Welcome
to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, January 17, 2010
In this Issue:
Special Feature: How to Spot and
Avoid a Scareware or ID Theft Protection Scam
Tips & Tricks: Access Your
Desktop Instantly
Special Feature: A Donor's Guide to
International Emergencies
This
Week's Topic: Speed Up a Slow Computer - Uninstall Unused Programs
Question: Printing Sideways
Websites of Interest: Martin Luther
King Jr.; Best Websites of 2009; Typing; Find a Stain Solution
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Special Feature: How to Spot
and Avoid a Scareware or ID Theft Protection Scam
The
following is from scambusters.org
Protection
scam artists are making a fortune, cashing in on our fears about computer
security. They're pumping out scareware programs in the thousands, firing up bogus
warnings claiming our PCs have been infected with viruses and then demanding a
fee to remove them.
Others
send out protection messages, dishonestly claiming they can improve our online
security, offer credit protection and reduce the risk of identity theft.
Please
visit our newsletter archives to read last week’s article on Scareware:
http://computerkindergarten.com/011010.html
Identity
Theft Protection Scams
These
take a number of forms, the three most common of which are:
1.
You get a protection spam which appears to come from a legitimate source. A
famous recent example was use of the "Verified by Visa" tag in a
message that invited users to register for this scheme (which does actually
exist) by clicking a link that took them to a spoof page where they were
supposed to list all their credit card details!
Genuine
ID protection companies don’t spam, so never respond to such messages.
Instead, if you're interested, do your own search; look for established
reputable companies.
2.
You get an email or telesales call telling you your name has come up on a list
of potential ID theft targets, or even that your online identity has been
compromised.
Often,
the caller or email author will claim to have a security-related title, like
"inspector" and will offer you protection for a fee -- usually $299.
Again,
this is bogus. Everyone is a potential ID theft target.
If
your information was on a stolen laptop or other compromised device, you will
be contacted through snail mail, not by email or phone -- and you will often be
given some free service protection (rather than be asked to buy protection).
3.
Someone offers to remove your personal details from the Internet, thereby
reducing the risk of identity theft.
This
is a "no-can-do" protection scam. You cannot erase all of your
personal details from the myriad sources, many of them public records,
available on the Internet. Don't believe anyone who says otherwise.
Protection
scam tricks aren't going to disappear anytime soon, so make sure you take the
steps outlined above to take care of yourself.
**********************************
Tips & Tricks: Access Your
Desktop Instantly
Hold
down the Windows key and press the d key.
All open windows will hide and you will be able to see the Desktop. Press Windows-D again to return to where
you were.
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Special Feature: A Donor's
Guide to International Emergencies
The
following article is from about.com
The
only people who actually benefit from a natural disaster are the scam artists,
who turn out in droves to dupe the well-intentioned. Don't be fooled. This is
the safe way to donate.
We
all want to help but are sometimes confused about how to determine what
charitable organizations are helping with what emergencies, and decide where
our donations should go. The most frequent questions we get about charitable
organizations are, "How do I know if an organization is legitimate?"
and "How do I report a possible fraudulent nonprofit?"
Start
first with safety. Do not let your gift fall into the hands of an organization
that is at best poorly run and at worst fraudulent. Here is some help in
sorting out which organizations are legit and which are not:
The
IRS provides a "search" for IRS approved charities. Don't stop there,
however. Even if your charity is listed, you may need to hunt further to get
information about how effective and efficient the charity is.
http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96136,00.html
You
may also verify an organization's tax-exempt status and eligibility to receive
tax-deductible charitable contributions by asking to see an organization's IRS
letter recognizing it as tax-exempt, or you may call the IRS (toll-free) at
1-877-829-5500.
Charity
Navigator ranks charities based on their IRS forms to reveal which charities do
the most good with your donations. Any charity that does not spend at least 65
percent of its budget directly on its mission should be suspect.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
GuideStar.org
lists 1.5 million nonprofits in its database, all of which have met IRS
criteria for exempt organizations.
http://www2.guidestar.org/
Give.org
is a division of the Better Business Bureau. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance
provides information about charities, publishes a quarterly guide to wise
giving, and provides a national charity seal that charities can display on
their websites and in their fundraising materials. Give.org also provides a way
for you to complain about a charity should you feel you've been misled.
http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/
Your
state attorney general's office is responsible for investigating fraud,
including fraudulent practices of nonprofits or groups that claim to be
nonprofits. If you have a complaint against a nonprofit in your state, this is
the place to go. The National Association of Attorneys General maintains a list
of each state's Attorney General with contact information.
http://www.naag.org/
When
in doubt, stick to tried and true charities such as the American Red Cross,
Mercy Corps, or CARE.
