How to Copy & Convert your Music or Movies to any Format **New Dates, Postponed by 1 week
(9 hours) Prerequisite: Introduction to Windows XP/VISTA or equivalent
This class will explain the many different song and movie formats available, including the new HD and Blu-Ray, and their uses and purposes. Using free software we will demonstrate how your music and movies can be converted to almost any format available. Understanding that we remain committed to paying artists for their work, this course is not developed for the purpose of violating copyrights, but to understand and educate you on the different formats and their purposes. When you purchase a song or movie you should have complete freedom to play it on all of your devices as many times as you like. Using conversion software, you will learn how transferring music or movies to different formats will allow playback on different devices.
New Dates: Thursdays, March 13, 19, and March 20, 2008
Time: 7:30-10:30 AM OR PM
Understanding High Definition and How it Works in Your Home(6 hours) Prerequisite: None What is the February 17th, 2009 Digital TV deadline date? I know that buying a TV, a satellite or cable receiver, connecting your stereo Dolby Digital receiver, 5.1, 7.1 surround sound, the different connections and cable types can be a stressful and confusing experience. What is HDTV? Does it matter if a program comes in at 720p, 1080i or 1080p? How do I get it? Do I need it? How do I connect all of it? This class will help you overcome all of these worries, doubts, and confusion. With lecture and instructor-led demonstrations and labs, this course will provide you with an understanding of these new digital media technologies and their uses and eliminate most, if not all of your HD questions.
Date: Tuesday and Wednesday March 11 and 12, 2008
Time: 7:30-10:30 AM OR PM
ALL ABOUT LAPTOPS – (18 Hours)Prerequisite: PC Upgrade and Repair or Equivalent knowledge Students will learn to diagnose, troubleshoot and repair laptops. These special computers require different techniques than desktop computers to be successfully repaired. Also covered will be the techniques used by manufacturers to design and construct a modern laptop. 80% hands-on lab work! Attend this class and learn to assemble and disassemble laptop computers. The course instructor holds three United States Patents covering technology used in some of the first laptops produced by Compaq, Acer Labs and other computer manufacturers.
Dates: Wednesdays, March 19-April 23, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30am-10:30pm
Converting Your Home Movies to CD's or DVD's (12 Hours)
Prerequisite: Windows Level I or Equivalent If you have home movies or a library of tapes on VHS or VHS-c or 8mm, then you only have about 10 years to view them, and each year you wait the quality will degrade. Transferring your home movies to DVD or CD will ensure high quality for 50-100 years and is very affordable. This class will teach you the procedures and software necessary to transfer movies to these formats. With the growing demand of people wanting to preserve and organize their home movies, this class could lead into a prosperous part-time or full time business.
Dates: Thursdays, April 3-April 24, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30am-10:30pm
Spring-Summer 2008
PC UPGRADE AND REPAIR 2008 Edition –You can now take all ten workshops or just pick and choose the one that’s right for you.These workshops will show you many ways to save money on upgrading and repairs of your PC. These workshops are designed to familiarize the personal computer owner with his/her machine. Before you spend another penny on upgrading or repairing your computer you should take any or all of these workshops. You will learn hands-on by solving hardware problems in class with instructor guidance. If you want to upgrade your current system you can bring it in to a specific workshop and work on it. Revised to cover the new Windows VISTA OS, Serial ATA Drives, New Solid State Drives, and Dual and Quad Core processors along with many other new technological advances in the PC industry. If you have not taken this class within the last year, it is time to come back and see all the new technology out there.
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
Day: Mondays
Individual Dates:
May 5, 2008 Workshop 1 – Computer Cases, Case Types and Upgrades
May 12, 2008 Workshop 2 – Power Supply upgrades
May 19, 2008 Workshop 3 – CD’s, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW upgrades
June 2, 2008 Workshop 4 – Memory Upgrades
June 9, 2008 Workshop 5 – Motherboard Upgrades
June 16, 2008 Workshop 6 – CPU Upgrades
June 23, 2008 Workshop 7 – Hard Drive Upgrades
June 30, 2008 Workshop 8 – Windows OS and Software upgrades
July 7, 2008 Workshop 9 – Drivers
July 14, 2008 Workshop 10 – BIOS updates.
Home Networking (6 hours)
Prerequisite: Windows knowledge
Date: Tuesday and Wednesday, May 13 and 14, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
This hands-on 2 day workshop will introduce the basic concepts of networking for computer owners who wish to connect their PCs together. Through hands-on exercises, you will be able to network computers to share printers, files, drives, and the internet (dialup, DSL, or Cable). Wireless networking will also be covered. You may bring your own computers to this workshop.
Animating Photos to CD’s with PhotoStory (9 hours)Prerequisite: Introduction to Computers using Windows
Date: Thursdays, May 22-June 5, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
This course will teach you how to create and enjoy you memories on TV, share with your friends and family. Showcase your photos with animation and songs using photo animation programs. Learn how to copy your photos to CD’s or DVD’s and have your memories digitized and/or backed up. Add personalized mp3 music and clipart animations to your photos. We will be using Microsoft PhotoStory software that you may already have or can download at no additional cost to you.
