HOME Family Pages Computer Help Story List Making Pictures All Pages
Here are short descriptions of pages, so that you can see what each is about before you click the link.
It’s often hard to find help on
Windows procedures. The people who write the programs say that we should “search the help files,” but that’s not so simple when either we don’t know what words to type in, or, worse, we don’t even know that a certain facility exists!
It also makes things difficult when we know that “paragraph” means a passage about one subject or theme, while a word processor has a completely different idea. Too often, computer language has borrowed ordinary English words and given them a whole new meaning. It’s hard to work out, then, why the software writers declare their products to be “intuitive”.
Computers are wonderful, though. Have a look at some of the amazing things your computer can do.
A selection of troublesome computer words may be helpful.
Some Internet traps and what to do about them are discussed.
The computer help pages will grow in number and detail as questions arise. All of the help and “how to” bits on these pages started life as answers to actual questions. I’ve tried to make them as detailed as possible. Whenever I find great sites that have professional advice and tutorials I’ll add links to them.
Please understand that these pages are meant to be helpful to beginners. They are founded on one person’s experience and don’t claim to be the last word.
For advanced help with Microsoft Word, including advice about those features that really don’t work (page numbering screws up? borders don’t print?) go to the experts at mvps.org. Browse around the site and those to which it offers links. Find out how to use and alter styles, how to set up and print a booklet, and why you should never use the master document feature.
About Your Computer Your computer can help you do much more than send mail and browse the internet. I’ve mentioned things that I find outstandingly useful but don’t see talked about in material on computer use. Part of this page is aimed at writers, particularly those who are skilled typists.
Backing up Your Work I prefer to back up in my own way, so that I can find and restore things easily.
Colours Learn how those wierd number and letter combinations are translated into colours on a computer. This page is independent of style sheets; if you save it to your own computer it should stay in shape. Then you can fiddle with the numbers and change the colours. There’s a link to a different copy of the same file to satisfy troublesome browsers.
Colour Cube Move your cursor over the cube until you see a colour that you like. Click on a the swatch of that colour to hold the setting while you record the code. If you already have a code, but aren’t quite sure what colour it represents, there’s a reverse look-up as well.
Colour Guide Use this link to see colours against light and dark backgrounds and to see demonstrations of colour combinations.
Colour Wheel Find precise colours to use in your picture editing programs.
Contact This is a link to a page from which you can email me.
False Economies There can be disadvantages in doing things on the cheap. Things that sound as though they’ll save you money can prove costly in the end. One woman’s experience with an “I’ll beat any price” dealer is recounted.
Fields Using fields in Microsoft Word. A starting point.
File Types A brief explanation of the significance of the three letters after the dot in a file name. A warning about the dangers and difficulties caused by allowing them to be turned off (not shown) by Windows.
This page includes links to sites that tell you what different filetypes are and to which programs they belong.
Font Demo This shows why it’s better to choose ordinary fonts, like Times Roman and Arial, when you are making attractive stationery for your email.
Free Graphics Programs Short descriptions of a dozen so free graphics programs that I’ve found, with links to their download sites.
Free Complete Stationery Why you should take care when offered very beautiful stationery to download. This is on the page that tells you how to use the Create Stationery Wizard and also has links to stationery lessons.
Glossary A list of some computer related words and their meanings. This was one of my first pages, and you'll get better results by Googling for “computer glossary” or by typing the unknown word into Google and following it with “computer” and “meaning”.
Graphics Pages The pages with hints, tips and instructions about graphics—painting, drawing and making pictures—are linked from here, as well as two stationery scripts and step by step directions for making seamless backgrounds with lots of examples shown. You’ll get an idea of what’s here and which page is best for starters. My recommendation is that you begin with the Paint tutorial.
Headers and Footers The importance of using headers and footers correctly. Repeating text such as title and page numbering on every page and making sure that it stays put. What can go wrong when you do these things manually.
Maintain Your Computer Keep your computer performing well by carrying out routine tasks: Scandisk and Defrag. This tells how to go about it.
Memory What is computer “memory”? How do you make the most of it? Link to a site where you can find out which programs need to be running in the background and which are unnecessary.
