Computer Q&A

Questions & Answers

Opinions in the questions and answers are those of the correspondents and do not necessarily reflect those of YOURLifeChoices or its owners or management.

Know your Apples

Apple is taking over the world, or so it seems. With each new product released, consumers go crazy to buy the latest must-have gadget, but do you know your iPod from your iPad?

What is an iPod?
The very first iPod was released in 2001. The primary use of the iPod is as a portable media player with secondary uses including USB storage device and AM/FM Radio depending on your headset. There are four different types of iPods on the market.

- iPod Shuffle – A small compact device with no screen
- iPod Classic – The original iPod with screen for viewing video and scrolling through your music
- iPod Nano – A smaller version of the Classic
- iPod Touch – A larger version of the classic with a lot more features including games, weather, wi-fi, internet access, touch screen, music, video and a lot more. In other words, an iPhone… without the phone capabilities.

What is an iPhone?
The iPhone is the best selling mobile phone of all time. Apart from the obvious features of texting and making phone calls, the iPhone lets you surf the internet, check emails, play games, listen to music, chat online via Skype or MSN, view, edit and update your calendar and many more features. The iPhone is an all in one mini-computer in your pocket.

What is an iPad?
The iPad is a portable lightweight tablet computer. The new standout feature of this product is that it acts as an E-reader allowing you to download and read books anywhere! Other features you have come to expect from Apple products such as music, video, internet, email and the ability to play games are included. The iPad has a 10-hour battery life meaning you can go about your daily business and not have to worry about pugging it in until you get home!

Overcome your mouse frustrations

Just as YOURLifeChoices Editor, Debbie, was about to throw her mouse out of the window, Webmaster, Drew, came to her rescue and in a matter of seconds, had remedied the problem.

Each week, Debbie seems to have some problems with her computer and this week, it was her mouse sticking at a particular point which was causing her blood to boil.  Having had a similar problem with my home wireless mouse recently, I quickly put into action my first hand knowledge.

Optical mouse

A optical mouse has a tiny camera that takes 1,500 pictures every second. Able to work on almost any surface, the mouse has a small, red light-emitting diode (LED) that bounces light off that surface onto a complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. 

With this in mind, turn over your mouse. The most common problem affecting a optical mouse is human or pet hairs get caught in the area between the bottom of the mouse and the red light-emitting diode. Remove all the hairs from around this area and your mouse should work like a dream.

Ball mouse

A ball mouse is much simpler in design than an optical mouse, the computer sensors the direct the ball inside the mouse rolls and your mouse cursor on screen reacts appropriately. Over time, the ball and the rollers inside the mouse will get dirty. You will need to pick the pieces of built up dirt off the inside of the mouse to ensure it rolls freely like when your first purchased it. You may not notice it rolling slower, but clean it and trust me, you will feel the difference.

Read more of Webmaster, Drew’s, simple tech tips.

How do they know me?

YOURLifeChoices subscriber, Colin, was surprised when he received an email identifying his local MP, but he had never provided this information online. How do spammers know this information?

Q. Colin
I am used to receiving the normal junk and spam emails from various email addresses and add them to my blocked senders list on a regular basis. Today I was sent an email that was not addressed to my name, so I assume the sender did not know who I was, but identified me by my local MP. I am quite tech savvy but this has me baffled as I have not provided this information before.
Colin

A. Hi Colin, Drew here,

There are a number of different ways the email sender could have identified your local MP, but I will admit these are a bit of a guess.

The first way this can be done is via IP address. This can be located a number of different ways. The first is that you could have visited a website which you entered your email address into but did not provide your name. They automatically pick up your visiting IP Address, which contains the local area of where you are living (The exchange your computer connects to in your area) which could be used to create a script that enters the name of the local parliamentarian to attract you to reading their email.

The second way is a long shot. The email could contain an image which is set up with a special script which identifies your IP address when you open the email and fills in the blank spot like loading an image from an outside server, but this time instead of being an image, sends the IP address to their server and then fills in the blanks from that information.

The final and most likely way is that you entered your details into a website and this has resulted in your email address and postcode being added to a spam email list. Obviously your postcode is associated with a local MP for the area and could have resulted in the email you received.

Digital downloads and media

YOURLifeChoices subscriber, Michael is finding it hard to get around as much as he used to and has purchased a product to view digital downloads on his television but is seeking advice on where to legally purchase and download.

