Computer questions you'd be embarrassed to ask any where else!

Deja Boo · 24-04-2019 7:12am

bonzodog2 wrote: »

You may find it a bit easier if you hold the phone sideways, ie in lanscape orientation. This will allow a bit more room for the keyboard. You may need to check settings for "allow screen rotation"

oh coool, thanks bonzodog!

sadly the thing wont give me the option to add contacts anymore, alls it says you "you have disabled a requirement" then goes away. Looked in settings, I have disabled nothing.

we shall not be friends, this thang and me

New Home · 24-04-2019 7:29am

You could try and search for the model of your phone on the internet, you should be able to find an instruction manual for it, hopefully.

Deja Boo · 24-04-2019 7:30am

Will try that, thanks New Home!

Baoithin66 · 24-04-2019 7:35am

I just started using it on the recommendation of someone who used it a lot-he used it for detailing processes with screen dumps etc etc. I am only using basic features so far but find it excellent.

Jellybaby1 · 24-04-2019 9:50am

New Home wrote: »

I can't help you with bluetooth (unless you can find a button on your pc's bluetooth that says "accept incoming files", much like you'd have to do on a phone - it's the only thing I can think of), but have you tried with a good old USB cable? It's what I'm doing at the moment.

Thanks all who replied to me. Eventually used the cable to upload my photos to the pc. I found Bluethooth very handy with my old phone but this new fandangled thing doesn't seem to want to Bluetooth! I'm still having problems with understanding it but I just handed it to my daughter who fixed it for me. Why does it have to be so darn complicated? Downloaded the manual but its all in phone-speak! All calm here now. Hope you can get sorted too Deja Boo!

Ursus Horribilis · 24-04-2019 9:53am

Would you be willing to sign up for a Gmail address? That way, your contacts sync photos would be automatically synced and you'd not lose them.

looksee · 24-04-2019 10:00am

Deja Boo, you have my sympathy! On the 'fat fingers' thing, you will find that after a while you get more used to it and you 'find' the letters more easily. Also your phone will 'learn' what you tend to type about and will offer you possible words (along the top) that become more and more appropriate to what you want.

Deja Boo · 24-04-2019 10:05am

very cool, thanks looksee!

Ursus Horribilis · 24-04-2019 10:21am

I found the keyboard tough at the start too but it got easier. There are keyboards you can install on your phone which are designed for larger fingers.

coolhull · 24-04-2019 10:51am

Deja, I have found that with a smartphone, the first 10 years is the hardest. After that, it gets just slightly easier.....
Regarding the keyboard, if you download SwiftKey keyboards from Google Playstore, you'll get various sizes of keys.
Good luck!

Digital Solitude · 24-04-2019 3:39pm

Deja Boo wrote: »

oh coool, thanks bonzodog!

sadly the thing wont give me the option to add contacts anymore, alls it says you "you have disabled a requirement" then goes away. Looked in settings, I have disabled nothing.

we shall not be friends, this thang and me

If you go to Settings -> Apps/Applications/Application Settings (they can be a few different names) you should be able to Reset App Permissions, which would sort this.

Otherwise, find the Contacts app in the App Settings list and you should have a "Permissions" option you can hit to allow access

Deja Boo · 24-04-2019 4:47pm

wow, thanks greatly everyone, will try your suggestions directly!

@cooool, that would be great since I can't see the blasted things without getting a new prescription for my readers! ...smart phone spectacles, do they make 'em I wonder?

NIMAN · 30-04-2019 1:44am

Is there an easy way to backup all the files on your laptop?

Say for example I have a desktop with many folders, and some of them contain many subfolders.

There must be an easier way than dragging them all to an external drive to back them up.

vargoo · 30-04-2019 2:00am

NIMAN wrote: »

Is there an easy way to backup all the files on your laptop?

Say for example I have a desktop with many folders, and some of them contain many subfolders.

There must be an easier way than dragging them all to an external drive to back them up.

https://www.howtogeek.com/74623/how-to-use-the-new-file-history-feature-in-windows-8/

But to be honest I'm a drag and dropper myself...

sydthebeat · 30-04-2019 8:11am

NIMAN wrote: »

Is there an easy way to backup all the files on your laptop?

Say for example I have a desktop with many folders, and some of them contain many subfolders.

There must be an easier way than dragging them all to an external drive to back them up.

Sync them to cloud storage, such as Google drive

5uspect · 30-04-2019 8:15pm

NIMAN wrote: »

Is there an easy way to backup all the files on your laptop?

