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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, March 1, 2009
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Tips to Protect Against Identity Theft
Tips & Tricks: Twenty Five Most Important Rules of Email Etiquette: 10. Let People Know Their Mail Has Been Received
Featured Computer Term: Keystroke Logging
This Week's Topic: Cleaning Up Your Hard Disk: Remove Unused Applications
Question: Microsoft Word: Red, Green and Blue Squiggles
Question: Product Review – Video Professor
Websites of Interest: National Women's History Month; Weatherbug; Thesaurus; The World’s Healthiest Foods
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Special Feature: Tips to Protect Against Identity Theft
Every 3.5 seconds in the United States, someone's identity is stolen. Many people think identity theft only occurs online. While there are many viruses and online scams, far more identity theft occurs from offline threats, including thieves digging through garbage and stealing wallets.
You can reduce your risk by following these steps:
Do not carry more credit cards than you will need and cancel accounts you do not use anymore.
Never carry your social security card. Do not give out the number unless necessary.
Shred documents that contain financial information.
When you pay for something, make sure you take the receipt.
Keep a good grip on your bag or wallet, especially in crowded places.
When you are away, stop papers and mail delivery.
Online, only shop at sites you know.
Familiarize yourself with scams so you don't become the next victim.
Keep your computer secure. Use antivirus and anti spyware programs and keep them up to date.
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Tips & Tricks: Twenty Five Most Important Rules of Email Etiquette: 10. Let People Know Their Mail Has Been Received
This article is part of our ongoing series on Email Etiquette. With the help of Heinz Tschabitscher from about.com, we are taking an in depth look at email etiquette. To read previous editions of this series, please visit our newsletter archives:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/etiquette.html
The rules of email etiquette are not rules as much as they are guidelines that help avoid mistakes (like offending someone when you don't mean to) and misunderstandings (like being offended when you're not meant to).
These core rules of email etiquette help us communicate better via email.
Let People Know Their Mail Has Been Received
So you've collected all the information, packed it into an email, added a nice salutation and sent it.
No reply is necessary, of course... but... have they received the carefully crafted message at all? Probably. But maybe not?
Do Let People Know Their Mail Has Been Received
Sometimes, emails get lost or fall prey to overeager spam filtering.
* If it is not obvious to the sender that you have gotten their message (because you move forward a project in which they are also involved, for example),
* do send a quick note back, possibly involving an informal thank-you, to acknowledge receipt even if no reply is necessary otherwise.
Even if you do plan to reply later, an email acknowledging receipt and letting the sender know when you will get back to them can be welcome.
To read previous editions of this series, please visit our newsletter archives:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/etiquette.html
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Featured Computer Term: Keystroke Logging
Question: What is keystroke logging? I have read about this in relation to spyware.
Answer:
Keystroke logging, also known as keylogging, records the keys pressed by the user. While it can be used for good, such as finding system errors, and is used frequently by law enforcement, it is seen more frequently being used by hackers trying to get into someone’s computer and steal information.
Some spyware will contain keystroke loggers. If a computer is infected with this type of spyware, all the information typed by the user can be sent back to the hacker.
If you have an antivirus program, antivirus software and a good firewall, your computer will be safe from keystroke loggers and other spyware.
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: Cleaning Up Your Hard Disk: Remove Unused Applications
Today's computers come with hard drives that have amazing amounts of disk space. But no matter how big, new programs, caches, and temporary files can use up this free space pretty quickly and cause clutter on the drive and computer slowdowns.
You will see many programs out there offering to help you free up hard disk space, for a fee. Windows has built-in tools that will do just as thorough a job in cleaning up your hard drive – and, they’re free!
This is the third article in our Cleaning Up Your Hard Disk series. Over the next several editions of this newsletter, we are going to show you how to use the Windows tools to clean up your hard drive.
Remove Unused Applications
The longer you have your computer, the more programs you'll have installed. These will take up space on your hard drive and many you just don’t use anymore. In this article, we will show you how to uninstall the programs you no longer need.
Double-click the Computer or My Computer icon on your Desktop. A window will open, listing the drives found on your computer. We are going to clean up the C: drive, which is the primary hard disk on your computer.
Right click on the C: drive. A menu will display, left click on Properties. This will open the C Properties window. You will see the amount of used space (blue), the amount of free space (pink) and the total capacity of the hard drive. Below that, you will see a pie chart diagram showing you the amount of used and free space.
Click the Disk Cleanup button, which is found right below the pie chart. Windows will calculate how much space can be freed up. This may take a few moments, depending on the size of your hard drive.
When Windows is done with the calculation, the Disk Cleanup window will display. At the top of this window, click the More Options tab.
If you have Windows XP
Look for the Installed Programs area in the window you now see. Click the Clean up button. This will open the Add/Remove Program Properties screen. Click to select the program you want to delete, and then click the Add/Remove button. It may take a few moments for a program to be completely removed. Continue doing this for all the programs you no longer need.
If you have Windows Vista
In the Programs and Features area, click the Clean up button. The Uninstall or change a program window will open. Click to select the program you want to delete, and then click Uninstall on the toolbar above the list of programs. It may take a few moments for a program to be completely removed. Continue doing this for all the programs you no longer need.
In our next newsletter: Delete Restore Points
To read our previous articles in this series, visit our newsletter archives:
Windows Disk Cleanup
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/020809.html
Remove Unnecessary Windows Components
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/022209.html
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Question: Microsoft Word: Red, Green and Blue Squiggles
In Microsoft Word, what do the red, blue and green squiggly underlines mean?
Answer:
When you see a word underlined in a red squiggle, it means that Word cannot find it in its Spell Check dictionary. If the word is misspelled, right click on it and Word will suggest some possible correct spellings. Left click on the spelling you want and Word will replace the incorrect word with the correct one.
If it is a proper name, and is spelled correctly, you can add it to Word’s dictionary so that it is not always marked as an error. Right click on it and then left click on Add to dictionary.
A green squiggle means that Word detects a grammar issue. Right click on the word again for suggestions that Word may have.
A blue squiggle, which is new to Word 2007, notifies you of words that may be incorrect in the context used. An example of this is using the right word but wrong spelling. Once again, right click for Word’s suggestions.
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Question: Product Review – Video Professor
Question: What do you think of Video Professor? They advertise computer training videos. Do you think these are useful?
Answer:
Before buying any product you are not familiar with, always do a little research. Open your favorite search engine (Google and Yahoo are examples of good search engines) and type in:
review product name
In the results, you should be able to find websites that give a good description of the product and what other consumers think of it.
Here are a couple of sites returned from a product review search of Video Professor:
http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/video_professor
http://www.epinions.com/review/mvie_mu-1105407/content_69518528132
http://www.infomercialratings.com/product/video_professor
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Websites of Interest:
National Women's History Month
March is National Women's History month. Visit this website to learn all about history, events, achievements and much more.
http://www.nwhp.org/
Weatherbug
Get live, local weather forecasts right on your desktop.
http://www.weatherbug.com/
Thesaurus
Want to perk up your writing a little? visit thesaurus.com.
http://thesaurus.com
The World’s Healthiest Foods
Take a look at this website for the healthiest foods in the world and great advice and recipes on how to prepare them.
http://www.whfoods.com/ |
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