BATTERY
TIP - LITHIUM RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES DETERIORATE QUITE RAPIDLY EVEN
WHEN NOT IN USE: Be
aware that if you buy a spare battery for your laptop or other device
it will lose 20% or so in its first year. That will also happen in the
second year and so on. You could reduce the annual loss of capacity to
about 6% by keeping it in a refrigerator. Also if the battery you wish
to store is only charged to 40% instead of 100% that will reduce the
rate of deterioration considerably.
Delay
purchasing that spare or replacement if you can, never buy a battery
that has been on a shelf for more than a month or so, or stored at a
high temperature, however I do not know if keeping it in a freezer is a
good idea, any ideas? -- Tips Teller
Problems
Defragging? You
will get a better job done if you put your computer in safe mode first.
The computer loads in Safe Mode if you hold down the F8 key while it is
booting up -- Greycloak
Getting
the pages Correctly Sized in Adobe Acrobat.
Ever had a problem with Adobe Acrobat producing differently sized
pages? The answer is to print the page in question to a PDF file rather
than a printer. When you select 'PRINT' and the window appears yow will
be able to select however many printers are installed plus an option to
print to 'Adobe PDF'.
Depending on software versions
and printer type you will be given the option to scale the picture or
to select different 'Dots Per Inch' settings. You may have to click on
the 'Advanced' button to do this.
More on:- http://www.uspto.gov/teas/resizingPDFfile.html
Short
Cuts:When
using Exel, you can use F2 or Double-click inside the box to directly
enter data or formulae, In Windows one can quicKly switch between
applications by pressing Alt+Tab Use Alt+F6 to switch between
documents. -- Levitator101 For more Windows shortcuts go to Shortcuts
Windows
Tips & Tricks
Need to shut down or restart your computer in a hurry? No problem, hold
down the SHIFT key while selecting Shutdown or Restart. Windows will
restart with the message 'Windows is now restarting….' Instead of a
full-blown system re-boot. -- Mark A. Toddington, Computer
Technician, MatSys Computer Solutions,
Format
Painter: -
When using Format Painter a double-click gives repeat properties;
simply place the cursor over the format you wish to copy, click, then
select the format painter icon and double click. A single click gives a
single-shot capability. -- DM
More
Word Shortcuts:
-- Ctrl+W = Close doc -- Ctrl+N = New Document -- F7 will load the
spell checker, Note also that ' Options' in the 'Tools' menu has a
wealth of functions -- Davina Martin
POP
UP MESSAGES Are you plagued with annoying pop-up messages?
Quite often they are trying to sell you a cure for the annoying problem
that they are causing in the first place.
Getting
rid of them is quite a simple procedure, you will have to disable the
messenger service or "net send" function (Not MSN Messenger). The
following instructions apply to both XP Home and XP Professional:
Click
Start > Run and type "services.msc" (no quotes) in the Open:
line and click OK -- In the right pane, scroll down to Messenger. --
Double click Messenger and click the General tab. --
Under Service Status: click the Stop button. -- In the Startup Type:
drop down box, select Disable. -- Click Apply and OK.
The pop
ups will soon stop after you do this -- Essie 2000
Never
tackle a major computer repair job or upgrade if you are tired
-- Jimmy Stewart Stanmore, England
If you
have more than one disk installed on your computer it is not always
obvious how to configure them. When deciding which disk to make the
master (or boot disk) and which the slave, it is usually a good idea to
use the faster one as the master. there is always information on the
label about how to set the jumpers to set master/slave. You can leave
both as masters if you have more than one IDE connector on the mother
board and the computer will automatically select the drive on IDE-1 as
the boot disk. It is usually preferable to keep CD ROMs and DVD players
on the second IDE bus as they can slow down the master drive especially
if both hard drives are configured as master. -- levitator
Inexpensive
Mouse Pads: Here's an idea for an inexpensive mouse pad.
Look in the fabric or craft section at discount department stores for
the colorful, (albeit thin) 9"X12" sheets of craft material called
"Foamies". They sell for about 99 cents each. If you feel you must have
a thicker mouse pad, glue two together. Sure beats shelling out $4 for
a smaller regular pad! -- "Tim and Cheryl"
Always
Back Up Important Documents. Have one, preferably 2
backup system for your data. We were burgled and the thieves
took the backup tapes as well. It is a good idea to keep a set of data
at home or at another location.
