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Every once in a
while, Windows
wanders off
somewhere to sit
under a tree.
You're left
looking at a
computer that
does nothing.
None of the
computer's
lights blink.
Panicked clicks
don't do
anything.
Pressing every
key on the
keyboard doesn't
do anything, or
worse yet, the
computer starts
to beep at every
key press.
When nothing
on-screen moves
(except
sometimes the
mouse pointer),
the computer is
frozen up solid.
Try the
following
approaches, in
the following
order, to
correct the
problem:
-
Press Esc
twice. This
action
usually
doesn't work
but give it
a shot
anyway.
Press Ctrl,
Alt, and
Delete all
at the same
time. If
you're
lucky, the
Task Manager
appears with
the message
that you
discovered
an
unresponsive
application.
The Task
Manager
lists the
names of
currently
running
programs,
including
the one
that's not
responding.
Click the
name of the
program
that's
causing the
mess and
then click
the End
Process
button. You
lose any
unsaved work
in that
program, but
you should
be used to
that. If
that still
doesn't do
the trick,
click the
Task
Manager's
Shut Down
menu and
choose
Restart.
If the
preceding
approaches
don't work,
push the
computer's
reset
button. When
the Turn Off
Computer box
appears,
choose
Restart.
If not even
the reset
button works
(and some
computers
don't even
have reset
buttons
anymore),
turn the
computer off
by pushing
its power
button. (If
that merely
brings up
the Turn Off
the Computer
menu, choose
Restart, and
your
computer
should
restart.)
When nothing
else works,
if you press
in the
computer's
off button
long enough,
it will
eventually
stop
resisting
and turn
off.
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In
a Word table, the
heading (or header) row
is the first row in the
table -- the one that
usually describes what
each column contains.
To make the header row
repeat at the top of
each new page, click to
put the cursor in the
header row (or select
the header rows if you
have more than one) and
choose "Table" in the
top menu bar, then click
"Heading Rows Repeat".
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To
save a multitude of Word
documents all at one
time, you can switch to
each window and click
"File" > "Save" command.
Or you can be sneaky and
do the following.
Press and hold the Shift
key ...
Choose "File" and "Save
All"
Normally, you choose the
"Save" item. But if you
press the Shift key
before choosing the File
menu, it magically
becomes the "Save All"
menu item.
There is no prompting
(unless the documents
hasn't been saved yet),
and no wait-and-see.
Everything is just saved
to disk as fast as your
computer can handle it.
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You can share the
content of your
PowerPoint presentation
by printing your outline
and all your notes and
handouts.
-
1. Open a
presentation in
PowerPoint.
2. Choose File, Send
To, Microsoft Office
Word.
3. In the Send To
Microsoft Office
Word dialog box,
select the desired
page layout for your
presentation:
Handouts:
Choose either Blank
Lines Next to Slides
or Blank Lines Below
Slides.
Notes:
Choose Notes Next to
Slides or Notes
Below Slides.
Outline:
Choose Outline only.
If you choose
Handouts or Notes,
specify whether you
want to add the
slides to Word as
embedded files
(paste) or linked
files (paste link).
Note that if you
link the files, when
you update them in
PowerPoint they will
also be updated in
Word.
4. Click OK. Your
chosen presentation
information will
appear as a new
document in Word.
5. Edit, format, and
print the
information as
desired.
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TechTip
#68 -
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As soon
as you
begin to
type
something
online
-- a Web
site
address
in
Internet
Explorer,
for
instance,
or a
name
into an
online
form --
Windows
XP often
races in
to help.
It sends
down a
little
box,
listing
items
you've
typed
previously.
A quick
point
and
click
lets you
retrieve
a word
or
phrase
from
Windows
XP's
handy
AutoComplete
list,
sparing
you the
effort
of
typing
it in
yet
again.
Some
people,
however,
don't
like
Windows
XP
looking
over
their
shoulder
as they
type.
And it's
especially
annoying
when
Windows
XP keeps
listing
your
typographical
errors.
To
delete a
word or
phrase
from
most
AutoComplete
drop-down
lists,
press
the
down-arrow
key to
highlight
the
entry
and then
press
the
Delete
key.
Unfortunately,
this
trick
doesn't
delete
individual
Web
addresses
you type
into
Internet
Explorer.
You must
delete
Internet
Explorer's
History
to
remove
those.
To make
Internet
Explorer
stop
listing
your
previous
entries,
follow
these
steps:
1.
Open
Internet
Explorer
and
choose
Internet
Options
from the
Tools
menu.
2.
Click
the
Content
tab and
click
the
AutoComplete
button.
The
AutoComplete
Settings
dialog
box
opens.
3.
Click to
remove
check
marks
from Web
Addresses,
Forms,
User
Names
and
Passwords
on
Forms,
and
Prompt
Me to
Save
Passwords.
