Minutes of the March 7, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the February meeting were approved, with a correction. One sentence needed to say: Vista needs a new version of MicrosoftWord, and does *not* accept a too old version of Office. Norm announced that our speaker had to cancel because of flu in his family. Matt Woolridge, Assistant Manager at Staples, will speak to the club instead in April. Under old business, Norm reported that Lisa Howard was using the club's laptop computer, but it would be available to the club again by Wednesday, March 12. The computer now has a donated carrying case with wheels and a handle. Norm read a message from Asella Crum about Family Tree Maker, the Genealogy Class for Computers, starting on March 13 at 9-11 a.m. for eight weeks. (The price is $45.)
The club members then moved to the computer classroom, where Bill Goebel conducted a question and answer session. Bill recommends against using Outlook Express to save e-mails for very long. E-mails that need to be saved should be copied and pasted into word processing files. Norm reported that the Web browser Netscape, once widely used, is now going off the market. Hazel Johnson is back after having "been through the mill" because of health problems. Hazel brought to the meeting a very interesting e-mail that she recently received that officially informed her that ATM card number such and such had been credited in her favor in the amount of $6.8 million. Unfortunately, Hazel is still waiting for the money. Norm reported the case of a neighbor who got a telephone call that led her to believe that she would receive a large sum of money, to be delivered in person. The neighbor then got a later call in which the caller said that the personal delivery had been delayed and asked the neighbor for her bank account number. Bill described software clean-up work that he recently did during a house call. A computer had a program that needed to be removed, but it would not go away. The uninstall operation for the program would not work, and the program's files located under "Program Files"could not be removed. Bill rebooted the computer in Safe Mode and tried to repeat these two methods of removal without any better success. The solution that worked was to use System Recovery to roll the computer back to a checkpoint taken at a time before the bad program was ever on the computer. This operation was performed in Safe Mode. Bill then did a disk cleanup and ran a registry cleaner that he carries with him on visits like this. His registry cleaner is PC OnPoint. (The troublesome program was a trial version of a different registry cleaner.) Bill recommends creating a system checkpoint before making any substantial change in a computer. For help and useful information about personal computers, visit http://www.komando.com/ or do a Google search for Kim Komando. Her site also provides downloads, including programs for security. When a Web site offers both a paid version and a free version of a useful program, finding the free version usually takes more looking at the site than finding the paid version.
The program msconfig controls what programs are allowed to run in background. Some programs listed by msconfig can be disabled but others should not be. A Google search on the name of a program listed by msconfig can often find out what a program does. Bill conducted a demonstration of using function key F8 during reboot to get to Safe Mode on the classroom's main computer.If a traditional mouse with a ball is sticky and unpredictable, it may work better after cleaning. However, if cleaning dust out of the inside of a mouse does not make it work better, it is probably time to get a replacement. The speed of a mouse when it reacts to double-clicking is determined by a setting that is reached through the Control Panel. Computers in the classroom are set for the slowest available speed of doubleclicking, but club members may prefer a faster speed on their own computers at home.
Helen Tieszen raised a question about how to have one's address book available when using webmail during travel. To do this, two steps are needed. First, the address book in Outlook Express must be exported to a text file, and second the text file must be imported into webmail. The procedure for importing depends on what kind of webmail is provided by one's Internet service provider.In Outlook Express, the procedure for exporting the address book is:Click on File, Export, Address Book, "Text File (Comma Separated Values)", and Export. Enter a filename for the address book in the box and click on Next. Under "Select the fields you wish to export"click on First Name and Last Name, and leave Name and E-mail Address checked. You may want to uncheck any checked squares below the E-mail Address for the sake of privacy. Then click on Finish and Close. The exported file will probably be in My Documents. Copy it or move it to the Desktop. If goes somewhere else, it may be necessary to search for it. Most Internet service providers have some kind of webmail software. However, not all webmail software can import address books. Midco and Yahoo both have webmail that can. For help with importing to Midco, contact Bill Goebel at goebel33@sio.midco.net. To import to Yahoo, direct your browser to http://www.yahoo.com/ and sign in. Then click on Mail, Contacts, Import/Export, and Browse. Find and click on the file you exported, and click on Open and Import Now. To review or edit your address book in Yahoo, click on Address Book in the upper right corner.Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Minutes of Meeting - February 1, 2008
Minutes of the February 1, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204, and announced that Susan Niemeck would be our speaker, replacing Bev Johnson. Under old business, the club discussed what to do with the club's laptop computer. Bill Goebel reported that he has done software cleanup work on it, and it also now has new power cord. The club decided that the computer will reside in a locker at the Center when no member has it checked out, that Norm will keep the key to the locker, and that a member who currently has the laptop checked out on the day of a meeting should bring it to the meeting. Norm will put instructions for borrowers with the laptop. Norm lives close to the Center and is often at the Center itself during the day.