Q.
Dear YOURLifeChoices
I recently treated myself to a high definition mini media player and exterior hard drive, as I can’t get around like I used to. I would like to learn how to download movies and old television series to watch. I was told to download the following programs: Warezbb , doc4 you and rapid share paid member so it’s all legal.

The trouble is I don’t know how to bring this all together. What I want is someone to help me step by step to finish this project. I have tried looking for book that would help me could not find any. Tried looking on the computer but my old brain cannot grasp all those tech terms they use.  Can you help?

A.
Hi Michael,

I will start my explaining for those who do not know, a high definition mini media player is a way to super size your digital media on your big screen TV. Simply connect the player to your TV, plug a USB drive into the player and you’re ready to enjoy all your digital media such as movies, photos, music and other items.

Sadly, there are not many “legal” download sites operating that offer the download of digital media in regards to old television shows and movies. Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer customers the opportunity to purchase and download movies, music and television shows on their websites. If you are a customer of the ISP who is selling the products, the majority will not take any bandwidth for the downloads from your current internet plan, which is a huge incentive to change to that ISP if you are looking to download many different movies and shows.

I had a look at the sites you were recommended and I can’t confirm that any of those you listed were legal download sites.  Indeed, one of them seemed to be a sharing community, which is highly illegal.

You can look more into these types of services at Bigpond Movies and TV

Broadband demand exceeds supply

Q. Hi everyone, thank you for your newsletter, it is very interesting informative and fun!
I live in Hoppers Crossing and we decided to go broadband from dial up, only to be told that there is no room at the exchange!
My provider said to keep trying and that if someone moves out we maybe lucky.
Is there anything we can do? Any particular government dept. we can complain to?
My daughter lives in Melton and she has the same problem, I think if enough people start complaining something might be done about it!
Thank you all! Keep up the good work!
Chris

A. Hi Chris,
To answer your question, you will need to know the process behind broadband. Telstra builds and maintains all the current exchanges and rents out space when requested by ISP’s. While they plan to always upgrade and add more when the exchanges become full, they legally do not have to unless it is in their interests. With the rollout of the National Broadband Plan by the Government, it is not in their best interests to build or expand these hubs, because in two to three years time, all their equipment could be worthless, it’s a very watch this space area at the moment.
You should call a number of ISP providers in your area, as Telstra rents out space to different providers and even though one may say all their exchange room is full, another may have room… which an ISP will never tell you. If this does not work, a wireless broadband connection may provide a faster signal than your dial up network until a space in your exchange is found.

Is wireless worth it?

Q. I wonder if Drew could answer the following question - it probably applies to a lot of seniors!

“I currently have a mobile and Broadband and phone via landline. I am in very close proximity to a tower, which has Next G etc so I was wondering if there are any disadvantages in changing over to wireless internet and giving up my landline phone. I would save at least $30/mth and probably have a better internet service. I don’t use my landline phone very much at all so the extra charge for mobile calls is not significant.”

Martin

A. Hi Martin,

Thanks for the great question.

When using wireless internet from a source outside of my own home, I have always found the download and upload speeds rather slow and experienced a number of drop-outs from the network because of interference, especially when there is rain or lightning. I must admit I have not used this service on the Next G network so my opinion may not be up to date. I would suggest you purchase a pre-paid “USB Dongle”, which is a wireless device that you stick into your USB slot of your computer, which will pickup the wireless signals, this should cost in the region of $30. This will allow you to test out how well you pickup this wireless feed from the tower before you “make the change”.

Have you heard of, or considered purchasing a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone, instead of having a landline phone installed, it is A LOT cheaper and the quality of call is close to that of a mobile phone call. I find that broadband provides a faster and more consistent speed and will always be faster than a wireless network from a tower. You must also realise that you are broadcasting your signals a long distance to this tower. While the network it sends over may be secure, you can never be certain that someone is not interacting with your signals and monitoring the information you are sending, especially if you make purchases online with your credit card.

As you can see, there is no clear yes/no to this question; it all depends on the situation, how close to a tower you are and if you are open to using a VOIP phone.

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Removing unwanted software

From time to time, we all install software that we think will be great, but end up never using it!

This software then just sits in the background of our computers potentially taking up valuable memory space making your computer run slower.

To remove these programs, we need to use the Windows Add/Remove function.

