The Computer Club Newsletter

September 2004

By Ron Uncapher

Be sure to attend the next edition of the TVCUC meeting to be held on Tuesday, October 5, 2004. As usual, the Q & A session will begin at 6:30 PM, followed at 7:30 PM by the general meeting. The presentation will be on Microsoft Word Basics and will be given by Karen Brown. Karen is an experienced computer applications instructor and we give a very good presentation.

The subject on which I am about to expound may seem a little simple to many of you, but I know from comments, questions, and observation that there are novices and unskilled users out there who may find this helpful. How often do you delete messages from your email inbox? Quite often, I presume. How often do you empty the DELETED MESSAGES folder? If you use Microsoft Outlook Express or many other email programs, this folder will hold your deleted messages until you empty it. Just as the case with the RECYCLE BIN on your desktop, deleted messages are not gone forever. They are in the DELETED ITEMS folder.

The more messages you delete, the more messages are stored in the folder, and the more messages stored, the larger becomes the file until eventually, your email program begins to get bogged down and takes longer and longer to load. The file size can grow to many megabytes.

To see how many messages are in your Outlook Express or Outlook folder, open it. The number of items will be shown at the left of the Status Bar on the bottom of the folder window. If there are thousands, then it is time to get rid of them. Under the EDIT or TOOLS menu there will be a selection Empty "Deleted Items" Folder. Click on that selection and it will empty the folder.

If you use Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL or other mail systems, the same thing will apply in some form or another. The folder may be called TRASH. If the Trash folder is not emptied automatically, you should occasionally clear it yourself.

At the top of this article I also mentioned the RECYCLE BIN. Everything I have talked about above also applies. When you delete a file, it goes to the RECYCLE BIN and stays there until you empty the bin. To empty the Recycle Bin, right click on the icon and click on Empty Recycle Bin on the pop up menu. Also, you can open the Recycle Bin by double clicking on it, then click on the Empty Recycle Bin button. Good Luck.

Does it ever feel like you lose track of your mouse pointer because it moves too quickly across the screen? If that is the case, or if you find yourself wishing the pointer would keep up with the speed with which you move your mouse, this setting and other pointer settings, like "double click speed", can be adjusted. Go to the Control Panel and open the mouse dialogue box by double clicking on the Mouse icon. Under the Options or Activities tab, find the slide bar and move it right or left by clicking and holding on the bar and dragging it left or right. You will see other settings and mouse pointer choices under other tabs.

The Tellico Village Computer Users Club has a Website (WWW.TVCUC.ORG). Go to the site for Howard Jones "How to Tune Up your Computer" document on the September club presentation. There is more info and links to helpful sites. Click on LIBRARY – DOCUMENTS and on the left margin is his write-up on the program. Among other things on the site is a feature under Services called THE FORUM. Here is where you can post a computer question, and get an answer. Now it is not guaranteed that it will be the right answer, but it probably will be very helpful. The club has many members who may already have found the answer to your question. Try it!

In closing I must harp on your anti virus program. If your anti virus program came with your computer, did you extend your free trial by paying for it? If the program is over a year old, did you renew your subscription? Updates are free the first year, but you must subscribe and pay for subsequent years, or buy a new program. In any case, update it now.