Computer and Web Articles

Question: Is there a way to put my most-used web address on my desktop, instead of opening my browser and then typing in the address?  - Sarah L., Keystone

Answer: Oh absolutely, you most definitely can! It’s not hard to do, either; just keep in mind that the steps are different depending on what browser you use.

For Internet Explorer: When you’re on a webpage you wish to save to your desktop, go to the top of your screen and click File, then Send, then Shortcut to Desktop. Done!

For Firefox: There are two ways to do this in Firefox, but surprisingly, neither are obvious. The first option requires you to hit the “Restore Down” button (it’s that middle button at the top right of your screen - the one with the two boxes in it, to the left of the “x” button). If you don’t see the Restore Down button and the middle button shows only one square, you’re OK - you don’t need to do anything at all. Next, left-click the icon in the address bar - that’s the little graphic sitting to the left of the address of the site you’re currently on. Don’t let go of that left mouse button just yet; instead, drag that icon to your desktop and then let go.

If you don’t care for that method, try this out instead: http://tinyurl.com/22nzr5.

I have a folder named “Questions” in my email program. Every time a reader emails or calls with a question, I drop a copy of it into this folder.  When I notice the questions piling up, I know it’s time to do another Question & Answers article. Here we go.

Question: Hey Erin, I was wondering if you know anything about the taskbar on Windows XP.  Out of nowhere my taskbar went from its usual horizontal, bottom placement to a vertical setting on the left side of my screen.  I can’t find any info anywhere about how to get it back.  It’s really bugging me. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Answer: Hi there. It sounds like you accidentally dragged your toolbar over there to the side–but no worries because it’s super easy to fix.

Click anywhere in the empty space of your taskbar (not on an icon), hold down your left mouse button and. . . . drag it.  Yup, that’s it.  Drag that toolbar back down to the bottom of your screen where it belongs.  (Some people-though I don’t know any myself-apparently like to have their taskbars on the left or right or top of their sreens, so it’s easy to move the taskbar around, even though most people never even think about this.)

If you click on your taskbar and try to drag it only to find that nothing happens, chances are your toolbar became locked at some point while it was over there on the side.  If this is the case, just right-click on the taskbar, uncheck “Lock the taskbar”, and try the above instructions again.  Then, to be safe, you can lock your taskbar back up when it’s back and happy sitting at the bottom of your screen so it doesn’t accidentally get dragged around in the future.

Question: Hi eRin.  I have a pretty new computer that came with a good CD Burner.  I downloaded some movies and they’re too big to put on a CD, so I want to burn them to a DVD. Can I can use my CD Burner to burn a DVD?? I don’t want to add any extra drives or equipment or anything like that. Thanks.

Answer: Wish I had some good news for you, but unfortunately, the answer to your question is a simple . . . no. CD Burners are for burning CDs. DVD Burners, on the other hand, can burn both DVDs *and* CDs.  In sum, if you want to burn DVDs, you’ll need to buckle down and buy a DVD Burner.

Question: Erin–hoping you can help me here. I use Hotmail for my main email account, but I think one of my ‘friends’ knows my password now.  I want to change my password but I can’t figure out how to do it.  Do you know how?

Answer: Don’t worry, we’ll get your password changed in a snap.  First, login to your Hotmail account with your current password. Once you’ve logged in, look in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and you’ll see a link called “Options”. Click it.

On the next page, you’ll see a link called “Password” (it should be the second one down from the top). Click it.  You might have to login again to prove that yes, this is your account and yes, you know your current password.

Next you’ll be whisked directly to a change-your-password page. Fill out this short little form and you’re done.  Don’t worry about the “Password Strength” part; it’s no big deal.  And I’d recommend not checking the box at the bottom that reads “Make my password expire every 72 days” - else you’ll probably end up changing your Hotmail password more often than you’d like.

Have a question? Send it my way!  I exist solely to answer your computer and Internet queries.  Well maybe not, but I would enjoy helping you out–so go ahead, feel free.

You want answers and you want them now, so no dilly-dallying today. Here are your questions (which I shortened a bit), and I’m trimming all the fat off my responses to provide you with as many answers as I can. I apologize if I sound a bit terse or not as friendly as normal, but I promise I still like you. Let’s go.

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Question: How do I know how fast my internet connection is?

Answer: Go here: www.testmyspeed.com.

