Compunerd 007's blog

Beginner's Desktop Terms - Understanding What You Are Dealing With Is Helpful For the Tech Support Person

Getting help with your PC's programs should be easier if you know the right terminology to say. One of the biggest problems that new personal computer users run into with a tech support person is not knowing how to correctly describe the problem that they are experiencing. And it's not fair to expect a technician to automatically understand what a "thingy" or "whatcha-ma-call-it" is. With the right words, the tech support person may even provide you online PC support.

The appearance of your personal computer screen is called the "GUI" (sounds like "gooey") that means "graphical user interface" The list below describes the correct names for common components of the computer screen appearance so that if you experience difficulty, you can effectively define the issue that you are experiencing, which lets a computer specialist readily resolve it.

User interface - this is the entire visual design of  programs. It may consist of pop-ups, boxes, terms, icons, and buttons. When you are experiencing insufficient memory, as an example, you might see a black rectangle across the user interface of your software.

Title bar - means is the very top part of a program that might show its own name, or it might describe the contents from another portion of the interface. If a program is incorrectly coded, you may see a wrong description in this part of its interface.

Menu bar - this portion of a program displays menu items and menu options. Some of the most common items on a menu bar provide access to File options, Open options, Save commands, and Close options. An example of an error in this portion of the interface might be if an option was missing or grayed out (lighter shaded).

Toolbar - this portion across the top of a program displays little icons which indicate tools. If you click an icon it will open a tool or process a command that might also be on a program's menu bar. Problems in this part of an interface are uncommon, however, if you find that you are clicking an icon over and over with no results, you can properly describe the problem by referring to the particular icon on the toolbar.

Minimize, Maximize, and Exit buttons - these 3 buttons are located on the right-most upper part of a program's interface, and these allow you to minimize a program's screen, maximize it or restore it to its previous size, or totally shut down the program.

Scroll bar - this convenient item allows users to scroll data up and down the personal computer screen.

Status bar - this part of a program is found on the bottom-most part of its interface, and it usually shows short messages which tell the progress of a task. If programmed incorrectly, an application might show the wrong message in this place.

Input box - an input box is usually a small rectangle which allow the user to enter information into a simple text box in a program, webpage or browser window. If you discover that you aren't able to enter data into one of these, you can more effectively resolve the problem with a technician by referring to it as an input box, rather than a "spot," a "white rectangle," or a "place to write something in."

Context menu - like a menu bar, the context menu shows when the user right-clicks on an item. It shows commands like what you see on the File menu or Help menu.

Button - this helpful item runs a command when a user clicks it with a mouse. Problems happen when the text on a button is grayed out or if it does not appear to be pressed into the interface when clicked.

Check box - the check box is a tiny box that allows a user to select several choices among many. When clicked, a little "x" displays inside a box.

Radio Button - a radio button is like the check box, but allows a user to select only one choice among many. Issues with radio buttons and check boxes happen when a user selects one choice, but the interface reacts as though the user selected many choices (or none at all).

When you describe a problem to a computer specialist, be sure to indicate whether the problem takes place with a check box or a radio box. Computer novices mistakenly interchange the names of both of these controls. So master the correct terminology, then the computer specialist can actually provide you online PC support, yes, even over the Internet!

Best regards,

Bob Hosken
"Dr. Bob the CompuNerd"

The author, Dr. Robert Hosken, has over 30 years of professional work in IT. Ever since his teenage years he has set up and headed many companies and charitable organizations. You can get his free e-Book "How To Maintain Your Computer" and see the most effective methods to utilize your PC at online PC support, or contact him at Robert@CompuNerds.Net - thanks!

Automating Jobs Using Batch Files - Ideas That Apply to Modern Computers Too!

If you're acquainted with MS-DOS at all, you will remember that it is a command-driven operating system that performs tasks issued at the C:> prompt. The only means to get an early MS-DOS personal computer to perform anything was to type a command at the C:> prompt; and as you could imagine, it was a rather cumbersome way to use a PC. But that's  how big mainframe computers worked, and it was just carried over to early personal computers.

