The PC Informant » Computer management

Left-handed mouse pointers for Windows

Vic Laurie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:44:13 +0000

I’m not left-handed but, from teaching, I know that the standard mouse setup can be inconvenient for those who are. Changing the buttons on a mouse is a standard Windows adjustment but Microsoft has also supplied a set of mouse pointers (AKA cursors) for left-handers. They can be downloaded at this Microsoft link. The download site includes a Word DOCX file with instructions on how to install the files.

Cursor files have the extension .CUR and are usually in the \Windows\Cursor\ folder. Download the desired cursor files and place them in this folder. Or, if you desire, you can create a sub-folder to hold all left-handed cursor files. If the PC has several users, you may want to create a separate left-handed pointer scheme to make switching back and forth easier.

The quickest way to access the Cursor folder is to enter “cursor” in the Run line in XP or the Start Search line in Vista. (In Windows 7, I haven’t found a quick way unless the Run line is enabled.) Note that you may be prompted about administrator privileges.

Once the cursor files are where you want them, the mouse can be configured as explained at my education page or in the Microsoft Word document mentioned above. Mouse settings are available through the Control Panel.

Men don’t read the manual

Vic Laurie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:31:22 +0000

We have all heard about the reluctance of males to ask for directions when lost or needing to find some location. (I plead guilty. I get my wife to ask.) Well, it also seems that men are less likely to read the manual before calling tech support. (I’m not guilty in this instance. I hate calling tech support so I do anything to avoid it, including reading the manual.) Ars Technica reports:

Gadget Helpline analyzed 75,000 calls received between September and October of 2009 and discovered that it’s not just geeks that aren’t reading the manual. A full 64 percent of men and 24 percent of women calling into the line had not checked out the booklet that came with their computers or gadgets before picking up the phone. If the numbers are that dire (especially for the men), we can’t help but wonder how many more kept quiet about their inability to RTFM.

(The revelations don’t stop there. Twelve percent of men and 7 percent of women apparently failed to do even the simplest of things before calling, such as plugging their computers in or turning on their gadgets. )

Links about anti-malware applications

Vic Laurie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:58:33 +0000

There is always a debate going on about which is the best anti-malware application. Or whether current anti-malware approaches need changing. There have been some interesting posts on the subject recently and here are some that I thought I’d pass along:

Clean up that new PC

Vic Laurie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:57:40 +0000

Did you just get a new PC so you could run Windows 7? One thing about new PCs- they often come with a lot of pre-installed junk applications that should be removed right away. Vendors pay the OEMs to put this stuff on but mostly you want to get rid of it. A recent study posted at PC Pro explains why:

You wouldn’t buy a new car that took five minutes to get out of first gear or a new hard disk that was already half-full of files – but plenty of people are unwittingly buying a laptop that’s been hobbled before it’s even left the factory.

That’s because crapware – the common term for “free” software that’s piled on to new PCs – can have a catastrophic effect on boot times, performance and hard disk space.

For some tips on how to clean up a new PC, look at this post from Simple Help:

Have you purchased a new brand-name PC recently? I have. I just bought a laptop for my mum, and the thing was just riddled with garbage. This tutorial will guide you step by step through removing the garbage, determining what is and isn’t needed, and offer some tips on what software you should install in place of the useless stuff.

Another place for help on how to clean up a PC is the How-To Geek. He explains how to use the software called “PC Decrapifier”.

Control your browser font sizes

Vic Laurie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:25:11 +0000

As some of us get older, our eyes aren’t what they used to be and we need larger font sizes in our browsers. Also, the newer displays have high resolutions that make fonts look smaller and harder to read. The common browsers like Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox have settings that provide for permanently increasing font size.

I have previously discussed the accessibility settings in IE.

Firefox has similar settings. Go to Tools-Options-Content (figure below).

Click the “Advanced” button and the dialog box shown below will open. Note that you can configure the font family as well as the size.

If you are only concerned with temporarily changing the font size, both browsers have the same simple procedures. Hold down the “Control” key and press the “+” key until you obtain the desired size. You can also use the “-” key to reduce sizes. If you have a scroll mouse, hold down the “Control” key and use the scroll function to either increase or decrease font size.

Fixing Windows update problems

Vic Laurie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:11:23 +0000

For one reason or the other, it sometimes happens that a file or a Registry entry gets corrupted in one of the never-ending Windows updates. In that case, it often becomes impossible to carry out updates without getting error messages. The problems are common enough that Microsoft has come up with a tool to fix them. Go to this Microsoft link to get instructions and to download the fix.

Customize your icons

Vic Laurie — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:11:34 +0000

Many Windows users are unaware that they are not stuck with the default set of icons that comes with their setup. In fact, it is quite easy to edit or replace the existing icons. Some years ago I wrote an article on how to customize your icons. Why should all your folder icons be the same bland vanilla symbol? Add color and design to your desktop. In fact, Windows comes with a selection of icons. You can also download libraries of icons or create your own.

My original article discusses how to change icons for Windows XP and where to get some extensive selections of new icons as well as free software for editing or even creating icons. Windows Vista/7 have similar procedures.

For folder icons, right-click a folder and choose “Properties”. Then click the “Customize” tab. The dialog box (shown below) will contain a button “Change Icon”. Click this and the procedure is then similar to what is outlined in the XP article.

Shortcut icons are also easily changed in Windows Vista/7 by a procedure very similar to that given for Windows XP. Right-click, open the properties dialog, and click the button “Change Icon”.

Here are some places where you can download icons:

Firefox update coming

Vic Laurie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:19:14 +0000

Another Firefox update, version 3.55, is coming sometime today. If you have enabled automatic notification of updates, you should receive a notification soon. Otherwise, open the “Help” menu in Firefox and click “Check for Updates”. As of this writing (11:15 EST) the update is not yet available at Mozilla but gHacks is providing a download site.

How to toggle Adobe Flash on and off

Vic Laurie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:12:47 +0000

Adobe Flash clips are ubiquitous on the Web and that includes a lot of advertising. The Windows Flash player can also be a vector for malware and needs frequent security updates. As a result, many PC users might find it useful to be able to turn Flash on and off as desired.

The Firefox browser has the extension NoScript that I have often mentioned. This extension provides the ability to disable or enable Flash for a given Web site.

Users of Internet Explorer have two utilities that can toggle Flash on and off. These are not site specific but are easy to use. One is from Nir Sofer and works for Windows XP. It is called TurnFlash. It consists of a single small executable file that places an icon in the Taskbar. Simply click the icon to turn Flash on or off.

Another utility that works in Vista as well as XP is Toggle Flash. It places a toggle button in the Internet Explorer toolbar. The author says that the application is unsigned so installation will likely get a security warning. When Flash is disabled, sites will give an incorrect warning that you need to update your Flash player. (Requires IE7 or later and Net Framework 2.0.)

Update Java

Vic Laurie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:23:40 +0000

Guess what? Another security patch- this time it’s Java. The update link is here. You might also be able to update using the Java applet in Control Panel. It’s easier to find the applet if you use Classic View in Windows XP. Be sure to uncheck any extras you don’t want from the Java update site.