You'll find other useful tasks are now displayed,
depending on what folder you are exploring. "Make a new folder" is often
useful. And if you go to "My Pictures" you will find "View as a slideshow"
and "Print pictures" as choices.
How do I clean up my Favorites or Bookmarks? I
must have hundreds of dead ones!
There are lots of ways, but here is a free, easy-to-use program that will
find duplicates and dead links in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and
several other browsers. You can choose to delete the links or not. The
program is called AM-Deadlink, and is available
here.
How can I clean up the tangle of wires behind my
computer/on the floor/under my desk?
I can tell you right now it's going to be tedious, but it's going to be
worth it in the end. I use coloured Avery dots and a Dymo label gun. (You
can always use blank Avery address labels and a Sharpie!) I also use
Velcro cable ties to dress the cables once I've found and labelled
everything within an inch of its life.
What you need to do is trace out every wire and cable that connects your
computer to anything, label whatever is at the end of it, and label the PC
where it plugs in. Put, for instance, a red dot on your printer, and
another on the end of the cable that plugs into your PC. You can put a red
dot next to or above that port on your PC. You can put a label next to
that port that says "Printer" for even more clarity next time, when you're
in a hurry. Label every cable and connector: your modem, monitor, webcam,
etc. When you've done all that, use some of the Velcro cable ties to tidy
up. Velcro is better than the standard plastic because you can easily undo
it, add or remove a cable, and bundle everything up again.
If you have surge protectors with six outlets and you can only use two or
three because the huge transformers take up more than one, I have a
solution. We've tried it out here, and with some of our clients. We plug a
short (12") 3-prong extension cord into each outlet, and plug the
transformers or whatever into the other end of each cord. That creates
just enough room to use all the outlets. Now I bet we'll have enough power
strips left over for the tree lights at Christmas!
Now if I could just find a decent four-port USB hub that didn't fall on
the floor every time I plugged more than one cable into it, I'd be really
happy. I'm thinking about a Velcro solution for that.
How do I keep the dog from barking at the meter
reader?
You tell me!
Do you have a tip or trick that makes your computing life
easier? Would you like to share it? Please
email me and I'll include the best ones in future columns. Thank you
for taking the time to read this column, and thank you to everyone who
emails with comments. Don't forget you can read the column archives at any
time at http://rlis.com/column.htm.
Links:
AM-Deadlink
http://aignes.com/products.htm
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives
http://rlis.com/column.htm
Get Cate's column by email
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=20618
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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible
and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric,
and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions,
helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware
eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image
management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management.
Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your
comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit
the Real Life Internet Solutions website at
www.rlis.com.
©
Cate Eales 2006 – All Rights Reserved
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