What is a Disk Drive? Where is the C Drive?

What is a Disk Drive? Yesterday when I was writing about the floppy drive or A drive I mentioned they are basically storage units!

As I mentioned most of the time computers will have 3 main drives. The A Drive as went over yesterday is the Floppy Disk Drive. A C Drive that we will talk about today, and later we will go into CD-Rom drives. SURE Computers CAN have more than 3 drives, and I want to try to hit the basics first!

Today we want to talk about the C Drive or Hard Disk Drive. The Hard drive is INSIDE your computer so you don't have to use a disk or CD rom. Below is a picture of what it looks like.



Earlier we had gone over what 'my computer' was, and if you look at the pictures you will see the drives and their letters. Its basically the names of the drives that the computer uses.



As you can see the A drive is the floppy disk drive. (B Drives can be floppy disks also!) C Drive, D Drive, E Drive in the picture look like Hard Drives. Normally C drive is your primary. There are times in which computer hard drives are paritioned (or divided basically), and that is why you may see more than one hard drive letter. The actual hard drive (C) is called the physical drive, and the paritioned (or divided pieces) is called a logical drive.

Example of a partition

In some of the newer computers the vendors don't supply all the original software with your computer anymore, but they can partition (or divide) the drive to store all the original software including windows on a small parition. If you have a newer computer, and you have a restore option to return to how your computer was when you took it out of the box? Chances are the window restore is using that paritioned drive to do that for you.

That is NOT to say that you can't have MORE than one hard drive on your computer! You can do that as well. Years ago I have a computer that needed more hard drive space, and it was just easier to add a second hard drive instead of upgrading it. I basically left all the original software that the computer used on one drive, and then my files (like letters, spreadsheets, etc) on the second drive. Personally, I thought it was a pain...lol and I don't miss it AT ALL!

Most of the time I would say if it is a newer computer chances are your computer has partitions instead of additional hard drives. If a visual will help you understand here is a picture of a pie chart.



The Green portion could be for your use - the C Drive. The small blue part? That would be the partitioned portion - or logical drive. Per the example I gave before it could be where your computer vendor stored your original software that came with your computer!

I hope I was clear on what a disk drive is, and made sense of what your C drive is as well. Remember you can ask any questions in my comment section, and don't forget to enter your email address to have the lessons sent to you as I write them!



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What is a Floppy disk drive? A Drive?

What is a Floppy disk drive? What is A Drive?

Disk drives are part of your computer that actually stores your information - at times externally (outside the computer). At times you will get these disks that contain programs that you can load into your computer to use. Other times if you have a file (maybe a letter, spreadsheet, etc) that you would like to share with someone else you can copy this information onto a disk for the party to load onto their computer. I guess the short and the sweet version of disk drives? They are storage units!

Today we are going to show you what a Floppy Disk Drive, or 'A DRIVE' is!

Most computers have at least 3 disk drives, but some can have more or less. Your computer names those drives to identify them. Most of the time you will see see A, C and D drives. Normally if you see a B drive its additional floppy drive.

Floppy Drives look similar to this:


The slit may be horizontal or vertical depending on how your computer is setup.
The above happens to be a 3.5" drive. The disk itself is 3.5" .



Keep in mind some computers have MORE than one of these drives, but Drive A is normally your floppy drive. Drive B can be the second one. Some of the newer computers no longer have floppy drive at all, so don't panic if you don't see it. Most programs are now distributed on CD's or CD roms.



There are some older computers that also have the larger version of the floppy disk drive that is 5.25". You don't see these much anymore, but I used to use these to store my files on in college! Showing my age here?!



I hope this lesson helped you identify what a floppy disk drive or 'a drive' is. If you have ANY questions please feel free to leave a comment on this blog. You can also enter your email below, and get sent new lessons as I get done writing them!

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Where is 'My Computer' located?

 

Where is 'My Computer' Located, and what is 'My Computer'?

