Contents at a Glance
Introduction ...... 1 Part I: Getting Started with the Eee PC ...... 7 Chapter 1: Meet the Eee PC ...... 9 Chapter 2: First Steps with the Eee PC ...... 23 Chapter 3: Getting Connected with the Eee PC ...... 37 Part II: Day to Day with the Eee PC ...... 53 Chapter 4: Cruising the Internet ...... 55 Chapter 5: Getting Down to Work I: OpenOffi ce ...... 75 Chapter 6: Getting Down to Work II: Other Programs ...... 91 Chapter 7: Eee PC for Kids ...... 107 Chapter 8: Eee PC at Play ...... 127 Chapter 9: Confi guring the Eee PC ...... 147 Chapter 10: Getting Help ...... 169 Chapter 11: Eee PC and Windows XP ...... 181 Part III: Adding Software to the Eee PC ...... 193 Chapter 12: Installing Linux Software...... 195 Chapter 13: Popular Linux Programs ...... 209 Chapter 14: Popular Free Windows Programs ...... 223 Part IV: Hardware and Accessories for the Eee PC ...... 233 Chapter 15: Expanding Storage and Memory ...... 235 Chapter 16: Essential Eee PC Accessories ...... 249 Chapter 17: PowerCOPYRIGHTED to the Eee PC ...... 263 MATERIAL Part V: Eee PC Advanced Topics ...... 279 Chapter 18: Backing Up and Restoring the Eee PC ...... 281 Chapter 19: A Real Desktop: Advanced Mode ...... 293 Chapter 20: Command-Line Linux...... 303 Chapter 21: Customizing the User Interface ...... 315 Part VI: Part of Tens ...... 329 Chapter 22: Ten Eee PC Troubleshooting Tips ...... 331 Chapter 23: Top Ten Eee PC Internet Resources ...... 341
Bonus Chapter 1: Using Other Linux Distributions ...... BC-1 Bonus Chapter 2: Ten Power Saving Tips ...... BC-1 Index ...... 341 Table of Contents
Introduction ...... 1 Who This Book Is For ...... 2 Setting Some Expectations ...... 3 How This Book Is Organized ...... 3 Part I: Getting Started with the Eee PC...... 3 Part II: Day to Day with the Eee PC ...... 4 Part III: Adding Software to the Eee PC ...... 4 Part IV: Hardware and Accessories for the Eee PC ...... 4 Part V: Eee PC Advanced Topics ...... 4 Part VI: The Part of Tens ...... 5 Bonus Chapters ...... 5 Icons Used in This Book ...... 5 Some Things to Keep in Mind ...... 6
Part I: Getting Started with the Eee PC ...... 7
Chapter 1: Meet the Eee PC ...... 9 Eee PC: Not Your Average Laptop ...... 9 Popular Eee PC Misconceptions ...... 12 Eee PC Models ...... 13 Eee PC 2G Surf ...... 14 Eee PC 4G Surf, 4G ...... 14 Eee PC 701SD ...... 15 Eee PC 900 series ...... 15 Eee PC 901 ...... 17 Eee PC 904HD ...... 18 Eee PC 1000 series ...... 18 Selecting an Eee PC ...... 21 Purchasing an Eee PC ...... 22 Chapter 2: First Steps with the Eee PC ...... 23 Powering On for the First Time ...... 23 Charging the battery...... 24 Powering on ...... 25 Touchpad Basics ...... 25 Using a Linux Eee PC ...... 27 Reviewing the tabs ...... 28 Navigating the tabs and running programs ...... 28 Navigating program windows and menus ...... 30 Using the taskbar ...... 31 x ASUS Eee PC For Dummies
Powering Down ...... 35 Linux ...... 35 Windows...... 35 Chapter 3: Getting Connected with the Eee PC...... 37 Connecting to the Internet ...... 37 Wireless connections ...... 37 Ethernet cable connections ...... 40 Managing Your Connections ...... 40 Connecting and disconnecting ...... 41 Deleting, renaming, and copying ...... 42 Getting and setting information ...... 43 Finding Your MAC Address ...... 43 Using the Network Connection Wizard ...... 45 Connecting to a Windows Network ...... 46 Accessing shared Windows folders ...... 46 Sharing a directory ...... 48 Accessing shared Windows printers ...... 49 Changing your computer’s name ...... 51 Changing your workgroup name...... 52
