Computer and Web Articles

Question:
Erin, I am more of a keyboard person (using my mouse only occasionally) and know all kinds of shortcuts [for moving around Windows directories] with the keyboard. I was looking for one that would move you back up a directory when opening a file. This would be the equivalent of hitting that back arrow with your mouse.
– Deb A., Breckenridge CO
[Note to readers: A “directory” is another name for “folder”.]

Answer:
Hi there Deb. I’m not sure which version of Windows you’re using, so here are the answers for XP, Vista, and 7. (Oh – and keep in mind that yes, many times your previous folder is the same as the folder directly up from where you are—but not always!):

• Windows XP: Hitting the Backspace key will move you up one level. Alt + left arrow key moves you back to the previous folder.
• Windows Vista & Windows 7: Hitting Alt + up arrow key will move you up one level. Alt + left arrow key will move you back to the previous folder. [Note: This information was pulled directly from Microsoft.com; I do not run Windows Vista or 7 myself.]

Both of my laptop’s batteries act like I spent the last year endlessly popping them into the toaster. Half the time it seems like they run out of juice before my computer’s done booting up. Okay, yes, that was an exaggeration. But not by much.

My batteries may be toast, but I’m thinking we can take a few moments today to learn how we can help conserve the juice in your laptop’s batteries.

I recently read an article on Microsoft.com that listed various strategies for conserving battery power. Several of the strategies pertained only to PC users, but a few would be helpful for both PC and Mac users.

The two main PC-only strategies mentioned in the article covered 1) optimization of power settings and 2) taking advantage of low-power states. Specific instructions for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 are provided.

Additional tips included disabling your wireless and managing your screen’s brightness.

If you’d like, you can read the article here: http://tinyurl.com/m4haua. (It’s a short one.)

A month ago I shared with you how easy it is to determine what browser and browser version you use.

Today I’m admitting there’s actually a much easier way to locate this information (as well as some important related details).

That’s right. The next time someone asks you for any of the following:

1. your browser
2. your browser version
3. your operating system
4. your IP address
5. your user agent string

…don’t fret. Just visit www.thismachine.info. The moment you arrive you’ll find all the above-listed information displayed on your screen. It’s like your little private cheat sheet.

Go ahead and bookmark this page so that the next time tech support/your webmaster/that warranty card asks you for any of the above-listed details, you won’t feel like a deer in the headlights; you’ll instead be able to provide an accurate answer with ease.

I’m sure you’re well aware of the fact that sometimes, when using the web . . . things just don’t go exactly as planned.

You hit a “Buy Now” button but the wrong product shows up in your shopping cart. You click a Log In button and … nothing happens at all. You arrive at a website only to find you can’t read half the text because it’s covered by photos or ads.

These things happen. And when they do, we call tech support. We call our cousin the web expert. We email the owner of the problematic site.

More often than not, the person we contact will at some point ask, “What browser are you using? And what browser version do you have?” Knowing which browser you were using at the time of the problem is often vital in helping others troubleshoot your issues; this is why replying with, “I don’t know” only delays a resolution and irritates the person trying to help you.

(Quick refresher for those of you scratching your head right now: Your browser is simply the program you use to surf the web. You’ll also hear browsers referred to as web browsers—they’re the same thing. Common browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera.)

So. Back to identifying your browser: This page should, in matter of seconds, help you visually identify which browser you use: http://tinyurl.com/28aog75

If you’re feeling adventurous and would like to take things a step further by determining not only which browser you use, but which browser version you use, go ahead and fire up your browser, click the “Help” menu item at the top of your screen, and choose the “About (xyz your browser name here)” option. You should now see a little window displaying your browser’s name and version number on it.

I’m glad you took the time to learn this information. It’s extremely likely that your newfound knowledge will come in handy in the future.

Yes, the glass-like translucency effects you see in Vista are nice. But they come with a price: their graphical fanciness slows down your system.

If you’re not married to Vista’s Aero-glass effects, consider disabling them to see if they’ve been slowing your computer down. (If turning off the glassy effects doesn’t seem to improve your computer’s speed, just turn them right back on.)

To disable the effects:

1. Right click on an empty area of your desktop, then click Personalize.
2. Click Window Color and Appearance.
3. Uncheck the Enable Transparency box.
4. Click a color you’d like to use for your Start menu and taskbar (you’ll need a solid color now that your transparency effect is going away).
5. Click OK and try using your computer for a day or so.

Did turning off the glitzy glassy effects make a noticeable difference? If yes, that’s great! If no, simply return to the Window Color and Appearance area and re-check the box next to Enable Transparency.

