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Don’t back up a shortcut

I've mentioned this before many times, but it bears repeating often especially since I saw it at least three times this week. First, I want to commend the computer users out there for backing up and thinking of backing up! However, it is imperative to know what you are backing up. 

Folder shortcutA shortcut is indicated by a little arrow in the lower left hand corner of a folder or file. If your backup media has any of these types of icons on it, your backup is worthless. A shortcut is simply a "pointer" to where the actual data is saved. Backing up shortcuts is extremely fast because there is not data in a shortcut. I too often see computer users dragging a program icon (shortcut) or a shortcut to My Documents or My Pictures to their CD drives, external hard drives, or flash drives then wonder why they have no backup should they need it.

Internet Explorer 7 Keyboard shortcuts

General shortcuts
table with 2 columns and 9 rows
Turn Full Screen Mode on or off 
F11 

Cycle through the Address Bar, Refresh button, Search Box, and
items on a web page  

TAB  

Find a word or phrase on a page 

CTRL+F 

Open the current webpage in a new window  

CTRL+N  

Print the page  

CTRL+P  

Select all items on the page  

CTRL+A  

Zoom in  

CTRL+PLUS  

Zoom out  

CTRL+MINUS  

Windows 95 lives!

Before I moved here to Colorado in 1995, I visited a large circus tent in a Seattle suburb parking lot. The tent said, "Start" in large letters at the entrance. Once inside, I was greeted by extremely cheerful, almost giddy, representatives from Microsoft. I estimated about 30-35 computers were setup with twice that many Microsoft reps showing curious visitors to the tent what Windows 95 was and how it would change the world of computing. One enthusiastic rep gleefully showed me some shortcuts with the Windows key that did impress me and stuck with me from that day until I purchased my first Windows 95 machine nearly a year later.

Fact: Palm is better than Windows Mobile

I had the pleasure of setting up a new Windows Mobile powered cell phone/PDA today.

In the past, I have probably setup five similar devices and they have never gone smoothly. Today’s was the worst.

I have setup dozens of Palm powered devices and I have never had a major problem with setup that wasn’t hardware related.

As I setup the Windows Mobile device today I would go all the way through the install and then the device would attempt to sync with the computer for dates, addresses and notes. A Window would immediately pop up that said something like, "Can’t sync, reconnect the device and try again. If that doesn’t work use the ActiveSync troubleshooter."

I can get on Yahoo! but I can’t connect to the Internet

Let me begin by saying that it is never the purpose of our Shotgun articles to make fun our clients or make anyone feel ignorant. We often use examples from our daily adventures simply to point out common problems, misconceptions or new problems to watch out for.

Today I had a client who told me she couldn’t get on the Internet, she could only read her Yahoo! email.

When I hear something like this, I know that the client has a misunderstanding about something or I don’t understand the problem.

Since Yahoo! is on the Internet, you have to be able to connect to the Internet to use their services. When I got to her house I discovered that her computer helpers at home had put shortcuts to Yahoo!, Google and one that just opened the browser to a home page.

Windows Accessibility Options

Microsoft has built in a few features into Windows to make the operation of the computer a little less annoying. As the word Accessibility suggests, they were designed to aid computer users who have a hearing, visual or physical disability. However, many of the features can help any computer user.

To access the Accessibility Options, Click Start –> Control Panel, then double-click the "Accessibility Options" icon.

 

Keyboard Options


StickyKeys – If your fingers don’t function like a contortionist or you find it hard to press combinations of keys for shortcuts, enable this feature. It configures the computer so that if you need to push a combination of keys, you can push them one at a time and get the same affect as pushing them together.

FilterKeys – For heavy hands or if you tend to rest your fingers too long on the keys, enabling and tweaking the settings in this section will teach the computer to understand your individual touch of the keyboard.

ToggleKeys – If you tend to accidentally push the Num Lock or Caps Lock keys, this feature will give you an audible beep when those keys are turned on and off to bring your attention to them.

Sound Options

Use these settings to give you visual cues when your computer is making error or warning sounds.

Display

Set High Contrast mode if full color is hard to distinguish

Cursor Options – Make the "blinking cursor" easier to say by changing the width of the cursor (very helpful) and the speed at which it blinks.

Mouse

Enable this setting to use the directional keys on the keyboard like a mouse.

Other options available for accessibility can be found by clicking Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> Accessibility.  You can find a basic "screen narrator" that reads the screen to you, a screen magnifier, and an on-screen keyboard to use in place of a traditional keyboard.

For more details on these tools and more, visit the Windows XP Accessibility Resources section of Microsoft’s web site.

 

Photoshop Elements Part I

Adobe Photoshop Elements
Part I

This month we will begin a four-part session on Adobe Photoshop Elements. Although we are centering the meetings on Elements, most of the techniques and tools we discuss also apply to programs such as Paint Shop Pro, Ulead Photo Impact and other advanced image editing programs.

Getting Started:

Before you begin using Elements or any image editing program it is important to get the monitor and program interface set up to make the program easier to use.

Get Home and Back Quickly!

No, the Internet has not found a way to "beam" us hither and yonder…yet!  

I’m referring to navigating around your word processing, email or other text related documents quickly.

Don’t underestimate the power of the keyboard as you create your written masterpieces.  Moving quickly from one part of your document to another saves loads of time and the keyboard can help.  Try these keyboard shortcuts:

  • Home – pressing this key will move your cursor to the beginning of a line

Changing Shortcut Icons – Video Tip

Lately many of our tips have focused on Internet and computer safety and security. As important as these topics are, computers still do have a fun side. In fact, Adam and I often refer to computers as the ‘hot rod’ of the new millennium…you can customize it to your own liking. In today’s tip, you will learn how to customize boring old shortcuts on your desktop. Since Windows 95, Microsoft gave users the ability to change icons to suit their own tastes, but this feature doesn’t get practiced very often.