Scan and Copy

Question submitted by donna on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2021 at 02:46:00 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: i get very confused on scanning from my epson, i have a resume that i am try to scan and copy so i can copy and paste it to a application im filling out can you please direct me as to the steps i need to do to get this on my computer so i can copy it for pasting, thank you so much for any help donna --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Dear Donna, the problem you are having is not uncommon. Most users get confused by the whole scanning thing. I have customers ask me all the time how to digitize data to make it easier to store and transmit. The problem is the limitations of the technology.

When you scan something you create an image of the page. That image can then be attached as either a graphic file (.JPG, .BMP, .TIF) or an Acrobat (.PDF) file depending on the version of your scanning software. Some scanners also give you the option to transfer that graphical information into text. This technology is commonly referred to as OCR (optical character recognition). When the scanning software captures the image it tries to translate the text into the text that corresponds with the image. This has mixed results depending on the quality of the page you are scanning and the quality of the OCR software. A plain page of text with no graphics and square on the page can get about 95% of the text correct. You still need to proofread it after you scan and OCR to make sure the software got the text right.

A resume usually has formatting that may or may not OCR well (depending on the format). You should look for the OCR option on your software and test it out. More than likely though you're going to need to just send a scanned graphical version of your resume along (.JPG or .PDF) to have it formatted correctly. Or you can re-enter your resume into MS Word or some other word processing software so that you can then copy and paste it into whatever form the submission site requires (I believe most will take word formatted documents directly.

Hope this points you in the right direction,

Ed Smit Questions@JustAskEd.net For more answers to your computer questions go to JustAskEd.Blogspot.com

Printing and Spell check.

Question submitted by Donald on Tuesday, September 16, 2020 at 00:41:09 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: I have 3 years support on my purchase contract of28 Mat 2011. Personal desktop R210501N with Windows Home Edition. The spell program checks almost every word and always advises word unkown???:. The printer command now seldom activates the printer. Printer connestions good. ???

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Answer: Have you checked for spyware? I recommend a program called Spybot - Search and Destroy. It's a free download at download.com and it helps clean up many spyware and virus issues. Spyware and viruses are the number one cause of strange computer behavior. Printer issues can be caused by all sorts of things. Things I commonly check...

Are there old print jobs in the printer queue? Is the cable between the printer and the cpu a good cable? Does it print at all and under what circumstances? Is your hard drive almost full? Do you have the latest print driver updates from the manufacturer?

I had a printer last month that would only print once in a while and it turned out it was a defect in the XP printer driver. I downloaded a new driver and it started working right away.

Does the printer make any strange new noises?

The spellcheck problem could be caused by a corrupt file in your word processing software. I would try running a repair of the software. You will need to insert the original CD and run the repair option when it comes up. Otherwise you could download OpenOffice.org and have a working spellchecker right away.

Good Luck

Ed Smit Questions@JustAskEd.net For more answers to your computer questions visit justAskEd.blogspot.com

Adobe Reader

Question submitted by robyn on Saturday, October 4, 2020 at 00:21:44 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: I was given an option to upgrade to the latest version, so i did. I deleted by mistake my original adobe reader and now I find out I have to pay for the latest version which I don't want, so how do I get my original adobe reader back and delete the new one. Any help will be welcome. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Robyn,

