Understanding Windows

Inkjet printers - 1 Supposedly, there is a second method of getting ink out of the nozzle. The first is to use a thermistor (or resistor) to heat up the ink to boiling temperature and thus forcing it out the nozzle. The second method uses pizeoelectrics to shake the ink out of the nozzle. Not sure who uses this method.

Inkjet Printers - 2 Ink clogs in the nozzle area is the major failing of inkjets. Use them often, the longer they sit, the worse the output Newer inkjets will go through a (short) cleaning cycle each time they start up. Most inkjet software includes a Utilities section that contains cleaning and alignment functions.

Laser Printers Toner cartridges have a (shipping) protective tape covering between the toner and drum. If you forget to remove the tape, you will get blank pages from the printer.

Laptops The wisdom is that you should “calibrate” the battery every so often – maybe once a month. Charge the battery, disconnect the AC line, boot in Safe Mode and set the system to Always On. Clock how long the laptop runs before it shuts itself off due to low power. Over time, this run time will decrease until it is time to replace the battery.

POST POST checks out the basic hardware each time the system boots. If given a choice of options, the “correct” answer is: CPU, Memory and Video card. Selecting keyboard is incorrect; I guess because POST only looks for one and does not check keys for proper functioning.

Back to Windows Login screen. You could get away with “Cancel” in Win98, not with 2000 or XP Most systems don’t have a password on the Administrator account; often you can start up (in Safe Mode) and use that account to reset User password. There are UNIX boot CDs that will reset (blank) the Administrator password. Find them on the Internet.

Desktop Windows 2000 puts icons for My Computer, My Network Places, My Documents, Internet Explorer and Recycle Bin on the desktop. XP, in contrast, only puts Recycle Bin. Use Display Properties to add additional icons

Taskbar Start button, Quick Launch, Running Programs and System Tray (with clock) Start menu in 2000 is rather one- dimensional: just task areas Start menu in XP is more two-dimensional: Programs and task areas

General Rules of Clicking Click once (left) on menu item to use it Left-click icon once to select it Left-click icon twice to use it Right-click anything to find Properties option

Icons Programs (.exe files) bring along their own icon(s) Windows has a collection of icons available You get Window icon for unknown extensions Stored in the Registry

My Computer Icon on desktop in 2000; have to add it in XP or access it from the Start button Displays all the drives on the system (and scanners in XP) Right-click to get to Properties (and Device Manager) Last slide.