From the Tutors desk:

Are you a member who has developed a special skill on your computer? Do you edit photos, record music, compose newsletters, prepare presentations, use Skype or VoIP, use Facebook or do one or more of the many tasks that would be of interest to your fellow members?

If this is you then why not consider joining the tutors and sharing your expertise. You will expand your own knowledge and be rewarded by seeing your fellow members take up new uses for their computer.

Contact your tutors today and arrange a meeting. We would be very pleased to hear from you.

From the Editor/Webmasters desk:

Our guest speaker this month will be Jenny Webb – discussing the Aged Driving particularly in relation to  Senior Drivers and the RTA, so we hope you can join us for what will be a very interesting topic.

Please Note: If you are sending money through the mail could you please send it to the following address:

31 James St. Charlestown 2290 instead of to the centers address, it helps speed up the process. 

A big welcome to 2010 to our members and also to all of our new members who have recently joined us, enjoy your lessons and all the knowledge that comes with learning.

This Month check your newsletter you may find the articles of interest and useful, and a little something to help brighten your day so just enjoy..... Elaine

Please Note: Have you advised us that you can now receive emails etc, if you have not been receiving your newsletter from us here at Computerpals then we have not been advised that you now have internet access, or the email address that we have is incorrect if this is the case then Please send an email: boblanie@bigpond.net.au with your full name, in the subject line and I will correct it…. For postal newsletters inform Judy Garland on 49452042 or judyg7@bigpond.com

For member’s information, I thought this might be useful, Paul Callaghan is a local who sells reconditioned computers at reasonable prices…(based at Wallsend).
He has complete Pentium 4 computers, Monitor, mouse & keyboards included starting from $80 and up to $200 and Pentium III computers from $40, Paul says “I get great pleasure from being able to supply people with computers at cheap prices, I also offer 1 months replace or repair warranty to computer purchases as well as any advice that may be needed” he has computer parts available. LCD monitors 17" from $90, 19" from $100, and repairs from $10.00.
For anyone interested contact Paul Callaghan his mobile number is 0421 930 827. this is not an endorsement it is only for your info/advice.
 

For your information: If you ever need this service the following members of your club are Justices of the Peace.

 Names                                                 Locality                                                             Phone No  

Ron Howard                                Charlestown                                                          0249432580

Elaine Miller                               Swansea                                                                0249711356

Robert Miller (Bob)                     Swansea                                                                0415461930

Edward Felstead                        Swansea                                                                0249714001

Computer Tips/Help.

No Confirmations: Ever notice how every time you delete something, Windows asks you if you would really like to do it? If you find yourself shouting "YES, I wouldn't have hit delete if I didn't want to delete the stupid thing," then you may want to disable the deletion confirmation.

To do so, just right-click the Recycle bin, Properties, and deselect the checkbox for "Display delete confirmation dialog box. "I WOULD NOT do this. I've accidentally deleted more than my fair share of files, and I'm embarrassed to admit how often that the Recycle Bin has come to my rescue. (Seniors Moments)
Next time your 100% sure, without a doubt, for certain, that you want to delete a file, hold your Shift key down while you delete. The file will be deleted—skipping the Recycle Bin completely!

Recycle Size: By default, the Recycle Bin sucks up a percentage of your hard drive. If you have a 500 gig hard drive, Windows is setting aside around 5 gig just for digital garbage. You can adjust this to take up more or less space based on the size of your HDD.

In Windows Vista it even allows you to specify how much you want the recycle bin to reserve by entering an exact number.

In Windows 7, right click on recycle bin, then left click on properties and you will find all of the same options as above to tweak your system.

Subfolder Spawning Shortcut

Want an easy way to create subfolders? When you are in a folder hold down the Alt key and carefully type F, W, F and a new folder appears. Want more than one? Just keep the Alt key down and type F, W, F over and over again until all your new folders are created. You can then go back and name the folders whatever you want. ~Andrew

Is there a way to hide my taskbar?