Did you have the full Adobe Acrobat program which allows you to create and edit PDF files? If so, you want to uninstall the new version and load your original version again from the original source. If you only use the reader program (it allows you to read Acrobat files) it is still free for all versions (the latest version included). You probably accidentally downloaded the full featured Adobe Acrobat version which does cost. To download the free reader click here. To download an older version of Reader click here. Personally, I don't download every update of software unless there is a compelling reason for updating (a feature that I just must have). All software companies want you to download their latest and greatest version but in most cases they just slow down your system. Most "improvements" in software are so incremental that you won't see a real improvement for 3 to 4 version numbers (and that usually doesn't happen before you buy a new computer because it's now too slow). This is how the computer industry makes its money. The hardware companies make a newer faster computer with more storage. The software companies make software that uses more resources then your current computer has available. You then need a newer faster computer to run your new software which is supposed to save you time and energy but ends up costing time and money to get a new computer, and so the vicious cycle continues on until you stop upgrading just because you receive a pop-up that says you should. I don't download all the updates for software. I usually turn off the automatic checking for updates garbage that pops up constantly on my screen because it usually just slows down my computer and doesn't improve my quality of life. When there is a security problem with a software I will sometimes download those updates but I rely on my security software to notify me of true vulnerabilities. Memory resident software that goes to a site and checks for updates automatically slows down your computer. If you let every software check for updates you're using all sorts of bandwidth without getting anything done for yourself. A typical user has an operating system, an office suite, acrobat reader, java, an MP3 player program, and virus protection. If all of those programs check for updates when you first start up you get a bottleneck that causes your system to appear slower and slower. I just disable all automatic checking (except for my virus scan software) and check them maybe once a month. This makes my system work faster and also stops annoyance pop ups about software updates that don't help me get my work done. We live in an age of distraction. We are bombarded by constant information. At least we have the power to take back our time on the computer from the ad world on this front. This was probably waaaaayyyyy more than you were bargaining for but sometimes I can't help myself. ;o Good luck, Ed Smit Questions@JustAskEd.net For more answers to your computer questions check JustAskEd.Blogspot.com

Saving an eBook

Question submitted by Deanne on 8/21/20 at 10:12 AM My dad has downloaded section 1 of my eBook but it doesn't seem to be able to save. He should be able to save it, right? As a pdf file? Download comes from a website.

Answer: He needs to either right click on the link to download the chapters and choose save target as or he needs to click on the diskette icon on the toolbar at the top of the document once it is open. He CANNOT save the book by choosing file and then save. It won't save that way for an acrobat file.

Search Engines are off-the-wall

Question submitted by Patrick on Thursday, August 14, 2020 at 00:14:47

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: Every time I try to search the internet for a web site I get re-directed to another search engine. How do I correct this problem. The search engines are off-the-wall engines. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer: You have a bug in your computer that is redirecting your requests. I would download firefox to change to a less vulnerable web browser. Also download spybot - search & destroy from download.com to remove spyware that could be causing the redirect. You should also check your virus protection to make sure it is still active. Here is a link to download firefox... http://www.Mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ Here is a link to download spybot - search & destroy http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html?tag=lst-1&cdlPid=10861988 Good luck, Ed Smit Questions@JustAskEd.net

TV shows on the Internet

Question submitted by james on Wednesday, July 9, 2020 at 05:29:18 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions: cant seem to get nbc.com tv shows or sci-fi.com shows to play correctly there choppy and impossible to watch ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer: The biggest bottlenecks to streaming video are Memory (RAM), Bandwidth (Internet Speed) and Processor Speed. Most streaming video gives you choices for the bandwidth. Try a smaller bandwidth or smaller image to let the video look smoother or get a faster internet provider. You can add more memory (RAM) to your computer to let it process bigger chunks of data. Processor speed can only be improved by a faster computer. Also, close any other running programs and check for spyware (download.com has a program called spybot-search and destroy that does a good job) before you run the streaming video. Make sure you're virus protection is working and up to date. Try a different browser (Firefox or Safari are now available for windows users instead of Internet Explorer) If it's jerky you can help it by freeing up your processor.

email attachments

Question:

Ed -

Still so far so good!

a question : How do I send an email with an attachment of a document in a file? Would appreciate the "click" procedure.

Thanks............Alan

Answer: There is usually a paperclip button on the email screen that lets you add an attachment. click it find the file you want to attach (usually in documents). Select it and the button on the right bottom of the side of the window usually says attach. it is now attached.

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Corrupted Desktop

Ann wrote: On my Mac how do I get back my desktop. I can login but only my desktop photo is there. All the other logins the laptop can access all of their applications and documents.

Answer: Unfortunately your login has corrupted Ann. The easiest thing to do is create a new login and copy the data files from your old login into the new one and then delete the old one. When the desktop gets corrupted this way it can mean that your hard drive is having problems and you might need to replace it in the near future and please make sure you back-up your data regularly on an external drive, memory stick or DVD. You could lose all of your data if the drive has a permanent failure.

