• Software Tip
  Word Processors
  
  
• Website of Interest
  TruthOrFiction.com
  
  
• Computer Parts
  Keyboard
  
  
• Tech Tip
  How to Recover without
  Preparation
  
  
• eScams
  Counterfeit Cashier's Check
  
  
• Featured Discussions
  More Icons for
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  Copy Folder Contents
      to Word Document
  Mailing to All Recipients
      in Outlook Express
  Red color gone on
      computer
  winrescue xp bootdisk
      and cdrw
  
  
• Questions on our
  Discussion Board
  
  

Software Tip - Word Processors

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        When I was in college, typing a paper was a tough, hand-wringing experience. Not only did you have to know exactly what you were going to say before you typed it, but you also had to line up the paper just right in the typewriter, avoid making any typing mistakes, correct any mistakes with white-out, decide where to end each line (this included knowing how to hypenate words), and calculate the right amount of space at the end of each page for footnotes. If you were not perfect, you pulled out the page, crumbled it into a ball, practiced your backhand shot, got out a clean sheet, and started all over. What fun! Those days are gone, thanks to word processing programs.
        A word processing program allows you to compose a document, develop what you want it to say, and see how it will look, before you print it. It even lets you add pictures, provide a variety of type fonts and styles, and check your spelling and grammar. The features of a word processor are so many that you will probably never learn all of them.
        Word processing programs were one of the first types of programs to exist and are one of the most numerous. Microsoft Word is the most widely used (used by over five million people). Word used to come free on new computers, but now new computers only have a crippled version of Word preinstalled on them. If you want it to work, you have to purchase it. Microsoft Word can be found on your computer by clicking on the Start button, going to All Programs, then to the Microsoft Office folder to Microsoft Office Word. WordPerfect is another commercial word processing program.
        If you want a free replacement for Word, just do a search for word processors on the internet and you will find many, but most do not stack up to Word. OpenOffice comes the closest. Get their whole assortment of Office replacement tools for free at http://download.openoffice.org/index.html
        Word processors are not the only type of program that works with text. Flanking word processors are text editors and desktop publishers. Text editors are simple programs that let you compose and edit text but does not determine how the text looks (font, size, style). Notepad in Windows is a text editor. To open Notepad click on the Start button, go to All Programs, then to the Accessories folder to Notepad. Some free text editors that improve on Notepad are NoteTab Light - http://www.notetab.com/ntl.php and EditPad Lite - http://www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html.
        Word processors started out being little more than souped up text editors. Wordpad which also comes with Windows (also in the above mentioned Accessories folder) falls halfway in between a text editor and word processor and is what word processors used to be like.
        On the other end of the spectrum are desktop publishers. Desktop publishers are used to make posters, calendars, cards, and just about any other print media. A desktop publisher allows you to put text and pictures anywhere on the page that you want to and to modify them greatly. A word processor, on the other hand, usually limits placement of text in horizontal rows as in a letter. But that is slowly changing since the advent of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). In the olden days, you typed in the text and specified how it should look, but you didn't see how it actually looked until you printed it out or displayed it in print mode. With WYSIWYG what you type and how it looks on the screen is how it will look on paper. When you change the format of the text, it actually changes on the screen to the way it will look. At one time this was only done by desktop publishers. Add to that, that some word processors now allow you to position the text wherever you want it (even though it does not always work well), and it seems that word processors are getting very close to desktop publishers. Some popular desktop publishers are PageMaker (the first program to use the term, desktop publisher), QuarkPress, Microsoft Publisher, Corel Draw, and the free Scribus.
        No matter how old your computer is, it is sure to have a word processor. If you haven't done so yet, find it and learn how to use it. If you want something better, look on the internet or buy something at your local software store. It will open a whole new world of communication to you. Then hopefully, you can finally throw that old typewriter away. You will never regret it.


Website of Interest - TruthOrFiction.com

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        Is one of your sources of news emails forwarded to you by your friends? If so, you need to check out the TruthOrFiction.com website at http://www.truthorfiction.com
        TruthOrFiction.com checks out forwarded emails to find out if they are true or not. Each article ranks the email (Truth, Fiction, Unproven, or a number of other rankings), shows a copy of the email, and explains why it is true or not.
        Here are a few of the article titles:

• Australian Government Official Says Muslims Who Want to Live by Sharia Law Not Welcome There-Truth!
• E.coli bacteria found in bagged salads?-Truth!
• Mars is Going to Be the Closest to Earth Then Ever Before in Recorded History-Fiction!
• Young Thief in Iran Punished by Running a Truck Over His Arm-Fiction!
• The Many Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide-Truth! Fiction! & Unproven!
• Free cards to U.S. troops through Xerox?-Truth!

