What's New at Linda's Computer Stop

First of all, I'm using a new program called Camtasia, where I can create video tutorials and walk you through lots of stuff, just like I'm sitting there at your computer.  These tutorials can be saved in three different versions: avi movie files which you can view in Windows Media Player or the player of your choice, exe program files which are the same as the avi files, but are bundled with Camtasia's player (this is nice cuz if you don't have the proper codecs installed in Media Player, the avi files won't work), and swf Flash files which can be viewed on the Internet.  The downside to the avi and exe files is they are large and can't be offered for downloading cuz I don't have that much space/bandwidth left on my site and they would take forever to download. The downside to the swf files is that if the viewer has a slow connection, these can appear a bit erratic and my voice may stutter.  Though people with slower connections have reported to me that if they let the page download fully, then click the Play button at the bottom left corner of the page (you may have to scroll down to see it), when they play the file for the second time, after it has fully downloaded, it plays much better.  Anyway, I've put a couple sample swf files on my site, if you would like to see them...and watch for more to be added.  Also, I'm hoping to compile many of these into a video tutorial CD, which will play well for people on all computers, no matter what your Internet connection speed is ... but of course, the CDs won't be free.

Here's the link to the two free samples I now have on the Net.  Bookmark this page and watch for more:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/tutes/

I've also added a new free ebook you can download.  It teaches all about Mail Merges in Word 2002.  Since this is one of the features that has changed the most in the newest version of Word, I made this for people who buy my Word 2000 ebook or take my Word online class.  But, I figured I'd be nice and share it with everyone. J Also, it will give you an idea of how my ebook/online class lessons look.

Download it now, by clicking this link.  It's safe and virus free!
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/wd2k2mm.exe

A product I recently purchased and reviewed is Spam Inspector.  I finally got tired of hitting my delete key about 200 times a day to clean up my Inbox.  I'd tried other SPAM removal products in the past and was not satisfied.  Well, this one I really like and I think you might too.  Click here to read my review and download a free trial version:

Spam Inspector
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/spami.htm

I wrote an article for TechTrax on Navigation and Buttons in FrontPage, which explains how to set up a website with buttons and text links for people to find their way around.  You might want to check it out.

Version at TechTrax's site:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=175

Reprinted version on my site:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/fpnav.htm

Also, in this same issue of TechTrax, Vic Ferri wrote a really good article on Windows XP Security.  Read this and be amazed at how easy it is to break into any XP computer *sigh*:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=173

And, you can always check out TechTrax's archives to see all the articles written by both Vic and myself, along with the other excellent authors there:

Vic's TechTrax articles

Linda's TechTrax articles

My newest online classes have begun at Eclectic Academy.  Though they've already started, enrollment has been extended until midnite, Sunday, March 9th.  Please feel free to come join us.  We have lots of fun in these classes ... and people tell me they learn a lot.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/services.htm

And, you can go here and see the comments some of my past students have made:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/classpraise.htm

Or, go directly to Eclectic Academy's site and cruise around the halls and read the Student Handbook to learn more about how the classes work:
http://www.eclecticacademy.com

Of course, I've also added some new links to my favorite links page, so go there and check out the revolving Ns:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/internet.htm

Well...that's about it for this month.  Please come back to my site often to see what else I've added and drop me a line if you have any suggestions.

Linda
linda@personal-computer-tutor.com

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In lieu of a "tip" this month, I'm going to share three problems I've had recently, along with the solutions I came up with that worked for me, just in case any of you run into these nagging headaches, which took me a while to fix.

Lexmark X63 Printer on Windows XP

Problem: My printer kept giving me errors telling me it wasn't connected
Solution: Unplug it from the wall outlet, then plug it in again (well...duhhh)

Details:  I own an older Z12 Lexmark printer that has never given me any problems.  So, a while back I decided that I wanted a fancy printer/fax/copier/scanner combo so I bought the X63 and, basically, I like it very much.  However, periodically, I would have to uninstall/reinstall the drivers becuz I would get errors when I tried to print, that told me that Windows XP didn't detect any printer installed.  It was a bit of a pain in the neck to have to do this every so often, but at least it seemed to fix the problem, if only temporarily.  But, recently, I had the problem again and uninstalling/reinstalling the printer software (drivers) did no good.  I searched the internet and Lexmark's site for solutions and everything I saw told me to first unplug the printer from the computer, then replug it in and that should fix it.  If not, to reinstall the software.  Well, I can't tell you how many times I did this and it did NOT fix the problem.  So, my last resort, before I threw the printer out a window, was to unplug the printer from the wall outlet (not the computer), then reboot.  And, glory be, that fixed it.  Now, when I have this intermittent problem again, instead of uninstalling/reinstalling my software like I used to do, I simply shut down my computer, unplug the printer from the wall outlet, replug in the printer, and turn my computer back on.  So far, this has fixed it EVERY time, so I thought I'd share this simple little thing with any of you who have been reinstalling your Lexmark printer software a lot.  It doesn't appear that this is necessary.

Cable Modem on Windows XP

Problem: The Receiving light kept blinking and I couldn't connect to the net or download mail
Solution: Unplug/replug the modem, then release and renew my connection

Details: Another nagging thing that seems to be happening with my cable modem ever since I moved "up" to Windows XP is I am constantly being disconnected from the Internet and my email gives me errors telling me my connection has been lost.  After checking and rechecking all of my connections and settings and getting nowhere, I finally called my cable ISP and they walked me through a loooooong fix which DID work, but I've since figured out a quicker one. 

They explained to me that my router and cable modem were getting "out of sync" so what I had to do was shut down all the computers in my network, then unplug the router, then unplug the cable modem, then wait about 30 seconds, then plug in the modem and wait for the lights to stop flashing, then plug in the router, then wait a few more seconds, then turn all my computers back on.  This took a bit of time, and sometimes it didn't work and I would have to repeat the long process again, sometimes 3 or 4 times.

Well, after playing around with this for a few weeks, I've found a quicker way that works for me.  When this happens now, I don't even turn off my computers.  I simply unplug the cable modem for about 10 seconds, then plug it back in.  Then I go to my Windows XP machine and click on Start, then Run and I type in ipconfig /release and I see a DOS type box for about 3 seconds, then I type ipconfig /renew and I see another box, and then I'm connected again.  This takes about 20 seconds as compared to 5 to 15 minutes the other way, so I recommend that any of you having cable disconnects with Windows XP give this a shot. 

Unable to Install Software in Windows XP, SP1

Problem: I kept getting an ikernel.exe error when I tried to install software
Solution: Uninstall Windows HotFix (SP2) Q328310

Details: This one just started a few weeks ago.  When I tried to install software, the installation would appear to complete, then when I closed the install shield, I would get an error message that said, "The instruction at <some number> referenced memory <some other number>.  The memory could not be read.  Click OK to terminate the program."  The message box that contained this error was titled ikernel.exe.  At first I thought it was the software itself creating this error, but research around the net showed me that people were getting this error while installing many different programs and there were lots of suggested fixes out there that did not appear to be working for people.  However, I did find the one that worked for me and many others.  It seems this is a bug in Windows XP's SP1 and the only way to fix it is to go into your control panel and double click add/remove programs, then uninstall Windows XP HotFix (SP2) Q328310.  But a word of warning....when I uninstalled this hotfix, Windows prompted me that removing this might cause some other programs on my computer not to function properly.  However, I can tell you that after I uninstalled it, I tried all of the programs Windows said might not work and they appear to be working fine.  And, uninstalling this hotfix definitely got rid of that install error I was receiving and I am able to now install all the software I want.  Gotta watch dem hot fixes.