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• Screen’s wallpaper --the background of your desktop
• Screen Saver,--pictures appearing on screen when the computer sits idle
• Cool color scheme (choose one of the schemes already installed or combine your own with the down arrows beside color one and color two),
• Available colors,
• Resolutions

You can always reinstall a program you purchased from the disc that you originally installed it from, but if you have upgraded it since from a download from the Internet, then you will have to re-download the upgrade. Some things can not be replaced if you have no backup, such as that project for school or work that you spent so many hours on, but are not quite finished with. Data in your address book or your files in the personal filing cabinet that is included in your ISP provider’s program will be lost. Back these files up too because they are saved to your personal hard drive not theirs. Their basic program can be downloaded easily.

There are numerous devices available to backup data (see STORAGE DEVICES). Several methodologies can be used to copy or move files for storage. Some are pre-installed on CPUs and others can be purchased as either internal or external Add-Ons. Purchased devices come with instructions and are similar to those initially installed on a CPU. For example, the floppy disk drive that is indigenous to personal computers, except you have to first access an individual program before you can copy a file to it.

However, if adding on an external tape drive, a software installation will be required to access it from a designated drive in the hard drive. Every program comes with help files if you run into trouble. Tech Support personnel can be very helpful and a phone call away. Internal ADD-ONS are devices are added on with a drive letter designation of their own and can be accessed by the same methodology as the floppy drive. Copying a file to a floppy disk is the most common method of backup, and generally available on most networked to computers. The most important thing to remember is to have a copy of your work!!!

1. double-clicking on My Computer
2. right click on the "A" drive icon
3. from the menu select format
4. select disk capacity—1.44MB for a regular disk
5. select full
6. click on close when finished
7. go to file and exit My Computer, return to your work.

You can prevent erasing and recording information on a floppy disk by sliding the tab to the write-protected position. The tab is on the bottom, right corner of the back of the disk. Do this after the disk is full to protect it, or in between copying files if you like, but you have to remember to remove the write protection to copy more information.

One backup method is to save files to the hard drive first, using My Documents or My Briefcase folders-- your preference. However, when you are finished working, before leaving the computer.

1. go to the file menu
2. select the save as command
3. select the "A" or "B" disk drive
4. type the file name in the dialogue box
5. click save

1. ensure you have selected the correct floppy disk in the appropriate drive
2. open the folder on the hard drive where you saved the file to be copied
3. copy the file to Drive "A" by dragging the file using either the Move or Copy command.

The way "Windows" is programmed if you are moving a file in the same drive it actually moves it from one program to another. But if you are moving it from one drive to another, in this case from the "C" drive to the "A" drive it only copies it there, even if you tell it to move it. In any case your file will be written to your floppy disk. You can even use the File Menu in Explorer and the Send To command there.

• Double click on the My Computer icon.
• Double click on the "C" drive icon.
• Double click on the folder where your file is currently stored to open it.
• Using the right mouse button, click on the file’s icon and a menu will pop out.
• Point at the Send To command and another menu pops out.
• Finally, click on the name of the floppy disk you’d like to send the file to – Drive "A" or Drive "B" if you have an internal Zip Disk and wish to save it to the Zip.

If you are in a program the File Menu has the Send To command there too! Most programs have the Send To command it’s just that some, for instance Microsoft Office, won’t allow you to send the file to the "A" drive. If not you may then use the Save or the Save As commands and save the file to the disk in the "A" drive. This works with smaller files, or many small files with different names, but if your file is very large (over 500 KB) the "Save As" creates another backup copy at the same time.

For example Safeguard Interactive Inc. is one of these companies http://www.sgii.com/home.html. The company limits backup or restoration to 1GB of information a day but there is no total storage limit. They offer one month free and then apply a charge of $9.95 a month or an annual fee of $99.95. No additional equipment is required and you can access the account from any computer with Internet access. There are other companies that perform the same service; pricing and data limits differ. Some research will assist you in finding the right source for your needs.

• Cost of original add-on drive.
• Cost of additional equipment (disks).
• Amount of storage space on each disk and how many might be needed yearly.
• Possibility of loss or damage to disks.

sdcdreamer@altavista.com

for an individual who likes the Impressionist Period artist Monet. The picture is appropriate for their screen name. Some of the text that would appear in the graphic, their actual screen name, has been removed to protect personal privacy. It is a simple matter to insert any text you like in any font style you wish using the Paint Program.

