Archives, Page 13 for Computer Stuff

Machine translation can be strange sometimes. However, it should give a general idea of the page.

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In Windows Explorer, when you right-click on a file you get a context menu with options such as Copy, Cut, Paste, Rename, etc. But, if you hold down the Shift key while you right-click, the context menu gives you different choices, such as View, Customize This Folder, Arrange Icons, Refresh, Undo Delete, New and Properties. Some of these options have additional choices, as indicated by the little black darts.

When downloading files using Internet Explorer, generally you click on "Download Now" (or something similar), then get an option box. Next, you name the file and save it. You can make the process a little shorter. Just right-click on the file link and choose "Save Target As." You will still be given the opportunity to name the file and store it where you wish.

How to Defrag (02-15-04)

     Is your computer slowing down to a crawl? Has it lost its "get up & go?" Perhaps it needs a dose of Deeefraaag. But there are some other things that will improve the effectiveness of this prescription.
Run Disk Cleanup
     Here is the process I go through. First, I clean out files that are just taking space on my hard drive and will contribute to fragmention if deleted later. You can do this by running Disk Cleanup (Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup).      Disk Cleanup will find files that you may want to delete, and will give you options, including the following: Remove temporary Internet files, Remove any downloaded program files (ActiveX controls and Java applets downloaded from the Internet), Empty the Recycle Bin, Remove Windows temporary files, Remove Windows components that you are not using, Remove installed programs that you no longer use. I would at least let Disk Cleanup do all of these except the last one. You will need to decide whether you want to keep programs you are not using. It may be that you have an important program that you rarely use, but it is essential for a particular job.
     Temporary Internet files are website pages that are copied to your drive when you go to a site. You should delete them because they can occupy an enormous amount of space on the drive.
Run Disk Defragmenter
     Now you are ready to run Defrag. Click on Start and go to All Programs. Scale up to Accessories and go to System Tools. Now, move on to Disk Defragmenter and click it. When the Defragmenter appears, just follow instructions. Click on Drive C: to highlight it, assuming that is your boot drive. You can only defrag one drive at a time. If you have more than one hard drive, you can defrag the others later.
If you only want to see how fragmented your disk is, click on Analyze. Otherwise, click on Defragment. The program will analyze your hard drive and place a graphic of its condition in the upper row called, "Estimated disk usage before defragmentation." As the disk is being defragmented, a graphic showing the changes will appear in the lower row named, "Estimated disk usage after defragmentation."      If you have a large drive and have not defragged recently, this may take a few hours. For average home use, I would defrag once a week. For heavy business use, daily is not too often. But in either case, I would not go more than a month.
     Disk Cleanup and Defrag can be scheduled to run, without your intervention, each night after you have gone to bed. With regular defrag like that, it only takes a few minutes. Fred Langa has a good article telling how to automate this and other things with Windows Task Scheduler, or other scheduling utilities. His article is "Make Windows Self-Maintaining." This could save you a lot of bother after it's set up.

