Creating quick notes with WordPad scraps
Do you often use Notepad to create quick
notes to yourself and then save the file on your desktop?
While the process is quite simple, there is an alternative
that you might want to investigate. This alternative takes
advantage of the fact that WordPad can generate and the
Desktop can host special OLE objects called scraps.
The benefit is that creating scraps is as easy as a quick
drag-and-drop operation--and there's no need for all the
steps involved in naming and saving the file.
Here's how to create quick notes with WordPad scraps:
1. Launch WordPad.
2. Create your note.
3. Select/highlight the text.
4. Drag the selection and drop it on your desktop.
5. Close WordPad and click No when prompted to save changes.
Once you drop the selection on your desktop,
Windows XP recognizes the selection as an OLE object from
WordPad and creates a scrap, complete with a special icon
with a default title name of Scrap. To make it easier to
recognize, you can rename the scrap. When you want to view
your note, just double-click it and WordPad will open the
scrap.
Turning Off the Windows XP Firewall
If you want to turn off the firewall for
your computer:
1. Go to Start / Settings / Network Connections
2. Right click on the network connection you want to change
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Advanced tab
5. Uncheck the box in Internet Connection Firewall
Changing the Internet Explorer Start Page
To change your start page:
1. Go to a web page that you want to have as your initial
page when you start IE
2. Select Tools / Internet Options
3. In the Home page section, simply click on the Use Current
button
Configuring for Single Click
One of the configuration changes you can make with Win98 is
to have the mouse only need a single click to open programs
or shortcuts.
To make this change:
- Open any folder, the Explorer or My Computer
- Select View / Folder Options
- Check Custom, based on settings you choose
- Click on the Settings button
- The last section, Click items as follows allows you
to configure Win98 for single click
Change Screen Saver
1) From your Desktop, right in the center
of the screen and select properties.
2) From display properties select "SCREEN
SAVER"
3) Now under "SCREEN SAVER" select the down arrow
and select your preferred Screen Saver, you can also add
a password to the screen saver and also increase the length
of time you have to wait for it to appear.
4) Click apply and then OK to exit.
Optical Trackball
For those who have problems using
a mouse
Control your cursor with a simple touch
of the finger! The highly accurate TrackBall is as easy
to use as a regular mouse, but it stays in one place saving
you valuable desk space. The precise optical tracking
mechanism is also resistant to dust, reducing the need
for regular trackball cleaning
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When you are online you have to protect yourself from hacking,
viruses, Trojan Horses and spyware. We will discuss each of
these and how to protect yourself from them.
Virus
A computer program that is designed to replicate itself by
copying itself into the other programs stored in a computer.
A virus attaches itself to, and becomes part of, another executable
program. It may be benign or have a negative effect, such
as causing a program to operate incorrectly or corrupting
a computer's memory “a true virus cannot spread to another
computer without human assistance"
The virus payload, or effect, can be annoying, harmful, or
even criminal. A virus may be programmed simply to display
a humorous message on screen, or to erase all files on the
computer, or to steal and distribute confidential data.
Viruses, Worms and Trojan horses are all ways your computer
is subjected to attack, leaving your computer running slow,
to stop responding or crash and restart every few minutes.
A virus will also attack the files you need to start up
your computer and leave your staring at a blank screen.
Trojan Horse
A Trojan horse is a malicious program that is disguised
as legitimate software. Trojan horse programs cannot replicate
themselves, in contrast to some other types of malware,
like viruses or worms. A Trojan horse can be deliberately
attached to otherwise useful software by a programmer, or
it can be spread by tricking users into believing that it
is a useful program.
Worm
A self-replicating computer program, that is self-contained
and does not need to be part of another program to propagate
itself. They are often designed to exploit the file transmission
capabilities found on many computers. It is a malicious program
that replicates itself until it fills all of the storage space
on a drive or network
Malware
Any software program developed for the purpose of causing
harm to a computer system, similar to a virus or Trojan
horse.
Malware can be classified based on how it is executed, how
it spreads, and/or what it does. The classification is not
perfect, however, in the sense that the groups often overlap
and the difference is not always obvious
Hacker
A programmer who breaks into computer systems in order
to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism
A programmer for whom computing is its own reward; may enjoy
the challenge of breaking into other computers but does
no harm "true hackers subscribe to a code of ethics
and look down upon crackers"
Spyware
Spyware is small programs that collect information on your
surfing habits and sends out the information to the business
that installed it on your computer. These programs are loaded
onto your computer without your knowledge. They come hidden
in other programs or files that you download. Some are even
bold enough to dial up your ISP and go online without you
knowing it.
Changing the Internet
Explorer Start Page
To change your start page:
1. Go to a web page that you want to have as your initial
page when you start IE
2. Select Tools / Internet Options
3. In the Home page section, simply click on the Use Current
button
Right Clicking on a Web Page
Right-click on a blank area of the page. A pop up menu opens and the top choice is back and second choice
is forward. You can use this instead of using the back or forward button.
Right-click on the URL (page address), it will highlight it and a menu will open with cut, copy, paste and
delete. Handy tool for copying that URL to the email you are going to send to your friend.
Right-click on a link (a clickable) in a web page and it will give you an option to open that link in a New
Window. A very useful tool when checking a lot of links on a page.
Right-click on any highlighted text to give you cut, copy, paste and delete. When you want to paste
whatever you copied into your email or word processing program, just right-click where you want it and you
will get the paste option.
Right-click on a picture or a graphic on a web page and you get a Save Picture as option. Pick the
directory of your choice and save picture.
Open A Program
Fully Maximized or Minimized
Description -
This recipe explains how to open a program full maximized
and should work with all flavors of windows including 95/98/NT/2K/XP.
Directions -
Several programs open into a little biddie window when they
open. Here's how to force it to open maximized.
Create a shortcut to the program in which you are interested.
Then you just change the properties of the shortcut to make
it run maximized or minimized.
Here's how to do it for notepad for example.
1. Right-click on a blank area of your desktop
2. Select New and then Shortcut
3. Browse for the program. In this case since notepad is
in our path, you can just type in notepad.exe
4. Name the shortcut
5. Click Finish
6. Right-click on your newly created shortcut
7. Select Properties
8. Under Run you can select Minimized, Maximized, or Normal
Window
9. Click OK
By editing any shortcut, you can force the program to come
up either minimized or maximized.
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