Computer users have a wide range of experience and levels of understanding of their computers. The great majority of users have just learned the most basic features of a few of the thousands of programs out there. It really can be a help for you to learn computer basics that you may have been taught.

But that’s nothing to be ashamed of — even the most advanced computer user was at that level at some point, myself included. Even if you’re just using your computer for word processing, learning a few simple skills can make your life a lot easier.

• First and foremost: save often!    If you type a long letter, or make a lot of changes to whatever you’re working on, and the power goes out or something else happens, you could lose everything you haven’t saved!Just imagine how upset you would be if you’d worked on something for half an hour, an hour, or longer, and *poof* it vanished.Just going to the File menu and clicking save can help you avoid losing all that work.
• Save as new versions periodically:   If you’re working on a large project — such as a story or essay, where you write multiple drafts — periodically use the “save as” option from the File menu to save your file with a new name.That way if the third draft had something good you deleted in the fourth draft, you can bring it back for the fifth.For example, if you’re working on a file called My Letter.doc and you’ve made a lot of changes since your last save, go to “save as…” from the File menu, and change the name to My Letter2.doc.This way, you have both versions.
• Remember you can click anywhere in the document with your mouse and make changes wherever you place the cursor (the blinking vertical line which indicates where what you type next will appear).So if you realize you’ve made a mistake two lines back, just click where you want to make the change instead of deleting everything back to the mistake, then retyping it all. When you’re done, just click at the bottom and pick up where you left off.
• Cutting, Copying & pasting:   If you want to move a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or even a page of text, you can cut it and paste it someplace else in the document.To do this, just highlight the section of text you want by dragging your mouse (click and hold the left button, then drag) across the text. You’ll see a highlight appear where you drag.Let go of the mouse button then go to the edit menu.In the edit menu you can select “copy” to make a copy of the text, or “cut” to remove the text that is highlighted.Then go to the part of the document where you want to move or copy the text and click there so the cursor appears where you want your text to appear.

  Go back to the edit menu and select paste.Your text will appear where you clicked.You can use this to move text around in a document, or copy and paste it into an other document or even an email, and vice versa. Copying and pasting also can work with graphics or even files and folders in some situations.

• Undo: if you make a mistake the “undo” option in the Edit menu will allow you to undo the last thing you did. Accidentally highlighted and deleted a paragraph in that letter?Just undo before you type anything else and it comes right back.  Like all of the skills I’m talking about in this article, you can undo in Microsoft Windows, and you can undo in Mac OS X
• Learn the common keyboard shortcuts which work in most applications:
  On Windows PCs, the common keyboard shortcuts include: CTRL-S to save, CTRL-C to copy, CTRL-X to cut, CTRL-V to paste. ALT-F4 will close a window or program (or prompt you to shut down Windows if you are not in a program).On a Macintosh computer, common keyboard shortcuts include: Command-S to save, Command-C to copy, Command-X to cut, Command-V to paste. Command-W will close a window, and Command-Q will quit the program you’re in.

  In all cases, these key combinations are done as follows: hold down CTRL (or Command), type the other key, and release both. Just like using the shift key to type a capital letter. On both Macs and PCs, these and additional shortcuts are typically printed in the menus next to the option.

These are just a few computer basics that can really make your life easier.

For more help, including easy video lessons, check out my computer courses or my new computer training app for iPhone and iPad.

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

I’m very happy to announce the release of my new app
for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad – Basic Computer Training & Tips iOS app:

Computer Training App

This only came out today, but in future versions I plan to make many more of my lessons available, but this is just version 1.0 – got to start somewhere!

In addition to the lessons in the app, you can submit a computer question to me directly from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and you can also find links (and bonus free lessons from)  my computer training audio albums that are available on iTunes.

I’ve recorded a tour of the app which I’ll post separately.

If you have friends or family with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, please share this page with them with the share buttons above or below this post!

