Category: Uncategorized

Don Trauger

Most of you have heard the term “backup”. It means to save a file or files that you
have created on your computer and store them in another area for safe keeping.
Normally when you save a file on your computer it is stored on the computer’s hard
drive. That’s fine as long the hard drive is working correctly. But what would happen
if there is a catastrophic failure of the hard drive? Not only would the computer not
start, all of your data would be gone. If you value your data (pictures, letters,
financial, etc.) you should think about backing up those files. Making a duplicate
copy of an important file and saving it on the same hard drive is NOT backing up
in the true sense. You need to store the file elsewhere.

What are your choices? There is the old reliable floppy disk. However, newer computers
don’t come with floppy drives anymore. If you have a floppy drive you can save your
data to it by clicking on “File” which is usually located in the upper left corner of
the program you are using. Click Save As and in the pop-up Save As window, click the
little down arrow in the Save in: field. Then click on 3 floppy (A:). If necessary,
give your file a name in the File name: field then click the Save button. You have
now backed up your file. Floppy disks only hold 1.44Mbs of data and you can run out
of space quickly when saving a number of pictures. A better backup device is the flash
drive. This electronic device plugs into the USB port in your computer and can save
more than 5000 times the amount a floppy disk can. They come in all sizes and prices
from 512MBs up to 8GBs and higher. A typical price ranges from $10 – $30. To use just
plug into any USB port and follow the preceding instructions for the floppy. Note
however, in the Save in: field, click on the name of your Flash drive instead of the floppy (A 🙂 There’s one last easy choice and that is burning your data files to a
CD. The best way to do that is to open your CD disk burning program and choose
Create Data Disk”. Next locate your data files and add them to a list that the program
knows to burn. Although burning a disk is a little more difficult than using a floppy
or flash drive it’s a more permanent way to save your files. Flash drives can be
corrupted and floppy disks can be physically damaged from handling. CD’s can be
scratched too but they are more durable than floppies.

So far I have touched on backing up your data files. There is one other type of backup
that works by copying all of the files on your hard drive to another external hard
drive. These are usually very large capacity hard drives that again can plug into the
USB port. They come with their own software to copy the files. Prices are generally
in the $100 – $150 range. However, what I found was that the software accompanying
one particular external drive didn’t copy the Registry files from the computer’s hard
drive. This failure would be disastrous if you were trying to restore that backup to
your computer’s hard drive. I eventually found better software that would do a
complete backup. In summing up, I can only recommend this type of backup for
experienced users that can work with computers and solve potential backup problems
that may arise.

Backing up your computer’s files and answers to other computer questions can be
found by attending our PC Club meetings. They are held on the second Tuesday of each
month, upstairs in the Community Center starting at 7:00 PM.

Don Trauger

Doing your system maintenance with utility programs such as Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter, located in
System Tools, go a long way in maintaining the hard drive in your computer. Disk Cleanup rids the hard drive
of unneeded or unused files and Disk Defragmenter aligns the files for faster computer performance. Both are
safe to use. Refer to my October 2006 article for more about this subject. However, there’s another tool that
also focuses on the health of your hard drive. It’s called the Check Disk utility. Computer users that used to
use Scandisk on Windows 98 and Me computers, found this tool has disappeared in Windows XP.

What Check Disk does is different from Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter. Actually I discussed this in the
October article and it was indicated as #7. The directions given were for clicking with the mouse and using
Windows graphical interface (pop-up windows). I’m going to give you the text equivalent and expand on the
previous directions. The following is a description of Check Disk: It can find and repair corrupted files and
folders and it can also check and repair defects in the magnetic properties (sectors) of the disk surface. If
things work as designed it can lift good data from a damaged sector, mark the sector as defective and place
the data in another good sector. The command “chkdsk C: /f” repairs corrupted files and folders. Command
“chkdsk C: /r” can do all the “/f” checks plus it can lift good data from damaged sectors and check the
remaining free space. Here’s how to use this utility.

