Image via Wikipedia http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=177128&tag=nl.e101 Now I know that my readers are selected genius (genii) - so they "ain't dumb"! Even so - little mistakes can happen so......... ******************** 10 dumb things users do that can mess up their computers Topics: Desktop Systems - PCs Tags: Computer , Construction , Deb Shinder , E-mail , Internet , Online Communications , Productivity Source: Deb Shinder E-mail this page Related Content FREE Registration is required Overview: Users find plenty of ways to run into trouble, from gunking up their system with shareware to leaving it exposed to attackers to forgetting about using surge protectors. Share this list with your own users so they can sidestep preventable problems like these. Technology may be changing at a lightning-fast pace, but one thing remains constant: Users make mistakes with their computers. Sometimes, the mistakes are just slip-ups that could...

As you can see from the article following this one, I'm trying a new thing! (If you want it as well, click on the title - download what you see on the page to Mozilla Firefox and then look for " Zemanta " using the search function and download that too! (Or just click on the link above...!) Photos come mainly from " flickr " but from elsewhere too. What I like about it is that you can create links very easily, if the reader wants to see the photo presented on it's own "site" he just has to click on the photo itself..... There are many other functions, but I'll let you find out yourself..like me! Incidentally - just in case you don't know, if ever you have a problem with Firefox, normally it's because an " add-on " isn't working properly. Go to the "TOOLS" section select "Add ons" and disable any recently added ones by clicking on it. Then return to Firefox and try again! There are thousands of Add-ons,...

I suppose the day with 30 hours can't be long off - and I need it sometimes - like today..! So here is a little selection of things I noticed today - (cut and copy to your address bar): http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx (try the NEW windows system "7" - free of charge - for a year!) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The NEWLY crowned champion of Free Anti-Virus programmes: http://www.free-av.com/en/index.html >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AND.........tomorrow is a holiday - at least it is here! See you sometime.......!

To be honest, I thought this little programme was one of those "look at and throw away"jobs, but I was wrong - I wouldn't be without it any more! Click on the title, download, read a bit and try it - you'll be the same! It's free, it's good and it's not even from Google....! http://coolpreviews.com/welcome/upgrade_cp_ff_p2.php (You can paste this as well if you prefer)

Here you are - the final(?) part telling you what to do with your F-keys...! You can get the full page by clicking on the title, and you could even subscribe to this site"WorldStart" to get the tips and offers yourself. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Our final exploration into function keys might surprise some of you out there. There's really not a whole lot of “functionality” at the end of the row, but let's look anyways. Just to refresh: Function keys are pretty versatile, but some only have purpose specific to the program that's running at the time. They're mainly used as shortcuts or in conjunction with the CTRL, ALT, and Shift keys. We'll talk about that soon. For now, here are the basics of function keys F9 – F12. F9 – Another program-specific function key, I just call it “ lazy ”, though... Well, if you're using MS Word the F9 key will update the selected field, so that...

(click to enlarge) hey ho - wakey, wakey - here's PART 2.........! PART 3 sometime or other.........! Quick Tips What the F-key? F5 through F8 In part 2 of “What the F-key?” we'll be covering Function Keys F5 through F8. Some useful ideas here for function keys, folks! Just to recap let's discuss what F-keys are used for: Function keys have many, many uses, some of which are specific to the program that's running at the time. They're mainly used as shortcuts or in conjunction with the CTRL, ALT, and Shift keys, which I'll cover in a later article. Continuing on, here are the basics of function keys F5 – F8. F5 – Refresh key. Use this key to reload a web page or refresh your desktop. This is a good one for both the Internet (good for Ebay bid battles) and apparent computer freezes which you can read about here. F6 – Cycles the cursor from field to field in the active program. In MS Word you can use this F-key to go to the next pane or frame. F7 – This F-key is p...

True - nothing is perfect, not even a PC Robot..! Imagine, it does the same thing when you use it for foreign languages, which is why it's best to have a little knowledge of the language you're going to translate into! Just to avoid the more obvious mistakes. I use spell checkers within Mozilla/Google/O.Express and many other programmes, but mainly to have the various different accents required. Otherwise, I'd have to change my keyboard settings all the time! Even then, there are certain programmes which will not accept the accents at all, and a simple word in French such as "déjà" will end up as "d@#j@#" or something similar! This happens, unfortunately, on my websites at Webspawner.com, so I don't use them - which is a shame, 'cos people think I'm just ignorent! I am - but that's another story......! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...

How about a "seasonal" desktop picture - cheers you up whilst the snow is falling! Just right click - save photo - put it on your photo file - click on the photo and then (on the left hand side) click "set as desktop picture" - OR (even simpler) right click phot and click "set as background image".... FINISHED......!

-----and while I'm here, I thought I'd pass on a little tip - if you're not already aware of it! Probably ALL of us have got stuff on our PC hard disk that shouldn't really be there, but some of it can have a real influence on the speed of start up - reboot - page searching, links opening and a whole bundle of other things. How often have you sat there and waited and waited, just waiting for your PC to wake up and get out of bed! One of the biggest culprits are the "social (chat and instant messaging) sites". There are few of them who don't require some kind of programme so you can use them (Google chat is one that is very light on resources). The main problem is that programmes of this nature (and others such as Skype, Voipbuster etc - with which you can telephone free of charge PC-PC, or send SMS messages cheaply or even free of charge) generally install, by default, an automaticated start up of their programme as soon as you punch the boot or start the...

Why "Blog"? I'm often asked the question, and often by people who have invested a lot of money into so called "Web Sites" with "host" companies - payable monthly or quarterly or even annually. I have one as well - that's what you see when you go to: http://webspawner.com/users/mrlemarquis/index.html OK - I do all the work myself, and I only pay around 5$US per month, but to be honest, I find the system more of a liability than a help. From the beginning on, I found that there seemed to be a sort of "snob" value attached to these host programmers, it was considered "common" - or not serious - only to have a Blogspot, and not a "true Website". Well, I thought so at the time, and now I am certain - the FREE service "Blogger @ Google" is actually not only much better, but much more professional than many "fly by night" host servers. A lot of them do actually "fly by night...