Computer Info – December 6, 2000

This Week’s Program

        John Watkins will be here this week. He wrote and said that his program will be "Notelets" another Great Christmas Present using your Computer. I know nothing more about it – so, come and find out. It sounds interesting.

MS-Word – Top Menu

The top (main) menu of your MS-Word program usually reads from left to right
            FILE - EDIT - VIEW - INSERT - FORMAT - TOOLS - TABLE - WINDOW - HELP
but what if one day you notice that the INSERT (or other) drop down menu is gone. How do you get it back?
        Hopefully, your VIEW drop down menu is still there. So choose VIEW – TOOLBARS – CUSTOMIZE. Under the TOOLBAR tab, click on MENU BAR to highlight it and then click on RESET. That should restore your menu back the way it was when you first installed your program.
        Why did part of it disappear in the first place? From the VIEW menu, choose TOOLBARS – then CUSTOMIZE. Click on the COMMANDS tab. While you are here, you can click on any item or menu on the top (main) menu or any icon on any of your toolbars and drag that item to this COMMANDS tab window. The item will disappear from where you dragged it from.

AMD Athlon

        The new enhanced Athlon chip is out. So when you buy your computer, which chip are you buying – the older version or the newer version. A good way to tell is to see how much Level 2 cache the system has. The new Athlon has 256KB while the classic (or older) Athlon has 512KB. The newer chip has a smaller Level 2 cache, but it overall performance has increased because the cache is integrated. This will make processor-intensive programs run faster.

RAM – RAM – RAM

        It seems like today’s applications need more and more ram requirements to run them. 64MB has been the recommended minimum for some time, but I do believe that we would now recommend 128MB for the minimum.
        The biggest mistake that users make when upgrading their RAM is buying the wrong memory modules. SIMM can be inserted only into 30-pin and 72-pin memory slots. DIMM has 168 pins and does not need to be used in pairs. DIMMs have a 64-bit path, which makes them more suitable for use with more recent processors. RIMM (Direct Rambus Dynamic RAM) requires a RIMM-compatiable motherboard. Systems with the new Rambus architecture have modules that look like DIMMs but are not compatible.
        So --- Check your computer manual to make sure exactly what type and speed of RAM is recommended for your computer.

Screen Savers

        Should I use a screen saver? Using a screen saver can actually shorten the life of your monitor. The first component to usually fail on color monitors is the electron gun that guides its illuminating beam. The best way to prolong the gun’s life is to shut down your monitor (or let Windows put it to sleep) when it’s not in use. To let Windows do it, open CONTROL PANEL – click on POWER MANAGEMENT – click the POWER SCHEMES tab. Here you can set your monitor to shut down automatically after a set time. Any keystroke will reactivate it immediately.
 
 

Find Who Invented It & Tips for Windows Problems

http://www.inventorsmuseum.com/
        Here is an excellent website to look up inventors and their inventions.

http://windows.about.com/compute/windows/library/tips/
        A site that gives you information and tips about various Windows problems.
 
 

Terms

DIMM (Dual in-line memory modules)
        A small circuit board containing memory chips. DIMMs support 64-bit and higher memory buses, whiles SIMMs (single in-line memory modules) are limited to 32-bit buses.

Macro Virus
        A virus that travels as a macro embedded in documents, especially Microsoft Word and Excel documents. It remains dormant until you open the infected document, and then the virus usually infects all files opened afterward until it's removed.

MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3)
        This format uses a sound layer of the MPEG video format to compress audio to one-twelfth its original size while providing CD-quality sound. MP3 compresses a minute of music into a 1MB file.

Psychoacoustic Compression
        Compressing audio files based on the quirks of human hearing. Programs use this compression to remove sounds that are above or below the range of human hearing and sounds that are over other sounds. MP3 files use this compression method.

Typosquatting
        Registering a domain name, such as http://www.mocrosoft.com that closely resembles the domain name of a popular Web site. Typesquatters rely on users’ typos and present the misdirected user with content unrelated to the intended Web site.

Trojan horse
        A virus that appears to be a useful application, such as a game or a utility, and slips into a system unnoticed.

Worm
        A destructive program containing code that replicates itself until it fills the target drive or network, thereby causing it to malfunction. Worms are sent out either as a practical joke or for purely malicious reasons.