For more answers to your questions check out JustAskEd.blogspot.com

Updates - Does She or Doesn't She

On Feb 19 Linda Wrote:

Question: I hadn't used AOL instant messenger in a year, and am now told should update. The update seems to offer much more than I need; do I have to sign up for everything? Is there a down side for agreeing to get all?

Answer: Tough question Linda, I generally do not update any software unless there is a security issue or they are discontinuing support for the older version. The reason is most updates aren't for the end-user but are usually for the software and hardware vendors. If you play the update game like they want you to...you would need to upgrade your computer every two years to be able to run all of their updates. Microsoft is the king of this...they create updates like they were candy that may or may NOT make your computer run better, be safer, jump higher. I guess what I'm trying to say with all of this rambling is I personally don't update anything unless I have a reason. And that doesn't include the software distributors master plan.

Hope this answers your question,
Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net
for more answers to your computer questions login to JustAskEd.blogspot.com

Greetings Workshop

On 4/23/08, Michael wrote:

Question: Greetings Workshop has worked fine on Windows XP on my Dell Computer. Our new computer is another Dell and it was purchased with Windows Vista. Is there any way we can still use the disk for Greetings Workshop with our new Windows Vista computer program?

Answer: Unfortunately older versions of some software won't work with Vista. It's Microsoft's way of ensuring income for years to come. I've had similar problems with Quickbooks, Microsoft Office, and many others. If the setup program doesn't run when you insert the CD than it probably won't work on Vista. Upgrade to Windows 7 and you'll have an easier time.

which is a better system interm technology

On 2/23/08, Marie wrote:

Question:

Gateway 552 GE
Pentium 4 CPU 3.20 GHz, 3.20 Ghz, 504 MB of RAM
or

Gateway 24" LCD Dual Core, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD Intel Pentium Processor E2140 (dual core) both are desktops

Answer: Neither, I think Gateway systems are the worst made PCs on the market. They always seem to have problems and glitches in their systems.

Cell Phones and Obnoxious People

The other day I was riding the bus and a man was talking on his cellphone at the top of his voice. A dear sweet little old lady (someone's loving grandmother) asked him to please not be so loud. The conversation went something like this:

Sweet Lady: "Please, sir, could you be quieter. I don't want to hear your conversation."

Loud Mouth: "Huh?"

Sweet Lady: "I'm asking you to not be so loud on the bus."

Loud Mouth: "I can be as loud as I want. Who are you to tell me how loud I can be."

Sweet Lady: "I am asking you nicely to stop shouting into your phone on the bus."

The loud mouth wasn't getting anywhere with her and it was messing with his conversation so he hung up and glared at the lady for the rest of the trip saying things like...

"Thinks she can tell me the #@(#* how I can talk. Who is she? Mutter, mutter, mutter...etc."

It made me more conscious that day of my own cellphone usage and location of usage. I have sworn off cellphone conversations in public places that are confined in space (busses, restaurants, etc). When I'm walking down the street or in a park I might still talk on the phone but I'm going to be more aware of how much of an annoyance I am presenting to the people around me. After all, just because I can talk on the phone anywhere doesn't mean I should.

Google Page Questions

I use Google a lot but they have been coming up with some annoying features that make their pages work slower. Also, everyone always tries to switch you to their webpage as your home page so here were two questions relating to Google this week. I will add more to this string as Google questions arrive.

On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 10:11 AM, Deanne wrote:

Somehow facebook got set as my default page instead of google. How do I put google back?
Answer: Re: help!

Answer:
type google.com on the address line of your browser.
Hit Enter
Click on the Tools menu at the top of the browser
Choose Internet Options or Options depending on the browser
Click on the button that says Use Current Page for setting your default home page
Click Ok

On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 9:49 AM, Deanne wrote:

Thank you. I will do so, and keep these directions for the future. How do I permanently take off google instant search? It is VERY annoying: as I’m trying to type, it keeps flinging things up to me that distract me from what I’m trying to type—then I go to the wrong place.

Answer:
click on "show search options" next to the search box and you can turn it off there.

Windows 7 Slow on Network

Windows 7 got some improved features over Vista including speed of networking. Sometimes you may notice the network starts to slow down compared to XP. This is due to more "advanced" features and requirements. These 6 easy steps can help you to solve Windows 7 network slowness problems by disabling some features.

