How do I turn on the spell chequer?

Use Firefox for your browser.

Dan

Just guessing...Can't stand explorer or MS "look out". But If I remember for a spell checker you need MS office installed.
I use the smaller mozilla program, which is like fire fox. The newer version is now called sea monkey. Has both browser and mail program with a spell checker built in. Small and nice. Free of course.
KennyP

Firefox, at least the newer versions, has the checker on by default. It's really helpful.

Oh, Digit, I do SO sympathize! But my problems are still with the OLDE computerthe Dell! HavenÂt gotten around to getting the Mac yet! And when I do that at least IÂll be out of the MS GOTCHA system!

DonÂt get me started on computers!

TOO LATE!

Recently IÂve just been trying to keep my DellÂs dementia from worsening till I do. I had to take my netbook in to get a little piece that broke off while I was on vacation fixed, so I donÂt have ANY backup right now, and itÂs been keeping my blood pressure WAY up! Every now and then when I start this thing it goes into some kind of an IÂve-had-a-stroke-diagnostic and runs a whole list of ERRORS and then, apparently, "fixes" the errors, because it eventually boots up and gets going again. I hold my breath every time it does it! Apparently I have some corrupted filesÂbut, heyÂIÂm into corruption! And other times, when it does load, I come up with a 513 error message on my AOL email and it wonÂt load. Well I finally found something online that seems to have helped that! I added more space to my browser cache, tho, my "computer problem/optimization scan" ran yesterday and told me I now have too much space in my browser cache!!! and did I want to automatically fix it! I went back in and decreased the space by a little, but not as low as it was, and my email is still working, and I donÂt know what the "computer" is gonna tell me next time it looks for "problems"Âbut never seems to find the REAL problems!

And speaking of things being "eliminated," a couple weeks ago IÂin trying to get rid of junk to keep this thing workingÂwent into the Windows Installer Cleanup program to get rid of some of the "left over" files that are used to install the programs you wantÂlike Adobe or Java. I had done it before, carefully checking after each deletion to be sure everything still worked, and it had. This time I decided I was gonna get rid of most of the remaining "installation leftovers" so I started deleting thingsÂAND THEN I tried to open Word! And I tried! And I tried! WORD WAS GONE!!! I had a heart attackÂand then I tried again! I had a strokeÂand then I tried again! It was GONE! Every time when I was deleting the install files I got the message: This file will be PERMANENTLY removed from your computer! What have I done??? My WHOLE LIFE is in Word! I restarted the computerÂand it was still GONE! I was still sitting here in a cold sweat when my best-friend-from-Denver-who-now-lives-in-New-York called and I could hardly talk! I started to explain what had happened (she knows some stuff about computers! SheÂs young!) and we were "discussing" possibilities! I kept saying, "but on all the TV shows they can get stuff back out of computers that have been smashed/burned/had acid dumped on them/been in the ocean for 10 years........... She said: ThatÂs on TV! In the meantime, just before she called I had set the computer to do a System Restore, which, luckily went back to a restore point that was only a few hours earlier! So weÂre talking, and the computer is doing its thing! It finally finishes and says I need to restart it, so IÂm "trying" to talk, with my heart attacked heart still racing, and trying to restart the computer at the same time! Restarting it takes "a while!" Even under th BEST of circumstances this thing takes a LONG time to load! It finally comes back up and I try to go to Word! ItÂs there! OMG! Then I REALLY couldnÂt talk! I was laughing and crying and shakingÂand crying! I xÂd out and brought it back up againÂand did it againÂand again! It really was there!

Now, you might say, why was I worried? DidnÂt I have everything backed up????? NOT!!!!! I had never taken the time to figure out how to do that! Most of my computer education has happened during times of crisis!!! My best-friend-from-Denver-who-now-lives-in-New-York went with me to help me buy my first computer, and then she had to do something else, so I brought it home, plugged it in, and started using it!

YES!!!!! I have now figured it all out, and I have Word (and Picasa) TOTALLY backed up on CDÂs! But for about a half an hour while my life was GONE I was TOTALLY freaking out! My friend said thereÂs a difference between deleting install files for things IÂve installed, and install files for the things that came preinstalled in the computer! I GUESS! The (permanently removed) Word install file is now back in the Installer CleanupÂand I have no intentions of deleting it or anything elseÂeven if they ARE useless files!

