Do you know all there is to know about Windows XP? I am sure you don’t – I don’t!! But most of what I know I have learned from other people telling me. You know, you ask someone how to do something, and you get a whole long explanation of what to do, or they rapidly press a few buttons and say ‘There you are..’ and you are no wiser! The better response is ‘I’ll show you, then you can try, to make sure you remember for next time’. If you get shown how to do something properly, then you will remember when your mentor is not with you!
How would you like to have a Windows XP mentor available to you to show you how to do things whenever you need him? The power of video can make this an ideal way to learn. Video tutorials on anything from ‘How do I turn off my computer properly?’ to ‘What is Adware and Spyware all about?’ or ‘How can I make some money using my computer?’ can act like having your own mentor next to you while you learn.
There are many video tutorial products available to download or view directly on the Internet, and it is easy to get misled by slick sales letters, especially if you are a beginner, and purchase stuff which at best is boring and at worst is downright misleading. How do you know how to find reliable video tutorials that will teach you about how Windows XP works and how to use Windows to the best advantage? Here are 5 quick tips:
- Find out about the teacher! If they have an ‘About Us’ link on their website – read it, and decide whether they have enough experience to be able to teach their subject. If there is not much detail here, then be suspicious!
- What detail do they give about the videos they are trying to sell? Some sites, such as the Silver Surfers Academy, allow you to view some free samples of the videos, so you will be able to see the kind of quality you will be getting. Other sites may give snapshots, demos, screenshots or simulations, and all these help to see what kind of content you will be getting.
- What format are the videos supplied? If the videos are available only online, make sure you have a fast Internet connection, as viewing videos online without interruption takes a lot of Internet capacity. Some providers will produce the videos in a number of different formats, so check this and use the format that suits your Internet connection.
- Price – vary considerably for training videos about Windows XP and other IT subjects. There may be a number of reasons for this, and it is difficult to generalise on this. The number/total length of the videos may be a factor, and some videos may include a degree of interaction, such as exercises for the student, which will increase the prive and the value of the video.
If you are buying video tutorials, check out these issues before you buy! Have a look at the Silver Surfers Academy website, for a growing collection of video tutorials about how to use Microsoft Windows , Microsoft Office Software, and training for practical uses for your PC.
Posted in IT Training for home and office, PC Training for beginners, Video Tutorials
Here’s some advice about computer housekeeping!
6 jobs to do regularly to keep your computer in top shape:
- Empty your ‘Recycle Bin’ – When you delete a file, it does not disappear permanently into cyberspace, it stays on your disk in the ‘Recycle Bin’, just in case you deleted it by mistake. At least once a week, you should empty your Recycle Bin completely, to ensure that it does not get clogged up with all your computer rubbish.
- If you want to remove a program from your computer, make sure you use the ‘Add/Remove Programs’ function (via Control Panel) rather than just deleting the files you can see. If you don’t use the proper procedure, you will leave debris littered all over your disk!
- Make sure you delete files and emails that you no longer need. They are taking up valuable space on your disk! I know you may have xxx gigabytes of storage on your disk – they are very big these days – but good housekeeping says keep only what you need!
- If you have done a major computer housekeeping operation and deleted and/or moved a lot of files at once, it may be a good idea to check your disk to see if it needs De-fragmenting. You can find this function among the ‘performance and administration’ tools in the Control Panel. When lots of files have been moved around and/or deleted, this leaves spaces on the disk that may not be usable properly or efficiently. This function shuffles the files around on the physical disk to make sure that all the space can be used efficiently in future.
- If disk space is really tight, and you have already performed the other housekeeping tasks in this list, it might be time to use Compression on your files. File Compression changes the structure of the files so that they take up less space on the disk, although there may be a performance penalty by doing this. It is best to use compression only on files that are not used very often.
- Use a Registry Cleaner. The registry is the database that is used in Microsoft Windows to store information about each program that is installed in the computer, and its current status. A Registry Cleaner scans your system, especially the registry, and allows you to correct and/or remove any errors found due to bad housekeeping. Using a Registry Cleaner program regularly should have a significant effect on improving the performance of your computer system.
For a FREE scan of your registry using a leading Registry Cleaner program, click here
Posted in PC Housekeeping, PC Safety
Many sites are appearing on the Web offering IT training resources in various forms, for all possible subjects you could think of. These may be in the form of physical books, such as you would find in the specialist sites such as Amazon or Ebay, and lots of people still use books as the source of training material. There are also books that you can download in electronic format, known as E-Books, and these provide another useful source of information and training on all sorts of topics. Video Tutorials are now becoming even more popular, particularly since the widespread use of high-speed Broadband Internet services, since downloading and viewing video tutorials can take a lot of resources. Video allows you to have your teacher on the screen with you, presenting the topic in a step-by-step form and demonstrating the topics in front of you. This is particularly suited to teaching computer topics, as the video can show moving screenshots of how to perform the tasks. Our partner website, Silver Surfers Academy provides Starter packs of video tutorials, suitable for both beginners and more advanced, and gives access to our online shop where you will be able to get access to lots more video tutorials. Have a look at the free sample videos to see what great quality they are!
What do you think about Video Tutorials as a medium for teaching IT topics? Is it better than Ebooks? Let me know!
Posted in IT Training for home and office, Video Tutorials
Hello Everyone!
My name is Richard Adams, from the UK, and this is my first posting on this Blog, just as an introduction to the content. The site is aimed at computer users of all levels, from beginners who have only just learned how to use an Internet Browser (Well done for finding my site!!), to those who use their computer at work, and to those who design their own websites for marketing products and services. We will be looking at lots of resources to help you use your computer more effectively, and also helping you to find resources and opportunities to use your computer to make (more) money as well, through Internet Marketing.
Posted in Uncategorized