This screen shot is explained at the bottom of the page.
Taking a "Snapshot" of What's on Your Monitor
If you would like to ask about a particular item that appears on your screen, such as an ad or an error message, you can take a "snapshot" of it and email it to us. A reader did this recently by using his digital camera. After photographing the monitor's display, he inserted his camera's flash memory card into its USB adapter and attached the resulting JPG photo to an email.
The more traditional method is to press the PRT SCR (print screen) on your keyboard, which captures your monitor's display and places it on the "Windows Clipboard." If you press PRT SCR while holding down ALT, whatever appears in the forward-most window will be copied, rather than the whole screen.
Screen Shot
The copied image (which is called a screen shot) can then be "pasted" into a document, such as a blank MSWord page, or onto the "canvas" of an image-editing program such as Microsoft Paint. In Paint you can save the image as a JPG file, whereas the MSWord page can be saved as regular .DOC file. Either can be attached to an email. However, .DOC files will always be a lot larger than JPG files.
More details on taking a screen shot
can be seen here.
Attaching a File to an Email
A reader wrote describing various problems he's had attaching photos using Picasa. Well, Picasa and other image-editors often have "Send as Attachment" options, but we've found that these options can be more confusing than helpful.
It's easier to locate the target file, such as a photo (which is usually in your Pictures folder), right-click it, and choose Send To>Mail Recipient, whereupon your email program will open with the item already attached to an outgoing blank message.
Sadly, this procedure doesn't work with all email programs, but it works flawlessly with Windows Mail and Outlook Express. However, using an email program's Attach button (which is usually accompanied by a "paperclip" symbol) works with all email clients.
Windows 7
If you're thinking of buying a new PC with Windows 7 (available on Oct. 22) be wary of any advice about getting a 64-bit version because they are so much more powerful than the 32-bit PCs that have been around for over two decades. Yes, they are more powerful – if you can find any 64-bit software that's been written for them, which, by the way, tends to be more expensive.
If you want a Win7 PC that will accept older WinXP software, you may have to buy Win7 Ultimate. Check the specs before buying.
Microsoft Security Essentials
Sue Coffin called to ask if she should uninstall her current anti-virus and anti-spyware programs before installing the free Microsoft Security Essentials software. Yes, other anti-malware must be removed before MSE can be installed. We've put MSE on both a Vista computer and a WinXP computer and are quite satisfied with the way it works. It runs full time in the background to intercept viruses and spyware, and will do a scan of your complete system every week (or whenever you want one). The results of a recent scan on one of our PCs can be seen at the top of this email.
MSE can be downloaded here:
Microsoft Security Essentials.
(http://microsoft.com/security_essentials/
However, it's important to remember that the best defense against malware is one's behavior on the Internet. Don't click on any pop-up messages that invite you to have a "free scan" of your computer, or any other "free" offer that looks suspicious. Yes, there are many valuable free programs and services available online, but they don't appear in pop-up ads. Likewise, don't click on any links in an email message that you are not absolutely sure about.
© Donald Ray Edrington – All Rights Reserved
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Senior Computer Tutor Don Edrington
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