Click the Start button, click Run and type “chkdsk C: /f” (no quotes) in the “Open:” field. Notice there is
a space before and after “C:” Click OK. You should see a window pop up. Type “Y” (no quotes), press the Enter
key and the window will close. Nothing will happen! That’s normal because this utility only runs when you
restart the computer. At this point click Start, click Turn Off Computer, and click Restart. During the startup
you will see a different blue screen. This is the Check Disk utility that is now running. After it completes
the computer will boot as normal. To read a summary of what it found, go to the Control Panel, click on
Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and finally double click the Event Viewer. Click
Application and locate Winlogon. Double click it and view the results for your hard drive. There’s only one
item that is important. Look at the line that contains “Bad Sectors”. A drive in perfect condition will say
“0 KB in bad sectors”. All the rest of the information is just normal housekeeping.

Rather than do the “/f” and “/r” checks separately, you can do them both at once to save time. Just change
the expression in the Run box to “chkdsk C: /r” (no quotes). This “/r” check may take up to an hour or more
to complete as there are thousands of sectors to check.

You may be thinking how often I need to do this. I would recommend the “/f” check once a month along with your
regular maintenance, and the “/r” check once every 3 months. If you start to see a number appearing in “0 KB in
bad sectors” that means chkdsk has found something wrong and has repaired it. However if that number increases a
second or third time then your hard drive is experiencing deteriorating conditions and should be replaced.

For further assistance with your computer, come to the PC Club meeting. We meet the second Tuesday of every month,
upstairs in the Community Center at 7:00 PM. Each meeting is open to users with all experience levels!

Don Trauger

We’ve all seen them at one time or another. You start your computer and everything seems fine then all of a
sudden an error message pops up. Sometimes you have to “OK” it to complete the boot and other times closing
or just ignoring the message works. Regardless of your method, your computer may seem to work fine but it’s
trying to tell you “I feel sick”.

Once in awhile the message is just informational but more than likely there’s a hidden problem with a system
file or application. The first thing to do is to write down the full message. Pay particular attention if the
message has an error number associated with it. Using Google to input this error information is a great way to
search for answers to the problem. Chances are others have experienced the same issue and you will often find
what is needed to make corrections. A search on Google does not require a word for word entry of the error message.
Simply use a few of the main keywords plus the error message number if available from the message.

Another place to look when you have a problem is in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel. This computer
module logs all kinds of events in your computer both normal and abnormal. Click Performance and Maintenance
then click Administrative Tools. Next click the Event Viewer. There you will see listed, among others, Application
and System. Click Application then scroll down the list and try to match the time of the event to the time when
you experienced the error. Note any items that have a red circle or yellow triangle. Double click the offender
for detailed information. There’s usually a link to Microsoft Help and Support for help in resolving the error.
Repeat the same procedure for System. You may safely ignore any yellow triangles (Warning) in the Application
area referring to “Userenv” should you see them.

If a program or application is causing the error message on startup it also means it’s trying to load during
boot-up. You may be able to correct this by telling the program not to load when you start your computer. Click
on Start, click Run and type “msconfig” (no quotes) and OK the window. Next click the Startup tab. When the window
opens look at the list of programs that have checks next to them. You may be able to match information in the
error message or from the Event Viewer to the program that is causing the problem. Remove the check from the
program, OK the window, and choose to Restart the computer. As I’ve said in previous articles, the only checks
required are the ones for your Anti-Virus/Spyware/Firewall programs. What if the error is caused by the Anti-Virus
program? Read the error carefully. Maybe all that’s needed is a setting to be reset once you open the program.
In other cases it may require you to uninstall and reinstall the program.

