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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 17, 2009
To observe the unofficial Beginning of Summer, we will not be publishing this newsletter next week. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Don’t Get Hooked by a Phishing Scam
Tips & Tricks: Twenty Five Most Important Rules of Email Etiquette: 20. Set Your System Clock Right
Special Feature: Speak To Me
This Week's Topic: Speed Up a Slow Computer – Defrag
Question: Microsoft Word: Non Breaking Space
Tips & Tricks: Microsoft Word: Using Ctrl Drag to Copy
Keyboard Shortcut: Recently Used Documents in Microsoft Word
Websites of Interest: Memorial Day; May Is Driver Safety Month; Digital TV Transition; Green Cleaners; Recipe Bridge; Fifteen Ways to Save Money Online: 7. Shop Online, Online Shopping Search Engines
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Special Feature: Don’t Get Hooked by a Phishing Scam
The following is from OnGuard Online: Your Safety Net
http://www.onguardonline.gov
Phishing is a scam where Internet fraudsters send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal and financial information from unsuspecting victims. To avoid getting hooked:
Don't reply to email or pop-up messages that ask for personal or financial information, and don't click on links in the message. Don't cut and paste a link from the message into your Web browser — phishers can make links look like they go one place, but that actually send you to a different site.
Some scammers send an email that appears to be from a legitimate business and ask you to call a phone number to update your account or access a "refund." Because they use Voice over Internet Protocol technology, the area code you call does not reflect where the scammers really are. If you need to reach an organization you do business with, call the number on your financial statements or on the back of your credit card.
Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them all regularly.
Don't email personal or financial information.
Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges.
Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them.
Forward phishing emails to spam@uce.gov – and to the company, bank, or organization impersonated in the phishing email. You also may report phishing email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of ISPs, security vendors, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies, uses these reports to fight phishing.
If you've been scammed, visit the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft website at ftc.gov/idtheft.
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Tips & Tricks: Twenty Five Most Important Rules of Email Etiquette: 20. Set Your System Clock Right
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.
Set Your System Clock Right
Most of my mailboxes are sorted by date, so that I can read and answer messages in the order they were sent. I bet most of your mail folders are organized in a similar way.
Time and again a new message appears in between the old ones. Of course I only realize that a lot later and by accident. Most of these stray messages are spam, but sometimes an important message comes with a wrong date, too.
This is why you should set your system's clock to the accurate time periodically.
To read previous editions of this series, please visit our newsletter archives:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/etiquette.html
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Special Feature: Speak To Me
Here is a fun little project that you can do with your computer:
Windows comes with a built in voice system. In this article, you will learn how to write a Visual Basic program that will use this system. This program will create an icon on your desktop. When you double click to open it, a small window will open. You will see the message “What do you want me to say?” Type something in the box beneath that and then click the OK button. The computer will read, out loud, what you just typed.
This uses a Microsoft speech program, which is installed on most Windows computers. If this does not work on your computer, you do not have the program installed.
To begin, open Notepad. To do so, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Notepad.
Copy the following text and the paste it into Notepad. To do so, select the text, Click Edit on the menu and then click Copy. If you have not opened Notepad already, follow the steps above to open it; it is not necessary to close this window to do so. Click in notepad. Click Edit on the menu and then click Paste.
Copy text below (do not include this line)
Dim message, sapi
message=InputBox("What do you want me to say?","Speak to Me")
Set sapi=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
sapi.Speak message
Copy text above (do not include this line)
Once the text is copies in Notepad, click File on the menu and then click Save. Change the Save location to Desktop and use speak.vbs as the filename (be sure to include the .vbs).
Now double click on the speak icon on your desktop. Type in your message, click OK and listen to your computer speak.
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Today's Topic: Speed Up a Slow Computer – Defrag
As your Windows computer ages, its speed can decrease. You will notice an increase in response time when you give commands to open programs, files or folders, use the Internet and other tasks. There are several things you can do to speed up your computer.
In our ongoing series, Speed Up a Slow Computer, we will present articles discussing some of the steps you can take to speed up your slow computer.
Important: Before making any changes to your system, always create a Restore Point. If anything goes wrong with the changes you make, this will allow you to revert back to a point when the computer was operating correctly. Please visit our Newsletter Archives to read our article, All About Restore Points:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/040509.html
Speed Up a Slow Computer – Defrag
When a file is stored on your hard disk, it's 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 can't see the fragments, and you can't 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.
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.
To defrag the drive, open My Computer, right-click the drive icon, and choose Properties. Click the Tools tab, and click Defragment Now.
This will probably be a lengthy process, depending on the size of your hard drive and number of files.
Question: Defrag Does Not Work
I am trying to defragment my computer. When I open Disk Defragmenter and do an analysis, it tells me I should defrag but every time I try, it stops on 2%. What am I doing wrong?
Answer:
You are not doing anything wrong. It is possible that some program is running in the background which is causing defrag to terminate. Try this:
Turn your computer off and back on again. Before the computer completely restarts, right after the first beep, press the F8 key (on the top row of the keyboard). You should then see a list of startup options.
If the computer goes to the desktop without showing the startup option, you did not press the F8 key at the right time. This is a tricky process; the key has to be pressed at exactly the right time. Turn the computer off and then restart. As soon as the computer begins to start, keep tapping the f8 key until the Startup Options appear.
Select Safe Mode.
Start Disk Defragmenter again. It should run all the way through this time. After it is complete, shut the computer down and start it again. It will come back in normal mode.
When Windows starts in safe mode, it opens a minimum of auto start programs and drivers. Any programs that are causing your defrag to cease working may not be running in safe mode.