QUESTION:
Thanks for the previous Windows XP tip to kill indexing and Messenger. Can I do the same in Vista too?
– Pat Tormey, Silverthorne, Colorado

ANSWER:
Yes, you sure can. Here are the steps you need to take for each task.

————————————-

Turning Off Indexing in Vista:

1. Click Start, then Control Panel
2. Click System and Maintenance, then Administrative Tools, then double click Services
3. Locate the service named Windows Search, then right-click it and select Properties from the menu that pops open.
4. Click Stop
5. Now, in the Startup Type drop-down box, choose Disabled
6. Click OK

Turning Off Messenger in Vista:

1. Click Start, then Control Panel, then Uninstall a Program (under Programs)
2. Click MSN Messenger
3. Click Uninstall from the list of options in the new window
4. Click Yes, then wait until the process is done
5. Restart your computer

Windows XP comes with lovely graphics. You’ve got your shiny, 3-d taskbar running across the bottom of your screen. You’ve got that neat, green, 3-d gel button over in the left-hand, bottom corner. Lots of pretty icons, subtle shines, and drop shadows add an elegant, polished touch to your computer-using experiences.

These graphics do come with a cost, however: they make your computer run a bit slower.

And so it comes down to fashion vs. function. If you’re happy with your computer’s speed and you’d prefer to keep your computer’s graphics looking polished and pretty—don’t change a thing.

If you’re willing to give up your shiny graphics for simple, straightforward ones so that your computer will run faster, here’s what you need to do:

1. Click on Start, then Control Panel.
2. Click on System. (Note: If you don’t see an option called System, first click on “Switch to Classic View” over on the left.)
3. Click Advanced, then click the Settings button underneath Performance.
4. Now just go ahead and select the “Adjust for best performance” option.
5. Click Apply, then OK.

All done.

Your graphics may be a bit boring now, but you should notice your computer seems a bit quicker.

If you don’t like the way things look, simply head back to the spot where we updated your graphics option in #4 above and select “Adjust for best appearance.” Your graphics will revert to their previous (default) states. No harm done!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a bold assumption: you don’t use your Windows XP built-in search every day, do you? I bet you don’t even use it once a week, right? Actually, now that I think about it, I’m going to go ahead and guess that entire months go by without you using that search functionality—yes?

I knew it! My powers of assumption appear to be incredibly on-point today. So now that we’ve confirmed you don’t use XP’s built in search on a regular basis, let’s take advantage of this information to speed up your computer a bit, shall we?

Today we’ll be turning off your Windows Indexing Service, a service that reduces the performance and speed of your computer by constantly, furiously running in the background in an effort to update an index of alllllll the files on your system—just so that your Windows XP searches will execute as fast as possible. You know, those searches you never conduct.

All we need to do to give our Windows Indexing Service a well needed, permanent rest is…

• Click on Start > Control Panel
• Click on Add/Remove Programs
• Look over in the left-hand column of the window that pops up. Click Add/Remove Windows Components
• Uncheck Indexing Service
• [Bonus tip: If you never use Windows Messenger (and it’s very likely you do not), uncheck that box too!]
• Click Next, then Finish.

Now just look how fast your computer is zooming about! All done, great job.

Keyboard shortcuts allow you to do your computer work quickly and more efficiently.

Think about all the poor people who don’t realize they can copy text with Ctrl + C and paste that text with Ctrl + V. Every time they want to copy and paste they select text with their cursor, move their cursors up to the Edit menu option at the top of their screen, click on that Edit menu option, move their cursors down, and select Copy. They then repeat an almost identical process to paste their text. Slow, inefficient, and tedious work.

But of course you already know about Copy and Paste, yes? Let’s look at some other useful keyboard shortcuts you can put to work for you.

• Ctrl + A: Selects everything! In Word this will select every single letter, word, image, etc. that’s sitting in your document. If you’re in a Windows folder, this will select every single file within the folder.
• Ctrl + B: This will bold text in many programs (Word, Excel, etc.).
• Ctrl + D: This allows you to quickly mark a web page as a Favorite when you’re using Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer.
• Ctrl + I: This will italicize text in many programs (Word, Excel, etc.).
• Ctrl + Q: This quits most programs. All done with your Excel spreadsheet? Finished up your Photoshop comp? This will close the program down for you, pronto. (If you’ve not saved your work yet, you’ll be prompted to do so before the program closes–don’t worry.)
• Ctrl + U: This will underline text in many programs (Word, Excel, etc.).
• Ctrl + Z: Undo!! Undo!! Make an error? Typo? Enter the wrong information? This will save you. I use it many, many times a day. (Sadly though, it can’t help you take back emails you shouldn’t have sent.)
• Ctrl + Esc: In PCs, this will pop open your Start menu (no need to click the Start button at the bottom left-hand corner of your screen).