4.
Click
the
Clear
Forms
button
and the
Clear
Passwords
button
and then
click
OK.
Those
two
final
buttons
delete
previously
stored
AutoComplete
entries.
It's
convenient
for
Internet
Explorer
to store
the
passwords
you use
for your
Web
site.
But that
makes it
convenient
for
anybody
who sits
at your
computer
to log
on to
password-protected
sites.
Even if
you
enjoy
AutoComplete,
consider
removing
the
check
mark
from the
User
Names
and
Passwords
on Forms
box in
Step 3. |
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TechTip
#67 - Converting
PowerPoint to Word
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Converting PowerPoint
presentations to
Microsoft Word documents
is easy, and here are a
few reasons to do so.
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To combine the
presentation with more
detailed content from
elsewhere and create a
report.
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To send a
presentation-in-review
document to your boss so
that she can send it to
her boss.
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To create
training materials in
Word from existing
PowerPoint content.
To
make the conversion
happen, follow these
steps:
1.
Open your
PowerPoint presentation
and choose File, Send
To, Microsoft (Office)
Word.
2.
Select a page
layout.
3.
If what you
need isn't available,
just choose the one
closest to what you
require; you can edit
the layout later in
Word.
4.
Select either
the Paste or Paste Link
option. The Paste option
creates thumbnails of
the slides inside Word;
the Paste Link option
creates links to the
actual slides. The Paste
and Paste Link options
are grayed out if you
choose the Outline Only
option.
5.
Click OK and
PowerPoint fires up
Word.
6.
Word shows you
a nicely formatted
document that contains
the slides or the
outline.
7.
In Word,
Choose File, Save if
everything looks
okey-dokey.
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TechTip
#66 - Discovering the
Character Map
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Windows's
Character
Map lets
you add
weird
foreign
characters,
such as
�,
[sterling],
or even
�,
into
your
document.
Character
Map
makes it
so easy
to give
your
documents
that
extra
shine
� la
belle
�toile.
To get
there,
click
Start,
Programs,
Accessories,
System
Tools,
Character
Map and
follow
these
steps to
put a
foreign
character
in your
work:
1. Make
sure
that the
current
font —
the name
for the
style of
the
characters
on the
page —
shows in
the Font
box.
If the
current
font is
not
showing,
click
the down
arrow
and
click
the font
when it
appears
in the
drop-down
list.
2. Scan
the
Character
Map box
until
you see
the
symbol
you're
after;
then
pounce
on that
character
with a
double-click.
The
symbol
appears
in the
Characters
to Copy
box.
3.
Click
Copy to
send the
character
to the
Clipboard.
4.
Click
the
Close
button
to close
the
Character
Map.
5.
Click in
the
document
where
you want
the new
symbol
or
character
to
appear.
6.
Press
Ctrl+V,
and the
new
character
pops
right in
there.
(Give it
a
second.
Sometimes
it's
slow.)
The
symbols
in the
Character
Map box
are
easier
to see
if you
hold
down the
mouse
button
and move
the
pointer
over
them.
When
working
with
foreign
words,
keep the
Character
Map
handy as
an icon,
ready
for
consultation.
For some
fun
symbols,
switch
to the
Wingdings
font.
It's
full of
little
doodads
to spice
up your
work.
You can
grab
several
characters
at a
time by
double-clicking
each of
them and
then
copying
them
into
your
work as
a chunk.
You
don't
have to
keep
returning
to the
Character
Map for
each
one.
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TechTip
#65 - Shut
it Down
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ALT and F4 at the same
time will close 90% of
all windows and
programs. |
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TechTip
#64 - Format
a Tri-Fold Pamphlet in
Word
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In Microsoft Word 2003,
you can easily create a
tri-fold pamphlet or
brochure. It's really
just a regular sheet of
paper turned long-ways
(landscape) and folded
twice.
To turn a document
long-ways, follow these
steps:
1. Choose File, Page
Setup.
2. Select the Landscape
option from the
Orientation area.
Make sure that the Whole
Document menu option is
selected in the Apply To
drop-down list.
3. Click OK.
To make the three
columns for the
brochure, follow these
steps:
1. Choose Format,
Columns.
2. Select Three from the
Presets list. Make sure
that the Whole Document
menu option is selected
in the Apply To
drop-down list.
3. Click OK. |
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Tech
Tip #63
- Printing
Internet Explorer
Favorites |
To print
out the
Web
pages
listed
under
Internet
Explorer's
Favorites
menu,
follow
these
steps:
-
1.
Click
on
the
Start
button,
point
to
Programs,
and
then
click
on
Internet
Explorer.
-
2.
On
Internet
Explorer's
File
menu,
choose
Import
and
Export.
3.