Right-click any blank area on your taskbar (your taskbar is what your Start button sits on) and select "Properties" from the menu that pops up. Select "Autohide" or "Auto-hide taskbar" from the resulting screen.

Now, your taskbar will disappear when you move your mouse away from it and re-appear when you bring your mouse back. If you want to reverse this, just repeat the same steps and uncheck the auto-hide option. Neat-o!  ~Andrew

Bonus Extra's

Customize a theme in Window 7

You can change individual parts of a theme (the desktop background, window color, sounds, and screen saver), and then save the revised theme for your own use or to share with other people.

To change parts of a theme

Open Personalization by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type personalization, and then click Personalization.

Click the theme that you want to change to apply it to your desktop.

Do one or more of the following:

To change the background, click Desktop Background, select the check box for the image that you want to use, and then click Save changes.

To change the color of window borders, click Window Color, click the color that you want to use, adjust the intensity, and then click Save changes.

To change the sounds for the theme, click Sounds, click an item in the Sound Schemes list, and then click OK.

To add or change a screen saver, click Screen Saver, click an item in the Screen saver list, change any settings that you want to change, and then click OK.

Your revised theme will appear under My Themes as an unsaved theme. If you want to come back to your unsaved theme later, make sure you save it.

Note: If you upgraded to Windows 7 from Windows XP or Windows Vista, be aware that themes work a little differently in Windows 7. Anytime you change the desktop background, window color, sounds, or screen saver, you're creating a new unsaved theme, not making changes to an existing theme.To save a revised theme for your use only.

To save your revised theme to use on your computer, follow these steps:

Open Personalization by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type personalization, and then click Personalization.

Click your revised theme to apply it to the desktop.

Click Save theme.

Type a name for your theme, and then click Save.

The theme will appear under My Themes. Note that themes saved this way can't be shared with other people.

To save a revised theme to share with friends and family

To share a revised theme, follow the steps below. You can share your theme using e‑mail, a network, or an external hard disk.

Open Personalization by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type personalization, and then click Personalization.

Click your revised theme to apply it to the desktop.

Right-click the theme, and then click Save theme for sharing.

In the File name box, type a name for your theme, and then click Save.

By default, Windows saves the theme in your My Documents folder.

Tip: Double-click a shareable theme to add it to your collection of themes.

Just for laughs.
 

Dear Tech Support:

Recently I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 . I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources.

In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Poker Night 10.3, Footy 5.0 , Beers with the lads 7.5, and Golfing 3.6.

I can't seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my favourite applications. I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0 , but the uninstall doesn't work on Wife 1.0 . Please help! 

Thanks, Troubled User..... 

REPLY: Dear Troubled User: This is a very common complaint. 

Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0, thinking that it is just a Utilities and Entertainment program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run EVERYTHING! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfriend 7.0 . It is impossible to uninstall or purge the program files from the system once installed. 

You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed not to allow this. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under Alimony/Child Support. I recommend that you keep Wife 1.0 and work on improving the situation. I suggest installing the background application "Yes Dear" to alleviate software augmentation.

The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway.

Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be high maintenance. Wife 1.0 comes with several support programs, such as Clean and Sweep 3.0 , Cook It 1.5 and Pay Bills 4.2 

However, be careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program Nag 9.5. Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software.I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0.

WARNING! DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Secretary With Short Skirt 3.3. This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system!

I find running, Mistress 6.9 in the background quite helpful, but do not allow the two systems to operate together, this will cause your computer to crash and burn,  Best of luck, Tech Support 

Members please note: That the newsletter is prepared 10-14 days before each monthly meeting to allow time for printing/postage & delivery.

All or any tips from http://www.worldstart.com are used by permission  DISCLAIMER:  This Newsletter is issued “As Is” without guarantee of any kind. Any use by the reader of the Tips, suggestions or advice is at your own risk

Remember to always visit your clubs website http://www.cust.idl.com.au/cpeastlake/

The ASCCA Newsletter is available to our members. www.ascca.org.au  (or see your club website link)