PC Building 2008 Edition (9 Hours)
Prerequisite: Introduction to Computers using Windows or equivalent and
Personal Computer Upgrading and Repair Class or Knowledge
Date: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, June 10, 11, and 12, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
If you ever wanted to see how a personal computer is put together and save money by building your own, this course is for you! In this course individuals will build a computer staring from the ground up. Students who want to build a computer for their home must order computer parts with Z-tech and pay for the parts prior to the course. Z-Tech will provide a listing of computer part prices so you can stay within your budget. When you call Z-Tech and register for this course, an instructor will contact you to evaluate your computing needs and recommend the parts needed always trying to stay within your budget. By building your own computer, you could save hundreds of dollars and learn how to add, upgrade or repair your PC since you built it. The Career Development Program will pay for the instructional fees. However as indicated, if you wish to purchase a computer this will be your responsibility. Students who do not want to purchase a computer but want to learn how to build one are still welcome. Z-Tech will provide some computers for training. Revised to cover the new Windows VISTA OS, Serial ATA Drives, New Solid State Drives, and Dual and Quad Core processors along with many other new technological advances in the PC industry. If you have not taken this class within the last year, it is time to come back and see all the new technology out there.
Microsoft Excel - Introduction (12 hours)
Prerequisite: Introduction to Windows or equivalent
Date: Thursdays, June 19-July 10, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
This class introduces the skills necessary for productive development of workbooks. It includes tasks to explore Excel, create simple formulas, copy and move data, and print worksheets. The student will also learn how to work with ranges and use the Office assistant, basic workbook skills, and page setup. This class introduces the skills necessary for productive development of workbooks. It includes tasks to explore Excel, create simple formulas, copy and move data, and print worksheets. This class covers basic skills needed to prepare worksheets for publication. It includes tasks to format numbers, text, and cells. The student will also learn how to work with columns and rows and use AutoFormat and Online Help.
Creating a Drive Image/Ghosting Your Hard Drive (6 hours)Prerequisite: Windows Knowledge
Date: Wednesdays, June 25 and July 2, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
In this class your will learn to use software that can take an exact snapshot of your hard drive that can be easily restored if disaster strikes, or if you ever wanted to install a larger hard drive without losing your information, restoring your computer to the exact state it was in when the image was taken. Ghosting/Imaging is an excellent recovery tool because the system can be recovered within an hour or less, entirely avoiding the agony of spending days reinstalling Windows, all programs, manually coping any backed up data files, and customizing the system again.
Protecting You and Your Family From Internet Dangers (6 hours)Prerequisite: Windows and Internet Browsing Knowledge
Date: Tuesday and Wednesday July 8 and July 9, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
Ever wonder what your family member is doing online? It's the Wild West on the Internet, and as a responsible individual you want to keep yourself and your family safe "out there". Scammers, sexual predators, cyber bullies, and every type of hack are lurking on the Internet, in a very real and aggressive sense. How can you protect your loved one if you are unaware what web sites they visit, what chat rooms, who they chat with, and the true online identities of "friends?" You can't look over their shoulder at all times, but you can do a number of very smart things The monitoring of your children's activities on the internet is not about control, or infringing upon their privacy, it's about protecting your children from very real threats. This class will teach you several ways to keep yourself and your family member’s safe when they use the Internet.
Installing, Configuring, and Using Virtual PC (6 hours)Prerequisite: Windows Knowledge
Date: Wednesdays, July 16 and July 23, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
Ever wanted to download and install a program but was afraid of your system crashing or possible viruses? Ever need to run a game with many features or services temporarily suspended? Worried about accessing a Web Site that has potential Spyware and Cookies? How about testing a new OS or Program without damaging your current system performance or configuration? Using Virtual Machine you can configure and test upgrades and installations, avoid problems caused by minor differences between hardware platforms. You will learn how to install and use Virtual PC/Machine. The software will be given to each student to try and keep for their own personal use. You will have the convenience of switching between operating systems as easily as they switch between applications. Learn to pause individual virtual machines so they stop using CPU cycles on the physical computer. Learn how to save virtual machines to disk and restore them at a later time.
Using Internet Messengers to Communicate (6 Hours)
Prerequisite: Intro to Windows or equivalent
Date: Mondays, August 18 and August 25, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm
This class covers basic techniques for communicating over the internet. Learn how to work with Yahoo Messenger, AIM and MSN Messenger to chat, using voice, text, and video conferencing. Do not pay any long distance phone calls to friends and family any more.
Virus Protection Workshop (3 hours)
Prerequisite: Windows knowledge
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pmWith approximately 800 new computer viruses every month, keeping anti-virus software up to date has never been so important. Despite this, the average computer user is usually unaware their workstation has been infected until they start to suffer the consequences of an attack from a virus, worm or Trojan horse. This workshop gives attendees an opportunity to gain hands-on experience of viruses. It also presents practical methods to reduce and contain virus infections. You may bring your own computers to this workshop.
How, When and Why to Use REMOTE PC (3 Hours)
Prerequisite: Windows Knowledge
Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pm Ever want to access a file, picture, music or program from you computer from anywhere? How about helping a friend fix problems with out leaving your home? In this workshop, you will learn how to setup a remote PC so you will be allowed to securely access your Internet enabled office or home computer, from any location, in a few seconds. Upon completion of this course you will learn to use free software available to access your computer and the many reasons for doing so.
Computer Security, Adware, and Spyware (3 hours)Prerequisite: Intro to Windows or equivalent Date: Thursday, August 28, 2008Times: 7:30am-10:30am or 7:30pm-10:30pmSpyware, adware and other code that lurks on hard drives has become so pervasive it's bedeviling home users, driving corporate technology managers to distraction and has become the top complaint in customer service calls to computer makers. This workshop will help you learn how to detect and clean these type of parasites. You may bring your own computers to this workshop.
