*** REMEMBER TO BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES IN IT *** (more information) and use all the above suggestions at your own risk. Newbies please be careful. It is very easy to mess things up.
MAKING
THE TEXT LARGER ON A PAGE
I know many of us wish the text was larger
on some webpages, to do this, hold the CTRL key down on your
keyboard, and scroll the wheel in the middle of your mouse,
down (or up). Watch the webpage while you're doing this &
you will see the text getting larger, scroll it up & it
will make the text smaller. This really helps if your eyes "aren't
like they used to be" like mine. Keeping in mind that there
are usually at least 3 ways of doing the same thing when it
comes to computers. ..... Another way to make text larger
or smaller (if your mouse does not have a middle scroller) is
to look for an icon on the top area of your browser that has
two A's, click on this & you will see Largest, Larger, Smaller,
etc., clicking on one of these will change the text size also.
Some pages on the internet are setup so the font cannot be made
larger by using the above methods. There is a way to do this,
but I won't go into it at this time. Usually the above methods
work.
REMOVING COOKIES
I find this practice no different than a phone tap,
an invasion of privacy. Some sites do not use them at all. This
is not to say that you can not get cookies by visiting some
sites, as they have numerous links to other sites, and do not
control their use of cookies. I do recommend you remove unnecessary
cookies to protect your privacy on a regular basis.
Web cookies are simply small
information packets placed on your computer when you browse
websites. Not all websites have these, but many do. Websites
use cookies so they can track what you are viewing, and although
they won't necessarily know you by name, the website will recognize
your computer when you come back to visit again. Although in
some cases they are useful, most of the time they are used in
tracing your browsing habits for advertising purposes. Cookies
alone can not read your hard drive for information such as,
"who you are", "what your income is", or
"where you live". But if you input that information
on a website that uses cookies, that information could well
be stored in that particular cookie.
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What to do: Although there are numerous software
programs to help you remove unwanted internet junk from your
computer, there are plenty of ways to do it yourself without
paying additional dollars.
-
From Internet Explorer 6.0,
click the tools drop down menu, select internet options,
look for the "delete cookies" button and press
it, (pretty simple!).
-
Go to Start, then Programs, then Accessories,
then System tools, and click on Disk Cleanup.
Special Note: disk cleanup will remove
nearly all of the temporary internet files regardless of
their type. It may then take you longer to load pages of
sites you visit regularly because you have removed the images
that you have already downloaded from those sites, (you
will have to download them again). These two methods may
not get rid of all the cookies, so if you use either of
these methods you might consider checking the Temporary
Internet Files folder manually, as described below:
-
Advanced Users: There
is one key folder on your machine that holds these cookies.
For most its the "Temporary Internet Files" folder.
In "Windows", go to "My Computer", then
double click your "C" drive, double click the
"Windows" folder. At this point many of you will
be prompted to "show files", click where it says
"show files". Scroll down until you find the Temp
& Temporary Internet Files folder. Here you will most
likely see numerous files of many different types. The cookie
file icon will look like a little "Notepad", (see
the image above), and many will start with a title of "Cookie".
Many will then show your name or your computers name, followed
by the @ sign, and then the website address that controls
that particular cookie. You could simply right click the
cookie and delete them one by one, or you could; click on
one and then hold your shift key and then click one further
down to eliminate a lot at one time. I delete everything
within the 'Temp' & 'Temporary Internet Files' directoryies.
Also there will be a directory under the Temporary Internet
Files directory called 'Content IE5'. I delete all the directories
within it also, except the 2 files 'desktop.ini' & 'index.dat'.
They need to be there & usually won't allow you do delete
them. Remember to close Internet Explorer
before you start deleting these files so you won't get any
error messages.
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To further cut down and protect yourself, the following
is only available for Internet Explorer 6.0 users.
Click "Tools", click Internet Options, then click
the Privacy tab. Adjust your cookie level settings by dragging
the slide bar. I have tested this and found the best compromise
setting to be "Medium High". The Higher levels
will disable you from visiting many sites altogether. You
can always test it and come back to the dialog box and make
the changes that suit you. One more unique feature in this
dialog box that you should not overlook is near the bottom,
the "Edit" button. This will allow you to "allow"
or "never allow" cookies from particular websites
and links, (URL's), as you specify. Just type in the website
address and click the button "Block" or "Allow".
Good Stuff!
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PC TUNE-UP
Ever wonder why your computer seems to be running
more slowly than usual, or why you can not view some items on
the web that your friends can? Well hopefully I can help you
resolve some of those issues. Lets start with updating the software
on your PC. But before I do that, if you do not know what defragment
is, or if you have not done it in a long time, please skip to
the defragment section and do that first.
Updating Your Software:
Its well know to many that computers and the software that runs
them are not perfect. Updates are made available by software manufacturers
to "repair bugs" in the programs they supply you with.