Don Trauger – Kennett

A leading anti-virus company recently reported that 240 million malware programs were discovered in 2009. That number boggles the mind. More importantly, only 2.9 million signatures were written against these programs, just over 1%. In the first half of 2010, 124 million distinct new malware programs have been discovered and only 1.8 million signatures written against them. That’s an increase of almost 1.5%. The trend is better but only slightly. Signatures, or definitions as they are often called, are the daily updates downloaded from your anti-virus program company to your computer to help keep you safe. Coupled with the fact it often takes a day or two to write these signatures plus the overall poor record of protection, do you really have a chance not to get infected? Absolutely.

I’ve recommended Avast & Malwarebytes as free 2 programs to help guard you from an infection. Are they perfect? No. But kept up to date you can’t find better protection at any price. Avast provides real-time blocking and removal of infections and Malwarebytes provides additional scanning and removal capabilities. With these tools in place you have a very good chance of removing an infection should something get past Avast.

The best way to remove an infection is to start or restart the computer so it will run in Safe Mode. Safe Mode is Window’s diagnostic mode and is the best environment to remove an infection. To start in Safe Mode, press the F8 key for about 1 second when you see the computer manufacturer’s logo then release it for 1 second. Repeat this press/release procedure until you see a screen menu where it says “Safe Mode”. Don’t hold the F8 key down steadily or the computer may not start. This may take a little practice. Once you see a screen menu select Safe mode by using the arrows on your keyboard and then press the Enter key. The computer should now boot into Safe Mode. OK the pop-up window then after you get to the Desktop screen continue to your 2 security programs. Open Avast, click “Scan Computer”, choose the “Full System Scan” and click Start. Allow it to send any infected items to the Virus Chest. After that, open Malwarebytes, choose “Perform Full Scan” then click the Scan button. After the scan allow Malwarebytes to remove infected items and have it place them in quarantine. Are you done? Not quite. Reboot the computer into regular mode and repeat the scanning again. There’s no need to boot into Safe Mode again unless more infected items are found. On a routine non-infected basis I recommend scanning your computer at least twice a month. You don’t need to do the full scans, a quick scan will do nicely as long as you are not infected.

Normally, I don’t recommend pay-for versions of security products. However, I will recommend upgrading Malwarebytes to the paid version particularly if you have been infected previously. The paid-for version can provide additional real-time blocking to known infected web sites. The cost is $24.95 lifetime. Also, I feel Google’s Chrome browser provides slightly better security protection when surfing the Web. It’s free and you can download it by going to www.google.com, click on “more” at the top of the page, then click on “even more”, and choose Google Chrome from the list.

Discussion of this topic and your computer questions can be addressed when you attend the PC Computer Club meeting. It’s held the second Tuesday of every month upstairs in the Community Center in the Ardmore Room at 7:00 PM.

Don Trauger – Kennett

Windows Live Mail is a recently updated free email program from Microsoft similar in function to Outlook Express in Windows XP or Windows Mail in Vista.
The advantages for using a dedicated program such as Windows Live Mail for email are that your emails can reside on your computer not your Internet
provider’s server, there are no ads that can interfere with printing your emails, and a better overall experience. The program features, among other
things, a spelling checker, an appointment calendar, and a very good junk mail (Spam) filter. To download Windows Live Mail for Vista users, copy
this link: http://www.filehippo.com/download_windows_live_mail/ into Internet Explorer’s address field and press Enter. Next, click the green arrow on
the upper right of the web page to download it. For Windows XP users copy the following link into Internet Explorer. http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mail-xp.
Choose English and Click Download Now.

Here’s the detail on how to save the download file. Click Save and save it to your Desktop by selecting Save in: – Desktop at the top of the window. Then
click Save at lower right of window and then click Close. Also, close Internet Explorer after you have downloaded the file. On your Desktop double click
the wlsetup-web.exe file to start the installation. You will then be presented with a window to install other Microsoft programs. Review them closely but
I would only leave a check next to mail and remove the other checks. Next, click the Install button. In the next window uncheck both “Set your search
provider” and “Set your home page” and click Continue then Close. Windows Live ID is not needed. You may now delete the Windows Live Mail setup file
(wlsetup-web.exe) from your Desktop.

