Class Notes 10-5-2017

We talked about the various browsers we use. Edge comes with Windows 10. Internet Explorer is there but hidden. They are both Microsoft programs. You should have at least one non-microsoft browser installed, even if you do not use it regularly. If your Microsoft browser ceases to work you will need another browser go use to determine and fix the problem. I like the Google Chrome browser. Other like Firefox and Opera.

The browser gets you access to the internet and displays web pages on your screen. To locate pages on the web you use a search engine. There are hundreds out there. I like to use Google (Not to be confused with the Google Chrome browser). If you are using a Microsoft browser, the default search engine is usually Bing. There are others like Yahoo, MSN, and more.

To set your starting pages--the pages that open when you start the browser, You open Settings in Chrome or Internet options in IE. There you set the pages you would like to see on opening.

A bookmark bar allows you to create buttons to quickly access pages you like such as your email, weather, and news. You turn on the bar in settings and save web address to it by going to settings > show bookmark bar in Chrome. In IE it is called the favorites bar. You turn it on by right-clicking the title bar (top of the IE window) and selecting it.

We demonstrated adding the Adblock extension in Chrome. Once running ads stop appearing in the web pages you browse. To add an extension open more tools > extensions and scroll to the bottom of the page and click get more extensions. Type adblock in the search block and them select it from the list and Add Extension.

Useful Hot Keys:

Ctrl L moves the cursor to the address bar and selects all

Ctrl + increases magnifies the browser window (makes the words and images larger)

Ctrl - decrease the size

Ctrl 0 brings the size back to default

Alt F4 closes the active window

Forgot your password to get into Windows? If your OS is Windows 7 or earlier, we have an easy way to reset it. If Windows 8 or higher it is harder and may not be possible depending on the computer. The newer the computer, the harder it is. The only approach may be to save your data using another OS booted from the CD or USB port and reinstalling Windows.

One of the participants showed us a neat Chrome extension called Privacy Badger.
Privacy Badger protects you from trackers as you surf the web! It is also available for Firefox.
chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-badger/...

Here are a couple of articles I found this past week that might be useful

How To Fix Loose USB Cable
http://tinyurl.com/ybhg2fku

OneDrive changes announced
http://tinyurl.com/yavgedcf

In addition to my own research, I want to give thanks to Harold at the Club, Ghacks.net Newsletter, and DavesComputerTips.com for the useful ideas we take a look at each week.