Some updates are made to combat current issues such as Viruses,
as new viruses come out everyday. Other updates are supplied to
you to keep you up to date with today's current technology. So
where do you start? How much does it cost?
Start with your operating system, in this case, Windows Machines.
As long as you are not upgrading your system to a newer version
of Windows, your software updates are freely available to you
from the Windows update site. While you are online you can get
to the Windows Update site by clicking on "Start", then
"Windows Update", (sometimes you may find this icon
by clicking Start, then and then going up to "settings").
Once you have arrived at the Windows update site, click on "Product
Updates". The site is set up to check your computer and determine
which updates your system needs. It will then supply you with
a list of available updates in which you may choose to update
individually. You simply apply a check into the box you wish to
update, then you click the big "Download" button. It
may be necessary to do this a few times as you can not update
everything at once. (Special note, Internet Explorer updates will
take the longest, be prepared). Once you are done updating it
is a good idea to defragment, as your system files may be a mess.
Defragmenting Your System:
Definition of Fragmented: having been divided. Easy way to think
of it, your house has been ravaged by teenagers and its a mess.
To clean it up and put everything back in its place you "defragment".
Just as you would find it difficult to find things in your house,
when its a mess, so does your computer. Your computer looks for
files to "be in their place", if they are not in the
proper place, the computer must search for them and this takes
more time. So lets do it, but first be aware......if you have
never defragmented your system, or if you have not done so in
a long time, it may take awhile depending upon the speed of your
system, and how big of a mess it is. Once you start defragmenting,
it is best to allow the system to completely finish, and it will
tell you when its done, (usually asking you if you wish to quit
or defragment another drive). It might take overnight to do this.
Do not touch the mouse or anything else while it is defragmenting.
(NOTE: If there are "errors" on your hard drive defrag
won't complete until 'scan disk' is done).
Disable Screensaver: First right click on your desktop and choose
properties, click on the screensaver tab, then from the drop down
menu, choose none. This will help prevent the defragmenter from
being interrupted.
top Click Start, then go to programs, then Accessories,
then system tools and click on "Disk Defragmenter".
Select the drive, for most of you it will be "C", (that
is the most common drive that your operating system is on), then
just click the button that says ok, or defragment. I suggest you
go have a cup of coffee, or perhaps enjoy some TV. You might come
back and check it in about 15 minutes. It will either show you
a "completed percentage", giving you an idea how much
longer it will be, or it may show an error message in which you
will need to run scandisk (Win 98) or checkdisk to correct a deeper
problem before you can finish defragmenting. If you need to run
checkdisk, (Windows 2000 & XP) you will have to reboot your
machine. Should you have any problems defragmenting, restart your
computer in Safe Mode (Win95/98 hit the F4 or F8 key when starting,
then choose 'start in safe mode') and then give it another try.
Scandisk: Should it be necessary to run scandisk,
I recommend you start with the "standard" option, as
the "thorough" option will take eternity, (its really
meant for hard disk problems, not software, (software is generally
the culprit). If you have the option to "auto repair"
you may wish to select that just to make it easy. Once that has
completed, give the defragmenter another go. With systems that
are a utter mess, it may be necessary to repeat these steps a
few times. Also, when running 'scandisk' or 'defrag' disconnect
your internet modem, just pull out the modem powercord. Remember
to plug it back in when you are finished, or your internet won't
work.
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SPYWARE - ADWARE
Is your computer doing more than you expect it
to do? Probably! Yet another reason why it may seem that web site
pages are loading slowly: Is that there is software on your computer
that is designed to obtain and send your personal information
to its makers. While connected to the internet, your pc could
be sending a continuous data stream to one or more unethical advertising
companies.
How?
Remember those free programs you installed and did not read the
fine print? Or you know that cute little cursor on your pc that
suddenly appeared out of nowhere when you where viewing a website,
you know the one that looks so harmless? Today a program could
be installed on your computer without your knowledge or consent,
simply by visiting a website that supports this kind of practice.
Not only could you have programs on your pc doing this, but you
could also have numerous little spies in your temporary internet
files that are capable of installing programs such as these. That
is one reason I recommend you clean them out
on a semi regular basis.
These programs leave backdoors open for hackers and they can add
Trojan horses into your system. They include auto install and
auto update features, they can disable or bypass your uninstall
features, they can monitor your keystrokes on or off line, scan
files, access your word processor and chat programs, change your
homepage, display advertising content while online or offline,
they can read, write and delete files, and they do this while
sending information back to the marketing companies. Many of these
programs, can not be deleted from your system by normal methods,
they leave residual components behind that will continue to monitor
your actions and they will try to reinstall themselves.
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What to do?
First and foremost, I highly recommend that if you have Internet
Explorer 6 you follow the following steps.