The minutes of the January meeting were approved after being viewed in hard copy.
In the computer classroom Bill introduced Susan Niemeck, who gave the club a first look at Windows Vista. Susan started with the sign-on procedure. One PC with Vista can have multiple users. Visitors, such as grandchildren, can have their own user-IDs without changing the rest of the system. Different users can have their own desktops, with choices of plain or fancy wallpapers. The Vista desktop has some parts that are similar to the XP desktop, but some parts and new features are quite different. A whole new feature is the sidebar on the right side, which contains new things called gadgets. These gadgets need to remain unchanged on the computers in the classroom, but home users can remove some of them or add to them. Special gadgets are available from software vendors outside Microsoft. New users of Vista may want to leave gadgets alone at first in order to become familiar with features that are not so different from XP.
There are several versions of Vista available, including Home, Home Premium, and Business. Susan has Home Premium. (Norm says the premium version is worth the extra cost.) Computer hardware must match the requirements of the version of Vista. In any case, higher computer power is needed for Vista than for XP. When Susan gets a new version of Windows, she studies its new features not only to understand the changes Microsoft has made, but also to understand why these changes have been made. This is her philosophy for studying new versions of Windows.
The start button in Vista is in the familiar place in the lower left corner, but is now an icon without the word "Start". The start button provides access to recently used programs, and to All Programs. Under All Programs there are folders as before, but as the user navigates through the folders, they do not spread all over the desktop. Instead all folders are opened within the same window. Another change is that folders within folders are shown after programs rather than ahead of them. Individual programs within folders can be started with one click. A brand new feature of the start button is that its display shows an icon that represents the current user. Any action on the computer that affects security brings up a small security warning window. This is useful when a PC accepts remote log-ins, but this window also pops up whenever the User Accounts icon is selected in the Control Panel.
Vista has an improved search facility that can search by context, but this searching requires a fast computer. "My Documents" has been renamed as "Documents" and is also reorganized. Folders for pictures and music and such have been moved out to become folders beside Documents rather than being folders within it. Functions of Microsoft Outlook are now in Vista. These functions are more powerful than Outlook Express. The calendar function of Outlook is a significant new feature. E-mail is now handled by Windows Mail, which is more like mail in Outlook than mail in Outlook Express. "My Computer" is now called "Computer", but it still opens a window to give the usual access to different drives. This window gives a choice of opening a drive with one click on the left side of the window, or with two clicks on the right side. Any programs presently on a older machine should be freshly installed on a Vista machine. Copying program files across from the older machine is not advisable. Data can be brought across by means of export and import. Documents can be written to a CD and copied into a folder on the new machine. All open programs in Vista are shown on the taskbar. Hovering over a button on the taskbar creates a miniature display of the button's window. In the quick launch part of the taskbar there is a button that activates a 3-D display of current windows. This display is radically different from anything in any previous version of Windows and made a strong impression on the club members. It is very demanding of a computer's hardware, and needs the premium version of Vista or higher. Vista needs at least 1 gigabyte of main memory, but 3 gigabytes is a desirable number. The hard drive should provide 250 gigabytes of storage or more. If a printer from an older computer is installed on a Vista machine, it may need a driver. The computer's manufacturer should be able to provide the driver.
The Center for Active Generations will have an introductory course in Vista soon. The first offering of this course will begin on March 18.