As an example, start up Microsoft's basic editor program, you'd have to type the name of the drive that the program was on, the directory (they called a folder a "directory" back then) that the program was in, and then the name of the program. So if Microsoft Edit was located in a folder called "Programs" you could launch the program by typing "C:>programs/edit.com". Then and only then would the program start up so you could use it.

This is just a short command, but just imagine when you had a program which was deeply nested within a series of folders. You could be entering a command the width of your personal computer's screen, or what's worse, long enough that the entire command would start to wrap around on the next line! So imagine that you had to enter these long commands every time that you would run a program. Yikes!

That's only one of the reasons why batch files became so well-liked. Batch programs are small text-based documents with a *.bat suffix that consist of a bunch of such instructions, each on its own line. When executed, they would process each command so the user wouldn't have to type each and every one of them. See our offsite backups link below to learn how to use batch files with the "PersonalBackup" program to keep one month's worth of copies of your weekly (full) and daily (partial) archives.

After Windows was introduced, the need for entering instructions was essentially eliminated, because of the introduction of the point-and-click (mouse) interface. However, this did not stop the batch program fever which began with MS-DOS - and in a few small groups, batch programs are still as popular these days as they were 25 years ago.

Although you may use Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, batch files can save you lots of effort by automatically starting multiple programs and carrying out different jobs at the single click of a mouse. They do not need any heavy-duty training in programming and they do not have to be encrypted with some strange, expensive compiler. Batch files are simple text files, and you can build one for your own personal use in Windows Notepad.

You can build a batch program which loads up your most-used websites at once, for example, or you could make a batch program that loads your desktop with your most necessary programs for each day. To do so only assumes a bit of knowledge about the locations of these applications.

Let's say that every day we need to load up the Yahoo web browser, then launch Microsoft Word, and then start up the calculator that is included with Windows. Instead of doing this manually, we could make a batch program to do it for us.

First, we would start up Notepad and type in the following:

START "http://www.yahoo.com"
START "c:/program files/microsoft office/office/winword.exe"
START "c:/windows/calc.exe"

We would then save these lines into a file named "mytasks.bat" on our Desktop for easy access. Every time we double-clicked on this file, the Yahoo website would load up, Microsoft Word would run, and the simple calculator would pop up.

Since we would like these programs to run each day, we could create a shortcut to this batch program and then place the shortcut to our computer's Startup directory. That way, these three programs will load each time we switch on the personal computer. If you want these programs to load minimized, you can type the following into a batch file instead:

START "http://www.yahoo.com" /m
START "c:/program files/microsoft office/office/winword.exe" /m
START "c:/windows/calc.exe" /m

This would run all three programs as before, but the "/m" characters would minimize them in order that they wouldn't fill up your Desktop.

Other people have found much more creative and productive methods to use batch programs, but the important thing is that you are aware that they're a resource you may use to save several seconds or minutes in performing important tasks. Also, check out our offsite backups link on how to automate your backups with the free "PersonalBackup" application.

We've progressed a long way from MS-DOS, but batch programs are still a valuable tool for automation that anyone may utilize with no extensive programming knowledge at all.

Best regards,

Bob Hosken
"Dr. Bob the CompuNerd"

The author, Dr. Robert Hosken, has accumulated more than 30 years of professional work in IT. Ever since his teenage years he has set up and headed a number of businesses and charitable entities. Get his free e-Book "How To Maintain Your Computer" and learn the most up-to-date techniques to save your valuable files at offsite backups, or email him at Robert@CompuNerds.Net - thanks!

Adding Peripherals to PCs: What's In the Carton is a Really Just a Starter Kit, So Listen to an Expert

Recently, a computer specialist took nearly three hours attempting to convince one of the store's customers that brand new PCs simply don't come furnished with all the stuff which most folks need in a computer. He tried to explain to the customer that a really useful PC is one which is accessorized with personally selected peripherals and programs - and that the boxed PC purchased from the company doesn't come with these items. Unfortunately, all of his explaining was unsuccessful. The client insisted that he would never need more than what was included with his boxed product and that the store was just attempting to "squeeze" more money out of him.

