Carefree Computer Group
Meeting Notes
Monday, Dec 16, 2007.
Laptops
I have some good advice for
those of you that have laptops. Don’t
ever borrow someone else’s power cord to run your laptop. There is no standard and they are all
different, having different voltages and current output. To do so may damage
your computer.
When turning off your
laptops always close windows before you turn off the power switch.
Computer
Software
Also when you travel with
your laptop always bring your software with you in case you encounter a major
problem with your laptop or PC.
Buying a
reconditioned laptop is risky
If you buy a l reconditioned laptop make sure the person who sells you
the unit gives you the OS (operating system) software and the MS legitimate Product
Key number is included.
New laptops are now selling
for around $450. If you buy a used one it should not be more than a $100. especially if it is not up to current day standards.
Adding picture
attachments on email
Tonight we are going to
discuss “Adding attachments to email” We will do this with all lap tops
present. We will cover MS Outlook Express, Windows mail and Gmail. We won’t include
all the details in the notes since the procedure differs depending whether you
are use web based email such as Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail. Outlook express is
very similar to Windows Mail in
Basically you will open your
email client or page, select Create Mail, or Compose. You should be able to
find a link on that page called File Attachment. It may be buried in a command
called insert. Next you click on this you can then locate the picture or file
you want to attach. Click to open it and it will appear on the attachment line
off your email. You can then address your email, enter a subject and write a
short note in the body of the letter. Don’t forget to sign it. If you have more
than one attachment you just repent the process and a 2nd line called
attachment will be formed on the email.
If you are having trouble
adding an attachment, try going to “Google” and in their search box type “How
do I send an attachment on Outlook Express” or whatever you are using. You will
probably find the answer there.
Sending an
email to multiple people
We will also demonstrate how
to send an email to multiple people without sending everyone email address to
all the recipients. This is a polite
thing to do. It is basically done by addressing your email using the “BC” or
Blind Copy selection instead of the “To” box. Most email clients today allow a
BC to be selected. The people receiving your email will only see your name and
their name on the email. This keeps it very private as to the name of the
others which received your email.
David will be talking to you
in detail about firewalls, anti-virus and online backup of data.
As usual we will have a
question and answer period. If any of you feel there is a subject that you
would like us to cover at the next meeting please let us know.
More Computer Hints and Tips
Introduction
This document covers in a
little more detail the topics introduced at the Carefree Computer Club meeting
held on 17 Dec 2007. The principal
subjects include:
The importance of a firewall on your home PC
Many viruses and hackers use open communication
ports on your computer. This way they can control your PC and they are able to:
·
Take charge of
your peripheral equipment (printer, scanner etc.) and to manipulate, copy or
even delete the data on your hard disc.
This is
especially true when you use cable or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) because
then you have a permanent Internet address and you are often online for a long
time. It is also advisable to install a
firewall as a protection when you use a dial-up Internet connection.
Firewall
software gives you a clear view of all the incoming and outgoing traffic and
you can give permission or deny access to specific programs. For instance, when
your e-mail program or web browser requests permission, you can grant this
without any problem. But when your screensaver makes this request, you should
be alarmed. A general rule is, ‘If you
aren’t sure why something needs permission to enter your computer, deny
access.’
There is a
variety of free and commercial firewalls such as ZoneAlarm or Norton Personal
Firewall. Your computer operating system
has a built in firewall that should be activated if you do not install any
other firewall software. For Windows XP
users, the Windows firewall is not very user-friendly, so it is recommended
that you disable it and install a free firewall like Zone Alarm.
For a useful
tutorial video on the use of ZoneAlarm, go to:
http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/media/flash/clientTutorial/overview.html
Free
anti-virus software
There are
several free anti-virus programs available to download. They are all equally as efficient as subscription
software, such as Norton Anti-Virus, so there is no need to spend money on this
essential service. Not only that, the
free programs use much less of your computer’s precious memory and are much
quicker in operation. Two free
anti-virus programs worth mentioning are AVG and Avast. You can download these programs from CNET
Download.com:
This website
features many free computer programs, as well as instructive video clips on how
to use them. I recommend that you view
the video explaining the software you choose.
Online
backup of your data
You have
probably heard Bill Roach talking about an external hard drive called My
Book. An example of the price for this
hardware is around $200 for 500 GB of disk space. This is great for those of you who create
large movie files or have lots of pictures or music to store.
If you have
only a few Gigabytes’ worth of files to protect, you can back up your data
using a no-cost Internet-based service.
Xdrive gives Windows users 5GB of free storage (they are working on a
Mac version) using a secure link to Xdrive’s downloadable backup
application. This type of service requires
a fast broadband connection – or a lot of patience. The service is provided by AOL but you do not
need to be an AOL client to use this.
The program
allows you to browse through your files and folders to select the ones which
you would like to upload. As you add
more files to the upload list, you can read a running total of the amount of
data you have added, in Gigabytes, so you never exceed your free limit of 5
GB. (For a fee you can upgrade to 50 GB,
but the average user will probably not need more than 5 GB.) If you lose information on your computer it
is simple to log in to the website and download your last data backup.
You can
schedule the program to automatically backup your data at set intervals,
preferably overnight when the computer is not in use. The website address for Xdrive is:
http://xdrive.com/
The setup for
this program is simple and takes only a few minutes.