For Windows XP click Start go to All Programs and locate Windows Live and move the mouse to the second Windows Live (at right) and right click it. Move
the mouse to Send to, then left click on Desktop (create shortcut). You should now have a new shortcut on your Desktop for Windows Live Mail. For Windows
Vista or Windows 7 just locate Windows Live Mail in the All Programs Menu, right click it, move to Send to, and click on Desktop (create shortcut).
Double click it to open the program. If all went well everything including your address book, settings, and messages will be copied over to the
new Windows Live Mail program from Outlook Express or Windows Mail. There’s no fiddling around to get it to work properly!

Windows Live Mail has some major interface changes from Outlook Express and Windows Mail. First it has a soft color to it and almost a lack of contrast.
Actual messages however are clear and easier to read. For XP users major points are the New button at the far left top replaces the Create mail button,
the Sync button replaces the Send/Receive button, and the address book is now named Contacts.

For XP and Vista users you now have 2 email programs on your computer. How should you handle this scenario? What if you don’t like Windows Live Mail?
First, the important issue is which one should handle the incoming email? Open Outlook Express or Windows Mail and click Tools, Accounts, highlight
your email account, Click Properties, click the Advanced tab, and under Delivery place a check next to “Leave a copy of messages on server”. Click OK
and close any open windows. Do the same thing with Windows Live Mail. With Windows XP click the button on the left next to the question mark on the top
at the far right. Click on “Show menu bar”. Then follow the procedure I previously described. Now both programs will be setup to share incoming messages
in case something should go wrong. After a period of time when you have decided which program will be your choice, you may uncheck the Delivery option
so all your email will be downloaded to your program of choice. You may uninstall Windows Live Mail in Add/Remove programs but you can’t uninstall
Outlook Express or Windows Mail.

For Windows 7, the computer hardware manufacturers should have added Windows Live Essentials components, so Windows Live Mail should already be installed.
Just follow the preceding instructions to configure it if necessary.

To see Windows Live Mail, as well as view other options available in this program, come to our PC Club meeting. We meet the 2nd Tuesday evening of
each month at 7:00 PM upstairs in the Community Center.

Don Trauger

Google is the premiere search engine on the Internet for finding information. Go online and type “www.google.com”
(no quotes) in your Web browser then press the Enter key and you will see a rather austere Web page appear for
Google. The box with the blinking cursor is where you type your search information. After you type in your
information click the Google Search button. The search page will quickly appear with the results. Notice that
Google also has ads (sponsored links) that appear at the top and right side of the page so don’t confuse those
with the results of your search which are on the left side of the page. The page will list 10 “hits” and if your
search information was accurate your results will be on the first page. If not, scroll down to the bottom of the
page and click on “Next”. This leads you to the next 10 hits and so on. Good results come from a combination of
using the right amount and selection of words. Typically 3 – 6 words work well. Don’t over describe what you are
searching for. Are you looking for a winter vacation spot in Naples Florida? Type in rental naples fl. Once you
get results that are on track you may further refine your search. For example you may want a 4 bedroom rental. A
refined search would read 4 bedroom rental naples fl. Each “hit” gives you about 2 lines of basic information. If
the information you are looking for is in the 2 lines, click the line above the information. This will redirect
you to that particular Web site for more details. Next to the Google Search button is the “I’m Feeling Lucky”
button. This simply takes you to the first Web page that Google finds using your search terms.

What I have described so far is Google’s main feature – finding information for the user. However, Google has
much more to offer. Click the “More” link at the top of the page and in the drop down menu find additional
features of Google. One of my favorites is “Products”. Clicking that brings up a Google page that is similar
to the main Google page. Type in what product you are looking for and click “Search Products”. Your results
will be displayed and you can further refine the results by clicking the down arrow in the “Sort by relevance”
field and list the results by price. Also in the drop down menu check the “Labs”. There are some interesting
items in this category. Other items, such as the “Calendar” and “Photos” may require you to create a Google
account for access.

