Computer Basics and Tips

The ClubHouse: General Archives: June - July Archives: Computer Basics and Tips

Gail

Saturday, June 23, 2001 - 09:49 am Click here to edit this post
Just for Ms Grooch . . . here is a folder for computer basics and tips.

To get things started . . .

One of my most favorite shortcuts is to Right Click on the start button and use that as a way to get to Windows Explorer.

Here is a good MS Word Tip:

Have you ever done a print preview in word and realize you have a minor correction to make? In the Print Preview Screen, just below Edit on the top menu, there is a little button with a magnifying glass. If you click that button, you can edit right there in Print Preview? After you are done with your edit, just click on the button again.

Misslibra

Saturday, June 23, 2001 - 10:09 am Click here to edit this post
Always, always, always when uninstalling a program use the uninstaller that comes with the program. If there is not a uninstaller then you can go to your add and remove programs in the control panel.

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:26 am Click here to edit this post
Oh boy... you guys want tips? LOL I could go on and on and on for days in this thread :)


Lets start with some of my favorite EASY for anyone to do ones... ok :)


Hubby's coming down the hall - you don't want him to know your in TVCLUBHOUSE - yet again - or perhaps your kids are coming in when your watching the BB Shower cam? Well for whatever reason - if you ever want to minimize ALL the windows you have open at once do the following:


Right click on the TASK BAR - (anywhere - but it's easiest for me to click the empty area below the START button) then choose Minimize all windows.


NEXT?

Is your desktop cluttered with ICONS?

Right click on a blank area of the desktop - select NEW then FOLDER - name it whatever you want for example: "DT Icons"

Then drag the icons you want to into that folder - some you want to probably keep on desktop like the garbage can.

That's done.

But what if you'd like to get to all those handy icons in that new folder you made without having to go to the desktop? Left CLICK and HOLD the button down on the new folder you created - keep holding the mouse button down and drag it down to your task bar. The folder should now appear there. Just click on it to get to any of those old desktop icons.

A copy should remain on the desktop in case you didn't seem to get the folder into your taskbar.

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:31 am Click here to edit this post
This one's a biggy for me personally - ever want to open a file in a different program then the one that usually opens it? For example a .jpg or a .txt file?


Here's how:


Hold the SHIFT key while right-clicking on the file in Explorer. The Open With can now be selected, and you can choose a different application to open the file with.

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:34 am Click here to edit this post
Ever want to select all the items in a folder? (for moving or deleting or what-have-you? If so select the folder with your mouse, then hit CONTROL A - same command to select all text on this page lol try that :)

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:38 am Click here to edit this post
By the way for anyone with a keyboard that has the WINDOWS button - a faster way to minimize all windows is to hold down the Windows Button and hit M :)


WIndows Button - SHIFT M - maximizes all windows :)


oh and while I'm at it

WINDOWS + the E key opens your Explorer


Ok well I think if I give too many tips at once ya'all might not get the hang of the ones I'm giving so - I'll stop there and hope to find this folder again in a day or two! :)

Tess

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 01:38 am Click here to edit this post
This is all Greek to a person (me) with an ibook.

Spygirl

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 06:58 am Click here to edit this post
Keep 'em coming, Whit! I LOVE shortcuts/tricks/things you didn't know. I won't remember them all, but I'll retain about 80% of them!

-SpyGirl

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:18 pm Click here to edit this post
What I try to do to get to where I remember to use a shortcut - is to do it as many times as possible over the next few days - even going back and doing it the "new way" if I forget and do it the old way. This takes a few moments yes - but it saves you hours over the next year or two if you do that a few times :)


Example would be say the next 5 times you open explorer if you find yourself doing it the old slower? way - you close it again and reopen it via the Windows E key - can't imagine a faster way then that - so once you have the hang of it you'll be saving tons of time over the next few years opening explorer.

Anyhow that's why I thought I better stop with that many tips for now - if I give to many at once most will never get used lol

Gail

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:21 pm Click here to edit this post
Whit, is that why you have so much time to devote to Big Brother??

