Tips4pc monthly newsletter June 2009

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Read this newsletter online Tips4pc newsletter June 2009

Hi guys

Hello everyone!

Welcome to all of our new newsletter subscribers!  As usual Tips4pc has been going great guns in the rankings with all the major search engines this month. However we always welcome more visitors to the site, so spread the word!!!!

New Computer Tips

Add shortcut icons to your Quick Access toolbar in Microsoft Word 2007

Convert AVI movie format to mpeg, DVD disc using Any video converter

How to use and show all keyboard shortcuts in Word 2007

How to save a word 2007 document to be compatible with Word 97-2003

How to export or copy a task from task scheduler in Windows

How to enable or show the developers tab in Microsoft Word 2007

How to search for a registry key or subkey in the Windows registry

Keyboard shortcuts that you will need when your mouse is out of action.

Don’t you just hate it when your mouse is not working and you just want to do something on your computer? It’s not so bad when you know these cool keyboard shortcuts.

•                  You can go to the start menu to get to any program on your computer. Simply press the WIN KEY on your keyboard. CRTL + ESC also brings up the start menu.

•                  You can press the TAB key to move from one section to another.

•                  ALT + TAB switches between open applications.

•                  F3 brings up a find box when you are on the desktop. (does different things in other programs)

•                  Shift + F10 simulate a right click on your mouse. Therefore if you have something selected and you want to right click but have no mouse you can press these buttons to get to the right click menu.

•                  WIN KEY + M minimize all open windows and shows the desktop.  The WIN KEY and the letter D does the same thing.

•                  ALT + F4 closes the current program you have open.

•                  CRTL + F4 closes a window in a program.

Computer Tips and Terminology

Background: When speaking of a desktop, its the same as your wallpaper (seen below) but in any other instance it is an image, or set of images creating the area behind other things, so that you are not looking at a black screen all the time, it gives the screen more depth...
-Also known as the area that programs that work "in the background" go, which is nowhere

Backup: Backups are making a copy or copies of original data so it can be restored in case of data loss in case of a HDD failing or if files are damaged or corrupt.

Bios: Basic input output system. You can access this when you start-up a computer. It will say on the screen "To enter setup press .....key". It lets you change whether the CD-ROM or hard drive boots first. There are also settings to overclock some computer systems.
 
Bit Rate: This is a form of measurement for data transfer between computers or across the Internet e.g. Internet Service Providers detail there internet connection speeds in a Bit Rate form like 1mbps or 2mbps, also a note is that a Bit is different to a Byte, there are 8 bits in 1 Byte.

Blocked Senders List: A Blocked Senders List is a list of contacts or email addresses blocked from contacting you or interacting with you.

Bookmark: An internet bookmark saves the location of a webpage as a link, which can be catalogued and accessed easily at a later date. You can save bookmarks in your internet browser or on a webpage that stores bookmarks for you. In Internet Explorer bookmarks are called Favorites.

Boot: This is what an electronic device does when it first starts, it goes through a few steps before it allows you to use it, for instance your computer does a couple of very important things, it checks that all systems are running correctly, known as POSTinf, (Pre Operating System Test), then makes a list of all your devices to send to your operating system. Note that this is not all it does, just a quick summary.

Browser: There exist two main types of browsers, internet, and file system.
-An internet browser is a program which lets you access the internet in a comfortable way, most likely the program you are using now falls into this field.
-A file system browser is what you use to access folder and documents in your computer.

Browsing History: Browsing History is a log of your visited websites in your Internet Browser, when you visit a website like www.google.co.uk or www.google.com the website is logged in your history.

Bug: An error or glitch in programming and/or the code that makes it up.


These computer terms have been kindly contributed by members in our forum. This makes them unique and easy to understand. If you would like to contribute to our Computer dictionary visit http://pctipforum.com/index.php?topic=156.0 Sometimes we have more than one explanation for a term because people explain things in different ways.
 

WHAT PROGRAM OPENS WHAT FILE EXTENSION?

When you want to open a certain file type you need a particular program to open it. For example a .jpg file or an .mp3 file will not open in Notepad. You cannot see pictures in a notepad file and you cannot listen to music with this program either. To open a picture file you would double click on it and the Windows picture and fax viewer would open. For an audio .mp3 file Windows media player would open. Therefore here is a list of common file type with the programs that open them.