Also at the top of the main page are additional links. “Images” is where you can search for specific pictures,
“Video” for video clips similar to YouTube, “News” shows a very good news headline page for different categories,
“Maps” is a good page for charting your travel destination similar to MapQuest, and Gmail is an e-mail program
using the Web.

Another Google program called Google Earth is separate from the Google search page. This fun program can be
downloaded at “http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html” (no quotes). Google Earth combines the power of
Google Search with astronomy, satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D buildings to put the world’s
astro/geographic information at your fingertips. You should have a Broadband Internet connection to download
and use this program. It works with Windows XP, Vista, and MAC computers. Double click the download file to
install Google Earth. After installation and while on-line, click the Google Earth Desktop icon and after it
initializes use the positioning compass control in the upper right corner of the screen to position the display
over the area you want to see. Then use the vertical slider bar next to the control to zoom in or out. The
horizontal slider above the compass control changes the view between vertical and horizontal. To use the slider
move the mouse arrow over the center of the slider and hold down the left mouse key and drag it. It will take
some practice to get the feel of using these tools. I did notice when zooming in on Hershey’s Mill the image
started getting blurry below 2000 feet. You may not see your individual home but you can see your cluster. Newly
added is the astronomy feature. Click the “Switch between Sky and Earth” icon at the top of the page to switch.
There are some fascinating detailed pictures of the constellations.

To get answers to your questions about overall computer use and other information, please come to the PC Club
meeting. We meet the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Community Center.

Don Trauger – Kennett

What is a browser? It’s simply the computer program you use to explore various web sites on the Internet. Popular names include
Internet Explorer from Microsoft, which is part of every Windows PC, Firefox from Mozilla, Safari from Apple, and of course
Chrome from Google.

There is considerable competition among the leaders to develop and produce the fastest browser. For you as a user this should
result in faster loading of web pages. Does it really work? If you are a computer enthusiast I recommend you give it a try.

First, go to www.google.com, click on “more”, then click on “even more”, and finally click on Google Chrome. Next, click on
Download Google Chrome. In the next window choose to uncheck “Set Google Chrome as my default browser”. This means whatever browser
you are currently using will still be the browser that will automatically start when you click your Favorites. Click “Accept and Install”.
Save the download file to your Desktop. Now double click it to start installing Chrome then click Run. At the end of the installation
you may choose your search engine. Click your choice (Google is recommended but Bing is also good). Next, near the top of the window,
type your home page address in the field next to the magnifying glass and press the Enter key. You should see your normal home page if
you have an Internet connection. To set Chrome to display your home page every time you start it, click the “wrench” in the upper right
of the window then click Options, click the Basic tab, select “Open this page:” and type in your home page address. Also, you may want
to click “Show Home button on the toolbar”. Chrome is compatible with any other browser you may be using and it won’t cause problems.
If you like the way Chrome works you may opt to set Chrome as your default browser by clicking the “wrench” in the upper right corner,
click Options, click the Basic tab, and then click “Make Google Chrome my default browser”.

Other options include importing bookmarks, favorites, passwords, and history from your original browser. To import your data click
the “wrench”, then Options, click the Personal Stuff tab, then next to Browsing data: click “Import data from another browser”
then click Import. A more technical section, called Under the Hood, can customize the operation of Chrome.

Chrome does not offer a separate search engine field as does Internet Explorer. It simply reuses the address field for searches. All you
need to do is type your search information in the address field and press the Enter key. Neat!! This saves space and makes it easier to use.

In a speed test I find Chrome to be slightly faster than Internet Explorer. Although a second or two is not much faster, for lack of
a better expression, it just feels faster.

For a discussion of Google’s Chrome browser please attend the PC Computer Club meeting. It’s held the second Tuesday of every month
upstairs in the Community Center in the Ardmore Room at 7:00 PM. Also, your computer questions can be addressed at this time.