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:27 pm Click here to edit this post
How about everyone naming that one handy / useful program you just can't live without?


FOr me it's a program called AlphaPad - couldn't live without it :) I have it set to automatically load up whenever I start my computer.

It's worth it's weight in gold :)

Basically it's uh - um - well ok - I used to have dozens if little text files all over my computer with little bits and peices of info. Used to have dozens of bits and pieces of info in "emails" that I'd "save as new" cause I wanted to save the info. Used to have a phone list... a to do list - a list of favorite sayings..jokes anyhow a million little text files lol.

Now I have one. :)

It's not a personal info manager - it's basically uh - just like your notepad - accept tht you can orginize it like a tree (like explorer) - and pop any little bit of text from anywhere - (like for example these TOOL TIPS... I'm saving them in there :)

Anyhow - you can get it at http://www.alfaalfa.com/

or email me - whitinwa@aol.com and I'll send it. It's small!

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:28 pm Click here to edit this post
LOL Gail - well it does help free up time for other things when you save 3 seconds 1000X a day LOL

Gail

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:29 pm Click here to edit this post
Whit - these tips are great!!! Thanks!!

You people with MAcs, feel free to post a few tips too - I have a mac at work that I use for one program. I don't know a lot about it though and can use all the help I can get.

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:32 pm Click here to edit this post
The other program I can't live without - is a program called Size Explorer - another tiny little program worth it's weight in gold.


Just fire it up and it will tell you the size of every folder in your root dir - click on any of those foldres and it will tell you the size of every folder in THERE - and then every file inside of any of those folders and so on.

You'll find all those pesky files you didn't realize you had like AOLSETUP.ZIP - and so on :)

Sorry can't find a URL for this one - but email me if you want a copy - it's very small as well.

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:37 pm Click here to edit this post
Here's a tip - I imagine most of you know but someone may have missed this.


If your one of those shaaaaaaameful - naughty - naughty people, who sometimes view things that they would rather not have otehr family members see... the way to delete your Documents history -

hit START button then settings - then taskbar & startmenu - then Start Menu Programs - then CLEAR at the bottom.

There's actually a shortcut for this but since I don't have pesky eyes on my computer - I don't use it so don't remember the shortcut LOL.


Oh and for momma's here who want to keep an eye on their little ones viewing habits - the Explorer History - and Document history are very good ways to make sure they haven't been to hotsex.com - anytime recently LOL.

Wcv63

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 01:08 pm Click here to edit this post
Love the tips Whit, keep them coming!

In addition to hitting Control A to select all the text, Control C will copy it, Control X will cut it and Control V will paste it. Control P will print.

Control Home will bring you back to the start of a document or thread and Control End will bring you to the end of a document or thread.

Tess

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 01:45 pm Click here to edit this post
Oh my, Gail..the only tip I have about my mac is that I turn it on and it works. I stil can't even figure out the new message feature here at tvch!

Some of the Control functions Wcv mentioned work the same on a mac. Only we hit the command key not the control key.

Wcv63

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 03:20 pm Click here to edit this post
Control F will bring up a "find" dialog box. Type in the word you are looking for and it will bring you to that word everytime it appears. (Works in TVCH threads too!)

Of course Control S will save your work. It's good to get in the happy of hitting this while working in Word.

Gail

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 03:38 pm Click here to edit this post
Tess, that is the best tip I have gotten for a Mac yet!!It is the only tip I have gotten. What I need is what to do when it doesn't work.

Okay you guys - (if my boss ever find this board, I will be toast - sorry Frank)

I was working on an older mac last month - we moved everything over to a G4 (is that a kind of MAc?). Well, he copied a bunch of files from the old system to the new system. This was like the 3rd day I was working there so I didn't know what he was doing.

The next week, I had learned enough to see that the backup job was no longer working to back up the files. Each night they were crapping out. It took me most of the week, off and on troubleshooting to realize that what my boss had done is copied the entire contents of the hard drive (about 500+ megs) into one directory and planted it on the desktop so he could copy to the new mac.

