Naming/Renaming Bookmarks: Go to Bookmarks > Edit Bookmarks and right-click on any that you want to name (or rename). Choose "Properties" and type in a name. Some browsers let you alphabetize, some don't. I do it manually as I add new ones.

Anne Gerdes

Computer Viruses: A reminder about computer viruses: Please remember to use caution when a mail message is received from an unknown source or from a known source with a suspicious attachment. If any of you has any questions about viruses - what they are, how to protect yourself from them, or get rid of any you "catch" - check out http://www.symantec.com or http://www.mcaffee.com.

Anne Gerdes

Lot's of good anti-virus questions! Wow!, what an exciting response from people regarding anti-virus. I am glad to see so many of you are using one of these essential tools on your machine. With this response I noticed that there was one small oversight and I just wanted to give y'all a nice little suggestion to keep your anti-virus programs up-to-date.

Updating!!!!

ALL anti-virus programs, McAfee, Norton, Trend, Sophos, Panda, etc. require that you occassionally update a special set of files found in their program. McAfee calls them .DAT files, and I like that name (It is cute, like little data files, only smaller), so I will use it here for the purposes of this little discussion. These DAT files are used by your av program like a little database. when your anti-virus program scans your computer, it uses these little files to identify virus codes, what the virus name is, and how it can be cleaned. Pretty cool huh? Well viruses come and go, so that means that your DAT files need to be updated to represent the current viruses out there on the Net and email. If we don't update, then the anti-virus program only scans for the old viruses not the new ones. Believe me the new ones are very, very ugly these days.

This means we have to update. You can update by opening your anti-virus program and locating the Update function in it. (If you can't find it, check your help menu for Updating). It doesn't take long, and is simple to do. Most of the products will self install their updates, which results in you having to do very little to do.

How often should you update? Most of the big companies put out updates fairly frequently, McAfee does it every Thursday, Norton does at least 2 a month. I encourage you to update a minimum of 2 times a month.

This is a pain to remember, do I really have to? If you don't want to, some anti-virus companies offer a number of different ways to keep your computer updated. Some have subscription websites that do all the work for you (approx 25$/year) , some use a program called SecureCast to get the latest virus files out to you (free)... and the list goes on. Pick the one that is most comfortable to you. After all, if you don't use it, it's useless.

Most viruses found on systems are due to the "DAT" files not being current. Remember, virus writers spew hundreds of these little monsters every little week! Some are pretty useless, but there are always a few out there that cause mass destruction.

Sudie Parker

FINDING THINGS: Anne G's instructions for locating topics in the SS archives also work (at least with AOL) for hunting a topic or writer in one of the Digests. Hold down Control key, tap the F key, and you get a sweet little window in which to type your word. (It took me a while to figure that when you see, for example, Control + F, it means that you keep holding down the first key while you tap the second one.)

Mary in Oregon

Sears Mini tool kit: You can reach it this way tho: www.sears.com - when you get to the home page, click on tools from the top menu. When you get to the next page, do a search for "mini tools". From the page that shows the available tools page down to mid way (approximately the 17th item down) and pick the one that says 50 piece tool kit. You will then go to a page which shows a picture of the tools etc. in the kit along with the price.

Lynn in the Foothills of the Ozarks

Cookies - You can get rid of them by going into your "TEMP" file and deleting them. You click on My Computer, Click on "C" drive, Click on file, then explore, go down to the windows folder and click it open, then go to the Temp folder and click on it, then delete all. There should be nothing in your Temp folder that will hurt anything if you delete it. You may get a message saying this is a cookie, are you sure you want to delete it? click yes.

You should also be able to clean out you Temp file by doing maintenance on your computer, which you should do at least once a month anyway. It doesn't do quite as good of job of cleaning the Temp file but it will get rid of some stuff. Click on Programs, Accessories, then Maintenance Wizard. You can either schedule the maintenance later and set a time and date, or click on "do maintenance now" and click yes.

Grace Shaw

Spam - I’ve been reading with great interest, the messages about SPAM and thought I'd pass something along. If you'll look under Message in IE (I'm sure there's something similar in Netscape) you'll see that there's an option called Block Sender. When I get SPAM, I chose that and at least that particular sender won't be able to get back to me. NEVER reply in any way to them. I know that some have a message about writing back to take you off their list but this is just playing into their hands. When you write back, they know that their ad got through. I also created a folder called SPAM and set the rules so that anything from an "undisclosed recipient" goes there, immediately. Then I just go in and block all the senders, every few days.

