Always back up important documents. Have one, preferably 2 backup system for your data.
Here at hints-n-tips we were burgled and the
thieves took the backup tapes as well. It is a
good idea to keep more than one set of data at
more than one location. Have good virus protection. If your computer is on for most of the time it is a
good idea to replace fans every couple of years. Always use the "Uninstall" facility, most
programs make some changes to your
operating system control files, deleting the
program files will not remove these changes
and quite probably stop the system from
working properly. Use "defrag" frequently, Router Locking Up. Our broadband router kept locking up and it was some time before we realised
that it was incoming phone calls that were causing
the problem. The solution we came up with was to
fit a telephone surge suppresser. The model we
used was one that was incorporated with mains
suppresser. No problems after that. Our searching the internet on the problem came up with the
information that voltage surges and sudden pulses
are quite common, most homes and businesses
experiencing several very short period pulses that
exceed 500 Volts peaks several times a week --
Dare Seely Yahoo ate my Email. I had almost completed a very detailed email that had taken the better part of
a day to do and momentarily looked at another
window, when I returned to the browser the entire
morning's work had disappeared. Compose in
Microsoft 'Text' or Apple TexEdit and save ever so
often. I have discovered that such an event is a common occurrence - Katie Reynolds A Fast Track Method of Learning Software. When learning a new computer software program, a fast
track way of learning is to go straight to the
keyboard short cuts and learn the top 10 most
used features of the software program. When learning a new computer operating system
program like Unix, Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac
or Linux, a fast track way of learning is to go
straight to the Command Line Interface and use the
keyboard short cuts and learn the top 10 most
used commands of the operating system. This also prevents repetitive strain injury from using the
Graphical User Interface. -- James Snyder, Radlett,
UK Re: Backslash. I think we should rename both slashes as s/ash and s\ash! -- sue hacking POP UP MESSAGES Are you plagued with annoying pop-up messages? Quite often they are trying to
sell you a cure for the annoying problem that they
are causing in the first place. Getting rid of them is quite a simple procedure, you
will have to disable the messenger service or "net
send" function (Not MSN Messenger). The following
instructions apply to both XP Home and XP
Professional: Click Start > Run and type "services.msc" (no
quotes) in the Open: line and click OK -- In the right
pane, scroll down to Messenger. -- Double click
Messenger and click the General tab. --
Under Service Status: click the Stop button. -- In the
Startup Type: drop down box, select Disable. -- Click Apply and OK. The pop ups will soon stop after you do this -- Essie
Edmunds Address Masking: When the term is used in connection with IP addresses. Its use is similar to
making holes in a piece of paper to reveal only that,
which one wishes to see and to obscure the
remainder. An IP address consists of four numbers,
and it may be that only the last number is to be
used in the current network. An example of an address mask of this type is as follows: 255, 255, 255,0 The above set of numbers, resembles an IP address
but it is nothing more than an address mask for
another number, which is an IP address. The
following link is a really good explanation of IP
numbers and the concept of masking. http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/support/
subsubnetting.html Davio McDavitt Faster browsing. hi friends, You can open your desired web site without entering 'www' and '.com'
in the address bar. Simply type the name of the web
site and Hold down the CTRL key while pressing the
ENTER key. The web browser will automatically add
the prefix of www and suffix of .com after the site
name and will open it. -- "manas mohapatra" 25 Jun 2003 Computer General Tips Hi One neat tip especially for newbies is to take advantage of all the great
and occasionally not so great, lol, freeware and
shareware demos available online. Shareware is a
great way to try programs be they utilities or gamez
before buying them and FREE is always a nice. Some
good sites to start with are: www.zdnet.com / downloads www.downloads.com and www.completelyfreesoftware.com The added benefits to the first two is all the computer related
information on technology, help files, articles, news,
ad infinitum. Barbara Van Sant The "back-slash" character. I would like to start a
campaign to rename the "back-slash" to something
more easily stated and that could not be confused
with just "slash" When verbally reading a file or
web address the "/", forward-slash, character is
easily stated as just "slash". However, it seems to me, the "\" back-slash" just doesn't flow as easily. I
would suggest using "slish" for "back-slash"- - -
Note the comparison to "slash" for "forward-slash"
Perhaps I am a Zorro fan and the "slish" and "slash"
is the sound of his sword making his "Z" mark? --
DON SHREVE --- Making your modem dial-up your ISP faster To
make your modem dial your ISP's dial-up number
faster, add S11=50 into your modems initialization
string. this is the maximum speed that most phone
companies can accept the dialled number. To do
this, right click on my computer, select properties, device manager, click the plus mark next to your
modem, double click on the modem, select
connection, and advanced. Type in S11=50 into the
extra settings box and apply. You will then need to
restart your computer for the setting to take
effect. -- James Amon Also thanks to Raymondo Watson Mouse cleaning: If your mouse misbehaves don't just clean the ball. Clean the 3 rollers as well. A
cotton bud dipped in alcohol usually works. If the
deposits are really stubborn use the end of a
matchstick to scrape them off. -- BJOHNbarker DriverFiles.net My first one is one that your site could probably
use. There are spiders (internet programs) which
collect email addresses by searching all web pages
email addresses or for a mailto: link. These are
added to the CDs of "over a million internet
addresses" which are sent to spammers. A better idea now is to use a form or CGI which does not
have the email address on the html page. Another
option is to make your email address a gif image so
that it can be easily be read by real people but not
