Mousin' Around

Computer tips and tricks for beginning and intermediate computer users -- especially senior citizens! Learn new things that you can teach your kids and grandkids -- they really don't know it all!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Managing your Recycle Bin

$Account.OrganizationName
Greetings!
Managing Your Recycle Bin
Making more room on your hard drive

When's the last time you emptied your Recycle Bin? When you delete a document it goes into your Recycle Bin so you can get it back if you need it. Most of the documents you delete are those you no longer need, so it's a good idea to empty the Recycle Bin occasionally. When you delete documents you assume it's making room on your hard drive, but when they go to the Recycle Bin they're still taking up space.

Look at your Desktop, the opening screen when you turn on your computer. Find the Recycle Bin and double click it. You will see all the items you've deleted. If you don't want any of them, LEFT click Empty the Recycle Bin on the left side of your screen. If there's one you want to keep, LEFT click it, and then LEFT click Restore This Item on the left. When you Restore an item it goes back to the place on your hard drive where it had been previously.

Do you have friends or family who would find this tip helpful? Please click on the link below, Forward email to a friend!, and send it to them. They're also welcome to sign up for my monthly newsletter as well as the Tip of the Week. Thanks for sharing.

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

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Monday, October 23, 2006

Printing Photos

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Greetings!
Printing Photos
Getting better results

As a rule, I don't recommend printing your own photos. The paper and ink are expensive and Walgreens and Wal-Mart will print them for 19-29 cents each. Lots less frustration and brain damage! How many times do you ruin one or more photos before you get a "keeper?"

HOWEVER, if you really want to print your own, be aware of one important factor: the paper you are printing on. Ink jet printers spray the ink onto the paper to create your picture. Unless you tell the printer what kind of paper you are printing on (typing paper, photo paper, transparencies, etc.) it assumes that you are using plain ole typing paper. The printer tends to spray a great deal of ink on the paper because typing paper is absorbent and needs enough ink to display the colors correctly.

BUT, photo paper is not as absorbent, and if your printer uses the same amount of ink, the ink will run and will take a ver-r-r-r-r-y long time to dry. When you give a print command, a dialog box will open. Look for a button that says Printing Preferences. When you click this button another dialog box will open. You will see a box that says Paper Type. Click the dropdown arrow beside it and click Photo Paper and then the type of photo paper you are using: matte, glossy. Click OK several times and you will be ready to print photos with the best finish possible. Try it!

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

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Taming Your Computer Inc. | 12768 E. Harvard Circle | Aurora | CO | 80014

Monday, October 16, 2006

More keyboard shortcuts

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Greetings!
More keyboard shortcuts
Here's a few you'll like

Here are a few more keyboard shortcuts for Windows XP. They may not work in programs such as e-mail, but should do fine in Word, Works, etc. Give them a try and see what happens!

  • CTRL key + Backspace key -- Deletes the entire word to the left
  • CTRL key + Delete key -- Deletes the entire word to the right
  • CTRL key + Right arrow -- Moves cursor to beginning of next word
  • CTRL key + Left arrow -- Moves cursor to beginning of previous word
  • CTRL key + Down arrow -- Moves cursor to beginning of next paragraph
  • CTRL key + Up arrow -- Moves cursor to beginning of previous paragraph

Now those are some shortcuts your kids and grandkids may not even know. Share them and they'll think you're a genius!

Watch your e-mail in the next day or so for a special announcement on SALE prices on my current books. Just in time for the holidays.

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

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Taming Your Computer Inc. | 12768 E. Harvard Circle | Aurora | CO | 80014

Monday, October 09, 2006

Sorting "My Favorites" Alphabetically

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Greetings!
Sorting My Favorites Alphabetically
A client taught me how!

A client asked me a week or two ago, "How do I sort My Favorites in Internet Explorer?" I had to admit that I didn't know and it was one thing I would LOVE to learn to do. Well, one week later another client, Curt Bolden, taught me how! Yes, I learn computer tricks from my clients all the time.

First, you need to place My Favorites on your Start menu. To do this, RIGHT click the Start button in the lower left corner of your screen. LEFT click Properties. LEFT click Customize. LEFT click Advanced. Look down the list of items and LEFT click in the checkbox beside My Favorites. There might be other items on this list that you would like to add to the Start Menu. Scroll down and click those you want. LEFT click OK twice.

Now that My Favorites is on your Start Menu, LEFT click Start, LEFT click Favorites. Your current (unsorted) list of Favorites will appear. Place your cursor on a blank area of the list of Favorites and RIGHT click. LEFT click Sort by Name. Cheer out loud as you see your sorted list appear. Thanks, Curt, for sharing your knowledge.