        On the left side near the top is a Search link where you can search for forwarded emails. Just find a word in your forwarded email which would not be in other emails (like, a name or city) and search for it. This makes it easy to find information about your email. If it is not listed, you can send the email to them and they will research it.
        Even if you do not have a specific item to look up, this website is still an informative place to go. Articles are sorted into topic areas so that you can spend hours casually browsing through them and reading them.
        A similar website is Urban Legends at http://www.snopes.com.
        So the next time that someone forwards an incredible story to you, head on over to TruthOrFiction.com and check it out before you forward it to all of your friends. If we all work together we can stop eRumors altogether (OK, probably not, but we can try).


Computer Parts - Keyboard

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        I am sure you already know what the keyboard is. You probably even have your hands resting on it right now. But lets take a closer look at it.
        Most keyboards have between 80 and 110 keys, which fall into the following categories:

• Typewriter keys
• Numeric keypad
• Function keys
• Control keys

        The Typewriter keys are the same keys that are on a standard typewriter and include the letters of the alphabet and the number keys along the top.
        Keyboards can be found with different layouts but the most popular is called QWERTY (named after the first six keys on the top row) and has been around for almost 150 years. No one really knows why the keys were placed in this order; even though, some claim it was to slow down the typist so that the mechanical typewriters' metal arms would not collide and jam. Yet QWERTY has remained a standard which most people find faster than other layouts.
        While English and other languages follow QWERTY, some languages use their own unique layout.
        Another popular layout is Dvorak, named after its creator, August Dvorak. The Dvorak layout places all of the vowels on the left side of the keyboard and the most common consonants on the right. The most frequently used letters are on the home row.
        Other layouts include ABCDE, XPeRT, and AZERTY. Each is named for the first keys in the pattern.
        Since a large part of data entry for some businesses is numbers, the keyboard also has a Numeric keypad to speed up the entry of numbers. The keypad is a set of 17 keys, arranged in the same configuration found on adding machines and calculators.
        In 1986 function and control keys were added to the keyboard. Function keys are the row of F keys at the top numbering from F1 to F12. For more information on the function keys, please see the article in last month's issue of Ray's Computer Tips at http://superwin.com/RaysComputerTips/Issue13.htm#tech.
        Control keys provide cursor and screen control. Four arrow keys arranged in an inverted T formation between the Typewriter keys and Numeric keypad move the cursor on the screen in small increments. Other common control keys include:

• Home (moves the cursor to the beginning of the line)
• End (moves the cursor to the end of the line)
• Insert (toggles between inserting and replacing text)
• Delete (like Backspace but deletes forward)
• Page Up (moves up a page)
• Page Down (moves down a page)
• Control (Ctrl)
• Alternate (Alt)
• Escape (Esc)

        Besides keys, the keyboard usually has a cable that connects the keyboard to the computer. The cable plugs into the computer with either a PS/2 (round) or USB connector. Older keyboards may have an AT connection (this is like the PS/2 connector but bigger). If the plug on the cable is different than that on the computer, an adaptor can be used to bridge the difference. Laptops use internal connectors.
        The cable has two functions: to carry power to the keyboard and to carry signals from the keyboard back to the computer. Wireless keyboards do away with the cable and so must find other ways to accomplish these two functions. To get power to the keyboard, they either plug into AC power or use batteries. To transmit signals to the computer, infrared (IR), radio frequency (RF), or Bluetooth is used. IR and RF are similar to what is used by a remote control. A receiver is either built into the computer or plugged into the USB port to receive the signal from the keyboard.
        Keyboards today have many additional features.
        Ergonomic keyboards reposition the typing keys used by each hand and set them at an angle so that your hands are better aligned. This is supposed to ease strain and fatique on your wrists and prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.
        Internet keyboards have a row of special keys to help you surf the internet. For example, one key opens a search website. Another starts your email program. Yet another starts the web browser.
        A gaming keyboard has special keys to make playing games easier.
        There are also keyboards with backlights, illumination, flexibility, smallness, programmable keys, and a number of other neat gadgets.
        The keyboard has come a long way from the days of the manual typewriter. A visit to your local computer store may surprise you just how far it has come.