     Well, I guess that's enough for this time. Take care.
     -- Don

     Have you wished you could shut your computer down with just one click instead of the long route that Microsoft has programmed into Windows (click on Start, then Shut Down, then Shut Down again)? Many of us who used a one-click shortcut in earlier versions of Windows found that it did not work in Windows XP. Windows XP users are not left out. Below I'll show you how to create the windows 95/98/98SE/Me shortcut as well as the one for Windows XP. Windows NT/2000 won t be left out either. If you have Clean Sweep Deluxe installed, I suggest you disable before creating this shortcut. After it has been created, you may re-enable Clean Sweep Deluxe.
     First we will look at Windows 95/98/98SE/Me and Windows XP. Then we'll talk about Windows NT/2000. The dialog boxes and options may vary a little in appearance, but they will be essentially the same in each version. The following shortcuts use exactly the same files, in the same order as the long process using the Start menu.
1. Right-click anywhere on an open area of your Desktop. In the pop-up menus that appear, select "New" and "Shortcut." The Create Shortcut dialog box will appear.
2. In the space under "Type the location of the item" do one of the following:
     For Windows 95/98/98SE/Me (if you have any of those four versions) type:
C:/WINDOWS/rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows
     This should all be on one line. Notice the space between "exe" and "user" and the comma between "exe" and "exitwindows."
     For Windows XP type:
C:/WINDOWS/System32/shutdown.exe -s -t 01
     There is a space after exe, s and t. If your boot drive is other than C: replace C: with the letter of your boot drive.
3. Click Next. A dialog box will appear for you to give your new shortcut a name.
4. In the "Type a name for this shortcut" field, type in the name you want to give it ("Shutdown" sounds good to me) and click Finish.
     Many laptops will not do a complete shutdown using this shortcut. You may get the message, "It is now safe to turn off your computer." If you get that message, just turn off the computer. In a laptop there are additional power saving processes that come into play. If this is the way your laptop responds, you are probably better off to shut down the conventional way.
     If you would like to select a different icon for your new shortcut, right-click on it and select "Properties." In the Shutdown Properties window, you will see a "Change Icon" button at the bottom. Click on it. You will be able to choose an icon from a list. For mine, I chose the red square with a white circle containing a vertical bar. Click OK, then OK again.
     You can move the icon to a convenient location. If you leave it on your Desktop, it will require a double-click to shut down your computer (unless you have set the desktop for one click action). However, you can drag it onto the Quick Launch section (left end) of your Taskbar and it will require only one click. The Taskbar is the blue bar at the bottom of your desktop, unless you have moved it.
     If the Quick Launch section is not available, just right-click on the Taskbar, select Toolbars and click on "Quick Launch" to put a check by it. Now you can drag your icon onto it. I have mine next to the Start button. Being on the Taskbar it is always available, even when applications cover the desktop. To be sure the Taskbar is always on top (not covered by another window), right-click on the Taskbar, choose "Properties," then be sure the checkbox beside "Keep the Taskbar on top of other windows" is checked.
     Give your new shortcut a try. First, be sure you have saved any data you are working on in another application.
     If you would like a one-click reboot shortcut for Windows 95/98/98SE/Me, follow the above instructions for Shutdown, but type this path instead of the one given there (almost the same):
     C:/windows/rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec
     Let me tell you of one other thing that may speed the shut down process even more, and then we will get to Windows NT/2000. You can give your shortcut a hotkey (press a keyboard combination instead of clicking on the icon). To do that, right-click on the shutdown shortcut and select Properties. In the Shortcut Properties box you will see a field titled "Shortcut Key." In that space type a key, such as X, that you can remember for shutting down your computer. Windows will automatically insert Ctrl+Alt before your entry. You will then see in the box Ctrl+Alt+X (or whatever letter you chose). This means if you hold down Ctrl and Alt keys while you press the X key, the shutdown process will be activated. Click OK. That's all there is to it. Be sure that the hotkey you are using is not the same as a shortcut key on most applications or your hotkey won't work.
Quick Shutdown for Windows NT and Windows 2000      Some users have reported that the same shutdown path used for Windows XP works with their NT or 2000 operating system. Others say it will not. That's because XP has a shutdown.exe file. NT and 2000 do not. One work-around that some users have reported to function well is to copy XP's "shutdown.exe" to the C:/WINNT/System32 folder, and then follow the steps in creating the shortcut for Windows XP, as given above.
     Supposedly, another way for a quick shutdown in NT and 2000 is to use the Alt+F4 key combination. I have not tried it on those systems as I do not have NT or 2000. It will do no harm to try it. This must be used from the Desktop for a shutdown. After you close your applications, you can use the Alt+F4 combination for shutting down Windows. In all versions of Windows from 95 on, Alt+F4 will close application windows.