Vista needs a new version of Microsoft Word, and does accept a too old version of Office. Office 2003 and Office 2007 will work in Vista, but Office 2000 does not. Microsoft Word has a Save-As option for compatibility with older kinds of formats. Older formats may be needed in e-mail attachments for recipients who have older computers. It is now possible to get a CD that installs Vista on a computer that is currently running Windows XP, provided the computer hardware is suitable for Vista. Before any installation of a new system, back up all data. When you put in the Vista CD and run the install program, you will have a choice of installing Vista over XP, or creating a new partition on the hard drive so that it will contain both XP and Vista. Information about Vista can be found in books at Barnes and Noble or in the very good help screens that come with Vista. Click on the start button and then on Help and Support to get to the help in Vista.
The club welcomes new members Don H. Platt, Patricia A. Powell, and Tom VandenBosch.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204, and announced that Susan Niemeck would be our speaker, replacing Bev Johnson. Under old business, the club discussed what to do with the club's laptop computer. Bill Goebel reported that he has done software cleanup work on it, and it also now has new power cord. The club decided that the computer will reside in a locker at the Center when no member has it checked out, that Norm will keep the key to the locker, and that a member who currently has the laptop checked out on the day of a meeting should bring it to the meeting. Norm will put instructions for borrowers with the laptop. Norm lives close to the Center and is often at the Center itself during the day.
The minutes of the January meeting were approved after being viewed in hard copy.
In the computer classroom Bill introduced Susan Niemeck, who gave the club a first look at Windows Vista. Susan started with the sign-on procedure. One PC with Vista can have multiple users. Visitors, such as grandchildren, can have their own user-IDs without changing the rest of the system. Different users can have their own desktops, with choices of plain or fancy wallpapers. The Vista desktop has some parts that are similar to the XP desktop, but some parts and new features are quite different. A whole new feature is the sidebar on the right side, which contains new things called gadgets. These gadgets need to remain unchanged on the computers in the classroom, but home users can remove some of them or add to them. Special gadgets are available from software vendors outside Microsoft. New users of Vista may want to leave gadgets alone at first in order to become familiar with features that are not so different from XP.
There are several versions of Vista available, including Home, Home Premium, and Business. Susan has Home Premium. (Norm says the premium version is worth the extra cost.) Computer hardware must match the requirements of the version of Vista. In any case, higher computer power is needed for Vista than for XP. When Susan gets a new version of Windows, she studies its new features not only to understand the changes Microsoft has made, but also to understand why these changes have been made. This is her philosophy for studying new versions of Windows.
The start button in Vista is in the familiar place in the lower left corner, but is now an icon without the word "Start". The start button provides access to recently used programs, and to All Programs. Under All Programs there are folders as before, but as the user navigates through the folders, they do not spread all over the desktop. Instead all folders are opened within the same window. Another change is that folders within folders are shown after programs rather than ahead of them. Individual programs within folders can be started with one click. A brand new feature of the start button is that its display shows an icon that represents the current user. Any action on the computer that affects security brings up a small security warning window. This is useful when a PC accepts remote log-ins, but this window also pops up whenever the User Accounts icon is selected in the Control Panel.
Vista has an improved search facility that can search by context, but this searching requires a fast computer. "My Documents" has been renamed as "Documents" and is also reorganized. Folders for pictures and music and such have been moved out to become folders beside Documents rather than being folders within it. Functions of Microsoft Outlook are now in Vista. These functions are more powerful than Outlook Express. The calendar function of Outlook is a significant new feature. E-mail is now handled by Windows Mail, which is more like mail in Outlook than mail in Outlook Express. "My Computer" is now called "Computer", but it still opens a window to give the usual access to different drives. This window gives a choice of opening a drive with one click on the left side of the window, or with two clicks on the right side. Any programs presently on a older machine should be freshly installed on a Vista machine. Copying program files across from the older machine is not advisable. Data can be brought across by means of export and import. Documents can be written to a CD and copied into a folder on the new machine. All open programs in Vista are shown on the taskbar. Hovering over a button on the taskbar creates a miniature display of the button's window. In the quick launch part of the taskbar there is a button that activates a 3-D display of current windows. This display is radically different from anything in any previous version of Windows and made a strong impression on the club members. It is very demanding of a computer's hardware, and needs the premium version of Vista or higher. Vista needs at least 1 gigabyte of main memory, but 3 gigabytes is a desirable number. The hard drive should provide 250 gigabytes of storage or more. If a printer from an older computer is installed on a Vista machine, it may need a driver. The computer's manufacturer should be able to provide the driver.
