Our First Union Tower Special Q & A Session

Just a quick reminder...

Our very first Q & A Session, which is open to anyone who would like to join us, so that includes computer students, residents and their guests, will be held on Friday morning, September 23rd - 10:30am-12N at Union Tower II in the Social Hall on the first floor... We truly hope you will all attend - handouts will be available which will cover much of what will be discussed..

(not on Monday, September 26th as originally announced)

Don't forget to email the questions you would like our panel to discuss and to have included in the handout at the next Special Q & A Session - deadline for your questions so that we can include them in the handout is one week from today, Wednesday, September 7th... So please email any questions you might like our panel to cover to cherie_houston@hotmail.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE ~ TECH SUPPORT HELP

No doubt all of us have tried to call the customer service or tech support departments in any number of companies, only to waste time listening to music we don’t like and waiting to be told which button to push to continue on thru a maze of other numbers in the hopes of maybe getting thru to a live person that can help us…

Next time, before you make that call, you might want to check out these two websites, that can help you to maneuver thru these mazes. Both of these websites, list the correct phone numbers for countless companies and they also will give you the correct button sequences to get you through to a live person much more quickly.

The websites are:

Get Human - http://www.gethuman.com/

Dial A Human - http://www.dialahuman.com/

Before you make that call - also consider another option "Instant Messaging" that is offered by many companies directly on their websites. Yes, many companies today offer us the ability to “instant message their customer service and or tech support personnel” directly from their companies website..

If this is an option, try it. Most of us find this much more effective than waiting on the telephone - because you can converse "via typing" back and forth with this individual.. I also like this because I can then highlight our conversation - copy it - and save it in my PC Problem folder that I've created in My Documents for reference in the future...

Instant messaging also allows you the option to immediately attach documents that they can read - so you can scan in a document you might want them to see and then attach it during your "instant messaging conversation" or if it's a computer problem – this option also allows you the ability to “take a picture of what’s on your monitor” by using the CTRL + PRNT SCREEN Key and then pasting the photo in word and saving it in a PC problem folder you’ve created, so that while you are “talking/instant messaging the tech support person, you can attach the document that will show him/her the problem or error message you are getting…
Technology can be frustrating, but if you know what to do you can use it all to your advantage..

Weather and your computers…

With the probable approach of Hurricane Irene here in New England this weekend, I’ve received quite a few emails asking me if anything special should be done to protect computers during this impending storm…

My answer is yes. You want to be sue not only to protect your hardware, which is a valuable investment, but just as important you want to be sure you protect all the valuable information on your computers, such as your photos, documents, etc…

And we all know that Hurricane Irene isn’t the only extreme weather that we experience here in New England that can cause problems. Bad weather can also include floods, ice/snow storms, powerful electrical storms & lightning and from time to time, very high winds. This year the weather's been quite extreme and we even experienced an earthquake earlier today.....

So, even if we aren’t in the direct line of this impending storm, we could still experience serious problems with our electricity, phones or cable services, not just in our homes, but in our neighborhood, community and during some storms – even much larger geographical areas can e impacted.

So consider taking a few precautions beforehand:

• Perform a complete backup of your system, and if you do this and save it to an “external hard drive” you may want to consider putting the external hard drive in a waterproof container and storing it “off premise” just in case.


• If you don’t have an external hard drive, but have a portable hard drive or use flash drives/memory sticks – be sure to back up all your valuable data to your portable device and put that portable device in a waterproof container, even multiple zip-lock bas will work and put it with your important papers that you have ready with you should you need to evacuate..


• Power off and unplug all equipment, including the computers, routers, modems, monitors and printers – When, I would do this as soon as the high winds or lightning begin OR for those of you who might live near the coast, as soon as you receive your ”evacuation notice.



• Be sure to unplug items from standby power sources and power off the standby power source



• Any equipment that may be in danger of flooding due to low ground (ie. basements and first floors) should be moved to a higher table top or even to a higher floor.



• Equipment that is situated near windows or in a structure that may be affected by the storm, should be moved or at least wrapped in plastic and stowed in a secure place.

Obviously, we hope you never have to use these precautions, but like anything else, with a few simple precautions, you just might save expensive equipment and loss of valuable information or photos that are irreplaceable… Be safe and don't take unnecessary chances..

And if you are curious as to what's happening with this and other weather events, while your computer is up and running, you might want to check out these weather websites, which we are listing in alphabetical order..

http://www.accuweather.com/
http://www.intellicast.com/
http://www.noaa.gov/
http://www.weather.com/
http://www.wunderground.com/

Windows Explorer-The computers filing cabinet

When you use Windows Explorer, you can see all the documents stored on your computer (or your network), which makes it easy to select documents, folders, travel drives, digital cameras portable hard drives to work with them.

