In three words, “help and education.”

If a few more words, a computer user group is a group of computer users, ranging from new users to advanced users. They have two main things in common: they are running the same general type of computer operating system — a Windows-based computer or an Apple MacIntosh or a Linux-based computer — and they are interested in learning how to use their computer more effectively.

For some beginners, that”s learning to use a keyboard and mouse, how to copy files, rename files, etc. Other individuals want to learn more about topics such as word processing, spreadsheets, graphics programs, web design, genealogy.

Whether your local computer user group meets once a month in a public library or has 50-60 classes and events each month, check it out. The group is a success because its members make it one. Volunteer to do what you can — if you regularly use a program, volunteer to teach a class or workshop on it. If you can”t teach, help set up for meetings, or help edit the club”s newsletter, or anything else that needs done.

The more effort you put in to the user group, the more you will value its existence.

If you don”t know where to find one, check with your local library. They can probably point you in the right direction. Your local computer store may also know where and when it meets.

Microsoft has released a hotfix for a problem that crept into the Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Under certain circumstances, IE gives you a misleading “Page cannot be displayed” message. It really should be giving you a “Warning: Page has Expired” message.

If you are:

• using Internet Explorer under Windows XP SP2,
• go to a webpage where you enter some data,
• leave the webpage,
• use the back-arrow to try to go back to it, AND
• if the webpage has a “cache-control: no cache” header

then Internet Explorer will give the wrong message. Microsoft has released a hotfix for this problem.

For a nicer, more elegant solution, Get Firefox! Use I.E. only when you have to, such as for Windows Updates. You should see a lot less spyware — Firefox doesn”t “do” Active-X, so the spyware can”t install itself as easily.

Switching browsers is not an all-or-nothing step. Both I.E. and Firefox, as well as Mozilla, Opera, and others, can all co-exist peacefully on your computer. You can even run them simultaneously — I often do when I”m working on web pages. So, try Firefox. I think you”ll like it.