comptips2

Computer Tips Page 2

CREATING FILE FOLDERS

Go to My Computer or Windows Explorer and open. If you wish to make a folder withinn a folder, click the folder to open it. In an empty portion of the window that is displayed, Right-click. Click New. A new folder is created. You may then right click on it and click rename. Highlight the words New Folder and type in the desired name. Click away from the folder to set the name.

DELETING FILES OR FOLDERS

Locate the file or folder through My Computer or Windows explorer and right click/Delete or drag to the recycle bin.

CREATING A FOLDER ON THE START MENU

For this I will use the example of creating a GAMES folder on the Start menu.
Go to Windows Explorer or My Computer
On the C:/ Drive double click Windows
Click the Start Menu folder listed in Windows. Find an empty spot inside the Start menu folder and click New/New Folder
Name the folder Games. You may now drag shortcuts to all your games into that folder.
I create folders within my Music folders and Pictures folders to keep them organized. You may also create new folders in your Favorites folder for the same reason. I have folders listing my chat rooms, download sites, friend's sites etc.

SCRIPT ERRORS

There are a number of reasons for script errors. Some of them could be faults on the web page, some are problems with your computer.
Here's a rundown:
. A problem in the HTML source code of the Web page. (Their fault...not yours)
. Active scripting , ActiveX controls or Java applets are blocked on your computer or network. Internet Explorer or another program, such as anti-virus programs or firewalls, can be configured to block Active scripting , ActiveX controls or Java applets
. Anti-virus software is configured to scan your Temporary Internet Files or Downloaded Program Files folders.
. The scripting engine on your computer is corrupt or outdated.
. Internet-related folders on your computer are corrupt.
. Your video card drivers are corrupt or outdated.
. The DirectX component on your computer is corrupt or outdated.

This is going to look complicated, but it isn't if you take it one step at a time.

I suggest you check a number of things on your computer.

A) Check that your video card drivers are all updated (Go to the video card website and check how old the latest drivers for Win 2000 are..and update if needed) and that Direct X is updated. (I find out the version on my computer by going to Start/Run and type dxdiag and click OK...this opens a window that tells me what version I am running on the first page. The latest is DirectX 9)

B) Verify that Active Scripting, ActiveX, and Java are not blocked:
Start Internet Explorer.
1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. In the Internet Options dialog box, click Security.
3. Click Default Level. Click OK. and close the window.
C) Remove all the temporary Internet-related files from your computer. To do so, follow these steps:
1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Under Temporary Internet files, click Settings.
5. Click Delete Files.
6. Click OK.
7. Click Delete Cookies.
8. Click OK.
9. Under History, click Clear History, and then click Yes.
10. Click OK.
D) You can configure Internet Explorer to ignore these script and runtime errors. Please follow this step-by-step guide:

1. Open Internet Explorer.

2. Click on Tools, then on Internet Options.

3. Click on the Advanced tab.

4. Look for the "Disable script debugging" line and put a check mark in the box.

5. Now look for the "Display a notification about every script error" line and remove the check mark in the box.

E) Check your firewall or antivirus program for too much security as regards Active X controls. (Varies with the programs involved)

F) Update or repair the scripting engine
To update the scripting engine for Internet Explorer on Microsoft Windows 2000, download the latest scripting engine. To do so, visit the
Microsoft Website and search for the correct Scripting engine for your version of Windows

PLAY MUSIC FOR AN ENHANCED CD FROM YOUR REGULAR CD ROM DRIVE

Put CD in drive and hit Escape when the graphics start up.
Open Windows Media Player
At the top click Play/VCD or CD Audio/ Unknown CD or whatever it says is in that drive.

SCREEN CAPTURE

You will need a Screen capture key on your keyboard and MS Paint program which should be under Start/Programs/Accessories/ Paint

Have whatever you want a copy of up on your screen.
Press the Screen Capture key
Open MS Paint
Press the CTRL and V keys simultaneously to bring the screen capture into Paint program. It will be very large and in .bmp format.
You can either crop it in Paint or save it as a .jpg and open it up in another program like Photoshop to edit it.

I have a small, free program called �Easy Screen Capture� which is much simpler. It allows me to make a box with the cursor around the area I want a picture of and save only that rather than have a picture of the whole screen. I save it as a .jpg in my Pictures folder and open it in Photoshop if it needs resizing or editing

SEND YOUR SYSTEM INFORMATION

I once had to send my system information to my technician�s email address so he could check it. This is what you do.
Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information
When the window opens go to File/Save
name the file and it will save as an .nfo file. If you are going to email it you might want to zip it first. (If you have WinZip, right click the file. Click WinZip/Add to Zip File. A window will open but close it and you will see a zipped version of the file. You may now attach the zip file to an email and send it. If the only reason you saved your information was to email it, you may now delete the .nfo file and the zipped version.

