The PC Clique

Dear Clients, Students and Friends, 

 

Sign up in advance for The PC Clique and save $5
This month's topic: Windows Vista/7 Files & Folders

On Thursday, March 18, 2010, The PC Teacher is offering a forum called "The PC Clique".  "The PC Clique" takes place from 9:30-11:00am at The Office Court of Ramsey, NJ.  Click here for directions.

Space is limited so please call or email to reserve a spot.

 

The concept of this "technology support group" is simple; come and spend some time with people who strive, as you do, to keep up with changing technology. 

During the 90-minute forum this month, I will demonstrate how to organize your computer files into folders using Windows Vista or Windows 7.  Following the demonstration, there will be discussion providing you with solutions and ideas on how to implement these techniques into your home or office.

The cost is $10 in advance and $15 at the door.  To pay in advance and save $5:

1. Send your registration form (below) and check (payable to Betsy Coyne) to P.O. Box 281, Ramsey, NJ  07446.
2. From the web, pay online using a PayPal account.  Click here to sign up online.

Next month's PC Clique is on April 15, 2010.  The topic is: MAC vs. Windows-when upgrading which should I choose?

 

Regards,

Betsy Sabatini Coyne

bcoyne@thepcteacher.com

201-327-0830 (office)

201-490-1784 (fax)

__________________________________________________________________________________

The PC Clique: Save $5 and Register in Advance !

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  Sign me up for: March 18, 2010     Time: 9:30am-11:00am


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Mail with your check for $10 payable to Betsy Coyne to:
PO Box 281, Ramsey, NJ  07446
(payment must be received by March 17, 2010)

Where Have All The Photos Gone?

 

About 15 years ago, the first digital camera was available to consumers.  During this time, and especially in the last 5-10 years, many people rely solely on their digital camera to take pictures and record precious memories.  But where have all your photos gone?  How do you get them off your digital camera so that you can print, archive and share?

 

Camera Memory Cards

Has anyone ever shown you where your digital camera stores the photos?  Depending on the brand of camera, the memory card can be located near the battery compartment or underneath a flip-up door located on one side of the camera.  The different types of memory cards for use in digital cameras are:

Secure Digital (SD), CompactFlash (CF), Memory Stick (MS), MultiMediaCard (MMC) xD-Picture Card (xD) and SmartMedia (SM).The type of memory card you use is dictated by which digital camera you buy. These cards are physically different and are not interchangeable. 

When purchasing a memory card for your camera, take notice of the capacity.  Cards usually come with room to store from 2 GB (gigabytes), 4 GB, 8 GB and up.    So how many photos will that hold?  This depends on the quality of your camera and how many megapixels it is able to capture.  A rough estimate for a 4GB memory card is that it will hold approximately 800 photos for an 8 megapixel camera.

 

From Camera to Computer

So, you return home from your family vacation, birthday party or reunion, and you want to get your photos from your digital camera to your computer.  You will need either the camera's USB cord or a card reader (available at most Staples, Best Buy or online at Amazon).  It is recommended that you use a card reader so that you're not using the camera's battery power while you transfer the photos from the camera to the computer.  The card reader plugs into your computer's USB port.  The photos are files on your memory card and are called JPEG (or JPG) files.  I recommend that you copy the files from the memory card to either your My Pictures folder on your computer (using Picasa for Windows PC) or to iPhoto (using a MAC).

 

Printing Your Photos

The benefit of using a digital camera is that you don't have to develop or print all 800 or so photos at once.  You can be selective and just print the photos you need for projects, scrapbooking, gifts or for the fridge or even your wallet!  If you have a quality photo printer, you can print at home.  Make sure you have photo paper on hand and that you set the printer to print at its highest dots per inch (dpi) setting to get the best printing.

You can also take your camera and memory card to the nearest digital photo kiosk.  Many photo stores, pharmacies or grocery stores have these.  Make sure your camera is off when you go to remove the memory card and take good care not to get fingerprints on the gold contacts located on the back or tip of the card.  

As mentioned above, if you use Google's Picasa you can edit, print, share, organize and archive right from your home computer.  If you have a MAC, you can do the same with iPhoto.  Finally, you can choose to upload your photos to one of the following top online printing services (see below) where you can print and share.

Using an Online Photo Service

There are quite a few digital photo printing services around.  The main difference and exceptional quality of online photo printing services comes from the printing supplies and materials available. A professional photo developer can create a more complete and accurate photo than your home photo printer and do so in greater quantities.

