Category: Uncategorized

Windows 10 Themes (Feb 2017)

Technology Tips – Published February 2017 in the Guide and Digest

By Don Trauger – Kennett

 

 

Microsoft provides a way to beautify your computer screen using Themes. Themes can be described as a pictorial slide show. They consist of a group of very high quality photographs that change automatically. The timing of the photographs is adjustable by the user. They install as a background feature in Windows and don’t interfere with normal computer activities. They do replace whatever you are currently using so before you try a Theme be aware of the change. Nothing is deleted so it ends up as swapping one picture or background for another. Don’t like a Theme? You can download another or go back to what you had.

Before you install a Theme there’s one thing you must do and that is turn off your screen saver if you are using one. It turns out that these two visual features in Windows can clash with each other. To turn off the screen saver, open the Control Panel by right clicking the Start button. The Start button is the 4 pane white icon in the lower left corner of the screen. Then, left click Control Panel. When the Control Panel opens look at the “View by:” field, in the upper right part of the window and select “Large icons”. Next, click Personalization. If necessary, highlight Unsaved Theme. At the bottom right, click “Screen Saver”. In the Screen Saver window, select “(None)” and OK the window.

Here’s how to download a Theme. With the Personalization window open, at the right side click “Get more themes online”. You will then be taken to Microsoft’s Desktop Theme web site. Don’t worry they work on laptops too! Some Themes even come with sounds if you like that feature. You can scroll down the page and select any Theme that stirs your interest.

Once you have downloaded the Theme, go to your Downloads folder in File Explorer. Do this by clicking the yellow icon on the Taskbar that is shaped like a folder. Double click the Downloads folder then double click your new Theme download. It will load automatically and take you to the Personalization window in the Control Panel. Highlight, if necessary, “Unsaved Theme” by clicking once. To time the slide show click “Desktop Background” at the bottom. Select 1 Minute in the “Change picture every” field. You can select other times as well. Select “Shuffle On” to select the pictures randomly. To Delete a Theme you must save it first. Highlight it then click “Save theme” to the right then right click the theme and click Delete. However, it’s not necessary to do this to have it work properly.

Themes are a great way to beautify the screen and get rid of a boring manufacturer’s logo.

Please come to the PC Club meetings. We’ll show you how to install and adjust Themes. Also, there will be time for your general questions. We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7 PM in the Community Center.

 

Windows 10 Toolbox (May 2019)

 

Technology Tips

By Don Trauger – Kennett

Windows 10 Toolbox  (Updated from Jan. 2017)

Windows 10 has a variety of “Fixit” tools to correct a multitude of different  problems. Do you think Microsoft knew that Windows 10 might develop  troubles along the way? Use of these tools might help to solve individual problems like a malfunctioning printer or a Windows update problem. Actually, Microsoft offers 24 of these “Fixit” tools to select depending on the problem you are trying to resolve.

Before you start using these tools reboot or restart the computer to clear the memory. This quick fix may even correct the problem. Just left click the 4 pane white Start icon, click the Power icon above the Start icon and click Restart.

To view or run any of these tools, left click the “Type here to search box”. If you don’t see a search box, right click a blank area on the Task Bar (it’s at the bottom of the screen) move to Cortana and click “Show search box”. Type the letters “co” (no quotes). In the upper portion of the pop-up window left click “Control Panel”. At the upper right of the control Panel window click the down arrow and choose “Large icons” in the “View by:” field. Next, click “Troubleshooting” and then click “View all” in the upper left part of the window.

The list will offer diagnostic/repair utilities to correct many system problems. Just pick the one that best fits your situation. When you open a tool click on “Advanced” and choose “Apply repairs automatically”. Click “Next” and follow any further screen prompts associated with the tool you are running. If you continue to experience the problem after a repair attempt you can always try System Restore. System Restore will attempt to repair more serious problems without requiring re-installation of the Windows system files. Your personal data will not be impacted. System Restore can be accessed from the Control Panel by clicking the System icon then left clicking “System protection” at the upper left. Under Protection settings the “C” drive must be on. Click the “System Restore” button and click “Next”. Select a restore point that would be appropriate before you had the problem. Click “Show more restore points” to see all your stored restore points. Click “Next” and follow the screen prompts.

If you don’t see any restore points then the preceding System Restore information will not apply, To turn on the restore point feature click the “Configure” button. Click “Turn on system protection” and set the “Disk Space Usage” slider to roughly 10 GB. Click OK in the System restore window if you made changes. Turning on System Restore at this point will not allow you to perform a system restore because there are no historical restore points. NOTE: System protection can get turned off during Microsoft’s updates and not turned back on.

Please come to the PC Club meetings. We’ll you how to run these utilities. Also, there will be time for your questions. We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7 PM upstairs in the Community Center.

