The Microsoft Snipping Tool

The Windows Snipping Tool gives you the feature to capture any thing that is on then screen and convert it into a JPG image that can be used in any other application.

To find the instructions on how to use this great facility, click the SNIPPING TOOL logo below which takes you to another technical blog site.

 

 

Loading Linux onto an old Win7 laptop

Putting Linux onto a Laptop

You might wonder: Why bother? Replacing a Windows system with a system created on Open Source. Well, let's be clear: those Open Source people have created a really powerful system which runs well on old machines.

So, if you've got an old machine which is now running slowly on Windows 10 after numerous updates, I would suggest you try this. I found the most difficult part was to load the Linux from a prepared USB stick onto the laptop at boot up. Golly, a need to press the ESC key as soon as the machine is turned on.

When this is achieved, one has a workable copy of Linux to experiment with. The  layout is shown and an installation button is clearly visible to put the system onto the laptop system. I'm told it's possible to run Windows and Linux on the same system.

BUT the general advice is to keep the machine for Linux only. Then, of course, windows and the data files on the machine will be completely removed.

My Desktop running LibreOffice and Mozilla Firefox

 

I followed the latter method and the photo above shows the screen after installation and some modifications.

I honestly believe that if you're used to Windows computers these modifications are straightforward.

LibreOffice is automatically installed and I found that it runs my PowerPoint presentations extremely well indeed.

Mozilla Firefox is also automatically installed. I was able to log into my Firefox account and link its desktop with those on other Windows machines. It was also possible to link my Password manager to the Firefox.

So in a relatively short time, I find I've got a computer that does good work much more quickly than previously.

I will add some caveats. It looks to me that powerful graphics packages such as Gimp and DigiKam are available. However their installation is not straightforward. I shall familiarise myself with the system a good deal more before attempting to run these.

 

 

Morley Digital at The White Rose Centre

 On Wednesday the 31st January, we attended a publicity event at The White Rose Centr.......

Drop in session at the Salvation Army on Monday 22 January 2024 written by Clive

We had a productive and friendly afternoon at our FREE Monday session in the Salvation Army, Morley. Steve, our guide, spent time with a number of people, sorting out basic problems that people have with new machines. He showed John how to protect his new laptop. He also helped Elaine with her machine, giving her instructions on how to join a new Whats App she's interested in. Then we had new visitors, Cynthia and her husband. She wanted to know how to set up a Play List on Amazon Music. Steve persudaded her that Spotify was a better option. He also indicated that her son Stuart was free to come along to sort out problems with his new laptop. Julie needs to set up a password system so that she can logon to different sites with more confidence. Roy gave her some basic instruction with the Password Manager,Bitwarden, which Steve and many in the group favour. Steve gave her further assurance later. Most people were happy but I'm afraid my attempts at loading Linux on my old Win7 machine was a failure. At least, Rick showed that my logon disk needs sorting out. All good natured and we all got benefit from the friendly atmosphere.

Written by Clive

Learn something new every week!

I came to the session this last monday with a query concerning cancelling a printing job. This was easily resolved using HP Smart, including how to make HP Smart a favorite and place on the TASK BAR.

 

I went on to look at Google Maps and learned how to print off a satellite view of a  street in Liverpool I was interested in. 

 

I also learned how to use the Windows Snip Tool and and past into a document into Word.

 

I wanted to research the street in Liverpool, but there was not much information on Google but, Steve showed me how to use AI (Claude 2), I obtained more useful history and facts from Claude 2 (AI). Altogether an hour very well spent.

 

Elaine

 

Face 2 Face & Zoom Hybrid at Morley Digital today

A first for our meeting in Morley today, experimenting with using Zoom to bring in some of our students to the F2F session. In addition to our regular Monday  members, we managed to connect with others from Roundhay and Halifax. 

The structure of our sessions on Mondays are changing. 1pm to 2pm will be a "lesson" on a particular topic, then 2pm to 3pm will be a drop in to solve digital and tech device issue. We want everyone who attends to take a little bit of learning home every week. 

Remove unwanted items from a photograph

 The recent emergence of AI tools has resulted in a number of useful utilities which are free. Although there are a few free tools to remove objects from photos, the one I have just tried with success is called CLEANUP  http://cleanup.pictures  Below are an example before and after....Try it out....comment if you find it works for you