Basic Computer Tasks

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besley/basic.html

Sections on

1. Creating shortcuts.

2. Installing programs.

3. Backing up DATA (as opposed to the actual program. Data is the bit you added.)

4. Searching through My Computer to find Folders and Files.

5. Change screen resolution.

6. Change the color scheme on the Desktop.

7. Having a wallpaper that YOU choose.

8. Know how to put icons of frequently-used programs on the TaskBar.

9. Removing programs, or deleting if necessary.

10. Making Desktop Folders to put icons in - e.g. all genealogy in one Folder etc.

11. Removing extraneous files - cleaning up temp windows and internet files.

12. Put a shortcut to the floppy drive on the Desktop.

13. Drag & Drop.

14. Cut, Copy and Paste text as required - no matter which text program.

15. Download a nice graphic from the net and use it as wallpaper.

16. Save, Remove and Organize Bookmarks/Favorites.

17. Make separate folders for Bookmarks/Favorites.

18. Make separate folders for e-mail, and can drag & drop messages as required.

19. Update your anti-virus software.

20. ScanDisk and Defrag, using SafeMode if necessary.

21. Filters in Netscape.

22. Message Rules in Outlook Express.

23. Spam rule for Outlook 2000.

Creating Shortcuts. two methods.

1. Right-click on an empty part of your Desktop, and from the resulting menu choose         New/Shortcut.

    Click on the browse button, and navigate through until you find the icon of the    program you want             a shortcut for.

    Double-click on that icon.

    Name the Shortcut.

2. The quick way - Go Start/programs and scroll down to the program you want a  Shortcut for.

    Right-click on the icon and hold the mouse button down as you drag the icon to the Desktop.

    When you let the mouse button go, choose 'Create shortcut here' from the resulting menu.

Installing Program.

1. Right-click on your anti-virus program icon (if you have one) and choose 'disable'.

2. Insert program CD in the CD-Rom drive.

3. Program install routine should begin automatically, but if not click on My Computer then on D:             (or whatever your CD-Rom drive letter is)

    Now look for Setup, Install or something similar.

4. Many programmers will want to install to C:\Program Files but YOU choose where they go.             If you have a hard drive which has C: D: and maybe more partitions, then use the Browse             button to navigate to one of those partitions. Even if you just have a C: partition, don't think             you have to put everything into the Program Files folder - click on Browse button, and type             something meaningful as a directory (folder) name and install to that folder. For example -             you are installing FindFolk. When you click on the Browse button mentioned earlier you             will notice that the target folder becomes blue - just type FindFolk and you will then see a             message such as "C:\FindFolk does not exist. do you want to create it?" Click on Yes,

             and then you will notice that FindFolk is now your target directory.

5. Continue with the Installation directions onscreen.

Backing up DATA.

     1. Backing up data means moving it off your computer to another location - though some people             have two hard drives on their computer and use one of them as a backup drive.

    2. Another location usually means CD, zip drive or a floppy disk.

    3. First you have to access the data you want to backup - every program is different, though      many word processors save data in My Documents.

    4. FTM backup is done by clicking on File/Backup and then choosing either A:floppy or          clicking on the 'change filename and directory' and browsing to your CD-R or zip drive.

    5. Once you have found the location of the data you want to backup, you can either drag it to     desktop and from there to its final location or use the software that came with your CD-RW          to import it to CD.

              IMPORTANT detail about files saved to external media - when you bring them back to your             computer they will be 'read-only' and you will not be able to change any data in them. To  rectify this, right-click on the file icon when it is back in your computer and choose           'properties' then click on the 'general' tab. you can now uncheck the 'read-only' and access       the file as normal.

Searching through My Computer to find Folders and Files.

            Click on My Computer. Right Click on C: and choose 'Explore'. You now see all the Folders (directories) in the C: partition. By clicking on one of those Folders you will move one layer deeper into the Folder and will either see all the individual files of the program (represented as icons), or you will see a further range of sub-folders, or you will see a combination of folders and file icons.

            The icons which actually 'start' a program usually have a distinctive icon, with the name of the program beneath it.

            NOTE - after clicking on My Computer, click on View and then click on Large Icons or Small Icons to see what is described above. If you choose Details, you will note that the 'start' file has the word Application beside it.

                                                                                                    Changes the view of what you see

Example of Details mode. Shows the Name, File size, Type (or kind of file, program) and last date modified.

  Change screen resolution.