automatic programs -- Gandalf Parker Spamming Can Be Reduced by including "nospam" or something similar inside your e-mail
address. I frequently do it on Usenet or when I
think that the spiders are likely to scoop me up!!! --
levitator101 Deleting programs from your hard drive (Windows95/98) Better safe than sorry! Always
use the Utility that you will find in the “Settings” Panel (Start/Settings/Add-Remove Programs) or
the “undelete” utility that came with the program. If you get messages asking if you want to delete
components of the program that may be used
elsewhere, then in my experience we you should
say no and leave them there. They may be taking
up some space on your drive but there is a
probability that your system will crash if you remove them. You can get rid of all the programs
you don’t want the next time you do a low level format on the drive. - Hector Velasquez-Conn,
Perth Use a Kitchen timer to tell when you have reached
the end of your planned session on your PC. Your
productivity will improve if you plan in advance
what you intend doing in session. Schedule all of working time spent on your machine -- John Krebs
Denver Slippery mouse? Sometimes it is not enough to just
remove the dust from your mouse. Wash and scrub
the ball with detergent and an abrasive pad. I
found that even on poor "mousing surfaces" that
there were no more problems with slippage. Don't
you just love the term "mousing surface"?. I found it on one of my partner's computer magazines - had
me chuckling all afternoon -- Adele Smith, Darwin
Australia Speed up searching by using "metasearchers" such
as As Jeeves, Dogpile or Metacrawler visit the search page on this site to find these and more-- Davie Dave, I have just learned about another two search
engines both give good results. XYZ (deleted) and
Google (www.google.com) Google was extremely fast. -- Adrian Dnes Euroferret is now part of Webtop
(www.webtop.com) and it is still an excellent search engine -- Ed Sound: You can made complicated echo sound effects using the pretty basic sound recorder
program that comes with Windows . To do this
open the WAV file that you want to enhance, and
then choose Edit, Copy. When you do this move the
slider to the right a little. To get a mild reverberation
effect set the slider to about 0.05 seconds (see the exact time in the box). To make a larger echo move
the slider even further. Then choose Edit, Paste Mix
to finish it. Click the play button to test it out. -- Trev Tip for Web Design. A 16th tip to add to to "The Top Fifteen Mistakes of First Time Web Design ":
Spend a few minutes testing and debugging your
web pages to make certain you don't have simple
yet irritating mistakes such as duplicated
paragraphs and text in the content. ;~) -- Robert
McLellan Application Systems Analyst E-Business Solutions/Sales & Logistics I/S Temple-Inland Forest
Products Corp. 936.829.7357 Website Promotion Tip. Free submission to 100,000 engines, sites, and directories at: www.college-scholarships.com/
free_search_engine_submission.htm --Dan Rosenfield Security: keep all of your computer gear away from prying eyes. Keep it all away from the window
to deter burglars. -- R Holson If using a computer several hours a day you run
the risk of developing painful hand and arm
troubles, i.e repetitive strain injury. I managed to
recover from an extremely painful right forearm
simply by transferring the mouse to the left hand
side of the computer and changing over to a left hand mouse on the settings panel. Wrist rests on
the keyboard and mouse help too. -- Anna K
Levcowicz Windows Windows: when cutting and pasting text or images
in any windows software a quick shortcut is to
highlight the text you want to use and then use on
of the corresponding keyboard shortcuts. CTRL + X
is cut, CTRL + C is COPY, and CTRL + V is paste. --
Anon. Graphics: to copy an image of the screen onto the
clipboard in windows you can press the PRINT
SCREEN button (called 'Prt Sc' or something like that
on you keyboard). This only works for non-
Windows applications only if they are running in
text mode. -- Phil D Ramirez Windows: Do you get annoyed whenever you
insert a compact disk into the CD-ROM drive and it
automatically plays. Bypass the auto-play by
holding down shift whilst inserting the CD-ROM. --
Gareth Richards, Essex UK Password Security: Be original, make it as difficult as possible for the potential intruder. Don't use obvious ones and do
change them frequently. If you find it difficult to
remember them don't write them down on a piece
of paper you keep in your desk drawer or in an
easily accessible file. Using the one you used last
time reduces the security of your information significantly, as does using the same one on more
than one system or application. You are often
given a choice about how many letters you can use,
use them all. Letters and numbers are better than
just letters. If you are given the option of using
upper and lower case then do so. Be original. If you are like me and have a failing memory then if
you have them written down then use a code to
keep them safe. Children and Computers AOL has a good Parental Controls. It is a good idea to take advantage of
them and others like it. There is no substitute for
good over-the-shoulder supervision, and there are
some pretty nasty sites and lots of scary people out
there. Always stay involved with their surfing
activities. Teach them never to share passwords or give out personal information. Ensure that they
only ever go into chat rooms using a screen name
that does not accept e-mail. Some software to help you limit what your kids can
see are: Net Nanny, and Cyber Patrol. Also check out KidsHealth.org and Cyberkids.com for tips on keeping your younger family members safe on the
net. Mac Tip - To get a 'hash' symbol on Apple keyboards use the 'alt' key and the numerical 3 key
together - davidoff Useful Links:- IRQ list -- ASCII -- Hex Conversion -- I/O Ports -- ComputerFreeTips.com -- A new site with lots of quality tips and articles Free Spyware Removal - Free tutorials on how to rid your computer of the spyware that infests it! Tweaksforgeeks.com -- Tutorials on how to fix your Windows errors. For more extremely useful hints and tips visit Liquid Rockface http://www.geocities.com/ liquid_rockface/ Amic Startup Genie - is a handy software utility that allows you to control what programs run at
system startup when you turn on or logon to your
computer. When Windows starts up, it automatically
launches a number of programs for you; Startup
Genie is the manager you need to display, enable,
disable, or delete these programs loading at system startup.
