Many charities can’t take computers
Q. My neighbor told me that the big charities won’t take old computers. Is this true?
A. Yes. Not all charities have the money, resources or technical knowledge to redistribute old computers. Finding the proper charity is key. Three organizations that can handle your old gear include Gifts in Kind (www. giftsinkind.org), National Cristina Foundation ( www.cristina.org) and Share the Technology ( www.sharetechnology.org).
Q. What is IEEE-1394? I saw it in a computer advertisement.
A. Commonly referred to as FireWire, it’s a fast way of getting data in and out of your computer. FireWire is rated to move 400 megabits of data per second, so you theoretically can transfer a 10-gigabyte home movie (more than two hours of video) from your camcorder to your computer in about four minutes. Like Universal Serial Bus (USB), FireWire lets you connect several FireWire devices to a single port using a hub or via pass-through ports on individual devices. This splits the 400-megabit bandwidth between all the devices, which reduces each devices transfer rate a bit, but FireWire is still fast enough for the most demanding data storage and retrieval tasks.
Q. Is there a way to see what a page will look like it is actually printed?
A. In most programs, select File and then Print Preview. You also may have additional tools to resize margins as well as a button for “Shrink to Fit,” which reduces text and images outside of the page’s printable area so it won’t be chopped off.
Q. Is there a search engine I can use to find a Chinese restaurant or a dry cleaner near where I live?
A. Google (http://local.google.com) and Yahoo! (http://local.yahoo.com) let you enter an address or ZIP code to find local businesses or points of interest. CitySearch ( www.citysearch.com) and SuperPages ( www.superpages.com) are two more options.
Q. I hear weird sounds coming from my computer — for instance, a door opening and closing. Is this normal? I use America Online.
A. The sounds are coming from your AOL Buddy List, letting you know when a buddy has logged in or logged out. To turn off the sounds, open you AOL Buddy List, click Setup. Click IM Settings. Select the Expressions tab. Under Buddy Arrival and Departure Sounds, select “Do not play any sound.” Do the same for Instant Message Sounds. Click Save.
Q. My mom’s desktop computer recently suffered a power surge. Is there an easy way of accessing her files?
A. Your mom’s files should be fine. To access them, you could install the old hard drive in a new computer. Or you could take the drive to a computer repair store. There, a technician can copy the files onto a new drive or onto a CD or DVD.