The secret of the right click: In Windows the right mouse button can help you do many things.  It’s what is called ”context sensitive” which means depending on the program you’re using, when you click the right mouse button you will get a menu that is appropriate for that program.  There is a “base” right-click menu that consists of choices such as Open, Cut, Copy, Paste, Create Shortcut, Delete, Rename and Properties.  There might be a few more choices.  

System maintenance: There are some basic ‘clean up’ steps you should do regularly to keep your machine running well.  They are:

1. Deleting Temporary files,
2. Running Scandisk,
3. Emptying the Recycle Bin
4. Running Defragmenter.

They should be done in that order, though you can empty the recycle bin any time you want.

 Temporary files
What are they? 

They are duplicates of a file you are creating or working on, like a letter in Word or a spreadsheet in Excel.  Windows creates them and when you are done with the file and close it, the temporary file disappears.   Most of the time.  When you reboot your computer Windows should delete these temporary files, sometimes it does not.

Where are they found?   In the C:\Windows\Temp directory.   (Not to be confused with the Temporary Internet Files directory). 

Why should I care?  Most of the time temporary files that aren’t deleted won’t cause any problems, but sometimes they do and there is no reason to keep them if you have closed the file you are working on.

 How do I get there?
You should only delete the files in the C:\Windows\Temp folder when you do NOT have any programs open.

One way to get there is to double-click on the My Computer icon, then double-click on the C: drive letter, scroll down to Windows, double-click on Windows, scroll to Temp and double-click on Temp to show any files that are in there.

Once you see the files and in some cases directories (those yellow manila folder icons), you can delete all of them by pressing the Ctrl key and the letter ‘a’ simultaneously.  This will highlight all the files and directories.   If all programs are closed you can then press the delete button on the keyboard.

How often should I delete Temporary files?  Anytime after you’ve rebooted the computer and you don’t have any programs open and you look and find temporary files, delete them.

Scandisk:

What is it? Scandisk is a utility built in to most versions of Windows.  It looks for files that have been fragmented or corrupted in some way.  Usually if a computer is just shut off instead of being shutdown, or if the computer freezes or if there is a power outage, this will create the need to run Scandisk and it may find fragmented or corrupted files.

Why should I care?  Like temporary files, fragmented files can cause problems. 

How do I run Scandisk?

There are two ways: 1. Click on Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools- Scandisk. 2. Click on Start-Run. In the Run field type scandisk, press OK or press the Enter key.

How often should I run Scandisk?  Weekly.

Recycle Bin:  Many times when you delete files they are put in the Recycle Bin.  This gives you one more chance to recover a file you might have deleted by accident.   However you do need to empty the recycle bin just like you would take out the trash when it got full.   To delete everything in the Recycle Bin, right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and then left-click on “Empty Recycle Bin”.

Defragmenter:

What is it: Defragmenter is a utility built in to most versions of Windows.  Its job is to organize your hard drive more efficiently.   When files are saved to the hard drive they are not necessarily saved as a whole, they are broken up and saved in various spots on the hard drive.  This is because the hard drive itself is divided into millions or billions of chunks of space.  It’s like having to divide up that 50 pack of toilet paper you bought at Costco and storing it in several places because there’s not enough room for the entire 50 pack in one cabinet or closet.

When you run Defragmenter it finds all pieces of a particular file and puts them together in one spot. 

How do I get there? Two ways.  1 Click on Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools- Defragmenter.  2. Click on Start-Run. In the Run field type defrag, press OK or press the Enter key.

Why should I care?  Defrag will organize the files on your hard drive and can make your computer work a little faster.

How often should I run Defragmenter?  Monthly.

                                     BREAK- 10 min.

How to check System Resources:
Most of you have probably seen the “low on resources” or “low on memory” messages if you use Windows 95, 98 or ME.   This usually doesn’t mean you don’t have enough RAM in your computer.  It means Windows or another program is not releasing these resources to be used by other programs.   Usually the only way to refresh these resources is to close all programs and reboot your computer. 

An easy way to see just what percentage of resources you have, along with other information is:

Locate the My Computer icon on your screen and click the right mouse button. A menu will appear. At the bottom is the word Properties.  Left click on Properties. 

On the General tab you will see the version of Windows, the speed of your processor and the amount of RAM.  If you click on the Performance tab you will see the percentage of resources available.   Generally anything below 60% would require rebooting your computer.  The other two tabs, Device Manager can be used to troubleshoot a possible hardware problem. Hardware Profiles is rarely used.

Temporary Internet Files-Cookies-History

If you use either Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator as your “browser” you should be aware of how to deal with Temporary Internet Files, Cookies and History.

For Internet Explorer, right click on the big blue “e” icon, choose Properties and you will see choices to delete temporary internet files, cookies (depending on the version) and clear history. 

What’s a cookie? A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it.

When your computer freezes and nothing works, or you get the “Blue Screen of Death.”

While most versions of Windows have gotten better at not crashing very often it does happen.

Here are a few steps to try before you push the On/Off button or the Reset button.

1. Press these three keyboard keys at the same time.  The control (ctrl) alternate (alt) and delete (del) keys.    Depending on the version of Windows you’re using (Windows XP and 2000 give you a slightly different window) you should get a window on your screen called End Task.  You will see the programs you have open. Usually the ‘bad’ program is the one already highlighted in the list.  It may even say something like “Outlook Express  - not responding.” 

Click on the End Task button.  About 10 seconds later you will probably get another End Task button.  Click OK.   This should close the offending program and may give you control of the computer again.  At this point I would suggest saving anything you’re working on if necessary and then rebooting the computer. 

2. If pressing ctrl+alt+del doesn’t bring up the End Task screen in 20-30 seconds, you can try it again.  However, if you press ctrl+alt+del twice in a row this will reboot your computer, and you may not want to do that quite yet.

3. Ctrl+alt+del doesn’t change anything.  If you press ctrl+alt+del twice in a row this will usually reboot your computer and you will lose any information that wasn’t saved.  However, if you were only surfing the net or reading email (not creating or replying to an email) you probably won’t lose anything important.

4. If ctrl+alt+del doesn’t work, then you can simply press Reset or the On/Off button (and on newer pc’s you may have to hold the On/Off button in for 10 seconds or so until the computer turns off.)   Then you can turn the computer back on.  Scandisk may run automatically, which is not a bad thing, and you should be able to continue your work.  I would look at and delete any Temporary files from the C:\Windows\Temp directory before I opened any programs however.

Where to look to find programs that load themselves when you turn your computer on: 
1. click on Start-Run then in the Run field type msconfig and press OK.
2. Start-Programs-Startup and see if any programs are in the Startup directory.

 BREAK 10 min

Organize your data for easy backups. Create a DATA directory

Utilities and software suggestions: TweakUI for all Windows versions. An Antivirus program, kept current. A pop-up ad blocker; a firewall if you have a cable modem or DSL connection. 

PCWorld.com for computer information, including free/shareware utilities. There are many other sites available on the Internet.

Search engines: I like www.google.com

Websites: movies— www.imdb.com

Genealogy: www.ellisisland.org