The Center for Active Generations will have an introductory course in Vista soon. The first offering of this course will begin on March 18.
Vista needs a new version of Microsoft Word, and does accept a too old version of Office. Office 2003 and Office 2007 will work in Vista, but Office 2000 does not. Microsoft Word has a Save-As option for compatibility with older kinds of formats. Older formats may be needed in e-mail attachments for recipients who have older computers. It is now possible to get a CD that installs Vista on a computer that is currently running Windows XP, provided the computer hardware is suitable for Vista. Before any installation of a new system, back up all data. When you put in the Vista CD and run the install program, you will have a choice of installing Vista over XP, or creating a new partition on the hard drive so that it will contain both XP and Vista. Information about Vista can be found in books at Barnes and Noble or in the very good help screens that come with Vista. Click on the start button and then on Help and Support to get to the help in Vista.
The club welcomes new members Don H. Platt, Patricia A. Powell, and Tom VandenBosch.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
Minutes of Meeting - 4 January 2008
Minutes of the January 4, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club as submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary:
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. Because of a scheduling limitation, all of the meeting was conducted in room 204. The minutes of the December meeting were approved after being viewed in hard copy. Vice President Bill Goebel reported that the club's laptop computer was unusable because of a missing power cord. This laptop was paid for by club dues collected in the past, and had previously provided reliable service. Bill proposed that the laptop should be kept by a club member rather than in the front office. A motion to this effect was approved by the members. Another motion, also approved, designated Bill as the club member in charge of the laptop computer.
Bill answered an e-mail question about YouTube. Access to YouTube does not need Google. However,access faster than dial-up is necessary. YouTube can be accessed directly at its Web site http://www.youtube.com/, subject to an easy registration requirement. A YouTube presentation via e-mail does not need registration. Special software for YouTube is not required.
There was also a question about sending an e-mail attachment to a group of people. A group name in Outlook Express can be used to send e-mail to a group of recipients, and this will work with an attachment. However, some computer users are reluctant to open attachments because of the fear of viruses. Bill described how to overrule a pop-up blocker, in case a pop-up blocker is preventing pictures from being seen.
A picture in e-mail may be saved by right-clicking on it and then clicking on Save As. Outlook Express can re-size pictures in outgoing e-mail. A picture can be resized by putting it into Word and resizing it there.
Bill then discussed important parts of the Windows XP Control Panel, using a borrowed laptop computer. The club was fortunate and is grateful that Mildred Hottmann Roesch brought her laptop to the meeting and made it available. During his discussion, Bill referred to the Classic View of the Control Panel. He skipped over certain parts of the control panel that have limited interest to most computer users, and these parts are omitted below. Different versions of Windows have differences in their control panels. The option Add New Hardware in the Control panel can be used when adding new hardware to a computer, but Bill said that the wizard supplied by the manufacturer of new hardware will usually serve the same purpose. Add or Remove Programs is a very important part of the Control Panel that all computer users need to know how to use. The window under this item is the place to go to remove a program from a computer. Generally, any program that one does not recognize should be left in place. To carry out a removal select a program and click the Remove button. This will usually give complete removal of a program. If it does not, it may be necessary to go to My Computer to finish up. If you are unsure how well the removal process will go, it can help to create a restore point just before starting the removal. It is not wise to depend on a restore point that is several days old because going back to a restore point means losing e-mails and possibly other important information that was received since the restore point was made. Bill recommends leaving the Automatic Updates option on. Date and Time icon lets the user choose a time zone for a computer's display of time. Display Properties can be changed by clicking on Display in the Control Panel or by right-clicking in an empty area of the desktop, followed by clicking on Properties. Some programs may need a change in the resolution of the display. This is also the place where you can turn off your screen saver while running Disk Defragmenter. File types can be changed to allow new file types to be recognized in attachments. These come under the Folder Options icon. Fonts can removed in some cases to save disk space,but this may interfere with the operation of some programs. Internet Options in the Control Panel will take you to the same menu that is found in Internet Explorer under Tools. Keyboard changes are permitted to vary the way the keyboard works, but it is advisable to make a note of all the old settings before making any changes here. Mouse options are available like options for the keyboard, and again you should make note of the old settings before changing anything. Network Connections can let you see how your computer connects to the Internet, and there is a wizard here for making new network connections, but your