AntiVirus Software For
anyone needing AntiVirus software from an experienced company works
brilliantly regular updates and to top it all it's FREE go to Computer
Associates Site which is www.cai.com and you can download INOCULATE
PERSONAL EDITION a top professional version which gives top class
protection all for FREE. Regards Robin Window "Robin Window"
Have good
virus protection, Replace the fan every couple of years, Use
"Uninstall", most programs make some changes to your operating system
control files, deleting the program files will not remove these
changes. Use "defrag" and "Scandisk"frequently. HAVE
A BACKUP SYSTEM!
CD
ROMs and CDs -- Always wipe away from the center.
Spam
Avoiding
Spam:
My first one is one that your site could probably use. There are
spiders (internet programs) which collect email addresses by searching
all web pages email addresses or for a mailto: link. These are added to
the CDs of "over a million internet addresses" which are sent to
spammers. A better idea now is to use a form or CGI which does not have
the email address on the html page. Another option is to make your
email address a gif image so that it can be easily be read by real
people but not automatic programs -- Gandalf Parker
Spamming
can be reduced by including "nospam" or something similar inside your
e-mail address. I frequently do it on Usenet or when I think that the
spiders are likely to scoop me up!!! --
Deleting
programs from your hard drive (Windows95/98) Better safe
than sorry! Always use the Utility that you will find in the "Settings"
Panel (Start/Settings/Add-Remove Programs) or the "undelete" utility
that came with the program. If you get messages asking if you want to
delete components of the program that may be used elsewhere, then in my
experience we you should say no and leave them there. They may be
taking up some space on your drive but there is a probability that your
system will crash if you remove them. You can get rid of all the
programs you don't want the next time you do a low level format on the
drive. - Hector Velasquez-Conn, Perth Australia
Use
a Kitchen Timer to tell when you have reached the end of
your planned session on your PC. Your productivity will improve if you
plan in advance what you intend doing in session. Schedule all of
working time spent on your machine -- John Krebs Denver USA
Slippery Mouse? Sometimes it is
not enough to just remove the dust from your mouse. Wash and
scrub the ball with detergent and an abrasive pad. I found
that even on poor "mousing surfaces" that there were no more problems
with slippage. Don't you just love the term "mousing
surface"?. I found it on one of my partner's computer magazines - had
me chuckling all afternoon -- Adele Smith, Darwin Australia
Cleaning
your optical mouse
- If you do not have q tips or isopropyl alcohol handy to clean the
lens of the LED and senser then simply roll a small piece of plain
paper into a tight tube and clean away. breathing on the lens should
dampen it and a little puff afterwards should dislodge any papper
fibres on the surface of the optical sensor. Another reason for mouse
problems is the gender thing, if your mouse is a little bit
temperamental sometimes then it is likely that you have a girl mouse. --
Darlen Swit
Zone-Alarm
is a free firewall software that gives good protection.
Adrian Dnes
Sound:
You can made complicated echo sound effects using the pretty
basic sound recorder program that comes with Windows . To do this open
the WAV file that you want to enhance, and then choose Edit, Copy. When
you do this move the slider to the right a little. To get a mild
reverberation effect set the slider to about 0.05 seconds (see the
exact time in the box). To make a larger echo move the slider even
further. Then choose Edit, Paste Mix to finish it. Click the play
button to test it out. -- Trev
DOS
Web browsing: If you have an older computer-
or just want speed and no frills web browsing - Operasoftware (http://www.operasoft.com)
have a web browser that does not use Windows. Another
advantage is that it is considerably less memory intensive -- Darren
Ewardes
Security:
keep all of your computer gear away from prying eyes. Keep it all away
from the window to deter burglars. -- R Holson
Windows
Windows:
when cutting and pasting text or images in any windows software a quick
shortcut is to highlight the text you want to use and then use on of
the corresponding keyboard shortcuts. CL + X is cut, CL + C is COPY,
and CL + V is paste. -- Anon.
Graphics:
to copy an image of the screen onto the clipboard in windows you can
press the PRINT SCREEN button (called 'Prt Sc' or something like that
on you keyboard). This only works for non-Windows applications only if
they are running in text mode. -- Phil D Ramirez
Windows:
Do you get annoyed whenever you insert a compact disk into the CD-ROM
drive and it automatically plays. Bypass the auto-play by holding down
shift whilst inserting the CD-ROM. -- Gareth Richards, Essex
UK
Passwords
Be
original, make it as difficult as possible for the potential intruder.
