Monday, June 4, 2007

Mom Corner - #2

Here's a few quick Google Toolbar tips:

Question:
How do I disable search suggestions in Google Toolbar?

Answer:
1. On the right-hand side of the Google Toolbar, there's a "Settings" button. Click it and select "Options..." from the drop-down context menu.
2. In the "Toolbar Options" window, on the "Features" tab, click on the "Search Box Settings..." button.
3. In the "Search Box Settings" window, uncheck the three boxes that begin with "Suggest" and click "OK".
4. Click "OK" again to close the "Toolbar Options" window.


Question:
How do I disable AutoFill in Google Toolbar?

Answer:
1. On the right-hand side of the Google Toolbar, there's a "Settings" button. Click it and select "Options..." from the drop-down context menu.
2. In the "Toolbar Options" window on the "Features" tab, uncheck "AutoFill".
3. Click "OK" to close the "Toolbar Options" window.

These two points are interesting to me because I actually like search suggestions and autofill. Here are the reasons I can think of to disable them:
Insofar as search suggestions, if you are in an environment where others can see your computer screen, you may not want partial words (or whole words, for that matter) brining up your favorites (bookmarks) or suggested google searches. If I had to search for a serial number that started with two "X"'s for example. I know, that's a weak argument and I like search suggestions far too much to disable them based on that. The other other thing I can think of is if, like my mom, you don't like small "windows" appearing over your browser's displayed web page.
As far as autofill, this is simple for me. If you are using a public computer or a generic (more than one person knows it) login on your own computer, disable it. I can't stress that enough. Would you leave the information you type into an internet form printed out and taped next to the monitor? On the other hand, I have my own personal computer to which only I login with an account and password that no one else knows. In this case, when I got to pay my cable bill every month, they ask for some information and it's nice not to have to look it up or type it in each time. With autofill, I just click on the information I want in the box and it's filled-in for me.

One more thing -- Internet Explorer and Firefox both have built-in autofill functionality and by default Firefox has built-in search suggestions for the Google search box in the Navigation Toolbar. Not that I'm saying you *shouldn't* use Google toolbar, just that I get these two specific pieces of functionality without it when I use Firefox (which I'm saying you *should use*, with or without Google Toolbar).

Mom Corner - #1

Not to be confused with the similarly titled Ops Mgr, I've decided to post a few questions from my mom. Mom Corner will be end-user questions that I think anyone will be able to accomplish in a few quick steps, i.e. the posts labeled like this one are *not* geared toward IT pros.

Question:
How do I disable Hibernation on my Windows XP computer?

Answer:
1. Click Start -> Run...
2. Type "powercfg.cpl"
3. In the "Power Options Properties" window, select the "Hibernate" folder-tab
4. Uncheck the box labeled "Enable hibernation" and click "OK"

And in case you're interested in further reading, here's a good article describing Power Management in Windows XP