             Right-click on an empty part of the Desktop and choose 'properties' from the menu. Now click the 'settings' tab. Move the slider on 'screen area' to where you want it. Click 'apply'.

Change the color scheme on the Desktop.

            Right-click on an empty part of the Desktop and choose 'properties' from the menu. Click on 'appearance' tab. Play around till you find something you like.

  Having a wallpaper that YOU choose.

            Right-click on an empty part of the Desktop and choose 'properties' from the menu. Click on “desktop” then choose your background. Choose from the list.

            Alternatively, find a nice picture on the web and right-click on it - now choose 'set as wallpaper' and it will be your new wallpaper until you choose otherwise by 'Right-click on an empty part of the Desktop and choose 'properties' from the menu' etc. For more on picture use for wallpaper

Know how to put icons of frequently-used programs on the TaskBar.

            Create a shortcut to the program on Desktop. If you don't know how refer to page 1 “Creating Shortcuts, two methods: Now, click and hold on the shortcut and drag it down to the toolbar, to the right of the start button. When you see a vertical black line, release the mouse button and your shortcut will be on toolbar for easy access.

Removing programs, or deleting if necessary.

Go Start/Settings/Control Panel/AddRemove Programs. Scroll through the list to fine the program you want to remove, highlight it, and click on 'remove'. If the program is not on the list, you will have to delete it by navigating to it in My Computer then highlighting the   program folder and pressing Delete key on keyboard. If you're not sure how to navigate through My computer.

Making Desktop Folders to put icons in – such as all genealogy in one Folder etc.

            Right click on a vacant area of the desktop. Select NEW, select FOLDER. A folder named New Folder should show up. Right click on the new folder, select RENAME and name it what you want.

Removing extraneous files - cleaning up temp windows and internet files.

            Go Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools and click on Disk Cleanup. Click the down arrow box and choose the appropriate drive for you machine and click 'OK'.

Put a shortcut to the floppy drive on the Desktop.

            This depends on what OS (operating system) you are using. In WIN9x, doubleclick on MY COMPUTER, right click on the a:\ drive icon and select CREATE SHORTCUT. In WINXP. click on START, then MY COMPUTER. Right click on the drive icon and select CREATE SHORTCUT.

Drag & Drop.

To move a file, left-click on it and hold mouse button down as you move your mouse to drag the program icon to where you want it.

            If you want to copy a file to somewhere, right-click and hold as you drag to new location and choose 'copy here' after you release mouse button.

Cut, Copy and Paste text as required - no matter which text program.

            Highlight the text (or picture) you want. To cut it, while holding down the <CTL> key, press the <X> key. To copy, do the same except press the <C> key rather than the <X>. To paste the selection: Open the program that you want to use, place the cursor where you want the text or picture) to appear, then press <CTL> and then the <V> key. You can also use the Edit and Paste in any program to accomplish the same thing. You can paste the selection as many times as you want to in as many different programs that will accept it until you cut or copy the next selection.

Download a nice graphic from the net and use it as wallpaper.

            Find a picture you like, right-click on it and choose 'set as wallpaper'. If you just want to keep the picture on your computer as an ordinary file for future use, right-click on it and choose 'save as' and save it to a folder of your choice.

Save, Remove and Organise Bookmarks/Favorites.

     In Internet Explorer. Save by clicking on Favorites/Add to Favorites. Click on Favorites/Organize then highlight the one you want removed and click on 'Remove'. To add a new folder, click Favorites/organize and click on 'Create Folder'.

     In Netscape. Save by clicking Bookmarks/Add Bookmark or by clicking and dragging small icon beside 'Location' onto the 'Bookmark' icon.

     To add a new folder, click Bookmarks/Edit Bookmarks/File/New Folder. To remove a Bookmark click Bookmarks/Edit Bookmarks and highlight the bookmark you want to remove, then press delete key.

Make separate folders for Bookmarks/Favorites.

            In Internet Explorer 6, select FAVORITES, then ORGANIZE. Click on the CREATE FOLDER bar, and a new folder (named NEW FOLDER) should appear in the right pane. Right click on the NEW FOLDER and select RENAME. Name it what you will. Then, to move your favorites (or bookmarks - same thing), select the favorite you want to move to the new folder, select MOVE TO FOLDER, pick the folder you want and click on OK.

Make separate folders for e-mail, and can drag & drop messages as required.

            Open Outlook Express. In most instances, the program will open with the INBOX showing. Click on FILE, then FOLDER, then NEW. A dialog box showing all of your local folders should show up. Highlight where you want the folder, name it, and click on OK.

