Monday, June 27, 2016

Class Summary 6-23-2016

This was our first class this year using Google Hangout. All went well and I wa able to see everyone that joined the group. However, since I am using my phone as a hotspot I ate up all of my hotspot allocation of data. I was under the assumption that unlimited 4g data meant unlimited for using as a hotspot as well. It does not. I get 8gb of free hotspot data after which it drops down to 128 kbps. Later that day I was streaming a movie and found that it was rescanning every minute or two. I checked the phone and found out I was over my free 4g limit. So next week I will hangout using my phone and see how that works. I can always show you my screen if necessary. Let’s see how that works out.

Link to the Hangout is http://tinyurl.com/dickevans

We talked about where downloads go. If you are in Google Chrome they go to your downloads folder. If you are in Firefox or Internet Explorer you can access downloads using Ctrl+J.

I was asked how to change Windows 10 so you do not need to enter a password. It is very simple. Open the Run dialog box by pressing Win + R. Type NETPLWIZ. At the top of the next screen you should see a checkbox that is checked to require a password be entered. Uncheck the box and click Apply. A second window will appear. Enter your current password twice to show that you are the owner of this system. Click OK and the next time you turn your computer on it will skip asking for a password.

Find my device allows you to locate devices on your network. Start > Settings > Find my device to access it. BTW Win+I will open the Settings window.

We talked a little about Google Docs. You can share any of the files in your Google Drive with someone else and both be able to work on the file. Your edits are instantly made as long as you are signed on to the Internet. Your free Google drive has 15gb of space. It is used for your Gmail, your documents, and your photos.

We took a look at the following articles:

Geek Uninstaller
http://tinyurl.com/gqsp4ma

UltraSearch 2.1 with file content search
http://tinyurl.com/h952l67

Fix Windows 10 Start Menu problems
http://tinyurl.com/z9ce6tb

Hiding the webcam
http://tinyurl.com/zfxlse3

Install & Play Classic Windows 7 Games on Windows 10/8.1/8
http://tinyurl.com/gl6drc4

A great set of card games and all online and all free
https://cardgames.io

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Class Summary 6-16-2016

Free Phone Service? All you need is an old AT&T or T-Mobile phone. 200 minutes talk, 500 min text and 500mb of data. Not too much, but it is free. All you need is to spend $5 for a SIMM card.
http://tinyurl.com/gtf5qpf

Install & Play Classic Windows 7 Games on Windows 10/8.1/8. This is a third party program that puts all those games you liked in 7 that went away with the upgrades.
http://tinyurl.com/gl6drc4

Netflix Secret Categories lets you choose the categories of films to watch and it displays them for you in pictures. This is a free site: not part of Netflix
http://netflixcodes.me/

Hangout with me during the summer months while you (and me for a few weeks) are away from the Club. You will need a Google account and will be prompted for your username (email you signed up with) and password. If you do not have an account you can set up one. You do not need a gmail address to open a Google account. Just use your normal email address and assign a password to it to sign in to Google. This account is more than a way into hangouts. It also give you 15gb of cloud space, access to Google Docs, access to unlimited storage of your photos on Google Photos, and more.
http://tinyurl.com/dickevans

Another great shortcut to remember in Windows 10 and more
Win+I opens the Settings Window
Win+E opens a new instance of File Explorer
Win+L locks the screen
Win+D clears the desktop of running programs without closing them
Win+M clears the desktop of running programs that have a minimize button
Win+R opens the run dialog box

A great set of card games and all online and all free
https://cardgames.io

How to Extend Windows 10’s 30-Day Limit for Rolling Back to Windows 7 or 8.1
http://tinyurl.com/h93e46e

Type NETPLWIZ in the run dialog box to remove the need to enter a password when Windows starts. Also WINVER will display the current version of the OS running.




CCleaner includes in the tools section a Drive Wiper which can be use to totally clear data off a disk drive. You choose the level of cleaning.

Friday, June 10, 2016

Class Summary 6-9-2016

We began with a walk through how to obtain and easily update the maintenance programs I use to keep a PC clean. The following is a white paper is a white paper I wrote on that subject:

White Paper on Maintenance
http://www.rwevans.com/ComputerMaintenance.pdf

We ran ninite.com to download safely the mainenance programs and put the ninite installer on the desktop for easy access. Then we talked in detail about glary utilities walking through how to use it on a daily basis to clean things up and shutdown your PC.

We have gone over this in the past and have written other summaries on glary. Here is a what to type into the address bar of your browser to locate those notes:

glary site:dickevanstraining.blogspot.com

The word “glary” is what we are searching for. The word “site:” tells the browser to limit the search to the website that follows the colon.

Then we talked more about the use of OneDrive and Google Photos to insure you have your important documents and your photos in the cloud for safekeeping. Search this blog site for more summaries on these topics. Also the summary of this month's presentation at the general meeting. You can find that at http://cccgc.info/wp-content/uploads/ComputerClubMeeting6-7-2016.pdf

Watched a couple of funny video on YouTube:

Trunk Monkey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx6WB5YJia8&index=4&list=RDl8oPVVGYQ40

Remember
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yN-6PbqAPM

If you are taking a road trip and staying at motels you might want to use this site: Checking for Bedbugs before you book a hotel
http://bedbugregistry.com

We have talked a bit about disabling programs from starting when your PC boots. This reduces the startup time and stops unnecessary programs from constantly running in the background. This article explains how to make a program autostart on bootup. For example, you might want to help someone who does not know much about computers have their PC automatically open their email when they turn on the computer.
http://tinyurl.com/zvfjusm

We also used spokeo.com to search for someone by their phone number and then using their name or their email address. You get enough information to determine if this is the person you are looking for, but have to pay to get everything about them.