Specifications
Rico’s Tips
Last months presenter Rico Kirby
from Wolverine was great. He gave
us a lot of good tips.
Always format your media •
cards after you purchase them. For-
mat them with the camera you use.
After you copy all of your •
pictures over to your hard drive or CD, format the
media. Formatting resets it and actually makes the
media last longer.
CompactFlash he nds is better than SD•
He likes Kingston and Lexar media more than •
SanDisk.
For USB hard drives or CD/DVD use the back •
USB ports, they are more reliable.
Reminder now is a good time to spring clean your
computer. Take off all the wires, and take it outside to
blow out all the dust accumulated on the inside. The
fan not only helps to keep it cook, but also sucks in
dust. The dust is an insulator and traps/keeps in heat.
Trust me take it outside BEFORE you blow the dust.
Reprinted with permission from Smart Computing.
Visit http://www.smartcomputing.com/ they have
computer magazines with information in plain English
not computerize. If you subscribe be sure to tell them
you’re with WINNERS. They give each group credit
for subscribers.
Ho can I reinstall Internet Explorer?: At some point
in time, you may have to reinstall Internet Explorer
or Outlook express because of damaged or missing
les. If there is a newer version of IE available, you
are probably better off downloading the latest version
from Microsoft. However, if you are already run-
ning the most recent version and need to reinstall the
software, you can do so in Win2000/XP/Server 2003
using SFC (System File Checker). Open the Start
menu, click Run, type sfc/scannow in the Open eld,
and then click OK. Windows will then prompt you to
insert the installation CD for your operating system in
order to replace certain les. Once you insert the Win
XP CD, click Retry to contoinue.
How to use a search engine: Most search engine us-
ers type two- or three-word phrases, and that can be
good enough most of the time. But too often, these
simple phrase searches yield thousands and thousands
of hits—way too many to effectively sort. So familiar-
ize yourself with the advanced search options of your
favorite search engine. Don’t let the word “advanced”
scare you off: You can learn your way around these
search functions in minutes. Just read the help pro-
vided by your search site. For instance, on Google you
can search for an exact phrase by putting it in quotes,
limit hits to a particular language, or just show pages
that have been recently updated. (Details about ad-
vanced searching on Google are at www.google.com/
advanced_search.)
How Often To Back Up?: Ask yourself how much
information you could bear to lose. That’s how often
you should back up your data. If you use your com-
puter to create irreplaceable data les (such as lengthy
word processing documents), you may want daily
backups of these important les. If other members of
your household have access to your computer, and
your important data les, you may want to increase
the frequency of your backups. If you use your PC
Good Advice From Kids
"Never trust a dog to watch your food." -
Patrick, age 10
"When your dad is mad and asks you, 'Do I look
stupid?' Don't answer." - Hannah, age 9
Never tell your Mom her diet's not working." -
Michael, age 14
"Stay away from prunes." - Randy, age 9
"Don't pull Dad's nger when he tells you to." -
Emily, age 10
"When your Mom is mad at your dad, don't let her
brush your hair." - Taylia, age 11
"Never let your three-year old brother in the same
room as your school assignment." - Traci, age 14
"A puppy always has bad breath--even after eating a
Tic-Tac." - Andrew, age 9