Computer Info –
This Week’s Meeting
Well, another hurricane that we survived – and praying that no more come our way. Installed Mozilla on the home computer, so I will probably install it on the laptop for the meeting this week. And we will have a question and answer session. So bring your questions.
Copy VHS to DVD
(Info from Smart Computing – October, 2004)
The HP DVD Movie Writer dc3000 provides an easy way to copy your video tapes (VHS) to DVD.
The directions are clear, and installation is uncomplicated. Connect the unit to your computer with the included USB cable. Cables are also included for hooking your VCR directly to the Movie Writer. After you install the software, the analog-to-DVD conversion can be started with the press of a button on the DVD unit. This brings up the HP Transfer Wizard that walks you through the process. Everything is automated and easy to follow. The processing is somewhat time-consuming. Transferring one tape can take an hour or more. However, because no user intervention is required, you can simply start the procedure and walk away. Once the digital conversion is complete, you can edit the video to your liking.
There are a variety of different ways to copy VHS tapes to DVDs, but the HP DVD Movie Writer dc3000 is one of the easiest.
It is recommended to have a Pentium IV and USB 2.0 for best performance.
A tip: Defrag your hard drive before you start working with videos. A fragmented hard drive can cause video software to crash.
Windows XP Media Player – DVD
Windows Media Player can not play DVDs because it doesn’t include a DVD codec. But with a third-party codec installed, Windows Media Player will handle the job just fine.
Actually, you may already have a DVD codec installed on your PC. It’s likely that the software that accompanied your DVD drive included one. To find out if there is a DVD codec installed on a Windows XP system, choose RUN from the START menu. Type dvdupgrd /detect in the field and press ENTER. A window will display to indicate whether a codec is installed.
With the correct codec installed, playing a DVD is easy: Just launch Windows Media Player and insert the disc in your DVD drive. If the DVD’s content doesn’t start automatically, choose the DVD from the playlist and click the Play button. Windows Media Player’s features for watching DVDs are plain but sufficient.
Excel – Formatting Cells
Copy Formatting of One Cell to Another Cell
Click the formatted cell – click the Format Painter button. Next click the cell you are going to format. To copy the formatting to several cells in succession, double-click the Format Painter button before you start clicking target cells. The button will stay active until you click it again. If you select a block of cells with varying formats, Format Painter replicates the formatting exactly in the target block.
Conditional Formatting
Conditional formatting makes it easier to pick out important points from large bodies of data. Maybe you would like to highlight the number in red if it falls below a certain value.
Choose Format and Conditional Formatting. Use the data boxes to set up the criteria that trigger the conditional formatting. Click Format to indicate what should happen when the criteria are met, such as the font turning red. Click OK.
Excel provides a couple of slick ways to help if you lose track of which cells in a big worksheet have conditional formatting. To find cells with conditional formatting of a cell you’ve selected, choose Edit and Go To and click Special. Click the Data Validation radio button and click All or Same, depending on whether you want to find cells with any conditional formatting or just those that match your selected cell.
Finding and Replacing Certain Formatting
Let’s say you made a formatting change and decided you didn’t like it, but you don’t remember all the cells that need updating. Excel can find them.
Choose Edit and Find. Click Options and the arrow beside the Format button and choose Format. Set the items you want to look for. Click OK and Find All.
If you click on the Replace tab, then you can set the formatting that you want to replace.
Remove Formatting from a cell without Deleting the value or formula
Highlight the cell or cells where you wish to remove all formatting you have applied. Choose Edit and Clear and click Formats.
Windows XP – Service Pack 2
Windows Updates
Automatic updates currently only install critical updates – now they will install critical and security updates (patches). In fact, if you haven’t visited Windows Update lately --- check it out. It is entirely new.
New
This will
keep essential security information visible.
The new tray icon will turn red if there is a problem or yellow if new
updates are available. Double-clicking
the icon will open the
Windows Firewall
This
firewall is easier to configure and use and offers greater security. AND IT IS ENABLED BY
DEFAULT. The firewall is no longer
hidden – it is easily accessible from the
Internet Explorer
It now
contains a Popup blocker.