Windows Explorer uses the same “folder system” you would in a “filing cabinet”. Folders and sub-folders are "containers" to store documents (files). The folders that Windows creates for you are named My Documents, My Music, My Pictures & My Videos. They get their names from the fact that you use them as follows:

My Documents: Use this folder to store other types of documents you save, such as typed text or spreadsheets

• My Music: Use this folder to store music you copy to your computers


• My Pictures: Use this folder to store pictures, such as those you get from a camera or scanner, or from the Internet


• My Videos: Use this folder to store videos, such as those you get from a video camera, emails or from the Internet

In Windows XP and older operating systems you will see that you must open the My Documents drawer to see the other master folders, such as My Music, My Pictures, My Scans, My Videos...

In Windows Vista and Windows 7 Operating Systems, the Master folder is called a Library and in that you will find each of the individual master folders, including My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, My Scans, My Videos..

For those of you using MAC’s – you now have Macintosh Explorer – check it out at www.ragesw.com/products/explorer.html

CTRL + F - Keyboard shortcut to find specific words

By now, most of you know how much I enjoy using “Keyboard Shortcuts” which make doing certain functions a little easier - and I like easy - but they do allow us to give a command and get results quickly and easily…

To me CTRL + F is one of those keyboard shortcuts that I think you will use as often as I do, which is “all the time”

Most of us spend time looking for documents or other things on our computer because we can’t remember what we named them – but we do remember words specific in that document – report, spreadsheet, letter – whatever… Well if you haven’t tried this keyboard shortcut before – give it a try…

This great keyboard shortcut works in almost every application (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point, with all major browsers, Notepad, Word Pad and many other application software programs... Simply type the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F (F for Find) to find a word or series of characters.

Give it a try right now while you are on the internet—search for the word “keyboard” in the next section.

Surf the Internet and use some favorite shortcuts

Just a few reminders to use some of the "basic" keystrokes & keyboard shortcuts so that when you are surfing the Internet - it will be easier and more enjoyable.....

• "F5" REFRESH KEY – using this function key will “reconnect" you to a website to update all the information


• "F11” FUNCTION KEY – (or Menu Bar, View, FULL SCREEN)- This is a “toggle button/key” so you can go back and forth for Full Screen which CONDENSES your toolbar at the top OR Normal Screen with All Toolbars at top and Task Bar at bottom…


• CTRL AND + OR – KEYS – Allow you to quickly and easily enlarge the screen when you are on the Internet OR use the Zoom Icon/drop down menu on the status bar at the bottom of your screen or go to your Command Bar, Page and Zoom-and change the size there - remember this doesn't change text size, it simply magnifies whats on your monitor when you are on the Internet so that it is easier to read..


• CTRL PLUS LEFT CLICKING THE “HYPERLINK” YOU WANT TO OPEN – this allows you to leave the page you are on open and it forces open another new tab so you toggle between both websites


• TABBING & FAVORITES/BOOKMARKS – these features allow you to easily multi-task and toggle from one website to another without having to “sign in” repeatedly and to visit websites you visit often

When you can't cancel a print job..

From time to time there will be print jobs that just won’t seem to delete no matter how we try to cancel or delete the print job - whether we try to cancel:

• By using the cancel on the printer OR

• From the Printer in the Start Menu OR

• Using the Printer Icon & Menu from the system try (bottom right corner of the monitor above the clock)

Don’t panic – try the following – which usually corrects the problem …

In Windows XP

• Go to Control Panel

• Select Administrative Tools

• Double-click on Services (Icon is usually 2 gears)

• When the list of services appear, scroll down until you find one called "Print Spooler"

• Highlight this service option – and on the left column choose "Restart"

• The "deleted" jobs will disappear and any queued jobs in your print queue will print

In Windows Vista

• Go to Control Panel

• Select System and Maintenance

• Select Administrative Tools

• Double-click on Services

• When the service list appears, scroll down until you find one called "Print Spooler"

• Right-click on "Print Spooler" and select "Restart"

Success - the "deleted" jobs will disappear and any jobs waiting in your print queue will now print

Annual Credit Report

This is the official website to check your credit report for free...

http://www.annualcreditreport.com/

AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site to help consumers to obtain their free credit report - You are entitled to receive one free credit report every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This free credit report can be requested through this website, by phone or by mail.

Each person is entitled to receive one free credit report every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies through the Central Source. It is entirely your choice whether you order all three credit reports at the same time or order one now and others later. The advantage of ordering all three at the same time is that you can compare them. (However, you will not be eligible for another free credit report from the Central Source for 12 months.) On the other hand, the advantage of ordering one now and others later (for example, one credit report every four months) is that you can keep track of any changes or new information that may appear on your credit report. So if you order from only one company today you can still order from the other two companies at a later date

The addresses for the credit reporting agencies are listed below:

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

Experian
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, Texas 75013

TransUnion
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

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