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Tomaree Mature Age Computer Club

Newsletter

Club Meets 2nd & 4th Wednesday at

Tomaree Neighbourhood Centre, Salamander

10:00 AM



club wiki at :

Steering Committee

Bob Truscott 49821264

Noel Finch 49822797 Brom Crass 49871715

Next Meeting : 22 October 2014 then 12 November 2014

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If you attempt to fix something that isn't broken, it soon will be

Basic Bits

This section is a regular feature of our newsletters – in it, we hope to present (in words and pictures) some aspect of computing and try to make it easy to understand and easy to apply. The content will be largely governed by your requests, so if there is some task that you can’t quite get the hang of , or something that appears puzzling , you can bet that others have also encountered the same and wondered, so please email me at brom@.au or chat to any one of the steering committee.

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What is …… ?

nybble

A nybble is half a byte.

No, I'm not making this up. A nybble (sometimes spelled nyble or, surprisingly, nibble) refers to group of four bits, or exactly one half of one byte.

And you thought geeks had no sense of humor.

top-level domain

A top-level domain (or TLD) is that portion of a domain name that appears at the end.

For example, ".com" is a top-level domain, as are ".net", ".org", ".edu" and so on. Technically the domain names that we use every day – like "" – are sub-domains of the top level domain on which they are registered. "askleo" is a sub-domain of ".com".

Until recently the top-level domains were restricted to a set of common domains (".com" and so on), and country-specific top-level domains such as ".ca" for Canada, ".uk" for the United Kingdom, and so on. Changes implemented in recent years have opened up the domain name space to "generic" top-level domains (gTLD) just about any term as a top-level domain, so we'll soon be seeing things like ".guru", ".buy" and "bargain" .

home page

The term home page has two distinct and only semi-related meanings:

1) The page of a web site that is displayed when no specific page is specified. For example the page that you see when you visit is its home page. This is typically referred to as the website's home page.

2) The page that is displayed by default when you start a web browser without specifying a specific page to be displayed. For example when you run Internet Explorer (perhaps by just clicking on its icon) it typically displays a default page fetched from the internet. This is referred to as "your" home page, and every web browser allows you to configure that default page to be whatever you wish.

Whats this Printscreen key ?

What I want to know is that I have a key that says "Print Screen", but it doesn’t work. Is there anyway I can get it to work ? I have Windows Vista.

Back in the days of DOS (before Microsoft came out with Windows) the print screen button on your keyboard did just what the button says, it took a screen capture, and sent that image of what was on your screen directly to the printer.

Over time, however, the function of the "Print Screen" key changed from automatically printing your screen capture, to a function of capturing the screen on the clipboard, which gives you the freedom to choose exactly what it is you want to do with the image.

Because the "Print Screen" button only captures a screen shot, but doesn't print it, there is no visual results when pressing the key.

I will give you instructions for how to capture a screenshot with the Print Screen key, and then how to either print or save your screenshot capture.

1. When you want to do a screen capture, press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard.

2. Open your favorite image program. I like to use Irfanview at: but you don't have to download a program if you don't want to. as every version of Microsoft Windows comes with Microsoft Paint in the "Accessories" folder of the start menu.

3. In your image program, click on "Edit" in the menu bar, then "Paste".

This will paste your screenshot capture into the program.

4. Once you have pasted the screen capture into your image program, you can either save it, or print it (or both) using the save and print commands in the menus.

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1 Five things Microsoft has fixed with Windows 10

2 - Business Spectator - 1/10/2014

3

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In Windows 10, Microsoft’s upcoming operating system, users will be able to pin smart tiles to the Start menu, which makes a comeback after having been removed in Windows 8. Source: Microsoft

If you were planning to buy a Windows 8 PC, don’t.

I say that because on Tuesday Microsoft announced Windows 10 and judging from the first look at the new operating system, it appears that the company has addressed many of the complaints about Windows 8.

In fact, the company itself is saying, in so many words, that this is the upgrade that happy and content Windows 7 users have been waiting for. Windows 10—Microsoft is skipping 9—fuses the modern look and features of Windows 8 with the traditional feel of Windows we have known since Windows 95. It’s great for those who haven’t been happy with the recent changes.

Now for the bad news: Windows 10 won’t be publicly released in its final form until mid-2015, though tomorrow it will offer a download of a very very very early version for developers and PC tinkerers. (Also, Microsoft warns that since these are early days, the OS may be “substantially modified” before it reaches customers.)

