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Windows Tips #1 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Aug 14, 2007 at 09:51 AM
This will be a series of ongoing articles on Windows tips. The objective here is to streamline your aplications and to make your windows more productive. The starting point to any changes or additions to your operating system should start with a backup. This is probably the best tip of all, and a tremendous time saver. I cant tell you how many times I have put the restore disk in because I damaged something that I shouldnt have. This is some advice that I have learned the hard way over years of experience in the PC/Computer business. To set a restore point in XP, click Start - Programs (or All Programs)-Accessories -System Tools. System Restore, Choose Create a restore point, Click Next, and step through the wizard. In Vista, click Start - Programs (or All Programs)- Maintenance - Backup and Restore center, select Create a resore point or change settings, choose System Restore, Click Next, and then follow the instructions on your screen. Vista's PC backup creates a snapshot of your applications, settings, and data files. When your hardware fails, you can restore the entire system, not just your files. (Note that Complete Backup is not available in Vista Home Basic or Home Premium editions.) To create a backup, click Start - Conrol Panel (or Star - Settings - Control Panel on the Classic Start menu). Back up your computer (in Classic View, Double Click Backup and Restore Center). Choose Back up computer and follow the steps, I recommend making a backup at least once per month if you use your PC for work, and a minimum of once every six months no matter ho much or little you use it.
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Tony Long 06.01.07 | 2:00 AM 1890: The U.S. Census Bureau uses a tabulating machine for the first time. Freed of the laborious process of hand-sorting its data, the bureau is able to produce a complete census within two years. The machine was built by Herman Hollerith, a New York statistician. Hollerith undertook the project under contract from the Census Bureau, which had taken eight years to tabulate its 1880 census, making it effectively out of date before it appeared. The problem was exacerbated by the mushrooming population of the United States. In 1790, when the first census was taken, the nation had 3.8 million people. By 1860 it had reached 31.8 million. By 1880, with the westward expansion of the nation and the growing urban population, another 15 million Americans were on the books. It was clear to the census takers that their job would become impossible unless there was a great leap forward in tabulating technology. Enter Hollerith. Data for his tabulator was taken using a punch card, known as the Hollerith card. For ease of storage it was made the same size as paper currency and the machine employed spring-loaded needles capable of reading whether or not a hole had been punched. An electric contact was made when a hole was recognized, which set off a bell and sent the data to a counter. In the wake of this success, Hollerith established a company to market his machine. This company later merged with a couple of other firms and, eventually, IBM was born.