Computer Info – June 27, 2001

This Week’s Meeting

        John Watkins is back this week. His program will be -- A look at Office XP ( what you need to know ) and then -- Spread sheets for beginners.

Get Rid of the Junk
(notes from an article in Smart Computing – August, 2001)

        Remember when your new computer was the fastest thing out there and was everything you needed it to be. Does it seem to be slowing down some. Things it used to do in a second or two now take several seconds. Programs that used to open up rapidly now slowly flicker into existence, while your hard drive stutters and grinds. Data files that used to load instantaneously now act as if they are being filtered through an old sponge. Even booting up seems to take longer.
        What’s wrong? Is your computer wearing out? The culprit is likely one of two or three things.
Lack of Memory. You have just as much memory now as you did a year ago, when everything seemed to run lightning-quick. But you may not be running the same applications. It’s a good bet that you have installed either new programs or upgrades for existing programs. You may have installed an updated version of Windows. In all of these cases, the new applications almost certainly require more memory. As a result, everything runs slower. The solution is almost always more memory.
A Corrupt Registry. The Windows Registry keeps track of which applications have been installed and where. It can get corrupted, especially if you are prone to deleting applications by using Windows Explorer, rather than by running an actual uninstaller utility.
Temporary Blues. There is one more common cause of computer slowdown: too many temporary files clogging up the works. As applications process and manipulate data, many create temporary files. Often these are used for temporary storage while the program does some other type of processing. This is especially true of applications that handle large files: word processors, image-manipulation programs, desktop publishing, or video-editing tools.
        An application is suppose to create a temporary file, use it when necessary, and then delete it when it’s time to close the program. But sometimes the application is buggy and fails to erase the temporary file. Occasionally, a program (through poor design) purposely leaves the temp file, assuming it won’t do any harm and will be needed at some point. Sometimes the program never gets a chance to shut down correctly and erase its temp files because your system, or at least that application, has crashed or locked up.
        So, to clear your hard drive of any temp files you will need to find them. The easiest way to do that is to use Windows’ FIND utility. Click START – FIND – FILES OR FOLDERS. Type *.tmp (also do this with ~.* ) in the Named field. It is generally safe to delete any files ending with the .TMP suffix or beginning with a tilde (`). Doing so will free up more space and cut down on the amount of travel in which the drive head must engage while seeking data.

Web Sites

Benefits Checkup – from the National Council on Aging
        This site has you answer questions to help you identify which federal and state assistance programs maybe help you. Researching these programs used to be a time-consuming, frustrating experience -- but no longer. This site brings them all together.
                              http://www.benefitscheckup.org
The I-4 Bridge and the Construction Schedule
                              http://www.trans4mation.org/St%20Johns%20River%20Bridge.htm