Computers 101

Q:
The other day, I was typing and went back and change a thing or two. I needed to put a space between a couple words and instead of moving the text to the right to accommodate the space, the text was overwritten! It did this no matter what letter I typed. I ended up having to re-type an entire paragraph because of it. After I rebooted, the problem was gone. Any idea why this happened?

A:
Ahh, you were a victim of the Insert key!

Somehow during the course of your typing, a stray finger accidentally tapped the Insert key. Normally, you can squeeze words between other words with no problem. Tap that Insert key, and you'll overwrite instead of insert. Next time that happens, just tap the Insert key again to get back to normal.

Guess it should have been called the Overwrite key...

~ Steve

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Tip of the Day

XP Disaster Recovery

Microsoft says “XP” stands for eXPerience. I recently discovered it stands for eXPlode.

Here’s what happened: I installed some new software on my XP machine. It told me to re-boot the computer, so, like I good little geek I yelled “Affirmative!” and promptly re-booted.

At which point, XP would try to boot, get to some kind of blue screen chock full of error messages, and re-boot again. About the 22nd time this happened, it occurred to me that I might want to try booting into Safe mode.

So, I hit my F8 key just as Windows started to boot, selected Safe Mode from the little menu and watched my computer go into another continuous re-boot cycle.

This was getting serious, so I donned my propeller cap and started to think (OK, I really don’t have a propeller hat).

It was then I remembered there were a few more options when I hit my F8 key during boot-up. So, I decided to give that another go and noticed an option for re-booting using the last known good configuration.

And it actually worked!

Needless to say, as soon as Windows was back up and running I removed the offending program.

The moral of the story? I need to get me a propeller hat. Oh, and if you ever run into a similar situation, hit the F8 key just as Windows starts to boot and exercise the “last known good configuration” option. It may just save your computer!

~ Steve

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Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Do you remember the popular detective game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" Both a hit computer game hit, as well as a TV game show for kids? This classic continues with the online ACME Virtual Detective Agency.

Just create an agent name and password, then login to access case files. There is a tutorial section that will help you navigate around the site. Customize your online agent by choosing an appearance and a location for the back drop of your office. Now you're ready to catch that sneaky Carmen Sandiego.

What will your child learn from playing this game? "For over a decade, kids have been chasing the elusive Carmen Sandiego and her V.I.L.E. gang, learning about geography and cultures, not to mention science, math, language arts, music, and history."

Start cyber-sleuthing your way around to find Carmen Sandiego and stop her latest heist. Will you be the gumshoe who catches her and brings her in?

http://www.carmensandiego.com/

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