Gail in Lompoc

Currency Converter: I have been using this converter and wanted to pass it along to the list just in case someone is in need of one. http://www.xe.net/ucc/

Gail in Arizona

JPEG Pictures: I use an HP scanner with Adobe s/ware for photos. In Adobe check Send, Export and then different graphics formats. When it brings up the Save screen you must scroll through the list of file types (it shows about 15 different formats) and select .JPG or .JPEG. You might also try clicking on help and use the index to find JPG or graphics formats.

Kathy Watkins, Washington, DC

I use Netscape. Here's how I change the name of my bookmarks:

1. Go to 'Bookmarks'

2. Choose 'Edit bookmarks'

3. Click once on the bookmark you want to rename to highlight it

4. Go to the 'edit' menu and choose 'bookmark properties' - a box should appear which gives the current title, the address, and a blank box where you can store comments.

5. Type you new bookmark name over the old one, add any comments to the comment box, click on 'OK' and the new name appears in the bookmark list.

Gillian

Storing files online: Recently, someone advised storing computer files (images, etc.) on free web host servers such as GeoCities or Fortune City, and on a storage site like FreeDrive or Driveway. I would advise caution for two reasons: servers crash. They are computers. Computers crash. CDs don't crash - and if you are reasonably careful, they don't get damaged (scratched). I would never trust my files to only one source. The second caution I advise is to read the Terms of Service of any free hosting service you consider using. GeoCities and Fortune City do not permit storage of files for storage's sake. FreeDrive and Driveway do, however. They exist for this reason. They don't host webpages like the others do.

      The others pay for their "free" service by selling banner ads to your site's visitors. If you don't have a site, and just have files on their server, this is called bandwidth stealing and is against their Terms of Service. If they catch you, they will delete all your files without warning.

So I say again, back up anything important on a CD!

Anne Gerdes

Floppies, according to the experts, only have a shelf life of about a year. You should back-up anything on them immediately, and discard them after about a year or so. I make a living on these com-pooh-ters, and I can't tell you how many of those floppies I've had to discard, some with important info on them that even Norton Disk-Doctor couldn't cure. (It's a great program, highly recommend it. It'll help disk problems 98% of the time, so long as the media is still good.

Dave Pierce

Floppy Warnings: I also am a computer professional and I must say that floppies are an unstable medium. It is easier to restore a crashed HD than a floppy that has gone bad. I cannot tell you how many REALLY upset users I would get when they realized that the floppy they had been storing some vital, not backed up, file died. I would then be forced to give them "The Talk" about backing up company information in a responsible manner. Oh the tears. Generally they would blame me, which I did not mind as I truly "felt their pain". I cannot stress it enough, I was a PC Tech/helpdesk girl/IT catch all for eight years. Get a big HD (these days they are pretty darn cheep), get a CD burner (around $140). That will cover all your bases. Some of the PC's at our house do not even have floppy drives anymore. 

Jeannette in San Jose

Computer Storage: The only way to be sure you won't lose a file is to back it up, i.e. have a copy of it on more than one location. You may have a copy on your hard disk, and an extra copy on floppy or ZIP or CD-ROM or tape backup or another hard drive. Any one of these electronic media can develop a fault, and fail, so two or more copies is the only way to be sure. Out of all of the possible choices floppy disks are the least reliable and wear out the quickest, but they have no set time span. Some may last years and others may be faulty after one use. Generally I would recommend working on your hard drive, and backing up regularly to one or more other locations/media of your choice. Your hard drive has the fastest access time, and in general is very reliable; so is the best choice to work from. 