Digital photo printing services allow you to upload your digital photos directly to the service website, choose from several print sizes and select a print finish or paper type. A quality digital photo printing service will offer a wide variety of print sizes, ranging from the wallet sized photo all the way to a wall-sized 32 inch x 90 inch print.

The best online services provide a money-back guarantee or will replace prints that you are not satisfied with so you're sure to get your money's worth.
In the growing world of social networking, album sharing has become an important feature offered by online digital photo developers. Album sharing allows you to post your digital photos online, "share" them with family and friends and those you allow access so they can order copies of your digital photo prints.

You can also find some creative, photo-based gift ideas through digital photo printing services like photo books, t-shirts, throws, mugs and calendars.  Whether you're looking for a gift that's fun, classic or unique, digital photo printing services have just what you need.  Click here for a review of the top ten: Snapfish, SmugMug, Kodak, Shutterfly, York, Clark, Photoworks, Walgreens, Winkflash, and MyPhotoPipe.

Archiving Your Photos

Do you have a backup copy of your digital photos?  It is recommended that you print your favorite and most precious photos to archival safe photo paper.  If the only copy of your digital photos exist on the camera's memory card then you are at risk of losing them if that card decides one day that it will not work (very common in the world of electronic media).  Consider purchasing an external hard drive available at most Staples, Best Buy and online at Amazon.com.  A hard drive capacity of approximately 500 GB (gigabytes) will cost about $80.   Many people are deciding to purchase USB flash drives (also known as thumb or jump drives).  A USB flash drive capacity of approximately 4GB will cost about $15.  Look for sales or manufacturer rebates to save dollars on these types of drives. Another option is to copy your photos to CD.  Purchase a supply of CD-R disks.  These allow you to put photos on them but you can't take them off or erase them.  You can also copy your photos to DVD-R disks.  DVDs hold about 4 times as much as a CD but check with your computer's capability and compatibility before you decide to use a DVD. (not all computers have this ability)

For more information and further instruction on how to manage your digital photos, contact The PC Teacher at 201-327-0830 or email Betsy at bcoyne@thepcteacher.com.

If you are in the NY/NJ area, check out my website for class schedules and sign up today to learn more about your digital camera and your computer.  As always, The PC Teacher helps you click with technology.

Betsy Sabatini Coyne
The PC Teacher
bcoyne@thepcteacher.com
www.thepcteacher.com

Facebook's New Face

For those who haven't seen it yet, the Facebook screen has changed.


In the upper left corner next to the Facebook logo, there are 3 new icons: friends, messages and notifications.
In the upper right corner about requests, there is a small menu bar: Home, Profile, Account.

In the middle of your wall to the right of News Feed are two choices: Top News and Most Recent.

In order to log off, you must click Account and then logout.

Regards,
Betsy Sabatini Coyne
The PC Teacher
bcoyne@thepcteacher.com
www.thepcteacher.com

Roman Numerals: Google For Kids

Have you used the internet yet to find an answer to your child, grandchild, niece or nephew's question?

Tomorrow, February 7, 2010, at Super Bowl XLIV, the New Orleans Saints take on the Indianapolis Colts at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida.  My 11-year-old son asked me the other day to explain the Roman Numerals that are displayed at the end of the Super Bowl title. As a parent I challenged myself to find a thorough answer for my son.  As a computer consultant, I turned to the internet.

I remembered that X = 10 and L = 50 but I couldn't remember if I'm supposed to add those or subtract them.  When looking for the answer to a question, I enter the search criteria into a Google search box.  I "googled" the term XLIV and found the following webpage:

http://www.novaroma.org/via_romana/numbers.html

The website gave me a brief overview:

"The Romans were active in trade and commerce, and from the time of learning to write they needed a way to indicate numbers. The system they developed lasted many centuries, and still sees some specialized use today.

Roman numerals traditionally indicate the order of rulers or ships who share the same name (i.e. Queen Elizabeth II). They are also sometimes still used in the publishing industry for copyright dates, and on cornerstones and gravestones when the owner of a building or the family of the deceased wishes to create an impression of classical dignity. The Roman numbering system also lives on in our languages, which still use Latin word roots to express numerical ideas. A few examples: unilateral, duo, quadricep, septuagenarian, decade, milliliter.
The big differences between Roman and Arabic numerals (the ones we use today) are that Romans didn't have a symbol for zero, and that numeral placement within a number can sometimes indicate subtraction rather than addition."

