Welcome
to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, October 25, 2009
Trick
or Treat! It’s almost Halloween! Have a happy and safe one!!
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Identity Theft:
Latest Tricks and Techniques
Tips & Tricks: Internet
Explorer: Scroll Bar Trick
Featured Computer Term: Standby or
Hibernate?
This Week's Topic: Keep Your Hard
Drive in Good Condition
Question: Colorful Title Bars
Websites of Interest: Happy
Halloween; All Saints Day; First Aid Advice; Tipping Guide; DoItYourself
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Special Feature: Identity
Theft:
Latest
Tricks and Techniques Keep Identity Theft at Top of Scam Charts
The
following article is from scambusters.org
Identity
theft has been the number one scam both on the Internet and in the real world
for more than a decade. And the bad news is... it's not just growing but
rocketing, as crooks launch ever more sophisticated ID theft tricks.
New
Identity Theft Facts
According
to the latest figures, there are now at least 8 million identity theft attempts
online every day. Yes, that's right, 8 million every single day!
Fortunately,
most of them don't succeed, but even the tiny fraction of the number that do
leads to a multi-billion-dollar crime business and months or years of misery
for the victims.
About Identity Theft...
although it's a wide and sometimes complex subject,
identity theft boils down to two simple techniques:
*
Stealing information about you from a variety of sources, ranging from your
wallet to your medical records.
*
Tricking you into giving confidential information about yourself, like your
Social Security number and passwords, better known as phishing.
.
With
the first type of ID theft, research suggests that by far the most common
current technique is straightforward theft of wallets and purses via
pickpockets -- in crowds, in grocery stores, at events -- or sneak thefts in
hotel rooms, student dorms and gym locker rooms.
The
answer, of course, is always to safeguard your wallet. Keep it under cover and
keep your hand on it -- and only carry essential items in it. For instance,
memorize your Social Security number and don't carry your card.
Law
enforcement also reports a recent rise in data theft from trash cans. This can
be in the form of personal information and account numbers on documents you've
discarded, but it's also possible for thieves to recover credit card
invitations you threw away and apply for finance in your name.
The
solution: Shred everything that has your name or other personal information on
it.
The
other recent key trend in this area of identity theft is the loss of
information that you are personally powerless to prevent.
This
ranges from a waiter recording your credit card details (including that all-important
security number on the back), when you pay your restaurant check, through to
the massive-scale hacking of business computers on which your personal details
are stored, the biggest of which this year saw millions of accounts
compromised.
You
may not be able to stop ID theft of this type but you can take important steps
to limit its impact -- by monitoring your accounts online, keeping a check on
your credit score, and/or subscribing to an ID theft protection service.
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Tips & Tricks: Internet
Explorer: Scroll Bar Trick
Instead
of clicking the up or down arrow on the scrollbar, or rolling the mouse wheel,
try this: right click on the scroll
bar. A menu will open. You can quickly get to the very top or
bottom of the site by clicking Top or Bottom. Move up or down part of the way
by clicking Page Up or Page Down.
Take
a look at the menu and try some of the choices.
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Featured Computer Term: Standby
or Hibernate?
What
is the difference between Standby and Hibernate? Why would you choose one over
the other?
Answer:
In
Standby your computer uses less power than when it is on. It is available for
immediate use; just press the spacebar to wake it up. Remember to save any work
you have done. If the power is interrupted, anything that was not saved will be
gone.
Hibernate shuts down your computer after it saves
everything to the hard disk. When you bring your computer out of hibernation,
all programs and documents that were open will still be on the desktop.
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.
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Today's Topic: Keep Your Hard
Drive in Good Condition
The
Hard drives ia one of the
most important parts of the computer.
It stores all of the programs that you use and all of your files-
letters, pictures and everything else you create. A hard drive may fail without warning,
and all the data on the disk will be lost.
It
is important to keep your hard drive healthy and in good condition. Checking and fixing errors, and
periodically defragmenting it can prolong the life of the hard drive.
Check
the Drive for Errors
Click
the Start button and then click My Computer (Computer in Vista).
Right
click on the C: drive and then left click Properties.
