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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
November 16,
2008
As
indicated in last week's column, here are a
few of the things that are included in Vista
that have not been available in earlier
versions. It is
anticipated that all these and many more
will be available in the next version of
Windows, to be called "Windows 7" that
should be released about this time next
year. Initial reports on Windows 7 are very
promising. Public Beta testing will start in
earnest in the first quarter of 2009.
Check
Memory:
The
memory checked is the RAM, not the hard
drive. Faulty RAM memory can cause many
problems and is often manifested by the
"Blue Screen of Death", or a random computer
reboot. Enter memory in the search
bar, and then click on the Memory Diagnostic
Tool. You are given two choices, to check
the memory now, or on the next computer
start. The memory is checked when the
computer is first turned on, before anything
loads. This is available in all versions or
Vista.
Sticky
Notes:
This
emulates the little sticky notes that many
use to post reminders. In the search enter
sticky, then click on Sticky Notes. This
will appear.
You can
enter your note using a stylus if you are so
equipped, or from the keyboard. You can
click on the little red record button, and
record a voice message. For more than one
note, just click the New Note button. This
is available on all versions except Home
Basic.
Snipping Tool:
This is
one that I use frequently. It captures
screen shots like the one above of the
sticky notes. It is accessed by entering
snip in the search box. There are four
different types supported: Free form,
Rectangular, Window, and Full screen. There
are many options that can be set that allow
things like automatically crating an icon in
the quick launch toolbar, outlining the snip
with different colors, etc. There are many
screen capture programs available, but this
one included wit Vista is very good and easy
to use.
As it is
part of the Tablet PC features, it has to be
installed. This is done by opening the
Control panel, clicking Programs, then Turn
Windows features on or off. Unfortunately,
the Tablet PC features are not included with
Vista Home basic.
There is
also a highlighter pen that can be used to
draw attention to a specific part of the
capture by drawing a circle around it or an
arrow pointing to it.
DVD
Burner:
Most
commercial DVD burning packages are bulky,
slow to load and overloaded with features
that most of us never need or use. This DVD
burner is small, quick, and very easy to
use.
It is
ready to add items and will burn a DVD with
the default settings. However, there is an
Options button that allows changing some
settings like the burning speed. This one
too is not available in Vista Home Basic.
Quick
Preview:
In any
Explorer window, you can choose to display a
preview pane. Click Organize, Layout, then
the Preview Pane. To the far right of the
display, a new pane is opened, and as you
move the cursor over a file name, its
contents are displayed in the preview pane.
This allows seeing what the document
contains without actually opening it. Most
documents, HTML files and pictures will
display in this preview pane. The Quick
Preview is available in all versions of
Vista.
There are
other features available that I haven't
covered, especially in the Business and
Ultimate versions, but this should give you
an idea of some of those that I have found
to be very useful. |