Do you have friends or family who would find this tip helpful? Please click on the link below, Forward email to a friend!, and send it to them. They're also welcome to sign up for my monthly newsletter as well as the Tip of the Week. Thanks for sharing.

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

Forward email to a friend!

This email was sent to mycomputerlady.stuff@blogger.com, by mycomputerlady@aol.com
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Taming Your Computer Inc. | 12768 E. Harvard Circle | Aurora | CO | 80014

Monday, October 02, 2006

Double Underline

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Greetings!
Double Underline
How'd they do that?

I keep stumbling across these keyboard shortcuts. Don't know if you'll ever need this one, but tell your kids and grandkids about it and show them what a genius you are!

Have you ever wanted to do a DOUBLE underline beneath words in Microsoft Word? Type the words and highlight them. Then hold down the CTRL key, the SHIFT key, and press the letter D. Bingo! You are so smart!

Now go type a document in Word just to try it. Then send it to someone so they can ask, "How'd you do that?" Don't tell them I told you -- it's our little secret!

Do you have friends or family who would find this tip helpful? Please click on the link below, Forward email to a friend!, and send it to them. They're also welcome to sign up for my monthly newsletter as well as the Tip of the Week. Thanks for sharing.

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

Forward email to a friend!

This email was sent to mycomputerlady.stuff@blogger.com, by mycomputerlady@aol.com
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Taming Your Computer Inc. | 12768 E. Harvard Circle | Aurora | CO | 80014

Monday, September 25, 2006

This page cannot be displayed

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Greetings!
This page cannot be displayed
What the heck does that mean?

Do you ever see "This page cannot be displayed" when you type in a website address? Isn't that annoying -- especially if you don't know what it means.

Well, basically there are at least two possible explanations for this phrase:

  1. You misspelled the website address -- thus the old computer saying: "Garbage In Garbage Out"
  2. That website no longer exists or it might not be operational at the time you tried to reach it

What can you do about it?

  1. Check the spelling of the website address and try again.
  2. Try the website again later. It might still be there -- just temporarily out of service.

Do you have friends or family who would find this tip helpful? Please click on the link below, Forward email to a friend!, and send it to them. They're also welcome to sign up for my monthly newsletter as well as the Tip of the Week. Thanks for sharing.

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

Forward email to a friend!

This email was sent to mycomputerlady.stuff@blogger.com, by mycomputerlady@aol.com
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Taming Your Computer Inc. | 12768 E. Harvard Circle | Aurora | CO | 80014

Monday, September 18, 2006

Undo

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Greetings!
Undo
Put it back the way it was

Have you ever typed a long letter and mistakenly highlighted the whole thing right before you hit the space bar? If so, your document is GONE! There's an option on your menu bar to get it back. Before you do anything else (don't touch anything), LEFT click Edit, LEFT click Undo. Bingo, your text will come back.

Many toolbars have an Undo button. It's about halfway across your toolbar and looks like a curved arrow curling to the left. There's also a keyboard shortcut for Undo. It's CTRL and the letter z. I use it a lot. In fact, you could call it my favorite key.

Do you have friends or family who would find this tip helpful? Please click on the link below, Forward email to a friend!, and send it to them. They're also welcome to sign up for my monthly newsletter as well as the Tip of the Week. Thanks for sharing.

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

Forward email to a friend!

This email was sent to mycomputerlady.stuff@blogger.com, by mycomputerlady@aol.com
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Taming Your Computer Inc. | 12768 E. Harvard Circle | Aurora | CO | 80014

Monday, September 11, 2006

Insert key

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Greetings!
Insert key
What does that key do?

There's a key on your keyboard that you may never have noticed. It does something that will frustrate you if you ever hit it by mistake. The key is the Ins key on the bottom row, right side of your keyboard.

Let's say you've typed a paragraph of text and you want to make some changes. You click in the paragraph where you want to insert some words and begin typing. Normally when you begin typing, the program will allow you to type as much as you want and the existing text will move over and make room for the new text. However, if you have inadvertently pressed the Ins key, the text you are typing will type right on top of the text that was already there.

If this ever happens to you, just press the Ins key again to turn it off. It's like a toggle switch - - pressing it once turns it on, pressing it again turns it off. Share that tip with your friends and family. Most people have never noticed that key and have no idea what's happening when things go wrong.

Do you have friends or family who would find this tip helpful? Please click on the link below, Forward email to a friend!, and send it to them. They're also welcome to sign up for my monthly newsletter as well as the Tip of the Week. Thanks for sharing.

Barb Walker
Taming Your Computer Inc.

phone: 303 752-2152

Forward email to a friend!

