Computer Info – August 23, 2000
This Week’s Program
John Watkins will demonstrate
a Smart Media USB adapter for reading and transferring digital camera pictures
very quickly. The model he is using is SanDisk. He will also show how to
diagnose a modem (which he didn’t get to last week).
Don’t forget the poll –
do you get an ‘autodisconnect’ notification when you exit your browser?
It looks like we might have
to change the time that we meet on Wednesdays at the Deltona Library. The
school children come in about 3:45 and it looks like they will be using
the meeting room since they do not want the children in the library as
they make too much noise. We will try to keep you informed as we get more
information.
Smart Media USB Adapter by SanDisk
This little device (called CompactFlash
ImageMate USB) sells for $29.99 – with UPS Ground Shipping of $4.85 (http://www.bc-express.com/sandisk/product.asp?dept_id=&sku=SD-SDDR-31)
It sits on your desk and
acts like a removable disk drive, treating the flash memory card like a
diskette. You can drag and drop files from the card to your hard disk drive
and back – quickly and easily.
It requires no AC adapter
or batteries – it uses power from your computer.
Norton Utilities 2000
One feature that Norton Utilities
has is CrashGuard. CrashGuard runs continually in the background. It will
slow your systems performance , but if you have a newer machine it will
probably be insignificant in comparison to the program’s protective benefits.
This program helps to detect and prevent system crashes. Although it can’t
always prevent a crash, it does usually give you the opportunity to save
your work before an application or system crash wipes it out. (info from
Smart Computing – October, 2000)
Another feature, Norton
System Doctor, provides a wide range of gauges to help monitor such items
as hard drive space, processor usage, memory usage, and Internet traffic.
You can run as many or as few monitors as you want and even select how
each gauge displays information. The drawback, however, is that each gauge
uses some system resources. On older machines, this can noticeably affect
performance if you have too many monitors and gauges running. (info from
Smart Computing – October, 2000)
As demonstrated by John
Watkins at the last meeting, this program can be beneficial or cause headaches.
This is a program where you should have some knowledge of what the program
is trying to do – if you want the program to do it – and if there is a
problem, what caused it. As John stated, after he installed Norton Utilities
2000 – his computer would not start until he unplugged his USB hub. Also,
after installing it on his laptop, his computer would not shut down properly.
It also would not correctly report some of his hardware devices as being
present.
How to disconnect from the Internet
When you close your email program
or your browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer) – this does not mean that
you have hung up your phone. Turning off the computer as soon as you get
off of the Internet will result in hanging up your phone – but what if
you still want to use your computer (maybe make a greeting card or write
a letter). In order to hang up the phone so that incoming callers will
not get a busy signal – you must double-click on the icon of two computers
which should appear next to the clock. This will open up a small window
which will contain a button labeled DISCONNECT. Press this button and wait
for the window to close. This will signify that your phone line has been
hung up.
Web Address - Newspapers
Internet Public Library – List of Newspapers
http://www.ipl.org/reading/news/