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PC Tip of the day


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Having posted a couple of replies in another thread in Site Tech Support I though it might be an idea to start this new thread dedicated to those little computer tips and tricks many of us may take for granted not realising how useful they are and might be to others.

May I humbly suggest and request that it be kept on topic and not be used to ask for help with actual problems.

I'll kick off then shall I [:D].

[I] Text size in Internet Explorer - To change the size of the text in IE press the Ctrl button whilst scrolling your mouse wheel.

[I] Avoid that Back Button - Instead of scrabbling with the mouse for the silly little Back button every time, just right right click somewhere on the page and then in the pop up menu click Back. 

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[I] Clearer Text Onscreen - LCD displays only - Does your Laptop or PC LCD screen text look a bit jagged ? Try this.

Right click on the Desktop then Properties then Appearance then Effects.

Tick where it says "Use the following method etc.... then in the drop down box belw select ClearType then OK and Apply

Do you see the difference ? No ? Try it again with some text on the screen like a word document perhaps or an email.

Another tip for the clearest display is to make sure you are running it at it's native resolution. What's that you say ?

In the specification for your machine's display it should say something like 1024 x 1068 or 1280 x 1024 perhaps. To check what your screen is running at, Right click on the Desktop then Properties then Settings if it doesn't match the specification slide the Screen Resolution bar until it does.

NOTE if you do change it it will move your Desktop Icons about a bit but you can always put them back where you want them afterwards.  

 

 

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[quote user="Gemini_man"]Does anybody actually still use Internet Explorer?

I thought most people had upgraded to Firefox for their browser - http://tinyurl.com/36a3tp

OK it's true that IE7 has been styled on Firefox but it can't beat the original in my opinion :D
[/quote]Yup, me.  Once I realised where the favorites buttons had gone on IE7, I never had any problems and still don't.
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[quote user="Gemini_man"]I thought most people had upgraded to Firefox for their browser[/quote]I doubt that very much but will refrain from further comment because I would rather not see this thread turn into an "IE Bad - Firefox Good" debate [8-|]

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[quote user="ErnieY"]

[quote user="Gemini_man"]I thought most people had upgraded to Firefox for their browser[/quote]I doubt that very much but will refrain from further comment because I would rather not see this thread turn into an "IE Bad - Firefox Good" debate [8-|]

[/quote]Because that's never happened before....[Www]
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[quote user="ErnieY"]

May I humbly suggest and request that it be kept on topic and not be used to ask for help with actual problems.

[/quote]

Ernie, I do not understand your above posting, maybe it is too early in the day for me.

Baz

 

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[quote user="Baz"][quote user="ErnieY"]

May I humbly suggest and request that it be kept on topic and not be used to ask for help with actual problems.

[/quote]

Ernie, I do not understand your above posting, maybe it is too early in the day for me.

Baz

[/quote]Possibly so Baz because I have to say it seems pretty crystal clear to me [blink]

Does anybody else have a problem understanding it ?

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You're welcome and here's another:

[I] Quicker Shutdown/Startup - Instead of shutting down your PC or Laptop, or even putting it into Standby which still consumes power, why not use Hibernate. This basically dumps the current state of the machine to the hard drive then shuts down completely. When you next start up it will only take a few seconds to restore it to EXACTLY where you left off.

Hibernate is not always enabled by default but it's easy to see if it is. Just hit Start - Shutdown then press the Shift key. If the Standby Icon changes to Hibernate then you're good to go so just hold down the Shift key and hit Hibernate and see what happens.

If it doesn't change then you need to enable it.

Go to Control Panel - Power Options - Hibernate and tick the box. If it won't let you it's probably because you don't have enough space left on your hard drive. Basically you need as much space as you have memory but thats something you'll have to sort out yourself although I will be posting a tip on finding out just where all you space has gone and clearing out junk another time.

 

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[quote user="ErnieY"]

[quote user="Gemini_man"]I thought most people had upgraded to Firefox for their browser[/quote]I doubt that very much but will refrain from further comment because I would rather not see this thread turn into an "IE Bad - Firefox Good" debate [8-|]

[/quote]

Err, sorry I obviously missed something previous in this forum - no matter [8-)]

Peace [:)]

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[quote user="Gemini_man"][quote user="ErnieY"]

[quote user="Gemini_man"]I thought most people had upgraded to Firefox for their browser[/quote]I doubt that very much but will refrain from further comment because I would rather not see this thread turn into an "IE Bad - Firefox Good" debate [8-|]

[/quote]

Err, sorry I obviously missed something previous in this forum - no matter [8-)]

Peace [:)]
[/quote]Best not to go there. It's like Animal Farm as Ernie says above!
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In IE7: if, like me, you frequently print things from web pages and miss the "Print Preview" icon from IE6, you can still preview fairly easily by right-clicking.  And if you only want to print selected text (or whatever) from a web page, the print preview window will have a drop-down menu with the option to print "As selected on screen" in addition to printing "As laid out on screen".  There are some handy sliders for adjusting the margins, too.
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[I] Onscreen Keyboard - Stay Safe - Personally I don't often use Internet Cafe's but they can be dangerous places. If a PC has been compromised and perhaps has some spyware or a keylogger running in the background it can capture your passwords for someone to later "harvest" for nefarious purposes.

Naturally you have to enter a user name and password to access your email etc. but it may surprise you to know that there is a way of doing this which doesn't require the keyboard !

Try this on your PC:

Press the Window and U keys together. The Utility Manager pops up and your PC starts talking to you !

Once you've got over the novelty you can shut it up by clicking on Narrator is running then Stop

Now click on On-screen Keyboard is not running then Start and up will pop the keyboard.

[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/kbd.jpg[/IMG]

You can now use your mouse to enter your credentials into login boxes and forms etc. safe in the knowledge that you are not leaving tracks which somebody might be able to pick up after you've gone.

Do make sure that nobody is shoulder surfing you though !

Depending on how PC's are set up this may not work in all circumstances.

 

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[quote user="Gemini_man"]Does anybody actually still use Internet Explorer?

OK it's true that IE7 has been styled on Firefox but it can't beat the original in my opinion :D
[/quote]

The original browser was....??

I'm currently using both in an extended trial after a discussion/recommendation by Clair. So far I've found no distinct advantages with either product. I don't believe that home users, as opposed to businesses, will find much benefit from changing (either way). If you want to read about the tussle you can Google "IE7 versus Firefox" and get loads of information.  

Sid [geek]

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[quote user="sid"]

So far I've found no distinct advantages with either product.   

Sid [geek]

[/quote]

Here's one that gives Firefox a big advantage.

I too use both but recently have had a need to use an unsecured WiFi access point from a hotel. The following article is well worth a read if you need to use WiFi.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/10/wifi/

It is a bit technical but not too much so. But very useful if you are roaming around and need to use WiFi.

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