Windows 10 Printers (Dec 2016)

 

 

Technology Tips – Published December 2016 in the Guide and Digest

By Don Trauger – Kennett

 

 

Windows 10 has a bug, a printer bug. It manifests itself when you go to print something and the printer refuses to print. You check the printer and, of course, it’s powered on. Then you check the cables. No luck there either as they are all secure. You try restarting the computer and powering down the printer and turning it on again but it still refuses to print. What to do?

Some observations I have made indicate the problem comes from Windows 10 monthly updates. The printer software installation becomes either corrupt or is removed. At this point there’s nothing you can do to repair the existing installation of the printer software. The printer’s software must be reinstalled to allow the printer to function normally again.

What you need to do is to go to the printer manufacturer’s web site support area for your particular model printer. For example HP’s is http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers. Epson support is:http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/SupportIndex.jsp. Brother’s is: http://www.brother-usa.com/Support/. Paste the applicable link into your browser, press the Enter key on the keyboard and enter the model of your printer. Follow any screen prompts to download the necessary printer installation software. You should find the downloaded file in your computer’s Downloads folder. Double click it to start the installation.

This procedure applies to all versions of Windows, not just Windows 10. However, for some reason Windows 10 seems to be the only version adversely effected. Make sure to leave your downloaded printer file in your computer. You may need it again!

One other note, you may be asked prior to the download as to whether your computer is a 32-bit or 64-bit computer. Some printer manufacturers have a different file for each computer type. Most combine both types into one file which is a bit easier. To check your system go into the Control Panel, click System & Security then System. Note the System type then proceed to download the correct file type for your model printer.

Please come to the PC Club meetings. We meet on the 3rd Tuesday at 7 PM of each month at the Community Center.

 

Windows 10 Safety Net (Nov 2016)

Technology Tips – Published November 2016 in the Guide and Digest

By Don Trauger – Kennett

 

You have a built-in safety net in Windows 10 called System Restore. Actually, it’s been in previous versions of Windows and I’ve written about this feature previously. However, for some unexplained reason a bug in the Windows 10 August update may have turned off this important feature.

The purpose of System Restore is to get your computer working again after a serious malfunction. System Restore can be used when you feel that you can’t troubleshoot a computer problem. To correct a serious problem all you need to do is select a date when the computer was working correctly and let it do the rest. Read my February 2016 article about Repair & Recovery for an overview on System Restore and System Reset. It’s available online at www.hersheysmill.org. In the Search field type “Windows 10 repair recovery” (no quotes).

Assuming you can boot your computer to the Desktop screen, type “create a restore point” (no quotes) in the “Ask me anything” field next to the 4 pane white Start button. At the top of the pop-up window, click on “create a restore point”. In the System Properties window, under Protection Settings, Protection must be “on”. If not, click the Configure button and select “Turn on system protection”. Just below, under Disk Space Usage, set the slider for about 10Gb, then click OK.

Windows will create automatic Restore points prior to when it installs updates. However, you can always create one too. I recommend it whenever you plan to make major changes to your PC or even if it’s working fine and you want a timely “safety net”. To create your own Restore point, click the Create button, give it a name in the pop-up window and click the Create button in the same window.

Suppose you have a situation where the computer is not booting correctly. This requires a different approach. You may see Startup Repair try to fix the problem. It will attempt this 3 times before stopping and showing the Choose an Option screen if it has been unsuccessful in making the repair. If the computer continually fails to boot, click Troubleshoot, then click Advanced Options, and click System Restore.

You can also enter Windows troubleshooting mode manually if the computer can boot to the Desktop screen. Click the Start button (the 4 pane white icon) click the power icon which is just above the Start button and then hold down the Shift button on the keyboard while you click Restart.

We’ll show you how this will work for you at the PC Club. We meet on the 3rd Tuesday at 7 PM of each month at the Community Center.

 

Windows 10 – A Quick Introduction (Sept 2016)

Technology Tips – Published September 2016 in the Guide and Digest

By Don Trauger – Kennett

Let’s “Start” exploring. If you recently upgraded from Windows 7 or 8 or purchased a new Windows 10 computer, the following tips can help in navigating the various parts of Windows 10.

On the bottom left-hand corner of your screen is the 4 pane white Windows Start icon which is probably similar if not identical to the Windows icon on your keyboard. If you click on that icon, tap that icon on your touchscreen or touch the Windows key on your keyboard, you’ll open up the Start menu.

 

The Windows 10 Start Screen.

 

 

When you click on All apps you’ll see a list of apps on the left side. Windows 8 users will notice the familiar Live Tiles to the right. Some of those Live Tiles may already be flipping over to show you relevant information. For now, though, let’s start on the left. Scroll down to “G” and click “Get Started” which is a good resource if you’re looking for some orientation to Windows 10.