Computer rant over, but I have a question! IÂve always heard really good things about Firefox, but IÂve always wondered if it has a "blank" screen like AOL does. If I donÂt have any windows open, AOL is just a blank light blue screen. No ads or (un)important information all over the screen, and nothing "bopping" around here and there! I HATE animated stuffÂeven when itÂs supposed to be "fun" stuff like animated smileys! And I absolutely, totally and completely HATE tabbed browsing! As in IE! I HATE IE!!! (Had to use it a couple weeks ago when I couldnÂt get AOLÂwhich also has corrupted files in it by nowÂto come up. Using IE totally inclines me to smash my computer!)

SoÂdoes Firefox have "tabbed" browsing, like IE, and does it have a "blank" screen when youÂre not doing anythingÂobviously still with a toolbar on the top, and a tray (or whatever other names it goes by) on the bottom?

When I get the Apple itÂll obviously come with their browser, but IÂve been thinking of trying Firefox in it too, but wonÂt do it till I can find out more about it, and I searched and canÂt find anything that shows what the Firefox screen looks like, and if you do your browsing with "tabs" or in individual windowsÂwhich I often have a dozen or so open at a time in AOL! But then, IÂll probably always keep AOL anyway, so maybe itÂs a moot questionÂbut IÂve always been curious anyway!

Congratulation on your new computer, Digit, and deepest sympathy that you have Windows 7! That was out already when I got my netbook and I opted for XPÂsince I was familiar with it and since I had heard some bad things about 7. It sounds like I made the right choice! I had never heard of Bing, so I googled it and found itÂs just a search engine. AOL defaults to a google search, but I also have a separate link to the google search screen on my toolbar. ThatÂs easy to doÂas in if I can do it....! Just search for the google search screen and when you find it add it to your toolbar and pick an appropriate icon for it so youÂll remember what it isÂlike a lightbulb! Well that seems logical to me! Once itÂs in the toolbar all you have to do is click it and use the google search rather than the BoinkÂuh, I meanÂbing one! LOL! I have the Penthius (Ghost Whisperer) search screen on my toolbar too! Every now and then the AOL one quits, and Penthius seems to work no matter what! Only thing I donÂt like about it is it doesnÂt open search results I click on in a new windowÂand it doesnÂt have an image search!

IÂve never had a "browser" that corrects spelling! The only place I get spelling checked is in Word and in my email! Do some browsers actually check spelling when youÂre typing in forums and stuff? In my experience most forums either have their own spell checking or they donÂt and then you just keep your fingers crossed!

Get well soon, Digit! Both you AND your browser!
Skybird

I'm swankin' here with my new iMac. Ordered it from the Apple Store on-line Thursday afternoon, and it was here Saturday morning at 11 am.

Took about three hours to set up and transfer all the info from the manic-depresive one, but I got all the book marks, emails, photos, movies, files, etc on the new one. With Firewire, it would have been a few minutes, but the old one is too ancient to have that plug in, so we had to use ethernet.

Goofed up a tad, ordered the bluetooth keyboard and super duper cordless mouse instead of the USB equivalent, and if I can't get used to it in a couple of weeks, will buy some honker of an ergonomic thing with whole big separated key board for each hand, at least 2 foot across, so it looks like I'm playing some huge pipe organ in church.

I've fallen on the ice about three times and luckily, haven't hurt myself. Today got up into the 40's, and melted of a huge amount of drive way ice.

The automatic spell checker is everywhere on anything I type, it comes with the basic program. DW and DS use Firefox, I use the Mac program Safari what with being perfectly happy with it.

Firefox had tabs long before IE did :)

And very happy to read that you recovered from your Word loss. Good catch on the quick system restore!

Congratulations on your new iMac, David! I assume you got the "new" screen you were telling me about! You beat me!!! I really have to get my tushy out the door and go down to look at them!

So if Firefox has tabbed browsing I wont be going there. Since you mentioned Safari, David, I just checked it out, and it looks like you can either use tabs OR windows, so if thats what comes with the iMac, I just might actually use it! But Ill need to use it for quite a while before I decide to discontinue my AOL. Ive been using that since my first computer (needed it, at the time, to be able to access the work stuff I needed) and I really like it and the mail system (use gmail and yahoo too, and like AOL better). But it looks like I can also open Safari with the "blank" screen I like, so that will definitely be worth checking out!