There is also a handy converter.  Type your roman numeral in the box and it returns the answer.

XLIV = 44

Happy clicking,

Betsy Sabatini Coyne
The PC Teacher
bcoyne@thepcteacher.com
http://www.thepcteacher.com/

PC Running Slow?

(Portions taken from"Optimize Windows Vista for better performance", http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Optimize-Windows-Vista-for-better-performance)

No matter how fast computers might be when they are new, they all seem to get slower over time. That speedy PC that you bought last year might not feel like it's running so fast anymore after you install a dozen programs, load it with antispyware and antivirus tools, and download untold amounts of junk from the Internet. The slowdown might happen so gradually you hardly notice it, until one day you’re trying to open a program and wonder, "What happened to my poor PC?" Whatever the cause, there are a lot of ways to help speed up Windows and make your PC work better. Here are some tips to help you optimize Windows for faster performance:

• Delete programs you never use



• Limit how many programs load at startup



• Defragment your hard drive



• Clean up your hard disk



• Run fewer programs at the same time



• Turn off visual effects



• Try restarting if there's a problem



• Add more memory



• Check for viruses and spyware



• Check your computer’s speed



• Check for updates from the manufacturer



• Don’t settle for slow

Delete programs you never use
Many PC manufacturers pack their new computers with programs you didn’t order and might not want. These often include trial editions of programs that companies hope you will try, find useful, and then pay to upgrade to full versions. If you decide you don’t want them, keeping the software on your computer might slow it down by using precious memory, disk space, and processing power.
It’s a good idea to uninstall all the programs you don’t plan to use. This should include both manufacturer-installed software and software you installed yourself but don’t want anymore—especially utility programs designed to help manage and tune your computer’s hardware and software. Utility programs such as virus scanners, disk cleaners, and backup tools often run automatically at startup, quietly running in the background where you can’t see them. Many people have no idea they are even running. (if you have many icons down by the clock in the lower right corner of your screen then you may want to read further)

Even if your PC is older, it might contain manufacturer-installed programs that you never noticed or have since forgotten about. It’s never too late to remove these and get rid of the clutter and wasted system resources. Maybe you thought you might use the software someday, but never did. Uninstall it and see if your PC runs faster.
You can uninstall a program from your computer if you no longer use it or if you want to free up space on your hard disk. You can use Programs and Features to uninstall programs or to change the program's configuration by adding or removing certain options. NOTE: Once you uninstall a program it is permanently removed. You must have the original CD to re-install.

1. Open Programs and Features by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then clicking Programs and Features.


2. Select a program, and then click Uninstall.
   

Limit how many programs load at startup
Many programs are designed to load automatically when Windows starts. Software manufacturers often set their programs to open in the background, where you can’t see them running, so they’ll open right away when you click their icons. That's helpful for programs you use a lot, but for programs you rarely or never use, this wastes precious memory and slows down the time it takes Windows to finish loading.

Decide for yourself if you want a program to load at startup.
But how can you tell what programs load automatically at startup? Sometimes this is obvious, because the program will add an icon to the notification area on the taskbar (the bottom right corner near the clock), where you can see it running.

Look there and see if there are any programs running that you don’t want to load automatically. Position your mouse over each icon to see the program name. Be sure to click the Show hidden icons button so you don’t miss any icons.

Where Have All The Menus Gone?

One of the challenges of "clicking" with technology is keeping up with the changes. Every year either a new handheld gadget, desktop PC, laptop, or netbook comes out and with those come new software applications.

For example, if you purchased a new computer in the last year and requested Microsoft Office to come pre-installed (or if you purchased the software separately) you quickly realize that the latest version out there, Office 2007, has changed significantly. For those new to Office, it is a combination of programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and depending on your version, sometimes it comes with Outlook, Publisher and Access.

Word 2007 is your word processor for doing basic typing of letters, reports, and also adding graphics and photos so you can create flyers, advertisements, brochures, and newsletters.

Many of the computer lessons I give, whether in a classroom or one-on-one, involve questions about this latest version of Word. If you were using the older version of Word (Word 2003) then you became comfortable using the File menu to open, save and print your documents. But first look at Word 2007 and sure enough the File menu is gone! It's been replaced with what's called the Ribbon Bar.

To open a file using Word 2007:

1. Click the Office Button in the top left corner of your screen (circular button looks like the Microsoft Office icon)
2. Click Open then navigate to where your files are saved and double-click the file to open it.

