Should I upgrade to Windows 7, and if so which version/edition?

Q: Common question – should I upgrade to Windows 7, and if so which one of the versions/editions: Home Premium OR Professional OR Ultimate?

A: Windows 7 was introduced October 22, 2009 and personally I feel if you are happy with the way your computer is performing – then there's no reason to rush out and either upgrade your operating system or purchase a new computer which has Windows 7 on it… .

FYI - Windows XP was introduced in October 2001; Windows Vista was introduced January 20th, 2007 and there are already rumors that the next new Windows Operating System, most likely to be called Windows 8, may be out later this year (2012!!) 

If you choose to upgrade to Windows 7, your current computer may not be compatible or have enough memory to do so – so you want to confirm that first prior to purchasing the upgrade…
If you aren’t sure, visit this website at Microsoft and it will run a check on your computer and let you know if your computer is compatible and if not, what you might need to upgrade the hardware, memory etc..

www.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements

If you decide to purchase a new computer, laptop, notebook whatever – almost guaranteed it will have Windows 7 Operating System on it – and if it has the “Home Premium” which in standard at most retailers – it is fine – don’t let them talk you into upgrading to a more expensive version (which by the way will require more memory on the computer also)..

Most technicians I’ve spoken to seem to agree that “Windows 7 Home Premium” is the best option for most of us. They also seem to agree that you should go professional if you want remote desktop and you go ultimate if you want those language packs.

To compare the differences between operating systems – Windows XP, Vista or the new Windows 7 – visit the following link at Microsoft…
www.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare?T1=tab04

Automatic Operating System Updates

For those of you with Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, you can keep your computer up to date automatically with the latest updates by turning on the Automatic Update setting to make life easier…
By doing this, instead of you having to search for critical updates or reacting to those announced to you, Microsoft/Windows will download them directly to your computer when you aren’t typically using your computer, such as the middle of the night...but remember your computer would have to be on for this to happen.. If your computer is not on, the next time you turn your computer or laptop on, the “call out notice” will appear in the bottom right hand corner of your monitor prompting you to do the update…
Microsoft/Windows recognizes when you are online and uses your Internet connection to search for downloads from the Windows Update Web site.
An icon appears in the notification area each time new updates are available.
How to Turn On Automatic Updates:
• Right-click on "My Computer".
• Left-click on "Properties".
• Left-click on the "Automatic Updates" tab.
• Select "Automatic (recommended)".
• Select "Every Day".
• Select a time when your computer will be on and online.
• Left-click on "OK".

Just set it and forget it – it’s so easy.

Periodically, Microsoft/Windows will ask you to restart your computer after an update. You can restart at your convenience -- just make sure to save any data you're working on – if you have the automatic updates set, then your computer will automatically restart whenever it is needed…

Yes Size Matters - What are Bytes, KB’s, MB’s, GB’s, TB’s, PB’s or EB’s?

What do all these “measurements” mean that we see for both RAM (Random Access Memory) or the space on a hard drive, portable hard drive, flash drive or memory card/stick?

The smallest unit of memory storage is called a BIT. A bit either contains a ONE or a ZERO. That's it.
• Eight bits is one BYTE ("bite"). That's enough storage for about one letter of the alphabet.
• 1,024 bytes is one KILOBYTE (KB) or about one page of text.
• 1,024 kilobytes is one MEGABYTE (MB) or about 1,000 pages of text (short novel).
• 1,024 megabytes is one GIGABYTE (GB) or about 1,000,000 pages of text (pickup truck filled with books).
• 1,024 gigabytes is one TERABYTE (TB) – and that is equal to about 50,000 trees made into paper and printed

Today, the most popular form of measurement that we hear about is Terabytes (TB) but on the horizon and in some publications we are already hearing about PETABYTES (PB) and EXABYTES (EB) - we've come a long way baby since the Commodore 64's....and we wonder where it will end..
To give you an idea of how much data a TB is or how much it can hold based on a document: It is said that The U.S. Library of Congress Web Capture team claims that "As of April 2011, the Library has collected about “235 terabytes of data" and that it adds about 5 terabytes per month.