David, I also decided to check out your new keyboardand your Magic Mouse, if thats the one you have, and I found some info I think you might be interested in. Im going to send it to you in a PM (thot I had your address around here somewhere, but I guess I dont!), so be looking for an email from Skybird!

Thanks for the info on Firefox, Jennifer, and, if you think YOURE happy I got my Word backOH, MY, just think how happy ~~ I ~~ am! I was already considering spending a couple hundred dollars if I needed to, to recover it! I KNEW it had to be in the computer SOMEWHERE, but if the Restore hadnt fixed it, I didnt have a clue what to do next!

My friend suggested maybe I should "try" Geeks on Callbut I had already used them one time shortly before my HP went bonkers and the guy who came appeared to know very little more than I did, he was here for 4 or 5 hours (I was getting so hungry I finally had some cookiesand feeling bad to be eating in front of him, I gave him some too!), and it cost me over $200! NOTHING was fixed, and a few weeks later my HP died an ignoble death! So glad I didnt have to try to find somebody competent this time!

Skybird

. . . foraging the internet with Firefox this morning!

digitS' :o)

Forage on, Digit!

:-)

I've created a new file in the new computer as I've tried to sort out this new thing:

Renaissance
Link
Text

Rocky Mountain Gardening

Rocky Mountain Gardening
Rocky Mountain Gardening
Rocky Mountain Gardening
Rocky Mountain Gardening
Rocky Mountain Gardening

I still can't use Comic Sans font or change color on any font except the default, and my musical notes are missing . . ? (I know everyone is disappointed so I'll look harder ;o). DD tells me that a "thumb something-or-other" can be used to transfer things from 1 computer to the other. This is a mystery but blank CD's are absent from the house since she moved them out a couple of years ago . . . I'll need to find the proper corner of the office supply store to look in to find a "thumb something-or-other" or a disc . . .

Thank you for allowing me some confusion and providing help! I'm almost ready to talk peppers & snapdragons & tomatoes & calendulas &, &, & . . .

digitS'

Wow, are we all dealing with dying computers??? I just ordered my new one, should be here next week, but meanwhile have figured out how to work it so I can keep my internet connection for more than a few minutes at a time (unless I want to send an e-mail, then it disconnects when I press the send button). Of course, then I will have to find a new and more expensive way to connect to the internet since I have been using slow old (cheap) dial-up and that is not an option with the new ones.

Digit, your problems with Win 7 worry me, I'll be there soon. I'm sure by now someone has told you a "thumb something or other" is more commonly called a flash drive. I'll have to pick up one of those, too, since one of my problems is that the old machine doesn't recognize when there is a CD in the drive.

Skybird, glad you recovered your Word program. I know that awful panic feeling when you delete something you didn't mean to.

Sigh, what good are computers that are too tricky for normal, non-computer geek people to operate! Glad the industry is amusing itself with technical stuff most of us neither need nor want.

Skybird, that super-duper iMac mouse will be mastered - its pretty cool. As for the screen, for the first 5 or 6 days, I'm thinkin' Eh - whats the big deal? and then I discovered it had been set on 'dull', and I moved it half way up the scale - sort of like opening the curtains on a sunny day. Full brightness is almost painful to look at.

When you get yours, the smaller screen is enormous. I dunno what anybody would want the large screen for, except maybe to watch movies or edit them or something.

Thanks for the update, David! So youre not having a problem with the mouse burning thru batteries then? All that stuff online about them wasting batteries had me thinkin Ill want a very ordinary mouse as opposed to an overachieving superhuman one! But I AM curious! Just exactly what is it the "magic" ones does that the un-magic ones dont do? I already have a problem with my Dell mouse going thru batteries MUCH more quickly than I think it shouldso I take the batteries out whenever the computer is turned off (overnite!). Why dont they make a way to turn off your mouse when youre not using it like I can do with the one I got to go with my netbook?

And I just tried to find what size screens they have, and it looks like even if I get their smallest screen (as near as I can figure, 21") its gonna be WAY big compared to the one I have now15"which Ive always considered to be plenty big for a computer! What size did you get?