Windows 7 computers can be slow in accessing shares on old MS Windows servers and non-MS Operating systems including Sun and Linux. Accessing data and transferring data over networks are still problematic in some cases. Resolving DNS requests internally (LAN or WAN) and externally (Internet) could also cause Windows 7 to slow down. The following methods I’m listing out have worked for me to speed up Windows 7 networking with NT,2003 and Sun servers.

How to Fix Windows 7 network slowness problems?

1) Disable Autotuning

Disabling autotuning will help much on DNS lookup and network discovery. It improves the data transfer speed also over the network. Disabling autotuning in windows 7 is very similar to the same problem in Windows Vista.

Here are the steps,

Start command prompt as administrator, and follow the commands as shown in the example below. To start a command prompt in Windows 7 click on the Start Button in the lower left hand corner of your system. In the search box at the bottom of the menu type cmd and hit Enter on your keyboard

Windows 7 Network slowness solution 1

commands from example

netsh interface tcp show global

netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled

netsh interface tcp show global

2) Remove RDC ( Remote Differential Compression)

This feature was introduced with Windows Vista to transfer data over networks in compressed format. The same RDC feature has been continued in Windows 7 also. Since most of the old operating systems that came before vista do not support this RDC feature, it slows down network data transfers in windows 7. You can remove this RDC (Remote Differential Compression) in windows 7 by visiting control panel and programs and features. Click on ‘Turn Windows features on or off’, as shown below.

Remove RDC (Remote Differential Compression)

Windows 7 Network slowness solution 2

3) Remove IPv6 from network properties.

If your internal or external networks do not require IPv6 protocol, better remove it under network connection properties. Keeping IPv6 in your computer sometimes slows down your network by trying to register IPv6 addresses, or trying to get an IPv6 address, or trying to resolve IPv6. Better remove it if it’s not required.

Remove IPv6 in Windows Vista

Windows 7 Network slowness solution 3

4) Clear DNS Cache

You can remove any DNS cache from your computer, so next time DNS requests will be solved by an updated DNS server. This will avoid your computer to try broken or changed DNS records from cache.

To clear DNS cache, open command prompt as administrator and type ipconfig /flushdns

Clear DNS Cache in Vista

Windows 7 Network slowness solution 4

5) Disable Wireless Network and any additional network adapters (including Virtual adapters).

If you will not be using a wireless network or it’s your secondary network, I recommend you disable wireless networks in windows 7 under network connection. If it’s enabled, your windows 7 computer will be trying to connect to available wireless networks around you, and trying to login through these networks. Loading your profiles and start up programs will be slow while booting because of this.

6) Modifying Link Speed & Duplex Value in Network adapter Properties.

This step also helps sometimes when you face problems with windows 7 network slowness. I can’t say which option will work better, because it depends on your physical network setup (network adapter, cable type, LAN speed and network switch). By default it is set for Auto Negotiation. But you can play around with Value options and find out which works best for your computer and network.

Hopefully the above steps will help to solve windows 7 network slowness. Feel free to suggest any additional steps you did to solve windows 7 network slowness, or problems you face to fix it.

Keyboard won't work on my laptop

On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 12:37 PM, Leese wrote:

Hey Ed, I am sick of having a sore wrist, bad neck from bad position of laptop…need to get an external keyboard, mousepad set up on laptop so as to stop hurting myself. I have just plugged in a mouse (USB connection and it works …just that easy!) and I have two old keyboards here to choose from but the connection aint USB. They are round with 6 pins and a larger protrusion….do they make adapters that turn it into a USB connection? I tried to find info on line, but had a hard time finding anything directly about my laptop and don’t know that I need a docking station….perhaps just a connector/adapter…thoughts? L

Dear Leese,

Well, they probably make an adapter that costs $150 bucks that will let you use the old keyboards or you could get a USB keyboard for $30 or less. Here's a Microsoft Curve Keyboard for under $20 that uses USB connection...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Microsoft+-+Comfort+Curve+Keyboard+2000/8934718.p?id=1217030529445&skuId=8934718

If you're running low on USB connections on your laptop...you could also get a USB hub. Here are a few ideas...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-1926553408108093139&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=USB+Hub&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960

Instructions To Connect To A Networked Mac

Here is a link to the instructions to Connect to your Old Mac from your New Mac (Right-Click or Ctrl-Click on the link and save the file to your computer before playing it)...

http://beyourownwebmaster.org/deared/downloads/ConnectToShareOnMac.avi

You can also follow these written instructions as well....