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

Here is one of my early video lessons (please excuse the video quality) where I use one of my Plain English explanations of computer terms — explaining what a hard drive is and what RAM is, and what they do in your computer.  Many people confuse those two terms with each other, and many people don’t understand either at all.

If this is true for you, it’s not your fault — it’s just never been explained to you in a way that you could relate to. Watch this video and both computer terms will finally make sense, even if you feel like the most basic computer user in the world:

If you need help understanding computer basics and mastering the fundamental computer skills, look no further than my Computer Basics Course, available for either Windows or Apple Mac computers:

Microsoft Windows Basic Computer Skills

or

Apple Mac Basic Computer Skills

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

In this video computer lesson I want to share some tips to help you understand how forms work (including order forms, surveys, newsletter signup forms, etc.).  This covers a lot of fundamentals that more basic computer users often need help with, but also includes tips for how you can use your keyboard and mouse together to navigate more easily and save time and effort — using simple steps that even experienced computer users often aren’t aware of!

In the video I use the order form on my website as an example, but the same principles work on most forms you’ll ever have to fill out on a computer — whether you’re talking about a form on a website, or a form in a program stored locally on your computer which has nothing to do with the Internet.

This lesson will be added as part of a new disc in the updated version of the Safe & Easy Internet computer course (both the Windows and the Mac version). The site doesn’t list it yet, but any orders will include the new disc.

(If you’re watching this video lesson on my website, you should see two players below for compatibility reasons. The first should give you a sharper picture & the option of full-screen on a computer, the second is for mobile devices such as the iPod Touch, iPhone & iPad, and for that reason is the version which goes out on the podcast.)

Click the player below for the high quality computer version:

or tap the image below for the version of  the video lesson formatted for mobile devices:

“Discover How to Use the Internet Safely & Easily With Simple,
Step-By-Step Video Lessons”

Wish you had a complete course to make it easier using the Internet,
from finding what you’re looking for when searching online, to tips
to save time and make you safer? Use one of the two links below for
either the Windows version or the Mac version of the Safe & Easy
Internet course:

How to Use the Internet Apple Mac Course

or

How to Use the Internet Windows PC Course

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

Have you ever been stuck in traffic behind a car with one of those custom license plates like “LUVYZ1″ and you’re scratching your head for a couple of minutes trying to figure out what on Earth it’s supposed to mean?

I was doing that earlier today on my way home and it made me think of a computer tip I thought I’d share with you to make your computer more organized and easier to use.

Back in the day when I first got into computers, the names of files on your computer were a lot like custom car license plates: you had a very limited amount of space to name the file and so you were forced to come up with weird
abbreviations just like you see on license plates.

To this day I still have a few really old Word files which have names such as “MITYLIKE.DOC” where I had to try to describe what the file was in the 8 characters I was given to do so. (If you’re not sure what I mean by “characters”, that’s the term that includes letters, numbers, and punctuation)

If you’re wondering, the above example is a short story I wrote in 1990 or so which was inspired by The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a classic short story written by James Thurber which also made into a film starring Danny Kaye.

Knowing that, you can see why I named the file MITYLIKE, and can probably also see why I wished I could’ve given it a longer and more descriptive name?

So what does this have to do with make your computer more organized and easier you might be wondering?

Well, something I’ve noticed over the many years I’ve been helping people with their computers is that most people don’t take advantage of the ability to use descriptive file names, and they’re making things harder on themselves as a result.

Now this is no criticism at all if you’re making this computer mistake yourself, but that’s why I’m writing this to help you.

You see, in the 1990s, the maximum length for file names went up a lot from the old 8 character name plus 3 character extension for DOS or Windows PCs, and the 31 character limit older Apple Mac computers had to a total of 255 characters.

(The “extension” is the end part after the dot, such as .DOC which is used to tell the computer what type of file it is, such as a Word DOCument.)

These “long file names” give you the ability to give useful & descriptive file names which can make your life easier when organizing and locating files.

You can name (or rename) a file by clicking once on the name of the file (not the icon!) pausing a moment, then clicking again and you should see the name get highlighted.

