KEEPING
PACE IN CYBERSPACE
OCTOBER 2003
Heritage Village Computer Club http://www.hvcomputerclub.org
Monthly Meeting
Heritage Hall
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
"Timex Data Link Watch
& Other Products"
Presented by Paul Bernstein,
Timex
EVERYONE
WELCOME, BRING A FRIEND
MORE GOOGLE SEARCH POWER
The ever-popular Google search engine at http://www.google.com has even more tricks up its sleeves. Instead of resorting to one of the other utilities that provide a reverse lookup for a telephone number, simply type the number, including area code, in Google's search box. If you are looking for an item, there is no need to resort to the Yellow Pages. Just type the one word category followed by the area code, for example "furniture 555" (without the quotes).
BEWARE THE FREE.
Always examine a Web site's privacy policy before using any service it offers. Even then, you can't always believe what they say. Your "free" service will often be paid for in more ad traffic, spam, and perhaps spyware. Of course, you can then update your spyware software that I hope you have installed on your computer. Sometimes the trade-off is not that irritating and visiting sites and signing up for coupons, game downloads, and other free stuff is often fun. I recently bought free “business cards” from VistaPrint.com and they hardly bothered me at all after the sale.
HELPANSWERS
A useful site to answer your computer questions: http://www.helpanswers.com/ .
COLUMBIA ENCYCLOPEDIA. Search online at http://www.bartleby.com/65/ from nearly 51,000 entries. This encyclopedia, claimed to be the most complete and up-to-date ever produced, consists of six and one-half million words on a vast range of topics, and with more than 80,000 hypertext cross-references.
WINDOWS REGISTRY
TUTORIAL: WHAT IS THE
REGISTRY?
by WinGuides.com
The Registry is a database used to store settings and options for the 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 95, 98, ME and NT/2000. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, software, users, and preferences of the PC. Whenever a user makes changes to a Control Panel settings, or File Associations, System Policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the Registry.
The physical files that make up the registry are stored differently depending on your version of Windows; under Windows 95 & 98 it is contained in two hidden files in your Windows directory, called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT, for Windows Me there is an additional CLASSES.DAT file, while under Windows NT/2000 the files are contained separately in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config directory. You cannot edit these files directly; you must use a tool commonly known as a "Registry Editor" to make any changes-- something that is done only by an advanced user. CAUTION: Incorrect changes to your Registry can make your computer unusable.
MICROSOFT
HAIKU:
A crash
reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
BOOST PC
PERFORMANCE BY SCOURING YOUR REGISTRY
By
Jason Parker: Contributing Editor, Downloads
Monday,
October 6, 2003
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/AnchorDesk/4520-7297_16-5086469.html?tag=adss
With installing
and uninstalling, it doesn't take long for my system's registry (the operating
system database that keeps track of my apps and preferences) to become a
complete mess. That, in turn, can cause
errors, slower performance, and sometimes crashes.
Keep the system's registry lean and mean by
periodically scanning it for the garbage left behind by uninstalled programs,
by using a special family of utilities called registry scrubbers. They check the registry for unassociated and
rogue entries. Some also tell what the
specific registry entries were once used for and then decide which entries can
be safely deleted.
Here are three
favorites for regular registry maintenance.
Registry Medic
comprehensively scans registry entries, looking for the files and programs
associated with each. This one gives
you plenty of details on each entry for which it can't find a
"parent.” Note that the free trial
version only lets you fix five entries at a time. (Shareware/Windows)
Publisher:.................................. Iomatic
Date added:.............................. September
18, 2003
File size:.................................... 1.85MB;
Clock this
download
License:.................................... Free
to try; $19.95 to buy
Minimum requirements:.............. Windows
95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP
Uninstaller included?:................. Yes
Limitations:................................ 5-entry
trial
Registry Mechanic
lets you scan for registry problems via a Windows Explorer-like interface. It then gives you a list of possible
culprits that you can selectively delete.
You can also make a backup of your whole registry and delete all of the
problem files. I like the second option
because it requires less fuss, and I can always bring back the whole set if something
isn't working correctly. (Shareware/Windows)
Publisher:.................................. WinGuides
Software
Date added:.............................. October 9,
2003
File size:.................................... 2.07MB;
Clock this
download
License:.................................... Free
to try; $19.95 to buy
Minimum requirements:.............. Windows
95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP
Uninstaller included?:................. Yes
Limitations:................................ Repairs
first 6 sections
RegSupreme
shows you a list of your current registry items in easy-to-understand terms and
lets you delete all the outdated items quickly. It's as simple as identifying old programs, checking the boxes,
and clicking the remove button. Check
on the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for this one.
It was not posted at this printing.
(Shareware/Windows)
Publisher:.................................... Macecraft
Software
Date added:................................ October
2, 2003
File size:...................................... 563K;
Clock this
download
License:...................................... Free
to try; $12.95 to buy
Uninstaller included?:................... Yes
Limitations:................................. Time
limited, 30-day trial
Even
if your PC is running fine now, I still suggest you try out one of these apps
as a preventative measure. Eventually,
every registry needs a good cleaning, and these apps will do the job nicely.
Go
to the links to read how many downloads have been chosen for each type of
Registry Cleaner and to find out user’s opinions about the product.
VEGETARIAN: OLD INDIAN WORD FOR BAD HUNTER.