Don't use obvious ones and change them frequently. If you find it
difficult to remember them don't write them down on a piece of paper
you keep in your desk drawer or in an easily accessible file.
Using the
same one you used last time reduces the security of your information
significantly, as does using the same one on more than one system or
application. You are often given a choice about how many
letters you can use, use them all. Letters and numbers are better than
just letters. If you are given the option of using upper and
lower case then do so. Be original. If you are
like me and have a failing memory then if you have them written down
then use a code to keep them safe.
For a
good source of computer security tips and information visit www.privacyfoundation.org
More on
Advice on Computer Security - 9
Essential Computer Security Tips
Children and Computers
AOL has
good Parental Controls. It is a good idea to take
advantage of them and others like it. There is no substitute for good
over-the-shoulder supervision, and there are some pretty nasty sites
and lots of scary people out there. Always stay
involved with their surfing activities. Teach them
never to share passwords or give out personal
information. Ensure that they only ever go into
chat rooms using a screen name that does not accept e-mail.
Protect
the Kids - Some software to help you limit what your
kids can see are: Net Nanny, and Cyber Patrol.
Prevent
damage to portable and notebook computers avoiding
moving them while the hard drive is running. This also applies - to a
lesser degree - to desktops -- D Edwardes.
Don't
Lose a Screw. Screws removed from equipment can be
stored and retained in sequence by poking them in to a piece of
blue-tack or beeswax -- Roxanne
If you
have to keep using the computers SETUP command in the BIOS (when you
first switch on your computer) each time you switch it on, check the
date it gives you, if the current date is reset to the earliest date
(i.e. it says Tue, Jan 1, 1980, or something like that) then the
computer's internal battery has probably died and needs to be replaced.
- - GK Howard
Keep your
computer out of direct sunlight if possible. -- Bill Carlton
Hard Drives:
If
your hard drive is more than a few years old pay particular attention
to backing up your data. Life expectancy of drives made four
years ago means that around 50% of them should have started to
deteriorate - - Rob E - Even more important if you are a heavy
user - Ed
To improve
the efficiency of your hard disk there are a few things you can do.
Deleting any files you don't need is useful (always back up your
important files). You can run a disk-compaction program, or you can use
the 'chkdsk' command in DOS (always quit windows
before using the 'chkdsk /f' command,
which finds and fixes any lost file clusters). -- Anon
Write down
the CMOS settings information and hard drive data and any other
hardware settings on a piece of paper and keep inside the computer, the
next time you have it open you will find the data which could save
hours of faffing about -- Robin Gill, Heston, UK
Websites
Google
the links back to your Website. e.g.
"link:www.yoursitename.com" will tell how many sites link to
yours.
To
Find the IP address of a Website. Connect to the
Internet and from DOS simply type "ping www.sitename.com" in to the
command line. With Windows 2000 you simply call up "Run" and type the
ping instruction to the command line.
You can do
a similar thing with FTP and mail: i.e. ping mail.earthlinker.net, ping
ftp.cybrmall.net
etc. -- Mavis B
To
Find the IP Address of your Computer. It
is easy to find Websitwes that do it for you, simply google "what
is my IP address"
If
you are part of a LAN network then you will have an IP Address on the
network, go to 'Start', click 'Run', a small window will appear, then
type in 'cmd' and hit enter, the DOS panel will appear. Type in
'ipconfig' and you will then have your address displayed along with
some other IP information - Davina Martin
The Internet and Browsing
Free
Starbucks over -wi-fi is not secure. Do not ever do your banking or any
sensitive activity through a publicly available network such as coffee
shops or hotels that do not issue you with a unique password. It is so
easy for a coffee sipping hacker to insert himself into the path of
your communications. widely available software makes it very easy.
It
is usually OK to use your own wi-fi or the mobile phone network but any
open or semi-open network is risky. Criminals have cottoned on to just
how easy it is to tune in to your conversations and emails, learning
when you are on holiday so that they can burgle your home is just one
of the many things that a nasty can extract from their simple hack.
<<<>>>
Techie
Stuff: More technical information is available IRQ list -- ASCII -- Hex Conversion
-- I/O Ports
-- Viruses