In
the
Import/Export
Wizard,
click
on
Next.
4.
Click
on
Export
Favorites
and
then
click
on
Next.
5.
Click
on
Favorites
--
the
topmost
folder
--
and
click
on
Next.
6.
Click
on
Export
to a
File
or
Address,
type
C:\MY
DOCUMENTS\BOOKMARK.HTM
in
the
Export
to a
File
or
Address
box,
and
then
click
on
Next.
7.
Click
on
Finish
and
then
click
on
OK.
8.
Quit
Internet
Explorer.
9.
Open
the
My
Documents
folder
on
your
desktop
and
open
your
newly
created
BOOKMARK.HTM
file.
(It
opens
in
Internet
Explorer.)
10.
On
Internet
Explorer's
File
menu,
choose
Print.
Click
in
the
little
check
box
marked
Print
table
of
links
and
click
on
OK.
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Tech
Tip #62
- Selecting Text |
Simply use the arrow
keys to navigate to
where you want to go
in the document.
Press and hold the
Shift key down and
use the arrows keys
to highlight the
text you want. Then
you can apply
formatting to the
text, copy it, type
over it or delete
it.
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Tech
Tip #61
- Modifying Page
Numbers in Word |
When you tell
Word to include
page numbers in
your headers or
footers, Word
starts numbering
from page 1 and
displays Arabic
numerals such as
1, 3, and 49. If
you want to
number your
pages
differently (for
example,
numbering them
as i, ii, iii,
or a, b, c), or
if you want Word
to make 39 the
first page
number in your
document, you
have to use the
Page Number
Format button on
the Header and
Footer toolbar.
To use the Page
Number Format
button, follow
these steps:
-
Choose View,
Header and
Footer.
-
The Header
and Footer
toolbar
appears.
-
Highlight
the page
numbers that
appear in
your Header
(or Footer)
text box.
-
The page
number
appears
shaded gray.
If page
numbers do
not appear
in your
Header (or
Footer) text
box, click
the Insert
Page Number
button on
the Header
and Footer
toolbar, and
then
highlight
the number
that
appears.
-
Click the
Format Page
Number icon
on the
Header and
Footer
toolbar.
-
The Page
Number
Format
dialog box
appears,
offering
ways to
change the
way Word
displays
numbers or
starts
numbering in
your header
or footer.
-
Click in the
Number
Format list
box and
choose a
page
numbering
style (such
as 1, 2, 3
or i, ii,
iii).
-
In the Page
Numbering
group, click
one of the
following
radio
buttons:
*Continue
from
Previous
Section:
Numbers
pages
sequentially.
*Start At:
Lets you
define the
starting
page number
as a number
other than
1.
Click OK.
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Tech
Tip #60
- Shortcut Keys in
Windows XP |
Older versions
of Windows had
underlined
letters in their
menus. Instead
of clicking the
mouse on menu
items, you could
press Alt and
the underlined
letter to
activate that
menu item — a
shortcut key, if
you will.
Although Windows
XP leaves them
out, here's how
to turn them
back on:
Right-click the
Desktop, choose
Properties, and
click the
Appearance tab.
Click the
Effects button
and remove the
check mark from
the line, Hide
Underlined
Letters for
Keyboard
Navigation Until
I Press The Alt
Key. The
underlines all
appear, ready
for shortcuts.
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Tech Tip #59
- Changing the
Volume in
Windows XP |
Here's how to
put the volume
control back
where it belongs
— right next to
the little clock
in the bottom
right corner of
the screen:
Click the Start
button, open the
Control Panel,
and click the
Sounds, Speech,
and Audio
Devices icon.
Click the Sounds
and Audio
Devices icon and
select the Place
Volume Icon in
the Taskbar
check box.
A little speaker
then appears
next to your
clock.
Click OK to
close the
window.
Now, if you need
to turn the
sound up or down
in a hurry,
click the little
speaker by your
clock. A sliding
volume control
appears, letting
you turn the
sound up or down
by sliding the
control up or
down. Or, to
turn the sound
off completely,
click the Mute
box. Whew! |
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Tech Tip #58
- Keyboard
Shortcuts for
Internet
Explorer |
Ctrl + H
- Open the
History Window
Ctrl + R
- Reload the
page
Alt + Left Arrow
or Alt +
Backspace
- Back (Previous
Page)
Alt + Right
Arrow -
Forward (Next
Page)
Esc -
Stop
Alt + Home
- Home page
End - Go
to the bottom of
the page
Home - Go
to the top of
the page
Ctrl + N
- New Window
opens
Ctrl + W
- Closes window
Up arrow
- Go up one line
Down arrow
- Go down
one line
F11 -
Full screen
(toggle)
Ctrl + F
- Find on page
Ctrl + D
- Add page to
Favorites
Ctrl + P
- Print current
page
Ctrl + B
- Organize
Favorites
Ctrl + I
- Open Favorites
Window
Alt + D -
Select text in
address bar
Ctrl + F5
- Force Reload
(Not from cache) |
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Tech Tip #57
- Closing All
Word Documents
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How to
save or close
multiple
documents at
the same time
in Word
-
Hold down
the Shift
key while
clicking the
File menu
option. This
will bring
up two
hidden
options in
the File
menu: Save
All and
Close All.