Whether you dive in tomorrow or—perhaps wisely—wait until next year, here are some of the features that you can look forward to:

Return of the 'Start' menu

The Start menu lives ! That’s right, you’ll be able to click a Windows logo in the bottom left hand corner to access the revamped menu, which includes a traditional list of programs (yes, Paint!) but also a customizable panel of live tiles. The menu will also include the universal search field. The Windows 8.1 Start Screen still lives on, says Microsoft, but it takes a back seat to the Start Menu.

Microsoft Store Apps on the desktop

It’s great to see you again, classic desktop ! In addition to the resurrection of the Start menu, Microsoft is adding the ability to run Windows Store apps in a window that you can resize and move around, instead of going full screen or snapping them side by side, like in Windows 8.1. With this power, the desktop will once again become the location where you spend most, if not all, of your computing time.

Multitasking is getting easier

You’ll also be able to manage all those apps much better. When you snap a window to the side, the software will now suggest apps you might want to run next to it. Also, a new task-view button will show you all your running apps on one screen.

Many desktops

No really, Microsoft’s going all in on the desktop. Taking a page from Apple’s Mac OS X, Windows 10 will allow you to create multiple virtual desktops that you can toggle between—perhaps one would focus on your work while another concentrates all of those social media distractions. A taskbar will allow you to view thumbnails of the different spaces, so you can easily move between them.

The Tablet-Laptop handoff

One of the biggest issues with Windows 8.1 was that the Start Screen was great on tablets, but terrible on a laptop or desktop. Windows 10 is geared for laptops, desktops, tablets—and now even phones. But when it comes to devices like the Surface Pro 3 that do double duty as a laptop and a tablet, Windows 10 will morph to suit your needs at the moment.

“We are going to do some magical things when you remove the keyboard,” said Chris Flores, communications director for Microsoft’s Operating System Group. When asked if the Start Screen would appear, he said “The Start Screen is an important part of the Windows strategy—on the right device.”

(So there you have it - there will not be any Windows 9. Not clear why the number jump (could it be because the latest Mac operating system is v10 ? ) but Win 10 is the next "big" thing. - Brom)

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1 What is Ello ?

4 A new advert-free social network is aiming to recruit disgruntled Facebook users, and early indications are that it's working: people are clamouring for elusive invites. But what is Ello, and can it really become the Next Big Thing in social networking?

In the words of the site itself, Ello is a “simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network”.

It was originally created as a private website, so the story goes, but it had such a positive response that it was eventually opened to the public.

At the moment it feels a bit like Twitter: users can post short chunks of text or images, but it lacks the more advanced features of Facebook such as tagging users in images or private messaging.

1 Who created it ?

The Ello website says the network was created by seven “well-known artists and programmers”, among them Paul Budnitz, who is a very busy man with many fingers in many pies: bike design, 'art toys', writing books, photography and film making.

2 So, how do I join ?

At the moment Ello is invite-only, meaning that unless you know someone who already has an account (each new user is allowed to invite five friends) you’re out of luck.

You can “register your interest” by visiting the site, but reports suggest the wait for an account will be long. Budnitz told Betabeat last night that “it seems like we’ve got a big portion of the US and much of Europe all trying to get on Ello at the same time” and that they’d have to “turn off the spigot for a while”.

3 How is it different to Facebook?

Aside from its minimal appearance, which is the antithesis of Facebook’s busy clutter, the site has no advertising, promises not to sell your data to third parties and allows tight control over what information is publicly shared.

In the “Ello Manifesto” – yes, they have a manifesto – it is said that on current social networks: “Every post you share, every friend you make, and every link you follow is tracked, recorded, and converted into data. Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold.”

The argument for Ello is that people are treated with respect, as customers, not as a commodity.

4 Will it replace Facebook ?

Well, that’s up to you. Facebook’s dominance in the market is solely down to the number of users it has: you, me, everyone. Each user that jumps ship to Ello will take a tiny chunk of Facebook’s earning potential with them.

5 What is the "real names" controversy ?

Facebook requires its users to create accounts using their real names. Partly this is because it makes any information collected on them more valuable to advertisers.

Not everyone is happy about this, especially those who – for whatever reason – would prefer to use a pseudonym online. Ello is doing very well out of this frustration because it allows people to use whatever name they wish to, real or made-up. Therefore lots of people are apparently jumping ship.

That does not mean, however, that it will tolerate any funny business: it has a “zero-tolerance policy for hate, stalking, trolls, and other negative behaviour”.

6 How much does it cost ?

Nothing. Yet.

Without advertising, which is Facebook’s major source of revenue, the network will need to find other ways to turn a profit.

It seems that Ello will be introducing new “special features” – yet to be explained – which people will be able to access permanently by paying a small, one-off fee. However, the “vast majority” of features will be free.