Back in August I wrote about buying a new computer. Basically,
the article was about what to look for in hardware
specifications. All that information is still valid however
there are some additional things to consider.

The August article did not take fully into account Microsoft’s
new operating system, Windows 7. Windows 7 supersedes Vista.
I don’t particularly recommend buying a Vista computer at this
point unless you can get a very good deal. Windows 7 runs
faster and is stable for a new operating system. If you are
thinking of upgrading, plan on buying a new computer
particularly if you have a Windows XP computer. Windows XP
is NOT directly upgradeable. If you have a Windows Vista
computer, that version is directly upgradeable. For experienced
users, download and install the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from
the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

This free program will scan your installed software programs
and hardware for any compatibility problems. Run it before you
decide to purchase or upgrade to Windows 7 on your present
computer.

There are some other hardware considerations to think about. You
will see dual core (mentioned in the August article) and quad
core processors when you shop. Dual core processors are the
mainstream – for now. However, quad core processors are becoming
more popular and will eventually take over the dual core market.
For now there is little software available that can take advantage
of quad core processing. If you want to plan for the future, or
do video editing, or are a gamer, then definitely get a quad core
computer. Then there is a choice between a 32 bit and a 64 bit
version of Windows 7. Clearly there are very few programs that can
take advantage of 64 bit processing. Here again the gamers are
driving the 64 bit market. If you don’t play Farcry 2 or do serious
video editing I recommend purchasing a 32 bit version of Windows 7
for a new computer. There can be problems running 32 bit programs
on a 64 bit version of Windows 7 including a slight slow down in
speed along with a potentially more serious problem of your
printer/scanner not working with a 64 bit Windows 7 computer. What
you will see in stores is a 64 bit dual core hardware processor
matched to a 32 bit version of Windows 7. That’s a good combination
and would make a fine choice. For power users a quad core 64 bit
processor matched to a 64 bit version of Windows 7 would also be a
fine choice if you need the additional processing power.

Now, for a downside of Windows 7. For some unknown reason
Microsoft decided to remove their email program from their
operating system. That means no Outlook Express (XP) or
Windows Mail (Vista) email program is installed. This will
not affect you if you use Web mail (Internet Explorer, AOL,
or MSN) to access your email. However, they have a new program
that will substitute for those two. It’s called Windows Live
Mail. It’s free but you must download it from this
site: http://download.live.com/wlmail then install it.

Please review the August article on buying a new PC on our
Hershey’s Mill web site at: www.hersheysmill.org Click on
Tech Tips, then on General Computer Tips, and finally on
Computer – Buy a New Computer.

If you are a beginner in computing this article may not be for
you. However, I invite beginners to come and ask questions
because we touch on all levels of experience. We meet the
2nd Tuesday evening of each month at 7:00 PM upstairs in
the Community Center.

Don Trauger – Kennett

Don Trauger

There are well over a dozen popular toolbars that are available for download or come as part of other programs that are installed on your computer. For example, there are, the Yahoo toolbar, AOL, MSN, Ask, and Comcast toolbars, and of course the very popular Google toolbar. Basically these toolbars are convenient entry points for searching the Internet for almost anything you can think of plus a myriad of other buttons that whisk you off to specialized locations. They occupy a location in Internet Explorer near the top of the window you are viewing.  I’ve seen computers that have at least three of these toolbars installed. This reduces the ability of Internet Explorer to display the full height of the Web page. Although you can move the vertical scroll bar to the right of the window to see the full page, it requires you to manipulate the mouse more than you should. This of course is user preference but it can be annoying too.