Click the “Start” button at the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. This will pop up your start menu with a number of options. The option we want to click on is “Control Panel”. Depending on your version of windows, this is generally on the right-hand side of the windows menu, close to the bottom.

Now that your “Control Panel” is opened, there will be a number of different items to choose from. Open the program called “Add or Remove Programs”. Once again depending on the exact software you have installed, it may be slightly different, but it should start with Add or Remove. (It is not the Add Hardware function!).

You will have to be patient and wait anywhere from 10 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your computer for this to load up fully. Now that this is open, you can see all of the programs installed on your computer, ranging from Virus Scanners to Microsoft Office.

It is very important that you understand what you are uninstalling before you remove the program, as this process cannot be reversed easily.

Q. How do I remove a program once I have found it in the list?

Removal is easy, select the program from the list provided, and on the right hand side there will be a button called Change/Remove. Click this button and this will start the uninstall/change process. Follow the prompts provided and you will have the program removed from your computer in minutes!

Safe Senders

Recently, AboutSeniors received a question regarding our newsletter being sent to the Spam box for yahoo mail accounts. We have come up with a simple guide on how to fix this problem. If you have a similar problem regarding Hotmail or Outlook Express, click here to view a previous article to fix this.

Q. Hi,

Can you explain why emails from you are going to Spam?
This has been happening for a while now… I am still a learner at computers… I enjoy the emails from you, any help would be appreciated.
Regards, Doreen

A. Hi Doreen,

I have gone and made a Yahoo account to show you what needs to be done to prevent this for happening in the future.

Log into your Yahoo account and go into the relevant folder containing the latest newsletter that was sent by AboutSeniors, for example the Spam folder.

When you have found an Email from us, left click on the email, and then right click on it and the following drop down box will appear as on the right of our screen. Click on the option at the bottom named Add Sender to Contacts. You will not have to change any of the information, so just click Save. Once you hit Save, a box will appear confirming that the Contact was added. Click ok, and now you are done, and can do this for other contacts as well.

PC vs Mac

AboutSeniors subscriber, Jim, told us that his current computer is getting a little out of date and freezing just a little too much, so he has asked us which is better to purchase, PC or Mac?

Being a PC user all my life and only recently having encounters with Mac computers, I have quite a biased view on which I prefer, I would straight away say I prefer a PC. Why? Because I am resistant to change, like so many other people. But this article is not about me, it is about what is right for you, and for Jim.

For a person who has used a PC and never used a Mac computer before, the change to the new software is quite a leap to make. The whole setup is different, but you would encounter the same problems if you purchased a new PC with Windows Vista, which also has a totally different feel to that of Windows XP,2000, 98 and even 95 which are relatively similar in style.

A PC can do anything you want, use as much hardware and as much software as you want, on as many operating systems as you want, while Macs do not have this same amount of customization. You need to look at what suits your needs before you purchase a computer.

Jim mentioned that he was looking at the price of a Mac vs PC and found that the MAC was around 40% more expensive than the PC. I’m happy to say, in performance standards, that this is actually not true. If you purchase a Mac and PC of similar values, these will actually be of similar performance.

My honest opinion would be that if you are not looking to play all the new fancy computer games with high graphics and details, but still want to watch movies and different clips on your computer, the Mac would be your better option.
If you have a very limited amount of money to spend, you can pick up a second hand PC for a lot cheaper than you can a Mac, there simply are more out there on the market.

I hope I have made it a little clearer to you, rather than just confusing you on this topic, so I will simply end with several dot points which may back you decide easier!

· If you have a small budget, get a PC
· Macs run faster and load software quicker
· Mac and PC prices for quality and speed are similar at the middle to higher end
· PC have more customization with software
· If you’re resistant to change, stick with what you know!

Sudoku problem

Q. Hi, when i go to the Sudoku page, all i get is the YOURLifeChoices page with no Sudoku puzzle, is there something i am doing wrong?
Regards, Geoff

A. Hi Geoff

There are a couple of things you will need to try. My first suggestion would be to try and open the page with a different browser, for example if you are trying with Internet Explorer currently, download Mozilla Firefox and try and view the page with that.

If that does not work, then you may need to download java. I believe if you click the link below and download/install it may help.

http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

Ivan’s internet concession

Q. Are there any Internet Services Providers (ISPs) that offer seniors a concession on the price of an internet connection?