            In Netscape, click on File/New Folder - name it whatever you wish, but leave it as a sub-folder of Local Mail.

            In AOL, click on the "Save to Filing Cabinet" which appears at the bottom of the email. The first option on the bottom of the drop down list is "Create New Folder". You can put emails into AOL's existing "incoming/saved" folder or their "archives" folder, or create your own folders within the Filing Cabinet. When you want to retrieve mail saved, click on Mail from the top left tool bar and then click on Filing Cabinet.

            To move messages between Folders, either left-click and hold on the message in the Subject-Sender box and drag it to the new folder, or right-click on the message in the Subject-Sender box and choose 'Move Message' and use the side arrow to choose which folder to move to.

Update your anti-virus software.

     In Norton, open Norton and click on Live Update. In other AVP's use similar method - JUST MAKE SURE YOU DO IT FREQUENTLY!!

ScanDisk and Defrag, using SafeMode if necessary.

     Go Start/programs/system Tools and first run Scan Disk. Set it for 'thorough'. When that has finished, run Disk Defragmenter (defrag) from the same Start/programs/system Tools menu.

     Some computers just WILL NOT scan disk or defrag unless they are in Safe Mode.

     Q. How do I get into Safe Mode?

     A. In ME, you go to start and when the screen first turns dark, press F8 continuously until the computer sort of pings and then arrow down to "safe". Alternatively, hold down F5 as you reboot and it will go into Safe mode.

      In most computers, holding down Ctrl key as you reboot will bring up the options menu from which you can choose 'Safe Mode' but if Ctrl doesn't work on your computer try F5 or F8 key.

Filters in Netscape;

Let’s assume you are want your NEWBIE mail going into its own Folder.

            1) Click on Edit at top left of screen.

            2) Click on Message Filters

            3) Click on New

            4) There is now a box on screen with options to fill in. First choose a filter name e.g.                                 NEWBIE - on the next section of the box is a drop-down menu, and choose TO on                         this one - next option leave as Contains - next box put newbie - next box leave as                           Move To Folder - next click on New Folder and type Newbie or whatever. Leave as                         a sub-folder of Inbox.

            5) Click on OK

NOTE - I can search for any message containing a keyword, e.g. besley, by adding a couple of steps to 4.

            After putting TO in the box I can click on the More button. I can then have Body contains, by clicking More again I can add that Subject contains. SO, any message with besley (use lower case as it catches upper and lower case writing) in the To, Body, or Subject can be filtered into its own Folder.

Message Rules in Outlook Express;

1) Create a destination Folder (File*New*Folder) call it Newbie.

2) Go Tools*Message Rules*Mail

3) Click New

4) Tick 'where the To line contains people'

5) Tick 'move it to the specified folder'

6) In the Rule description box click on the blue 'contains people' and type newbie in the resulting             box.

7) Now click on the blue 'specified' in the rule description box and in the resulting box choose       Newbie

8) Give the rule a name then click on OK.

I don't know how to set up a Filter in Outlook 2000, but I did find an article on how to write an anti-spam filter for outlook 2000 and so I will use that as an example - and anyone with outlook 2000 can make adjustments as appropriate to filter BECAUSE a key word is there and not because it ISN'T there.

SPAM rule for 2000:

Create a Folder to hold your Spam(File*New*Folder) and give it a novel name such as Spam.Click OK.

            Now create a rule that looks for spam and moves it to the folder: choose Tools*RulesWizard, click the New button and select Next to check messages as they arrive in your in-box.

            In the next screen choose 'where my name is not in the To box', click Next and check 'Move it to the specified folder'.

            Click the resulting specified hyperlink in the rule description box, navigate to the spam folder you created, click OK and then click Next to move on to the list of exceptions to your rule.

Check'except where my name is in the cc box' and, optionally,'except if from people or distribution list' and 'except if sent to people or distribution list'.

            If you use either of the two latter conditions, click the resulting people or distribution list link in the rule description box and add any addresses that you know aren't spam sources or destinations; then click OK, Next and Finish to, create the rule.

Play with the options and you can create multiple folders and filters.

            You can set up filters for all sorts of things, never have to receive rubbish with the word Sex in it for e.g., and generally help you be more productive.

            I filter all names I am looking for by using the example above where you can have up to 5 separate criteria. I just use Body/Contains and then have a different surname in each criteria. You can have different filters going into one folder, so mine is called NAMES and all references from all the lists I am on go in there. Means I don't HAVE to read all postings on general lists.