Changing the Print Order
     If you have sent a number of documents to the printer, but you would like to change the order in which they print, you can re-arrange the print queue. The document currently being printed will continue until it is finished.
     Click on Start/Printers and Faxes (in Windows 98, Start/Settings/Printers). Double-click on the printer with the print list you wish to re-arrange. Some XP systems, especially Home Editions, do not have Printers and Faxes on the Start Menu. You can get to the same print queue window by clicking on Start/Control Panel/Printers and Faxes, and then double-clicking on the printer of interest. A list of pending print jobs will be in the print queue window. Just drag a print job up or down to change the order. You cannot drag a job above the top one that is currently being printed.

Canceling a Print Job
     To cancel a single print job, just right-click on it in the print queue (as opened above) and select "Cancel Printing." You can even cancel the document currently being printed. To start that document again, you will need to re-send it to the printer.
     To cancel all pending print jobs, select Printer (on the menu bar) and then select "Cancel All Documents" in the drop down menu. Wording is slightly different in some versions.

Pausing a Print Job
     To Pause all Printing, select Printer/Pause Printing from the Menu bar of the printer queue window. When you are ready to start again, go back to Printer/Pause Printing and remove the checkmark by clicking on it again.
     To Pause Individual Documents,right-click on the document you wish to pause and choose "Pause Document." When you are ready to resume the document's printing, right-click on the document and choose "Pause Printing" again to deactivate it. Or you can highlight the document for which you wish to pause printing, go to the menu bar and select Printer/Pause Printing. When you are ready to resume the document's printing, go back and remove the check mark.
/

You can turn off the underlining and color of URL links in Word before printing. Select the URL, or if you have several of them you can select them all at once by pressing Ctrl+A. Now, press Ctrl+Shift+F9. They will now print as text, just as the rest of the document. I understand that this also works in WordPerfect.

In Internet Explorer,as you add URLs (website addresses) to your Favorites folder they are arranged according to when they were added. If you would like to arrange them alphabetically, click on the Favorites menu item (not the Favorites icon on the Toolbar) and right-click on one of the items in the list. Select "Sort by Name." Now your Favorites will be in alphabetical order.

If you need to start more than one program from the Start menu (windows 95 through XP), you can do it without having to open the Start menu multiple times. Go to Start/Programs, then hold down the Shift key while you click on the programs you wish to open. Each program will start loading as you click on it, but the Start menu will remain open after you click on each program. If you let up on the Shift key before clicking on the last program to open, the Start menu will close after you click it.

     Perhaps you would like to use DOS to create a batch file, run a DOS program, or work with files the way we used to -- just to punish yourself. You can do it. You can bring up a DOS window in Windows XP. Just click on Start/Run and type "command" or "cmd" without the quotes and press ENTER or click OK. Now you have a black DOS window with the cursor blinking, (remember how it used to be?) ready for you to work.
     Type "set" (no quotes) and you will see a lot of information about your computer. One item may be a little misleading. Your OS will be listed as NT. That is because XP is built on the NT kernel. But your operating system is really XP.
     Another way you can get a DOS window is to repeatedly tap the F8 key, after turning on your computer but before Windows begins to load. A menu will appear with an option (among others) to go to a DOS command prompt.
     Have you forgotten the DOS commands you used to know (for old-timers)? Just type "help" (without the quotes) and they will be produced on the screen. And you thought you would never see DOS again!