Click
the Tools tab at the top. Click the
Check Now button. (Vista will ask
for permission; click Continue)
Both options, Automatically fix file system errors and
Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, should be checked. If they are not, click the small box to
the left to place a checkmark in it.
Click
the Start button. If Windows
prompts for a restart, click Yes.
Windows
will then restart, check and repair any bad files on your drive.
Defragment
the Drive
When
a file is stored on your hard disk, it is often split into separate fragments.
Fragmentation occurs naturally when you use a disk frequently: creating,
deleting, and modifying files. At some point, the operating system needs to
store parts of a file in noncontiguous places on the disk.
You
cannot see the fragments, and you cannot stop this fragmenting from occurring,
but it can slow down the speed at which data is accessed because the disk drive
must search through different parts of the disk to put together a single file. The drive has to work hard to locate all
the different fragments. As a result, the hard drive’s life is shortened.
However,
you can defrag your system. This is the term used for reorganizing the data on
your Hard Disk into a more logical sequence, which means taking all those
scattered fragments of files and piecing them back together where they belong.
This helps free more hard drive space and makes the accessing of files a
speedier process; your Hard Disk will work quicker and more efficiently.
Here
are the steps to defrag:
Windows
XP:
Click
the Start button and then click My Computer.
Right
click on the C: drive and then left click Properties.
Click
the Tools tab at the top.
Click on Defragment Now. Analyze the drive and then click
Defragment.
Windows
Vista:
Click
the Start button and then click Computer.
Right
click on the C: drive and then left click Properties.
Click
the Tools tab at the top. Click on Defragment Now. If Windows asks for permission, click
the Continue button.
Click
the C: disk and then click OK.
You
should defrag once a month or so to keep your hard drive in good working
condition.
This
will probably be a very lengthy process, depending on the size of your hard
drive and number of files.
Performance will be very slow during the defrag process so you may want
to do this when you do not need to use the computer.
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Question: Colorful Title Bars
On
my granddaughter’s computer, the title bars of the windows are a
different color than mine. Am I
able to change the color of the title bars on my computer? She showed me how on hers, but there
were too many steps for me to remember.
Could you explain?
Answer:
The
Title bar is the area across the very top of the window that displays the
program name, the filename and the control buttons (minimize, maximize, close)
on the right side. You can change
the colors of the title bar. Here
are the steps:
Windows
XP:
Right-click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; left click Properties.
The
Display Properties window will open.
Click the Appearance tab at the top.
Click
the Advanced button.
Under
Item, you will see a small drop down box. click the
small down arrow to the right. A
list will display; click Active Title Bar.
To
the right of the drop down box, you will see two drop down boxes titled Color 1
and Color 2.
The
Color 1 box is the color that will display towards the left side of the title
bar. Color 2 will display towards the right. The two colors create a gradient effect
as they mix in the middle. For
example, if you choose yellow in color 1 and red in color 2, the middle of the
title bar will be orange.
Click
the small down arrow in Color 1. A
small palette will open with choices of color; click the color you want. Do the same with Color 2. You will see the results in the small
preview window above the settings.
Click
the OK button.
If
you change your mind about the colors, follow the steps above to make
additional changes.
Windows
Vista
Right-click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; left click
Personalize.
Click
Window Color and Appearance.
Click
to choose the color you like. You
will see the results immediately in the title bar of the window.
You
can make the color darker or lighter by dragging the slider next to Color
intensity. Click Show color mixer
for more settings. Drag the sliders
to left or right for changes.
Click
the OK button when you are finished. If you change your mind about the colors,
follow the steps above to make additional changes.
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Websites of Interest:
Happy Halloween
Visit
the Halloween page on our website for help with pumpkin carving, costume
design, cooking baking and much more.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/halloween.html
All
Saints Day
All
Saint's Day is on the first Sunday in November. Learn more at this website.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints_Day
First
Aid Advice
This
is an excellent site for first aid information.
http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice.aspx
Tipping
Guide
Who to tip, how much to give, and tipping etiquette in
countries around the world.
http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/500117
DoItYourself
Home
improvement and repair how-to information.
http://www.doityourself.com