Computer Info – January 5, 2005

This Week’s Meeting

This will be a get acquainted, organization session.    We will be getting back to basics and polling the group for topics of immediate concern and major interests.    The information printed below has been mostly plagiarized from previous sessions, with thanks to Alice & Wes. 

Organizing Your Files

The creation of an organization system to help you find files of all sorts when you want them and to keep down the clutter we all seem to acquire on our computers is very important. A good organization system also makes it easy to backup your information.

            Find your my DOCUMENTS folder.  You can locate it from the START menu (where it says Documents) – or from MY COMPUTER – C:\ DRIVE.  Open the folder up and start creating folders for your organization.  There should already be a folder for your Pictures – if you run Word, then create a folder for your documents that are created in Word – if you run Excel, then create a folder for your spreadsheets that are created in Excel – if you create MP3’s or WAVs, then create a folder for your music – create a folder for your Internet items (such as your address book and your bookmarks).

            To create a folder – check to be sure that you are in the MY DOCUMENTS folder (look at the blue top to the window – it will tell you where you are).  Then right-click in an empty area of the window and choose NEW – FOLDER.  When you do this, you will see New Folder highlighted in blue – if you start typing, the words New Folder will disappear and what you are typing will become the name of the folder.  Create as many of these folders as you think will help you organize your files.  Only create one folder for PICTURES --- open the PICTURES folder to create subfolders to help you organize your pictures.  It is a good idea to include the date in the name of the picture folders that you are creating. 

            Now, - put those folders to use!  When you are in a program, be sure to save your information to one of these folders.  By the way, ALL programs allow you to save your information wherever you want – so don’t let the program tell you where – you decide.  For example, when you are in Word – go to TOOLS – OPTIONS – FILE LOCATIONS.  Highlight Documents – click MODIFY and locate the folder where you would like to save your Word documents.  You can do this in Excel also. 

            What about your address book and bookmarks?  How do we save them to the Internet folder that we created?  In Netscape, choose BOOKMARKS – MANAGE BOOKMARKS.  Then choose TOOLS – EXPORT.  Now locate your Internet folder and click on SAVE.  In Netscape for your address book, choose WINDOW – ADDRESS BOOK.  Then choose TOOLS – EXPORT.  Locate your Internet folder and click on SAVE.  In Internet Explorer, choose FILE – IMPORT AND EXPORT.  This will start the wizard.  Choose EXPORT FAVORITES Under the EXPORT TO A FILE OR ADDRESS, clik on the BROWSE button and locate your Internet folder.  Then click on OPEN.  In Outlook Express to backup your address book, click on the ADDRESS BOOK.  Then choose FILE – EXPORT – ADDRESS BOOK.  This will save it as a WAB file (that is compatible with the version of Outlook Express that you are using) – be sure to choose your Internet folder to save it in.  It would probably be a good idea to also export it as OTHER ADDRESS BOOK and then save it as a TEXT FILE.  

            Now that all of your information is located in one place --- it is a good idea to backup it up.  Since most users have a CD writer in their computer, that is a good place to save it.

Print Screen

           “How do I take a screen shot?”  Simply press the PRINT SCREEN button on your keyboard to send an image of your current screen to the Clipboard.  If you want to capture an image of just the program (or window) you are working in, press ALT +PRINT SCREEN.             To view the image, open Microsoft Paint by clicking Start, Programs (All Programs in Windows XP), Accessories, and then Paint (or click Start, click Run, type MSPAINT in the Open field, and click OK).  In Paint, click Edit and then click Paste.  You can then save the picture (screen shot) as a JPEG.  If you would like, you can open WordPad and paste it there – but then you would be saving it as a DOC (a document file).

Google

Google’s latest toolbar puts the search ability always in front of you while you have your browser opened.  But, it greatest feature is probable its ability to block the popup windows.  You can download it from the Google website.  At the bottom of their page, click on SERVICES AND TOOLS.  Scroll down and click on GOOGLE TOOLBAR. 

            Have you ever noticed that Google tries to suggest correct spelling when you are performing a search.  At the top of your search results, you will find a line that starts with DID YOU MEAN:  -- and then it will give you a hyperlink to the correct search word.