Tech Tip - How to Recover without Preparation

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        Every once in a while someone who has crashed their computer will write me wanting to know what they can do to get everything back. The easy answer is: "Nothing, if you have not prepared for a crash by backing up regularly, there is nothing you can do." While in most cases that is true, it is not always true. There is a slight chance that you can recover from a crash without prior preparation. Here is what to do.
        First you need to know what kind of crash it is. This article covers three types of crashes: data loss, Windows crash, and hard drive crash.
        Data loss happens when a file is deleted or when a program that is editing a document freezes.
        If you have deleted a file, there is a slight chance that you can get it back. Older DOS environments came with a program called Undelete. If you have it, it can recover deleted files in DOS. There is also a shareware program called Restore My Files (Click here for more information and to download a trial version) that may be able to get deleted files back. If you are going to try to recover a deleted file, it is important that you do as little activity on the drive of the deleted file as you can so that it is not overwritten before you can recover it.
        If you are editing a document and the program freezes, this can be almost as devastating as if you deleted the file. Some programs, like Word or CorelDraw, have been known to freeze up in certain situations. If you have been working on a document all day and you have not saved your changes, you will not be able to save the changes when the program freezes. This means that you may end up redoing the changes in the document. After this happens to you a few times, you will probably learn to save your document more often.
        But there is one way to rescue a frozen document. These programs usually keep the document that you are working on in a temporary file. This may have the same filename as the document that you are working on with a different extension or it may have a temporary filename with the same extension. In any case, it usually is kept in the same folder as the document you were working on. Look in that folder and try opening the temporary files. You just may find one that will save you from having to redo everything again. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.
        A Windows crash occurs when Windows does not start properly. In most cases, the culprit is the registry. When a registry file becomes corrupt, it cannot be rebuilt or fixed (many people ask me that). The only way to rescue a bad registry is to replace it with a good one. Some versions of Windows automatically keep registry backups. Windows 95 keeps one that usually does not work. Windows 98 and ME keep 5. Windows 2000 does not keep any. And Windows XP keeps them in restore points (which are not accessible from the Recovery Console). Each version of Windows has a different way of recovering these backups. You may find information on the internet or our WinRescue program can restore them.
        If you can recover the registry, you will get everything back without having to reformat and reinstall anything.
        The worst kind of crash you can have is a hard drive crash. Windows may warn you at startup if a drive is failing. If you get these warnings or Windows scans the drive every startup, get a new drive and transfer the contents over while you can. If you don't and you end up with a dead hard drive, you will lose everything on the hard drive.
        There is a way to recover the contents of a crashed hard drive, but it is expensive and may not work. You will have to buy a new hard drive to put the contents of the crashed drive on. The computer repair shop will open the old drive, fix what was broken, and copy it to the new drive. Because the crashed drive is opened, they only get one chance to do this before the crashed drive becomes totally unusable. If they are not successful, you still have to pay for their attempt.
        I hope you never have a crash, but if you do and you have not prepared for it, maybe these tips will help. But the best thing you can do is backup, backup, backup. Next month, I will discuss backing up.


eScams - Counterfeit Cashier's Check

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        This scheme targets people that use internet classified ads to sell merchandise. What happens is that a person located outside of the United States contacts the seller. He tells the seller that he has an associate in the United States that owes him money and that he will have the associate send the seller a cashier's check. The amount of the cashier's check is usually thousands of dollars more than the price of the merchandise.
        He tells the seller that the excess amount will be used to pay the shipping costs on his end. He instructs the seller to deposit the check, and as soon as it clears, to wire the excess funds back to him or to another associate identified as a shipping agent. In most instances, the money is sent to locations in West Africa (Nigeria).
        Because a cashier's check is used, a bank will typically release the funds immediately, or after a one or two day hold. Falsely believing the check has cleared, the seller wires the money as instructed.
        In some cases, the buyer cancels the sale and asks that the price of the item (or the remainder of the money from the check) also be sent to him.
        Shortly thereafter, the seller's bank notifies him that the check was fraudulent and that the bank is holding him responsible for the full amount of the check. The seller ends up paying for the thousands of dollars that he sent to the person in another country and there is no way that he can get it back.
        The best way to avoid this scam is to never accept cashier's checks for internet purchases. If you don't want to take that extreme precaution, here are some tips:

• Be suspicious of offers from outside the United States.
• Be wary if a buyer sends more than the purchase price of an item.
• Use Internet phone directories to obtain the phone number of the bank issuing the Cashier's Check and then call or visit the bank to confirm the check is legitimate.
• If you're selling a car, tell the buyer you'll meet him at the bank that issued the check and cash it there. That way you will know if the check is for real.
• If it is an out-of-state cashier's check, tell the buyer to cash it himself. Treat a cashier's check like any check - with caution.
• If possible ask that the funds be wired to your account instead of using a cashier's check. Typical wire fees range from $20 to $25.

        If you believe you may have fallen victim to this type of scam and wish to report it, please file a complaint at http://www.ic3.gov/ (this is for US citizens).


Featured Discussions

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More Icons for Shortcuts

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1141877970/

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billrobb - I can change an icon to any quick launch icon by using "Properties- change an icon," but I only get about four choices. How can I select from a larger range of choice.

