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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, July 16, 2006
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Defrag Does Not Work
This Week's Topic: The Character Map
Question: Fixing a Frozen Computer
Websites of Interest: Mail 2 Web; Pearls; FirstGov for Seniors; Epinions
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Special Feature: Defrag Does Not Work
Question: 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.
Read more about Disk Defragmenter in our newsletter archives:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/062506.html
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Today's Topic: The Character Map
Question: I have been browsing through my Start Programs menu looking at the different things in there. What is the Character Map program for?
Answer:
You can use the Character Map to input symbols or letters from foreign languages, for example, vowels with accents.
To open Character Map, click the Start button and point to Programs. Point to Accessories and then System Tools. Click on Character Map.
Change the font to the one you are using. For example, if you would like to insert a special character into your Word document, and you are using the Time New Roman font, change the Character Map font to that. To do so, click the small down arrow to the right of the current font and scroll up or down to the font you want. Click on it.
Scroll through the available characters. When you see the symbol you would like to use, double click on it. The symbol will appear in the Characters to Copy box below. Click the Copy button.
Switch back to your document. Click in the document where you want the special character to appear. Click Edit on the menu, and then Paste. The special character will now appear in your document.
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Question: Fixing a Frozen Computer
My computer has frozen a couple of times. Am I doing something wrong that causes this to happen? And what should I do to fix it?
Answer:
Even if you do everything right, computers will occasionally misbehave. The most common problem is that the computer will not respond to the keyboard or mouse. Here are some steps to try to resolve the trouble:
Give the computer a couple of minutes to respond. It is possible that it may be busy doing something else in the background. If it doesn’t come back in about two or three minutes, then check for problems.
If the screen is dark, check the power. Is the electric on in your house? If yes, check that the computer is still plugged into the outlet. Also check all the other cables.
Many newer computers have suspend or stand by – this is a feature that blanks out the screen and puts the computer in a sleep mode to save electricity when it is not used for a period of time. To wake the computer up, press a key or move the mouse. On some computers, you may have to press the on button once.
If the monitor is not dark, check the cables that connect the keyboard and the mouse to the computer. Make sure that nothing is loose. If all cables are ok, and the computer still isn’t responding, read on!
Press the Escape (Esc) key a few times. In many situations that will take you back one step at a time, and you may get out of trouble that way.
If all else fails, try Alt Ctrl Del. With your left hand, press and hold down the Alt and Ctrl keys, with the right hand press and release the Del key once. If you are using Windows 98 or any later version, you will see the Close Program dialog box, which lists all the programs that are currently running. Some of these may look unfamiliar, because this list includes the ones that are running in the background.
The problem program will usually be listed on the top of the list; to the right of it, you will see a note telling you that the program is not responding. Click on it, and then click on the End Task button. The program will be closed. Unfortunately, you will usually lose any unsaved work, but there aren’t any other options.
It’s a good idea to close all other open programs and restart the computer at this point.
Sometime, although infrequently, even the Close Program dialog box will freeze. In that case the only option is to restart the computer. This is not a great thing to do and should only be done in an emergency.
If you have a restart button on your computer, use it. If you don't have a restart button, use the on button. On some computers, it may be necessary to hold down the on button for five seconds or more.
After turning the computer off, wait several minutes, and then turn the power button back on. You will probably see a message telling you about the improper shutdown, and the ScanDisk program will startup. It is a good idea to allow ScanDisk to run, so that your hard drive will be checked for possible errors.
Reminder: Save your work frequently! If you experience any of the problems above, more than likely you will lose any unsaved work in progress.
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Websites of Interest:
Mail 2 Web
This website gives you access to your e-mail any computer with Internet access, worldwide, just by entering your e-mail address and password.
http://www.mail2web.com/
Pearls
From the Museum of Natural History, this website explains how pearls are created, discusses their popularity throughout history, and has some amazing pictures of pearls and pearl jewelry.
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/pearls/index.html
FirstGov for Seniors
FirstGov is the official U.S. website for all government information. You can search millions of web pages from federal and state governments. FirstGov for Seniors provide government links of interest to senior citizens.
http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml
Epinions
One of the original consumer review sites, this site features product reviews written by site users. Thinking about buying a product? Check out this website to see what others have to say about it.
http://www.epinions.com/ |
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