What's New at Linda's Computer Stop

First thing I want to do is let all you Newbie Club members, who are missing Tom Glander as much as I was, know that he is still alive and well and has his own website.  Also, you may have seen that he's written a column in this month's ABC...for all of you who love what he has to say and how he says it.

http://personal-computer-tutor.com/tom12.htm

Another of this month's authors, Dian Chapman, MS Word MVP, has a new ezine called TechTrax and both I and Vic Ferri will be regular contributors.  If you would like to see a copy of the article I wrote for her this month, go here and check out the left pane for "Save?  Save AS? Save as WHAT?" or, scroll down and see "GoToMyPC" for a goodie from Vic.  Congratulations to you, Dian, and best of luck!  And, readers, if you go, be sure to enter your email address so Dian can remind you when the next issue is posted at the website.  And, while you are there, sign Dian's MouseTrax guestbook and tell her you heard about TechTrax at ABC.

TechTrax:
http://www.mousetrax.com/techtrax/index.html

Because I spent a lot of my time this past month, dealing with hate mail (see my editorial) and restoring my computer (see tip below), I only had enough time to add a few new things to the website. 

Many people write to me and ask me if I can send them a printable copy of one of my pages since the pages have white type on a blue background and they don't think they can print them without using a gallon of ink. This isn't true.  Unless you specifically tell your browser to print backgrounds, by default it won't, and my pages print just fine...black text on a white background.  (Those of you using Internet Explorer 5.5 or later can check this out easily by going to your File menu and selecting Print Preview and you will see what I mean.)  However, if any of you ARE having problems printing any of my pages, I've added a little mini-tutorial for a  workaround here (which works with ANY webpages you are having difficulty printing):

http://personal-computer-tutor.com/support.htm

I've also added a whole series of links for PowerPoint help sites to my PowerPoint page (thanks to MS PowerPoint MVP, "Echo"):

http://personal-computer-tutor.com/powerpoint.htm

And I have a "Work for Linda" page now for anyone who is interested in exchanging articles for free publicity for your webpage or project.  Please check it out and let me know if I can help you get traffic to your website in exchange for an article from you to be included in  this newsletter or a tutorial for my website:

http://personal-computer-tutor.com/jobs.htm

I've also added a few new cool sites to my favorite links page.  Go here and check out the revolving N's.

http://personal-computer-tutor.com/internet.htm

Well, that's about it for new stuff this month.  Thanks for your patronage of my site and ezine.  Drop me a line any time and let me know of any additions you can think of.  I may be busy, but I'm always open to suggestions.

Linda

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Subscribers' Exclusive Tip

How To Get Into Windows XP When You Can't Get Into Windows XP

This past month, I had a major problem caused by a stupid blunder on my part (seems I had a few of them this month...LOL).  All I was trying to do was install a new keyboard (seems simple enough, eh?)....but, in the process, I made a mistake and chose a usb keyboard driver and my keyboard is ps2.  So, when I rebooted and tried to get into Windows XP, I couldn't type my password because my keyboard was not being recognized.  So, I decided to do a repair from the XP CD, thinking this would load all the default drivers and I would be all set, which *probably* would have worked.  BUT, unfortunately, the repair caused an error message and told me to reboot, and when I did, all XP would allow me to do was continue the failed repair and I couldn't get out of this loop to follow Hal Cardona's advice, which is what I should have done in the first place (boot to the bootup options screen and choose to do a System Restore...or simply go buy a cheap usb keyboard so I could type!).  So, I ended up completely reinstalling Windows XP and losing all my program associations, so I also had to reinstall all my software, because I couldn't figure out a way to get to the Restore feature now that I was stuck in this loop.

All this because I installed a new keyboard.  LOL

Anyway....after the fact, a gal named Tina Van Winkle found me this handy tip at Microsoft's website that allows you to get to a command prompt and run Restore from there.  Since I was able to type at my Boot Magic screen, I knew my keyboard worked UNTIL Windows XP loaded, so this would have worked for me. This one is now taped to the side of my computer in case I ever need it again and I recommend you XP users do the same:

3.. Follow the instructions on the screen to begin restoring your computer to a previous, functional state.

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Linda Johnson is a college instructor of all of the Microsoft Office Programs, as well as Adobe PhotoShop and Windows. She also teaches online distance learning classes in Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word at Eclectic Academy. She has worked helpdesk and teaches and lectures at many local businesses and tech schools in her area. Support this newsletter by checking out Linda's eBooks, MS Word MAGIC!, Book I: Fonts, Fun & Formats and Book II: Table Wizardry, How To Get Started As a Software Trainer, and her newest series of MSOffice eBook Tutorials and CD