By Debbie Green

For the last couple of months, we have been writing a series of articles Learning to Work with Computers 101 & Learning to Work with Computers 101 (session 2). We have discussed Disk Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter, setting up a file system, saving files and finding a lost file and much more. Basic computer knowledge is essential if you want to work on your computer and not be totally frustrated. I recommend printing each of these articles for future reference.

Bypass Pop-up Windows:

Have you ever clicked on a hyperlink or a form on a website and nothing happened? Your popup blocker has prevented the window from opening. Popup windows are a common occurrence on the internet. Popup windows are used in many websites. Some websites use popup windows to allow advertising, while other websites use popup windows to display features or additional information. When you hear a "chime" (if you have your sound off you will not hear a chime) as a website is opening a popup window is trying to open and your popup blocker has prevented it from opening. To temporarily bypass your popup blocker simply click on the link or website again (or Refresh) and hold down your Ctrl key and then open the site again and the popup window will display. You can set "Allow popup for this website" as a preference for any website by going into the preferences of your popup blocker. Websites can be added to the Allowed Sites list or click Remove to remove a website from the allowed list. For example, I accidentally allowed popups on the Excite website (which is my homepage for my internet browser) since most of their popups are advertisements, I didn't want to see those popups; I had to go into my popup preferences and remove Excite from my allowed sites.

View Two Programs at One Time:

Viewing two programs at the same time can be very helpful when working on projects. For instance, you might have QuickBooks open and at the same time have your online checking account open to confirm a credit card deposit or a check card transaction. You can also open Minutes Matter Studio and then open a paint website and use the eyedropper tool in Studio to touch a paint swatch. These are just two examples, there are many more opportunities this technique would come in handy. This is also the easiest way to move computer files from one folder to another within your computer or within your computer network. I use my Windows Desktop as a temporary holding place for files I am working on or files I have downloaded. When I am finished with the file I use this technique to move the file to the appropriate folder. All you need to do is resize each window so both windows are visible on the screen. First, click on the Restore Down icon (see screenshot below), click, hold and drag to move the window, then resize the window by pushing in on the edit points to reduce the size of the window. Resize the window to the desired size. (see screenshot below)

Two windows resized allowing both windows to be visible at the same time.

Windows allows you to view your computer files in many different formats. You can view files as Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List or Details. My two favorite views are Thumbnails which are tiny images and Details which displays the file name, size of the file, file type and date the file was last modified. To change views of your files look for the folder view icon. (see screenshot below)

Click the folder view icon again to view files as thumbnails. This view is especially beneficial to locate a particular photograph without opening numerous photographs.

Ever get tired of following the long trail in My Documents or going to Favorites to find a website? There is an easier way. Add icons to your Taskbar for those frequently visited website or frequently used files. For example, add an icon for a fax cover sheet created in Word or maybe your bank's website. The Taskbar is located at the bottom of your Windows Desktop.

1. Right click on the Taskbar and make sure that Lock the Taskbar is unchecked.
2. Right click on the Taskbar, click Toolbars, check Quick Launch. (You must be in a blank area of the Taskbar.) This will enable you to place shortcuts into the Taskbar. (Activating the Quick Launch Toolbar only needs to be done one time.)
3. Right click in a blank area of the Desktop, click New, click Shortcut.
4. Paste a URL from a website or click Browse to locate a file in My Documents.
   1. To add a shortcut for a website: Locate the website, copy the URL address (CTRL C), then paste (CTRL V) URL into the name area as you are creating the shortcut.
   2. TIP: Be sure to copy the address that is on the web page you access the most; this may not be the homepage of the website.
5. Type a name for the shortcut i.e., Bank of America, click Finish.
6. Highlight icon on Desktop & right click on icon, click Properties, click Change Icon and select an icon.
7. Add icons to the Taskbar by selecting the icon and dropping it to the Taskbar.
8. Delete the original shortcut icon from the Desktop, the icon on the Taskbar will remain. This keeps your Desktop cleaner.
9. After you get your Taskbar set up, right click on the Taskbar and check Lock the Taskbar.

1. Click on Start, click on Programs, select and right click on program icon, click Send To, click Desktop (create shortcut). Note: If the program icon is already on your Desktop skip this first step.
2. Right click on the Taskbar and make sure that Lock the Taskbar is unchecked.
3. Right click on the Taskbar, click Toolbars, check Quick Launch. (You must be in a blank area of the Taskbar.) This will enable you to place shortcuts into the Taskbar.  (Activating the Quick Launch Toolbar only needs to be done one time.)
4. Add the program to the Taskbar by selecting the icon and dropping it on the Taskbar.
5. Delete the original shortcut icon from the Desktop, the icon on the taskbar will remain. This keeps your Desktop cleaner.
6. After you get your Taskbar set up, right click on the Taskbar and check Lock the Taskbar.

Anytime you wish to access your favorite websites or any frequently used document just click on the icon in your Taskbar. The Quick Launch tool bar is a real time saver.

Here are a few examples of shortcut icons that might be useful. 

• Fax cover sheet (Word Document - Debbie's Designs cover sheet with logo)
• ASID (Website for ASID members to access product or member information)
• CHF Academy Forum (Website - Discussion forum for workrooms)
• Minutes Matter (Website - Photo Club members), (How To's), (Quick Tips) or (Sources)
• Yellow Pages (Website - Phone directory listings online)
• My Pictures (Folder)
• Minutes Matter Studio (Program)
• The Lounge -Minutes Matter Studio's Forum  (Online forum - Open to public)
• QuickBooks (Program)
• The QuickBooks & Quoting Community (Online forum - Private)
• Quicken (Program)
• Microsoft Word (Program)
• Microsoft Excel (Program)
• Microsoft Outlook (Program)
• Microsoft Streets & Trips (Program)

Next month, we will continue our discussion on using the computer. If you know someone who could benefit from these computer articles please forward this newsletter, or suggest that they sign up to receive their own newsletter.