I just sat there and thought . . hmmmmm . . . a 500+ meg folder on the desk top? Is this normal for a mac? Maybe that was why it was getting all those out of memory errors. Anyways, once I deleted that file, the computer ran pretty good.

I have to say, I just can't stand the mouse on that G4!!! One button?? I just can't live without the "right click" The shape is terrible too - it is killing my left hand (ergonomically speaking)

Moondance

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 03:53 pm Click here to edit this post
Keyboard Shortcuts

In order to . . . . . . . . . . . . . .press these keys
Quit application . . . . . . . . . .Command-Q
Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Command-S
Copy what is highlighted . . . . Command-C
Cut what is highlighted . . . . . Command-X
Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Command-V
Save document to desktop . . Command-D-Return
Create a new folder . . . . . . . Command-N
Close all open windows . . . . .Option-Command-W
Force Quit application . . . . . .Command-Option-Esc
Turn off system . . . . . . . . . .Shift (at Restart) extensions
Rebuild desktop files . . . . . .Command-Option
Disable HD at boot up . . . . . Command-Option-Shift-Delete
Zap PRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . Command-Option-Shift, then pull down Apple menu and select Control Panels

Spygirl

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 04:29 pm Click here to edit this post
Gail, my boss has a new G4 and I hate the mouse, too, but I think I've figured out how to "right click" with it. This doesn't work with all programs for some reason, but it works in many.

I'm not on a Mac now, so this is from memory -- play with it. Hold down either the alt, ctrl, or apple key (it is ONE of those and I can't remember which one) and then click on the text. This will pull up the list box that you would see with a NORMAL two-button mouse when you right click.

Hope that helps. As you can see from Moon's list of Mac commands, I'm sure there is one for the right click function, but this is all I've found so far.

-SpyGirl

Moondance

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 04:29 pm Click here to edit this post
the above are Mac shortcuts

Moondance

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 04:33 pm Click here to edit this post
it's the control key

Gail

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 04:50 pm Click here to edit this post
Okay - I give up? Why don't they just give you a 2nd mouse button? Except for message boards, I pretty much do everything one handed on my computer.

Moondance

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 05:30 pm Click here to edit this post
If I click and hold then the menu options pop up... it should for you too... I have a single button mouse

Gail

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 05:37 pm Click here to edit this post
See . . . I did not know that. All I had done so far is bang the mouse on the mouse pad 5 or 6 times. That did not work so well.

Moondance

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 05:38 pm Click here to edit this post
LOL Gail... hope this helps for the mouses sake

Soeur

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 05:50 pm Click here to edit this post
control + rolling the wheel on the mouse = increases the font size in web pages and documents

control + brackets [] will increase/decrease font size in documents

alt + 0149 makes a bullet • (using the character map I have memorized the codes for the features I use a lot, eg. alt + 0233 = é) That is faster than getting out the character map from accessories every time.

control + u = underline
control + i = itallics
control + b = bold

Whit4you

Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 09:51 pm Click here to edit this post
SIngle button mouse? Hmmm - I think I right click more then I left click. Wondering hwo the heck you do all those things I right click to do LOL!

(thining to self - I have to start remembering Ctrl F - would save me so much time from having to move up and find the "find" option on the various programs I use LOL)

Spygirl

Monday, June 25, 2001 - 10:41 am Click here to edit this post
Now, I hope that Whit doesn't think that just because she's been through some silly little earth shaking today that she is somehow gonna get out of posting some tips in here today. Natural disasters are NO excuse.

<SpyGirl runs quickly out of the room before Whit comes in and starts doing freaky things to her computer in retaliation....>

-SpyGirl

Juju2bigdog

Monday, June 25, 2001 - 10:50 am Click here to edit this post
Yes, slap some duct tape on that cracked keyboard and get back to cranking them out.

<Juju2bigdog races off to the duct tape thread>

Whit4you

Monday, June 25, 2001 - 12:36 pm Click here to edit this post
LOL Spy! :) All is well here - I have a few things to get done then I'll post a few more handy-dandy tips :)