Note: For a rundown on your system components, though not as technical or as thorough as the way mentioned above, you can go to http://www.belarc.com/ and after a small download, they will scan your system and you can get a printout or save the information in a document.

RESET THE SIZE OF RECYCLE BIN

Right click the recycle bin icon on the desktop. Click Properties. Set the slider to 10% or 5% Click Apply and close the window.

CAN'T READ TINY TYPE IN EMAIL, DOCUMENTS OR WEBPAGES?

Hold down CTRL and use wheel of mouse to zoom in or out. For webpages, sometimes you can change resolution by hitting F11 then hit F11 again to return to your usual mode.

E-MAIL   This section assumes you have Outlook or Outlook Express installed

CANNOT LOG ONTO ACCOUNT

When you open Outlook Express and the small Log-on/Password window appears, but will not accept your password, close the windows. Go to Tools/Accounts/Properties. Check that your email address is correct. If not, re-type. Then go to Servers and delete and re-type your password. Hit Apply and close the windows. The OE should now log on. If it does not, call your Internet Service provider and ask if there is a problem with the Email server. They may walk you through any tests or adjustments needed. (This is assuming your Internet is not Dial-Up and you are able to use the phone while connected)

OUTLOOK EXPRESS WON�T ACCESS INTERNET

1) If you have Zone Alarm, disable it and try again.

2) Make sure your Incoming mail Server and Outgoing Mail Server addresses are correct.
Tools/Accounts check that under the mail tab the account name is correct and highlighted (eg: mine is pop3.dccnet.com) Click Properties and under the general tab make sure the same server address is there and highlighted and that your own email address is correct under User Information.
Under Server tab make sure incoming and outgoing addresses are correct
(mine are pop3.dccnet.com for incoming, and mail.dccnet.com for outgoing)
RETYPE your account name and password and click Apply.
If this does not work, call your internet service Provider and ask if they are having a problem with the Email server. They may walk you thropugh any tests or adjustments needed. (This is assuming that your Internet is not Dial-Up and you are able to use your phone while connected)

CAN�T SEE SCROLLING WHEN YOU RECEIVE SCROLLING STATIONERIES?
The fault is in Tools/Options/Security
Amazingly it is in the selection of zones at the top of the window. Select Internet Zone, (less secure but more functional) rather than Restricted Sites Zone (more secure) Then click Apply and OK
NOTE: Scrolling stationeries can not be seen by people with some accounts such as Hotmail and AOL accounts.

MPEG AND OTHER LARGE FILES ARE ARRIVING IN MANY SMALL PARTS IN SEPARATE EMAILS

The person who sent it needs to go into his Outlook Express, Tools/Accounts
Double click the account name. In the window that opens click the Advanced Tab.
UNCHECK �Break apart messages larger than��

NOTE: The file MSIMN.EXE is an Outlook Express program

CREATING STATIONERIES IN OUTLOOK EXPRESS

NOTE: Scrolling stationeries can not be seen by people with some accounts such as Hotmail , Yahoo and AOL accounts.
You will need an HTML code for scrolling�otherwise your email will be the standard html design you have created in Outlook Express.

    I make my pictures small (usually no larger than 75 resolution and no more than 3-4"x4"), then, because I don't like the colors Outlook has for backgrounds I use my Photoshop to put the photo over to the left of an 11" wide canvas of whatever color I like. I then save that 11" by 2.5 or 3" picture and set it aside while I select music that isn't over 250KB
(I have some great stuff but it is way too big) Choose .midi rather than .wav or any other type as they are all too big.
If I am going to eventually turn the stationery into a scroller, I have my HTML code ready.

By the time you are done creating it, your single stationery will be made up of several files so I turn them all into an .eml file at the end (so I only have one file to worry about) and I, personally,have an folder named EML on my C: drive with a shortcut to my desktop so if I want to send one I just go to my desktop, open the folder and double click my selection. I don't even have to open Outlook Express. My Stationery folder is empty. I got rid of all the yucky Outlook stationery and with each scrolling stationery I make...I go in and delete my files from the stationery folder when I am done. It saves space and is way more convenient.

MAKING OUTLOOK STATIONERY
OK..... I open Outlook Express.
Go to Message/New Message Using/ Select Stationery
When that window opens I click Create New, and the Wizard starts.