SEEING GRAPHICS
Do you ever wonder why your graphics don’t show up on your page? You know that you placed them there; but they just cannot be seen. Well, you need to change your “PAGE VIEW”. On the top menu bar is the “VIEW” choice, click on it to open the “DROP DOWN MENU”. Microsoft Windows defaults to the “NORMAL” view. Change to “PRINT LAYOUT” view to see those wonderful pictures. Change to “WEB PAGE” to see what it would look like if you were making it into a web page. Return to “NORMAL” for most document viewing. These views can also be quickly chosen by using the left-side icons on the bottom scroll bar.
DIVIDING LINES (MICROSOFT OFFICE)
On this page I have made different colored dividers. You can do this too. One way is to click on the top menu bar
“FORMAT”, “BORDERS AND SHADING”, click on the icon in the PREVIEW and change
your line size and colors. The quick
way is to use the icon on the top menu bar.
If the icon is not there you can customize your toolbar and put it there
yourself. Choose the small “DOWN” arrow
on the icon to access the “DROP DOWN MENU”.
Click to Choose the icon / bar that has the letter “A” above and
below it. Once you have the bar in your
document, LEFT CLICK on the bar (it is actually a small graphic) to activate
the graphic (placing a surrounding edge on the bar); RIGHT CLICK on the bar ;
choose FORMAT HORIZONTAL BAR. Now you
can choose Width, Height, Color, and Alignment.
A VITAL RESOURCE
Social Security eNews; Published October 2003; Issue 46
There are a few documents that people absolutely need to have at some point in their lives -- a birth certificate may be the best example, but marriage or death certificates, and perhaps a divorce decree, could be other essential documents. The fact is that in order to apply for Social Security benefits (and for a number of other reasons) you will probably need at least one of these documents, either the original or a copy certified by the state that issued it. Figuring out where to go to find the certified copies you need could be confusing -- until now. With this online resource you can find the addresses and phone numbers of the issuing offices as well as the fees for the documents you need. So even a person born in Alabama, married in California, divorced in Utah and retired in Florida can find everything he or she needs at the link below. Try it out!
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/vitalstats.html
To read our illustrated online version, go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/enews/last.htm
You are welcome to subscribe. Each month you will get a free newsletter packed with important news from Social Security. You can also sign up for timely updates on Disability, Retirement, Survivors, Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, Laws And Regulations, Press Office News Releases, Wage Reporting, Seniors, and Data Studies and Research.
Go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/enews/ and subscribe now!
SHORTCUTS FOR MICROSOFT WORD.
INTERNET SHORTCUTS:
CTRL + ENTER = Quickly completes a Web address. Type komando in the address bar. Then, press CTRL + ENTER to get http://www.komando.com.
ESC = Stops page from loading
CTRL + N = Open New browser window.
DOCUMENT SHORTCUTS:
CTRL + A = Selects all the contents of a page
CTRL + C = Copy selected text
CTRL + X = Cut selected text
CTRL + P = Paste the selected text
CTRL + F = Opens the find box
CTRL + B = Bolds the highlighted selection
CTRL + I = Italicize the highlighted selection
CTRL + K = Insert a link to a Web site
CTRL + U = Underline the highlighted selection
CTRL + Y = Repeat the last action performed
CTRL + Z = Undo last action
CTRL + END = Moves the cursor to the end of the document
CTRL + HOME = Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document
UPDATES FOR YOUR MICROSOFT SOFTWARE
WINDOWS XP:
--Click START>CONTROL PANEL
--Double-click SYSTEM
--Select the AUTOMATIC UPDATES tab
--Select "Automatically download the updates, and install them on the schedule that I specify"
--Create the schedule using the two boxes
--Click APPLY and OK.
WINDOWS ME:
--Click START>SETTINGS>CONTROL PANEL
--Double-click AUTOMATIC UPDATES
--Select "Automatically download updates and notify me when they are ready to be installed"
--Click OK.
WINDOWS 98: requires manual downloads.
--Select START, WINDOWS UPDATE icon, or open INTERNET EXPLORER and click TOOLS>WINDOWS UPDATE.
All three Windows versions, above, can be updated manually that way.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/using/column13.asp
This Microsoft link will take you to a WEB PAGE that gives a great tutorial on creating tables.
The topics include:
·
CREATE
A SIMPLE TABLE
·
ADD
LABELS AND HEADING TO YOUR TABLE
·
ENTER
YOUR INFORMATION INTO THE TABLE
·
KEYSTROKES
TO HELP YOU MOVE AROUND YOUR TABLE FREELY
·
USE
SPACE WISELY
·
APPLY
OR CREATE A WEB STYLE
·
PUT
TABLES INSIDE OF TABLES
·
MAKE
YOUR COLUMN HEADINGS VERTICAL
·
WRAP
TEXT AROUND A GRAPHIC
·
ADD
A CAPTION TO YOUR TABLE
·
COMPLETELY
DELETE A TABLE
MEMBERS
OF THE BOARD: http://hvcomputerclub.org/officers.html
SOUNDBOARD CONTRIBUTIONS: theweb@snet.net
CLASSES, MEETINGS, EVENTS: http://www.supercalendar.com/view.php?a=893
AutoCAD.......... Ken Pelletier................. 264-2310 Digital Camera.......... Joe Franzino........... 264-2922
MS Word.......... Arnold Deutchman........ 267-7355 MS Word................ Joe Franzino........... 264-2922
MS Excel........... Diana Scott................... 264-2134 Paint Shop Pro......... Ken Pelletier........... 264-2310
Publishing........... Joe Franzino................. 264-2922 Quicken................... Arnold Sail.............. 264-2540
Scanning............. Joe Franzino................. 264-2922 WordPerfect............ Jean Van Loon 267-5397