I had quite a few emails after the screenshot column last week about the print screen key. Thanks for emailing me and please keep them coming! A couple of them inspired this column. Send them to me any time… they often make great columns. You will not usually see extremely specific questions answered here since they do not affect nearly as many people.
One very astute reader asked why I said you had to hold down the "Prnt Scrn" key for a second or so. They stated that they only had to press theirs for a split second and it would copy the screen. The reason I said longer than a split second is that some (usually older) PCs required that. However, on newer computers you can usually press the key quickly. Try yours both ways to see which works for you.
Next, a couple of readers stated having seen that I sometimes added arrows, text, boxes, circles, etc. to screen shots on my site. They wanted to know how to do that. OK, I do not use the "Prnt Scrn" key all by itself. I actually use a program called SnagIt (techsmith.com). Go to the Techsmith website and scroll down to the bottom left of the page you will see the link for the product. It is $49.95 but will also allow you to record videos of your screens. For me it is worth the cost of a license when they upgrade only once every several years.
There are also several other free screen capture utilities out there. Use your favorite search engine (Google.com and Bing.com for me) to see what you can find. Screentoaster.com is also good. I have used it for making videos of screens as well. Be advised, screen videos are sometimes complicated to create.
For stills you can even use a program like Microsoft Word. If currently own Word, you can add effects like arrows, lines and many more to any graphic for free.
With Word, you first copy and paste the screenshot into a Word document using the "Prnt Scrn" and "Ctrl + V" keys we talked about last time. Then you can size it as you desire with the sizing handles. Once that is done you may use some of the advanced features under the "Insert" commands. Play with them to see all of the available options.
You will be creating your own graphics in no time.
Tags: editing, graphics, microsoft, screen shot
Several weeks ago I commented about wireless mice. Since then I have received a surprising number of emails with regards to mice. The major one seems to be that some people think the blue light laser mice work great on glass and an equal number say they do not. Since I do not have one I cannot toss in my two cents worth. All of you “blue lighters” out there need to keep me posted.
Several others asked me if there is even a need for mouse pads today. I have a couple of different answers for you.
If you have a mouse with a large gray ball on the bottom I would say, “yes, definitely”. The mouse pad will help the tracking ball on the mouse work much smoother. It also makes it easier to keep that area of your desk clear of junk. You know like water drops, papers and other things that get in the way of your mouse. It is also easy to clean the pad if it does get dirty.
If you have an optical mouse, either wired or wireless the need is not as great. I have wireless mice, as you read about in that previous column. I always use a mouse pad for my desktop computers. I think it is psychological but it keeps that area of the desks clutter-free. However, with my portables I do not use a mouse pad. I do not feel like carrying around something else in my already overloaded backpack. I think it would be goofy to pull out my little mouse pad and lay it on the table a Panera’s.
Now, after all this talk about mouse pads I have to get you to take a look at a very interesting site that I found this week. I was at a friend’s place of business writing a column. I asked if he had a mouse pad that I could borrow since his table was glass and mine would not function. He brought me his that was an (in my opinion) exact duplicate of an oriental rug that my mother used to have…but it was a mouse pad. With the fringe and all?! 
I flipped it over and on the back it had the URL where you may purchase them online at Mouserug.com. The Mouserug site has a large number of mouse pads that look great. The one that I am going to purchase is the “The Claire Murray Liberty Mouse Rug”. I may put it off for a while as the price is a little higher than I like for a mouse pad, a little less than $20.
By-the-way, I had an article published on the Microsoft.com site last week. Please go take a read and let me know what you think.
I have been written to by several of the "Double Click" readers as to why I have not mentioned Microsoft Windows 7 very often. The answer is that there are about 50 bazillion other geeks out there, who have written about it relentlessly since it rolled out to the public in October, 2009. I figured I would let the clamor die down some before I started.
Today I come out of hiding with W7 (get used to the abbreviation, it saves column space).
I will start with the question that I usually get first. "Do you use W7, yet?" Yes, I do, everywhere! I have been testing the pre-launch versions of W7 for about a year now. I have been using the final version since it launched.
All of my computers run this new Operating System (OS) including my wife’s notebook, save one. I still run Vista on my home desktop because that computer has more software and data on it than any of the others. Rebuilding that particular machine will take several days to get "just right". Procrastination wins!
The next most common question I get is, "Should I switch to W7?" That really depends on you. If you are not happy with your current OS (Vista?) and you have the extra money, sure go ahead and make the change. If you do not have any complaints, why fix it if it ain’t broke?
That being said, I will as good as guarantee that if you do go to W7 you will like it. It looks similar to Vista. However, it is much faster since it uses less system resources. It has many very positive features that you will like.
When conversing about W7 the next question usually is, "What do you like best about the OS?" My wise guy answer is, "Everything." However, the primary element I enjoy was also present in Vista; though, it did not function nearly as well…the search feature.
