Hi [First_Name],
Welcome to issue number 1 of my "Without a Mouse" Newsletter. Each fortnight or so, I'm going to be emailing this out to whoever would like it. It is aimed a people who have an interest in using their Windows computer without using the mouse. Each issue will contain:
The first couple of editions will be sent out like this one, manually, to people who I think might be interested. If you'd rather not receive further issues please send me a message to unsubscribe@withoutamouse.com and I'll take you off the list. After the first few editions I'll be asking you to confirm that you would like to carry on receiving the newsletter. At that point I hope you'll be finding that your life wouldn't feel complete without my musings and you'll sign on the dotted line. However if you don't wish to receive it any more, you won't!
So on with the show for Issue 1...
This one is for Internet Explorer.
To quickly add a web page to you favourites list, press CTRL+D.
Did you know that you can take a snapshot of how your screen looks? You can copy the currently active window to the clipboard by pressing ALT + PrintScreen or you can copy the whole screen with CTRL + Print Screen. You can then paste the picture into your Word Processor or Graphics software. Why might you want to do that? Well one reason is to capture those error messages to pass on to someone who might be able to help sort it out without you having to remember the jargon of the message. Another use for this is one I used a lot recently when writing my latest e-book, "Windows Without a Mouse". You can buy it from www.withoutamouse.com, by the way.
I was with a client this week whose computer - a new-ish one running Windows XP - was running really, really slowly. I ran a full scan of her virus guard which did pick up one virus but this made only marginal difference to the speed of the machine. Then I ran a programme that looks for other nasties like spyware and such things. It came up with 384! Fortunately, the software also got rid of them. But that's not all. To stop too many more of these nasties getting onto this computer I loaded a software firewall. These stop anything connecting to the internet from computer which you don't want to and stops anything gaining access to your computer. Within the first 10 minutes of being up and running it had stopped half a dozen attempts to get access to the computer. Scary or what? Once all of this was done the computer was back up to speed AND safer from intruders.
So if you are savvy about these things, take this as a reminder to make sure your protection is up-to-date. And if you aren't protected please think about getting some protection.
The first programme I used is called Adaware from LavaSoft and you can download it for free for home use from www.download.com. The firewall is ZoneAlarm and can also be downloaded for free from www.download.com.
Adaware is 2 and half megabytes and ZoneAlarm is over 5 and half, so with a broadband connection there's no excuse. However I carry copies around with me to share with clients who have a dial-up connection. Very handy.
Well that's it for Issue 1. Please feel free to forward this message to someone who might be interested in receiving it. If you received this copy from a friend and would like to receive further copies directly please send an email to subscribe@withoutamouse.com.
And if I can help with your computer training requirements, drop me a line.
Rebecca
Rebecca Ballard
Without a Mouse Training
PO Box 8010
Reading
RG31 5XJ
Tel: 0870 765 3258
Mob: 07017 412 662
Email: contact@withoutamouse.com