7 Is there a smartphone app ?

Not yet. Although an Android and iOS app is on the to-do list for Ello's developers.

(In the spirit of curiosity, I have made application for an "invite" - I've received an email confirming the application, but nothing since - stay tuned ! Brom)

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What is a Hybrid Drive ? Are they better than HDD, SSD ?

- The Windows Club 24/9/2014

This post talks about Hybrid Hard Drives, how they work and what are the benefits,  their features to see if you would want one. Now we know that a cache in a system is generally placed between RAM and CPU to hold recently fetched data for further use. This saves some time and computing is faster. Hybrid drives too use a cache but that is between Hard Disk Drives and RAM (other than a cache between RAM and CPU).

What is a Hybrid Hard Drive

Late until 2012, manufacturers were making either HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) or SSDs (Solid State Drives) or both, and kept them separate for use with computers. Hard Disk Drives were regular ones, but with huge amounts of storage space and still very cheap compared to Solid State Drives. SSDs are also called Solid State Disks sometimes (but there is no disk inside). The inside of a SSD is a complex integrated circuit that stores data even when there is no power. There is no mechanical action involved as in the Hard Disks and hence, saving of time in retrieving and writing data.

A Hybrid Drive is a combination of Hard Disk Drive and a Solid State Drive with the latter acting as a more as a cache rather than just a storage device. Its firmware checks what data sets are being “fetched” more frequently and stores those data sets on SSD part of the Hybrid Drive so that the next time the CPU needs it, the data residing on the SSD part can be provided quicker. Thus, a Hybrid Drive is essentially a Hard Disk with Solid State Drive type cache for saving time in “fetch” operations.

NOTE: A “fetch” operation involves checking disks, tracks and sectors for the required data, rotating the HDD’s magnetic heads to that point and gathering the required data. It includes the “read” operation where the data required, is made to pass below the HDD disk heads so that it can be used with “fetch”. In other words, “fetch” is simply fetching the data required by the CPU.

A Quick Look at HDD vs SSD

Solid State Drives, as we have seen earlier, are also called Solid State Disks though no disks are involved.  The construction method of both HDD and SSD are different. A HDD is essentially mechanical. It involves a number of magnetic disks where data is stored in form of scratches to mark binary digits (0 and 1). Each magnetic disk has one or two “heads” to read/write data. The number of heads per disk depends on whether the disk is usable on both sides. If yes, then there are two heads else only one per disk.

With SSDs, there are no heads involved, nor is the need to rotate disks. In short, there is nil mechanical actions so the read/write speeds are much faster compared to the normal Hard Disks. SSDs have a complex circuit that stores binary digits representing the data stored inside it. The circuit “fetches” data almost instantly unlike HDD where disks had to be rotated before accessing the data.

Obviously, SSDs are costly compared to HDDs. If you need faster actions such as with gaming, SSDs are good for you and if you need more storage space and the average speed is okay, such as while working with video editing software, Hard Drives are better.

Reading Data on Hybrid Drive – Saving Time

By now, you know how data is read on HDD and on SSD. A mix of this is applied to reading data on Hybrid Disks which are but normal Hard Disks with a bit of SSD. A firmware is added to the design. This firmware keeps an eye on what data is “fetched” more regularly on a computer. The frequent data is stored on SSD so that the next time the CPU needs it, the Hard Disk’s disks need not be rotated. Instead, the data is provided from the SSD part of the Hybrid Drive.

This is more like reading data from RAM directly – no need to trace disk, track, sectors and rotating the disk to “read” the data. Essentially, parts of OS are more likely to be stored on the SSDs in addition to the regularly used programs.

The first time you read data on a Hybrid drive, it won’t be any faster. However, as you keep using the Hybrid drive, the firmware understands the frequently used data and makes it fast enough to satisfaction.

To sum up, Hybrid Drives are new but popular alternatives to SSDs as the latter are priced costly at the moment. People needing large storage spaces and some extra speed may go for this type of storage devices.

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What's happened to my mouse ?

- Rick Maybury, 15/9/2014

I am using an Acer tablet with a wireless mouse. The cursor does strange things. Most times it responds perfectly to the mouse movements, but then suddenly changes to dragging behind, or continuing movement all over the place, when the mouse is still; then it reverts back to normal.

Ken Johnson, by email

Wireless mice can be affected by interference from other, nearby wireless devices (cordless phones, thermostats, broadband routers and so on) as well as microwave ovens, low power CFL and LED lighting, or it could be something as simple as dead or dying batteries. Assuming the batteries are okay check to see if interference is to blame by removing the mouse’s USB dongle and connecting a wired mouse. If it behaves you should be able to identify the source of the interference by switching off suspect devices, and it may not be in the immediate vicinity. The fact that the erratic movements come and go could point to a badly suppressed fridge-freezer or central heating boiler. If it persists with the wired mouse connected then there may be a problem with the PC, in which case it will require expert attention.

