Computer and Web Articles

10/22/04
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Advice for Beginners

Not everyone can be a tech geek. And in a world of professed know-it-alls and computer experts, asking for help can sometimes be a little embarrassing. So I’ve decided that, from now on, I’ll be writing occasional “Tips for The Absolute Beginner” articles to help out all the computer and Internet neophytes. And we’ll begin today.

STARTING A PROGRAM WHEN YOUR COMPUTER STARTS UP

Do you have a program that you use all the time? That you open up every single time your computer starts up? Wouldn’t it be nice to have that program start up automatically when your computer turns on? You can do it!

First, go to the Start button (at the bottom left of your computer screen), then Programs, then Windows Explorer. Find the program that you’re always using in the right pane. Right-click on it (That’s right; click on it once using the RIGHT button on your mouse.) and then select Create Shortcut from the menu that pops open.

A shortcut icon should appear in the right pane. Now, go to the left pane and click on the “+” sign next to the Start Menu folder, then the “+” sign next to the Programs folder. Go back to the right pane, left-click on the program shortcut that you just made– keep your mouse button pressed down this time–and drag the shortcut over into the Start-Up folder. Voila! You’re done. Restart your computer and that program will open up automatically for ya.

COPYING AND PASTING TEXT

You hear about people copying and pasting all the time. . . but you’re not sure how to do it yourself. You’d love to be able to copy large chunks of text from one place to another instead of having to re-type it all. Well–be unsure no more.

First, decide what text you’d like to copy. It can be in a Word document, an email, or a webpage. Put your mouse pointer at the beginning of the text, left-click your mouse, keep holding it down, and move to the right (or down) until you’ve highlighted all the text you want copied.

Let go of your left mouse button. Hold down the Ctrl key as you press the “c” key on your keyboard. Your text is now copied. Next, go to wherever you’d like to paste the text and hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard as you press the “v” key. Pretty neat (and EASY), eh? Ctrl + C for copy and Ctrl + V for paste; that’s all there is to it.

COPYING FILES TO A FLOPPY DISK

Sometimes it’s convenient to place files of yours onto a 3.5″ floppy disk so that you can share information, pictures, documents, etc. with friends, co-workers, and family.

First things first: insert your floppy disk into the floppy disk drive on your computer. Next, go to Start (at the bottom left of your computer screen), then Programs, then Windows Explorer. Click on the folders that show up in the left pane of the window until you’ve located the file you wish to copy to your floppy disk.

When you find that file, left click on it in the right pane and, keeping your mouse button pressed down, drag it to the A: drive icon in the left pane. You can release your mouse button once the A: drive is highlighted. And that’s it–you’ve just now dragged a file from your computer to your floppy drive!

Note: Keep in mind that if you would like to place a COPY of the file onto your floppy and leave the original on your computer, hold the Ctrl button down before you start to drag.

10/08/04
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Three Questions and Three Answers for Today

Posted in: Email, Q & A

Hi everyone. Today’s column includes three of the most pertinent questions I’ve been asked over the past few weeks.) And of course, each question is followed up by an easy-as-cake answer.) Let’s get going!

Question: I use AOL and many times I want to send an e-mail to more than one person. I think I understand how to do this, but what are those CC and BCC fields at the top of the e-mails I send? What do they do?

Answer: Great question. And you’re right - there is definitely more than one way to send one e-mail to multiple recipients. If you don’t care if all your e-mail’s recipients can see each others’ e-mail addresses when they receive your e-mail, then you can simply enter in each person’s e-mail address in the “To” field separated by commas.

The CC field you see at the top of the e-mails you write stands for “Carbon Copy,” and BCC stands for “Blind Carbon Copy.”

Placing e-mails in the CC field simply sends “courtesy copies” to those e-mail addresses - its end results are exactly the same as entering in all your e-mail addresses in the “To” field. Entering e-mail addresses into the BCC field, however, means that those recipients will not be able to tell who else the e-mail was sent to.

Question: I recently purchased a calendar software program online. I followed the site’s instructions and downloaded the program onto my computer, but it doesn’t seem to be running on my computer. This happens with many of the programs I try to download. What’s going on?

Answer: A program cannot run until it’s actually installed onto your computer. This issue is confusing to many people, because downloading a program onto your computer doesn’t mean you’ve installed it. There are actually two steps involved in the process: 1) Downloading the software files onto your computer; and 2) Running these files to then install the software onto your computer.

I suggest you think about it this way: Usually, Web sites let you to download little “boxed-up installation packages” of their software programs. Downloading the full program would take forever, so companies compress their software programs into small, neatly packaged files that you download to your computer.

Once you download these compressed little “boxed-up installation packages,” you can click on them to open them up and start that actual installation process.

Question: Hello eRin. I downloaded SP2 (Windows Service Pack 2) after I read your column about it a few weeks ago. Everything was working fine until I attempted to download Spybot onto my machine. Now SP2 seems to be blocking my download. What do I do?

Answer: Many people who have downloaded SP2 onto their machines have been experiencing difficulties when trying to download files and programs from the Internet. Don’t worry, though, there’s an easy fix.

Follow these five easy steps and you should be on your way to once again downloading with ease: 1) Run a Virus Scan to make sure your computer is clean of viruses. 2) Open Internet Explorer. 3) Go to Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom. 4) Be certain that “Allow Downloads” is checked. 5) If “Allow Downloads” is already checked, then you must reset your firewall to ensure that it’s not blocking your downloads - it might be reacting to downloads as if they were virus attacks.

To reset your firewall, go to Start > Control Panel > Windows Firewall. Click the Advanced Tab. Lastly, click the “Restore Defaults” button at the bottom of the Window. That should hopefully do the trick.

Advice for Beginners

Three Questions and Three Answers for Today

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