     Do you sometimes need to convert a file from one format to another -- such as a Microsoft Word document to a WordPerfect document, a BMP image to a GIF or JPG or PNG, or convert among video formats? You can. Many converters are included in Microsoft Word and other programs you may have. Also, there are a host of file converters available. Some are free and most others have a free trial period so you can see if you like them before deciding whether or not to buy.
     Below are the links to some sites where converters are available. I have not tried most of these, so you will have to be the sole judge as to how well they meet your needs. In addition there are some converters already built into your Windows programs already installed on your computer.
Microsoft's Converters (free)
     Office file converters and viewers are available directly from Microsoft. Just click on this Microsoft Converters link to take a look. As Microsoft says, "With the help of converters and viewers from Microsoft Office Online, you can share your Microsoft Office files with people who have different versions of Office programs, or even with people who don't have Office installed. Converters allow you to open files created by people using different versions of your Office programs. Viewers provide a means for people who don't have Office programs to see your work. You can provide them with the appropriate viewer along with your Office files."
Database Format Converters
     Convstudio"s Data migration Tool converts a database from one format to another using your definitions to each field. Supports most standard databases "Less expensive than many."
     Solonde's Warehouse Workbench is geared to the professional but also has a free version with access provided to all delimited and fixed formatted text files, HTML and ODBC data.
     The Zaval Database Export Utility is a "light-weight, web-based client, specially designed for data export from any database without having to launch the database-specific administrative clients or tools. Best used by advanced software engineers and database administrators."
     Taurus Software's DataBridger will move data among UNIX, LINUX, Windows and more.
Document Format Converters
     Document Converter 2003 enables you to convert a large number of documents at one time, instead of trying to do them individually. Good for html, text, Word, Works, and others. Sale $14.95 through Dec. 32, 2003.
     The Dataconv Majix converts Word files to XML. (Free)
     Universal Document Converter allows you to convert any document into a BMP, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, PCX or DCX graphic format. This allows you to transfer files from one computer to another or send them by e-mail to be opened with a simple graphics viewer. You can open the document without the program in which it was created. A new printer called Universal Document Converter will appear in your printers folder. To convert, just select Print and then select the printer called Universal Document Converter. Then you can specify image type, dpi and other settings. The program will save the document as an image in the folder you specify.
     3DWin is an interactive shareware 3D converter for the PC platform. It is available for Windows95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
     The Neeva Document Converter Express is an on-line document conversion tool. It will convert documents from various formats to Adobe Acrobat PDF format. It will also output files to PostScript, EPS, BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PCX, PNG, and GIF.
HTML Converters
          The PPT2HTML PowerPoint to HTML Converter is designed to give more control over the appearance, cross-browser compatibility and accessibility of the converted web pages.
     Links to utilities for converting to and from HTML can be found at the W3C "World Wide Web Consortium" site.
     HyperNews has converters to and from HTML.
     IRun RTF Converter version 1.11 converts RTF documents conforming to the RTF1.5 Specifications to XML or HTML. It has two options for HTML conversion: include inline CSS elements or exclude them to support older browsers. Free. Scroll to bottom of their page. (In Turkey)
Image Format Converters
     Image Converter Plus reads 50 and saves to 27 image types.
     China-Share Graphic Converter supports the popular image formats of BMP, JPG, GIF, ICON and will convert among them. $19.95 USD; for single license and lifetime free upgrades.
      Graphic Converter 2003 will convert, process and view graphics, reading 42 image formats and writing to 27 image formats (batch convert available). It has a screen capturer. You can also get the image by scanner. Send the output image to file, printer, clipboard, wallpaper, or send it by Email. It adds a context menu in Windows Explorer. It is also a graphics editor. Sale: $29.95 USD.
      Graphics Converter Pro is a converter and viewer that supports over 500 graphic formats. It has 52 image filters, including Blurring, Sharpening, Embossing, Diffusing, Color Balance, and more; 13 image effects, including Flip, Wave, Noise, Arbitrary Rotation, and more and supports file association, live update check & desktop capture. $19.95 USD.
      Laux Information Technology has conversion software (4 versions) for converting PDF documents or GIFs, JPGs, & BMPs to a PowerPoint-Presentation and a converter to convert PDF documents to bitmaps.
     In addition to those listed, most full-fledged Graphics programs will save and convert images among a number of formats. I use Paint Shop Pro 8 by Jasc Software for almost all of my graphics needs. Also the Paint program that is included in Windows (Start/Accessories/Paint) may meet your needs.
Multimedia Format Converters
      Flix video to Flash converters encode the following formats: Video: avi, .dv, .mov/.qt, .mpeg, .mp4, .3gp, .asf/.wmv (Windows only). Audio: .mp3, .wav, & .wma (Windows only). Still Image: jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .psd, .tif, .pic, & .tga.
      Mp3&Wav Converter will directly convert audio from mp3 to wav, also wav to mp3 format.
      Audio Converter is a universal audio file converter that supports all popular audio formats: WAV PCM, MP3 (MPEG Layer-3), WMA (Windows Media Audio), CDA, ALF2, ADPCM, GSM, DSP, A-LAW, U-LAW, VOX (Dialogic ADPCM), RAW (PCM, A-LAW, U-LAW) and Ogg Vorbis.
      Harmony Central has sound file converters. One of them is AudioEdit Deluxe 1.5. It is a visual audio editor and converter supporting MP3, WAV, WMA, VOX, and more.
      DVD to VCD AVI DivX Converter 3.2 is a DVD ripping, clipping, backup tool. It can convert DVD to VCD (MPEG-1), SVCD (MPEG-2), or AVI/DivX. $29.95 USD.
      Easy Video Converter v3.8 supports conversion of AVI to Mpeg, AVI to Mpeg2, AVI to DVD, AVI to VCD, AVI to SVCD, and vice versa. DivX is also supported. It will convert an image list to video files, and digital photos to movie.
Multiple File Types Converters
      ePrint File Converter Software for Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP (Over 150 image and document formats)
      ConvertFiles.com provides links to document, image, audio and video file converters.
     Pragnaan Software Group says their PaperlessPrinter "is a universal document exchange utility. You can use PaperlessPrinter to publish virtually any document in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Microsoft Rich Text Format (RTF), Microsoft Excel Format (XLS), JPEG or BMP, preserving the exact look and content of the original document, complete with fonts and graphics."
      ABC Amber XML Converter is an XML/XSL processor that converts XML documents into any document format (PDF, HTML, RTF, TXT ANSI, TXT Unicode, DOC, MCW, WRI, WPD, WK4, WPS, SAM, RFT, WSD, and more). It supports more than 50 languages. US $19.95.
For PDAs
RepliGo by Cerience Corp. allows for quick transformation of PC-based documents into mobile documents that maintain their original look and feel when viewed on a handheld device. They have versions for Palm OS, Pocket PC, Microsoft Smartphone, Nokia Series 60 and Sony Ericsson. $29.95 USD.

