents icon on the desktop. Locate your file and double click on it. That will display the picture in your picture viewing program.
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Special Feature: Blind Carbon Copy
Question: How can I send the same email to several people while keeping their personal email addresses private? When sending them, I just type the first names of the individuals, but when they receive the mail, their addresses are listed along with their first name.
Answer: To send an e-mail to several recipients at once without revealing all the addresses, you need to use a function called Blind Carbon Copy, or BCC.
In Outlook, open a new e-mail. If you don't see a line for BCC right under the To and CC lines, click on View and then All Headers. The BCC field will be part of the new e-mail window.
Once you have the Blind Carbon Copy field in your new e-mail message, enter the addresses of the people you want to send the e-mail to in the BCC line and then send it. Each person will only see their own address in the message they receive.
In email programs that have a BCC: field, just type in the addresses of the recipients in that field.
If your email program doesn’t have a BCC: field, America Online, for example, type the addresses of the recipients surrounded by parenthesis ( ).
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Special Feature: Changing Your Screen Saver
When you don't use your computer for a few minutes, does a different image appear that moves across the screen? This is your screen saver.
The screen saver can be changed and customized in Windows. If you get bored with the same old images, why not change it to something different?
Here’s how:
Right click on any area of your desktop. From the resulting menu, left click on Properties.
Click on the Screen Saver tab. Open Screen Saver Drop down box.
Choose the design you want.
Click OK.
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Today's Computer Term: Write-Protect
To mark a file or disk so that its contents cannot be modified or deleted.
When you want to make sure that neither you nor another user can destroy data, you can write-protect it. Many operating systems include a command to write-protect files. You can also write-protect floppy disks with a small switch on the disk that you can set to turn on write-protection. Look for the small picture of the padlock in the corner. Next to it you will see a button that you can slide into the locked position.
Write-protected files and media can only be read; you cannot write to them, edit them, append data to them, or delete them.
Is there a computer term or phrase that you'd like to see an explanation of? Email it to info@c... and we'll put the term and its definition in an upcoming newsletter.
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Tips and Tricks: Quickly Access the Desktop
Want to quickly get back to the desktop when you have several windows open?
Just press the Windows key on your keyboard and the letter D.
The Windows key is usually found on the bottom row of your keyboard between the Ctrl and Alt keys. It has the windows symbol on it. If you don’t find it there (some manufacturers like to be different) check the top right. Hold down the Windows key with one hand, press and release the d key with the other, then release the Windows key.
To bring the windows back up to the way they were before, just press the same key combination again.
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Today's Topic: Computer Freezes
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're 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’ll see a dialog box that will list all the programs currently running. Don’t worry if you see programs in there that you don't recognize -- there are a few programs that auto run behind the scenes. If one program has gone buggy on you, you'll 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 thru it. Then you should be able to shut your computer down the right way.
If this happens frequently, note if it's the same program that's causing the problem -- if it is, you might want to reinstall the program.
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Special Feature: Active vs. Inactive Windows
When you open a program, such as AOL or a word processor, that program is active. Anything you do with your mouse or keyboard will happen to that program. When you open another program without closing the previous one, you now have two programs running.
So how do you know which one is the active window?
If one window is entirely covering the other window, the one on top is the active window. But if the two windows are side by side, it might not be as apparent. The window that looks bright, colorful, non-gray or non-dull is the one that is active. And if part of one window is overlapping the other, it's usually the one that's on top.
Both the active and inactive windows will be on the taskbar, too. When you minimize a window and it becomes the inactive window, you can click on its taskbar button to make it the active window again.
The taskbar is the place to look for windows that have been minimized, even if a window has been minimized inadvertently. And that leaves only the active window on your screen. So, next time you think you are lost, or that you just lost all the work that was on your screen, just look at the taskbar. Are there any buttons showing? If so, click the one you are looking for.
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Question: Restoring the Internet Explorer Toolbar
I have lost my upper tool bar where back, forward, search, favorites, print, etc. is, I cannot find out how to get it back. I have hit the F11 key, but nothing happens, I don’t know what else to try. Can you help me?
Answer: Click View on the menu bar. Point to Toolbars, click on Standard Buttons. That will display the toolbar that you are looking for.
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Question: America Online: What’s the difference between Screen Names and E-mail Addresses?
Answer: Your address for e-mail with other members of America Online is your screen name.
For example: JohnSmith
Your address for e-mail with non America Online users (such as through the Internet or another online service) is your screen name (without any capitalization or spaces) followed by @aol.com
For example: johnsmith@a...
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