Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

The Way You Like It
By Cate Eales

Appeared January 4, 2007 on castanet.net

Whether you got a new PC for Christmas or you want to make your computing experience more enjoyable on your "old" PC, this week's column should have something interesting for you.


How do I get all this stuff from here to there?
If you have a PC, you've probably spent some time personalizing it. Even if you haven't put a picture of your dog on your desktop and alphabetized your Start Menu programs, you've almost certainly been using it for email, added some Favorites or Bookmarks, and collected some photos or other documents over time. Your new PC, isn't going to have all that stuff on it. That's the good news and the bad news all rolled into one! A shiny new system, free of clutter has a certain appeal. But so does all that personal stuff, or you wouldn't have been keeping it around...would you?

Readers and clients often ask, "What's the easiest way to get all my stuff onto my new PC?" The absolute easiest way is to pay someone else to do it, and believe me the phone rings here often this time of year! But if you'd like to do it yourself, you can use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard built into Windows XP. Microsoft has a step-by-step guide to migrating files, available here. I also recommend Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows documentation, available here. This process won't get ALL your stuff over there, but it will get most of the tedious work out of the way in one big whoosh, and this is preferable to poking around to find the settings so that you can reproduce them on the new machine.
 

Where did that download go?
You're grabbing one of the great files recommended here or elsewhere. You click on the button, your browser saves the file...but where? Where did that file go?

Firefox allows you to specify a default location for files, or will prompt you each time if you prefer. I created a folder called "Downloads" and placed a shortcut to it on my desktop. That way I can find the files easily.

If Internet Explorer allows you to specify a default location, I have yet to find the setting. I believe that what it does is guess where the file should go according to what type of file it is. So, if you download a picture, it tries to put it in ...\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\My Pictures. As if I'm going to remember that. And if it's not a picture, then IE7 is going to guess at another destination.

If you don't want to spend all night trying to outguess Microsoft, here's a really simple trick to find that download: In IE7 click on "Open Folder" when the download has finished. Your file is going to be in that folder, whatever it is. If you don't see a dialog box when the download has finished, somehow you've turned it off. To turn it back on: Tools | Internet Options | Advanced | scroll down to "Notify me when downloads complete" and put a check in that box.


Should I have my eyes examined?
Well, yes, apparently we all should, and on a regular basis. In the meantime, however, you can easily change the size of the text in your browser. Here's how:

To change the font size in Internet Explorer, click on "View,' then on "Text size," and choose from Smallest to Largest.

In Firefox 2.0, if you want to increase the text size on any page, click on "View", then on "Text size." Then Increase or Decrease the size of the text until you're comfortable reading it. To return to normal size text, click on "View," then on "Text," and then on "Normal."

If you always want text a certain size, you can tell Firefox what "Normal" text size is. Click on "Tools," then "Options," and then on the "Content" tab. Go to the "Fonts and colors" section, and adjust the font size. You can still change individual pages as described above, but now your default setting is customized the way you like it.
 

Thank you all for you comments, suggestions, and holiday greetings. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Please continue to send you comments and suggestions to cate@rlis.com and remember you can browse the complete column archives on our website at http://rlis.com/column.htm.
 

Links
Microsoft Files and Settings Transfer Wizard guide http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/mgrtfset.mspx
Paul Thurrott's FST guide http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_fstw.asp
Eye examinations http://www.opt.uab.edu/icare/clinic/When.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
RSS Feed: http://rlis.com/rlis.xml

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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.