Happy New Year - 2012 - To All

On behalf of Bob Donovan, Jean McCarty, Jack Bowes, Kevin Bachelder, Mike Guerino and myself, we want to wish you and yours a healthy, happy New Year full of happiness, wonderful health, great blessings, peace and joy ~ May this year "2012" be the best yet! Cherie Houston
One of my most favorite New Year Poems...

~ William Arthur Ward quotes (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)

ANOTHER NEW YEAR

“Another fresh new year is here . . .

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest . . .

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity once more

To right some wrongs,

To pray for peace,

To plant a tree,

And sing more joyful songs!”

History of New Years Resolutions….

At one time or another, most of us have created our list of New Years Resolutions – and most of us usually can't find or remember the list by the end of January – and very few of us can accomplish all or even some of those resolutions on the list when it’s time to think of creating our new list for the next year… Then why are resolutions so important and how and why did this tradition begin..

Personally, I think resolutions are a great idea – because setting goals is always a great idea and resolutions tend to give us hope.. Yes, HOPE that we can and will become a better person than who we see ourselves to be today – you know, we resolve and hope that we will become healthier, kinder, more successful, more financially responsible, spend more time with family and friends, become a better spouse and or parent and or child and or sibling; generally better to our friends and co-workers, and maybe – just maybe, finally at peace with and accepting ourselves, just the way we are…

But before you create your new list for 2012 - check out a few of the hundreds or maybe it was thousands of websites found when we were checking out this subject...  After all, you may want to do a little research on the history of resolutions and which are the most popular in years gone by – if so, enjoy some of these websites – and trust me – there are many thousands more if you don’t like these…

In the meantime, know that we like you, just the way you are… So from our families to yours, best wishes for happy, healthy and fabulous new year ahead… and enjoy and take advantage of all the hope and possibilities of having that fresh new slate in just a few days.

www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearcelebrations.html

www.ezinearticles.com/?The-History-of-New-Years-Resolutions&id=245213

www.goalsguy.com/events/n_facts.html

www.proactivechange.com/resolutions/statistics.htm

www.goal-setting-guide.com/statistics-facts-setting-years-resolutions

Listen to Christmas Music Online

Thought you might enjoy listening to Christmas and Holiday Music Online - check out these free sites and enjoy the musical magic of the holidays... Remember you can minimize the website and continue to work or browse the Internet...

Enjoy and remember these are just a few of the hundreds of music and radio websites available world wide.....

www.Pandora.com/ChristmasMusic

www.christmasmusic247.com

www.xmasmelody.com


www.accuradio.com/more/accuholidays

How to easily enlarge what you are looking at in a document

If you zoom in and out of your documents quite a bit, you may get tired of using the pull-down zoom control on the toolbar or ribbon.

If you have a mouse that has the wheel between the two buttons, you can do a neat trick. All you need to do is hold down the Ctrl key as you turn the small wheel.

Each click of the wheel, up or down, increases or decreases the zoom factor by 10%.

Remember the zoom does not impact/change the actual font size - it simply changes the magnification of what you are zooming up and or down on...This is true anywhere in any application or browser software (word, excel, PowerPoint, etc) that you use on your computer...

How to replace an "X" in your document with a "check mark"

Q: How can I replace an X throughout my document with a Check Mark?

A: It’s easier than you think to replace any word, number, phrase or character in a document without doing it one at a time.  You can do it quickly and easily by using your Find and Replace Dialog Box.  In this case you will be finding the capital X in your document and replacing it with a check mark character.

ü                     Note: you can find the check mark character " ü "   that I used in the Wingdings font.

