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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, September 16, 2007
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Protect Your Computer
This Week's Topic: Printing Choices: Print Selected Pages; Reverse Order
Question: Microsoft Word: Non Breaking Space
Websites of Interest: World Alzheimers Day; Beginners Guide to Digital Photography; Tea Time; Eye Care America
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Special Feature: Protect Your Computer
The following housekeeping tasks should be done regularly to keep your computer secure and clean of unneeded files and extras.
Virus Scans
Open your antivirus program and look at the settings to ensure that it automatically checks for updates whenever the computer connects to the Internet. Weekly, open the program and run a full system scan.
More about viruses:
http://stsico.com/html/viruses.html
Spyware Scans
Spyware can infect your system and cause all kinds of problems from slowdowns to allowing hackers to get in and take over. You must have antispyware software on your computer and do periodic scans.
More about Spyware:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/062704.html
Remove Temporary Files
A temporary file is a computer file used to store information for a short time; the file is then supposed to be deleted after its use. Windows often misses many of these files, and they can cause slowdown problems with the computer.
To remove the temporary files, click the Start button and then click Search. Click All Files and Folders. In the All or part of the filename box, type in the following:
*.tmp
Note: that is the asterisk,period, tmp with no spaces.
Verify that Look in box is pointing to the C: drive and not and Document Folders. Click the Search button.
Delete all files that are found.
Note: It is possible that some temp files are being used by programs that are currently running. You may not be able to delete these files until you close the program that is using them.
Delete Cookies
Cookies are small files that are loaded onto your computer when you visit a website. They hold information about your activities and account information with that particular website.
For example if you frequently shop at a specific website, a cookie from this website identifies you and will include your name and items you might be interested in when you visit their website.
If you delete this cookie, the website will show you a generic page and you will have to log in each time using your username and password before you can access your account with them. When you order, you may also have to manually type in your name, address, and any other necessary information that the cookie would put in for you.
Many websites use cookies and after a while, your computer will have so many that the speed will start to be affected.
To delete all the cookies, go to Control Panel (Click Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel) and open Internet Options. On the General tab, click on the button that says Delete Cookies.
If you’re using Windows XP Category View, click Start, click Control Panel. Click Network and Internet Connections. Click Internet Options. On the General tab, click on the button that says Delete Cookies.
Clear Internet History
Using Internet History, you can find Web sites and pages you have viewed in the last few weeks, days, hours, or minutes. To view history, click the History button on the toolbar. Recently visited website will appear in the left pane of the window. Click on the address to visit that website.
To pick up the pace a little, empty out Internet History. Open Internet Options as instructed above and click the Clear History button in the Internet Options dialog box.
Clear Browser Cache
Internet Explorer and other browsers cache Web pages you have accessed. This means when you return to a webpage, the page will quickly load from your hard drive and not slowly load from the Internet. This is a big time saver when you are surfing the Internet, but these temporary Internet files can add up and monopolize significant space on your hard drive.
Open the Internet Options dialog box as instructed above. Click the Delete Files button in the Temporary Internet Files section. A dialog box will appear asking you to confirm the deletion; click OK.
Clean up Prefetch
Windows tries to preload the data needed for running programs before you open them. This is supposed to make them open faster but what actually happens is that programs you hardly ever use take up space and the wrong data gets prefetched.
To empty out Prefetch, click the Start button and then click Run. In the Open box, type Prefetch. Click the OK button. A window will open with a list of items. All of these can be deleted.
Click Edit on the menu and then Select all. All the items on the list will be selected. Press the Delete key. You will see a confirm box asking if you want to send all the items to the Recycle bin. Click the Yes button.
Remove any Unneeded Programs
Go through the Add/Remove programs and clean up some of the unwanted items in there. Click the Start button and open Control Panel. Open Add/Remove.
Check this periodically for programs you no longer need or want. If anything new shows up on its own in here, remove it and immediately run virus and spyware scans.
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Our Protect Your Computer Series
We hope you enjoyed and benefited from our Protect Your Computer Series that we have done over the last four editions of this newsletter. If you missed any of them, you can catch up by visiting our website at these links:
Windows Updates
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/072907.html
Antivirus and Antispyware Programs
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/080507.html
Running Programs and Processes
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/081207.html
Firewalls
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/090907.html
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Today's Topic: Printing Choices: Print Selected Pages; Reverse Order
Print Selected Pages
Question: I have a very long document that I occasionally need to print pages from. Can I print specific pages when I need them without printing the entire document?
Answer:
Yes, you can. There are several ways to do this.
If you want to print one page, open the document and maneuver to the page you want to print. Make sure you click on it, because the presence of the insertion point (flashing vertical line) on the page makes it the current page. Once there, click File on the menu, then Print. In the Print dialog box that you now see, click the circle to the left of Current Page to select that open, and then click the Print button. Only the page you have selected will print.
If you want to print several consecutive pages, click File on the menu, then Print. In the Print dialog box that you now see, click in the textbox to the right of the word Pages. Type in the range of pages you would like to print, for example, 1-5.
To print non consecutive pages, click File on the menu, then Print. In the Print dialog box that you now see, click in the textbox to the right of the word Pages. Type in the pages you would like to print, separated with commas, for example, 2, 4, 7, 10.
Reverse Order
Question: The pages come out of my printer backwards. If I print a long document, I have to shuffle the whole batch to put them in consecutive order. What can I do to fix this?
Answer:
Some printers print that way, with the pages coming out backwards.
You can tell the printer to print the document in reverse order. To do so, click File on the menu, then Print. In the Print dialog box that you now see, click in the textbox to the right of the word Pages. Type in the range of pages you would like to print, starting with the last page and ending with the first page. For example, to print a ten page document, type 10-1.
The document should now be in correct order for your printer.
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Question: Microsoft Word: Non Breaking Space
When I type a date that is toward the right side of the line, the month stays on the line but the day and year moves down to the next line. Can I get the date to stay together as it should?
Answer:
Yes, you have to use a non breaking space. To do so, type the month; do not type a space after. Click Insert on the menu and then click Symbol. Click the Special Characters tab at the top. Click Nonbreaking Space and then click the Insert button. Click the Close button and then finish typing the day and year.
Depending on the line position of the date, you may have to insert a nonbreaking space between the day and the year, too. To do so, after typing the day and the comma, do not type a space. Click Insert on the menu and then click Symbol. Click the Special Characters tab at the top. Click Nonbreaking Space and then click the Insert button. Click the Close button and then finish typing the year.
Now the entire date will always stay together on the same line.
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Websites of Interest:
World Alzheimers Day
Thursday, September 21st, is World Alzheimers Day. Visit this website to learn more about this horrible disease and what you can do to help.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/52352.php
Beginners Guide to Digital Photography
Photonhead is a site full of tips, tricks and everything you ever wanted to know about digital cameras and digital photography.
http://www.photonhead.com/
Tea Time
Next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage on Earth. At this website, you can learn everything about tea including preparation and health benefits.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tea.htm
Eye Care America
At this website, you can learn about a variety of eye problems, common risks, preventions and treatments. Created by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeCare America is a non-profit organization that works to preserve eye sight, reduce avoidable blindness, and raise awareness of related diseases.
http://www.eyecareamerica.org/ |
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