This email was sent to mycomputerlady.stuff@blogger.com, by mycomputerlady@aol.com
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Taming Your Computer Inc. | 12768 E. Harvard Circle | Aurora | CO | 80014

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Mouse Bytes Computer Tips from Barb Walker

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Mouse Bytes Time-saving computer tips
September 2006

Greetings!

Can you believe summer's over? Labor Day's behind us and some of you probably have your Christmas shopping done already -- right? Wish I could say the same.

My next session of the Internet Genealogy class at Colorado Free University here in Denver is this Saturday, September 9. If you can't make that date, try Saturday, October 7. Not only will you learn how to search for your ancestors on the Internet, you'll also receive a free copy of Family Tree Magazine, my favorite genealogy magazine. Click here to read a description of the 3-hour class.

Also, I've extended the FREE SHIPPING on both of my books until they are gone. If you have one but not the other, now's the time to get them. Click here to order from the website. You may order by credit card or print an order form to mail with your check. If you've bought a new computer or you're a novice to Windows XP, you NEED these books.

in this issue
  • Hooked on Sudoku?
  • More Coupon Sites
  • Zap!!!!!
  • Cutting off the right side of the page
  • Books in Africa
  • A useful holiday gift

  • More Coupon Sites

    Many of you told me you found the online coupons helpful. Here's another site that might interest you. Click here to go to DealofDay.com. Look down the left side of the page to select a category. In the middle of the opening page there are two links you might be interested in. One is Free Coupon Codes. These codes offer discounts for items ordered online.

    Another is Free Printable Coupons. You enter your e- mail address and zip code and click Submit. You must then enter your mailing information. The next page will show a list of offers that you can select for special offers. I just signed up and will be interested to see what kind of "stuff" I get. Of course, if it results in lots of junk e-mail, I'll unsubscribe.


    Zap!!!!!

    As we come into the heating season I want to remind you about static electricity and computers. The air in Colorado is very dry to begin with, but when you add the extra dryness from furnaces running, you create a potential problem. Always remember to touch something metal BEFORE touching your computer. The built-up static electricity can damage your computer. I'm not geeky enough to know exactly what it will do, but I know it's a bad combination.


    Cutting off the right side of the page

    Many of you have asked me how to avoid cutting off the right side of the page when printing from a website. My best suggestion would be to look around the page for something that says Printer Friendly or Print this Page. When you click on that text your computer will reformat the page so it will print correctly.

    Cooking websites such as FoodNetwork.com give you the option to print recipes full page or the size of a recipe card. This printing option is available on many web pages. Look closely, it's sometimes in very small print. You'll love it!


    Books in Africa

    A couple of months ago my friend and client, Sue Davis, was heading to Africa for a month to volunteer at a school in Uganda. I had just spoken to Sue's Rotary group and heard about the school. It sounded like such a great project I offered to donate 20 of each of my computer books to her project. She has returned and I'd love to share her words with you.

    Dear Barb,
    The books that you so generously donated to Uganda are so welcome. They went to the St. Francis Girls school in Iganga, Uganda. The trainer that we gave the computers to is Ellie Njoro, the most amazingly computer literate woman. She just devoured your information. They are preparing to educate 3,000 girls in computer literacy. You could not have given them a more wonderful gift. Computer literacy is the number one priority in Africa.


    A useful holiday gift

    Are you looking for a fun, creative gift for your family? If you have a digital camera (or someone has given you lots of digital family photos), you can create a personal calendar for your family. Calendar Creator lets you fill in all of your birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar and add your family photos. You can then print them out on your computer. It's available at Amazon.com or any software or computer store. Click here to check it out at Amazon.


    Hooked on Sudoku?

    Have you become addicted to Sudoku? I haven't -- yet, but I know a lot of people who love this puzzle, especially my 13-year-old granddaughter Eilise. She's a math whiz and can almost do them with her eyes closed.

    Each Sudoku puzzle has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.

    I Googled "Free Sudoku" and found a website that claims to have billions of free puzzles at all levels of difficulty. Click here to check it out for yourself. you can fill it out on the screen or print it out and work it later. I keep reminding myself that puzzles like this will help keep my mind sharp and hopefully keep Alzheimer's at bay.

    This is only one example of all the goodies you can find when you use Google. If you have my book, Taming Your Computer -- The Simple Basics, turn to pages 80-82 to learn how to use Google and some of the "tricks" you can do with it. My favorite is using Google to see if an airline flight is on time. You can even watch the little airplane symbol move across the map every minute. Of course, if you spend too much time doing that, you must be really bored!



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    About Me

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    I love teaching senior citizens to use computers. I'm a senior myself, so I'm working with my peers. When I work with you in your home on your computer, I don't sit in front of your computer and TELL you want to do. You sit in front of your computer while I TEACH you what to do. I also write step-by-step instructions for you to follow when I'm not there.