-
Select the
option for
the task you
want to
perform.
When you
select Close
All, Word will
ask you if you
want to Save
your changes.
Choose this
option if you
want to save
all your work
and close out
of Word
quickly.
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Tech Tip #56 - Quickly Change Letter Case
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Problem: Students often don't realize Caps Lock is on until they have typed several lines; they also forget to capitalize titles and proper nouns.
Problem: Correcting capitalization errors can take valuable teacher time and frustrate students.
Solution: Use Shift F3 to switch between Title Case, Upper Case, and Lower Case.
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Tech Tip #55 - Windows XP User Accounts
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Windows XP enables an entire family or small office share a single computer. Because everybody has a user account, Windows keeps track of everybody's settings. In fact, the same computer acts like five different computers for a family of five.
Best yet, the computer keeps track of everybody's programs while different people use the computer.
Switching users is fast and easy. While holding down the Windows key (it's usually between your keyboard's Ctrl and Alt keys), press the letter L. Wham! The Welcome screen pops up, letting another person use the computer for a while.
After you finish using the computer, hold down the Windows key and press the letter L. Wham! The Welcome screen pops up again, letting a different user log on
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Tech Tip #54 - Synonyms Made Easy
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A handy way to get some quirky and commonly used synonyms for any word in your Microsoft Word 2000 document is to right-click on the word and choose Synonym from the pop-up menu. Included among the list is even an antonym. Shift+F7 Thesaurus command does the same thing. In MS Word 2002, you can use Shift+F7 or Click Tools / Language / Thesaurus. |
Tech Tip #53 - Show PPT with class
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Have you ever attended a presentation where the speaker fumbled through PowerPoint, trying to get the presentation started? The
speaker starts PowerPoint, searches for the file (often wandering through several folders), opens the file, and finally starts the slide show. Talk about looking like an amateur! There's a much easier way.
Place your PowerPoint slide in an easy-to-remember, easy-to-find folder. Then from within any file manager (Windows Explorer for example), right-click on the file name (the one with the .PPT file extension) and choose Show (the command should be near the top ).
Windows launches PowerPoint and opens the presentation to the first slide in Slide Show mode. Using this technique you'll certainly make a better first impression.
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Tech Tip #52 - Adding PPT slides
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Have you ever wanted to add a slide from one PowerPoint Presentation into another? With PowerPoint, you can do this easily. To insert slides from another presentation do the following:
1. Open the presentation that you would like to insert slides to.
2. Move to the slide before the place where you would like to place the inserted slide.
3. Click the “Insert” menu and select “Slides from Files” from the menu that appears.
4. Click the “Browse…” button.
5. Navigate to the presentation that has the slide you want to insert. Click it, and click the “Open” button.
6. From the display of slides, click the slide you would like to insert.
7. Click “Insert”.
8. Select more slides to insert and click the “Insert” button, or click the “Close” button.
Tip: You can click the “Insert All” button to insert all the slides from the presentation.
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Tech Tip #51 - Script Debugging - BeGone!!
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It can drive you mad ... you're surfing away when you get a message saying there's an error on the web page and what Script Debugger do you want to use. Here's how to get rid of it.
Mostly these web page bugs won't
affect your use of the page, it might but usually they don't. The intrusive 'script debugging' errors are a nuisance. That nuisance is made worse by many of these bugs generated by pop-up web ads. Sometimes the same message comes up again and again for the same web page (one for each separate error)
To stop the script debugging dialog in Internet Explorer:
In Internet Explorer choose Tools | Internet Options | Advanced
Near the top of the long list is the Browsing section.
In that section are two items:
Disable Script Debugging - should be ON
Display a notification about every script error - should be OFF
Click OK to finish.
It's that simple! |
Tech Tip #50 - Printing Envelopes in a Jiffy
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Whenever you need an envelope, for any reason, you can have Word whip one up for you. Just follow these steps:
-
Choose Tools, Letters and Mailings, Envelopes and Labels.
-
In the Envelopes and Labels dialog box, type the address you want on the envelope.
If you want to format the address, type it in the document first. Format it, select it, and then choose Tool, Letters and Mailings, Envelopes and Labels. Beware, though! Too much text may not fit on the envelope.
-
Click the Print button. Your printer may beep or otherwise prompt you to insert the envelope, or it may just print it right then and there.