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SanDisk launches 'world's biggest SD card'

- telegraph.co.uk 14/9/2014

American firm SanDisk has released the largest capacity SD card ever produced, cramming 512GB of storage space into the postage stamp-sized format popularly used in cameras

Its launch comes almost exactly a decade after the company unveiled its 512MB SD card, with 1,000 times less capacity than the latest version.

The SanDisk Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I memory card is designed for use by camera operators shooting 4K Ultra High Definition (3840x2160p) video, where a single minute of footage takes up 5GB of storage space.

Dinesh Bahal, vice president of product marketing at SanDisk, said: “4K Ultra HD is an example of a technology that is pushing us to develop new storage solutions capable of handling massive file sizes.”

The new card can write at speeds up to 90MB/s. Transfer speeds of 95MB/s are possible. It is also built for and tested in harsh conditions, with SanDisk claiming it is "temperature proof, water proof, shock proof, and X-ray proof".

The cards are available worldwide in capacities of 512GB, 256GB and 128GB. The 512GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I card will be available for $US799.99 (£stg493).

The Secure Digital (SD) format was introduced in 1999 to replace MultiMediaCards and have been produced by more than 400 companies since then.

SanDisk was one of the three companies that were key to the development of the format, alongside Matsushita and Toshiba.

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One Reason Why You Don’t Need a New Computer

- Leo Notenboom 8/9/2014

Buying a new machine is a common knee-jerk reaction to a bad malware infestation. And it's wrong. Not just a little wrong - it's very wrong and unnecessary.

I run into this so often that I want to record this here for posterity:

Malware does NOT *physically* harm your computer. Period.

You do not need to get a new hard drive due to malware. You do not need to buy a new machine because of malware. You just don’t. Here’s why…

Malware is just software

Malware (viruses, spyware, or whatever) didn’t actually hurt your machine or your hard drive. They’re fine.

Malware is software. Nothing more, nothing less. Software can be erased.

This is important, so I’ll say it again: software can be erased.

Malware is software. Software can be erased. That means that malware can be erased.

Erasing malware

I’ll absolutely admit that it may not be pretty. You may have to erase everything, including Windows, your applications, and your data files, but none of that involves replacing hardware. At the worst, it simply means reinstalling Windows and your applications from scratch and restoring your data.

If you’re prepared with good backups, it may also mean restoring a backup image from before the infection.

And yes, you can sometimes even get away with removing the malware via software tools and manual procedures. If the thought of new hardware has entered your mind, I’ll guess that this approach didn’t work.

But shelling out money on a new machine or hard drive should never be the knee-jerk reaction to malware.

If you really want a new machine, get yourself a new machine. If you want a bigger hard drive, get a bigger hard drive, but you don’t have to do it because of malware. That’s just wrong1.

BIOS infections

There is a class of infection that may potentially affect the BIOS. That’s actually stored in a chip on your computer’s motherboard.

However:

1. The chances are extremely small that you have malware that impacted your computer’s BIOS in some way. Seriously, it’s just not that common, so don’t jump to that conclusion.

2. Guess what? BIOSes are, at their core, software. That means that most BIOSes can be “erased” and re-flashed, restored, repaired, or reset.

After all of that, the percentage that remain unfixable is extremely small. It’s not what’s happening to your machine. Trust me on this.

Save your money

In general, even if you’re paying someone else, the worst-case scenario – reinstalling Windows from scratch – is still going to be cheaper than purchasing a brand new machine.

You’ll still have to reinstall all of your applications.

You’ll still have to recover your data from backups.

You may have a newer, shinier, faster machine, depending on how old your existing machine is.

But you’ll also have less money.

And it didn’t have to be that way.

Malware does NOT *physically* harm your computer.

You do not need to get a new hard drive due to malware. You do not need to buy a new machine because of malware. Save your money.

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Why won’t some files defrag ?

- Leo Notenboom 27/8/2014

My wife’s computer shows several fragmented files remaining after a defrag. She has tried uninstalling some programs but some will not uninstall. What can I do to help rid her of this problem or is there a program that will help with this ?

When you defrag files the pieces of the file are physically arranged for quicker access. But you can't defrag some files. At least, not easily.

Actually, this is not necessarily a problem. It’s not at all uncommon to have some files that refuse to defrag, and that’s quite alright. Chances are it won’t impact performance in any noticeable way, and that’s really what defragging is all about: improving performance.

