Sometimes it is time to work, and sometimes it is time to play. If you like games as I do, you are going to find this one a challenge, and absolutely free!

An individual with too much time on their hands - This game was contributed by Sporcle user: davidr - has given us this opportunity to determine if you can name the top 100 words used in the english language.

I suppose that it was done with a computer program of some type, and I think it just may be accurate. I managed to do 41 words in the 12 minutes available. I am planning to try again in a few days to see if I can better that number.

Take a minute to have some fun! While you are at it, check out my “ PC Tips and Tricks” ebook. It has REAL freebies, not 30 day tests, and tips and tricks that you will NOT find in other books. I also have the data analysis for those of you who are considering or are already in the embroidery business. It is “ How Much To Charge for Embroidery,” and I know that you will be able to determine if you are charging accurately for your work.

My newsletter contribution will be coming up shortly, so watch for more great (and new) tips for you to use.

Best wishes to you and yours, Pat

I just found the neatest  photographic gem on, where else?, National Geographic.  You have always enjoyed the magnificent pictures they have and now, they have taken those photos one step further.  Check it out.  Click once or twice on the yellow square, in a second, it will open and focus, keep doing it and enjoy what you see.

I am enjoying writing for the Computer Secrets newsletter (look at the ‘free’ tab and select Secrets Newsletters to subscribe) and am seeing that you like knowing new things about your pc.  The tips I write are not already available in my “ PC Tips and Tricks.”  My tips are ones that you just won’t find anywhere else!  Those tips and tricks will not only save you time, but money as well. 

Best wishes to you and yours, Pat

The Computerist

Hi Neighbor - It is so great to be a member of Secrets and all the great things available to us from this site!!

I am writing the Computer Secrets (a newsletter which will be fresh info) which you will find to be helpful in all your computer usage.  In addition, I have a spreadsheet for you to determine “ How Much To Charge For Embroidery” and a “ PC Tips and Tricks for Everyone” (different info from my newsletter) at the same place. 

I will be putting tips here as well.  I hope you find my information to be of help to you.  Let me know what you want to know about.  Would you rather hear about tips for easier computing or sites where you can get something free or interesting?

When I taught adult learners computing, I found that there was so much that even seasoned PC users did not know.  You can’t ask a question about things you have no idea are available.  We often were placed in a seat with a computer in front of us, and had to work through a lot of the questions by ourselves.  Worse yet, we got info from someone who was never really trained either.  Time and effort features abound, and I will be sharing them with you.  Don’t use your PC as a glorified typewriter, use it efficiently.

Please do ask anything you might want info about.  There is no such thing as a stupid question.  I will be blogging here about once a week but will check for comments often.

Thanks,

Pat Snyder
The Computerist

I’m trying to send a design file to my husqvarna designer diamond using 4d organizer but when I click on the send to button, I get a message that says windows system error, please close and restart. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this? I’m running windows vista 64 bit.  I’ve tried uninstalling the program and reinstalling and no luck. I can send to the usb stick just fine. Thanks

Hi - I’m having problems opening files from a cd onto my computer and transferring them to the flashdrive to use in the machine. What program do I need to use to convert to dst or jef and transfer them to the flashdrive? - Paula

Hi Paula,

If you have design files on CD, you will need an embroidery program on your computer to view the designs and convert to your format before copying them to a flashdrive.

If you don’t have one, are you familiar with Embird? It is an embroidery design editing program that allows you to convert to the format you need.  It has many other features and is an extremely popular program.

You can download a free month’s trial of it from the Embird link on the Secrets of Embroidery site.

See if you like it. You will be able to use it to convert designs within the month as well.

Let me know how you get on and if there is anything further we can help with.

Kind regards,

Margaret Hardwick-Smith
Customer Support
at Secrets of Embroidery

I am having a problem with my printer. I have worked hours trying to fix it to no avail. I am printing the instructions for a program I won, Creative Embroidery. I was printing them every other page so I could use both sides of the paper. I got one whole side done and 77 pages of the second side when I ran out of ink. Now I need to print from just page 78 to the end and I don’t know how to do that. I have an HP2300 printer. Can anyone there help me? -  Marjorie Zurfehr

Hi Marjorie,

Isn’t it frustrating when something like this happens?  There are a couple of things you can try, depending on which program you are printing from.  It is usually the program that limits your options, rather than the printer itself.

If you are printing from MS Word your solution is simple: When you choose File Print and have the print dialog box on your screen, you can enter the exact pages you wish to print (separated by a comma) into the Page Range area in the Pages option (ie:  78,80,82,84) etc.  This method can also be used when printing from Internet Explorer.

