Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

Recently asked questions.

Q: I am being offered a hand-me-down computer that is quite old. Is it worth my while to accept it.

A: Good question! I would have to know more about the computer to respond but it is certainly worthwhile investigating. On my web-site (address below), I have listed a few technicians who can evaluate it for you. If you are going to get it at no cost it may be worthwhile to spend a little on it including an evaluation. The question to the tech would be how much would it cost to make it at least Win 95, with 2.5 GB of Hard Drive and 32MB Ram. This is my current idea as to the minimum required to have a useful desktop. You probably don’t need speakers or a sound card for starters or as a second computer but you may want to have a modem. All these are items that can be added or upgraded by a “techie.” If the cost to update is $175 or less it is definitely worthwhile. At any amount over that, you may want to rethink the reasons you want it. If you decide to have the computer refurbished, have the hard drive reformatted so you don’t find yourself looking at someone’s old files from the 1990’s.

Q: Do I need a computer if all I want to do is e-mail?

A: No, you can buy Mail Station at Radio Shack for $99 (at this writing). And the monthly service is about $10. All you need is a phone jack.

Q: Tell me again how to send a photo via e-mail.

A: First you have to have the photo digitized. If you have a friend with a scanner, have them scan it and put it on a floppy for you. Take it home and put it in the “A” drive (after the computer is started). Open your e-mail program and get a new letter all addressed and write a brief not telling the recipient that a photo is attached. When you are done, click whatever button your e-mail program has for attachments. Often it is a paperclip or the word itself and can be either at the top of the screen (Outlook) or at the bottom (Yahoo). You then have to “browse” to locate the photo. In the window that opens, change the “look in” field to show “3-1/2 floppy drive.” Then when you see the file name of your photo, double click on it. After that you should see your letter again, this time with some indication that it has an attachment and what the file name is. Then send it. After sending, call up your “sent mail”, click on the attachment indicator and your photo should appear on the screen. If it doesn’t, you probably do not have a photo program in your computer. You can buy one for less than $10.

Q: How do you download from the Internet?

A: Go to my site (address below) and look up my column entitled, “Which way is up?” Details are there.

Q: How do I get the copyright sign when I am typing in M/S Word?

A: Click on Alt, Ctrl and C all at the same time. ©

Q: Should I leave my computer on all the time or turn it off?

A: There are many views about this. Here is what I do. I have a Suspend choice on the Start menu, just above Shut Down. When I leave my machine for a while that’s the mode I leave it in. Some other computers call it Standby or Sleep. If the computer has a noisy fan, you may not want it running if it is in the bedroom with you. Suspend reduces the power consumption from about 90W to that of a night-light. I only need to jiggle the mouse to “wake up the computer.” If I notice, after a few days, that strange things are happening on the screen, that is a good time for me to shut down and reboot, updating the registry.

Q: What’s going on with the free ISP’s?

A: Many are going “down the tube” with some of the other “dot com” companies. There are still some around that offer free service but it is not unlimited. Juno and NetZero are the first two to come to mind.

Q: I downloaded a new program and it was working OK but now it is doing funny things. I rebooted and that doesn’t help.

A: Try uninstalling it and then reinstalling it. Uninstalling can be accomplished in several ways. First find the program on the start menu and see if there is an “uninstall” option there. Otherwise, go to Start, Settings, and Control Panel and look in Add/Remove programs. Highlight the program you want to remove and then click on the Remove button at the bottom of the field. Reinstall the program. Then see if it is working properly.

Q: How do I know if my computer has a virus?

A: If you have an anti-virus program in your computer that is on all the time, you will get a message on your screen telling your that a virus has been found and asking you to make a choice as to what to do about it. The virus program will take the correct action. If your computer is doing some strange things and you don’t know what it is, call the free tech help answer line that I have listed on my web site. They may ask you to bring it in and they will tell you what the problem is. If they have to reformat the hard drive because of a virus, you will lose all the information you have stored in it.

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant, and can be reached at hlunin@email.com. To see previous columns and other information, point your browser to http://mouseclix.tripod.com