Let’s look at some of the reasons, and some of the ways to force the issue if you still feel you need to.

Defragmenting

Defragging, or more properly, defragmenting, is the process of taking all the parts or “fragments” of a file on your hard disk and making sure that they are physically next to each other, and in order.

Files don’t need to be that way: the first part of your file could be on the outer rim of the hard disk, the next part somewhere on the inner portion, and other parts scattered everywhere in between.

The “problem” that defragging solves is simply that when all those pieces are next to each other and in order, the hard disk has to do a lot less work to access the file.

Defragmenting obstacles

There are several technical approaches to defragging, but most require that you have enough free space on your hard disk for a copy of the largest file that needs defragging. No, that’s not technically necessary, but it makes the defragmenting tool significantly simpler, faster and otherwise more reliable.

As a result, many, if not most defragmenting tools just require some fairly random percentage of free space, like 10% or 15%. If there’s not enough room for a second, temporary, copy of a file that needs to be defragmented, then that file cannot be processed.

The most common reason files do not get successfully defragged is simply that there’s not enough free space on the hard disk to do so.

The second most common cause is that the file is in use by some program.

That’s why most defragging utilities suggest you close down all running programs prior to attempting to defrag. One of the things you can do when you run into this situation is to look at the list of files that were not defragged and see if they are in use. This article: How can I find out who is using a “file in use”? explains how. If you can, you can then close the program that has the file open, and try defragging again.

The next problem is that the operating system itself, as part of its normal workings, often has files open in such a way that those files cannot be defragged. One very common example is windows paging or swap file. The folks out at  have a free utility, PageDefrag for just this purpose. It can schedule a defrag of the system files on your next boot, before the system is actually running.

Why bother ?

My question to you is a simple one: why bother ?

Defragging the files you can defrag easily, and doing so regularly, gets you 99% of the performance gain you’re looking for anyway. Jumping through these extra hoops to get the system files defragged is typically just not worth it, unless you’ve determined that these files are severely fragmented. And that’s rare.

My recommendation is to simply do the normal defrag “every so often”.

In fact Windows 7 and better will do it automatically for you, once a week.

That’s plenty.

This is a minor update to an article originally posted : June 26, 2006

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Why don’t I get sound from my computer? (A Checklist)

- Leo Notenboom

Try as I might, I can’t get my computer to output sound. Nothing. I can’t figure out what’s wrong.

No sound on your computer ?  That can happen for any number of reasons. I'll review the common things to look for if your computer can't play sound.

That’s actually a composite of questions that I get very, very often.

The problem is that it’s a single silent symptom that can come from several sources.

So, let’s run down a bit of a checklist.

The obvious

Don’t be annoyed, but I want to start with what many people would consider the most obvious things. Probably about half of the people that I hear from find their answer in this list:

• Make sure that sound isn’t muted in Windows. Click the speaker icon and make sure that the Mute indication isn’t present. It actually should show in the sound icon as well, but sometimes, I’ve seen it get out of sync.

• Are the speakers connected properly ? Double check. An un-plugged speaker wire can, and often does, cause exactly this symptom.

• Do the speakers require power, and if so, are they plugged in/turned on and is their volume turned up ? This gets me every time that I rearrange my desk, as the speakers that I have get their power by being plugged into the monitor to which they are attached. I forget every time.

The software

Next, we’ll look at things that are controlled by software and Windows itself.

• Check the volume control. Once again, just click that speaker icon in the taskbar tray and make sure the output level is set to something above zero.

• Check the mixer. This is one that’s easily overlooked. In that volume pop-up, click Mixer. The master volume control manages the output of all possible sound sources at once. In the mixer, you’ll find that several different sound sources can each have their own volume control.

Check the application from which you expect to hear sound and make sure that its own volume control is set appropriately.

• Is the correct output device selected in Windows? Just as you can have multiple inputs, Windows also supports multiple outputs – as in multiple speakers or output devices. Make sure that the correct one is selected. More on that in Why don’t my speakers work?

• Is the correct output device selected in the application that you’re trying to play? Much like Windows allows you to select the default output device for sound, many applications can also allow you to select which device they’re going to use. If you’re using such an application, make sure that the correct device is selected.

• Are the drivers up-to-date for the sound hardware? This is much more rare, but I include it for completeness. Sometimes, the drivers are at fault. That can be repaired by updating or re-installing the drivers associated with your computer’s audio hardware.

The hardware

Speaking of hardware, many people are quick to blame or assume that it’s a software problem when perhaps something more fundamental is wrong.