Internet service provider should provide you with a disk for making a new connection. Power Options in the Control Panel provide ways to put various things in a computer on standby after various periods of idle time, but Bill feels it may be simpler to leave these alone. It is desirable for a laptop to give a low battery warning. Some keyboards have keys to bring a computer up or down or put it on standby. Printers and Faxes will take you to the list of print requests, where stalled print requests can be removed if necessary. This is the place to select your default printer. Older PCs may have old unused printers listed here. These can be removed here. Scanner and Cameras icon leads to a wizard for adding devices, but programs with these devices will also do this. Scheduled Tasks can let you run the defragmenter on a schedule, or you can have a quick disk cleanup run whenever there is a reboot. Task to be run automatically can be tied to clock times or run at reboot. Security Center controls the firewall that comes with Windows XP. This firewall needs to be turned off if a computer has another firewall included with software from a security provider. Security options under this Control Panel item include the firewall and anti-virus protection. Sounds and Audio Devices icon leads to the window for sound volume adjustments. There is also an icon at the lower right corner of the desktop to get to these same adjustments. System on the Control Panel leads to very technical adjustments. Among other things, the system restore capability can be turned off here. User Accounts icon lets different users of a PC have their own desktops while using the same programs on the hard drive. Bill feels that this feature is not all that effective.
The Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club welcomes new members Linda Bauer, Ladean Klein, and Kris Rauscher.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. Because of a scheduling limitation, all of the meeting was conducted in room 204. The minutes of the December meeting were approved after being viewed in hard copy. Vice President Bill Goebel reported that the club's laptop computer was unusable because of a missing power cord. This laptop was paid for by club dues collected in the past, and had previously provided reliable service. Bill proposed that the laptop should be kept by a club member rather than in the front office. A motion to this effect was approved by the members. Another motion, also approved, designated Bill as the club member in charge of the laptop computer.
Bill answered an e-mail question about YouTube. Access to YouTube does not need Google. However,access faster than dial-up is necessary. YouTube can be accessed directly at its Web site http://www.youtube.com/, subject to an easy registration requirement. A YouTube presentation via e-mail does not need registration. Special software for YouTube is not required.
There was also a question about sending an e-mail attachment to a group of people. A group name in Outlook Express can be used to send e-mail to a group of recipients, and this will work with an attachment. However, some computer users are reluctant to open attachments because of the fear of viruses. Bill described how to overrule a pop-up blocker, in case a pop-up blocker is preventing pictures from being seen.
A picture in e-mail may be saved by right-clicking on it and then clicking on Save As. Outlook Express can re-size pictures in outgoing e-mail. A picture can be resized by putting it into Word and resizing it there.
Bill then discussed important parts of the Windows XP Control Panel, using a borrowed laptop computer. The club was fortunate and is grateful that Mildred Hottmann Roesch brought her laptop to the meeting and made it available. During his discussion, Bill referred to the Classic View of the Control Panel. He skipped over certain parts of the control panel that have limited interest to most computer users, and these parts are omitted below. Different versions of Windows have differences in their control panels. The option Add New Hardware in the Control panel can be used when adding new hardware to a computer, but Bill said that the wizard supplied by the manufacturer of new hardware will usually serve the same purpose. Add or Remove Programs is a very important part of the Control Panel that all computer users need to know how to use. The window under this item is the place to go to remove a program from a computer. Generally, any program that one does not recognize should be left in place. To carry out a removal select a program and click the Remove button. This will usually give complete removal of a program. If it does not, it may be necessary to go to My Computer to finish up. If you are unsure how well the removal process will go, it can help to create a restore point just before starting the removal. It is not wise to depend on a restore point that is several days old because going back to a restore point means losing e-mails and possibly other important information that was received since the restore point was made. Bill recommends leaving the Automatic Updates option on. Date and Time icon lets the user choose a time zone for a computer's display of time. Display Properties can be changed by clicking on Display in the Control Panel or by right-clicking in an empty area of the desktop, followed by clicking on Properties. Some programs may need a change in the resolution of the display. This is also the place where you can turn off your screen saver while running Disk Defragmenter. File types can be changed to allow new file types to be recognized in attachments. These come under the Folder Options icon. Fonts can removed in some cases to save disk space,but this may interfere with the operation of some programs. Internet Options in the Control Panel will take you to the same menu that is found in Internet Explorer