Computers - beyond the basics

This section offers tutorials for understanding more about how to get the best out of your computer, and some tips and tricks when using applications and web browsers

more about the computer

video tutorials

The Keyboard

More about understanding the keyboard

video tutorial

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts for getting things done with less effort by you.

video tutorial

tips and tricks

Google Chrome

Reopen closed tabs

Quite often I’ll close a tab in Chrome and then realise I wanted some further information. But I might not remember the name of the site I was visiting.

Chrome offers a simple feature to make this easy. Simply right click on the top tab bar on any open tabs you have. In the drop down menu you will see an option titled “Reopen Closed Tab”. If you click on this it will open the last tab that was closed.

You can do this multiple times to reopen tabs that may have been closed earlier in the session or on a prior day.

utility applications

for advanced users

What's using my hard drive space

So you thought when you bought your latest computer that you’d never use all that hard drive space. But you find now that you are running low on space and wondering what is gobbling up all those gigabytes ?

If you have little or no knowledge of computers then this application is NOT for you.

WinDirStat

WinDirStat is a free, open-source disk usage analyzer and cleanup software for Microsoft® Windows®. Mac® OS X® users should use Disk Inventory X or GrandPerspective alternatives. Linux users should try KDirStat or others such as Baobab (a component module of the gnome-utils package). The program can scan local partitions or entire hard disk drive, presenting the results under a colorful graphical image for used space. It is also a cleanup tool as it allows you to delete files that take much space. The advantage of using this tool is that you can identify files that took the most space and you can also delete them directly from the main program interface.

Note: The site claims to have tested and used WinDirStat for the last five years. They have installed and run the program without any other issues on Microsoft® Windows® XP SP3, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10.