Note: this is *not* the same as double-clicking the file name. This is a single click, a short pause, then a second single click with the left button on your mouse.

You can then type in a nice long descriptive file name such as “Unnamed short story inspired by “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.doc”, which I’m sure you’ll agree is much easier to recognize than “MITYLIKE.DOC”!

And don’t worry about counting the letters in the name while you’re typing; your computer won’t let you type any more than you’re allowed.

I also suggest you might put a date or maybe a version number into the file name, especially if you keep different drafts of a document.  If you do this you’ll want to write the date something like 7-7-2011 rather than 7/7/2011 as the / character is not allowed on Windows PCs (and I recommend this for Mac users too to make the name more compatible in case you ever send it to a Windows computer).

One last thing is, as I mentioned above, the extension (such as .doc) is there for a reason and you should leave that part as-is.  Many newer computers will automatically help you avoid accidentally changing that part of the file name, but not all do.

By taking advantage of the long filenames allowed by modern computers, you can help yourself more easily recognize what a file is, and it can help turn up the file you’re looking for if you do a search on your computer for information you’re needing, that photo you want to look at, and so on.

Hopefully these tips will help you get more out of your computer and make your life a little easier. I’ve used these suggestions myself for many years now and and very glad that I did. Really has made my life easier on many occasion.

Remember, if you do need more help with this, I show you step-by-step how to do all of this and much more on my computer basics video lesson CDs.

If you don’t already have these CDs, they are video recordings of the actual screens of the computer where you get to see each click of the mouse and sit back and watch every step while my voice comes from your computer’s speakers, walking you through the entire thing in simple Plain English.

While each easy lesson CD has an hour of material, individual lessons are 30 minutes or less, with most being just 5-15 minutes long so it’s easy to learn at your own pace.

You can find out more on my site and even place a secure order if you want by using one of the following two links:

Fundamental Windows Computer Skills – Training CDs

or

Fundamental Apple Mac Computer Skills – Training CDs

Either way, until next time, take care, and enjoy,

Worth Godwin
Plain English Simplicity For This Complex Modern World

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

The intro before the step-by-step part of the video is important for people to watch if they are computer challenged and need the extra help, but if you want, you can jump to the step-by-step part of the video by fast-forwarding to about 3:25 (depending on your Internet connection speed you may need to wait a few moments before you can do this).

Note: This is the Windows version of this lesson. There is also an Apple Mac version — if you’re subscribed to my podcast you should get both versions automatically, but if you have a Mac and you’re watching this on my website, you’ll want to click the following link to read: How to Undo Computer Mistakes in Apple Mac OS X

In the over fifteen years I’ve been working as a professional to make computers easy for people, I’ve noticed a lot of things about the people I worked with as well as people I just ran across in my day to day life.  Many many computer users, no matter how bright they are, have a fear of causing problems on their computer by making a mistake.

I think this is understandable, and I try to encourage people to not let fear of making mistakes paralyze you and keep you from moving forward. If you don’t try new things, you never progress.

I recorded this video lesson to help give you some words of encouragement and remind you that you can do it, even if you’ve always felt afraid of moving forward.   I also included steps on how to undo computer mistakes using the “undo” command.

While many people are aware of how this works, many more are not.  And the people who do know about it, don’t always realize you can use it in as many areas as you can, especially missing out on the fact that it can be a real lifesaver when working with files and folders on your computer.

In this easy video lesson I not only explain how to undo in Plain English, but show you two different examples of how you can use it to reverse common types of computer mistakes.  Will it solve every problem magically in every circumstance? Of course not, but it is a powerful but very simple tool you can use to empower yourself with one of the basic skills everyone should know when using their computer.

Want to learn the fundamental computer skills that make the rest easy?

Take a look at my easy video lesson CDs. I have a simple computer course covering exactly those basic skills that empower you with the confidence you deserve: Windows Basics Fundamental Skills

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.