under Tools. Keyboard changes are permitted to vary the way the keyboard works, but it is advisable to make a note of all the old settings before making any changes here. Mouse options are available like options for the keyboard, and again you should make note of the old settings before changing anything. Network Connections can let you see how your computer connects to the Internet, and there is a wizard here for making new network connections, but your Internet service provider should provide you with a disk for making a new connection. Power Options in the Control Panel provide ways to put various things in a computer on standby after various periods of idle time, but Bill feels it may be simpler to leave these alone. It is desirable for a laptop to give a low battery warning. Some keyboards have keys to bring a computer up or down or put it on standby. Printers and Faxes will take you to the list of print requests, where stalled print requests can be removed if necessary. This is the place to select your default printer. Older PCs may have old unused printers listed here. These can be removed here. Scanner and Cameras icon leads to a wizard for adding devices, but programs with these devices will also do this. Scheduled Tasks can let you run the defragmenter on a schedule, or you can have a quick disk cleanup run whenever there is a reboot. Task to be run automatically can be tied to clock times or run at reboot. Security Center controls the firewall that comes with Windows XP. This firewall needs to be turned off if a computer has another firewall included with software from a security provider. Security options under this Control Panel item include the firewall and anti-virus protection. Sounds and Audio Devices icon leads to the window for sound volume adjustments. There is also an icon at the lower right corner of the desktop to get to these same adjustments. System on the Control Panel leads to very technical adjustments. Among other things, the system restore capability can be turned off here. User Accounts icon lets different users of a PC have their own desktops while using the same programs on the hard drive. Bill feels that this feature is not all that effective.
The Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club welcomes new members Linda Bauer, Ladean Klein, and Kris Rauscher.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Minutes of Meeting - 7 December 2007
Minutes of the December 7, 2007 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club, as submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary:
Because of a scheduling conflict, President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in the computer classroom. The minutes of the November meeting were read and approved. Under old business, the club reviewed the Web address of the Club's weblog. This address is: http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/
Vice President Bill Goebel took the podium to answer computer questions and to discuss "Doing Google Searches". If a custom arrangement of desktop icons is desired, it is first necessary to right-click on a open space on the desktop. Then click on "Arrange Icons", and if "Auto Arrange" has a check mark, click on it to uncheck it. After that the icons can be moved as needed.
It is possible to choose between normal computer operation and safemode by pressing F8 repeatedly right after beginning a reboot. Pressing F8 repeatedly brings up a small menu that gives a choice of Normal or Safe Mode. This procedure may be able to correct a situation where a computer boots up in safe mode when it should not. On the other hand, booting up in safe mode may sometimes be helpful. Anti-virus software may detect some virus in safe mode that it cannot detect otherwise. The programs Checkdisk and Defrag may work better in safe mode. The most important difference between safe mode and normal operation is that safe mode disables non-essential hardware devices.
The club discussed whether computers should be off or on at night. Some favor turning them off at night, but Midco recommends leaving them on continuously. Computers that remain on continuously should be rebooted occasionally.
A router is a device that can let multiple computers share a hardware device or share a single fast connection to the Internet. Router problems can sometimes be cleared by turning a router off and back on. Networks connect different computers together. The Internet is an example of a computer network. Local networks connect computers that are close together without going through the Internet.
To see what version of Internet Explorer you have, click on Help and then click on About Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer Version 7 has a box in the upper left corner that makes searching more convenient. When Google is the default search engine for this box, search words for Google can keyed into the box without the user's having to visit Google's home page first. Other search engines can be chosen as the default in place of Google or used in place of Google without being the default.
To make a desktop shortcut to a Web page, bring up the page in Internet Explorer, click on File, click on Send, and finally click on Shortcut to Desktop. When a user misspells words in a Google search, Google will guess at the intended words and correct the spellings. Clicking on the button marked "I'm feeling lucky" gives only one search result, but has the benefit of giving more information sooner about the result.To search for a phrase, enclose it in quotes. To exclude results that contain unwanted words or phrases, put a minus sign before the unwanted word or phrase. (When a phrase is to be excluded, put the minus sign before the lefthand quote mark.) More complicated options for searching are available in Google's cheatsheet. To find the cheatsheet, let Google search for the word cheatsheet.