 

Today’s How-To Guide For the Computer Beginner is locating the My Computer Icon, and what the ‘My Computer’ is!

 

NOTE:  Some newer versions of windows does not have the 'my computer' icons on their desktop, and we will go over how to place it there. 

 

Lastly, also note in newer versions of window (Ie Vista, 7) they call it just ‘computer’ not ‘my computer’

We will start with the older versions of windows, and then move to the newer versions.

Starting with some versions of Microsoft Windows 95 and included with all versions of Windows after that included 'My Computer'. My Computer allows the user to explore the contents of their computer drives (IE: C drive, A Drive, Etc) as well as manage their computer files.

Below are some common icon's you will see for your 'my computer' which should be on your desktop!  Once we locate this on our desktop we can see the contents of our computer drives by double clicking on them.

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned before 'My computer' for Vista, Seven (7) is just named 'computer' NOT My Computer, and your icon on the desktop should look similar to the picture I supplied.

 

 

 

 

The only thing missing is the word ‘my’ with the new operating systems.  (Giggles) YES it does the same thing as described above.

On your desktop you should see 'my computer' icon (or ‘computer’ with new operating systems).

 

Double-click the My Computer icon, this icon is almost always located on the top left portion of the desktop and should look similar to the icons above as I mentioned.

Here are some screenshots from different versions of windows 'my computer' once you double click the icon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At times in Windows XP and Windows Vista and Windows 7 you will not see the My Computer Icon on your Desktop.

 

If you want to place it there you can!

'My Computer' Icon for Windows XP

 

Let’s place our ‘my computer’ icon on the desktop!

 

 

Right-click on the Desktop (an empty spot) and click Properties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Display Properties window click the Desktop tab you will see towards the top of the picture (themes, desktop, screensaver, etc).

 

Click the Customize Desktop button, which you will find towards the bottom of this picture. Its almost right on top of the OK Button.  The next picture is similar to what you should see next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within the General tab (see top again), check or uncheck the desktop icons you wish to display on the Desktop.

 

If you at our picture (towards top) you will see items like: My Documents, My Computer, My Network places, Internet Explorer are all selected. This means all of them will now appear on your desktop.

 

If you do not want one or more of them on your desktop? Remove the check mark by clicking on the box.

 

Make your own selections on your computer.  Make the choices you have to be placed on the desktop, or remove the ones you don’t wish there.  Click OK when finished.

 

 

 

 

You can click OKAY to the rest of your screens that had come up at this point to get out of this application, and view your desktop.  THEY should BE THERE!

'My Computer' Icon for Windows Vista

Keep in mind in Vista its called, “Computer” not “MY computer”

To put the Computer icon on the desktop,

 

 

 
Click the Start button(1) , and

then right-click on "Computer"(2).

 

 

 

Click the "Show on Desktop" (3) item in the menu, and your Computer icon will show up on the desktop automatically.   Check your desktop NOW for your ‘computer’ icon.  Remember in newer operating systems they no longer call this ‘my computer’, but ‘computer’.

 

OR another way to find My Computer to place on the Desktop:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right-click on the desktop and choose Personalize (blue Finger),

 

 

 

 

then click on "Change Desktop Icons" on the left-hand side of the screen(Right Finger).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Desktop Icon setting  panel you can choose which of the built-in icons to show on the desktop. In our case we are after 'computer', because Vista doesn’t call it MY computer.

 

In the picture I have supplied, the red finger is pointing at “COMPUTER”, but right next to it is the recycle bin.  I have chosen to place the computer and recycle bin on the desktop by making sure the check marks are present.  If I didn’t wish for one or the other to be  on the desktop?  I would make sure no check mark is present like pictured for ‘user files, control panel, or network’ that are pictured here.

 

Once you have completed your choices you will then click ‘ok’ to let the computer know you are finished.

 

You know now how to find where the 'my computer' icon is located!

 

I hope you enjoyed today’s How-To Guide For the Computer Beginner lesson on where is the My Computer Icon.