 

A more serious problem with toolbars is that they have their own behind-the-scene agenda. Many of them offer anti-phishing, anti-spam, anti-spyware, and a pop-up blocker. This built-in protection scheme often conflicts with your own installed anti-virus software. In addition, some toolbars may link to 3^rd party sites of questionable integrity. My advice is to uninstall all toolbars. For Windows XP click Start, click Control Panel on the right, click Add or Remove Programs, click the name of the toolbar you want to remove, and then click on Change/Remove or Remove. For Vista and Windows 7 users, click the Start orb (lower left corner of the screen) then click Control Panel on the right. Click Programs and Features, click the name of the unneeded toolbar, and then click Uninstall. I can hear you now – “I really use my toolbar”. I understand, however, Internet Explorer can be configured to use any search engine you wish without using a toolbar. For Windows XP users, open Internet Explorer and click the tiny down arrow under the “X” in the upper right corner of the window. Click Find More Providers. Under Internet Explorer Gallery are the popular search engine providers. Google is the preferred choice. Click Google if it is not installed and choose to make it the default. Click Add, and then click the Add to Internet Explorer button. By clicking that same down arrow again in Internet Explorer, you should now see that Google has been added. You should also see Google in the grayed out search field of Internet Explorer. Type a search request in this field then click the magnifying icon next to the search field and you will automatically be taken to Google. The first ten search results will show in the opening window. Windows Vista, 7, and 8 users can click the gear icon, and then click on Manage add-ons, then Search Providers on the left side. At the lower left of the window, click on Find more search providers and then follow the above procedure for adding Google in the Internet Explorer Gallery. Vista, 7, and 8 users must type search requests in the address field of Internet Explorer.

 

            If you insist on having a toolbar make sure only one is installed to avoid conflicts. Look for where the Preferences or Options are in the toolbar and turn off or disable all the extra and unneeded security functions it offers.

 

            The basic rule is to not run your computer with multiple security programs of the same type at the same time. Only one anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, phishing filter, or pop-up blocker should be operational at a given time. More information about this and other subjects can be obtained if you attend our monthly PC Club meetings. They are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM upstairs in the Ardmore room of the Community Center.

 

Note: Remember to visit our newly designed Web site at www.hersheysmill.org to discover information about our community.

Don Trauger – Kennett

The current rage in the computer world is the tablet computer. Made popular by Apple’s iPad, this device fits in somewhere between
a smartphone and a laptop computer. Screen sizes are typically in the 7″ – 10″ measured diagonally. You operate it via a touchscreen
instead of a standard keyboard and mouse which makes it similar to a smartphone.

What makes these devices so popular? Is it battery life, portability, or ease of use? Actually it’s all three plus other features of
a tablet. A tablet can play games, surf the Web, check email, and many other things. If you download additional “apps”, you will
enhance the overall use of the tablet. Apps (short for applications) are programs that are specifically designed to work on a tablet
and smartphones.

In 2012 Microsoft will introduce its newest operating system, Windows 8. Windows 8 has been designed not only to be on laptops and
desktop computers, but also on tablets. In fact many gurus feel that a Windows 8 tablet will target Apple’s Ipad and given the proper
device, give Apple a run for its money. We’ll see if that statement rings true. In the meantime we have the iPad 2 which outsells all
other tablets at least 20 to 1. The others are Android based tablets. Android refers to the type of operating system used on the tablet.

If a tablet interests you I suggest you start with the iPad 2 and then compare other Android tablets against it. The iPad 2 carries a
premium price of $499 for a 16 GB Wi-Fi model and the price goes up if you want a built-in mobile phone. Android based tablets can be
purchased for less but may lack certain features important to you. A tablet choice is a personal choice.

Using it will require, of course, an Internet account with Comcast or Verizon and a wireless router connected to the cable modem or
connected to, or built into, a Verizon DSL modem. Typically tablets do not connect to the Internet via a cable. The iPad 2, for example,
does not have a USB connector so you can’t hook up a printer unless you have a wireless printer.

A tablet may not be for everyone but for those who are interested in something very portable and easy to use, a tablet can make for a
useful tool.

The PC Club meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM, upstairs in the Ardmore room of the Community Center.