At this point, Nellie Reeves mentioned several examples of Googlesearchs from a class in Google. Besides searching for words and phrases, Google can search for images and maps, and can give search results within other particular categories of information, such as news. Clicking on Preferences on Google's home page lets the user specify personal preferences for searching.
Google can act as a reverse phone book for numbers that are publicly listed in phone books. Just enter a phone number with area code in Google's search box.
A feature called Google Earth presents maps of the world with interesting sites marked. The user can find out more about these marked sites by clicking on their points in a map. This feature of Google needs fast Internet access.
Internet Explorer keeps a history of recently visited Web pages. This history can be seen by clicking on the button with a down arrow at the right end of the address box. Sometimes it is desirable to remove the history. To clear it, click Tools, Delete Browsing History..., Delete history..., Yes, and Close. Or click Tools,Internet Options, Delete..., Delete history..., Yes, and Close.
The Center is preparing for Windows Vista. Part of the preparationwill be a class or classes in Windows Vista especially for instructors and coaches. Instructors and coaches should inquire about this training. The Computer Club welcomes new member Joran Olson.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
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Notes: Google has its own history of searches. To remove this history,follow the same procedure as above, except that instead of clicking on Delete history..., you should click on Delete forms... . If you specify preferences in Google, they are saved in a cookie. Deleting cookies (similar to history and forms) will remove them. Internet Explorer Version 6 does not keep track of Google searches or other entries into forms, but is able to delete history and cookies under Tools and Internet Options. The steps are slightly different from Version 7.
The club's weblog address can also be entered as http://www.sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ Whether the string www. is required, optional, or forbidden at the left end of a Web address depends on decisions made by the operator of the Web site in question.
The Startup Menu that shows Normal and Safe Mode during bootup (whenF8 is pressed repeatedly) has some other choices, but Normal and Safe Mode are the only choices that have much usefulness. Windows 98 has this to say about safe mode: "This special diagnostic mode of Windows enables you to fix the problem that is keeping you from starting Windows normally. The problem could be caused by your network or hardware settings. Make sure these settings are correct in Control Panel, and then try starting Windows again. For more information, see the Troubleshooting section in Help. While in safe mode, some of your devices may not be available."
Because of a scheduling conflict, President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in the computer classroom. The minutes of the November meeting were read and approved. Under old business, the club reviewed the Web address of the Club's weblog. This address is: http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/
Vice President Bill Goebel took the podium to answer computer questions and to discuss "Doing Google Searches". If a custom arrangement of desktop icons is desired, it is first necessary to right-click on a open space on the desktop. Then click on "Arrange Icons", and if "Auto Arrange" has a check mark, click on it to uncheck it. After that the icons can be moved as needed.
It is possible to choose between normal computer operation and safemode by pressing F8 repeatedly right after beginning a reboot. Pressing F8 repeatedly brings up a small menu that gives a choice of Normal or Safe Mode. This procedure may be able to correct a situation where a computer boots up in safe mode when it should not. On the other hand, booting up in safe mode may sometimes be helpful. Anti-virus software may detect some virus in safe mode that it cannot detect otherwise. The programs Checkdisk and Defrag may work better in safe mode. The most important difference between safe mode and normal operation is that safe mode disables non-essential hardware devices.
The club discussed whether computers should be off or on at night. Some favor turning them off at night, but Midco recommends leaving them on continuously. Computers that remain on continuously should be rebooted occasionally.
A router is a device that can let multiple computers share a hardware device or share a single fast connection to the Internet. Router problems can sometimes be cleared by turning a router off and back on. Networks connect different computers together. The Internet is an example of a computer network. Local networks connect computers that are close together without going through the Internet.
To see what version of Internet Explorer you have, click on Help and then click on About Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer Version 7 has a box in the upper left corner that makes searching more convenient. When Google is the default search engine for this box, search words for Google can keyed into the box without the user's having to visit Google's home page first. Other search engines can be chosen as the default in place of Google or used in place of Google without being the default.