A. TADAust Connect offer dial up and ADSL broadband plans for people with disabilities, the elderly and veterans. The basic costs of both packages are: Dial up, $5.50 per month; ADSL broadband, $29.95. For more information go to http://www.tadaustconnect.org.au

Anne’s password pop-up

Q. I am really enjoying your comprehensive website, but I have a query. When I answered a personal ad, I got a pop-up request for my Bigpond password. Is this valid?

A. It would appear that your ISP (Bigpond) is verifying authenticity; however, I would be inclined to call Bigpond and find out why this occurs. Before you call them, check if this is only happening with one ‘personal ad’ or with several, and if you can test that out, they will be in a better position to assist you.

Q&A – Skype sound

Q. Roy
I have a question about sound when using my computer to talk to other people on Skype etc. I get a lot of echo and feedback oscillation and can’t seem to get rid of it. I adjust the volumes of the mic and output but to no avail. I also move the speakers away from the mic but that doesn’t work either.

I am using XP, have a new Soundblaster Audigy sound card and the speakers are Logitech analogue type. Can you please suggest how I can fix the problem? My system plays DVDs and CDs (on playback only) without any hassles. Help!

A. Unfortunately, while you are using a microphone and speakers you will always have a lot of feedback. By far the best way to chat online is by using a headset (I always buy Logitech). From what you have said and from my five years experience of chatting daily on microphones, I’ve learnt that headsets save the headaches from feedback and also from hearing yourself in someone else’s speakers (or vice versa).

If you don’t think that is the main reason, it may be your sound card is playing up but I doubt it, as those cards are pretty reliable for the most part (more than most computer parts!).
Drew

Wham spam, thank you ma’am

Q. Amy: I have been a subscriber to YOURLifeChoices enewsletter for a couple of years, but lately I am not receiving your fortnightly epistle. I love the book reviews, recipes and travel deals, so what can I do to ensure it comes through?

A. Amy, we have checked and your email address is indeed on the database. It seems we may have fallen victim to an over zealous spam filter, so here’s the way to ‘welcome’ us into your inbox.

Open Outlook, go to Tools on the menu bar, click rules and alerts, then new rule, and start from a blank rule. Select check messages when they arrive and click next. Under ‘select conditions’ tick the box from people or distribution list

Then click edit from people or distribution list in the lower box. This will take you to you contact list, and you can find our address , double click on this address, then click Ok. Then click finish and the rule will apply. Let us know if this helps.

Java Problems

Q. Laurie: Hi, sorry I have not got a suggestion, just a problem with the crosswords. I have been playing them for quite a while bit recently they will not open when I click onto them. I see a note about having JAVA running....what or how do I get that happening. 

A. Thank you for your email, and we are sorry to hear that you are having some problems with playing our YOURLifeChoices crosswords despite previously being able to do so.   I cannot say why you are now encountering problems, but perhaps you have recently updated your virus protection (this sometimes alters settings without you being aware), or your edition of Java has become outdated?

Anyway, in the first instance I would check that your browser’s Java support is enabled. For Microsoft Explorer users, the setting is under Tools/Internet Options/Security/Custom Level, then scroll down to find Java and select Enable if not already selected.

After that, perhaps you could try re-installing?  This is not as drastic an action as it may seem, and is very straight forward.  Click on the following link and follow the prompts (or cut and paste into your address bar): http://java.sun.com/getjava . Be sure to restart your computer after completing the installation.

Crossword Query

Q. Matt: When I try to access the crossword puzzles, the sun Microsystems logo appears and does not fully load.  This locks up my computer.  What can I do to eliminate this problem
Thanks’

A. I beleive your problem lies with your installation of Java, which I recommend you re-install. You can download the latest version of Java from, the Sun Microsystems website. 

Creating an E-mail Account

Q. Tom: I want to sign up for your e-newsletter but I don’t have an email address. I don’t want to have to pay to use email, as this is the only thing it will be for.

A. There are many free emailing services, which are easy to use and easy to set up, some popular examples include, Yahoo! and Hotmail.

Increasing/Decreasing Text Size

Q. Anna: I have a problem when viewing some of the text from websites.  Is there anyway I can increase the size of this text?

A. There are numerous ways to increase the size of text for websites.  The easiest way is to click in the menu bar in view then select from the text size option what size you would like. On the YOURLifeChoices site, you can click on the button on the top-right hand corner changing the font to either normal or large size.