Computer Help Page

Ultimately, we would like to see all friends and members of Langri Tangpa Centre computer literate and confident, and thus able to access the huge store of free Dharma teachings on the internet. We have tried to make the site as user-friendly as possible. If like many, you are slightly overwhelmed by the technology or are hesitant to ask seemingly embarrassing questions, this page may go some way towards helping. if you are really stumped, please don't hesitate to ask for help when you are next at the centre.

FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I hurt so much?

Apart from the fact that these aggregates are in the nature of suffering, it's because you haven't stretched. Go to the window, look out. Does everything seem flat? That's because you have been at the computer too long. You have lost your stereo vision from looking at a flat screen at close range. Just recently a man in South Korea died after spending 80 hours straight at the computer! I bet he too thought, "I'll get up in a minute".

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The page won't print properly

As a rule of thumb it is good to go to your computer's menu at the top, to file > print preview. This way you can check if you are printing what you intend to. If you are trying to print our calendar and only squares and circles and numbers come out, it is because you are trying to print the wiz-bang calendar with all its moving parts and changing colours. Now - how is that going to come out on the printer?! What you have to do is push the "Print Version" button!

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What's a PDF and how do I view it?

Documents presented in Portable Document Format (PDF) can be viewed on just about any computer without loosing their formatting. Web developers use this program a lot to save forms, pamphlets or other documents that need to 'look nice' as well as contain information, so when you download them they look just as they should! You need the program Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer in order to view these files. If you don't have this program, your computer will open this file with a default program such as Word, and it will all look like goobledegook. Acrobat Reader is quick to download, easy to use and free!

To do this, click on the Acrobat Reader icon and follow their instructions (don't worry, it is a simple 3 step process!). Once this program is installed you will be able to view any PDF document you like at any time! You can either right-click the link to the PDF document and 'Save Target As..', or click on the link to the PDF document, open it in the browser window, and then save the file.

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How do I save a picture?

Just put the mouse over the picture. Right-click and select 'Save Picture As...' When the dialogue box comes up navigate to the folder you want to save the picture in, like My Pictures, or the Desktop, check the name you are saving it as is legible or makes sense to you, and click 'Save'.

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My screensaver won't work

When you download a screen saver, save it to a logical folder, like 'My Pictures'. Go to this folder and click on 'set-up' and save the screen saver to the same folder (My Pictures). You should now have a file that says Auspicious Geshe, and one that says uninstall. Right click on the Auspicious Geshe screen saver, and press install. Now, navigate through your computer control panel > display > screen savers, scroll the drop-down selection there, and you should see your new screen saver Select it and click 'Apply', the 'OK'.

For the more adventurous of you, save the screen saver to your desktop or downloads folder, double-click on the icon, and when the dialogue box comes up for an install path, click browse and save it in C: > Windows > System32. Then push install. When you view your display settings on your computer, it should be in there with the rest of your screen savers, ready to select and apply.

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My audio files won't work in the CD player

These audio files are in a format that can only be played on your computer or a walkman that plays mp3's. We use the .mp3 file format so we can put up to 6 teachings on the one CD. If we make ordinary CDs we need 2 CDs per teaching. The cost of purchasing a set of teachings in this format would be more than the cost of buying a walkman that plays .mp3's! If you intend to listen to Dharma teachings regularly (and this includes anything you download free from the internet), but do not have access to a computer or CD-ROM, we suggest you invest in one of these walkman's. They retail for between $100-$180. Just check that they play 16 bit files (the ones from the net), as well as the larger files (the ones on our CDs). Alternately, you can purchase software that converts .mp3 files into normal audio format, and then burn your own audio CD's. If none of this is possible, we happily produce normal audio CDs of the teachings upon request.

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What can I play the Pocket-CD's on?

These are business-card sized CDs. They are just like our other CD's, but they are literally physically cut down in size with the corners trimmed off. They will still play on your computer, your telly via a DVD, and a walkman that plays .mp3s - just like our other ones do (see above listing). Don't be fooled - they are nothing like mini-disc thingies that need expensive specialised equipment. It is more like having a large book and a small book - you still read them the same way!

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How do I install a desktop wallpaper?

Take Note
If you are installing our selection of wallpapers, make sure you save the TARGET, not the PICTURE. Saving the picture just saves the little picture displayed on the page, which will look terrible stretched across a whole desktop. If you save the target, you are saving what the little picture is previewing (or pointing to), which is a much bigger picture. Just the right size in fact, for a desktop.

People often confuse wallpapers and screensavers. To put it simply, screensavers move, whereas wallpapers are just the background on your desktop. Downloading and installing any picture as a wallpaper is easy! Just follow these step-by-step instructions.

Step 1
Make sure the picture is large enough, otherwise it will look all blurry or pixilated. It should be at least the size of your computer screen (the smallest is 480 x 640, the most common is 800 x 600, and a large screen is usually set at 1024 x 768)

Right-click on the picture you want to save and select 'SAVE PICTURE AS...' When the 'SAVE AS...' dialogue box appears, navigate to My Computer > C Drive > Windows > Web > Wallpaper, and push save. This will permanently save the wallpaper to your hard drive, so you can change your selections whenever you like. (If you just select 'SET AS BACKGROUND' or 'SET AS WALLPAPER' the image will still be saved to your computer and displayed for you, but if you repeat this process with another image from the web, then the first image will be replaced and lost.)

Step 2
To actually install the wallpaper, right-click anywhere on your desktop, select 'PROPERTIES' and a dialogue box will appear. Select the 'DESKTOP' tab, and scroll down each selection until you find the picture you just downloaded.

Select the desktop background wallpaper you like, select a new background colour if you wish, push apply and then OK. Your new wallpaper will now appear in all its glory!

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