3. What is available when I click on the Start button?
4. What are the 5 icons located to the right of the Start button?
5. How can I ensure my privacy while using Groovix?
6. Why are some machines on the floor in a group of 6 and others are not?
7. What if I have trouble viewing a web site?
A. Why can't I use Internet Explorer?
B. What can I do if my site requires Internet Explorer?
8. Can I print from a web site and what can I do if I have trouble printing?
A. Use Print Preview
B. Print Dialog box
C. Print Friendly links
D. Print from a different browser
E. Copy & paste
9. I want to save to my USB drive. Where is the USB port?
10. What if I have questions about OpenOffice?
11. What is Gaim and can I use it to Instant Message?
12. Why am I unable to hear sound from some web sites?
13. Can I view and print PDF files?
15. How can I save a web page?
16. What does "Copy files to USB Drive" (under Start menu) do?
Groovix is a Linux-based operating system from Open Sense Solutions which is an innovative, amazingly efficient way to bring web browsing, web-based applications, word processing, multimedia and more to libraries.
Groovix immediately offers a visual difference. Groovix has a custom screen saver that rotates through pictures of past Howard County Library programs.
Groovix also offers the ability to:
3. What is available when I click on the Start button?
Clicking on the Start button will provide you with access to the following:
- Firefox web browser (default browser)
- Adobe Reader
- RealPlayer
- Gaim instant messaging
- OpenOffice Suite word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, draw, math and HTML editors, as well as online Help
- Help (Groovix FAQ)
- Volume control
- Educational games, available in the Children's and Young Adult areas.
4. What are the 5 icons 
located to the right of the Start button?
Left click to minimize all windows
Clicking on this icon drops all windows down to the task bar and displays the blue desktop. Click on it again to reinstate the windows.
Logout and clear all information
Using this icon ensures the most secure way to clear the computer for the next customer. When you are finished using Groovix, click on this icon to erase your "session". The system then creates a new "session" with a clean slate for the next customer. Nothing from the previous "session" can be accessed.
Volume control
Clicking on this icon brings up the volume control panel.
Note: If you have trouble with the volume, make sure there is no red x on the speaker icon below either the Master or Headphone slide. Click on the speaker icon below each slide to make the red x disappear.
Firefox web browser
Clicking on this icon opens Firefox, the default browser.
5. How can I ensure my privacy while using Groovix?
Although using a public computer to access your bank account, eBay auction or stock portfolio may not be the best choice, some customers have no other option. Simply "Xing" out of the browser will not clear your information or history of sites you have visited. Groovix will refresh after 5 minutes of keyboard or mouse inactivity; however, if you walk away from the computer and someone else sits down before the refresh happens, they can cancel the refresh. The best practice for anyone using a Groovix machine is to click on the Logout
icon next to or under the Start button.
(See FAQ #4 for more information about the logout icon)
6. Why are some machines on the floor in a group of 6 and others are not?
If you see six computers clustered together, this is one of the benefits of Groovix. These computers are "SLIM" (Simultaneous Local Independent Multi-user) machines and they allow six users to work via a single computer (CPU) at the same time. Each user has his own monitor, keyboard, mouse, sound and USB port.
Hardware costs are significantly reduced because only one computer (CPU) needs to be purchased, rather than six. The electricity savings alone from operating a Groovix SLIM system versus single-user computers can pay for the system in three years!
7. What if I have trouble viewing a web site?
Each browser displays things just slightly differently.
A.) Why can't I use Internet Explorer?
Howard County Library has chosen Firefox as its browser due to security issues with Internet Explorer. To learn more about these security risks, click here. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team has reported on the security issues with Internet Explorer as far back as 2004. You do reduce your exposure to several vulnerabilities by using something else for most web browsing (Firefox is next most popular web browser).B.) What can I do if my site requires Internet Explorer?