Ray - You can do that by right clicking on any shortcut or icon (not just icons in Quick Launch) and selecting Properties. I don't know that it is a recommended thing, but you can do it. Here's why:
        Most exe files have at least one icon embedded in the exe file. When you click on the Change Icon button, it shows you the icons embedded in the specified file. Shortcuts are set up to use the main icon in the exe file that it is linked to by default. If you want to change this you can.
        There are icons in exe, ico, and dll files (not all dll files have icons). Shell32.dll in the System32 folder of Windows has many icons in it.
        You could make your own icons using a graphics program, save them to ico files, and use them.


Copy Folder Contents to Word Document

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1145211998/

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judie panneton - Does anyone know how I can copy a list of all of the icons or titles of folders and files into a Word document so that I can have paper list of all of my documents? Thanks.

TSYS - Use the "dir" command: start Command Prompt, set the current directory, then redirect the output of the "dir" command to a text file: For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator> cd C:\
C:\>dir /S >C:\DirList.txt

        A couple of caveats: First, the above example will cause all files on the C: drive to be listed, which, on a modern computer, may result in tens of thousands of lines in "DirList.txt"; use the "cd" (change directory) command to set a start point. Second, use "dir /?" to see what options are available (for example, the /S means to list all subdirectories).
        The text file can then be imported into your favourite word processor.

pipdev - Alternatively, if you do not like command-line working, try "Karen's Directory Printer" - despite the name, it does print to file as well - at this address. http://www.karenware.com/powertools/powertools.asp


Mailing to All Recipients in Outlook Express

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1144614687/

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billrobb - How do you mail to ALL your recipients (addresses) at one time in O.E.

Ray - I am not sure what you mean by "all your recipients". Are you talking about a Reply All option? That is available in OE. If it is not on the toolbar, look in the Message menu.

billrobb - I mean I want to send the same e-mail to all the addresses in my address book.

Ray - There are many ways to do that but the best way is to click on the To: button. This will open the Select Recipients dialog. Select all of the recipients in the list that you want to receive your email. To select all of them, select the first one, then scroll down to the last one, hold down on the Shift button, and select the last one. Once you have the recipients selected, click on one of the three buttons to the right: To:, Cc:, Bcc:. The email addresses will be put in the appropriate box.
        Bcc (which stands for Blind Carbon Copy) is the best one to select when sending to a list of people because it hides the email addresses from everyone. Most people do not like having their email address sent to everyone on your list (which is what To and Cc will do).
        Then click on the OK button.


Red color gone on computer

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1145163997/

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amorris183 - Last week while downloading wallpaper from WEBSHOT DESTOP, my monitor flicked and all "red" color left my computer, even in accessories PAINT. I now have black,white, purple, yellow, grey; but no RED anywhere on my computer. The images are still clear, distinct and sharp, but no pink or red. QUESTION: Is it hardware or software?

dlwolff0 - Sounds like a monitor problem to me. Just like a color TV, there is a "gun" that activates the red elements in the screen. If it quits working, then there is no red in the display. Time for a new monitor. Just like a tv, it's cheaper to buy a new one than try to get the old one repaired.

Ray - The monitor probably is the problem, but I would try a different monitor on that computer just to make sure that is the problem before you go off and buy a new monitor. Or buy a monitor from a store that will give you your money back if it turns out not to be the monitor.


winrescue xp bootdisk and cdrw

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1141004110/

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kalvin_2020 - I am using winrescue xp on a laptop with no floppy drive and am having problems making a boot disk using a cd/rw. The winrescue gives me a prompt "diskette completed" even with no blank media in the cd/rw but the screen shows the process at 96% and the program hangs. The program brings up a write to cd screen option where it wants me to indicate which files I want to copy...unfortunately, I have no clue.

Ray - You cannot make a boot CD with WinRescue XP. It only makes boot diskettes (a diskette is a floppy disk). The reason why WinRescue XP cannot make a boot CD is because it would need the diskette to make the CD (that is how boot CDs are made).
        We do have XP Recovery CD Maker (go to http://www.xp-recovery-cd.com for more information) which will make a boot CD which will restore WinRescue backups. XP Recovery CD Maker cannot make boot CDs in all WinXP installations so please use the trial version to make sure it will work on yours before buying.


Questions on our Discussion Board

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how to find WinRescue backups

WinRescue CD Backup

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A1 Cleaner does not remove all items

Phantom Drive

PHOTO CAPTURE HELP

Save Target As

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Analog recording using WinXP Laptop

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Large Fonts on Website

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viewing images in a forwarded email

Website autocomplete login

Dr Watson Error Message

computer freezing

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Winantivirus pro

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RegPack and Norton

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Disk Scan keeps running at startup

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Is there a macro on my computer?

Yahoo and Internet Security

Adding memory



Thanks for reading,
Ray Geide