Dont think Im gonna have any trouble getting the screenor anything elseworking right when I first get it tho. Ive decided I am definitely gonna get the one-to-one! Theyll get it all working right for me and transfer all my data and stuff, and Ill have all the little-olde-lady help I need whenever I cant figure something out or if something seems to be going wrong. IMO the electronics industry has a MAJOR problem these days! They sell you a not-cheap piece of equipment and when you take it home and it doesnt work, they make you pay to figure out whats wrong with it! Oh, for the good old days! I know Im paying for the help in this case too, but if I want/need to, I can positively HAUNT them, and it wont cost any more! Between the one-to-one and the genius bar, theyre gonna get to know me really well!!! But Im sure glad you figured out how to adjust your screen to the level you want!

How are you liking that new keyboard by now? If its the one I looked at online, it doesnt have a number pad and I definitely wont be getting it. I cant function without a number keypad!

Since youre using Safari, are you also using the Apple word processing programiWork I think? If you are I have a question! Are you able to click on the margins of any particular document and drag them to a new position, or do you need to go to format to change them, and then go back to the document to see if you like where they are, or if you need to change them again?

WindWhipped, Im sorry to hear about the demise of your computer too! It kinda looks like winter must be a normal time for computers to expire! My original HP died in winter too! Congratulations on the new one, and let us know how its working out for you when you get it.

BTW, Digit and WindWhipped, a couple days ago I got an advertising card in the mail from Dell that states: "Windows 7 Your PC, Simplified!" I was thinking of the two of you, and I hope you find outat least eventuallythat thats true! Good Luck!

Digit, how are you and YOUR new computer getting along by now?

Good luck everybody,
Skybird

Skybird, my wife has these blue tooth key boards and mouse things at her office, and tells me that if you put in those expensive silver-blue batteries that last 8 X as long, then you don't have to change them very often. Months go by.

The mouse has an on-off switch at the bottom. It has a touch pad feature on the top, so you can scroll stuff just by brushing it with a finger tip, and depending on where your hand is when touching it, the clicks do all kinds of different stuff. Real clear explanation, that.

I got their base line model, the 21 inch screen - its huge. I wish I'd gotten the larger keyboard with the number pad.

I'm new to Pages as well, but my 17 year old son says it's a great word processing program - I'll be figuring it out as I go along. I'll try this and report back..... with Apple computers there are usually at least 5 different ways of doing any one thing.

I'm not finding Windows 7 too much trouble now, Windwhipped & Skybird, and I think you will adjust to it fairly quickly.

I have to admit that I appreciated each step Microsoft has made with Windows, altho' I missed a couple of them along the way.

The "flock" of little pop-up windows is mostly an internet explorer issue. Let's say that you have 3 internet windows open and each have 3 tabs open. Every time your cursor drops down to the IE window -- all 9 little windows pop up!!

Firefox doesn't do that. It will show you the main windows and not all the tabs at once.

I like tabs and I've learned to make use of the right click on the mouse to load a linked page in a tab while staying right on what I'm reading. That seems kind of wonderful to me!

Now that I have a CD to carry back and forth from the old computer in the basement - to the new computer here in the South Window - I've been able to use what is on the old documents.

Thank you for letting me know what a flash drive is, WW!

Now,

1. what's a "network" ? Could I run a wire (2 wires) between the 2 computers and save myself some steps (on much too steep stairs)? And,
2. what kind of wire would carry the information?
3. Would different operating systems be a problem?

Are there online sources other than the highly profession techies on GardenWeb where people go for this kind of information . . ?

Steve

Hi Digit,

When I finally get it done, Ill be getting a Mac this time, so I will be HAPPILY out of the MicroSoft MAZE, and not be having nightmares about the incessant updates anymore! The better security, without the ad infinitum updates is what originally led me to checking out Applebut I also love the fact that the Mac is sans-CPU! So I will, for the first time, be diverging from the PC World into a whole new area of discovery!

On to more important matters!

I suspect youll wind up with some pretty good info here at RMG about connecting your two computers, but I also found this site that might help you figure it out. It sounds like the most limiting factor might by whether or not your two operating systems are compatibleand I cant help you at all with that, but maybe somebody else around here can!