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Question: I’m pretty good with computers and most of the stuff you talk about in your articles is way too easy for me. I’m interested in doing a bit of customization to my operating system (Windows XP). What do you recommend?

Answer: For tweaking or hacking Windows XP, I usually recommend www.tweakxp.com. You can have some serious fun there if you know what you’re doing.

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Question:Is a “browser” and the “internet” the same thing?

Answer: A browser is the program that allows you to view web pages on the internet. For example, Internet Explorer lets you visit and look at various websites; Internet Explorer is the browser.

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Question: Are the “internet” and the “web” the same thing?

Answer: Though smarty-pants, industry and tech people know that the words “web” and “internet” are not technically interchangeable (learn why here: www.tinyurl.com/37×2n), the vast majority of people use the words as if they were exactly the same. You can, too, and few will think less of you for it.

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Question: I just love putting little animations like jumping frogs and dancing flowers in my e-mails to my grandchildren and friends. I’m tired of using the same ones over and over, though; where can I find more of these cute little animated critters?

Answer: There’s a site for folks like you: www.animationfactory.com. I just beg all of you not to use anything found on this type of website on your business’s web pages. I don’t care how cute the waddling penguin is.

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Question: What is the “Refresh” button with the two arrows I see when I’m browsing the web? It’s always in my toolbar at the top of my screen, close by the “Back” button. What do I do with it?

Answer: The button reloads the current web page you’re viewing. It’s useful on sites that are updated very frequently so you can see the changes as soon as they’re made available. So unless you’re in the middle of buying something or filling out a form, pressing this button won’t hurt ya.

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Question: Can you fix my computer? I’m having problems.

Answer: Nope, sorry. timeforcake actually doesn’t deal with wiring or snooping around the depths of people’s computers. But if you contact us, we’d be more than happy to point you in the right direction and give you the best recommendation we can!

Question: I have a website for my business and do all the things you’ve mentioned in the past (plus more) to increase my search-engine rankings. They’ve gone up a little but I am wondering if maybe I am doing something to hurt my chances at getting better rankings. Are there things I shouldn’t be doing in trying to get better rankings?

Answer: Good question. Tricky, but good. In my experience, and in past research, I’ve found that there are indeed a few factors most search engine optimization consultants agree are bad news.

First, make sure that you are not serving one set of content to your site’s visitors and then a completely different set of content to the search engines. If the search engines detect that there’s a disparity in the content you’re delivering, expect to receive some serious penalties.

Second, no matter how tempting it may be, don’t spam or stuff your keywords. If you have an elephant site about elephants and your elephant content talks about elephants and the word elephants is used 150 times on the elephant homepage of your elephant site, the search engines will most likely be just as upset as your site visitors.

Lastly, keep in mind that if any of your content is somehow deemed “unsafe” for minors, your site may be penalized or wiped completely from normal search results.

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Question: Thanks for your last article on saving internet favorites. I was able to follow your steps and successfully save mine. Would you mind explaining how to delete favorites, though? I can’t figure out how to do it, and I’d really like to clean out my list because it’s too cluttered.

Answer: I don’t mind explaining at all; it’s actually frighteningly easy. No memorization, printing out of instructions or headaches required. The easiest way to go about trimming down your favorites list is by using the ever-so-wonderful-and-always-useful right click.

With Internet Explorer open, hit Ctrl + I if your favorites bar isn’t already visible on the left side of your window. You should now be looking at your list of favorite (or maybe no longer your favorite!) websites.

Find a site you’d like to get rid of, put your cursor over the site name, and right click with your mouse. A menu pops open with a list of options. Click delete, and you’re on your way to an updated and organized favorites list.

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Question: A while back you told us about a really neat map website. Can you remind me what the address for that site is?

Answer: I actually receive e-mails with this question on a semi-regular basis. So for all of you who were considering asking me about this map website, consider no more and just head over to www.us.map24.com.

Question: eRin, You suggested that I install AdAware onto my computer. But I already have another anti-spyware program on my computer. Is it redundant or necessary to have two?

Answer: Good question. I’m not sure which anti-spyware program you’re currently using, but to answer your question - no, it’s not redundant. I actually run two different anti-spyware programs myself: AdAware (www.lavasoftusa.com) and Spybot 1.3 (http://tinyurl.com/2b7s7).

They use different definitions and algorithms to search for spyware on your computer, and one will often find items the other won’t. You really can’t be too safe when it comes to Spyware, and since these programs are so small in size, it’s no big deal (and most probably extremely helpful in the end) to have more than one anti-spyware program running on your machine.

