Announcements

OK, Don't Let Your Jaw Hit The Floor...

We just received an awesome deal! We have Norton System Works 2002 PRO Edition for only $19.97 and US shipping is FREE! No rebates, no hassles, just an incredible deal.If you were to purchase this in the store, you would pay $99.95. (Note that this is CD only. Yes, you can register it and yes, all documentation is on the CD. Why spend an extra $80.00 for a box and a hard to read book?)

This is the best pricing we've ever been able to get on this one (normally we have to sell it for $28.97). Now, since we're getting a good deal, so are you :-)

This includes:

# 1 Norton Anti virus- Everyone knows about this one - it's one of the best on the market. It's quick, easy to use, and runs transparently in the background, always protecting you. Plus it automatically updates itself, so you don't have to hassle with manually checking for new virus definitions. This alone retails for $49.95, so even if you don't need the other components, this is reason enough to buy!

# 2 Norton Utilities - Here's one we use all the time help speed up our computers (the defrag program is great). It finds and fixes problems, keeps your data safe from most hardware / software problems, keeps an eye on your hard drive, has its own scan disk and defrag programs (much more advanced than the stuff included with Windows), and can even fix most of the problems it finds - quickly and easily.

It addition, it can also help you recover deleted files, help optimize your PC for better performance, plus give you detailed information about your system. And more!

# 3 Norton Clean Sweep - Have too much junk on your hard drive? This software can help you remove unwanted programs (better than the Windows Add / Remove program thing), clean up internet temp files (cookies, excess plug-ins, temp files, etc), compress seldom used programs so they don't eat up a bunch of hard drive space, help you copy a program from one computer to another, and TONS more.

#4 - GoBack - Provides quick and easy system recovery. GoBack gives you the power to immediately undo common user errors and serious system problems on your PC. If you've ever messed up in a big way with your computer, this is for you. It lets you go back in time and retrieve lost data, unfreeze your computer when the system unexpectedly quits, or recover from a nasty computer viruses.

# 5 Norton Ghost - This is an excellent way to make identical copies of your hard drive. It's a great tool for adding a larger drive and transferring your data.

# 6 WinFax Basic - This one lets you send and receive faxes from your computer. It has a lot of terrific features, but I think the best part is the way it allows you to manage faxes the way you would manage e-mail. Makes keeping track of things a breeze.

Any one of the above components is worth over twice the asking price but you get all of it for $19.97 . Now, I'm not sure how many more of these I can get at this price (it was an overstock deal), so be sure to grab yours before we sell out! Here's the link for more information:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/syswks.htm

PS - If you prefer Mcafee, we have their anti-virus and firewall bundle for $18.97. Click here for that page.

Computers 101

Q:
I always have too many programs open at the same time and I can't remember which icon belongs to which program on my toolbar. Is there an easy way to tell which button is which?

A:
An easy way to switch between them is to hit ALT-TAB. A small box will pop up with icons for all the currently open programs (even settings windows that don't display on the tool bar - like display properties for instance).

Simply hit TAB (keeping ALT pressed down) until the window you're looking for is highlighted. Notice that as you tab, the title bar information is displayed below the icons.

Oh, also - hold down the ALT & SHIFT key while hitting TAB to go backwards through the list.

Open a couple of programs and try it. Happy hunting :-)

Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Multiple Open Icon for Windows XP

It gets pretty annoying when you have to open several different documents or applications one at a time when you’re working on a large project. For each program or document, you have to wade through all of your folders to find it and double-click it. Well, guess what! You can create ONE icon that will do all of the opening you need!

First, right-click on an empty space on your desktop. From the menu that pops up, select New then click Text Document.

This creates a new icon on the desktop. Rename this icon with anything you want and add “.bat” to the end. If you get an error message, click Yes. Then right-click the icon and in the menu that appears, click Edit. Now you should have Notepad open. We will use this to indicate what programs or documents to start. That takes care of the easy part.

For this tip, I will create a rather basic Multiple Open Icon just to show you how it works for each type of file. The easiest thing to do is have the Multiple Open Icon open a web page. On the first line in Notepad type “start www.worldstart.com.” If we save the changes and click the Multiple Open Icon you created on your desktop, it will now open Internet Explorer and go to www.worldstart.com.

Next, we will start a program from a shortcut that is already on the desktop using the .bat file. There are two keys to remember though. First, the name of the shortcut cannot have spaces; if it does, you must rename the shortcut. Second, the shortcut must be on the desktop of only the current user, not all users. To make sure that it is, right-click the shortcut, drag it to any place on the screen, and click Copy Here in the menu that is displayed.

Now, open the .bat file in Notepad again and on the second line type “start ShortcutName” where ShortcutName is the name of your shortcut. For this example, it's Messenger.

Finally, we will use this .bat file to also open a document of some kind. First you need to find the document in your computer’s memory. Most are stored in the My Documents folder. Once you find the document using Windows Explorer, right-click it and drag it onto the desktop. In the menu that appears, click Create Shortcuts Here.

Rename the shortcut so that it has no spaces. Again, edit the .bat file in notepad. On the next line type “start ShortcutName.” Same as before - ShortcutName is replaced with the name of the shortcut you created. (Use the same method to start a program that is not already on the desktop.)

Save the changes to the .bat file and close Notepad. Now double-click the .bat icon and it should go to www.worldstart.com, run the application, and open the Word document. All at once. Can you believe it?

Now, any of the additional shortcuts we created on the desktop can be hidden by right clicking them, going to Properties, the General tab, and checking the box for Hidden. When you click Apply, the icon will disappear as long as you do not have your computer set to show hidden files, and the .bat file will still work.

It’s a lot of work, but once you have the .bat icon set-up, it will save a lot of time opening several different items.

--Kyle Larson

Have a tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitatip.htm

Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Solitaire

Welcome to Solitaire.Com, a free solitaire interactive network. For those of you who love card games, this one is for you. Are you secretly addicted to playing solitaire? I understand, so let me feed your addiction to the game.

Now you have to download some software, but it’s mostly plugins for your browser, kinda like waiting for shockwave games to load. If you have questions, you can look in the Common Questions area that has excellent installation directions. Now the fun part about this solitaire network is that you can play against other people. Well, I’m addicted. Have fun and enjoy your weekend playing Solitaire.

http://www.solitaire.com/

Do you have a cool, non-commercial site that you want to share?
Send it to Amanda at amanda@worldstart.com