        You surely have some sites you wish to return to from time to time (like QuestGems!). You also don't have to enter the site on its first page. Find the page you utilize most and bookmark it (save it to Favorites). Netscape uses the term "Bookmark" and IE uses "Favorites." They both mean the same thing. Bookmarking a page means that you don't have to type the URL (http://www. etc.) for the site anymore. Just click on the Favorite/Bookmark and your Internet browser will open (if it isn't already open) and take you to the website, on the page from which you bookmarked it.
        To add a page to Favorites, just right click on the page and choose "Add to Favorites." You will be given the opportunity to name the favorite (in case you don't want the one the website offers). If you have organized your favorites into subject folders, you will be given the opportunity to save it in one of them. Almost as easy as viewing the source code, isn't it?
        Next time you wish to access the bookmarked site, just click the Favorites icon (folder with a star on it) on the toolbar, or click on the Favorites menu, and click on the name you gave the webpage (a click click here and a click click there, here a click, there a click, everywhere a click click. Old McDonald had a mouse, ee-i, ee-i, o). Oh, be sure to, er, practice bookmarking before you leave QuestGems (You could even make it your home page).
        Thanks, I needed that.

If you wish to change the size of print you see on a web page, you can do so without affecting the print size produced by your printer. On the View menu, select "Text Size". From the options that appear, you can choose "Largest," "Larger," "Medium" (the default), "Smaller" or "Smallest."