Question: I’m in the process of rewriting the copy on my website. Right now it rambles and doesn’t do a good job selling my products. Do you have any tips you could share for writing for websites?

Answer: If you’re seriously looking to make money or gain new customers via your website, I’d highly recommend obtaining the services of a web copywriter. If using a professional’s services is not within your budget, however, there are still a few key guidelines you should try to follow:

• On your site’s homepage, clearly state what differentiates your company from the competition.
• Make sure to explain to your visitors why they should return to your website.
• Remember that people tend not to read on the web. Instead, they skim. (The manner in which people look through websites is actually analogous to how people leaf through newspapers!) Try to make your website’s text as skimmable as possible. Use bullet points, hierarchies, and headers to lead your visitors through your copy in a straight-forward manner.
• Omit words that aren’t necessary! Take out those long strings of fluffy adjectives. You’re not writing for print; on the web you need to be clear and concise.

Question: I’m hosting a family reunion in Summit County this summer, and I have some questions I want to e-mail everyone so that I can put some solid plans together. I want to find out what activities people are most interested in, which weekend they’d like to come, etc. I’m hoping you can inform me of some neat web technology that might help me manage all the responses I’m going to receive - there’s going to be a lot.

Answer: Don’t just send out an email and wait for all the text responses to roll in. Try using Evite and send out your own poll.

Not just for e-mail invitations anymore, Evite allows you to send out online polls that everyone can vote on. Results are tallied and e-mailed to you in a nice neat chart or graph after the closing date. What’s even cooler is that this service is free and votes can be made anonymously. Sound interesting? Send out your first one right away (it really is that easy): http://www.evite.com/polling.

Keep sending those questions my way, everyone.

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

I’m surprised that people continue to keep sending in such good questions these days–shouldn’t you all be outside in the sun?  I mean . . . think about it! All your computer problems would be solved if you simply turned your darned machines off and spent your days outside lounging in the sun. . . .

HA!  For those of us who don’t have the option of turning our computers off five days a week, let’s take a look at some good questions and answers for today.

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Question: Hello. I use AOL Search, MSN Search, and sometimes Google to look for things on the web.  I wanted to know, though, if there is a good way to actually search for pictures and images on the web as well.  Sometimes I use the Google image search, but I was curious if there is anything else.

Answer: Though I myself tend to be somewhat partial to Google’s image search, many people like using a site called “Ditto.”  Take a peek at www.ditto.com.  Here you can type in a search and all your results will be images!

Even better than ditto.com, in my opinion, is “picsearch.”  Picsearch (www.picsearch.com) seems to be a more accurate image search engine; I can usually find better pictures and photos when searching here than when I’m searching at ditto.com–but that’s just me.  Give them both a shot and see what you can find.

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Question: What is the difference between a “portal” and a “vortal” on the Internet?  Are they basically the same thing?

Answer: A portal is a website that offers a variety of services.  People usually use portals as starting points when looking for information on the Internet–thus, not surprisingly, portals often include search engines.  Examples of popular portals you may have visited yourself include AOL, Yahoo! and Lycos.

A vortal is simply a portal website that provides resources and information for a particular industry.  According to the Webopedia (www.webopedia.com), vortals are “the Internet’s way of catering to consumers’ focused-environment preferences.”  So that’s it; vortals are simply portals with narrower focus.

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Question: I don’t have Microsoft Word, and I do not want to pay for it.  Is there a cheap alternative? I need to be able to open the Word documents people send me and write my own documents as well. Thank you.

Answer: How about this: I know of an absolutely great Word Processing program . . . and it’s free!  TextShield Fusion is a fantastic piece of freeware that comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a more-expensive program, including a search-and-replace function, spellcheck, and a hyperlink editor.

Open up those Word documents you’re getting and save them into rich text format (RTF).  You can even format your documents in a bunch of cool ways–cool 3D effects, anyone?

Go to http://tinyurl.com/ys2pn for more information on TextShield Fusion.

On today’s menu: Questions, with a healthy side of answers. Yum. And as always, the dessert will be your choice between ice cream cake and chocolate chip cookies.

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Question: I’m going to be setting up my first Web site, and there is a lot of terminology I don’t really understand. What exactly is a “host” and why do I need one?