As PC consultants, it's our job and mission to make sure that our clients are 100% satisfied when they leave our company. But this job is needlessly made more difficult when customers don't take the time to learn about personal computer add-ons and familiarize themselves with the limitations of store-bought computers. Also, these days you can look on the 'Net for impartial, excellent online PC support. My hope is that by the time you're done reading this piece, you will understand the point they were trying to explain to their customer: "what comes out of the box is a actually just a bare-bones kit."

The basic desktop computer package includes a CPU block,  keyboard, a mouse, and perhaps  speaker set. That may be just fine for a few people, but the majority require more than this, especially in contemporary "wired" society. Contemporary users need full multimedia functionality, a wide range of graphics tools, and ports for the many pocket devices we now play with. These add-ons aren't included with "what comes out of the box," and the only method to get these things is to accessorize.

To show you the importance of these add-ons, we like to utilize the "plain dough" analogy. Let's say that a brand new computer is similar to a batch of plain dough - it's waiting to be flavored and made into something tasty. If we would like to make use of this batch of dough to make a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies, we'd need to "accessorize" this dough with chocolate chips and some brown sugar. If, on the other hand, we would like to make the dough into in a warm loaf of sesame seed bread, we would need to "accessorize" this dough with yeast and some sesame seeds.

Like "plain dough," the brand new personal computer isn't very useful alone. It needs accessorizing.

Depending on what's needed, accessorizing doesn't need to be expensive.  As a matter of fact, you could get away with paying just a small amount for additional programs and peripherals if these accessories are for children. It is when these accessories are required for your job or when they're needed to make quality results for some other reason that they can become rather costly. And this cost applies to microphones, electronic cameras, smartphones, scanners, video cameras, etc.

No matter what the cost, it is crucial to understand that add-ons can become necessities, and that the best time to buy them is at the time you aquire your new PC. Waiting too long to accessorize, you can make more difficulties than needed because while you're waiting, equipment manufacturers continuously develop new devices - devices that your old personal computer won't be able to handle as it grows older. When finally you're ready to add these on, the new products that are available are too modern for your personal computer and they just won't work. This is a frequent problem run into by people who try to install hardware built for Windows Vista or Windows 7 on a Windows XP computer.

Also, just as the deciding issue for buying a new car shouldn't be to match the size of tires with a set of old tires in your garage, you should not get an already-obsolete last year's computer on a clearance sale so it will be compatible with your four-year-old printer or external hard disk. The same principle holds true for your programs: if it is time to upgrade, just do it. Make the effort to get advice from a qualified PC consultant before spending your hard-earned money on something you may regret afterward. It is always a good idea to get advice from a specialist, and these days you can find top-notch online PC support on the WWW!

Sincerely,

Robert Hosken
"Dr. Bob the CompuNerd"

The author, Dr. Robert Hosken, has more than 30 years of career work in IT. Starting in his teenage years he has established and headed a number of profitable firms and non-profit entities. Download his free e-Book "How To Maintain Your Computer" and learn the most up-to-date methods to secure your irreplaceable files on your personal computer. Go to online PC support, or contact him at Robert@CompuNerds.Net - thank you!

How You Can Correctly Backup Your Files: Use DVDs, Another Hard Drive or Offsite Backups

The files on your PC can be extremely vital to you, especially if you are like the people who make a living on a PC. Over the past many years, the PC has grown on all of us, making our day-to-day lives a great deal easier. For this reason, it's obvious that if we lost the files on our personal computer, it could completely erase a majority of our own identity. Losing data can be a great thought, at the very least. Although personal computers most of the time store your information reliably, these machines have been known to crash every once in a while. Three of the basic techniques to preserve your data are DVD backups, complete hard drive backups and offsite backups.

Even if the PC has become a lot more reliable in the last few years, it is almost impossible to keep personal computers from losing data. You don't need to give up without a fight though, as you can indeed take reasonable steps. The best approach to guarantee that you never lose your precious files is to back up and continue backing up. You ought to back up the data on your personal computer at least weekly, with a backup once per day for new or changed information being the most fail-safe way to go.