David, if the Magic Mouse has a touch pad on top like laptops do, I probably wont get it! The reason I got a mouse to go with my netbook is because I dont like those little paddie things! But I will check it out when I manage to get down to the Apple storeas a matter of face, I suspect Im going to be told about it whether or not I want to be!!! But its really nice to have some idea about whats going on before I get there to ask questions and become inundated by the information Im getting! If I could find a plain old fashioned mouse with an on/off switch, Id be very happy! I used some of those newfangled Lithium batteries in my camera when I was on vacation, and they were WONDERFUL for that since I didnt have to carry extra batteries with me when I was hiking, but theyre REALLY expensive, so for now Ill just keep using cheap ones in the mouseand taking them out overnite! I DO hope the Lithium ones get cheaper by vacation time next year!

AND LOL about Apple usually having five different ways to do any one thing! Most of the time Im just happy if I can figure out ONE way to do something! But I know what you mean, cause when I was checking out Safari I found that you can set up the screen pretty much however you want toat least thats the impression I haveand thats what the one-to-one is gonna help me figure out!

I dont think Im gonna get any of that blue tooth stuff! (Who on earth is it that makes up these new terms for electronics stuff these days? My friend in NYC got tired of calling her blackberry and blackberry, so now she calls it a lingonberry!) I have no intentions of ever using a blue tooth (I prefer WHITE teeth!), and I also have no plans to ever use my cell phone for anything other than a phone!) I see all these people (especially when Im working) running around hopelessly attached to their phones and blackberries and iphones, and wonder if they have a life! Its sorta like when they suddenly dont have access to/cant use their "devices," they seem to start an internal self destruct process! "Im not attached to anything anymore! How can I go on! Im out here all by myself! Wheres my connection???" When I was littlereal littlewe didnt even have a phone, and somehow I and all the other phoneless people in the world survived, and I dont plan to ever get myself into the position where I feel like I "just cant go on" without my portable electronic devices! Dont ever want to be without a computer again tho! :-) And glad I have the netbookbut it wont be traveling around with me too much!

Electronics minimalist,
Skybird

Hi Digit, are you asking about the network as a means of transferring information from the old computer to the new? If so you might try a product from MS called something like an "easy transfer cord". You hook up both computers (they have to be sitting side by side) and use some free MS software and it transfers the data from the old computer to the new. Haven't tried it - just read about it.

Otherwise, I think networks connect through a router - and that is the sum total of my knowledge on the subject. If you want to set up a permanent network with both computers hooked up to the internet, you should probably ask your internet provider, they should know.

Skybird, I'm with you about the phones. I had lunch this weekend with a friend who has a blackberry. She said her phone service (including internet on the berry, cause who could live without a constant connection) cost her $170/mo. Are you kidding, that's over $2000 a year for phone service!!! And she rarely ever calls anyone on it - just texts and e-mails. I probably should mention that not only do I still have my land line, but all my phones are corded and plugged into the wall. Don't even own a cell phone, but suppose I will have to eventually succumb.

Here's my computer story for the day. After much dilly-dallying, finally decided on the HP MS214 all-in-one because it was priced right, had what I wanted but not too much stuff I didn't want, and it is cute and compact. Bought direct from HP and got free 2-day shipping. Arrived today, speedy quick. Looked good out of the box, then finally unpacked the keyboard last thing. Un pocito problema. El keyboard es en español. Very interesting, regular n + another key for ñ, right side up ?, + upside down ?, and of course all the key labels were in Spanish. Had a little trouble getting the customer service agent in India to understand the problem, but finally got it through to her. Then I had to box up the computer, because they can't just send a new keyboard, noooo, I have to send the whole thing back and have them send out a whole new one. And of course there is no 2-day air on this one! Sheesh! This better be worth it!

Still crying so much I can hardly type, WW! Second good laugh Ive gotten here tonite, and so far, yours is the definite winner! My first computer was a HP! Thats the one what went to binary-land when it died! I wont say it went to heaven, because it didnt deserve to go to heaven! Just before it died I tried to get hold of HP help on the phone. I spent a half an hour looking online for some way to contact them. I went from screen to screen to screen to........... I finally found a real phone number that said I could call for help with problems. It was NOT a toll free number! I kept looking, but never did find a toll free number, so, in desperation, I decided to use the pay number! At least I figured Id get help! I called! I listened to a long menu, trying to figure out which option to pick! I picked an option and got another long list of options! I picked another one and got another long list of options! TWENTY MINUTES LATER I got to a recording that said it had a phone number I could call for help! I carefully wrote the number downand then I looked at the original number I had written down and called! IT WAS THE SAME NUMBER! I think HP is in cahoots with the phone company, and just keeps people on their non-free number as long as they can so they can get good kickbacks from the phone company! At that point I decided I would NEVER buy another HP productand I havent! At least I didn't have to TRY to talk to somebody in India! I try my darndest to find companies that have English speaking help when you need ittho in this day and age, any help at all is somewhat of a miracle! I read recently that Dell has now outsourced their phone help to India!

