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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, September 18, 2005
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Sizing the Control Buttons
Tips & Tricks: Windows Service Pack 2
Featured Computer Term: IP
This Week's Topic: Drives
Question: Outlook Express: Window Size and Position
Websites of Interest: Herbal Safety; Chocolate; Tea; Woodworking
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Special Feature: Sizing the Control Buttons
Question: those buttons on the right corner of the program are too small. I always click the wrong one. Please tell me how I can make them larger and easier to use. Thank you. I love all your tips and tricks. They are so helpful.
Answer:
Those are called the Control Buttons: Minimize, Maximize/Restore and Close. Yes, you can make them larger. Here are the steps:
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop. From the resulting menu, click Properties.
Click the Appearance tab. If you're using Windows XP, click the Advanced button.
In the Item drop down box, select Active Title Bar. To do this, click the small down arrow to the right of the selection under the word Item (it will probably say Desktop). A list will drop down, click Active Title Bar.
Next to Item drop down box you'll see a setting for size. Click the small up arrow to the right of the number. This will make the buttons larger. Increase the size and take a look at the Preview window above. This will give you an idea of the size the buttons will be.
When you are satisfied with the size, click the OK button. (Note: in Windows XP, click the OK button twice)
Visit our website to learn more about the Control Buttons:
http://stsico.com/html/windows_intro.html
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Tips & Tricks: Windows Service Pack 2
Question: How do I know if my computer has Windows XP Service pack 2 installed?
Answer:
Right click on the My Computer icon on the desktop. From the resulting menu, left click on Properties. You will now see the System Properties windows. In the System, area, if you see Service Pack 2 listed there, then it is installed.
Learn more about Windows Service Pack 2 at the Microsoft website:
Windows Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/expert/bowman_introtosp2.mspx
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Featured Computer Term: IP
Question: What does IP mean?
Answer:
IP stands for Internet Protocol. Every computer that is on the Internet has an IP address. The IP address works like a return postal address stamped on the data that your computer sends through the internet.
IP addresses are made of four numbers separated by periods, for example, 65.34.78.126. This address tells receiving computers what country, service provider, host, and computer sent the information.
Want to find out your own IP address? Visit this website:
http://www.showip.org
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: Drives
The Drive is a device that stores data. There are many types of drives.
Hard Drive - A hard drive is a fast, high capacity internal disk drive. Any computer less than12 to 15 years will have a hard drive. Hard drives are made out of aluminum, glass or ceramic material.
The hard drive provides a permanent place to keep the computer's information, including the operating system, programs and any data the user creates or saves. They are much more reliable than keeping data on a floppy disk, are much faster, and hold much more.
Adding a second hard drive is a great way to add more space for files. A second hard drive can be internal or external.
Floppy Drive - These small, plastic 3.5" disks hold about 1.4 MB of information, and, because of this low capacity, are becoming obsolete. CDs can hold anywhere from 600 to 800 MBs of data and are less expensive. Many new computers no longer include a floppy drive.
Zip Drive - A zip drive is a very large a floppy drive. The disks work in the same way as a regular 3.5" floppy disk, but can store up to 100 MB. Due to the low capacity and high cost of zip disks, they are also becoming obsolete.
CD-R - A CD-R is a writeable CD. That means that you can put data on the CD. Although you can add data to a CD-R, you can't delete data from it. CDs hold anywhere from 600 to 800 MB of information.
CD-RW - RW stands for Readable Writeable. A CD-RW is the same as a CD-R except you can remove old files, and add new ones. CD-RW disks are generally more expensive than CD-Rs.
DVD-R and DVD-RW – Short for digital versatile disc or digital video disc, a DVD is similar to the CD-ROM. However, a DVD holds a minimum of 4.7GB of data; enough space for a full-length movie. DVD prices are coming down, which means that they will probably soon make CDs obsolete.
USB Drive- Also known as a thumb drive, key drive, pen drive or flash drive, a USB drive plugs right into the computer’s USB port. USB drives come in many sizes currently ranging from 32 MB to 1 GB.
To learn how to back up files onto a CD, visit our website
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/032104.html
Learn how to copy files from a floppy disk to the hard disk:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/030203.html
How much space is left on my disk? Here is how you can check:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/031305.html
Read more about USB Drives:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/011605.html
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Question: Outlook Express: Window Size and Position
Emails in Outlook Express open in a smaller window than I would like. Is there an easy fix for this?
Answer:
Yes, there is. You can drag the corners of an open email window to get the size you want. Point to either vertical or horizontal edge or a corner; when the mouse pointer changes into a double-headed arrow, hold down the left mouse button and drag until the window is the size you want. Point to the window’s Title Bar (that’s the bar on the top with the window’s name on it) and drag to Position that window where you want future messages to open.
Until you change the window size and position again, your email messages will open at that size and place on your screen.
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Websites of Interest:
Herbal Safety
Visit this website to learn about herbal supplements and important information on what the different ones do, side effects, interactions with medicines and more.
http://www.herbalsafety.utep.edu/
Chocolate
Everything about chocolate. If you have a sweet tooth, this site is definitely for you. http://www.chocophile.com
Tea
Everything about tea: origin, preparation, health benefits and much more.
http://www.planet-tea.com/index.htm
Woodworking
This site gives you a place to share your hobby with people of similar interests. Visit the Articles section for a how to on everything from what power tools to use to finishing that project off with the right stain.
http://www.woodcentral.com |