Click on the Finder Icon down at the bottom of the Screen on the far left (it looks like a two colored face)
Click on Go from the top menubar
Click on Connect to Server
Click on Browse
Click on the link in the browse window that says the name of your computer (e.g., Mac Powerbook G4) or something like that.
Click on the Macintosh HD choice for the connection.
Click Ok
You should now have a new drive in your drive choices that will let you look at your Old Macs Hard Drive.

Logitech Mouse

Your question:
I have a Logitech optic mouse I lost the install CD where would you find the install program its a M-BJ58 model Logitech web site does not even list that one its about a 2000 model ?

My answer:
You should be able to plug that puppy in and have it work without any additional drivers (most of the time the drivers just slow down your system anyway). I only see that they don't support the model anymore on the site. There is one document that refers to your model but it only says it supports both USB and PS/2 connection types (big help). If there are any custom buttons try looking at the mouse settings once you plug it in. Sometimes they adjust based on the mouse you plug into the system.

unable to send

Question submitted by
Lester on Thursday, July 26, 2010 at 00:30:49
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Question: Hi, I am having a time trying to send email from an article I would love to share, when ever I try outlook express comes up and when I place my info to send or forward it reports an error, my main emails or corespondent is by yahoo (outlook keeps saying yahoo will not allow it to go)and that is why I am unable.Thanks

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Answer: Sounds like you are trying to send it to too many people at once or with too many graphics. Most mail servers limit sending to less than 25 recipients and the file size can't be bigger than 3MB. If you have pictures in the article or too many recipients that would block you for sure. Also your outlook express might not be configured for sending thru yahoo correctly. I believe that you have to use there webmail to send messages unless you have a paid email account with them. These are the 3 things that could be your problems cause.

Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net

Screen saver never kicks in?

Question was submitted by Ross on Tuesday, July 15, 2010 at 13:26:23

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Question: I have a Dell laptop running window XP and for some reason the screen saver and all the power savers stop working some tome ago.
I gave in and re-installed the OS and they still don't work..
What else could it be???

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Answer: Dell has a wonderful set of downloads that apply to your system on their support site. Just enter your service tag from the bottom of the laptop. The things that I would look for are updates to your bios and motherboard to make the power saving work. Also check the system bios setup when you bootup to make sure that power saving is turned on in the system bios. The keystrokes to get into the system bios varies from model to model but it usually appears on the screen when you first boot up. On most Dell systems I think it's the F2 key or Delete.

Find more answers to your questions at justasked.blogspot.com
Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net

Skype webcam

On Fri, Jun 19, 2010 at 3:12 PM, Diahne wrote:

Hi Ed,

Am still in Brussels and now have another problem. I purchased a Hercules Dualpix HD webcam to use with Skype and I can't make it work. I says to install the drivers and software before connecting webcam. Initally I did the reverse - and then tried to start over. Could that be the problem? Not sure what the driver is. I have a cd which came with it and have put that in but ...... no success.

If you have any ideas let me know. Merci beaucoup, Diahne

You might have to remove the webcam from your hardware profile. Uninstall the software and then reboot. After reboot install the CD first and wait for the instructions to plug in the camera.

To remove the webcam from your hardware profile:

Click on Start
Click on Control Panel
Click on System
Click on the Hardware tab at the top of the System window
Click on the Button that says Device Manager
In the Device Manager look for an icon with a Question Mark or an Exclamation point that says the webcam name
Right click on the Device and Uninstall or Remove it
After removing the device in the Device Manager Unplug the Camera

To Uninstall the software:

Click on Start
Click on Control Panel
Click on Add/Remove Programs
Find the Software for The Hercules Camera
Choose Remove
Restart your computer with the Camera Unplugged

Insert the CD and install the software and follow the directions on the screen