If you have ANY questions please feel free to leave a comment on this blog were I have indicated.

 

You can also enter your email below, and get sent new lessons as I get done writing them!

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What is a scrollbar?

What is a scroll bar? Look to the left side of your screen, and you will see the scrollbar as well as the scroll arrow and scroll box. Below is an image of a scrollbar and I identified the parts for you.



The scrollbar on the right enables you to scroll up the screen and scroll down the screen. At times you will also see a scrollbar along the bottom of your screen as well. This allows you to scroll your screen to the left and scroll your screen to the right. It basically brings you to areas of your screen that are hidden from view.

The scroll bar has a scroll box inside of that. If you wish to go to the top or the bottom of the screen that is NOT in view you would place your mouse pointer over that scroll box, and then hold it down and your glide your mouse up and down.

The scroll arrow is nice when you have a VERY long page, and you want to go directly to the top or the bottom of the page you are using quickly. Click on the scroll arrow direction you wish, and you will scroll directly to the top or bottom of the screen.

Take a look at a humorous example of a scrollbar in action!



I love IT! Hope you enjoyed our lesson on what is a scrollbar. Try it on your screen now using your scroll box, and the scroll arrow to try it yourself!


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What Version of Internet Explorer do I have?

From time to time people need to know what version of internet explorer they are using, but don't know where to look.

At the top of your internet explorer browser window (you are reading this site in a browser window) you may see a question mark (blue arrow) or you need go to the left edge of the browser screen to find the button that looks similar to two arrows '>>' (red arrow). You are looking for your help button in your internet explorer browser. HIT the help button!


You then normally have some options under the help section, and you are looking for 'About Internet Explorer'. Click your 'about internet explorer' button, and a window similiar to the one below should open.



What Internet Explorer Version do you have? Hmmmm. Looks like we have version 6.0 pictured above!

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Where is the control panel on computer?

Where is the control panel located on computer?

 

Today’s How-To Computer Beginner lesson will be How do I find my control panel on my computer.

 

What is the control panel on the computer? 

 

The control panel is a place on your computer where you can change or set your computer settings.  It could things like how fast my mouse clicks, what printer to use, how my desktop will look, adjusting your sound for your system.  In some ways you can look at it as a ‘control center’ of your computer.

 

I will show you where the control panel is located in older versions like Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and then windows XP and Control panel in Windows Vista or Seven (7).

For the older versions of windows you need to:

1. Start button

2. Programs
3. Accessories
4. System tools = under system tools you will see control panel

 

On some older systems you can find your control panel

 

1) start button

2)  Settings

3)  Control Panel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your control panel should look similar to the one pictured. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How-To locate your control panel in Windows XP:


Click Start menu button.
Select Control Panel

 

If you cannot find the Control Panel in your Start menu, select Settings and Control Panel.

Here is two views of what the control panel in XP look like.  Keep in mind each computer may differ slightly.

 

How-To locate your Control Panel in Vista:

To to your Start Button

Look your Left to click control panel (yellow finger pointing at it)



After you find control panel in Vista you have a choice of two views:

Control Panel Home



Or use that arrow pictured to get to the classic view of the control panel for vista



Windows 7 (seven) control panel is found the same way Vista was found

 

Where is the control panel? We found it didn't we!  The control panel is something that a computer beginner will be using from time to time.  You will notice in our other computer basic courses we will refer it often.

 

I hope our How-To find the control panel on your computer lesson today was helpful.  Keep in mind you can enter your email address, and you can receive future lessons directly in your email box. 

 

Questions or comments are always welcome!

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Java Won't Work? We have answers!

This little guy is called Duke the Java Mascot! What is Java? Chances are your computer may already have Java. If you have seen any multimedia type of things on your computer chances are good Java is what helping you see it!

(Later Note:  I have noticed with newer computer Java is NOT included.  You want to install it.)

Today’s How-To Guide for the Computer Beginner is about problems with java. 