In our next edition, Disable Indexing Services
Please visit our Newsletter Archives for previous articles in our Speed Up a Slow Computer series:
Speed Up a Slow Computer - Clean the Desktop
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/040509.html
Speed Up a Slow Computer - Uninstall Unused Programs
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/041909.html
Speed Up a Slow Computer – Turn Off Auto Start Programs
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/042609.html
Speed Up a Slow Computer – Turn Off Auto Start Programs - MSCONFIG
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/050309.html
Speed Up a Slow Computer – Disable Unnecessary Windows Services
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/051009.html
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Question: Microsoft Word: Non Breaking Space
When I type a date that is toward the right side of the line, the month stays on the line but the day and year moves down to the next line. Can I get the date to stay together as it should?
Answer:
Yes, you have to use a non breaking space. To do so, type the month; do not type a space after. Click Insert on the menu and then click Symbol. Click the Special Characters tab at the top. Click Nonbreaking Space and then click the Insert button. Click the Close button and then finish typing the day and year.
Depending on the line position of the date, you may have to insert a nonbreaking space between the day and the year, too. To do so, after typing the day and the comma, do not type a space. Click Insert on the menu and then click Symbol. Click the Special Characters tab at the top. Click Nonbreaking Space and then click the Insert button. Click the Close button and then finish typing the year.
Now the entire date will always stay together on the same line.
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Tips & Tricks: Microsoft Word: Using Ctrl Drag to Copy
Select the text you want to copy. Hold down the CTRL key, point anywhere in the selected text and hold down the left mouse button. You will be able to drag a copy of the selected text to another location in the document. When you get to the place you want, release the mouse button. The copy of the selected text will appear there.
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Keyboard Shortcut: Recently Used Documents in Microsoft Word
Open the File menu and, down at the bottom of the menu, you will see the last four documents you opened. Here is a keyboard shortcut for you:
Hold down the ALT key and press F. The File menu will open. Notice that there is a number next to each of those documents down at the bottom of the list. On your keyboard, press the number listed beside the file name. That will open the document for you.
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Websites of Interest:
Memorial Day
Next Monday, May 25, is Memorial Day. Visit our website for information, ways to celebrate the observations, graphics, recipes, ecards and much more.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/memday.html
May Is Driver Safety Month
Learn how to be a safe driver and save money on your car insurance. You can now take the AARP driver safety course online.
http://www.aarp.org/families/driver_safety/driver_safety_online_course.html
Digital TV Transition
TV stations will stop all analog broadcasts by June 12 and switch over to digital transmissions. Visit this website to learn about preparing for the DTV transition.
http://tinyurl.com/r9kttm
Green Cleaners
Learn how to use simple ingredients to clean your house and protect the environment.
http://www.metro-region.org/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=1400
Recipe Bridge
Find recipes from hundreds of online cooking websites.
http://www.recipebridge.com/
Fifteen Ways to Save Money Online: 7. Shop Online, Online Shopping Search Engines
From Wendy Boswell of about.com
No matter what your financial situation may be, it is always a good idea to learn new ways to save money. Find out how you can utilize the power of the Web to save money, find good deals, and improve your financial status.
7. Shop Online, Online Shopping Search Engines
Save some serious gas money and go shopping online instead. Most sites offer free or reduced-rate shipping as well.
Online Shopping Search Engines
Froogle. Google's shopping engine is a great resource. Just type in anything you are trying to find, and Froogle will bring up a whole plethora of search results, complete with price comparisons.
http://www.google.com/products
Bizrate.com. Bizrate.com bills itself as the "world's best shopping engine". They have a huge index of search results to choose from (over 30 million product offers from more than 40,000 stores).
http://www.bizrate.com/
MySimon.com. MySimon.com, the winner of "Forbes Favorite" and "Best Internet Shopping Service" Eppy awards, is a prime Net shopping engine.
http://www.mysimon.com/
Yahoo Shopping. Yahoo's shopping page is simply laid out and easy to use. A nice feature is the "Top Searches" on the top of the page.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/
Amazon.com. With millions of offerings to choose from, Amazon has evolved from a small bookstore to a mammoth Internet presence.
http://www.amazon.com
Overstock.com. Ever wondered what stores do with the stuff they over-order? Well, check Overstock.com and find out.
http://www.overstock.com
Shopping.com. Shopping.com is the merged result of Epinions.com and Dealtime.com. They do a good job of making their site simple and easy to use.
http://www.shopping.com/
Pricerunner.com. Pricerunner is Europe's leading comparison shopping site. You can search by product or by product number/model name.
http://www.pricerunner.com/
PricingCentral.com is an extremely comprehensive shopping search engine, and can help you compare prices fast and simply.
http://www.pricingcentral.com/
MSN Shopping. MSN Shopping's home page is a bit crowded, but their featured stores and directory are both easy to navigate.
http://shopping.msn.com/
Shop.com not only allows you to search for thousands upon thousands of different products, but they have an outlet store full of discounted products and bargains galore. For this cheapskate, this feature alone merited a bookmark.
http://www.shop.com/
Shopzilla. Shop from "more than 25 million products from over 45,000 stores" at Shopzilla. Navigate to the bottom of the home page to see their shipping widget; just enter in your zip code and from then on out your shipping will be automatically calculated should you choose to purchase anything.
http://www.shopzilla.com/
Tip: Some websites may require you to register to use their features. When you register at websites, you may be signing up for spam (junk mail) if the recipient sells email addresses to spammers. There is a way to avoid this and still be able to take advantage of the great things that site has to offer. Read our article, Minimizing Spam – Registering Online, at our newsletter archives, to learn how use websites without getting junk mail.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/111608.html
Next Edition: Shop Online, Online Shopping with Comparison Shopping Search Engines
Please visit our newsletter archives for previous articles in our Fifteen Ways to Save Money Online series:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/savemoney.html
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