Q:
What are those three little buttons on the upper right-hand corner of an open window for?
A:
Those are the Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons.
The “X” closes the window.
The “Box” maximizes the program, making it full screen. If it’s already maximized, it looks like a box on top of another box. If you click it in that state, it will make your window smaller.
Finally… Continue reading
Q:
What are “zipped” files?
A:
A zip file is basically a “package” of one or more compressed files. If you download a lot of software, you’ll run across these all the time.
They are not difficult to work with. You’ll need an “unzipping” program in order to access them, something like Winzip or Winrar are both good choices.… Continue reading
Q:
What is the difference between Downloading, Uploading and Installing?
A:
Here’s a blow by blow:
Downloading – This is moving a file that’s on the Internet (or over a network) onto your computer. For most of us, downloading is just a matter of clicking a download link on a web site and saving the file to disk.… Continue reading
Image File Guide
I get questions about image formats all the time, so if you don’t know your JPEG’s from your GIF’s, this is for you. First, a little background on file compression.
There are basically two ways of saving images, lossy or lossless (no, I didn’t make those up). If an image is saved in a lossy image format, it means the format being used discards some of the… Continue reading
Q:
What are sound cards, graphic cards, network cards, and all those other cards all about?
A:
You might hear of different kinds of “cards” in a PC. Some are usually included as basic hardware, while others offer optional features. Most basic PC’s will include a Sound Card, Video Card, and maybe a Network Card. Also, in some modern PCs, these can also be integrated… Continue reading
Q:
What is the difference between a Taskbar and a Toolbar?
A:
Your taskbar is the long gray bar that sits at the bottom of your screen (you can move it to the top or either side of your screen though). It has the Start button, system tray, and possibly more on it. In addition, it’s where your programs buttons sit. Here’s a… Continue reading
Q:
What is the Briefcase for? How do I use it?
A:
You’ve probably had this file just sitting on your desk top and wondered the same thing.
I use this feature to synch the newsletter folders on my desktop with our server. It also comes in handy if you have a laptop and desktop that share files. I guess you could also use it if you… Continue reading
Q:
What are .pdf files?
A:
If you’ve been using the internet for any amount of time, you’ve probably run across these little buggers. They’re Adobe Acrobat files. Normally, you download them and use Adobe Acrobat Reader to read them. You can get Adobe Acrobat Reader for free at Adobe’s web site:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html (Make sure you… Continue reading
Q:
What do all those error codes (like 404) mean?
A:
It happens to all of us. We’re surfing along, and up comes an error. What do all those error codes mean? Here’s a quick rundown of the most common:
400 – Bad Request – You probably typed in a URL wrong, the server has no clue what you’re looking for, or you aren’t allowed to have access… Continue reading
Emoticons are little text representations of emotions that you find in email, chat rooms, and IM’s. When you talk to someone, they can tell what you mean by the tone of your voice or the look on your face. For example, maybe someone says something like, “Why are you so annoying?”
Now, if they say it while they’re laughing, you know that it’s just lighthearted humor. If they say it… Continue reading