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Tech Tip #49 - Selecting Parts of a Table
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Before you can fool with cells, rows, or columns in Word 2000, you have to select them:
-
Cells:
To select a cell,
click in it. You can
select several cells
at once by dragging
the cursor over
them.
-
Rows:
Place the cursor in
the left margin and
click to select one
row, or click and
drag to select
several rows. You
can also select rows
by placing the
cursor in the row
you want to select
and then choosing
the Table, Select,
Row command. To
select several rows,
select cells in the
rows and then choose
the Table, Select,
Row command.
-
Columns:
To select a column,
move the cursor to
the top of the
column. When the
cursor changes into
a fat down-pointing
arrow, click once.
You can click and
drag to select
several columns. The
other way to select
a column is to click
anywhere in the
column and choose
Table, Select,
Column. To select
several columns with
this command, select
cells in the columns
before giving the
Select command.
-
A table:
To select a table,
click in the table
and choose Table,
Select, Table; hold
down the Alt key and
double-click; or
press Alt+5 (the 5
on the numeric
keypad, not the one
on the keyboard).
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Tech Tip #48 - Save to a Floppy
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Let's say you have a document on your hard drive that you want to share with your co-worker and you want to quickly put it on a floppy to give her. Here's the quickest way to put a file or folder on a floppy:
- Right click on the Start button and choose Explore.
- Now navigate to the document where ever you have it saved and right click on it
- Select "Send To" from the menu and choose "3 1/2" floppy (A)" |
Tech Tip #47 - Printing Outlook Calendars
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Have you ever hesitated to print your Outlook calendar because you don't want your private appointments to show? Well, Outlook 2000
and up, enables you to print your calendar without printing the titles of your private appointments. The times will show on your calendar, but instead of the title, such as "Doctors Appointment", only the words "Private Appointment" will print. Of course, for this feature to work, the "Private" check box must be selected in the lower right hand corner of the appointment window. To print your calendar without printing the titles of your private appointments, first open your Calendar folder in Outlook. Then chose "File/ Print." In the Print Range panel, select "Hide Details of Private Appointments." Then click "OK" to print. |
Tech Tip #46 - Resetting the Working Folder
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When you save a file using a Microsoft Office Product, the computer will automatically store it in the "My Documents" folder on your C drive unless you tell it to do otherwise. The default folder, in this case the "My Documents" folder, is also referred to as the working folder. Suppose you save 90% of your files in a folder called "Teacher Docs" and you want that to become the working folder. You can change the default for different programs by first choosing "Tools" on your menu bar, and then selecting "Options." Then ...
- for Microsoft Word: Choose the "File Locations" tab, click "Modify" and then specify the new path and folder name for your default working folder. Be sure to specify the drive.
- for Microsoft Excel: Choose the General tab and specify the new path and folder name in the "Default file location" box which is the third from the bottom. Again be sure to specify the drive. |
Tech Tip #45 - Windows Calculators
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Have you ever been needed calculators for all students and not had enough? Well if you have access to a computer lab every student can have his own. Click "Start" then go to "Programs" then "Accessories" then "Calculator". More than likely the standard calculator will appear. If you need a Scientific Calculator click "View and then select "Scientific" ... voila, Scientific calculators for every student. The nice thing about using the Windows calculator is that if your students don't know what a button does, they can right click on it and then left click on "What's This" and the computer will explain that button. |
Tech Tip #44 - Closing All Windows
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An easy way to close all open windows in the latest versions of Microsoft Office is to hold down the Shift key and select "Close All" from the File menu. Holding the Shift key also reveals "Save All" in the File menu of both programs. |
Tech Tip #43 - Details, Details, Details
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Windows offers you several options for viewing folders and files: Large icons, Small icons, List, Details, etc. To experiment with these go to My Computer or Windows Explorer and click the View menu, then click one of the listed options. These same options are available in most all of your application programs, such as MS Word, PowerPoint. The Details option is especially useful because it provides the file name, file size, file type, and the last date the file was modified. Such information can be useful when you are trying to track down a lost file or find the latest version of the file you want to open. A common frustration when you use the Details view is that only some of the file information is displayed. Don't fret- the size of the columns can be easily adjusted. To adjust the width of the Name, Size, Type, and Modified columns in Windows Explorer's Details view, position your mouse cursor over the column border. When the mouse pointer turns into a double headed arrow, just drag the pointer to enlarge or shrink the column. To quickly set the optimal column width, when the mouse pointer turns into a double-headed arrow, double click the column border. When you do, the column width will be set to a size large enough, or small enough, to display all the data in the column. |
Tech Tip #42 - URL Shortcuts
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You can type a word in the Internet Address bar and press CTRL+ENTER to automatically add http://www. and .com on either side of the word. |
Tech Tip #41 - Text Size on the Internet
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To make the text on Web pages larger or smaller, click the View menu, and then click Text Size. Press F5 to refresh the screen. |
Tech Tip #40 - Synonyms Made Easy
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A synonym is a word that carries the same or similar meaning to another -- for example, "giant" and "big" are synonyms. Word provides you with an instant Thesaurus for finding synonyms as you write. To use this easy tool, just highlight the word you need a synonym for and press Shift + F7. Or right-click on the word in your document and choose Synonym from the pop-up menu.
