Questions Answers and Tips from previous Meetings

---

NOTES FROM JULY MEETING
Tips and Tricks
The following tips were volunteered at the meeting.

DEFRAGMENTING TAKING TOO LONG?
Malcolm provided the handy hint of the month ….download and run the free version of the popular "Diskeeper" registry keeper and defragmenting tool.
Click on Links on Home page under "Useful utilities" for download.

Another hint volunteered, concerned backing up to USB drives
ie. Use two drives and back up to alternate ones each time.

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Why does a half full CD always show as completely full when checking properties.
This did not receive a clear cut answer but the general consensus was:- …… CD files are read only, ie they cannot be accessed to alter them, therefore the CD properties show that it is complete or "full".

The topic of the day was fun with Graphics and we are indebted to Jennifer who presented a"workshop" on this subject, demonstrating answers to questions as she went…………if you have further questions, we will try to get them answered at future meetings.

Our reporter hurt her arm and is currently unable to take notes, so we are looking for someone willing to take brief notes at meetings so that we can continue to give an overview of meetings to those unable to attend.
Please consider this if you feel able to help, an email to over50s would be great.

---

FROM OTHER MEETINGS

 

WHY CAN'T I DELETE MESSAGES INSIDE OUTLOOK EXPRESS?
That can happen if the Deleted Items folder is damaged. Move all messages you might want to keep, out of the Deleted Items folder and into another mail folder you create. Close Outlook Express, then delete the file "Deleted Items.dbx" in your Identity's store folder. Outlook Express will create a new one when you re-open it.

HOUSEKEEPING YOUR COMPUTER or CLEANING OUT THE RUBBISH
Download these tips in a power point presentation ....HERE
Download these tips in a text file....HERE

Q. How do I show the "Show Desktop" icon on the task bar of windows XP

A.It seems that "Show desktop" is not a normal program, so can't be reactivated in a normal way, and there's no shortcut.
To fix the problem, create a file in Notepad and save it to where "Show desktop" should be.
Do it like this:
Go to Start/Run and type in "notepad" (without the quotes), then type in these lines:

(Shell)
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
(Taskbar)
Command=ToggleDesktop

Next, save the file with the name "Show Desktop.scf" in the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Quick Launch

Your actual user account name goes where it says "username".

The Show Desktop icon should reappear next to your start button and you
can close Notepad.

Q. How can I align text in a text box, so that it appears vertical?

A. Left click inside text box, then click on "View on menu bar, click on "Toolbars"and select "Text box". A floating toolbar appears, from which you can select "change text direction". A single click on that will cause the text to turn at 90deg. to it's present direction.

Q. When I am sent a ".pps" file by email, I am unable to open it. how can I open the file?

A. As you don't have Microsoft Office with "Power Point" you need to download and install Microsoft Power Point Viewer (PPView97.exe) (2.79MB) from the Microsoft support site.

Q. Where can I get a free reliable Virus Checker?

A. We recommend Grisoft AVG free edition ......see our links page for download site.

Q. Can we have a private forum page on our site?

A. We have a members only forum at our Online Community site... click here

Q. I get an error message saying my printer is spooling...what does this mean?

A. Quote from Computer world at http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardware/story/0,10801,63446,00.html
"DEFINITION: Spooling a computer document or file is the process of reading it and storing it in a buffer, either on a hard disk or in a special area in memory, so it can be printed or otherwise processed at a more convenient time - for example, after a printer has finished printing another document."
If the printer is not printing the spooled information, it seems the problem could be some corruption in the computer registry.
See the following links for more information.

http://www.pconpoint.com/?hop=greatful1
http://www.lprng.com/LPRng-Reference-Multipart/tutorial.htm
http://www.pcplus.co.uk/tips/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=36020&subsectionid=383&subsubsectionid=88

However the best advice is probably that given by Pcplus (see above url) quote......

"To resolve the problem, there are a series of troubleshooting steps to follow. These are detailed on the Microsoft Knowledge Base. To access this, visit here and search for Article ID number 191949."

Q.Moving columns in Microsoft Word.

A. Tabulation. If you wish to move a complete column sideways due to space considerations, use the mouse and the Alt key. Hold down this key and use the mouse pointer to highlight the whole column. Now using the mouse move the tab key for that column sideways to the location you want and the column will move too.
This method can be used to move pictures or sections of text on a page. By holding down the Alt key it allows you to highlight at will and not right across the page.

 

Home