In the past, and even for some today, the DVD disc is the usual medium in use to back up the information on your computer. Although DVDs can keep a relatively small amount of files, DVDs are easy to access, easy to use, and almost every PC has one. So determine what folders - usually 'My Documents' and perhaps your folders for   Email, Music, Photos and downloaded software - then burn them straight to a data DVD or compress them to a zip file and burn that archive to the DVD. When you utilize DVD/RW disks, you can add more data to them each time you do a backup. If you do not use the RW (re-writable) media, then you won't be able to come back at a later time and add more data to the disc.

If you plan to make use of discs, you'll need a DVD burner, which you can buy for a low price nowadays. The DVDs are inexpensive as well, which just makes this method of backing your files up that much better. Burning data directly to DVDs is the method of backup which most of us are utilizing these days, although a preferred way of backing up your files is to copy the entire hard drive. Those of you who would like to move up to the next level ought to look into backing up the entire hard drive. Making an exact copy of the entire hard drive is indeed one of the prime and most reliable techniques to backup your computer. If you do a backup of your whole hard disk, it will copy all of your information, so if a disaster happens you'll always have your information.

Doing a complete backup of your whole hard drive is tremendous, but it can take lots of time. What's worse, they recommend that you do a complete backup at least once a week. On the other hand, however, if the information on your computer is very important, you'll discover it is more than worth the time and effort needed to back up your stuff. You'll need an extra hard disk that is at least as large as your main hard drive.

The latest method to back up your information and executable files is to use offsite backups. Many companies provide offsite backup services, and you may find them at the link below. Similar to using DVD disks, when setting up one of these offsite backup services you have to specify what folders to backup, then you just let the service make the first full backup of those folders which often takes a few hours. From then on, it's entirely automated: the backup program checks for new and updated files, and transmits them to its offsite backup servers.

An important factor to decide is whether your offsite backups keep earlier versions of data. The term for this is "versioning." That way, when you need to restore one or several files that somehow got updated incorrectly, simply go to their servers - often you can use your web browser - and download an earlier version to your personal computer. Using offsite backups means that you don't need to worry about the theft or destruction of your backup media - DVDs or extra hard drive - along with your personal computer.

Whether it is for  business or for personal reasons, you can't go wrong backing up your information. You should always try to back things up properly, not forgetting the registration keys for all software you purchased, because this will guarantee that your programs as well as your data will always be available when you need to restore them. You can most likely find copies of setup programs on the Internet or from your friends, but you'll need your original registration keys to install them legally.

So if you accidentally delete some files, or your PC gets stolen, lost, or destroyed in a disaster, or your hard drive happens to crash and you lose everything on it, you will always have your backup files to go back to. This in itself should save you a lot of time, effort, worry, and very possibly even hard-earned cash - just because the files are all but a simple copy away to recover, either from DVDs, an extra hard disk or offsite backups.

Yours truly,

Robert Hosken
"Dr. Bob the CompuNerd"

The author, Dr. Robert Hosken, has over 30 years of career experience in IT. Starting in his teens he has set up and operated a number of businesses and charitable organizations. Get his free e-Book "How To Maintain Your Computer" and learn the modern techniques to save your valuable information at offsite backups or email him at Robert@CompuNerds.Net - see you there!

How You Can Save Your Files on Your Laptop With Online Data Backups or Local Storage

Taking a good look at previous numbers concerning the files lost in regards to notebook computers, you would find yourself shocked.  Although these facts can be overwhelming, most of the people still don't take the time to copy the data on our notebooks. Just like you can with desktop PCs, you also are able to make a backup of the information on your notebooks as well.  You may make use of online data backups to back up your files remotely, or use some other means to guarantee that you keep 100% of your data.  Saving your files is an item you should really consider, especially if you store irreplaceable personal files on your laptop.

To say it in simple terms, no device in the computer industry is perfect. Hard drives could crash, your notebook could get stolen, or it can even be dropped and become useless. To ensure that you are not left without your valuable information, you should always have a fresh copy of your data. Do not ignore the fact that over one million notebooks have been stolen over the past years in the United States alone.  Every time a laptop is stolen, the probability is that it will never be recovered. If your information was not backed up, then you will not only be left with no notebook - but more importantly - no backed up data either which might be re-loaded on a replacement computer.