Say for example I have a desktop with many folders, and some of them contain many subfolders.

There must be an easier way than dragging them all to an external drive to back them up.

Macs have a fairly straightforward backup feature called Time Machine, Windows has a backup feature too but it’s a bit more cumbersome. On Linux you can schedule a rsync job with crontab.

If you want you can use web services like Back Blaze that costs €5 per month. This gives extra off site security and they’ll ship you a hard drive of your data if the worst happens.

batistuta9 · 30-04-2019 8:59pm

NIMAN wrote: »

Is there an easy way to backup all the files on your laptop?

Say for example I have a desktop with many folders, and some of them contain many subfolders.

There must be an easier way than dragging them all to an external drive to back them up.

are you dragging them all individually?

RiderOnTheStorm · 08-05-2019 6:44pm

You don't need to backup everything. You don't need a backup of Microsoft Works, or your antivirus program or any software that comes with a new computer. You might want to back up any s/w you bought (eg a photo editor). But then again, if you bought it, you probably have the cd so thats your backup if you (for example) drop the laptop in the toilet!

What you usually need to backup are the photos, documents, projects, presentation etc. Essentially, anything you make. When you save a doc, make sure you know where it goes. Try keep like with like in same folder. This makes backup much easier.
Speaking of folders .... If you drag & drop a folder that has sub folders, then they all get dragged.
If you right click on a folder, you get a few options, one of which is "make a zip" or something like that. A zip is a copy of the whole folder (and all its sub folders) in a compressed form. If you are running out of space, then zip your folder and backup the zip file to your external hard drive. If you want to get stuff back, then un-zip the ones you want and copy them back.

Rubecula · 09-05-2019 8:30pm

oh lord help me please went to make a drink got back and the puter had shut down now I have it up and running again but the text is huge and the window is small I can not get it back at all.

New Home · 09-05-2019 8:40pm

Try switching it off and on again (seriously!), it may have rebooted in "safe mode" where everything looks odd. Just make sure there's no key stuck on the keyboard that might send weird commands to your computer as it's rebooting, and unplug any USB drive you may have on (make sure you click on "uninstall" first, though).

Rubecula · 10-05-2019 5:04pm

no dice homey nut thanks for trying

Ursus Horribilis · 10-05-2019 5:09pm

What version of Windows are you running?

New Home · 10-05-2019 5:23pm

Then you* may have accidentally switched on the magnifying glass or one of the other options for accessibility options.

*Your computer.

Any chance you could take a photo?

Charlie19 · 10-05-2019 11:13pm

Rubecula wrote: »

oh lord help me please went to make a drink got back and the puter had shut down now I have it up and running again but the text is huge and the window is small I can not get it back at all.

Its a Friday night and with the evidence above, I'd try it in the morning after a fry and some lucozade.

Works every time for me.

Rubecula · 11-05-2019 10:26pm

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

What version of Windows are you running?

Windows 10

11-05-2019 10:33pm

Probably not it but, click on "..." in the top right hand corner. There is a zoom option three lines down. Check it's not at some ridiculous figure.

Garlinge · 28-05-2019 3:27pm

I have friend facing few more weeks in hospital and has just smart phone. I suggested a tablet might be nice to have for iplayer/tv viewing and reading newspaper. She has a sub to Irish Times.

I have a decent Samsung Tablet that was quite pricey 3 yrs ago but am very happy with. I think there are second hand ones about now. Is this level too advanced for her needs? Would a basic tablet be just as good? also am thinking of it being easily damaged falling from hospital bed and security.

theteal · 28-05-2019 3:32pm

Garlinge wrote: »

I have friend facing few more weeks in hospital and has just smart phone. I suggested a tablet might be nice to have for iplayer/tv viewing and reading newspaper. She has a sub to Irish Times.

I have a decent Samsung Tablet that was quite pricey 3 yrs ago but am very happy with. I think there are second hand ones about now. Is this level too advanced for her needs? Would a basic tablet be just as good? also am thinking of it being easily damaged falling from hospital bed and security.

Basic tablet will will do browsing and streaming just fine. My wife has an Amazon Fire 7 which was about £40 (iirc) last year when we bought it, job done. You can get bigger for a few quid more.

28-05-2019 3:49pm

Currently on sale in Argos for €40

(click blue link to visit the online shop)

Garlinge · 28-05-2019 7:28pm

Such a huge choice of devices! difficult to make a decision for someone else to use. I must check on wifi in hospital to see if watching iplayer etc is feasible.

Computer questions you'd be embarrassed to ask any where else!

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