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Tech Tip #39 - Filing with Outlook Express
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To save a message in Outlook Express, you stick it in a folder. You start out with folders named Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items, Drafts, and Deleted Items. To make a new folder, choose File, Folder, New from the menu and give the folder a name. (Make one called Personal, just to give it a try.) The new folder appears on the list of folders on the left side of the Outlook Express window. Move messages into a folder by clicking a message header and dragging it over to the folder name or choosing Edit, Move To Folder from the menu. You can see the list of message headers for any folder by clicking the folder name. If you have a lot of messages to file, you can even create folders within folders, to keep things organized.
You can save the text of a message in a text file by clicking the message and choosing File, Save As from the menu, clicking in the Save As Type box and choosing Text Files (*.txt), typing a filename, and clicking the Save button.
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Tech Tip #38 - Starting New Pages
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You can choose two ways to start a new page in Word -- the horribly-wrong-yet-obvious way and the impressively neat way:
Horribly wrong: Keep pressing the Enter key until you see the row of dots that denotes the start of a new page. Yes, this technique works. But it's horribly wrong.
Impressively neat: Press Ctrl+Enter. Voila! New page.
Pressing Ctrl+Enter inserts a hard page break into your document, demanding that Word begin a new page On That Very Spot. This is the preferred way to start a new page.
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Tech Tip #37 - Minimizing All Windows
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Do you want to shrink all your open windows into buttons, and in a hurry? Click the blank area of your taskbar with your right mouse button and choose Minimize All windows from the pop-up window. Slurp! Windows sucks all the open windows off the screen, tidying things up quickly. |
Tech Tip #36 - MS Internet Explorer History
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How often do you use the Microsoft Internet Explorer History folder? If you do use it at all, how often do you look beyond the current day? If the answer to either of these questions is "very seldom," then you can save some disk space by setting the number of days to zero. To do this, choose Tools / Internet Options. When the dialog box opens, set "Days to keep pages in History" to zero. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your selection. |
Tech Tip #35 - Scrolling in MS Internet Explorer
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Although there are a number of ways to scroll through a Web page in Microsoft Internet Explorer (Page Down, Page Up, use the mouse, etc.), one of the easiest is to simply press the Spacebar. Pressing the Spacebar scrolls down a page. If you need to scroll up a page, press Shift + Spacebar. |
Tech Tip #34 - Getting Rid of Personalized Menus
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Note: This tip works in Windows 2000, but it may work in other versions of Windows with little alteration. Give it a try! Are you tired of seeing only a partial list of your Favorites in the Start menu? Do you want to be able to see all of your programs in the Start menu without having to click on the little double chevron at the bottom of the menu? Never fear; relief is here!
Obviously, Microsoft thought this feature, called Personalized Menus, would be helpful to the user for accessing recently used items. And it does! However, it hides the stuff you don't use all that often, and if you suddenly need to use that item for an important project, you may not be able to find it.
To get rid of these annoying little chevrons in Windows 2000, just click the Start button and choose Settings, Taskbar and Start Menu. In the Properties dialog box that appears, just uncheck the option Use Personal Menus.
However, that takes care of only Windows. You still may find those pesky chevrons in your Office applications. Why? Well, you'd think Microsoft Windows and Office developers would get on the same page on this, but for some reason, this feature is not called Personalized Menus in Office. It's something else entirely -- and there's a different process for saying bye-bye to the chevrons. In any Office app, just choose Tools, Customize, and uncheck the item for Menus Show Recently Used Commands First. |
Tech Tip #33 - Address AutoComplete
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To help eliminate errors in typing and speed up the tedious process of typing in URLs in your Web browser, Windows employs a feature called AutoComplete. This nifty feature looks at whatever few characters of the URL address you type in the Address bar and, based on them, attempts to match them to one of the complete addresses that are stored in the Address bar drop-down list. To visit any one of the pages listed in the Address bar drop-down list, click that name in the drop-down list. Internet Explorer then enters the complete URL address of the Web site you clicked in the Address bar and automatically displays the page. |
Tech Tip #32 - Cleaning Out The System Tray
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The System Tray is the area in the bottom right hand corner of your taskbar where you will see the time. Many times when you install programs on your computer a shortcut icon will be put in the System Tray and you don't want or need it. In fact, if this gets overloaded it will slow down the performance of your computer. In Windows 98, to clean out the System Tray, click Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Information / Tools / System Configuration / Startup Tab. Now choose the things you want to delete. |
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Tech Tip #31 - Selecting Different Parts of a Table
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Before you can fool with cells, rows, or columns in Word , you have to select them:
Cells: To select a cell, click in it. You can select several cells at once by dragging the cursor over them.
