At the first meeting of the club for 2012, we had 26 members attending, all interested in getting back to learning more about our computers and the new, useful products and software out there to make our lives easier.
A member talked about her new iPad which she received for Christmas and had found very useful. Some of the best features are the email capabilities, FaceTime to connect and talk visually with others, the Kindle application download to purchase and read books from Amazon or the Overdrive application to download free books from our local Hunterdon County Library, the camera for pictures and videos, and many other capabilities. Bruce recommended using Calibre software, http://calibre-ebook.com/, to find and read free books on any reader.
Thanks were given to Paul Glattstein for keeping up the membership list and doing name tags for each meeting. Paul suggested putting out a list of members names, but will wait to hear from the members as to whether or not to proceed with this. If no list is prepared, we can communicate with our members through our Yahoo group site.
Barbara Middleton is unable to continue taking care of the bagels and coffee set up before each meeting, so there will be a rolling group of members to do this. Whoever arrives first at the meeting will check to be sure the coffee and bagels are set up. If not, that person is to go back to the cafeteria in the hospital to ask for our coffee set up for the meeting. If there are no bagels, that person will go to the bagel shop at the front of the hospital and purchase one and a half dozen assorted bagels and cream cheese and pay the cost of them. The person will be reimbursed by the club treasurer at the meeting.
Presentation: Microsoft Fix-It Center, Bruce Arnold, Presenter
Bruce introduced us to a new solution from Microsoft, Microsoft Fix It. You can find it at www.microsoft.com/fixit . On the home page of this new software, you can select the Windows product with which you are having trouble and then select the type of problem you are having. The software will run and then display solutions it has found. The “Solutions Center” of the software provides you with an opportunity to type in the name of the product you are having trouble with. Answer any questions that appear on follow up screens in order to help the Fix It Center diagnose the problem. Trust the software since it is from Microsoft and allow it to download the fix. Accept any legal contracts that appear. This software will diagnose the problem and automatically fix it and than ask if the problem has been fixed. If the problem has not been fixed, start the process over and choose different selections to get to the solution needed.
If it is not an Internet connection on the computer that needs fixing, go to http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal . You will then be able to download the Fixit software to your hard drive. During installation you will see a Troubleshoorters screen that you can use to select areas where you may be having trouble. Try this software first when you have problems. It most likely will correct your problem and save you a trip to the repair store.
Thanks, Bruce, for making us aware of this new aid to help us when we have trouble with our computers.
The next meeting will be held on March 17.
Thanks Bruce for filling in at the last minute.