Then I click Next,
I click Browse and go get my picture and below that I click Tile vertically
(If I just have the small picture I align it to the left and select a background color, then tile it.
It has to be vertical because the scroll text I use is for a left hand scroll but if you are not using a scroll text you can align your picture horizontally if you wish)
Then I click next and pick a font, size and color of font
(Note: There is a problem with this sometimes. I find when I use the stationery and am writing, if I hit Enter for a new paragraph I often lose my font and color. It reverts to default, so I have to type all in one paragraph, then put in the spaces after)

Hit next.
Then I have to indent my font so it is over not overlapping the picture. If my picture is small enough I can set it at 160-200 I set my top margin at 20-25 and hit Next

Now I name it and hit Finish and the Wizard closes.
A copy of the original picture and the html stationery has been put into the stationery folder (and I will delete it later) but in the Window that remains I click OK which brings it up as an email ready to type.

If I am not inserting a scrolling text I can add sound by going to Format/background/Sound and browse to my music folder for a nice midi. Then I merely go to File on the open stationery and save as. I prefer to save as .eml files rather than HTML.
If you have a scrolling text and wish to create a stationery that scrolls continue.

TURN YOUR NEWLY MADE OUTLOOK STATIONERY INTO A SCROLLING STATIONERY
Here it gets a bit complicated.

I put the cursor on the page ready to type, then go to Insert/TEXT FROM FILE
In the window that pops up, under Files of Type, it will look for text files, but use the drop-down arrow and choose HTML files.
Now browse for your html Scrollingv5.htm script. (I keep mine in my EML folder)
Click on it to highlight and click open.

You will see something like "Text Goes Here" with a bar below it. This next bit you must do EXACTLY.

1. Highlight the "Text Goes Here"

2. On your keyboard hit the DELETE button which makes the text disappear and puts the cursor at the front of the bar.

3. On your keyboard hit END button which puts the cursor at the end of the bar.

4. Hit ENTER which moves the cursor below the bar and type Text Here or Text Goes Here

Now if you press the preview tab below your letter you should see it scrolling. You will have to go back to the edit tab to type or save or make any additions.

At this point if you don't want music you can skip the next bit.

ADDING MUSIC

Now I go to Format/Background/Sound The window will take you to the wrong place and you will have to drop the Files Of Type selection to Midi.
Find your music selection. Open it and decide if you want it to play once or repeatedly. Then hit OK and you will hear the music start.
Here is where I save.

Choose a name different from the one you saved the original non-scrolling stationery. Save as an .eml file and put it in your EML folder. (See Creating Folders)
I then go to Program files/Common Files/Microsoft Shared/ Stationery and delete the other file.

I can now type a letter on my new stationery or close it.
I also have a Zip drive so I zip the file in the EML folder and cut and paste the zip file onto disk so I won't lose it if anything happens to my hard drive.

BACK UP OE CONTACT ADDRESS BOOK

Backup your address book.
Open the Address Book and click Help| About Address Book to see the full path to the current *.wab file used by all your Identities. Find that file in Windows Explorer and copy it to your backup media. You can later import the backup by opening OE and clicking File| Import| Address Book.
I recommend that you create an emergency backup of the Address Book as well. Open the Address Book by double-clicking the *.wab file. Click File| Export| Other Address Book, then click on Text File (Comma Separated Values). Click the Export button, specify a destination folder, and click Next. Select all the fields shown for a complete backup, then click Finish. The resulting *.csv file can later be imported using File| Import| Other Address Book| Text File (Comma Separated Values).

BACKUP OE EMAIL FOLDERS

In OE, click Tools| Options| Maintenance| Store folder to see the path to the folder currently being used for your message store. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the Store. Copy the Folders.dbx file and all <mail folder>.dbx files to your backup media. It is not necessary to copy any <newsgroup>.dbx file because OE will not import newsgroup messages, only messages in mail folders. You must include Folders.dbx in your backup or you will be unable to import the mail folders!
To restore your mail folders, open OE and click File| Import| Messages| OE5 (or OE6 if OE5 is not listed)| Message store directory, then browse to the folder containing your old messages. Do not copy the backup files into the current OE message store or the import will fail. If you saved your backup on a CD or a networked drive, you will need to copy the backup to your hard disk and verify that none of the *.dbx files are marked as "read only", or the import will fail.

