שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד
Hear intelligently with attention and interest, comprehend and obey, O Yisra'el,
יהוה our 'Elohiym is יהוה alone!
–Dabariym [deuteronomy] 6:4 His Name Tanakh**
"...replacing your computer because of a virus is like discarding your toaster because the bread was moldy" – Leo A. Notenboom
The Admin of Hear O Yisra'el highly recommends signing-up for the "Ask Leo" newsletter. Leo A. Notenboom, the author, dispenses free computer advice on a varied array of subjects and his advice is both accurate as well as easy to comprehend by the novice PC user. Ask Leo! is a registered trademark ® of Puget Sound Software, LLC
Here are a few tips and tricks for Windows XP users.
These were compiled over several years for Hear O Yisra'el's Admin's personal PC and not as a serious professional set of helps for others, so do not be surprised if parts of the file seem cryptic. However if you read it enough you should be able figure it out, so read the file CAREFULLY!! USAGE OF THESE TIPS ARE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
XP Tips some of these might work in other OS systems (I put this together in 2001 I hope to revise it soon). Click to view and then at the top left of the BROWSER use either "Save" or "Save Page As" (Ctrl+S). 
Check out this Keyboard Shortcut List for Windows XP users.
This "Pess This" list written for Windows XP, but I use it on my Vista as well. I keep it on my desktop for easy access...hope it's useful to you. Click to view and then at the top left of the BROWSER use either "Save" or "Save Page As" (Ctrl+S).
BACK UP! BACK UP! BACK UP!
This cannot be stressed enough! Go here: dotTech TechnologiansTo test some computer drive back-up image creators. I have/use clonezilla, but they have featured 8 free software to image/backup/ghost your computer (free alternatives to Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, etc.) to choose from. This is a very important issue for your computer/documents safe guarding!
One Main Folder
Are you tired of hunting folders? Where did that file go? My Music, My Ducuments? MS has the astoopitisted [sic] system ever. So what to do? Well, on both my XP and my Vista computers I put my personal folders in a folder I created in the C:\ directory. You can name it anything you want, but I named mine: 1 main folder: C:\A Main Folder [see arrow #1 in picture below]. Inside my A Main Folder [arrow #2] I made all the folders I wanted for pictures, articles, web page templates [arrow #3]. Again, name it whatever you want, but putting a 1 or an A in front keeps it close to the top of the tree and easier to find.
Next I made a link to it on my desk top and I only need click one time and viola! ALL my stuff is accessable in one place! Note: if you have your 'stuff' in the windows My Documents folders, etc, those folders WILL NOT drag and drop (i.e. move). Simply open (for example) C:\A Main Folder\My Documents in one window and the MS My Documents in another window. Highlite all the files in the MS My Documents folder (or whatever folder you are choosing to move files from) and then drag to your new My Ducuments folder in your C:\A Main Folder [Note you can name these anything you want, but I wanted mine front and center in the tree [#2]. This is a bit tiresome at first if you have tons of files all over the place, but once done is so much easier to find\navigate to your 'stuff'. No matter what, ALL my files are in C:\A Main Folder\sub-folder-something-or-other and so easy to find. If you download the Agent Ransack program you can search for anything you saved in one place [C:\A Main Folder] faster than making your machine search all over the drive for where-ever windows wants to roam. FastStone Image Viewer is better than the windows large icon view for pictures as well. Get more info on them here: Hear O Yisra'el DL Page.
My $☭@ !^%$!* ‡∃@☠ Folders Will Not Stay Set
ACK! Watch that mouth...but I know how you feel. My folders will not stay set the way I want them. (well, mine will) but if you are like the bazillions of disgruntled MS users, you either re-set the 'views' everyday or (sigh) ignore them. So, here is a fix that mostly (stupid MS) works. Note: This works in XP and Vista (never tried 7 as I don't have one of those), but in XP you might need to do this for each folder (again stupid MS). I set mine for Name, Size, Date Modified [#3 in picture above]. Either right click on the Name bar and a drop box will appear un-check what you do not want; at the bottom of this drop-window is More... if you want to choose something else; or [#4 in picture] click the View tab. You will see: Sort by, Group by, etc. Under those is: Choose Details..., click and 'there you are.' Do all this as step #1 in the list below below and proceed to step #2.
- 1. Set the folder as you want it to look.
- 2. Even resize it, using the mouse and dragging the borders.
- 3. Hold Shift (or Ctrl) as you click to close the folder/window.
- 4. Click Web.
- 5. Perhaps, reboot (I did not have to reboot, but the techie who told me this had to on his machine; might be the over-all OS settings - try it either way).
If you have a problem try: "START> Settings> Folder Options> View tab> "Reset all folders" before step #1. Then the 'Like current folder' before step #3. Important: all individual folder settings, except 'thumbnail view' will be lost. If there is still a problem turn off 'Remember each folders view settings' before step (1), and back on later.
BLACK/BLUE SCREEN FIX
ACK too! My desktop has turned blue! If you have been 'hit' wuth the dreaded "black / blue" screen attack, dunna panic! Restart your computer in SAFE mode. Then follow these easy instructions:
- 1. Click Start and go to Control Panel.
- 2. Click Display in Display Properties.
- 3. In Desktop click Customize Desktop.
- 4. Click Web.
- 5. In Web, makes sure uninstall desktop is checked!!
- 6. Click Delete.
Check Internet Activity With The "Netstat" Command
Using the command "netstat" to check internet activity is easily accomplished via the very useful command-line [C:\ prompt] tool "netstat", which has a number of features for analyzing network traffic. This tip shows a quick and easy way to use "netstat" to see what programs on your computer are connecting to the Internet:
- 1. Open the command prompt. For this tip, Windows Vista/7 will require administrator privileges.
- 2. Enter "netstat -b" (without quotes)
A list of the executable files that are making connections to the Internet will be displayed. You can also add a switch "n" to tell you which IP addresses are being contacted. Then step 2 becomes: Enter "netstat -bn" (without quotes).
AutoRun
autoruns.exe from Sysinternals is a self-contained (no installation necessary!) program for viewing all the "running" programs on your PC. See what starts up with every boot-up. Use it to carefully stop unwanted program start ups! The Sysinternals web site was created in 1996 by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell to host their advanced system utilities and technical information. Whether you're an IT Pro or a developer, you'll find Sysinternals utilities to help you manage, troubleshoot and diagnose your Windows systems and applications. Hear O Yisra'el is not affiliated with this web site or it's originators in any way; I personally use this program. Download it to your desktop! Use it carefully!!
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**All Towrah and Tanakh quotes are from His Name Tanakh unless otherwise noted.
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