Answer: A host is a company that owns the server your Web site will be stored on. Even if you’ve already registered your domain name, you still need “your little spot of land” on the Internet where you can put it. A host provides you with that space.

In simple terms: Your Web site needs a home on the Internet - a place where your domain name, Web page files and graphics can reside. You buy or rent Web space through a hosting company.

Hosting fees vary greatly depending on your needs and, conveniently, most hosting companies offer monthly, quarterly and yearly packages. Keep in mind that the hosting package you choose will need special features if you plan to have a storefront on your Web site, if you will be connected to a database, or if you have special programming requirements.

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Question: Google is my favorite search engine and I use it all the time. My only complaint is that it only shows me 10 results per page. I hate having to click to the next page, then the next page, then the next page to see all my results. Can I somehow fix how the results are displayed?

Answer: No. It’s impossible. OK, that was a joke. I was kidding. Of course you can! First, head over to www.google.com. Next to the “Search” button at the top of the page you’ll see a link that reads “Preferences.” Click this.

You’ll be taken to your Google Search preferences page where, if you scroll down a bit, you’ll see an option that reads “Number of Results.” Select how many results you’d like displayed per page - 10, 20, 30, 50 or 100 - but keep in mind that Google’s default (10) provides the fastest search results.

While you’re on the Google Search preferences page, take a look at the other four options you can play around with: Interface Language, Search Language, SafeSearch Filtering and Results Window. Remember, you can’t break anything here! If you change a preference and you’re not thrilled with it, you can return to this page at any time and set your preferences back the way they were.

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Question: Hi eRin. I’ve been a neat-freak my entire life, and this carries over into how I like to arrange the icons “just so” on my computer’s desktop. I like to have everything a very specific way, but every once in a while I’ll turn my computer on to find that everything been randomly re-arranged! Of course this agitates me to no end. Is there any way I can somehow save my desktop layout?

Answer: Sure thing. You need to download a little piece of software called EzDesk. According to the company’s Web site, (which can be found by visiting http://tinyurl.com/2sflh) EzDesk offers a large number of features that, among other things, allows you to save and restore your folder icons layout, hide or minimize all your desktop windows in one step, and create hot keys to frequent actions.

As usual, you can download a free evaluation copy, but you’ll have to pay $15.00 for a registered version. For severe neat freaks, it sounds like this might actually be a bargain!

Hope you enjoyed today’s tasty treats. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

The questions have been piling up in my Inbox lately. It’s time to share some answers!

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Question: Sometimes you write about something called “Mozilla” in your articles. What is that?

Answer: Mozilla is an Internet browser. Think of it as an alternative to your Internet Explorer or AOL. Many people swear by it, not just because it’s an alternative to a Microsoft product, but because it has a number of outstanding, useful features. Mozilla has “tabs” which allow you to load multiple Web sites at once - instead of opening separate instances for every Web site. It has a built-in pop-up ad blocker. It offers automatic import of all your Internet Explorer bookmarks (so you don’t have to worry about losing them or resaving them). Plus, Mozilla offers a clean interface and great speed. I use it all the time. You can have multiple Internet browsers on your computer at the same time. You can download Mozilla for free here: http://www.mozilla.org.

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Question: Hello eRin. I have a small Web site for my business in Summit County. As the number of unreliable sites, scams and useless Web pages out there continues to grow, I am becoming increasingly concerned about making sure my Web site appears credible. Do you have any tips for me?

Answer: A few years back Consumers Union (www.consumersunion.org) commissioned the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University to undertake a study that looked at how people judge a site’s credibility. One of the major findings suggests that site designers should “avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.” Broken links and misspellings are sure to make your company appear as if it simply doesn’t care and fails to pay attention to details. Another major finding recommends that site owners update their site’s content often - or, at the very least, show that it’s been reviewed recently. Stale, outdated content makes your site visitors wonder if you still exist.

A third finding explains the importance of making it easy to contact you. The study’s complete results can be found in .pdf format at http://tinyurl.com/2bmqm, and the research summary (a bit easier to digest) can be found here: www.webcredibility.org/guidelines.

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Question: Hey eRin. I’m a retired English teacher and love looking at grammar, spelling and literature sites online. Do you have any fun suggestions for me?

Answer: Most definitely! Go to http://yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html to view a list of the 100 most often misspelled English words. Or check out one of my personal favorites, the 100 most often mispronounced English words (and phrases): http://yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html.