Increase speed of Outlook Express when Messenger is removed or disabled

For some users when they remove windows messenger or just disable it from starting up automatically they experience a great slow down when launching Outlook Express.
Users who experience such a slow down will find a error in the system error log
(Start/Settings/Control Panel/Event Viewer then open the System folder) saying The server {FB7199AB-79BF-11D2-8D94-0000F875C541} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.
The solution this problem is quite simple. Just Open up regedit (Start/Run and type in Regedit) and search for the string (in the regedit window go to edit/find and copy and paste the entire following numbers) {FB7199AB-79BF-11D2-8D94-0000F875C541} When these numbers are highlighted double click it to show folders. InProcServer32 and LocalServer32 highlight the string of numbers and hit backspace to delete. After a reboot, Outlook will start up as fast as possible.
Of course, to be on the safe side you should first export the keys to a safe location so you can re-import them if there are adverse results (not that there should be, but it can happen).

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POWER POINT: a program in Microsoft Office

If one of your email friends sends you a PowerPoint presentation it should open and run if you have Power point or even just the power point viewer installed on your computer, but Power Point has far more functions, even for someone who never makes office presentations.

MAKING A SLIDE SHOW FROM PICTURES

1) Prepare photos so they will blend nicely against whatever background you choose.
2) Open PowerPoint and select Insert (if the slide window doesn�t open) New Slide
choose the blank template and click OK
3) Insert/Picture/From File and browse for your first picture. Drag it to where you want on the
template, enlarge or reduce using the corner arrows.
4) Slide Show/Slide Transition Select how you want the picture to appear on the page. Select
Mouse click AND choose about 4 seconds. Choose Apply for just that picture, or apply all.
5) Format/Background   Select background color. Go to More Colors and Fill Effects if desired
and specify if it is just for this picture or to be applied to all slides.
6) Insert/Text Box if desired. Place where you want it to end up. Select font, size, color. If you
wish it to move go to Slide Show/Custom Animation and check the Text box and choose the animation you want.
7) If you must save before the presentation is finished save-as a .ppt file. When you are finished
and ready to send, save as a .pps file.

8) Inserting music to be played throughout the slideshow:
Make the rest of your slide show, then click on the first slide
On the first slide go to Insert Movies and Sounds/Sound from file.
Pick the midi or .wav you want and specify that it is to play automatically. (Note: will not attach MP3 files though you can hear them if the particular MP3 file is on your computer. That music will not play for anyone else)
Move the speaker to a corner or wherever you want it and make it smaller if you like.
Go to Slide Show/Custom Animation and check the media box.
Go to Multimedia Settings tab and tell it to Play using Animation Order,
Continue Slide Show
Tell it to Stop Playing after the last slide for however many slides you have in the slide show.

SAVING A SINGLE SLIDE FROM A POWER POINT SLIDE SHOW

Open PowerPoint. Close the small window asking you what kind of presentation you want to make. Go to File/Open, locate the slide show presentation and open it. You will see a list of the slides on the left. Click to highlight till you have the picture you want. File/Save as and locate where you want the picture saved. In the drop down menu scroll down to .jpg or .bmp or whatever format you want it saved in. Click Save and a pop-up window will ask of you want to save the entire slide show. Click NO to save just the image you want. (I like to rename the file)

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MICROSOFT WORD

MAKING ADDRESS LABELS IN MICROSOFT WORD

Open a new document.
Go to Tools/Envelopes and Labels
Click on New Document. This will give you a template 3 labels wide by 10 labels long which is the most common form of labels that you will have bought from your computer shop.

Type the name and address using whatever font and effects you choose, in the first box. When satisfied copy and paste it into the next 2 boxes across, then you can highlight all the remaining cells and paste to fill the page. NOTE: I found that typing to a left border made some of the labels line up incorrectly so that print was out of the square. I Centered my print and this problem was rectified. (Left border and center text options are to the right of the Underline icon on the toolbar)

You CANNOT use format/background/color as it will NOT print out, so instead go to Format/Borders and Shading/Shading. Select the color and lightness you want, click ok and close the window. You will see the color you have selected behind the text. Save

Make sure you have a sheet of labels in the printer, snugly before you print.

SUDDENLY THERE ARE DOTS BETWEEN EACH WORD AND PARAGRAPH MARKS

In the Microsoft Word toolbar there should be a paragraph icon liek the one showing in all your documents. If not go to View/Toolbars and make sure that only Standard is selected (you can change back later..I use Standard and Formatting) Now you will see the icon. Click on it and all your documents will go back to normal.

STOP WORD CAPITALIZING EVERY LINE OR MAKING EVERY LINE LIKE THE LAST

Go to Tools/Customize and Deselect " Menus show recently used commands first" You can also, if need be, in cases of indenting, adjust the rulers. (Slide the lower half of the ruler to where you want it, as this causes the indent)