Say for instance I want to run Excel. I can click the orb (used to be called the start button when it was rectangular) or press the Windows key on my keyboard and just type, "excel". A menu list is generated with everything on my computer that has "excel" in it. The Excel program is at the top of the list. All I do is press the Enter key and Excel starts right up.
If I know that I have a file with the words, "Windows 7" in it. I just type it, like I just did, and three files are listed. Three columns which I wrote; one each in April and June of 2009 and the one you are reading now.
That is a great, efficient and very speedy way to work. So thanks, Microsoft, for that as well as the additional features we will be talking about in the future.
Tags: excel, microsoft, orb, Ron Doyle, vista, windows, windows 7, xp
My mouse has no tail! No, I do not mean the little rodent variety, but the ones fitting comfortably under your hand that you poke and prod all the time at your computer.
One of my readers/listeners, Jenny saw me in a local eatery the other day while I was working on something. I go to several of the fast-food, pastry shops, coffee shops, book stores, etc. in the area that offer free Wi-Fi access to work on columns, etc. If you ever see me, come over and say, “Hi!” too.
But now back to the story. Jenny had never seen a netbook and she thought it was a “cute little thingy”. Uh, thanks Jenny. She had also never seen a wireless mouse – she did not say that was cute. She wanted to know about them. If one person does not know about something there must be plenty of others who do not know about it either, so here we go.
You know how it is when you are intent on something at your computer. Your mouse slips to the edge of your mouse pad; you pick up the mouse and have to untangle the wire to get it back just where you like it.
A wireless mouse uses a laser instead of a ball on the bottom . What do they look like? Look at the mouse you use now and cut the wire off of it really close to the mouse body. That’s it, now you have a wireless mouse…NO! STOP! Not really, but that is what one looks like.
They work just as well as a wired mouse, are much easier to keep straight and fit into your backpack for traveling with your notebook. They have a little USB bar maybe 1.5″ long that plugs into your computer which is how they communicate.
There are two slight drawbacks to the unwired mouse. First is that they will not work on a glass top. Before someone out there writes me, yes I know that they do make a type of blue-laser mouse that works on glass. However, I have a friend who bought one. He says that it does work, but it does not work as well as advertised. Also it cost about 3 times as much.
The second little problem is that they use batteries for power. I have two different brands, a no name that uses two-AA batteries and one from Microsoft that uses one-AA battery. The one that I use at work five days a week, probably nine hours a day, lasts for approximately six months before needing a new battery. The other, I would guess even longer.
Now you are asking, “OK, Ron how much?” You can get the Microsoft mouse for less than $20 in the local area. Try one out. You will like it.
Tags: computer, Double Click, internet, microsoft, mouse, usb
One of the main things that I believe are of some benefit to your computer is to perform regular defrags on them. Some geeks believe that a defrag of your hard drive is never needed. If you are one of the people in my camp I have a couple of suggestions for you.
First an explanation in case you have absolutely no idea what defrag means. Fragmentation, or fragging occurs each time you open a program or application. Your computer or system puts a picture on your monitor, calculates things, and runs the application, etc. To make these programs work your system pulls files off of your Hard Drive, usually “C:\”, and puts them to work. When you close the application(s) it places, or writes all of the files (even basic things like how to draw the window on your screen) back on the hard drive. Each time you close down that application your computer writes the files to different locations on your drive.
Over time this causes your computer to slow down and not run as quickly or efficiently as it may have in the past. This is because it has to look all over your hard drive for the files it needs to work. Defragging moves the files around the drive in a more organized pattern. When you defrag it places the files that are dependent on each other physically closer together. When a program needs them it can find and use them faster, which in turn helps increase your system’s speed.
Before starting to defrag your drive you should shutdown all of your applications and plan on not using the computer until it is finished.
To use the build in defrag component of windows, open “My Computer”, right click on the drive you wish to defrag, choose “Properties”, “Tools” and finally “Defragment Now”. If you are a Windows 7 user click the “Start orb” and type “defrag.” When it shows up click it or press your enter key.
It will automatically select your C:\ Drive. You may change to another drive; however C:\ is your main drive and almost certainly needs defragging the most.
Follow the simple instructions and you’ll be done in no time. Well, Okay, if this is the first time you have run defrag in a while it could take a couple of 
hours. The time depends on how badly your drive is fragmented and the size of the drive. I usually run it once a month at night before I go to bed and in the morning it is done.
Years ago before it was included with Windows you had to pay $90 to get the defrag application. Today there are some good ones for free.
The one that comes with windows does a good job but it is rather clunky. I use Smart Defrag which looks good and is much more user friendly. They both do the job.
Happy defragging!
Tags: defrag, fragmentation, hard drive, help, maintenance, microsoft