Part II: Day to Day with the Eee PC ...... 53
Chapter 4: Cruising the Internet...... 55 Browsing the Web ...... 56 Firefox features ...... 57 Installing and using Firefox add-ons ...... 59 Maximizing screen space for the Eee PC ...... 61 Accessing Your Web Mail ...... 61 Making Calls with Skype ...... 63 Instant Messaging ...... 64 Getting the Facts with Wikipedia ...... 65 Using Google Docs ...... 66 Custom Start Pages with iGoogle ...... 68 Listening to Internet Radio ...... 69 Keeping Track of World Time ...... 70 Reading e-Books ...... 71 Using the eBook icon ...... 73 When there’s no eBook icon...... 73 Chapter 5: Getting Down to Work I: OpenOffi ce ...... 75 Opening Up OpenOffi ce ...... 76 Shared OpenOffi ce Commands ...... 78 Getting help ...... 78 Creating a new document ...... 80 Table of Contents xi
Saving a document ...... 82 Opening a document ...... 83 Opening a document on a USB drive ...... 84 Writing and Editing ...... 84 Installing a dictionary ...... 85 Using the standard OpenOffi ce toolbar ...... 86 Spreadsheet Calculations ...... 86 Making Presentations ...... 87 Working with Databases ...... 89 Creating Graphics ...... 90 Chapter 6: Getting Down to Work II: Other Programs ...... 91 Viewing PDF Documents ...... 92 E-mail with Thunderbird ...... 93 Importing and exporting data ...... 94 Enhancing Thunderbird with add-ons ...... 94 Managing Files ...... 96 Accessing external storage ...... 98 Accessing network resources ...... 98 Helpful Accessories ...... 99 Adding things up with Calculator ...... 100 Managing personal information ...... 100 Capturing screens ...... 102 Using the Dictionary ...... 103 Posting Notes ...... 105 Chapter 7: Eee PC for Kids ...... 107 Studying Science ...... 108 It’s elementary: The Periodic Table ...... 109 Stargazing with Planetarium ...... 110 Learning about Language ...... 112 Teaching typing...... 112 Rearrange the letters ...... 114 Learning words with Hangman ...... 115 Boning Up on Math ...... 116 Figuring out fractions ...... 116 Tux the math tutor ...... 118 Getting in line with geometry ...... 119 Plotting functions ...... 120 The Next DaVinci ...... 121 Tux Paint for kids ...... 121 Mastering mtPaint...... 123 Learning on the Web ...... 124 Internet4Classrooms ...... 124 Curriki ...... 125 Ed Tech Review ...... 125 AOL Kids Homework Help ...... 125 xii ASUS Eee PC For Dummies
Chapter 8: Eee PC at Play ...... 127 Playing Games ...... 128 Solitaire ...... 129 Frozen Bubble ...... 130 Crack Attack ...... 131 Penguin Racer...... 132 Sudoku ...... 133 Potato Guy ...... 134 LTris...... 135 Watching Videos ...... 136 Adding additional codecs ...... 137 Watching DVDs...... 138 Managing and Playing Music ...... 139 Viewing Photos and Graphics Files ...... 141 Organizing Video Files ...... 142 Smiling for the Web Camera ...... 142 Recording Voice and Sounds ...... 144 Chapter 9: Confi guring the Eee PC...... 147 Viewing System Info ...... 148 Personalizing Your Eee PC ...... 148 Using Personalization ...... 148 Adding favorites ...... 150 Changing the Date & Time ...... 152 Setting Speaker and Microphone Volume ...... 153 Confi guring Printers ...... 154 Adding and confi guring printers ...... 154 If your printer doesn’t work ...... 156 Changing Touchpad Settings ...... 156 General ...... 157 Tapping ...... 157 Scrolling ...... 158 Edge ...... 158 Using the Disk Utility ...... 159 Running Diagnostic Tools ...... 159 System Info ...... 160 System Test ...... 160 Contact Us...... 161 Changing Settings for Presentations ...... 161 Adding and Removing Software ...... 163 Using VoiceCommand ...... 164 Keeping the Viruses Out ...... 165 But I thought Linux didn’t get viruses? ...... 165 Performing a scan ...... 165 Shutting Down ...... 167 Table of Contents xiii