I sure hope theyre not making you pay to send your problema back to them!

I still have, and love, my land line too, WW. When a friend (accidentally) calls me on my cell, I ask them to call back on the land line! Cell phone conversation is just too choppy and unnatural sounding as far as Im concernedespecially if both people are on a celland most of the people I know only use cells! And I do have a wireless phone around here somewhere, but I never got around to hooking it up and "programming" it! Its still in the box! I need to have the cell when Im working, and, I have to admit, Im glad to have it in the car with me when Im out somewhere! It really has become a nice "safety" thing to carry around with me. But a funny story! Almost eight years ago now, when I was still commuting to SFO, I got back to DEN, dead tired and freezing because it was winter here and it wasnt winter in SFO, and I didnt have a coat with me, and when I finally got to my car at the park-and-ride lot, my battery was dead! I tried and tried, and finally gave up and decided Id have to call AAA and wait for themthis was close to midnite! I got out of the car with my purse and headed toward the bus shelter, where I assumed there would be a pay phone when I suddenly realized I had a phone in the purse I was carrying with me! I turned around, got back in my car, locked the door, and called AAA! But you can tell how used to using it I was! I wont ever make that mistake again, but I really dont use the phone much more now than I did back then! I only pay about $20 a month with the corporate discount I get, but I have texting DISABLED! Right after I got a new phone a couple years ago I got a spam text message, and I discovered I had been charged for it! Paying for people to send me junk? I dont think so!

Good luck with getting your problema fixed,
Skybird

Well, problem #1 has reared its head, there is no firewire connection so I can transfer video / snap shots from my ancient video camera onto the computer.

There is a slot for SD memory cards, but I can't get the thing out of the camera, its stuck in there.

The power has been blinking off about every 10 minutes this morning with all the snow, and the computer just shuts itself down each time. Which, I guess, is a good thing.

David, I do sympathize with your problems, although I admit I haven't the faintest idea what firewire is. Sigh, ok I don't have a digital camera yet either - but I am planning to get one eventually. Are you sure the memory card is stuck? I remember I thought the film was stuck in my SLR camera once, but it turned out there was something I had to push or pull that I had forgotten about. Someone else got it out with no problem. Is there maybe some kind of release button?

Skybird, HP does have an 800 # now, at least. I do like HP products, they have always done well for me; but they do have a bad rep for customer service and I was a little leery about that before ordering, but I figured, heck, what are the chances I'll have a problem (or problema)!
And they did pay for me to ship it back so if they send me a good one in return all I will have lost is a little time, which, of course, is aggravating in itself.

Pocito by the way is spelled poquito during those times when we are awake and functioning.

I'm tempted to say that there's some value to a spammer, at times.

I was wondering when I got this computer - desktop, no batteries. Not bothering to go look for the receipt so this answers that question -- about 2 1/2 years ago.

Why oh why don't these things last more than 3 years for me?? Break the expense down to by-the-day and it still looks kind of expensive, figuring internet service & security in, especially.

The old computer in the basement? I tried to turn it on the other day! It said, "system failure! fan failed to start!" Or, it said something like that. I don't know if the fan failed to start or not . . . could pull the cover off and see. It wasn't why I thought it should be replaced and I had hope that the thing would continue to work indefinitely down there since it wasn't even turned on monthly. Guess not.

Now, I have strange problems with the new 'puter. The dang thing tried to shut off for over 6 hours the other night! Not the 1st time either, but doing this once every 2 months means I'm not thinking to check back after I've clicked "shut down."

It has frozen a few times but mostly when the word processor is running. Once again, weeks pass without a glitch . . . ah well, they aren't like garden tools.

Steve