Posted by Jim 2.0 | tagged: newbie, computer, Irving, Jesserer, Buckley, Zaharko, Kaczor

You've made the resolution that this is the year you're finally going to learn how to use your computer for something besides an expensive paperweight. You saw the Gurus on My Home 2.0 and decided to come here for some help. Congrats! If you're just starting out with your first computer, or don't use your old one all that much, these beginner tips can help you a lot.

And if you've been using computers for ages now, you can always forward these tips on to those less tech-savvy people in your life...and spend less of your valuable time on the phone yelling things like, "Whaddya mean, you don't know how to clear your cache?!"

STEP 1: Cut / Copy / Paste

Voice-activated commands, like those featured in the custom-built "Bat Cave" computer (see Episode 4: The Jesserers), might some day fully replace typing with your fingers. But in the here and now, retyping is definitely for suckers.

If for some reason you're still retyping stuff from one window to another, stop now and learn the Cut, Copy and Paste commands.

These commands are available in the drop-down Edit menu in most programs (above), but even quicker are the keyboard commands. Just highlight the text you want to copy with the mouse (or hit Ctrl then A to select all the text in a document) then hit one of these combinations of keys:

Ctrl and C
Copy the selected text (hence the "c.") You'll leave the original text where it is, and also be able to put it somewhere else.

Ctrl and X
Cut the text -- remove the text from where it is, and be able to put it somewhere else instead. "Cutting" something is a bit different than just deleting it (as with the backspace or delete keys) -- when you cut, the text seems to "disappear," but it's actually stored temporarily on your computer's "clipboard" so you can...

Ctrl and V
Paste the text. Just put your cursor in your Word document, search engine field, or wherever you want your copied or cut text to appear, hit Ctrl + V and voila! (Is that what the "V" stands for? This is not to be confused with Ctrl + P, by the way, which is the keyboard shortcut for "print.")

If you have a Mac, just use the "Command" key (the one with the Apple symbol on it) instead of Ctrl -- the other keys are the same. These commands are pretty much universal across most applications and web browsers. If you make a mistake and cut or delete something you didn't mean to, don't fret, because you can always....

STEP 2: Undo

Just hit Ctrl and Z at the same time, and you'll "undo" whatever your last command was, just like magic. Don't you wish you could do this with everything in life?

STEP 3: Use The Tab Key

As you may recall from your old-school typewriter days, the Tab key was used to indent, or skip ahead a few spaces. It can be used in much the same way when filling out forms, as when registering for a discussion forum or making an online purchase.

Instead of moving your mouse and clicking on each new field, just hit the Tab key, and your cursor will jump to the next one, ready for your input. To go back to the previous field, hit Shift + Tab.

Bonus Tip: When you get to one of those drop-down fields (below) and don't feel like scrolling through hundreds of choices to find your country, year of birth, or whatever, just type the first letter or two of your choice -- the list will jump to your selection...or pretty close to it, anyway, which will save some scrolling.

STEP 4: Help

Pretty much every program out there has a Help function -- it's usually the last option on the right in your menu. Use it! Click "Help" then select "[Whatever program you're using] Help" -- usually the first option. Type in what you're looking for, either as key words or a question. It may take a couple tries with different search terms, but most of the time this does the trick, and you won't have to call and bug your computer geek friend.

STEP 5: Find

You've done a web search, and found a site that contains what you're looking for...but when you click the link, the name or phrase you seek is lost in a sea of words. Just hit Ctrl + F to activate your web browser's Find function, type in what you're looking for, and your browser will highlight it on the page. (This also works in Microsoft Word and other programs as well.)

STEP 6: Don't Store Files on Your Desktop

A messy desktop can slow down your computer. If you download photos, documents or other large files, you should save them somewhere in the "My Documents" folder. (You can also create sub-folders within "My Documents" and organize them however you wish.)

Desktop shortcuts (called "aliases" on Macs) are okay, as they're just links to programs stored on your hard drive, but you should avoid storing whole files directly on your desktop. (In case you didn't know, your desktop is the main screen you see after your computer's done booting up. It usually has icons for "My Computer," "Recycling Bin," and shortcuts for whatever software's been installed.)

STEP 7: Delete Temporary Files / Empty Cache

Think just because you're not grabbing an album's worth of music off the Internet, you're not "downloading"? Think again. Whenever you surf the Internet and go to pages with photos, video or other media, your computer actually downloads them for you and stores them as temporary files. This is designed to make browsing faster, but if you don't regularly get rid of these files, they can eventually take up a lot of space on your hard drive and slow your whole system down. Here's how to flush 'em out:

In Internet Explorer:
Click "Tools" then "Internet Options..." Under the "General" tab, below "Temporary Internet Files," click "Delete Filethen click "Clears."
In Firefox:
Click "Tools" then "Clear Private Data..." Make sure "cache" is checked, Private Data Now."
In Safari:
Click "Safari" then "Empty Cache."

STEP 8: Empty Recycling Bin / Trash

Just like in real life, the garbage needs to be taken out when the can starts getting full. Just deleting files, or dragging them into your recycling bin ("Trash" on Macs), doesn't mean they're gone -- they're still on your computer's hard drive, taking up space.

To first make sure there's nothing there that shouldn't be, double-click the recycling bin icon on your desktop and check the files before emptying the bin. Otherwise, you can just right-click on the icon and choose "Empty recycling bin." (Or on Macs, Ctrl + click on Trash and choose "Empty Trash.")

STEP 9: Back up Your Data

I cannot stress this enough. You always want to make sure you've got duplicate copies of all your data, just in case your computer temporarily crashes, or even worse, the hard drive has to be wiped clean. Your computer should have come with back-up disks for your operating system and software, but you also should get in the habit of saving your photos, documents and other files to at least two locations -- one of which is not on your computer itself.

If you have a CD or DVD burner, permanent copies of completed files can be burned to disc, but more convenient are external USB drives, on which you can save and re-save endlessly. If your work on the computer involves mostly text-based files, such as Microsoft Word documents, then a small USB flash drive will probably suffice -- these can be found just about anywhere electronics are sold, often for under $20. However, if you plan on storing a lot of photos, video, music or other large files, you might consider investing in an external hard drive. The price of data storage is always coming down, and you can now find external drives for under a dollar per gigabyte of storage space -- well worth the investment of a hundred bucks or so.

Once you plug your storage device of choice into your computer's USB drive (and install the driver software, if necessary), just click "File" then "Save As" to choose the new drive. Save often, in your computer's "My Documents" folder and your external drive!

STEP 10: End Task / Force Quit

If a program you're using "freezes up" and is unresponsive to your keyboard or mouse, don't just turn your computer off (and definitely don't hit or kick it, even though you may want to.) Instead, try pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc to bring up the Windows Task Manager, which you can use to force the program to shut down. (On Macs, just press Command + Option + Esc to do a "Force Quit," which is pretty much the same thing.)