Chapter 10: Getting Help ...... 169 Using Eee PC Online Help ...... 169 Desktop online help ...... 170 E-book online help ...... 171 Eee PC Tips ...... 172 Online program help ...... 172 KDE and Linux help ...... 173 Using the Internet to Get Help ...... 174 Navigating the ASUS support site ...... 175 Community-based help from EeeUser.com ...... 177 Chapter 11: Eee PC and Windows XP ...... 181 Windows versus Linux ...... 181 Which to choose?...... 182 Preinstalled Windows XP ...... 184 Installing Windows on a Linux Eee PC ...... 186 Hardware and software requirements ...... 186 Installing Windows XP ...... 188 Installing Eee PC drivers ...... 189 Optimizing Windows XP for the Eee PC ...... 190
Part III: Adding Software to the Eee PC ...... 193
Chapter 12: Installing Linux Software ...... 195 Basic Installation Concepts ...... 195 Installing and Uninstalling with Add/Remove Software ...... 197 Installing with Synaptic Package Manager ...... 200 Installing and removing packages ...... 201 Creating desktop shortcuts ...... 202 Adding a repository ...... 203 All about APT ...... 204 Adding More Repositories ...... 205 Adding multiple repositories...... 206 Pinning repositories ...... 206 Automating the process ...... 207 Chapter 13: Popular Linux Programs ...... 209 Editing Graphics with GIMP ...... 210 Cataloging Digital Photos with Picasa ...... 211 Traveling the World with Google Earth ...... 212 Editing Sound Files with Audacity ...... 214 Playing Media with VLC ...... 214 BitTorrenting with FrostWire ...... 215 xiv ASUS Eee PC For Dummies
Stargazing with Stellarium ...... 216 Balancing Your Checkbook with GnuCash ...... 218 Word Processing with AbiWord ...... 219 Running Windows Programs with Wine ...... 220 Chapter 14: Popular Free Windows Programs ...... 223 Essential Internet Programs ...... 224 Firefox (browser) ...... 224 Opera (browser) ...... 224 Thunderbird (e-mail) ...... 225 µTorrent (BitTorrent) ...... 225 Pidgin (instant messaging) ...... 225 Work and Entertainment Applications ...... 226 OpenOffi ce (offi ce suite) ...... 227 FoxIt (PDF reader) ...... 227 Paint.Net (graphics) ...... 227 VLC (video player) ...... 228 foobar2000 (music player)...... 229 Safety and Security Utilities ...... 229 Virus defenders ...... 229 Firewall shields ...... 230 Spyware protectors ...... 231 Encryption ...... 232
Part IV: Hardware and Accessories for the Eee PC ...... 233
Chapter 15: Expanding Storage and Memory ...... 235 Secure Digital Card Tricks ...... 236 Supported cards...... 236 Formatting SD cards ...... 237 Disabling the Device Detection dialog box ...... 239 In a Flash: USB Thumb Drives ...... 240 USB “Not That Hard” Drives ...... 242 DVD Drives for Dummies ...... 244 More Memory ...... 246 Chapter 16: Essential Eee PC Accessories ...... 249 Getting Carried Away ...... 249 Mice and Keyboards ...... 251 Mice ...... 251 Keyboards ...... 252 Bluetooth Blues ...... 254 Personalizing Your Eee PC ...... 255 Table of Contents xv
Modem Madness ...... 256 External Monitors and Projectors ...... 257 External monitors ...... 258 Projectors ...... 258 Staying Found with GPS ...... 259 Chapter 17: Power to the Eee PC ...... 263 The Juice on Batteries ...... 263 ASUS batteries ...... 264 Third-party batteries ...... 266 Universal batteries...... 266 Getting (Car) Charged Up ...... 268 Cigarette lighter adapters ...... 268 Inverters ...... 269 Off-the-Grid Power Solutions ...... 270 Solar ...... 272 Human power ...... 275