To save a file using Word 2007:

1. Click the Office Button in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Click Save if you want to save the file in the new Word 2007 format (most computers that don't have the new Word program installed will not be able to read this format).
3. Click Save As if you want to save the file in a compatible Word format so that any computer running Word can read the file.
4. Select Word Document 97-2003 to save the file in the compatible format.

To print a file using Word 2007:

1. Click the Office Button in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Click Print then select print from the menu. Make sure your printer is selected.

To register for a class or one-on-one lesson to learn the 2007 version of Microsoft Office, check out The PC Teacher website: www.thepcteacher.com

Regards,

Betsy Sabatini Coyne

The PC Teacher

"Helping You Click With Technology"

Wires, Cables and Cords Oh My !

I love it when I get a new tech gadget. I can't wait to read the manual and figure out how to use it! I suppose that's why I'm in this line of business. I love to figure out how to use electronics and computer equipment. These days there's a lot to keep up with. Did you get a new tech gadget as a gift over the holidays? Maybe a new digital camera, camcorder, Flip Video camera or iPOD. Possibly a new smartphone or PDA (such as iPhone, BlackBerry or Palm) has replaced your old phone. Or even a new flatscreen t.v. or video game console such as Wii, XBox or Play Station. Not to mention the extra cords that come with desktop computers, laptops and netbooks.

What do you do with the cords once everything is set up? Even though I enjoy figuring out how to use my new tech gadgest, part of the challenge for me is organizing the cords so that they store safely under the desk or behind the cabinet. Another challenge is remembering where I put all the extra cords when it comes time to charge, transfer or synchronize.

A good solution for keeping all your tech gadget cords close is to use a charging station. Usually a nice looking wood box that comes equipped with a powerstrip built inside. All your charger powercords are stored nicely and ready to use when it comes time to charge.

Another good solution I learned from my friend, Jean Marie Herron, owner of POSSE Partners LLC, (Professional Organizing Solutions Serving Everyone), is to label the cords as soon as I take them out of the packaging.

Jean Marie Herron is the expert I turned to when I needed to organize the equipment in my classroom and office. Jean Marie says, " As soon as you get a new electronic gadget, label the cords with either a professional label maker or even simple white mailing labels from a store such as Staples. Then give the item a "home" so you always know where to find your power chargers, camera, camcorder, and iPod USB cords as well as BlackBerry and Palm synchronizing cords. (See photo).





For tidying up cords underneath a desk, screw or hook a power strip underneath your desktop away from foot traffic so you can run your cords up and out of the way into a surge protector.

Utilizing twist ties, rubber bands, wire ties (in every man's tool box) or fancier products, many which are sold in places such as The Container Store (http://www.containerstore.com/search/result.htm?query=cordsare) are simple ways to corral cords. My favorite is the Velcro Cable Ties. They look like a mini-belt and can be adjusted to fit most office needs."

If I label the cords as soon as they come out of the package, I'm more likely to find the right cord when I need to charge, update, synchronize or upload.

For more information on Jean Marie Herron and her inspirational organizing ideas, check out her web page: http://www.possepartnersllc.com/ or search for POSSE Partners, LLC on Facebook and become a fan.

For more information on how to use your USB cords to update, synchronize and upload, check out my website: http://www.thepcteacher.com/ or simply follow the tips online and become a fan on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/betsythepcteacher.

Betsy Sabatini Coyne

The PC Teacher

Your 2010 Computer Calendar

It's New Year's Eve so I'm thinking about a new calendar of events for 2010. When I plan my home visits and computer classes, I use my computer to keep track of start and end dates and then my computer sends this information to my BlackBerry (smartphone) so that I always have an up to date calendar with me when I'm on the road.

If you're thinking of using your computer to manage your calendar, here are three top choices that I would show you how to use:

On the Internet:

Use Google Calendar for an internet based calendar. This is great for people who share a calendar with an organization (or even for a family reunion). The calendar is created, edited and stored on the internet so you can access from anywhere at anytime.

Managing a Google Calendar

Steps for Adding an Event

1. Login to the Google Calendar using the login and password for that calendar.
2. Select Create Event from the top left menu.
3. In the What field, type a description of the event.
4. Specify When it will occur, including any Repeats.
5. In the Where field, type the location of the event.
6. Next to Calendar, you should see the name of your calendar.
7. In the Description field, type any event information such as cost and any other information about the event.
8. Select Available next to Show me as.
9. Keep Privacy set to This event is: Default.
10. Click Save.

