Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
September 3, 2006

Volume 2, Number 12 — Sunday, September 3, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

3. Selecting a Notebook Mouse

Many computer notebooks come with a built-in touchpad, in effect, a built-in mouse. But, touchpads are not mice and don't respond quite the same way.

Most of us, and especially people who move between desktop computers and notebook computers routinely, want to have a real mouse to use with their notebook.

Of course, a desktop mouse is a big thing and would take a lot of room in a computer bag. Also, when you're working with a notebook, desk space to be able to use a mouse is usually at a premium, too.

Fortunately, there are a lot of mice that are designed specifically for the notebook users. Whether you want wireless or wired, you've got plenty of choices. You'll find that almost all notebook mice are optical mice -- they use a light sensor rather than using a ball to track movement.

Notebook mice are available in several sizes. The smallest is about the size of a small pill bottle, and way too small for my hands. The Targus ultra-mini mouse is a good example of these.

If you're thinking about getting the smallest possible, consider playing a few what-if games. Get a couple different size pill bottles -- or carve up a bar of soap into some shapes to see what your hands like. Now, put your hand on one and move it around like a mouse. Comfortable? Do you strain to control it? Unfortunately, most places don't have notebook mice out where you can actually feel them.

While I could use a tiny mouse if I had to (and I have one in my bag as a spare), I use a slightly larger Logitech notebook optical mouse, with scrollbutton, that is much easier to grip. This one is about 2" wide and 3.5" to 4" long.

This Logitech USB notebook mouse is the one I use. I have found it available for $11.49 and eligible for free shipping.

Be sure to get a notebook mouse with a scroll wheel. A few years ago, scroll wheels were unused accessories on mice. Now, they're recognized by most programs. If you normally use a scroll wheel, you have no idea how much you will miss the wheel, if you get a notebook mouse without one.

Fortunately, notebook mice have come way down in price, even more so than many of their desktop counterparts.

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4. Back-to-School: Turn Off File & Printer Sharing

Those of us with home networks usually share files, or at least printers, across our network.

This nice feature allows several computers to share and use one or more printers. At my house, we share an HP Laserjet 1200 and an HP ColorJet printer. That way, any printer can print color pages when we need them or print black and white laser quality pages (which also happen to be cheaper!).

But, as we send our children off to college, there's a step that they need to take.

Windows allows us to easily turn OFF the "Windows File and Printer Sharing" in one place, rather than having to go and block each shared folder, drive or printer.

First, go to Start, then click on Control Panel, Network and Internet Connections, and Network Connections.

You'll get a Network Connections dialog box similar to this. My network connection is an Ethernet connection, but yours might be wireless. Right-click on the network connection you use, then select "Properties" from the context menu that pops up.

Network Connections Dialog Box - Click for larger image

At that point, you'll get the Network Connection Properties box for that particular connection.

You may need to use the scroll bar to see "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks". Once you find File and Printer Sharing, uncheck the checkbox to turn off File and Printer Sharing. Then, click on the OK button.