Category: Tech tips

How to Stop Hating Your Computer

Believe it or not, most computer problems are simple. I can say that because I’ve run a computer lab for almost ten years. I’ve seen just about every problem there is and have learned this: If you believe your life with computers is a constant state of civil unrest, you’d be right.

Hardware

The computer/monitor/keyboard/mouse doesn’t work

Is the power cord plugged in?Is the keyboard/mouse/monitor plugged into the CPU?

Is the computer/monitor power button on?

The sound doesn’t work

Are the speakers plugged in—correctly—to the CPU?If you have headphones, are they plugged in—correctly—to the CPU (match the colors)

Is the volume up?

Is there any sound playing?

Monitor went black

Is it still plugged in? Is it seated correctly (wiggle and push—make sure it’s really plugged in)

Windows (Before you start a program)

I can’t find my MS Office program	Did you look on the desktop? The Start button? Under ‘All Programs’?Right click on the desktop; select ‘new’. Pick the MS Office app you need Push the Start Button and Search for any file ending in .doc or docx (depending upon which version of Word you own). Your search should read: .doc or .docx. When it finds a data file (a document created in MS Word), open it. That will open Word
The Start button is gone	Push the Flying Windows key
The Taskbar is gone	Hover over the bottom of the screen. Did it reappear?Is it on the side of the screen? Push the Flying Windows (85% of taskbar tasks are to open a new program)
The Taskbar was moved	Drag and drop it back to where you like it
The Desktop icons are all messed up	Right click on the desktop. Select ‘arrange’ and how you want them sorted
The screen says ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del”	Hold down Ctrl+Alt with your left hand, and push ‘delete’ with your right

From Within a Program

I can’t find the file	Search for it (see instructions above)Open the Recycle Bin. Is it in there?
I need today’s date	Hover over the clock in the lower right corner. It’ll show the dateStart typing the date (you probably know the month) and Word usually fills it in for you Shift+Alt+D is the keyboard shortcut for date
I erased my document/text/paragraph	Ctrl+Z will undo one step at a time for up to 200 steps
A toolbar is missing	Right-click in the toolbar area. Select the toolbar you need. The most commonly used ones are ‘Format’ and ‘Standard’. If you’re missing some icons, they’re probably on one of those two
Some of the icons are missing from the toolbar	See above
The program disappeared	Is it on the taskbar? Click to re-activate
The program froze	There’s probably a dialogue box open somewhere. Look around the screen. When you find it, it’ll want you to answer a questionYou might have gotten out of it. Re-select it on the taskbar
A menu command I need is grayed out and won’t work	You’re probably in the middle of something you don’t even know about. Push ‘Esc’ (for ‘escape’) four times and try again
I can’t exit a program	Alt+F4 closes most programs.Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then select the Task Manager. From there, pick the ‘applications’ tab and close your program.
The double-click doesn’t work	Click and then push enter.
My shift key won’t capitalize	Is your Caps Lock on?

From the Internet

The top toolbar disappeared

Push F11

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Tech Tip #56: Force a New Page

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

Q: I’m teaching my students to create a book report with a cover page. what’s the easiest way to get the cover on the first page and the report on the second?

A: Students as young as 2nd grade can learn to force a new page with Ctrl+enter. I have them create the cover page during one class and add the Ctrl+enter for the new page. That way, students can type the book report without me to help–even on the classroom computers.

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Tech Tip #55: Find a Lost Shortcut

Q: I can’t find the shortcut for a program I want to open. It’s not on the desktop, on the start menu or in ‘all programs’. How do I open the program?

A: Try ‘Start button’, then type in the name of the program where it says ‘start search’. The shortcut shows up.

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Tech Tip #54: How to Auto Forward a PowerPoint Slideshow

Q: My students are learning to use Powerpoint for presentations. They’ll stand in front of the class and the slideshow will play behind them. We want it to go automatically without requiring them to click the mouse or push the space bar. How do we do that?

A: Presentations are a great skill to teach students. I applaud you on this. Auto-forward isn’t difficult:

go to Transition on the menu bar
go to Timing on the right side
Leave ‘on mouse click’ selected (in case you as the teacher need to move it forward automatically. I’ve had students mistakenly put five minutes on a slide instead of five seconds and we would sit waiting forever if I didn’t do the mouse click)
set the timer to serve the needs of the slide. This will require students to practice before presenting so they can put the correct time in. A good default of 5-10 seconds.

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Tech Tip #53: How to Pin Any Program to the Start Menu

Q: There’s a program I use all the time, but it’s not on my desktop. I have to click through All-Programs-(etc–wherever it is you must go to find it). Is there a way to add it to my start menu so I can find it more easily? (more…)

Tech Tip #52: Roll Your Computer Back to a Problem-Free Date

Q: Something happened and now my computer isn’t working right. I downloaded a program/music/video or installed a new holiday program and it hasn’t worked right since. What do I do?

A: These days, that’s not as hard as it used to be. All you have to do is type ‘restore’ in the search box (on the start menu) and follow instructions. What it’ll do is turn your computer back to an earlier date, before you did the download or the install. It won’t affect documents, only the bad stuff. It’s saved me several times.

Questions you want answered? Email me at [email protected] and I’ll answer it within the next thirty days.

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Tech Tip #50: The Easiest Way to Outline

Q: My fifth graders are learning outlining in the classroom. Is there an easy way to tie that into technology?

A: Outlining can’t be easier than doing it in Word. Here’s what you do:

Select the Numbered List or the Bullet List in MS Word. MS Word 2010 even lets you select the style up front. MS Word 2003–it’s a bit more complicated
Your first bullet or number appears on the screen. Type your item
Push enter to add another number or bullet
To create a subpoint, push tab after you’ve pushed enter to start the next bullet/number
To push a subpoint up a level, push Shift+tab after you’ve pushed enter for the next bullet/number

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Tech Tip #48: Quickly Switch Between Windows

Tech Tip #46: The Easiest Way to Explain Right and Left to (Little) Kids

Tech Tip #47: Tool Tips

This week’s tip: How do I know what all those icons are for on the toolbar (or ribbon)?

Q: I’m supposed to find a tool on the toolbar, but there are so many and I have no idea what they are for? It’s just as bunch of pictures to me. Is there an easy way to figure this out?

A: To figure out what a tool does on the toolbar or 2007/10”s ribbon, hover your mouse over the tool (place the mouse above it without clicking). A tool tip will appear with a clue as to what it’s for.