Try using Firefox. If the browser does not render the site correctly, this is strictly due to bad coding on the web site's part. The W3C - World Wide Web Consortium sets standards for web design. If the site has followed these standards, the page can be viewed in ANY browser. Please feel free to contact the web site and point them to the W3C.
8. Can I print from a web site and what can I do if I have trouble printing?
A.) Use Print Preview
Yes, you can print; however, web pages do not equate to printed pages. A scrollbar on the right side of the web page means more than 1 page will print. To determine how many pages this web page will be when printed, click on File, then select Print Preview.B.) Print Dialog Box
Once you've determined how many printed pages your web page is, click on File, then select Print.
From the print dialog box, you can do the following:
- Printer section - If you want your print job to go to another printer, use the drop-down arrow in the Printer section and select a different printer.
- Print Range section - Rather than printing every page, select Pages (instead of All Pages) and tell the printer exactly which pages you need (e.g. page 5 to page 7).
- Copies section - Allows you to change the number of copies. Number of copies will default back to 1 as soon as the print job is sent.
C.) Print Friendly links
"The Web" was not originally designed to be printed. However, more web developers are using "Print Friendly" links or icons. Look for these links or icons on the web site as they will help your web page to print better.D.) Copy & Paste
If still unable to print, highlight all the information you want printed from the site--
- Click on Edit.
- Select Copy.
- Click on Start button.
- Select OpenOffice.org Writer (word processor).
- Once loaded, click on Edit.
- Select Paste.
- Click on File.
- Select Print.
Note: Keep in mind that if the web site used white letters that when you paste it onto the white background of OpenOffice the letters will not show.
Highlight text in OpenOffice - click on the drop-down arrow next to the capital A on the toolbar and select a different color. You can then print.
9. I want to save to my USB drive. Where is the USB port?
Most of the Groovix machines will have the USB port in the front.
A few machines and all the SLIM machines have an external USB port that looks very much like a golf ball.
Either way just insert your USB drive into the port, wait for the light on the drive to become steady (or stop flashing) and then continue with saving.
10. What if I have questions about OpenOffice?
We hope that our online OpenOffice Users' Guide, which can be found under the Start button, will provide you with all that you need to get started. We've included an Other Help Resources tab with links to tutorials, videos, and other FAQs, as well as a direct link to OpenOffice books owned by Howard County Library.
11. What is Gaim and can I use it to Instant Message?
Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, ICQ (Oscar protocol), Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, and Zephyr networks. If you are a user of one of the listed networks, all you need is your "screen name" and password. Your buddy list or contacts will come over from that network's server. For Example, if you are an AIM user, your buddy list is saved on the AOL server. Once logged in, your buddy list will appear.
12. Why am I unable to hear sound from some web sites?
If you are unable to hear sound:
- See FAQ #4 for the section on volume control.
- The site is using something other than RealPlayer. Groovix currently supports RealPlayer and MPlayer. If these two applications are unable to play the sound/video, then the site is using an application that isn't supported on Groovix.
Groovix has the latest version of Adobe Reader, as well as Document Viewer from Evince, for viewing, printing and saving PDF files.
.
- Click on PDF link on web site.
Once PDF opens, click on printer icon.
Click on OK at Print dialog box.
At the next dialog box, click on Print.
- You can also change the number of copies from this dialog box before clicking on Print.
If PDF doesn't work in acroread, try Document Viewer:
- Click on PDF link on web site.
Click on the drop-down menu and select Open with Document Viewer, then click on OK.
- Once PDF opens, click on File then select Print.
Some PDFs may not print due to restrictions which were set at the time of creation.
If you find an image on the web that you want to save, you can save it to either a floppy disk or USB drive.
15. How can I save a web page?
Once you find the web page you wish to save:
16. What does "Copy files to USB Drive" (under Start menu) do?
If for some reason you don't save your files/images/documents correctly to your USB Drive, this will allow you to move them from the machine to your USB drive.
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