Part V: Eee PC Advanced Topics ...... 279
Chapter 18: Backing Up and Restoring the Eee PC ...... 281 Eee PC Backup Strategies ...... 282 Copying fi les and folders ...... 282 Imaging the drive ...... 283 Restoring Linux Factory Settings with F9 ...... 284 Using the Linux Recovery DVD ...... 287 USB recovery thumb drives...... 287 Recovering with the DVD ...... 289 Using the Windows Recovery DVD ...... 290 Chapter 19: A Real Desktop: Advanced Mode ...... 293 Differences between Easy and Advanced Modes ...... 294 Advanced Mode advantages...... 295 Advanced Mode disadvantages ...... 295 Enabling Advanced Mode ...... 296 Using pimpmyeee...... 296 Manually installing ...... 297 Running Advanced Mode ...... 298 Using Advanced Mode ...... 299 Navigating KDE ...... 299 Booting into Advanced Mode ...... 300 Uninstalling Advanced Mode Files ...... 301 xvi ASUS Eee PC For Dummies
Chapter 20: Command-Line Linux ...... 303 Conquering the Console ...... 303 Let the Console Session Begin ...... 304 Consolation prize: xterm...... 304 Komputing with Konsole...... 306 Which console to choose? ...... 307 Console Concepts ...... 307 Command help ...... 308 Arguments...... 308 Sudo ...... 309 Directories and fi les ...... 310 Redirecting and piping ...... 311 Keyboard shortcuts ...... 312 Console Commands ...... 313 Chapter 21: Customizing the User Interface ...... 315 simpleui.rc Explained ...... 315 Adding Icons and Tabs with Launcher Tools ...... 316 Changing a program’s icon ...... 318 Adding a program icon to a tab ...... 318 Restoring a vanished icon ...... 319 Adding a new tab to the desktop ...... 320 Chilling with IceWM ...... 321 Tweaking the Interface with TweakEEE ...... 322 Showing the Start button ...... 323 Changing the taskbar clock format...... 324 Removing taskbar icons ...... 324 Custom Themes with Theeemer ...... 325 Using Other Customization Tools ...... 327 Pimpmyeee.sh ...... 327 Easy Mode Editor ...... 328
Part VI: Part of Tens ...... 329
Chapter 22: Ten Eee PC Troubleshooting Tips ...... 331 My Icon(s) Disappeared! ...... 331 My Touchpad Has Problems Scrolling ...... 332 My Web Cam Doesn’t Work ...... 332 My Eee PC Suspends When I Close the Lid ...... 333 I Forgot My Password ...... 334 Windows...... 334 Linux ...... 335 My Wireless Connections Aren’t Working ...... 337 My Eee PC Hangs at Shutdown ...... 338 I Can’t Write to a SD Card or USB Drive ...... 338 My Eee PC isn’t Working Right ...... 339 My Eee PC Is Dead ...... 340 Table of Contents xvii
Chapter 23: Top Ten Eee PC Internet Resources ...... 341 The Offi cial Word ...... 341 Answers to Just About Any Question ...... 342 Best of the Blogs ...... 343
Bonus Chapter 1: Using Other Linux Distributions...... BC- 1 Why Use a Different Linux Distribution? ...... 2 Selecting a Linux Distribution ...... 3 Customized for the Eee PC ...... 4 General purpose distributions ...... 7 Installation Options ...... 9 Running Linux from a Thumb Drive ...... 11 Bonus Chapter 2: Ten Power Saving Tips ...... BC- 1 Turn the Eee PC Off ...... 2 Use Standby Mode ...... 2 Use Low Power Settings ...... 3 Turn WiFi Off ...... 3 Dim the Display ...... 3 Treat Your Battery Right ...... 4 Disconnect USB Devices ...... 5 Don’t Use Animated Screensavers ...... 5 Use a Wired Ethernet Connection ...... 6 Know What Activities Drain Batteries ...... 6 Single Task ...... 6 Index ...... 341 xviii ASUS Eee PC For Dummies