To make a desktop shortcut to a Web page, bring up the page in Internet Explorer, click on File, click on Send, and finally click on Shortcut to Desktop. When a user misspells words in a Google search, Google will guess at the intended words and correct the spellings. Clicking on the button marked "I'm feeling lucky" gives only one search result, but has the benefit of giving more information sooner about the result.To search for a phrase, enclose it in quotes. To exclude results that contain unwanted words or phrases, put a minus sign before the unwanted word or phrase. (When a phrase is to be excluded, put the minus sign before the lefthand quote mark.) More complicated options for searching are available in Google's cheatsheet. To find the cheatsheet, let Google search for the word cheatsheet.
At this point, Nellie Reeves mentioned several examples of Googlesearchs from a class in Google. Besides searching for words and phrases, Google can search for images and maps, and can give search results within other particular categories of information, such as news. Clicking on Preferences on Google's home page lets the user specify personal preferences for searching.
Google can act as a reverse phone book for numbers that are publicly listed in phone books. Just enter a phone number with area code in Google's search box.
A feature called Google Earth presents maps of the world with interesting sites marked. The user can find out more about these marked sites by clicking on their points in a map. This feature of Google needs fast Internet access.
Internet Explorer keeps a history of recently visited Web pages. This history can be seen by clicking on the button with a down arrow at the right end of the address box. Sometimes it is desirable to remove the history. To clear it, click Tools, Delete Browsing History..., Delete history..., Yes, and Close. Or click Tools,Internet Options, Delete..., Delete history..., Yes, and Close.
The Center is preparing for Windows Vista. Part of the preparationwill be a class or classes in Windows Vista especially for instructors and coaches. Instructors and coaches should inquire about this training. The Computer Club welcomes new member Joran Olson.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
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Notes: Google has its own history of searches. To remove this history,follow the same procedure as above, except that instead of clicking on Delete history..., you should click on Delete forms... . If you specify preferences in Google, they are saved in a cookie. Deleting cookies (similar to history and forms) will remove them. Internet Explorer Version 6 does not keep track of Google searches or other entries into forms, but is able to delete history and cookies under Tools and Internet Options. The steps are slightly different from Version 7.
The club's weblog address can also be entered as http://www.sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ Whether the string www. is required, optional, or forbidden at the left end of a Web address depends on decisions made by the operator of the Web site in question.
The Startup Menu that shows Normal and Safe Mode during bootup (whenF8 is pressed repeatedly) has some other choices, but Normal and Safe Mode are the only choices that have much usefulness. Windows 98 has this to say about safe mode: "This special diagnostic mode of Windows enables you to fix the problem that is keeping you from starting Windows normally. The problem could be caused by your network or hardware settings. Make sure these settings are correct in Control Panel, and then try starting Windows again. For more information, see the Troubleshooting section in Help. While in safe mode, some of your devices may not be available."
Minutes of Meetings - 2 November 2007
Minutes of November 2, 2007 meeting as submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the October meeting were read and approved. The club discussed possibities for future meetings, including other search engines, specialized searches, and genealogical searches in particular.
Bill read and discussed an e-mail with several questions about associations of programs with extensions, the use of control-A, and whether there is e-mail that cannot be forwarded.In the computer classroom, Bill showed how to change or add programs that go with an extension, and Glenn Johnson showed the members the new blog which he created for the club. This blog uses a free service of Google and is on the Internet at http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ Club members will need to establish free accounts at Google in order to add comments to this blog. Notes: Anyone can create a free Google account at https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount. An example of how Google should not be used can be seen at http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20071016/lfmc071017.gif
Submitted by: Garth Peterson, Computer Club Secretary
November 17, 2007 10:02 PM
In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the October meeting were read and approved. The club discussed possibities for future meetings, including other search engines, specialized searches, and genealogical searches in particular.
Bill read and discussed an e-mail with several questions about associations of programs with extensions, the use of control-A, and whether there is e-mail that cannot be forwarded.In the computer classroom, Bill showed how to change or add programs that go with an extension, and Glenn Johnson showed the members the new blog which he created for the club. This blog uses a free service of Google and is on the Internet at http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ Club members will need to establish free accounts at Google in order to add comments to this blog. Notes: Anyone can create a free Google account at https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount. An example of how Google should not be used can be seen at http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20071016/lfmc071017.gif
Submitted by: Garth Peterson, Computer Club Secretary
November 17, 2007 10:02 PM
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