I get emails:

java issues
java problems
java not working
java issue
problems with java
java troubleshooting
java security issues

I think you get the picture!

Let's go over what java is, where to find it, and then fix our issues with java in that order!

If you look in your programs section on your computer, and you don’t have Java?  It’s a free download, and you will USE it!

Part of Java's definition is: Java allows you to play online games, chat with people around the world, calculate your mortgage interest, and view images in 3D, just to name a few...

How do you know if you have Java? On the homepage of Java you can actually see the wording, "Do I have Java?".


Yes, what is neat about the Java Site is they will tell you if you have Java or NOT!  Just click the words, “Do I have Java” on the Java Homepage for the answer.

See my picture below, and keep in mind the Java home page may have changed..but that prompt will be there (look below free download button)!

In case you get a security question from your computer firewall asking if this is a safe and reputable site? I would place it in your trusted zone so you don't have issues in the future.  Yes, Java is a very trusted site.



With many other programs you get on the internet you are at times asked to update your version. They are basically telling you that they have come up with a new and improved version. 

In most cases you want to take advantage of this update, but if you have any doubts?  You can also search the internet about the update to see if people are having problems with it.  I would say most of the time?  You are fine.

The reason I started this lesson is because some of my friends had more than one version of Java on their computer, and going to some of the sites that they used Java for were giving them problems all of a sudden.   This is the quickest troubleshooting resolution I could come up with!

They normally had errors along the lines of:
java virtual machine not working
java script issues
or basically the screen to the chat room went blank.

HelpBytes has other error messages listed with solutions.  The Java Site also has a help section.

If they looked at their list of programs (add and delete program section) they had Java 6 and Java 7, etc. Those were added when they are asked to update the Java. You could have 3 or more versions of this program, and I have found it causes nothing but problems down the line!

Computers and programs also just can be strange.  The update can be seen to the machine as ‘wrong’, and you have all kinds of problems from there.  Don’t ask me why – machines just don’t have common sense.

For example, one night you go into a chat room and everything is fine.  You update something, and the next time you go to say HELLO to friends?  The computer just refuses to cooperate.  Java isn’t just for chat rooms, but I was more using that as an example.

Have you been asked to update your Java?

Most of the time you get will an update reminder on newer operating systems. The older operation systems (Windows 95, etc.) don't always do that from what I remember.



On your task bar  (like picture above) you at times will notice a java icon similar to ones I have pictured below. The taskbar is the area in which you will notice the reminder message to update Java.



YEP you got it – the logo is similar to a cup of coffee!

From time to time you will be reminded that you have a Java Update, and those are FINE to download! The problem I have seen is Java doesn't work as it should when you have to many different versions on your computer, or too many updates to Java.

If I know I will be updating lets say Java version Number 6 to Java Version number 7 for example....the NEW and IMPROVED version? I go to my add and delete program  section, and completely delete Java 6 before I install Java 7.

If you have don't remember doing this before you might be surprised at the number of versions you have. Its okay! Just delete ALL of versions of Java! When we install the new version of Java you won't be missing a thing! The site will replace the newest version with EVERYTHING you will need to be up to date and flying high once again!

Java is a program you will use quite a bit, but if you having issues after an update?

Delete all versions, and download a fresh copy! Chances are good your issues will disappear!

I will tell you at times certain sites will NOT keep up with the current version of Java, and the updates do you no good.  I will mention that is not the majority of the time.  Its actually very rare from what I have experienced.

Most people realize they are having problems with Java after a new update of the program, and they are no longer able to do something they had in the past.  It could be watching movies, entering a chat room, etc.  Just remove your old version of Java, and install the new version.  Chances are you are SET to go!   You don't know how to install or uninstall java or another program?  Here is a Uninstall Programs tutorial for you.

I hope our How-To Lesson for problems with Java helped you today.  If something is not clear, or you still have questions?  Please feel free to leave a comment.

Don’t forget to add your email in our subscribe box we have here.  You will have our future lessons sent directly to your email.

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