With Internet Explorer 6 Open:
Click the Tools menu. Then select Internet Options. Click the
Security Tab.
Click the box that says Custom Level. Scroll down to: "Installation
of desktop items"
Click the circle that says "Prompt". Scroll down to:
"Software Channel Permissions"
Click the circle that says "High Safety"
Then click the "OK box", this will return you to the
Internet Options security tab,
again click the "OK box". (This will cut down on some
of the immoral installs).
To prevent access to particular sites
thru Internet Explorer:
With Internet Explorer open, click on Tools, then Internet Options.
Click on the Security tab, then click on Restricted Sites once
to highlight it, click on the Sites button. Add the sites you
wish to restrict access to by typing them one by one into the
top box and then clicking the add button. See the image below,
it includes some sites I block due to spyware issues. When you
are done adding, click "OK" and then "OK"
again.
To Prevent an exploit of Windows Messenger
service, which will resolve a particular type of advertisement
pop-up from occurring, (Windows 2000 & XP),
TURN OFF the Messenger service by following these steps:
Click Start, and then point to Settings, and then click Control
Panel.
Double-click Administrative Tools.
Double-click Services.
Double-click Messenger.
In the Startup type list, click Disabled.
Click Stop, and then click OK.
You COULD also download and install a Free copy
of Ad-Aware or SpyBot these programs can not only scan your system
for these programs, but they can safely remove them as well. Please
note that SpyBot may be better suited for more experienced users,
but it is alot of people's preference as it can immunize your
system and be set up to block known spy ware from loading to begin
with. (These features are available after updating, so install
and then update the program before scanning).
I found though, that Ad-Aware has spyware itself,
and even though it will find other spyware on your computer and
recommend you delete it (which is usually ok), it also installs
some files into your System area on your computer, that causes
unwanted popups, and you can't always delete these files easily.
My friend's computer was behaving oddly, pop-ups
that just wouldn't stop, running slow, not allowing some files
to be removed from the garbage, etc, so I installed Norton Antivirus
2004 (it is the best anti-viurus program out there in my opinion,
although is a memory chewer), and when I did a scan, low &
behold Norton found 6 files, hidden (in c:\WinNT\System32\) that
were part of the Ad-Aware install that were actual trojans. When
I did a search for these files, the search said "no such
files". I had to actually open Explorer, and scroll down
to within the System32 directory, and there the files were. Obviously
they were causing the popups, slowed down the computer, etc, and
god only know what else. I deleted the 6 files, and amazingly
enough Ad-Aware still worked, & no more pop-ups, computer
speeded up, etc. I recommended to my friend to get rid of Ad-Aware,
as who knows what else it was doing. Some people out there in
computer land like Ad-Aware.
top I have not used SpyBot much, so can't say much
about it.
I also highly recommend you get and install a
firewall such as Zone Alarm (for advanced computer users). You can obtain a free version of
this program that will alert you of any program on your machine
that attempts to access the web, and you can then stop it dead
in its tracks! If your not an experienced computer user, Zone
Alarm might not be for you. If you have already installed it or
are thinking of doing so, let it keep the default settings as
these seem to work best.
I have used Zone Alarm, but it interferes too
much so instead of a firewall, I just use Windows XP built in
firewall & I have my highspeed modem plugged into a powerbar
(on the top of my desk), and when I'm not using the computer for
internet stuff I just flip the powerbar switch off. Easier &
less hassle for me.
I now use Avast Antivirus, I switched from Norton as it uses so much of a computers resources (memory & hard drive space) and if you have an older computer it slows it down alot also. Avast works well & along with XP's buildin firewall works excellent.
It also helps to have all of the Windows updates keeping in mind if you have a "borrowed" copy of the XP operating system you probably won't be able to get Windows newest updates as MS can tell if your Windows install isn't a "valid" copy. Also Norton 2005 will not install onto a system that doesn't have the newest Windows updates.
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GENERAL
PC TIPS
PLEASE NOTE: Before you make
any changes in the registry (regedit) *** BACK IT UP first. To do this go into
the registry (Start, Run, type regedit), when registry window
opens, click on Registry, Export Registry, give it a name (ie:
registry backup apr15), and save (to My Documents, or wherever
you want it to be saved). This way if you make any changes that
creates problems, you can go back into the registry & do the
same as above, but Import, find the last saved good working registry,
and voila, everything is back to normal.
Another way to open "Start"
menu:
Instead of clicking on the "Start" button
at the bottom of the screen to open the menu, you can hold Ctrl+Esc
(this trick is a good trick when your mouse is disabled).