Rows: Place the cursor in the left margin and click to select one row, or click and drag to select several rows. You can also select rows by placing the cursor in the row you want to select and then choosing the Table, Select, Row command. To select several rows, select cells in the rows and then choose the Table, Select, Row command.
Columns: To select a column, move the cursor to the top of the column. When the cursor changes into a fat down-pointing arrow, click once. You can click and drag to select several columns. The other way to select a column is to click anywhere in the column and choose Table, Select, Column. To select several columns with this command, select cells in the columns before giving the Select command.
A table: To select a table, click in the table and choose Table, Select, Table; hold down the Alt key and double-click; or press Alt+5 (the 5 on the numeric keypad, not the one on the keyboard).
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Tech Tip #30 -
Adding Drop Caps
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A drop cap is the first letter of a report, chapter, or story that appears in a larger and more interesting font than the other characters. Here's how to add a drop cap to your document:
1.Select the first character of the first word at the start of your text.
2.Choose Format, Drop Cap.
3.Select a drop cap style.
4.Click OK.
5.Click the mouse in your text (not on the drop cap) and continue editing |
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Tech Tip
#29 - Right Click w/ the Keyboard
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Did you know that you can "right-click" an item without ever lifting your fingers off the keyboard? With that item (folder, file, whatever) selected, hold down the Shift key and press F10. Use your keyboard's up and down arrow keys to select the command you want, then press Enter.
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Tech Tip
#28 - Delete Start Menu Items
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Is there an item in your Start menu you'd like to delete? There are a number of ways to go about it. If you have IE 4.x installed (or had it installed and then upgraded to a later version of IE), deletions are a snap. Click Start, navigate your way to that item, right-click it, and select Delete.
If you never had IE 4.x installed, you have two options. Right-click the Start button and select Open. Navigate your way to the item you'd like to remove, right-click it, and select Delete. Or, right-click a blank area of the Taskbar, select Properties, then click the Start Menu Programs tab. Click the Remove button, locate the Start menu item you want to delete, click Remove, click Close, then click OK. |
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Tech
Tip
#27 -
Minimize/Close a Window
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Want to send an open window to the Taskbar without using the mouse? Press Alt-Spacebar to display the context menu of the currently active window, then press N for Minimize. So, for the quick version, press Alt-Spacebar-N.
You can use a similar technique to close an open window. Press Alt-Spacebar, then press C for Close. It's easier on the wrists than
Alt-F4. And easier is better. |
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Tech Tip
#27 - Pointer Chooser
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That arrow you have for a mouse pointer -- the graphic cursor that
moves around on-screen as you move your mouse around on the
desktop -- isn't stuck in just that one shape. You can choose
another pointer:
1. Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Mouse Properties dialog box.
3. In the dialog box, click the Pointers tab.
4. Choose any of the named cursors from the list. You see an example of the shape beside the name.
5. Click Open. |
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Tech Tip
#26 - Pans and Thumbs
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To be truly hip to your Windows tech talk, you ought to know two scrolling terms:
Pan: When you use the scroll bars to move from one part of a window to another, you're panning up, down, right, or left.
Thumb: The little box that sits in the middle of the scroll bar that you can drag to quickly pan from one part of the window to another is the thumb; it's large for a document that almost fits in the window and proportionally smaller for a document that is much larger than the window. |
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Tech Tip #25-Restarting w/o Rebooting
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Shutting down doesn't have to mean you're sorry -- sorry to go
through the long power-up, memory-test, starting-Windows process. That takes so long because it includes both restarting
Windows software and rebooting your computer's hardware. You have the option, though, of restarting without rebooting.
1. Click Start and choose Shut Down.
2. Choose the Restart button in the dialog box.
3. Hold down the Shift key, click OK, and keep holding the Shift key until you see the "Restarting Windows " message. |
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#24 - Take IE Offline
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You can have Internet Explorer automatically download pages for offline examination.