• Is the cable to the speakers in good condition? I had at least one person report back to me that the sound had stopped because her cat had chewed through the wires. Even if you don’t have pets, many audio cables used for inexpensive computer speakers are themselves fairly inexpensive and easy to damage.

• Is the audio cable plugged in securely ? And to the right place ? Once again, I ran into this one after moving my computer. Not only was the connector not completely pushed in, I have a tendency to plug it into the wrong socket. Make sure yours is correct.

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Missing letters

I have a Toshiba laptop and lately when I type it misses letters, stops typing, etc.

I replaced my keyboard but it didn't help. Have you got any more things I might do ?

It sounds like you don't have enough free resources on your computer.

This is usually the case when your display can't keep up with what you are typing on the keyboard.

Does re-starting the computer help?

Does it only happen when you have certain programs running? For example if it only happens when you go online.

The answer to those questions would help narrow down the cause of your problem.

For now, the best advice I can give you is to restart the computer

(Click on "Start" point to "Shut Down", then click on, "Restart")

If this doesn't help, try removing programs that you recently installed.

Download Malwarebytes and scan for malware on your computer.

Run the System Configuration tool and turn off unnecessary programs.

(Click on "Start", type msconfig and press enter).

Lastly, adding more RAM to your system will help, but only if the system is healthy and free of malware.

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Adjusting screen resolution

When I had my old computer, I used to be able to make everything on the screen appear larger by changing my screen resolution.

Now that I have a new computer with Windows 8 and a nice widescreen monitor, if I try to change the resolution, everything looks funny, and it is not any easier to read.

How do I make the text on my screen larger and easier to read ?

Changing the resolution on new, widescreen LCD monitors will tend to distort the images, so you need to adjust the text and images using a different method. This will work in both Windows 7 and Windows 8:

1. Tap the windows logo key on your keyboard and type "Control Panel" then click on "Control Panel" on the start screen.

(In Windows 7 you can also click on "Start" and then "Control Panel)

2. In the Control Panel, click on "Appearance and Personalization"

3. Click on "Display".

4. You will see a section labeled, Change the size of all items. Click on the size you want, Medium or larger, then click "Apply".

You will have to log out of your account, and then log back in to see the changes, but this should make your new computer easier to read.

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Viewing old OE emails

When I had XP and Outlook Express I saved some of my eml files because I wanted to make sure I would keep them.

When I had to buy a new computer with Windows 7 it no longer uses Outlook Express and I have to use an online mailbox. I use gmail.

Now I have file folders of saved eml files that I cannot view. Is there any way to access the files, is there a program that will let me see them ?

There is a program that can open your saved email messages, Windows Live Mail.

You can download Windows Live Mail, free of charge from Microsoft. Just search for Windows Essentials.

Once you have downloaded and installed Windows Live Mail, you will be able to open any of your saved emails by double clicking on them.

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How to Remove Skype Banner Ads on Windows

By Brian Burgess on September 24, 2014

Microsoft’s Skype gets updated on a regular basis that adds new features and abilities. However, with the updates come new ways for advertisements to be displayed.

If you updated Skype recently, you’ll notice an even more annoying animated banner ad that even cuts into the video feed when you go full screen. Here’s how to turn it off.

Remove Animated Skype Banner Ad

Launch Internet Explorer and go to Options > internet Options and click the Security tab. Then select the Restricted Sites icon and then click the Sites button below it.

On the next screen Type: in the add sites field and click Add, then restart Skype.

There you go ! After launching Skype again, the ad banner is gone.

We showed you how to remove Skype ads back in February, but the trick would only work for a few days, and the ads would return and you’d need to flush your DNS to get rid of them again.

Anyway, it was a work-around, and would at least give you a short reprieve from the ads while using Skype.

Whether this method will work for the long-term remains to be seen. For now it’s working on my Windows 8.1 system and the ads haven’t returned. According to some user comments in Reddit, it might not work in different regions, or on certain corporate networks.

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Do I need a computer memory upgrade ?

- Leo Notenboom

Do I need to install additional memory? My machine has 1GB of RAM. I have a HP Photosmart printer & therefore am always downloading from my camera to my computer. Wondering if a computer memory upgrade is called for.

A computer memory upgrade can be an easy and inexpensive way to improve system performance, but how do you know if an upgrade is called for ?

I’ve said it before: upgrading your computer’s RAM memory is one of the most cost-effective ways of increasing its performance.

However, it’s not a silver bullet. Whether or not it will actually help you depends on many things. And of course, whether or not you actually can add more memory is something we also need to look at.