Scrolling Without a Scrollbar in Internet Explorer / Netscape
Click anywhere on the page (e.g. on the text) hold, and move the
mouse down to get the rest (this won't work if the page has a "disable copy text" script on it). For those of you who have difficulty making the mouse do what you want, you can scroll on a page using the up or down arrows on your keyboard, or by hitting the Page Up or Page Down buttons on your keyboard (the page must be the "active" page), just click your mouse anywhere on the page for it to be the "active" page, then use the arrows or up or down keys. You can go to the BOTTOM of the page by hitting the CTRL key and the down arrow, & to the TOP of the page, hit the CTRL key & the up arrow.
Shortcut for Taskbar Properties
Click anywhere on your taskbar and then press the ALT button together
with ENTER. This will cause the taskbar properties to pop up automatically.
This will save your time !!!
Shutdown and Restart Icons on Desktop
Create a Shutdown Desktop Icon as follows:
-
Right click your Desktop to bring up a
context window. Select New, then Create Shortcut.
-
In the Command Line space, type the following
path: "C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindows"
(space only between EXE and user)
-
Click on Next, then rename the Icon Shutdown.
Click on Finish and your new Icon is on your Desktop.
-
Now double click on your new Icon and
the computer will go directly to shutdown.
Create a Restart Desktop Icon
as follows:
- Right click your Desktop to bring up a context window. Select
New, then Create Shortcut.
- In the Command Line space, type the following path: "
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindowsexec" (space
only between EXE and user)
- Click on Next, then rename the Icon Restsrt. Click on Finish
and your new Icon is on your Desktop.
- Now double click on your new Icon and the computer will go
directly to restart.
Smaller Volume Control
Open the Volume Control by clicking twice in the icon of a speaker
near the clock. Then, just hold Ctrl + S and there you go! To
go back, do it again!
Quick Minimize / Maximize Open Window Toggle
To quickly minimize all windows and return to the desktop, use
the Windows Logo key + d (see *shortcuts below). It also works
to restore all the windows after you minimize them.
Quick Restart Without Rebooting (Win98)
When you are in the Win98 shutdown menu, click restart, hold shift,
and hit enter. This will completely unload windows, and reload
it, much faster than the normal reboot!
Remove BIOS Settings (Password, Harware Config)
If you have been given a computer and you need to get into the
BIOS, but it is pass protected, open up the PC and look around
the motherboard for a battery, often it is hidden by a fan, heat
sink, or card. Once you have found the battery you will need to
remove it. (It often is one of those flat battery that resembles
a fat nickle). Leave the battery out for a while (often over an
hour, to be safe). Pop the battery back in and you will have removed
all of the previous settings in your BIOS, as if it was the first
time you turned on the computer.
Rename your Recycle Bin top
This is a registry edit trick. Click on Start > Run > type
"regedit" (without the quotes) and press Enter. A window
will pop-up. Click on Edit > Find > then type "Recycle
Bin" without the quotes. Press ok.
Wait for some time until a result is found. Then on the right
side the name "recycle bin" appears. Right click (Default)
and select modify. You can now rename it to anything.
You can also modify the infotip the same way
[NOTE : when u clik on the recycle bin and hold your mouse there
for a while, the infotip text popups]
Renaming Desktop Icons (remember to backup registry
before doing this, just incase....)
You can easily rename various Desktop (System Icons)
Click Start, Run and enter REGEDIT. Navigate
to the following Registry brach:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID
The Desktop Icons are located in the sub keys as follows:
My Network Places: {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
My Computer: {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
My Documents: {450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
Recycle Bin:{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Default IE Icon: {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Double click the Default value in the above keys
and enter the text you desire. Right click on the Desktop and
select Refresh to see the changes.
To undo the changes, just right click on the
Default value and select Delete. Refresh the Desktop to see that
things are back to normal
Opening the Properties of any Desktop Icons
If you want to see the properties of any desktop icons just highlight
the icon and press "alt + enter" and you will see the
properties of the icon
Internet Explorer Scrolling
- Get to the
of the page by pressing SPACE.
- Get to the top of the page by pressing SHIFT + SPACE.
Ever wonder what the Windows Logo Key can do?
* (shortcuts)
If it's combined with other keys it can take you places much faster.
Logo + e = Explorer
Logo + f = find
Logo + r = Run
Logo + d = show desktop (toggle swich, do again to reopen all
windows)
Logo + Pause = system properties,
Logo + d = minimize all
TO FIND a word on an Internet Explorer (IE) page:
ctrl + f then type your search word
Open New Window from a Link
If you want to open a new window from a link you have on a page,
and you don't want to right click and select "open in new
window", then just press shift and click on it.
To Add http://www. & .com
In the address bar, type the main part of an address (i.e. for
[http://www.msn.com] you would type msn) then press Ctrl
+ Enter, this will add the http://www. before the typed part,
and the .com after. This only works in IE to my knowledge.
*** REMEMBER TO BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES
IN IT ***(more information) and use all the above suggestions at your own
risk. Newbies please be careful. It is very easy to mess things
up.
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