You can arrange and rearrange tiles as you’d like. Try right-clicking on one, and adjusting the size. If you can’t enlarge it, try dragging and dropping it to an open space. Some tiles don’t like to be re sized as they will stop responding if they are too large. Maybe you’d like the Mail application or your Calendar in the top left-hand corner. Just hold down the left mouse key and drag it to where you want. You should be able to pin any app to your Live Tiles menu including those found in the left-hand All apps list. Not all will function as Live Tiles, however, that’s up to the app designers. Some tiles can be deleted, others can not. Right clicking an unwanted tile will allow you to click on “Uninstall” or turn it off by moving to “More” and clicking “Turn live tile off”.

Now, scroll down to Settings, and click there. Some people get a little nervous about tampering with the Settings. Don’t worry, in Windows 10, Settings are more like your car’s dashboard. Click “Update & Security” then click “Check for updates” or “Install” if you have updates waiting for you.

There is one more thing that you need to be familiar with before we’re done and that is finding where Internet Explorer is hidden. Microsoft wants you to use it’s new Edge browser that is represented by a bright blue stylized “e” located on the task bar. I feel Edge is awkward and unintuitive to configure and use. Google’s Chrome is the browser to download and install for the best security. However, Internet Explorer has its followers so here’s how to find it. Click “All apps”, click “Windows accessories”, right click “Internet Explorer”, move to “More” and choose “Pin to taskbar”.

 

The PC Club meets on the 3rd Tuesday at 7 PM of each month at the Community Center.   Bring your questions and we’ll show you how to get started on Windows 10.


Archived Minutes

Archived minutes of Master Association and the Board of the Master Association (BOD) are kept on this page.  If you were looking for current minutes they are at  http:\\www.hersheysmill.org/the-mill/master-association/.

 

Master Association

BOD

Browser Security (Apr 2016)

Technology Tips – published April 2016 in the Guide and Digest

by Don Trauger – Kennett

I haven’t written about security in your computer for some time now. In previous articles I have recommended Bitdefender Free Anti-Virus. Download it here: http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html), Malwarebytes free. Download it here: https://www.malwarebytes.org/ and AdwCleaner. Download it here: https://toolslib.net/downloads/viewdownload/1-adwcleaner/. Malwarebytes has changed the way their free program is offered. You get a 14 day premium free trial with the download. After that it reverts back to manual scan and updates if you want to stay with the free version.

 

Now, I suggest you take an additional approach to increase security particularly when you browse the Internet. Yes, your anti virus can still protect you when a malicious file is downloaded into your computer. However, anti-virus programs are not where most of the malicious action is currently. For technical reasons hackers can’t make money writing virus code. Their attention has turned to other ways that Malwarebytes and AdwCleaner can detect and remove. There are still viruses out there but not at the same level as previously. The additional approach should now include improving browser (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer) security.

 

What I suggest is to add 1 program and 2 Add-ins. The program to be added is Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit. Download it here: https://www.malwarebytes.org/antiexploit/. Download the free 14 day free trial. It should revert to the free version after 14 days. Next, make sure you are using the Chrome browser. If not, get it here: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/. Chrome is perceived to be the safest browser. The 2 add-ins are Adblock Plus https://adblockplus.org/ and Traffic Light from Bitdefender http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/trafficlight.html.

 

Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit guards against web sites that may harbor malicious exploits. Exploit kits are designed by hackers to find and exploit any vulnerabilities in your computer. This program works only when a browser is opened but works on all browsers. Adblock Plus is an ad blocker. It offers blocking to 3rd party ad servers that are often compromised by hackers that can infect your computer by putting malicious ads on your computer. It doesn’t block all ads. Ads originating from the web site itself will still come through. Traffic light examines the web address you are entering. If it’s malicious it will block the connection to that site.

 

Adblock Plus will install on the popular web browsers but Traffic Light will not work on Internet Explorer. I recommend only one change. For Adblock Plus click the red Adblock Plus icon in the upper right corner of Chrome, click Options, and uncheck “Allow some non-intrusive advertising”. These 3 tools work only when you open your browser. In my testing I have not seen any compatibility problems between the programs mentioned in this article.

 


The PC Club meetings are open to all regardless of computer experience. If you have questions that need to be answered, be sure to attend on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7 PM upstairs in the Community Center. April’s topic will cover Browser Security.

Sullivan House

A highlight of the annual Sullivan House Open House is the exhibition of The Model Train Railroad. It is always thrilling for the young and old alike. Additionally, most years FoSH (Friends of Sullivan House) sells gorgeous poinsettia’s, Hershey Mill note cards, and has raffles. The Sullivan House Committee provides an assortment of delicious homemade cookies and punch. A very festive day and a beautiful way to view the historic Sullivan House and meet old and new friends. Enjoy the photos of the 2015 event.