Moving and Sizing Windows You don’t have to accept the size at which program or folder windows open. You can change their size and shape and you can move them around your screen.
Nasty Things Hoaxes, chain letters and the tricks played by spammers. There are some very real traps into which you can fall on the Internet. I’ve mentioned the ones I’ve noticed. Notes on Spyware—including some that masquerade as helpful utilities—and links to programs to help eliminate it.
NoteTab A text editor with heaps of features. Ideal for anyone writing stationery or web pages.
Outlook Express A quick look at Outlook Express, explaining the best settings for economical use of ISP time and for avoiding viruses.
Paint Using Paint, the free graphics program that comes with Windows. You don’t have to know anything about graphics to use this tutorial. It shows how to get more than you expected from this small program, explaining each of the tools and the settings it uses, which tool is better for which job, how to choose colours and how to save your work economically. A step-by-step tutorial on drawing daisy-shaped flowers is included.
Pictures Missing from Email Several suggestions as to why your friends may be seeing red crosses in your carefully made stationery. The easiest, but probably least obvious, solution was supplied by Denise. Thanks Denise.
Printing Help Pretty backgrounds on web pages can slow printing and use a lot of ink. This outlines the most economical printing from any web page. This page opens in a new window.
Publisher This was written for a friend who has an older version of Microsoft Publisher. It briefly explains the use of various tools and buttons, but is in no way trying to be comprehensive.
Restore the Registry When things go badly wrong, you can restore your computer to the way it was a couple of days ago.
SendTo Menu Change it to your liking. Explains how to remove items to a safe place and how to add items that you need to have on the menu.
Seamless Backgrounds This detailed description of making a seamless tile has illustrations for every step. It also has a companion page with few pictures so that you can print without first buying an ink factory.
These instructions are not about about art or design; they’re about mechanics—about making a tile that matches seamlessly.
Shortcuts Some programs automatically put shortcuts on your desktop, and there are dozens in the Start menu, but you can also make and manage your own shortcuts and have instant access to your favourite programs.
Sites Sites that have taken my fancy. Some are extremely useful, some funny, some just interesting.
Spam There are lots of ways you can unwittingly expose yourself to spammers—and there are a number of ways that you can protect yourself.
Spam2 More about spam, and "phishing". Phishing is a way of trying to pretend that an email is urgent and from your bank or someone to whom you may make payments.
Special Characters You can copy and paste characters from this alphabetic list into emails or documents.
Stationery How to use the “Create Stationery” module in Outlook Express, with links to scripts and lessons for making your own scripts and backgrounds.
Stationery Script, Easy A basic stationery script to copy and paste. It links to a page explaining the various parts of the script and how you can change them to use your own pictures, backgrounds and ideas.
Stationery Script, More Complex. This copy and paste script includes the embedding of a special image. It’s wise to be familiar with the basic easy script before tackling this one. How the parts of the script work and how to edit them is explained on a linked page.
Stationery Scripts, Testing There are lots of stationery scripts around that include special effects. There may be circling stars, your signature being written in flowers, or a gentle fall of snow. Unfortunately, sometimes all that your recipient will see is a collection of red crosses. Your pictures have been lost! Outlook Express sometimes warns you about this—but it sometimes puts up that warning when the pictures are embedded properly. Failing a patient friend to whom you can send “What do you see?” test emails, there is a way that you can make certain that the script is working as expected.
Stationery Won't Work Properly If your carefully-made stationery is not working properly, it may be because Outlook Express promises more than it delivers. Here's how to avoid being let down.
Symbols Charts to match keystrokes to symbols in Monotype Sorts, Webdings, Wingdings and Zapf Dingbats, including, for Wingdings and Arial, the “extended character set”. Also a downloadable document from which you can print out all of the symbols in any font.
The Taskbar Discussing the different parts of the Windows taskbar and how to use them.
Viewing Pages Clearly Directions for altering the size of text when you are looking at web pages. This page opens in a new window.
Viruses The importance of having a proper anti-virus program and keeping it up-to-date. Best ways of making connections.
Volume Control If you’ve lost the yellow speaker icon from the sys tray, these directions should help you to get it back.
Other Pages Alphabetic list of pages on this site. Games are not included.