March 14, 2007

Dear Sassy: I just noticed that my clock on my computer has not updated for the Daylight Saving Time change. How do I get back on time?
~Running late because of DST

Dear Running: What a timely question! On our work computers we should have all the necessary updates that would adjust our clocks for DST. But you can double check just to be sure. Open up an Internet browser, click on Tools, Windows Update. And run the Custom updates. This will let you see what you are going to download/update prior to doing so.

If you have all the updates (except for IE7) we need to verify a setting on your computer. Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Date and Time. Once this window opens, click on the Time Zone tab and make sure the box is checked next to Automatically Adjust Clock for Daylight Saving Changes. Once you check this box, your clock should correct itself.

March 13, 2007

Dear Sassy: I am creating a PowerPoint presentation and would like to use screen captures of web pages. What would be the best way to accomplish this?
~Screen Captured via the Web

Dear Screen: Hmmm, Sassy had to test this one out first before responding. First, open up your Internet browser to the web page that you would like in your presentation. On your keyboard locate the F11 key and press it. This will maximize your viewing area for the web page. Next, press the ALT key and the Print Screen key at the same time. This will capture the active window. Open up your PowerPoint presentation and paste (Ctrl V) the screen capture into a blank slide. If you need to crop any of the image in your PowerPoint slide you can Right click on the image and click on Format Picture. To return your web page viewing area back to its normal state, press the F11 key again.

March 6, 2007

Dear Sassy: I'm embarrased to ask this, but if I specify Norton anti-virus to run when "idle" does that mean my computer has to be connected to the Internet through my isp provider or, that my computer has to just be turned on? If it just has to be turned on, then how do I know Norton is running and when it is finished so I can turn off my computer? (Dial-up blocks telephone calls).
~ To be continued...

Dear Continued: Good follow up question! When the computer is "idle" it just means that it isn't running any programs, being idle doesn't have anything to do with Internet connectivity. For Norton to update its virus definitions, your computer must be connected to the Internet. Now, once your machine has the new definitions, you can disconnect from the Internet and run the Norton software to scan your machine.

From the past questions regarding Norton and your Internet use, it may benefit you more to complete all of your work on your machine and then manually update the Norton definitions, disconnect from the Internet and run the Norton scan software (in that order). When you manually run the software there should be a window showing the progress of the scan. This window will also be an indicator on when Norton is finished scanning so that you can shut down your machine.