If you are printing from Adobe Reader, you are able to choose your page range (ie: 78-100) and then the subset - Odd or Even pages only.

Unfortunately, there are a number of programs that do not allow you to enter a range of pages you would like to print.  In this case, my only advice is to print each page individually (ie: File Print, Pages From: 78 To: 78 to print page 78) and so on.  Very long winded but it will still achieve the result you require.

I hope you find this helpful, Good Luck.

Megan @ Secrets

Debbie Hicks, of Too Cute Embroidery, has a fantastic new computer help CD called Connect the Dots - Computer Basics & Beyond. Finally, a series of simple down-to-earth lessons on how to use your computer, covering just the basics - where things are, what they do and how to do it. Debbie can help you learn to use your computer to do more than you ever dreamed possible, with over 4 hours of lessons on CD. Click through to view some sample online videos that Debbie has made and have a look at her wonderful range of Fabric Postcard projects, as well.

Hi

Cathy

Dear Cathy,

It could be the operating system or some Dell computers have issues with VSM software. What platform was the other, successful computer operating?

The Version 5 software is not compatible with any operating system after Windows 98. The V5 dongel needed a parallel port which is no longer standard.

You can have your drive partitioned and run Windows 98 on one side and XP or Vista on the other. This will probably work.
You could get a second hand computer system just to run your V5 software. Most that have a parallel port would be given away.
You can purchase the 4D software.

At the Husqvarna Viking website at http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/global/8588.htm

There are two references in the FAQ’s to the known Dell incompatibilities A25 and A26 see below.

I would not recommend that you make changes to the BIOS(Basic Input Output System) UNLESS you are very experienced with computers.

Carolyn Duncan
www.sewwhatdesigns

……………………………………………………………………………………………….
A25

The dongle is not recognized on the Dell Dimension 1.4ghz computer

The default printer setting for this computer (ECP 378h DMA channel OFF) is not compatible with the dongle. This setting has to be changed in the BIOS. Upon booting up the computer enter the BIOS by pressing F2 on your keyboard, locate the settings and change it to either:

Mode AT I/O 378h
PS/2 I/O 378h
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
and A26

Error “No dongle attached. Cannot open program” after my computer goes into “hibernate” mode

At present, this is only a known issue with the Dell 8100.

This happens because the power to the USB dongle is dropped when the computer hibernates, causing the dongle to stop functioning correctly until the computer fully reboots.

On computers which have a parallel port, this can be solved as follows:

Restart the computer.
When the computer restarts, enter the BIOS.
Find the settings for the parallel port (LPT1) and change it to Bi Directional.
Save the BIOS settings and exit.

This should prevent the loss of power to the dongle during hibernation, even though the dongle is on a USB port rather than the parallel port.

Hi, I’ve had 3D Professional embroidery program for a few years and have learned to use it rather successfully. Recently the digitizing portion of the program locks up constantly, and no matter what I do it does not respond. It is the only program open except for the application programs that always run in the background. Any ideas, hints suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you much, Gloria

Hi,

In situations like this there is usually a conflict occurring within the computer. I assume that you are running Windows XP.

Have you put on any new software recently? Some anti virus software can be very invasive. Try doing a system restore to an earlier date when you had no problems and see if that will fix the issue. Do you have shared graphics on your computer or a graphics card? Shared graphics will not function properly if memory is low.

Check your graphics acceleration settings. Start/control panel/display/settings /advanced/troubleshoot. Make a note of any adjustments that you make and see if they work - if not reset to the previous settings.

Do you get the lockup when you ask for a specific command? If you ask to fill a problem shape the computer will lock up. If your computers internal memory is not adequate then it will just freeze. It may have been ok in the past but now nearing capacity. Do a Disk cleanup and Defrag to see if that helps.

Have you lots of photos or avi (movie) files stored on your drive or a lot of programmes running in the background. I recommend that you use an external hard drive to store memory hungry files. As it is bushfire season here an external hard drive is easy to grab in an evacuation (not like my friend who loaded the whole computer last month - including the monitor - when they were evacuated).

I would recommend that you do a disk clean up and defrag first as it is good to do this at least once a month. If this does not improve matters then try a system restore.

Failing this you will need to take the hard drive to a tech to find out what the problem is.

Hope this helps,

Carolyn Duncan
Author of Pfaff, Husqvarna & Sewing Tutorials
Sew What Designs