One of the easiest ways to go about preserving one's data and files is to utilize online data backups. Another method is to copy them on a data DVD and/or a USB drive. Data DVDs may keep up to 4,700 MB (Megabytes) of information, which means a lot of data. A recommended size for a USB drive is at least 4,000 MB. To back up your files this way, all you need is a DVD-RW burner or USB port in your portable PC, which most of the newer models come with.

The main drawback with notebooks is that they do not provide nearly as much storage and aren't as secure as a desktop computer. It's harder to fasten them to a desk and they are more prone for you to drop, steal or lose. Desktop PCs also usually are a lot more powerful, thus they can also do tasks (including backups) in less time. The notebook  computer was built for convenience, use on-the-go, which is the main reason why people often do not really consider backing up their data. When this notion finally comes to mind, it is usually too late to do anything about it: "the horse is out of the barn".

As mentioned above, the easiest and quickest way to backup the data on your laptop is to make use of online data backups.  Depending on your connection to the Internet, it can take anywhere from several hours the first time to several minutes each time thereafter, but it can run automatically in the background while you're doing other things. Some online data backups also let you backup on a data DVD and/or a USB drive. Although it may take you a little bit of time, youll have the satisfaction in knowing that your data are there if something should happen.

Whether it is for business or personal use, you can never go wrong backing up your information. If you use a data DVD and/or a USB stick, you must always run a complete backup of your information at least weekly, and even every day for new and changed information if you have a lot of important information that you add to or update on your portable PC frequently. online data backups will take care of all this automatically.

Robert Hosken
"Dr. Bob the CompuNerd"

The author, Dr. Robert Hosken, has more than 30 years of career work with computers. Starting in his teenage years he has established and operated many companies and non-profit entities. Download his free e-Book "How To Maintain Your Computer" and find out the modern methods to backup your valuable information at online data backups or write him at Robert@CompuNerds.Net - thanks!

How You Can Save Your Files on Your Laptop With Online Data Backups or Local Storage

Taking a good look at previous numbers concerning the files lost in regards to notebook computers, you would find yourself shocked.  Although these facts can be overwhelming, most of the people still don't take the time to copy the data on our notebooks. Just like you can with desktop PCs, you also are able to make a backup of the information on your notebooks as well.  You may make use of online data backups to back up your files remotely, or use some other means to guarantee that you keep 100% of your data.  Saving your files is an item you should really consider, especially if you store irreplaceable personal files on your laptop.

To say it in simple terms, no device in the computer industry is perfect. Hard drives could crash, your notebook could get stolen, or it can even be dropped and become useless. To ensure that you are not left without your valuable information, you should always have a fresh copy of your data. Do not ignore the fact that over one million notebooks have been stolen over the past years in the United States alone.  Every time a laptop is stolen, the probability is that it will never be recovered. If your information was not backed up, then you will not only be left with no notebook - but more importantly - no backed up data either which might be re-loaded on a replacement computer.

One of the easiest ways to go about preserving one's data and files is to utilize online data backups. Another method is to copy them on a data DVD and/or a USB drive. Data DVDs may keep up to 4,700 MB (Megabytes) of information, which means a lot of data. A recommended size for a USB drive is at least 4,000 MB. To back up your files this way, all you need is a DVD-RW burner or USB port in your portable PC, which most of the newer models come with.

The main drawback with notebooks is that they do not provide nearly as much storage and aren't as secure as a desktop computer. It's harder to fasten them to a desk and they are more prone for you to drop, steal or lose. Desktop PCs also usually are a lot more powerful, thus they can also do tasks (including backups) in less time. The notebook  computer was built for convenience, use on-the-go, which is the main reason why people often do not really consider backing up their data. When this notion finally comes to mind, it is usually too late to do anything about it: "the horse is out of the barn".

As mentioned above, the easiest and quickest way to backup the data on your laptop is to make use of online data backups.  Depending on your connection to the Internet, it can take anywhere from several hours the first time to several minutes each time thereafter, but it can run automatically in the background while you're doing other things. Some online data backups also let you backup on a data DVD and/or a USB drive. Although it may take you a little bit of time, youll have the satisfaction in knowing that your data are there if something should happen.