Video Files

•           .avi - Open with Windows Media Player or Windows Media player classic

•           .mov - Open with QuickTime

•           .mpeg/mpg - Opens with Windows Media Player, QuickTime, Nero,

Picture files

•           .bmp - Open with Windows picture and fax viewer. Edit with MS Paint.

•           .gif - Open with Windows picture and fax viewer. Edit with MS Paint.

•           .jpeg/jpg - Open with Windows picture and fax viewer. Edit with MS Paint.

Audio files

•           .wav - Open with Windows Media Player

•           .mp3 - Open with Windows Media Player

•           .wma - Open with Windows Media Player

TEXT or office Files

•           •doc – Open with Microsoft Word or Open office

•           .txt – Opens with Notepad.

•           .xls - Open with Excel

•           .pdf - secure document file. Open with Adobe Reader

•           .pps - slideshow presentation. Open using PowerPoint

•           .ppt – editable presentation file. Open with PowerPoint to edit.

Install files

•           .exe – executable program file. Double-click to run

Web page file

•           .htm - web document. Open with Internet Explorer.  Edit with notepad.

•           .html - web document. Open with Internet Explorer. Edit with notepad.

•           .php – Web document. Open with Internet Explorer. Edit with notepad.

•           .xml – Web document. Open with Internet Explorer. Edit with notepad.

Compressed Files

•           .zip - compressed file. Open with WinZip, 7zip, Winrar

•           .rar - compressed file. Open with 7zip, Winrar

Tips and tricks for using your mouse.

•          In Internet Explorer or Firefox you can hold the CTRL key down on your keyboard and move your scroll wheel to adjust the text size you want to view.

•          Hold the CTRL key down when clicking your mouse on a link and it will open in a new tab in Internet Explorer 7.

•          Also hold the SHIFT key in and use the scroll wheel to move back and forward through the webpage's you have just visited.

•          If you are left handed and want to change a mouse to suit you, then you can change the left click button to right click, and so on... To change what your mouse buttons do go to the control panel, open the mouse icon, and here you can change all the settings for the mouse. 

Download Windows 7 for free!!!

Here is some information about the free Windows 7 that is available to download from Microsoft. http://pctipforum.com/index.php?topic=412.msg1767#new

Quoted from Dak (http://www.daksters.com)

“For those of you who haven't had a chance to take a look at Windows 7, here is a quick look at it for you.  Note that many technical aspects of Windows have been improved in 7, and although in many aspects it seems very similar to XP, it has many more hidden abilities which XP did not. These include the ability to use more RAM, and the ability to use a flash drive or dongle as further 'virtual' RAM. Windows 7 has all it needs to cope with upcoming touch screen technologies, and so is much, much more than just a souped up XP.

In this 'First Impressions' article, I've concentrated more on the visual effects and innovations than on the technical or performance aspects. My bottom line - in my opinion this is faster and even more user friendly than XP, uses about the same resources, and has been totally stable so far. This is in comparison to the XP Pro installation on the same computer which Windows 7 replaced.”

Here is a pdf file dak has put together about Windows 7. It shows all of its new features.

http://daksters.com/files/windows7.pdf

Best deals on Computer Bits

Amazon is not only the worlds biggest online store, but it also has a great reputation for sales and service. I actually bought the 1 TB external hard drive that is pictured below. That's 2x 500 GB of storage....WOW... I will never have a storage or backup problem ever again.

All feedback is welcome!

Any suggestions for the website are always appreciated so keep them coming! You can contact us at Tips4pc by going to the contact us page or go to http://www.pctipforum.com and write a message in the feedback forum.

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Computer basics is something we all need to know in order to use a computer, however I have found that some people have been getting away with it. For example a friend of mine does her business books, send and receives emails, and writes letters, but still does not know how to copy files, move files, or backup files.

As you all know, I make computer how to video tutorials and post them on Youtube. These are great if you are trying to learn how to do something on a computer because you can actually see it being done.  It is like getting a friend to show you how to send an email or create a new folder.

Check out Tips4pc.com Videos tutorials on Youtube