Yvonne Canevese

Grouping Pictures with Publisher: On the tool panel that runs down the left side of the screen, there's an icon for PICTURE. (On my version it's a picture of a cactus in the desert.) Left click on that icon, then move your cursor to your blank page and left click anywhere on it (you can move your art later.) This will draw a picture box. Right click on this box, and your menu options will include "Insert Picture File." Select that option. It will default to your clipart file, but you can go in the "Look In" area at the top and change it to "3 1/2" Floppy A:" Bring this up and it will show all of the files on your floppy. Click on the one you want to insert and click OK. This will then bring up a box on your Publisher page that asks if you want to resize your box to fit the art, or resize the art to fit your box. Choose resize box, so your art stays proportionate. Your art will then be loaded onto the page, at which time you can size it to whatever size you want using the resize clickable corners and the rulers at the top and side. Then, repeat steps to fill your page as much as you want from your floppy. (Make sure you have plenty of free hard drive space, as this procedure takes up a lot even going to the printer spool.) If you fill an entire page with these, you will not be able to save them on a normal floppy, as the file is too large. You'll need a zip drive for that.

Tere Perry in Texas

Grouping Pictures: I have Photo Suite III and Publisher. Here's what I do.

1- Right click picture, go to properties and write down the size of the picture in pixels. Graphics programs are notorious for not importing in the original size. Now import the pictures one at a time and do any editing such as enhancement or color etc. Save any changes you made. IMPORTANT- If the pictures are in jpg, change them to tiff. If you don't have to enhance the pictures, skip this step.

2. Open Publisher to a blank page. Make the margins as small as your printer will allow. I use 1/4" on the sides and 1/2" top and bottom. Now import your pictures one by one and place them so that you have a whole page of pictures. Publisher will not distort the size. The reason I use Publisher is because I haven't been able to make a collage in the graphics program and be certain the size of the pictures is correct. Publisher is a lifesaver for things like this. Email if anything is not clear. JoanneO@worldnet.att.net

Joanne Offutt

Grouping Pictures: I use both Paint Shop Pro and Corel Draw.

In version 5 PSP you can create a new file, and give it a size of 8 x 10.5 inches. Then open the pictures one at a time and do edit copy, edit paste "AS NEW LAYER" to the new file and arrange as desired. Then save the new file...really don't forget this! Then do a print preview and then print.

In the PSP version 6 or 7

Open the files you want to print

Choose "Print Multiple Images"

Now just drag and drop and arrange the images on the page.

Be sure to save this page and then print.

In Corel version 3 just open a new file and then do a file import and arrange each pic on the page.

Be sure to save your "big page" with the multiple images. And be sure to do a test print on paper to get the colors as good as can be before printing to canvas. The print to canvas will resemble the paper output more than the "monitor colors"

If you have any more questions feel free to email me too. wkinder@dialnet.net

I've learned a lot about color adjustment/correcting "tweaking" to get good printed output on specialty items and am happy to share it if I can answer your questions.

I absolutely love using my computer to design and print to fabric, canvas and specialty papers. Combining minis and computer technology is such fun!

Wilma Kinder

Scanning Tips: For anyone else who needs some help with scanners. As always, the web is the best place to find out and I discovered this MARVELLOUS site by someone who just wanted to share his knowledge.  It is all about scanning.  Not a great literary masterpiece and very repetitive which was GREAT, because by the time he had explained something for the 4th time I was just beginning to grasp it!!  Go to it, book mark it and then take it in smaller chunks.  I just tested the link and it's still all there in working order. http://www.scantips.com/

Barbara B in Cape Town, South Africa

Ad Space: I have a web site set up for those you who don't know how, or don't want to do a web site of their own. I keep my price down to make it affordable for you. You get a full page ad or mini site of your own which you can change as often as you like at no additional charge during your ad run time. The only other thing I charge for is scanning pictures, but if you e-mail them to me, I post them at no charge. The only reason I charge anything for my ad space is to offset the ads I run every month in Miniature Collector and Dollhouse Miniatures. I feel if we share the cost of the magazine ads we all win. If any of you are interested in finding out more, you can visit my site by clicking http://www.virtualdollhouse.net or e-mail me at jeshaw@carr.org. I do this mostly because I love miniatures and I like to buy stuff from my advertisers. I haven't made a profit yet in two years, but I am almost breaking even. Please give my site a look when you have time. It might be the alternative you are looking for. All sales are yours. All I get is the price of the ad space.

Grace Shaw

Anti-Virus Software: I wanted to share with you that there is a very good FREE anti-virus software available from Computer Associates. This is not software that is cheap or poorly engineered. C.A. makes this software available to the home end-user free because they want to see the internet be a safe place. You can check it out at their website: http://antivirus.cai.com/

Ami