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.mercycorps.org/
http://www.care.org/
**********************************
Today's Topic: Speed Up a Slow Computer - Uninstall Unused Programs
As
your Windows computer ages, its speed can decrease. You will notice an increase in response
time when you give commands to open programs, files or folders, use the
Internet and other tasks. There are
several things you can do to speed up your computer.
Over
the next several editions of this newsletter, we will present articles
discussing some of the steps you can take to speed up your slow computer.
Important: before making any changes to your
system, always create a Restore Point.
If anything goes wrong with the changes you make, this will allow you to
revert back to a point when the computer was operating correctly. Please visit our Newsletter Archives to
read our article, All About Restore Points:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/040509.html
Uninstall
Unused Programs
When
you install a program on your computer, a connection is created between the
program and the operating system.
Even if you never use the program, it can slow down the computer.
Your
computer may have programs on it that you installed and no longer use or
programs that came packaged with it that you never even opened. Instead of allowing them to slow things
down, get rid of them.
Uninstalling
a Program in Windows Vista
The
uninstall feature in Windows XP and Vista are somewhat similar. In Vista, click the Start Orb (bottom
left) and open Control Panel. Click Control Panel Home on the left.
Under
Programs, click on Uninstall a program.
This will open the Uninstall or change a program window. It may take a
few moments to completely populate the list.
Once
all the programs are listed, scroll down and find the one you want to
uninstall. Click on it to select
it. Once you select it, you will
see the word Uninstall appear on the blue bar above the list of programs. Click it. Windows will display a box asking for
your permission to continue. Click
the Continue button.
Another
window should display asking you if you want to uninstall the program. Click Yes. The uninstall wizard will start up, and
begin to uninstall. Depending on
the program that you are uninstalling, the uninstall wizard may ask you to
click OK at steps throughout the process.
Just follow the instructions on the screen.
This
will remove the program from your computer.
Uninstalling
a Program in Windows XP
Click
the Start button, choose Control Panel, choose Add or
Remove Programs.
Select
the program to be removed; click the remove button. Depending on the program you select to
be removed, you may be prompted to confirm the removal, or Windows Uninstaller
Wizard may just start up to begin the uninstallation.
Uninstalling
a Program with the Program’s Uninstall Function
Many
programs come with their own uninstall program that will quickly remove
programs from your computer. Some installers do not put their program on the
Add/Remove list, so your next place to look is in the Start menu.
Find
the that program in All Programs in the Start menu and
see if there is an item called Uninstall. If so, click on it and the
Uninstaller will run. Follow any
prompts that appear on the screen.
In
our next edition, learn how to speed up your computer by turning off programs
that start up automatically.
Please
visit our Newsletter Archives for previous articles in our Speed Up a Slow Computer series:
Speed
Up a Slow Computer - Clean the Desktop
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/040509.html
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Question: Printing Sideways
Question: I would like to print sideways on a
page. How can I do this?
Answer:
To
print sideways rather than top-to-bottom, you will have to change the
orientation setting from Portrait to Landscape. In most programs, the default setting is
Portrait. Many programs (not all) will allow you to change to Landscape
printing.
To
change the page orientation to landscape, follow these steps:
Click
File on the menu and then click Page Setup. You will see the Page Setup dialog
box.
The
Orientation setting can be found in the Page Setup Dialog box. In many cases, you will see the Portrait
and Landscape choices as soon as you open the Page Setup box. If you do not see those choices, look
for tabs at the top of the box.
Click on each tab until you find the Portrait and Landscape choices.
Once
you find Portrait and Landscape, click the small circle or box to the left of
Landscape to choose that orientation.
Click the OK button.
When
you print, the document will now print sideways.
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Websites of Interest:
Martin Luther King Jr.
On
Monday, January 17, we observe the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. At our website, you will find many
interesting and informative links to visit.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/mlk.html
Best
Websites of 2009
From
Time magazine online, here’s their list of the top 50:
http://tinyurl.com/nkngyx
From
PC Magazine, their top 100:
http://tinyurl.com/lx7quh
Typing
Klava is a simple website that lets you test your
typing speed and accuracy online.
http://www.klava.org/
Find
a Stain Solution
Find
quick, step-by-step cleaning instructions from the experts at Tide
http://www.tide.com/en-US/stains/top-stains.jspx