Now that you have all the pricey items everyone wanted, it is time for you to give yourself a gift of TIME!  My PC Tips and Tricks will help you save time on your PC and that time will be well spent.  See it here.

 If you are thinking about making your favorite hobby into a working business, please do check out this!  Knowing how much to charge for your embroidery is definately tricky and this sheet will guide you through all the issues and details.

Best wishes to you and yours for this holiday season.  However you celebrate, stay safe,

Pat

 If you still need some labels for your Christmas gifts, you can find them, FREE, here.

#1 – How can I add more virtual memory to my computer.  I have already gone in and added it according to the computer instructions and there is now no more to be added.  In other words, how can I delete stuff that will make more virtual memory available.

#2 – Also, on the list of programs running on my computer that slows it down, how do I know which ones can be stopped/deleted without messing up the whole system.

#3 -  I have heard pros and cons on which virus protection to use as regards to running programs that slow down your computer.  Norton or McAfee?

I am desperate.  Thanks so much for your patience and help.

Susan

Check this one out!!  http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create/photo_frames_borders.html  There are Christmas frames for your photos, and so much more.

For more computer tips and tricks, (great gift!)  or for determining how much to charge for embroidery, check out my blog.  Learning inspires us all to greater things! 

And, I was just sewing some of the fantastic free standing lace items available here at Secrets of . . , and when I had filled my 5″ x 7″ frame with designs, I decided to move the stabilizer to enable me to make more fsl with what stabilizer edges were available.  What a simple trick!

Best wishes to you and yours for the holiday season, Pat

The Computerist

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

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.