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Tech Tips

The High Cost of Wasted Printer Ink
Ink is pricey, yet CR's exclusive tests show that much of what you buy may never hit the page
By Tercius Bufete
August 17, 2018
CONSUMER REPORTS

Ways to Conserve Ink

No matter which model of printer you choose, you won't be able to adjust the maintenance cycle. We've found they occur based on a frequency set by the manufacturer. But you can reduce the number of cycles in several ways.
Leave the printer powered on all the time. This avoids triggering a maintenance cycle each time you use it. When we did that with some of the most ink-hogging models, it noticeably reduced ink consumption.
Worried about the cost and environmental impact of the extra energy? Inkjets left on use up very little power when not in use, so your ink savings should outweigh the expense considerably.
For less critical work, print in draft mode. This will reduce the amount of ink used, though not necessarily for maintenance. And think twice before printing lots of large photographs, especially in high-quality mode, because they use the most ink.
Don't change cartridges unless you must. When you swap out a cartridge that has plenty of ink left for, say, a less expensive off-brand one for less critical work, you trigger an ink-consuming initialization cycle. Note that some printers might not let you switch in half-full cartridges.

Are you tired of telemarketers calling you???

Go to this government website to take care of it. You can list 3 phone numbers. Takes less than 1 minute and does not expire. www.donotcall.gov/

KEEP YOUR COMPUTER RUNNING
at TOP SPEED

1.  Have an antivirus program running at all times. You can pay for one or get this highly rated one for free:  AVAST        http://www.avast.com/     Just make sure you pick the FREE version. Allow updates which are free not upgrades which cost money.  They will occasionally try to upgrade you to a paid version with more features, but the free one should be all you need.   You want AVAST  to update automatically so that when a new virus comes out, your computer is protected.

                        2.  Use a Registry Cleaner  occasionally.  The Registry is like the index/table of contents for your computer.  As you create, delete, and move files as well as install and uninstall  programs, the Registry can get really “messy”.  A cleaner eliminates out-of-date info which helps your computer work more efficiently. A great free one is CCleaner.  https://www.piriform.com/      You can also use this program to uninstall programs from your computer, to delete junk files from your web browser and computer, and to set the programs that are part of your  computer startup so it boots faster.  Again, update (free) not upgrade ($$).

If Your Laptop Won’t Start

Recently a member emailed me that her laptop wouldn’t turn on.  Before she ran to Best Buy to replace it, we tried these steps and solved the problem.
1. Unplug the laptop, turn it over and pop out the battery, and then push down the start button and hold for 30 seconds.  Now plug it in and hit the start button again.  Does it come on? Great!  Put the battery back in and proceed as normal.  
2. No luck?  Well, the next thing to check out is your power cord.  When plugged in does the light turn on? If not, your cord may be bad (buy a new one) or the connection inside the computer to the cord may be broken off the motherboard (expensive to fix).
3. Worst case - computer is dead.time to go shopping.
Luckily for her a new power cord was all she needed.

 Basic Computer Skills  

What is a File? What is a Folder?

What is the difference between a file and a folder? A file is one picture or one letter you wrote or one bank statement you downloaded from your online banking site. It is one document. A folder holds one or more files or it can hold other folders. For example, in the folder called My Pictures you can have individual “loose” pictures or you can organize your pictures into several different folders like John’s Wedding, Birthday Cruise, Mike, Mary and Kids etc. In the My Documents folder you could have a folder called WOW Newsletters, one called Recipes, one called Bank Statements, and one called Family Info. Folders help you organize the information you have on your computer so that you can easily find it.

Putting files into Folders

Putting files into folders is pretty easy. You can click once on a closed file, keeping your finger on the left button, and drag the file into the folder you want to store it in. OR when you first create a file or save one to your computer, you can tell it in which folder you want it to go using the Save In box at the top of the Save window. (If you don’t tell it where to save the file, it goes into the last place you saved a file. That’s how you “lose” files on your computer. For example, your meatloaf recipe gets saved in your WOW folder because you recently saved your newsletter there.) So make sure to pick the right folder or create a new one at the top before you click the SAVE button at the bottom of the Save window

SHORTCUTS you will use.

Is the print too small on your webpage or document to read comfortably?    Hold down the Ctrl key and roll the wheel on your mouse to increase and decrease the size of text. 
More Shortcuts: hold down the CTRL (control) key and tap the letter indicated.

Ctrl + C  will copy the highlighted text or selected item.
Ctrl + X will cut the highlighted text or selected item

Ctrl + V  will paste the text or object that you just copied or cut in the new location that you clicked your mouse

Ctrl + Z (the “Whoops key” will undo any change you made to a document. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it and put the text back. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes.  This shortcut is great for those accidental changes you make and want to undo.
Ctrl + Y would redo the undo.

Ctrl +S  will save a document you’re working on. Do this frequently while you are working.
Ctrl +P will open the print preview window.

PRINTING

To print any document or webpage, hold down the CTRL key and tap the “P” key.  This will open your PRINT preview window where you can select how many pages ( all of them or just one page or maybe pages 2-4. If you don't change anything, it will print all the pages when you only needed the first page.) Here is also where you decide how many copies you need.  You can also find the PRINT command under the File menu or the
Office button depending on the program you are using.

SAVE and SAVE AS

To save a document hold down the CTRL key and tap the “s” key. This opens the SAVE window. Use this to save a new file and save changes to an old file. Make sure to pick a good location to save your file using the save in box at the top and change the name if you want in the file name box at the bottom. If you are trying to save a picture or document you received with an email (like the WOW newsletter), open it then select SAVE AS from the File menu or the Office Button at the top left . In the SAVE AS window you can choose a new location for the file other than your DOWNLOADS folder. You can save the file to your desktop or a folder in your documents folder. You can click NEW FOLDER to create a new folder to put the document or picture in, and name the new folder, for example - WOW Newsletters or My Grandkids. Use SAVE AS to create a 2nd copy of your file so you don't mess up the original. Just give it a slightly different name or change the location for the file like on your desktop.

Look for one of these buttons to click to create a new folder

Questions? Contact me -Barbara Aboushahba, 407-761-8810
 barbaboush@aol.com