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Cyclone Computers Newsletter

Volume 2

July 1999

The Internet is growing. You'll find more sites, more information, more things to buy, more chances to sell your product—that‘s what’s on the Net. You’ve seen some of the good things and some of the bad things that are out there. Think of it as being in a large city. There are good neighborhoods as well as places to avoid, good and bad information. You decide what you want to see and what is credible. Make good choices and you’ll have a good Internet experience.
Sending pictures to friends and family is easy. You can e-mail them directly, or post them to a website, either private or open to the public. I have a private site where I post family pictures that can be viewed by the people to whom I furnish the web address. It’s easy to post the pictures, and it’s quicker than sending them to each person and I can add or change pictures at any time. All you need is web space and a way to get the pictures into your computer. Like computers, a good digital camera is much less expensive than it was a year ago. Some cameras save pictures to a diskette that can be transferred directly into your computer without cables or special software. Scanners are another good way to get pictures into your computer.
CD re-writers are also getting cheaper. You can save your pictures or files to a CD, and add to or re-write the CD whenever you want. The estimated life of data on the CD’s is 70 to 200 years. The biggest problem may be the availability of equipment to read the CD 70 years from now. Some re-writers can add data incrementally, some must re- write the entire disk.
Protect your computer and data from viruses. Good anti-virus software, even updated often, won't give complete protection, but it's pretty good--much better than nothing. It's fairly inexpensive and easy to use. And speaking of protection, make sure you have a good surge protector with modem (phone line) protection. A surge from a lightning strike will often enter through the phone line and cause severe damage. $30 will buy this protection.

Thanks for your support,

Don

Tech Tip:

Many problems with computers involve printing. One thing I see frequently is the print que not being cleared after an error condition. Print jobs wait in a line on their way to the printer. This is called the print que. If the print job at the front of the line is in an error condition, it will block the other jobs in line. Sometimes when a document won't print, the natural thing many people do is try it again. This will put all these re-tries on the que and none of them will be able to pass. To clear most printer errors you should clear the que, fix the printer problem, delete the Windows "temp" files, restart Windows if necessary, and then try the print job again. All these steps may not be needed each time, but all of them usually fix everything but driver or hardware problems. Here is the procedure for Win95 and Win98:

Turn the printer off.
Click on "Start", "Settings", "Printers", then double click on the printer having the problem. This makes the que visible.
Click on the errored out print job. Click "Document" and cancel the print job.
Back out to the desk- top and goto "Start" then "Shutdown".
Now restart the computer in DOS mode. Usually you will see "C:\windows" for a DOS prompt. Type "set <enter". This will show where the environmental variable "temp" is pointing. If you see "temp=C:\windows\temp", type "cd c:\windows\temp <enter". Now you are in the temp folder.
Type "del *.tmp <enter".

Now turn the printer back on and fix the printer problem. Add paper, install the correct ink cartridge, plug in cables, clear paper jams, etc.

You should now be able to restart the computer and print your document. If it still won't print, you may have a corrupt document that needs to be re-created. If that doesn't work, you may have to re-install the printer or you may have a hardware problem. This procedure is similar for Windows 3.11 users except that print manager is used to view the que.

Happy Computing ! -Lee

From the front desk:

ON SALE!!!

MS Office 97 Professional - $100.00
Used Nylon Laptop Carrying Cases - $20.00 (Black)
Connectix Quick Cam (color,digital)(refurbished)- $79.95
Microtek X6 Flatbed Scanners - $144.95 (now with $30 manufacturer's mail-in rebate)
Genius Netmouse Pro (with scrolling) - $18.00
Classes for Windows 98 are in session. We are offering three skill levels to learn. They are: Active Desktop, Intermediate, & Advanced. Each class level takes about 2 1/2 hours to complete, with testing. This allows you to go at your own speed. If you would like to attend a class please call and schedule an appointment with me. (Cathy). The cost for all levels of classes will be $15.00 each. If you purchase a new computer, you will receive the Active Desktop class for free.
Classes for QuickBooks Pro 6.0 are also in session. There are three levels to QuickBooks too. They are: Beginning, Intermediate, & Advanced. These three take from 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours to complete. We are allowing 2 1/2 hour slots for you to learn at your own speed also. Classes are individually attended and you will need to schedule a time slot for a booth. The cost for all levels of these classes will be $15.00 each.
You can call for appointments at 712-852-2245, or email us at cyclone@ncn.net. We can confirm your time slot by return email if you would like. Or you can stop by and schedule a time. Our hours are from 11:00am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday. We will only be scheduling start times for classes until 3:30 p.m.
See you soon, Cathy Thank You from Don, Cathy, and Lee at Cyclone Computers 1013 Broadway Emmetsburg IA 50536 (712) 852-2245 email: cyclone@ncn.net

Call Cathy at 852-2245 to schedule a time for training in Windows 98, the Internet, or Quickbooks.
Beginning this week

We can get refurbished or used laptops. If you need to be mobile at a lower cost, this may be for you. We have used laptop carrying cases too at a low price. Cyclone Computers is a dealer of high quality Jetta laptops. See them at www.jetta.com and stop in for a price quote.

Next Month: Y2k Virus hoaxes Home networks ???
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