Computer Tips & Tools 101 WHSA Annual Training Conference - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Computer Tips & Tools 101 WHSA Annual Training Conference February 25, 2015 Cathy Howe Thwaits, Executive Director Marathon County Child Development Agency, Inc. cathyhowe@aol.com

Keep Computer & Programs Updated Computer Operating System http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000930.htm How to update a Microsoft Window Computer http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000545.htm There's an easy, free way to help keep your PC safer and running smoothly. It's called Windows Update. All you have to do is turn it on, and you'll get the latest security and other important updates from Microsoft automatically.

Be Familiar with Free Software Be familiar with and know about free alternatives to popular commercial programs. Top 10 free PC programs everyone should have http://www.computerhope.com/tips/tip80.htm

Protect Your Computer • Always use Anti-virus and Malware or Spyware Protection for your computer • Free programs are just as good and sometimes even better than commercial products • Good free choices include: 1. Avast! – www.avast.com/ 2. AVG – http://free.avg.com/ 3. Malwarebytes -- www.malwarebytes.org

Back up Data – Often!! • Free software & options for back up either locally or online (in the ‘clouds’) • Online Options are safest – back up disks or flash drives can be lost easily or break • Two good options (free for up to 2 GB): 1. MozyHome – http://mozy.com/home Click the Try it Free button for 2GB of data files 1. Dropbox – www.dropbox.com/features 2GB of secure Dropbox clouded space for free – earn more by sharing

Keep Your Computer Clean by Defragmenting Your Hard Drive To clean up files on your hard drive (Defrag): 1.Double-click My Computer 2.Highlight a local hard disk drive by clicking on it once 3.Right-click the highlighted local drive 4.Click Properties 5.Click the Tools tab and click defragment now.

Disk Defragmenter (cont.) 2. Click Defragment Your Hard Drive. The Disk Defragmenter dialog box appears.

Disk Defragmenter (cont.) 3. Click the Analyze Disk button . 10% or more fragmentation -- YES Less than 10% fragmentation – NOT NEEDED AT THIS TIME

Disk Defragmenter (cont.) 4. When the analysis is complete, click the Defragment Disk button. 5. Click Close.

Keep the Computer Clean by Running Scan Disk Checks • Run ScanDisk to check for hard drive errors 1. Double-click My Computer 2. Highlight a local hard disk drive by clicking on it once 3. Right-click the highlighted local drive 4. Click Properties 5. Click the Tools tab and click check now to check the drive for errors. 6. The computer will need to restart in order to run scandisk without getting interrupted. Although not required it is suggested to have Scandisk automatically find and fix any errors found.

Surviving Computer Freezes http://www.compukiss.com/trouble- shooting/surviving-computer-freezes.html

Ten Tech Things Your Mother Never Told You http://www.compukiss.com/featured- stories/ten-tech-things-your-mother-never-told- you.html

Be Familiar with Short Cut Keys Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should know http://www.computerhope.com/tips/tip79.htm

Protect Yourself While Online • Encrypted Data • Phishing scams • Safe Passwords • Click SLOWLY…. • Be aware & cautious • Update Internet Browsers & Plugins • Password Managers http://keepass.info/ www.dashlane.com

Read, Understand, and Watch for ‘Tricks’ • One of the most common mistakes computer users make is agreeing to dialog text boxes, agreements, or other prompts without reading the dialog text box or understanding it. Before clicking any Ok or Install button, make sure you understand what you are doing. If you do not understand the prompt, click the Cancel button or close the box.

Social Media Sites Intro to Social Media Revolution Facebook –www.facebook.com Twitter – www.twitter.com Linked In – www. linkedin.com You Tube – www.youtube.com Wikipedia – www.wikipedia.org Intro video to Pinterest www.pinterest.com

Websites to Find Freeware Freeware Files Website Free downloads of over 16000 free software programs. All freeware downloads include ratings, reviews, and screen shots. http://www.freewarefiles.com/ Contains freeware, demo, and shareware programs to download. Features latest updates and most popular downloads. http://www.filehippo.com Download shareware, freeware, and Demo software for PC, Mac, Linux, or Handhelds plus software reviews. http://download.cnet.com/

Cool Websites for Free Programs www.wordle.net/ Generates “Word Clouds” from your text Tips on Computer Stress Wordle Wallwisher -- www.wallwisher.com/ Virtual sticky board others can post to Post It holds maximum of 160 characters Sample Wallwisher Board http://padlet.com/wall/WHSAConf

More Cool Websites www.evernote.com/ Capture anything that you hear or see on your computer. Access with computer, phone or mobile device. Search by keyword, tag or text inside images. Youtube video explaining Evernote: http://youtu.be/LMnpaQOxcrc There are so many more – explore!! Have fun!!

More Cool Websites www.glogster.com/ Create posters – you can add pictures, sound, video, and links. Can share and publish on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Tumblr Sample Glog on Technology www.techsmith.com/jing.html Capture images and videos of What you see on your computer screen and share instantly!