Steps for Editing an Event

1. Log in to the Google Calendar using the login and password
2. From the calendar, click on the event you want to modify.
3. Change any of the input fields.
4. Click Save.

On a Windows PC:
Use Microsoft Outlook for a Windows based calendar. This is great for people who use email and a BlackBerry, Palm or other type of smartphone or PDA (personal digital assistant). The calendar is created, edited and stored on your computer so if you use a laptop, notebook or netbook you can access from anywhere at anytime.

Creating an Appointment

Go to the view and navigate to the day that you want the appointment using the Date Navigator.

1. Highlight the time of the appointment by holding down the mouse and dragging to include the start and end time.
2. After the correct time is selected, release the mouse and type a name for your activity. That name will be displayed on your calendar view.
3. Hit Enter twice.
4. Use the form that pops up to finish creating the desired appointment, including entering in a location, description, etc.

On a MAC:
Use iCal for a MAC based calendar. This is great for people who manage multiple calendars (work, home, kids, charity, etc.) or use email and a BlackBerry, Palm or other type of smartphone or PDA (personal digital assistant). The calendar is created, edited and stored on your computer but can be synced with Google Calendar and therefore be made available on the internet so you can access it from anywhere at anytime.

Create an iCal Event from Apple Mail

Leopard is smart—smart enough to recognize dates within the text of an email in Apple Mail.

When your cursor hovers over a date in the body of an email, a dotted rectangle surrounds the date, and a small arrow appears. Hold on the arrow, and up pop two iCal options: Create New iCal Event and Show This Date in iCal.

Choosing Create New iCal Event generates a dialog box. Its default name is the subject line of the original email, though you can change it here. You can also specify the location and duration of the event and add additional notes. When you’re finished, choose Add to iCal. Leopard adds the date to your calendar—without even opening iCal.

For more information on how to use your computer to manage calendar dates, check out the schedule of classes at www.thepcteacher.com or call Betsy for a personal training session at 201-327-0830.

Joyful Learning in the New Year!

Regards,
Betsy

The PC Teacher
bcoyne@thepcteacher.com

Playlists on YouTube

Use your computer as a "virtual" stereo and play your favorite songs directly from You Tube. Many videos posted on YouTube are accompanied with songs either offered by the artist or by fans. Follow the steps below to search for your favorite songs and add them to a playlist which plays all the songs automatically:

1. Use your web browser (i.e. Internet Explore, FireFox, Safari, etc.) log on to www.youtube.com

2. To create a YouTube playlist, you must sign in or create a free YouTube account. You will be asked to create a unique username.

3. In the upper right hand corner of the YouTube home page, click on the link "Sign In" or create an account.

4. Once your are signed in you will see your YouTube username displayed in the upper right corner.

5. To find songs to add to your playlist, type a keyword in the search box at the top.

6. When you find a video that includes a song you would like to save to your playlist, click on the playlist link underneath the video.

7. Click to add a new playlist and give the playlist a name.

8. Repeat steps 5-7 until you have found all the songs for this playlist.

9. To play the songs from the playlist, click your username in the upper right corner of the screen and select playlists from the menu.

10. Click Play All to hear all the songs. When one song is over, the next will begin automatically. Turn the volume up on your computer and enjoy!

11. If you need to work on other parts of your computer while the music is playing, simply "minimize" the YouTube window and open another application.

Betsy

The PC Teacher

bcoyne@thepcteacher.com

Lightscribe Technology

What is Lightscribe Technology?

Courtesy http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=20000

LightScribe Overview LightScribe is a disc-labeling technology that lets you laser-etch a label directly on your disc. Creating professional-looking discs is easy: burn your disc, flip the disc over, and then burn your label onto the disc. The same drive that burns your data, burns your label. A LightScribe-enabled DVD drive uses a laser to burn an image into the coating on the label side of a LightScribe disc. The LightScribe labeling system has no ink to smear, no paper to curl, and no sticky adhesive to cause problems.

To create a LightScribe label, you need: 1. A LightScribe-enabled DVD drive in your computer or LightScribe-enabled DVD writer. LightScribe-enabled computers or writers typically have the LightScribe logo or the word "LightScribe" displayed on the drive tray or computer itself.

2. LightScribe-supported disc-labeling software. This is often included with your LightScribe-enabled computer or DVD writer. 3. Specially coated LightScribe CDs or DVDs (sold separately at major retail stores or online). LightScribe discs are identified by the LightScribe logo on the media package. Refer to http://www.lightscribe.com/ for more details on LightScribe.