Whether it is for business or personal use, you can never go wrong backing up your information. If you use a data DVD and/or a USB stick, you must always run a complete backup of your information at least weekly, and even every day for new and changed information if you have a lot of important information that you add to or update on your portable PC frequently. online data backups will take care of all this automatically.

Robert Hosken
"Dr. Bob the CompuNerd"

The author, Dr. Robert Hosken, has more than 30 years of career work with computers. Starting in his teenage years he has established and operated many companies and non-profit entities. Download his free e-Book "How To Maintain Your Computer" and find out the modern methods to backup your valuable information at online data backups or write him at Robert@CompuNerds.Net - thanks!

How to Backup Your Files With Read-Write DVDs and Read-Only DVDs or Using Offsite Backup Services

With the technical age upon us, computers are extremely more vital at present than they have ever been in the past. So much is accomplished by use of the personal computer today, from playing games to earning one's income.  Therefore, the information that you have filed away on your personal computer is extremely vital.

Among the files found on your PC, you may have precious photos and keepsakes that you wouldn't bear the thought of losing.  No matter how advanced personal computers get, they will occasionally crash, or you will encounter other disasters that may bring about a loss of information.  Therefore backing up your files is quite important. You should think about using either a DVD disk or offsite backup services.

Even though there are several ways that one could handle the backup of your files, a DVD disk is probably the easiest and is a very popular technique. In another article we will discuss offsite backup software. But like other backup methods, the DVD disk does possess its weaknesses, however, it possesses more pluses to offer you than minuses.

Among the best pluses about DVD disk backups is the advantage that your information will be stored on DVDs.  The common DVD-R data disc may hold up to 4,700 megabytes of information, which is a lot of files.  You could store pictures, your written files, software, and just about anything you can dream of to a DVD - including entire directories that are full of programs and data.

When you use DVD-RW disks, which are also known as re-writable discs, you may continue adding files until the disc is full.  You can also delete existing data on these media as well, making them excellent for users who frequently update files which they must hold onto.

When you use the plain DVD-R data disks, you won't be allowed to add more data to them after the first session.  Once you have written the data to your DVD-R, that's it.  This is a a good choice if you have to save the data as-is, and be certain without the shadow of a doubt that it is going to be kept safe for whenever you need to access it.

With the cost of DVD burners and DVD disks being so inexpensive these days, anyone could buy them.  These items don't cost nearly as much as they did just a few years ago, which is the reason they're so popular when it comes to backing up your files.  If you own a newer computer, very likely a DVD burner was included with it.  In case you own an older PC, you may buy a DVD burner and some discs for little or nothing.

One big advantage about saving your files on DVDs is that they can store more than CDs, they are easier to access than cloud backups, and they'll last almost a lifetime (if cared for properly).  In case you have important information that must be backed up, you can be confident that a DVD disk is a reliable way to preserve your files. But if you would prefer to do it the easy way, think about offsite backup services.

Robert Hosken
"Dr. Bob the CompuNerd"

Dr. Robert Hosken, the author, has accumulated over 30 years of professional experience in software development. Starting in his teenage years he has started and operated several profitable firms and charitable organizations. Download his free e-Book "How To Maintain Your Computer" and contact him at Robert@CompuNerds.Net, or learn the modern methods to backup your irreplacable information at offsite backup services - thanks!

Hey, the weather is warming up today! It's going to be 20F -- yesterday it was around 5F for the high.

www.CompuNerds.Net

There's an interesting website at www.CompuNerds.Net - this guy, RobertD Hosken, calls himself "chief nerd," he has the initials NE and RD in his name, and he offers Online Computer Help, Website Creation, SEO, VPN, LAN and Wi-Fi installation, Networking Services, computer programming and Moodle course development.

The site also has an e-newsletter called "CompuNerds.Net-News" or "CNN-News" for short, covering trends in computing and related topics. And it offers a free do-it-yourself "AA 12-Step Rehabilitation Plan" - a humorous take-off of the Alcoholics Anonymous famous 12-Steps. It seems this guy wants to save you money by helping you install free open source software and giving free advice. The question is: how does he make any money by giving things away?