Computer Tips Wednesday

Mimi Witcher, College Instructor, Teacher of the Year and co-founder of Computer School for Seniors will be sharing her user friendly computer tips on Wednesdays.

Jazzing things up

As I was putting this tip together on changing your cursor, I realized I needed to check out how Vista does it. I went into my Husband’s office changed his cursor into a blue dragon, wrote down the instructions, and the phone rang. It was actually my daughter, Holly, our blog master with a question about Computer Savvy Seniors. I forgot about the blue dragon, and went on about my business.

A little bit later I heard a voice saying, “Mimi, my cursor has turned into a blue dragon.” I could hear the smile in his voice, so I knew another senior moment had come and gone with no serious consequences!

Anyhoo, here’s another tip on how you can jazz up your computing:

#1. Left-click on the Start Button and choose Control Panel from the menu that pops up (these instructions are for XP-- Vista is below this section):

#2. This will open up a large dialog box with lots of choices. Find the one called Mouse (they are in alphabetical order) and double-click on it.

#3. Another dialog box will appear. Click the Pointers tab and then click on the Browse button:

#4. A long list of options appear in the next dialog box that opens. Double- click on the cursor you want. You will then be able to see the pointer in the Preview box (see example above) after you have made your choice. Try several of them.

#5. There are a lot of pointers available, some of them animated. Here are a few examples:

Note: You left-click with the new cursor just like with the arrow pointer. The dragon’s tail is the point of that one. When you are ready to go back to your regular pointer just repeat Steps 1, 2 and 3. There is a large pointer there if you would like one you can see better.

For Vista (Classic View):

Left-click the round Microsoft Office Button in the very bottom left corner of the screen. Choose Settings from the menu that appears. Another menu will appear where you choose Control Panel. The rest is the same as Step 2 and 3 above.

Enjoy!

Mimi
http://www.cs4seniors.com/