Creating a LightScribe Label Burning a label with LightScribe is easy. To start, you need to run LightScribe-supported labeling software. The label software often can be launched as a separate application that is included with your CD or DVD burning application programs. Depending on the labeling software you use, you can create a label before or after you burn the disc content. NOTE: To burn a label, you must flip the disc over and place it label-side down in the drive tray.

The following step-by-step instructions will help you create your first simple LightScribe label using various LightScribe-supported labeling software. Refer to the documentation of each application for details on all of the available features.

Using Sonic Express Labeler to create a LightScribe Label Windows Platform

1. Click Start->All Programs->Sonic RecordNow!->Express Labeler. NOTE: You can also open the Express Labeler from within RecordNow! by clicking Label Disc.

2. Make sure that Disc Label is selected in Step 1: Select Project.

3. Click Disc Titles and then enter text for the Title and Subtitle.

4. Click Tracks to enter track titles. Click New and enter text for the information you want to include, and then click OK. You may have to select a different label template to display track titles.

5. Select a label template by clicking Layout and choosing a layout.

6. If desired, select a background by clicking Background. Select one of the provided backgrounds or click More to load up your own images to be used as the background.

7. When you are satisfied with the appearance of your label design, insert the LightScribe disc (label-side down) into the disc drive tray and then click Print.

8. From the Disc Label menu, select LightScribe 12cm Disc.

9. Select a Contrast Level and then click OK to begin burning the label. The estimated time to complete the label is displayed, along with a progress bar. You can continue to work on your computer while LightScribe is burning the label.

Using Roxio Easy Media Creator to create a LightScribe Label Windows Platform

1. Launch the Roxio Easy Media Creator disc labeling application. Click Start->All Programs->Roxio Easy Media Creator->Tools->Label Creator.

2. A simple title layout is shown by default. Double click on the Title and Data fields in the disc layout to enter a simple title and subtitle information.

3. If you want a different layout that allows for labeling the full area of the disc, click Select Style in the Edit Layout menu at the left of the screen. In the Select Style window, choose a style category from the left pane and select the style you want from the preview area. Ensure that the style covers the full area of the disc. 4. To use your own background, click Edit Background in the Edit Layout menu at the left of the screen. Check Use the following image as the background image option, click Browse..., select the image you want to load, and click OK.

5. If you want to add pictures to the label, click Add Image from the Add Object menu at the left of the screen. Select the picture you want to load and click OK. Pictures can be resized and positioned on the label design.

6. When you are satisfied with the appearance of your label design, insert the LightScribe disc (label-side down) into the disc drive tray and then click File->Print... from the menu at the top of the screen.

7. Select a Print quality level. In the Printer settings area, ensure that the printer selected is a LightScribe capable drive. Click OK. The estimated time to complete the label is displayed, along with a progress bar. You can continue to work on your computer while LightScribe is burning the label.

Frequently Asked Questions NOTE: Refer to www.lightscribe.com/support for a complete list of Frequently Asked Questions and answers.

What do I need to create a LightScribe label?

To create a LightScribe label, you need:

• A LightScribe-enabled DVD drive in your computer or LightScribe-enabled DVD writer. LightScribe-enabled computers or writers typically have the LightScribe logo or the word "LightScribe" displayed on the drive tray or computer itself.

• LightScribe-supported disc-labeling software. This is often included with your LightScribe-enabled computer or DVD writer

• LightScribe System Software. This is similar to a driver and is usually included with your LightScribe hardware. The latest update can be obtained from www.lightscribe.com/support.

• Specially coated LightScribe CDs or DVDs (sold separately at major retail stores or online). LightScribe discs are identified by the LightScribe logo on the media package.

How can I tell if I have a LightScribe enabled DVD writer or PC?

LightScribe-enabled writers or PCs should either have a LightScribe name or LightScribe logo on the drive tray cover or a LightScribe sticker affixed elsewhere.

How do I create a LightScribe Label?

After the data side is burned using any data burning software, the disc needs to be flipped and reinserted into the drive tray with the label side down. The LightScribe label is created separately using labeling software.

Where Can I buy LightScribe CDs and DVDs? In the U.S., customers can find LightScribe CD and DVD+R media at major consumer electronics stores, office supply stores, and online. LightScribe DVD-R media is available from HP in select retail stores. Refer to www.lightscribe.com/buy for updated information on where to obtain LightScribe media.

Betsy

The PC Teacher

www.thepcteacher.com

bcoyne@thepcteacher.com