Hewlett-Packard Business Center is offering free online education. Each month they
will be offering additional courses, taught by an expert in the field. The courses cover topics from
business to technology to personal development.
While the courses are non-accredited, the learning is real. Instructors talk to students and
students talk with each other on the HP Learning Center message boards.
Currently HP is offering the following courses in business:
Business Plan Basics
Design Your Own Business Documents
Guide to Practical Desktop Publishing
Is Flat-rate Printing Right for Your Business?
MFPS and the New Workplace
The courses in software and technology are:
Adobe Photoshop 6 Basics
Advanced Microsoft Word for Windows
Building Your First Web Page
Digital Photography for Your Business
Guide to Practical Desktop Publishing
Introduction to Macromedia Dreamweaver
Introduction to Microsoft Excel
Scanning Basics
Wireless Networking Solutions
Courses are also offered in Real Estate and Personal Skills. And it is all free!
Navigate your browser to http://www.hplearningcenter.com to take
advantage of this great opportunity to enhance your knowledge and computer skills.
Fax Software Doesn't Work
[SE] Abe Jacobson upgraded his PC from Windows 95 to Windows 98 Second Edition. He
enjoys the extra power from SE, but complains that his Microsoft fax software stopped working.
The solution to this problem is as follows:
Using Windows Explorer, locate the file named Mapi32.dll.
Right-click on the file and select 'Rename' in the pop-up command menu.
Rename the file to Mapi32.old.
Locate the file named Mapi32x.dll.
Right-click on this file and again select 'Rename' in the pop-up command menu.
Rename this file to Mapi32.dll.
Exit Windows Explorer.
Reboot your PC.
If you upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows 98 Second Edition, the solution is a bit
different:
Insert the Windows 98 SE CD.
When the Install window opens, select "Browse Contents of CD."
Navigate to the "Tools|Oldwin95|Message|US" folder.
Double-click on the 'Awfax' program icon. This will reinstall the Microsoft Fax software.
Back Up Recent Files
[95/98/SE/ME/XP] Although it is a good idea to backup all the files you have altered during
the course of a day, the problem of trying to remember which files arises. It's common to access
up to three dozen files during a typical day. Not many of us can remember all those file names
when it comes time to back them up.
Let me show you an easy process of backing up only the files you have accessed during the
day using Windows 'Find' or 'Search' tool. We will use its option to locate files that have recently
been updated.
Instructions for Windows 95/98
Click the 'Start' button.
Click on 'Find.'
Do not enter anything in the file name field. We will be using the "search only by date"
function of this tool. Click on the 'Date' tab.
Select the number of days back you need to track changed files.
Click on the 'Search' button.
Select from the list those files you need to back up, and copy them to your backup location.
Instructions for Windows SE/ME
Click the 'Start' button.
Click on 'Search.'
Do not enter anything in the file name field. Click on the 'Date' parameter in the left pane of
the Search screen.
Enter the dates in the "From/To" boxes in which to search for altered files. An example
would be 08/15/02 to 08/16/02 to search for files altered during Thursday and Friday.
Click on the 'Search' button.
Select from the results list, those files you need to back up. Copy them to your backup
location.
Instructions for Windows XP
Click on the 'Start' button.
Click on 'Search.'
Click on 'All files and folders' in the left pane of the window under "What do you want to
search for?"
Do not enter anything in the file name field. Click on 'When was it modified?' in the "Search
by any or all of the criteria below" pane.
Click on the radius button next to 'Specify dates.' (A radius button is a circle which when
clicked on displays a green dot in it's center).
You are given three options in the drop-down box. Insure that the default 'Modified Date'
option is being displayed in the box. If not, click on the down-arrow chevron next to the
drop-down box and select 'Modified Date.'
Enter the dates in the "From" and "To" boxes in which to search for altered files. If you
wish to search for files altered during the course of Friday, August 16th, you would enter
08/16/02 in both boxes.
Click on the 'Search' button.
Select from the results list in the right pane of the window those files you need to back up.
Copy them to your backup location.
File Delete In DOS
[95/98/SE/ME/2K/XP] When you delete a file from the DOS command prompt or from a
DOS window, the file is not placed in the recycle bin. It is erased promptly from your File
Allocation Table (FAT). Use caution when deleting files when in DOS mode or a DOS Window.
Keep Windows Media Player Up-to-Date
[XP] Windows Media Player tends to evolve more quickly than other components of
Windows XP. To see what version of Media Player you currently have on your PC, do the
following:
Click on the 'Start' button.
Highlight 'All Programs,' and click on 'Windows Media Player.'
Click on 'Help' in the toolbar.
Click on 'About Windows Media Player.' You will see which version you currently are
running on your system.
To insure you are running the latest version of WMP:
Click on the 'Start' button.
Highlight 'All Programs,' and click on 'Windows Media Player.'
Click on 'Help' in the toolbar.
Click on 'Check for Player Updates.' Your PC will access the Internet via your ISP and
query the Microsoft WMP website for updated components.
Definition Of GUI
[All Versions] I received a polite email from Gloria Bates asking me just what a G-U-I was.
Seems her young grandson tended to use the term quite often. When asking him what it meant,
his response was, "It's G-U-I. You know, gooey. It's what makes your computer work!"
Mrs. Bates asked if I could provide a simplified explanation of this computer-related
terminology. So for all grandparents out there, here goes.
GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. Another reference for it is "point-and-click." As
opposed to the old days of DOS when you had to type in every command on a text-only screen,
you now have a graphical presentation with icons and buttons which you click on.
Virus Alert
[95/98/SE/ME/NT/2K/XP] The latest buzz in the techno-world today concerns how the
Virus Gestapo has figured out a way to infect files that were once thought to be virus-proof such
as text and picture files.
Use your firewall when connected to the Internet. Also scan all incoming emails and
downloads with your virus scanner. Insure your virus software definitions are kept up to date.
You should check for new definitions at least once a week.
I really try to keep from alarming the new users among our readers. But with my Norton
Anti-Virus email scanner going off two or three times a day, I feel caution is certainly called for
over the next several months.
About the Author
Tom has cancelled his Laptop Anti-theft Nuclear Device (LAND) research due to an inquiry by a Federal Law Enforcement Agency. He continues to hide in the 'Bits Towers basement, muttering something about "rain proof keyboards research."
Please feel free to email the author with your comments about this article: Tom S. Bair, Jr.