Minimums

First off, I will say that 1GB (gigabyte) of RAM is pretty small these days. Both Windows 7 and 8, for example, list 1GB as the bare minimum requirement to run the 32 bit version of the operating systems The 64 bit versions require twice as much: 2GB.

And as I said, that’s just the minimum. It’s rare that you’ll want to run those operating systems at their minimum configuration.

I would actually encourage you to make sure that any new machines on which you plan to run Windows to have at least two gigabytes of RAM for the 32 bit, and four gigs of RAM for the 64 bit version; perhaps even more.

There are several reasons for my suggestions. For one thing, as I’ve said, RAM is cheap these days. But for another, over time Windows itself and the applications you’ve likely installed on it are getting larger. What was a reasonable configuration a few years ago is likely getting stressed just a little by updates, new tools, and applications that have likely been added as well.

It’s about what you do

How much RAM is appropriate for you actually depends on what you do with your machine.

If all you do is download pictures, then what you have may actually still be just enough: downloading and printing pictures is just not a particularly memory intensive task.

But I’m betting you do a lot more with your computer than just download pictures. You probably surf the web, use email and perhaps even write documents. If you’ve got Microsoft Office installed and you use it regularly, for example, then yes – one gigabyte isn’t enough in my opinion.

If after downloading those pictures you then fire up an image editing program to crop, tweak or otherwise adjust them, then it’s almost certain that what you have isn’t really enough, since image editing programs are often applications that use a lot of resources, particularly RAM.

And if you download photos, check email, surf the web, write documents and tweak photos all at the same time (leaving all those programs open and running at once), then it’s clear - you want more RAM.

Preparing for the future

The limiting factor that you need to check before you consider adding more RAM, particularly in older machines, is how much RAM your PC can actually handle. The maximum amount of RAM you can add to a computer is a physical limitation of the computer’s motherboard design.

When buying a new machine, I often recommend that you make sure the machine can handle more RAM than you need today. For example when I purchased my most recent desktop I ordered it with 16 gigabytes of RAM (my needs are above average). But I also made sure that when the time came that 16 gigs wasn’t enough, I could add more. Thus my computer can actually support a total of 64 gigabytes of RAM.

In your shoes, personally I probably wouldn’t hesitate to add RAM if your machine supports it. If you plan to keep that machine for any length of time, I’d upgrade the RAM to its maximum. It’s not only a cost-effective way of improving performance, but it’s actually a cost-effective way of lengthening your computer’s useful life.

Particularly as my machines get older, if I plan to keep them for any length of time, maximizing RAM capacity is one of the things I do to lengthen their useful life.

But if it ain’t broke?

One last counter argument: if things are working, why look at it at all ?

There’s certainly a great temptation to upgrade, to get the latest and greatest, to see if things can be faster or better than they are. But … if it ain’t broke, why fix it? You didn’t indicate that you were experiencing any problems, so even though RAM upgrades are simple and inexpensive, if there’s no real reason, then why bother with whatever expense or risk?

On the other hand, if things are slow, if you see a problem, adding RAM is a reasonable first step.

This is an update to an article originally posted : May 15, 2009

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Why does my computer crash at random times ?

- Leo Notenboom 13/8/2014

My PC is not quite a year old yet but it recently started to crash, even while just running Word. Antivirus (both) check everything in order. What could possibly be the matter here ?

Random crashes are annoying and difficult to diagnose. I'll review common causes and steps you can take to determine what's happening on your computer.

A “crash”, for the purposes of this discussion, includes things like random blue screens, random reboots, freezing up and just randomly shutting down or going to a completely black screen without warning.

I actually have several articles on crashing randomly, but because this is such a common scenario I want to update my approach a little. In particular, I find one cause to be the most common.

I’ll look at that, and then review what else might be going on.

Heat

The most common cause of truly random crashes is an overheating computer.

The most common cause of an overheating computer is blocked airflow through the computer, followed by a failing or failed fan.

You probably know that there are fans in your computer whose job it is to move cooler air throughout so as to cool down the components therein. Your computer’s processor, hard disk and other components all generate heat, and if that heat is not somehow dispersed, the components themselves become too hot, function improperly, and cause a crash.

Particularly when it comes to laptops, it’s very easy to accidentally block the air vents that allow air to flow properly through the device. I actually recommend never putting a laptop on your lap: use a table or “laptop desk” type device that ensures proper airflow.

Desktop computers are more vulnerable to dust and pet hair which can clog the air vents. It’s worth unplugging your computer and looking inside. Carefully clean it out if you find large quantities of dust and dirt in there.