For some this may just satisfy the curiosity of what HTML, perhaps with CSS and JavaScript, look like. For those learning the HTML markup language, it may throw light on how certain features are accomplished. This is a difficult one. You actually have to right-click the mouse on a non-graphic, non-link area (any open space) and choose "View Source". That's it! You can try it right here if you wish. While you are in the right-click mood, right-click on a graphic and see your choices. Do the same on a link. Explore the options and you might learn something.

E-mail? Doesn't this belong with e-mail tips? No. Of course you can do this in e-mail program (Tools menu in OE), but this is more easily done from Internet Explorer (IE). When you are on a webpage that you would like to send to a friend, or at least send a link to him/her, do the following. While on the web page, go to the File menu and select "Send", then choose either "Page by mail" or "Link by mail." The new message window will pop with the page or link on it. When sending the page, don't worry that you just see the name of the page instead of the actual page. If you want proof that the page is included, select the "Source" tab at the bottom of the message window (in OE5, don't know about other versions) and you will see the HTML source code for the page. Hopefully your OE settings are set to sending HTML format mail. If not, in OE you can go to "Tools">"Options", then choose the "Send" tab and make that selection. Type in any message you wish, address it to your friend, enter a subject and click on "Send".
From the same menu iten in IE, you can select "Shortcut to Desktop" to place a shortcut to the web page right on, you guessed it, your desktop.

Don't forget the Tip of the Day. No, not the one on the Computer Stuff page at QuestGems. Well, that one to (by all means!), but I am referring to the one right on Internet Explorer. I'll bet you didn't know it was there. Just go to the Help menu and choose, what else, "Tip of the Day." This is true of IE5. Idon't remember if it holds true for previous versions.
OK, I've got to stop sometime. My fingers are wearing short and I need something left for next time. Take care and go to church somewhere this week.

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dbrown

questgems.com

. The use of information or software downloads from QuestGems©, or from any of its links, is at the sole responsibility and risk of the user.

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File Converters & Viewers for the Following Formats:
• Database
• Document
• HTML
• Image
• Microsoft Converters & Viewers (free)
• Multimedia
• Multiple File Types
• PDAs

A Different Context Menu

Downloading Files From the Internet

How to Defrag (02-15-04)

One Click Shutdown (02-15-04)

Managing Your Print Jobs (02-15-04)

Printing URLs in Word

Sort Favorites Alphabetically (02-15-04)

Starting Multiple Applications (02-15-04)

Want to Work in DOS? (02-15-04)

File Converters & Viewers (02-15-04)

Add Web Page to Favorites (bookmark)

Change the Font Size in IE

See a Web Page's Source Code

Send a Web Page or Shortcut by E-Mail (a shortcut to desktop)

Tip of the Day (It's in IE)

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Menu for Page 13 of Archives for Computer Stuff

File Converters & Viewers for the Following Formats: • Database • Document • HTML • Image • Microsoft Converters & Viewers (free) • Multimedia • Multiple File Types • PDAs

How to Defrag (02-15-04)

One Click Shutdown (02-15-04)

Managing Your Print Jobs (02-15-04)

Sort Favorites Alphabetically (02-15-04)

Starting Multiple Applications (02-15-04)

Want to Work in DOS? (02-15-04)

File Converters & Viewers (02-15-04)

Home | Don's Gems | Computer Stuff | Resource Center | News & Weather | Calculators Archives for Computer Stuff | Archives for Don's Gems | Bio Info | E-Mail

Home | Don's Gems | Computer Stuff | Resource Center | News & Weather | Calculators
Archives for Computer Stuff | Archives for Don's Gems | Bio Info | E-Mail

File Converters & Viewers for the Following Formats:
• Database
• Document
• HTML
• Image
• Microsoft Converters & Viewers (free)
• Multimedia
• Multiple File Types
• PDAs

Home | Don's Gems | Computer Stuff | Resource Center | News & Weather | Calculators
Archives for Computer Stuff | Archives for Don's Gems | Bio Info | E-Mail