To save a picture from the Internet, just right click on it and a popup menu will appear. Click on Save Picture As then select the type of file by clicking in the little drop down box and looking at what options are available in the dialog box. You can either save it in a folder on the hard drive you have created specifically for this purpose or to a floppy dedicated to graphic files. A graphic that you have saved to use a lot, for example one you have made into a signature graphic, save to the hard drive, you may not want to find and insert a floppy every time you wish to use it. To use the picture you saved:

• Select exactly where you wish to place the graphic by placing the cursor at the exact spot to insert the picture (graphic).
• Click on the Insert Command.
• Choose insert picture.
• Then tell the computer where to find the file by clicking on the down arrow to show your choices.
• The dialog box will present you with a list of all the pictures in the folder you choose, highlighting the first one on the list and presenting you with a preview picture. This is especially useful if you did not change the name of the file to something recognizable to you when saving the picture while downloading from the Internet, as some of them can be quite odd.

NOTE: The graphic of the man peeking, at the beginning of the Tips for My Notebook section, is a line divider graphic that was saved to a floppy disk. The picture of the little man waving at the beginning of the section Tips for My Notebook is a design created by using the ALT key and the numeric keypad on your keyboard. Combinations like this as well as others utilizing symbols from the standard keyboards are cute additions to e-mail or student projects. In the case of the man waving it is created by holding down the Alt key and then typing in a sequence of numbers: 0139-350-350-0155-space (one space or several) 0139-808-249-168-249-809-0155. An example of a combination is: ¦:-) with the eyebrows being Alt1478 and the eyes nose and smiley mouth typed using the symbols on the keyboard. Highlighting it and selecting a larger font size then can enlarge this, and also the color can be changed to make it more dramatic. The computer allows you to be very creative. Typing in :-) in Windows 98 will automatically change to J , simply backspace once to change back if you wish the other style. J Enlarged and colored is nice too.

¦:-)             }:->             =[:-)=

Smile’s the devilish grin or even Uncle Sam

Another example of using the keyboard to draw a picture is this one which was copied and pasted instead of typing in each individual character. The only problem with copying and pasting something like this is sometimes it does not line up exactly right, however it can easily be adjusted. Text can be inserted in the center to make the text stand out such as surrounding a quote as in the sample.

\\ \\\ | /// //

\\ \\ | /////

( @ @ )

------oOOo-(_)-oOOo--------

When ideas fail, words come in very handy.

Goethe

------------OooO------------

( ) ) /

\ ( (_/

\_)

Microsoft Word comes with clip art files, which are graphics that can be used to make your document more interesting. Some of the graphics used in this document were from those files. Other graphics were taken from Word Art, another Microsoft Word feature. If the examples are still not enough there are sites on the World Wide Web where more clip art is available. Some are free and some require a yearly fee. The companies that require a yearly fee usually have a trial period that is free, yet they don’t offer the complete program available.

One site used for some of the graphics in this document can be found at http://www.arttoday.com. There is a free trial period for 30 days and gives you access to 40,000 clip art files to download. For a yearly fee of $29.95, 750,000 files are available. There are more expensive plans with more extensive files for those who require them.

The computer is a multidimensional multimedia product, which means it can utilize many forms of media including pictures, video, and sound. Most computers have a sound card already installed that enables the computer to use these features. To hear sounds all that is required are the sound card and speakers. To record your own sounds you also need a microphone. These can be purchased separately but most systems include this hardware when you purchase the computer. Sound files can be stored in several different formats and you will need the proper program to hear them, but these programs can usually be downloaded free.

Sound files, usually in the format of .wav files can be downloaded from individual ISP services or the Internet. They may also be exchanged via e-mail. You have to have the file saved on the hard drive in order to hear it if someone else plays it in a chat room. There is a program available from http://www.tpasoft.com/ that enables you to hear and play sounds in instant messages, or attach sounds to people on a buddy list if you use AOL or CompuServe2000 as your ISP. The site provides you with complete information on exactly how to purchase, download, and install the program and includes a free trial period before purchase to decide if you really like the program.

The Windows OSs comes with a large selection of sounds that you can attach to a specific computer function. Some may have already been installed when your computer arrived, but you can change sounds attached to that particular event. You may change these to sounds you have recorded yourself or sounds you download from the Internet. Keep these short though, because sounds take up a lot of space and in some cases may even interfere with the computers speed in performing the operation you have selected to attach the sound to. To accomplish this

1. Open the Control Panel
2. double click on the Sounds Icon
3. scroll through the list provided.
4. Events that already have a sound attached will have a little speaker icon next to it.
5. When you select the event with a sound attached, you can then hear the sound by clicking on the Preview command.
6. To hear other options click on Browse. This will bring up the Media file, which presents you with all options Windows has provided for you.
7. By changing the folder to look in from Media to another folder on your hard drive dedicated to sound files you have saved, you can then insert any of those files too! Internet Service Providers such as AOL have their own list of events, exclusive to them, underneath the Windows list, which operate only in that program. These are automatically installed when you install the ISP’s program.

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