Fans do fail. Fans have actually become slightly more complex over the years - in a effort to reduce the noise generated by your computer fans are now often variable speed – running quietly at a slow speed when your computer is relatively cool, and speeding up to move more cool air through more quickly as the computer heats up.

Heat and your CPU

The temperature inside your computer can change depending on what you’re using it for.

The harder the computer’s processor or CPU works, the more heat it generates. That’s actually what makes those variable speed fans make sense – if your computer is mostly idling then it’s quite likely you don’t need the fans to run full speed. On the other hand, if the CPU is working hard, then as the internal temperature rises the fans will speed up to cool things back down.

Well, they’re supposed to.

Listen to, or watch your computers fans as you use your computer. If they never turn on then there’s almost certainly a problem with the fan or its control circuitry.

To be clear: your computer should be designed to be able to handle the maximum heat the CPU can generate. Even if your CPU is pegged at 100% usage in Task Manager, the fans should keep up. A machine that starts crashing randomly the longer it is used, or the harder its CPU is put to work is giving you a warning that something about the cooling system isn’t working properly.

Check for overheating first. After that it gets more difficult.

Other Causes

I used to mention malware early in the discussion about random crashes, but these days malware is much more interested in keeping your machine running so that it can do whatever malicious deed malware does. Certainly look for malware, but it’s less commonly a cause of random crashes than it once was.

Failure is always an option. Specifically hardware can fail. We commonly think of hardware failure as being instant, total and catastrophic, but in fact there are various components that can have intermittent failures, or whose failures can have a delayed or random effect. Next to the fan, which we’ve already discussed, bad or failing RAM is by far the most common hardware-related cause of random crashes. Programs don’t always get loaded into the exact same place in memory, and that means that you might sometimes access bad RAM immediately, causing a crash, and other times it might take a while.

Software tends to be what people think about first, but in fact with current Windows versions the vast majority of software errors will not result in your computer actually crashing entirely. More commonly, a program will crash or terminate unexpectedly, but Windows itself will keep on running. The exception to this is device drivers. Device drivers often operate at a low level where a bug or other unexpected error could cause the driver to fail in such a way that the entire system would crash. In particular, if you’ve recently added hardware to your system that involved some additional drivers being installed, or if a recent update included device driver software, then it belongs on the short list of suspects potentially causing your random crashes.

The hard disk is a bit of hardware that deserves special mention, because it can mess up the software. If your hard disk, for example, has bad or damaged information on it (bad sectors, for example), and that damaged information happens to affect a part of Windows, or a device driver or something else, then when your system attempts to use that bad information a crash might result. Typically, you’ll get signs that this is coming: significant slowdowns in disk access, or even “bad sector” or “crc” warnings, before the crash.

Attack plan

When faced with random crashes, here’s a plan of attack:

• Make sure your computer has unrestricted airflow.

• Make sure your computer is free of dirt and dust, and that the fans are all working properly.

• Run a CPU temperature monitoring tool. (RealTemp appears to be one viable utility.)

• Run a memory diagnostic such as Memtest86.

• Run a hard disk diagnostic such as SpinRite.

• Make sure that the operating system and all device drivers are as up-to-date as possible.

• Make sure that anti-virus and anti-spyware utilities are running and up-to-date.

And as always, if the crashing behavior started after a recent change, consider reverting to a system backup taken prior to that change to see if perhaps that change was the reason.

This is a minor update to an article originally posted : September 5, 2010

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Adding a Printer

I am at a loss as to how to add an older HP printer, model 3210, that had been installed into my Gateway XP-using computer onto my Toshiba vista home premium computer.

The cd had came with it will not help and I can find no instructions anywhere how to get this done.

It is a very fine printer, much sharper than the HP F4200 that was in use.

Is there a way to be able to use this printer with my newer Toshiba computer ?

I went to HP's website and searched for your printer model. I found that HP does have drivers available on their website for computers running Vista.

All you have to do, is go to HP's website, search for your printer model (in your case it is 3210) and click on the "Search" button.

In the search results, click on the "Software & Driver Downloads" link.

Select your operating system, you will need to know if your Vista computer is 64bit or not. If you don't know how to check, take a look at this article: for directions.

Click the "Next" button and select what you want to download. I usually recommend you download the driver/product installation software.

Once you have downloaded the software, double click on it to run, and follow the prompts to set up your printer.

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What’s new this month ?

Freebies 127

CarotDAV

iCopy

yED Graphics Editor

Glasswire Network monitor

HerdProtect

SA_ Digital Camera Enhancer

CD Tutorials 210

Storage in the Cloud

CD Tutorials 211

Lightworks

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For a list of Meeting Movies, Freebies & CD Tutorials that are available go to our club wiki :

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