There are several ways you can go about the task, but they all follow these general steps:

1. Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
2. Click the More button, if it is available and  the Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
3. In the Find What box enter an uppercase X.
4. Make sure the Match Case check box is selected.
5. Place the insertion point in the Replace With box.
6. Click the Format button and then choose Font. Word displays the Font dialog box.
7. In the Font list, select the Wingdings font.
8. Click OK to close the Font dialog box. The insertion point should still be in the Replace With box, and the font specification you made should appear just under the box.
9. Type the character you want to use for your check mark. (More on this in a moment.)
10. Use the control buttons in the dialog box (Find Next, Replace, or Replace All) as desired to make your replacements.

The confusion sometimes occur in Step 9, so there are several ways you can specify the check mark character.

One way is to copy the check mark to the Clipboard before you start the steps. Just type the check mark into the document, as desired, and then use Ctrl+C to copy it to the Clipboard. Then, in step 9, you can either press Ctrl+V to paste it into the Replace With box or you can use the ^c characters to tell Word you want to use the contents of the Clipboard as your replacement.

Or remember that all characters, such as the check mark or any style bullet have specific "character codes" in Word, Word Perfect and other Word Processing programs..  If you can find out the character code for the check mark (it is available in the Symbol dialog box if you use that method of creating the check mark), then you can use the code in the Find and Replace dialog box. 

The character code for a check mark ü  is 252, which must be entered using four characters and a carat mark, like this ^0252 in the Replace With box. When you do the replacement, you'll see the check mark (which corresponds to the character code) appear in your document.

Think twice before rushing to buy a new computer

Before you rush out to buy a new computer you’ve seen advertised, because your PC might seem a little slow, you might want to consider a few things…

First of all, when you are on the Internet visiting various websites – are you one of those individuals who always clicks “install this toolbar” assuming it will be helpful when you visit the website again in the future..  Many experts say that more than 75% of the software that is on your computer – either pre-installed or installed by you is never used…  So be careful about what you install and why and consider removing software that you have never used - It is easy to do, but if you aren't sure how to do this, ask for help.. 

Second, organize what you have on your current computer.  Be sure that all document, photos etc. are neatly stored away in specific topic folders so that it is easy for you to find…   Once eveything is neatly organized, if that hasn't helped - consider storing all for your documents, photos, music and videos on a portable hard drive,  You can purchase a 1TB portable hard drive for under $100 – much less than a new computer will cost.  Once you have cleaned off unnecessary application software programs and documents you don’t want or need – you may be pleasantly surprised at how well your computer performs…  Also once you know where everything is it helps to control duplicates – and this especially applies to any of us who have been allowing our digital cameras or camcorders to download our digital media files…  we may have many more copies on our computers than we think, which will cause your computer to crawl…

Third, make sure your drivers are current.  Drivers are the software that allow peripheral equipment to work well with your computer, and those for your printer & scanner should be updated periodically..

Fourth, while we’re talking equipment, we also find it helpful (and healthful) to use the keyboard shortcuts as often as possible.  You want to protect your wrist, elbow & shoulder from tendinitis related issues, caused by the repetitive motion of going back & forth all day long from keyboard to mouse and vice versa… If you are hands are on the keyboard than use keyboard shortcuts to give commands and if they are on the mouse, use the menu or toolbar/ribbon icons… 

Free Resource Websites for Seniors

Periodically, questions arise from our students wanting to be sure they have all their “documents” in order, should something happen to them… A new year is just around the corner so it’s a perfect time to set a goal and be sure everything is in order and in place, should we or our families need the information…

Knowing what we need & why, and how to prepare it, doesn’t have to be a costly venture. Before you begin to pay for services, understand what you should have and why…

A great resource for this and lots more information helpful to all of us who live in Massachusetts, is a free website in Massachusetts noted below – check it out… both that I've noted are for seniors like us...

http://www.massresources.org/senior.html

Within this website, they have a wonderful “How do I” section which describes in detail the how’s whys of many forms and procedures, including living wills, health card proxy’s, durable power of attorneys and much more… so check this out also…

http://www.massresources.org/senior-faqs.html