1. Browse to the page.
2. Open Favorites, Add to Favorites.
3. Click Make available offline.
4. Click the Customize button and then work through the Wizard. You decide how many pages of the site you want, choose when to download them, and enter any login and password needed. |
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Tech Tip #22 - Sentence Case Shortcut
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If you'd like to change the case of a sentence quickly, try this: Select the sentence and press Shift-F3. The first time you press Shift-F3, the sentence will turn to all caps. The next time you press the combination, the sentence will turn to all lowercase. When you press Shift-F3 once more, the sentence will display standard capitalization (it begins with a cap and other letters are in lowercase). |
Tech Tip #21
Blank Lines in Numbered Lists or Bulleted Lists
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When you choose to use bullets or numbering in a Word document, a new bullet or number appears when you press Enter. But what if you want to insert a blank line between two bulleted or numbered lines? The first reaction is to simply press Enter to stop the bullets or numbering. This is unnecessary--all you have to do is press Shift-Enter. This inserts the blank. Now, to get to the next bulleted or numbered line, press Enter. |
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Tech
Tip #20 - Creating Doc.
Templates
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Do you spend a lot of time in Word creating custom documents, like
envelopes or memos? If so, you may want to try creating document
templates. Start a new document in Word and format it just the way
you want it. Only include information that will never change -- for example, if you're creating an envelope template, just include your name, return address, and anything else you want to appear on every envelope.
Click on the File menu in Word and choose Save As. Enter a name
for the template and use the drop-down menu next to "Save As Type"
to choose Document Template (*.dot). From now on, your template
will appear in the list of document types you see when you create a
new Word document. |
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Tech Tip
#19 - Your E John Hancock
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Have you ever received mail from someone that always has a small one-line or two-line message, quote, or Web address attached to the bottom of the message? It's called a signature. It can be a means of expression, or a simple tag line indicating your e-mail addresses or home page. If you use your e-mail for work, it can include a work phone or fax number. You can create a signature file and automatically attach it to every e-mail you send using Netscape Messenger.
First open Windows NotePad, WordPad, or any simple text program. Write your signature exactly as you want it to appear at the bottom of your e-mail. Now save it in your Netscape user folder (usually Program Files/Netscape/users/your name) as signature.txt. To change your preferences to include the signature, go to Edit, Preferences and click the plus sign (+) next to Mail And Newsgroups. Select Identity and click the Choose button. Locate your signature.txt file in your user folder and click Open. Every time you start a new message, your signature appears at the bottom. If you choose not to have a signature for a particular message, simply delete it from the end of the message. |
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Tech Tip
#18 - Smart Cut and Paste
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When you use cut and paste in a Word document, Word takes care of adding the correct spacing--that is, if you have the Smart Cut And Paste option selected.
Run Word and choose Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the Edit tab. Now, select the Use Smart Cut And Paste check box and click OK to close the dialog box and record your new setting.
With Smart Cut And Paste enabled, you can paste a word right next to another and Word adds a space for you. Also, if you insert a word before a period, Word makes sure there's no space between the end of the pasted word and the period. |
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Tech Tip
#17 - Page Numbers Your Way
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With Word, you can format page numbers in several ways:
1, Page 1, -1-, I, i.
Here's how:
1. Choose Insert + Page Numbers.
2. In the Page Numbers dialog box, click the Format button.
3. In the Page Number Format dialog box, use the drop-down menu to choose the style you want.
4. Click OK. |
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Tech Tip
#16-Address those Thank-Yous
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Had a great time over the holidays? Got lots of gifts and attended lots of parties? Maybe you should write some thank you notes. Word can fill in delivery and return addresses automatically on your envelopes, making the task a little easier:
1. Choose Tools + Envelopes and Labels (no surprise there, eh?).
2. In the Envelopes and Labels dialog box, type your delivery address and return address in the appropriate text boxes.
3. Click Print.
4. When Word asks whether you want this new return address to be your default return address, answer Yes.
Now for each new envelope, you just type the delivery address. |
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Tech Tip
#15 -Hard Drive Space Program
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How much of your hard drive have you used up--that is, how much is occupied with documents and programs and other files? Knowing is important so that you can judge whether you have room enough for new programs and documents and because a hard drive that's approaching full can slow down all your computing work. To check your hard drive space:
1. Double-click My Computer.
2. Right-click your hard drive icon.
3. Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
The chart that appears tells you how big your drive was to start and how much of that space is still free. |
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Tech Tip
#14 - Highlighting Text
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To highlight a word, double-click it; to highlight a line, click once to its left (in the left margin); and to highlight a paragraph, double-click to its left (again, in the margin). Now let's look at some bigger selections.
To highlight a large area of text, click once at the beginning of the text, hold down Shift, and then click at the end of the text;or, while holding down Shift, use the cursor keys to expand the selection.
To highlight an entire document, place the cursor at the very beginning of the document and press Ctrl-Shift-End; or, with your cursor anywhere, press Ctrl-A. |
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Tech Tip
#13 - Keeping "Alt Tabs"
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You PROBABLY know that you can switch among open Windows applications by pressing Ctrl + Tab. And you DEFINITELY know that you can switch among applications by clicking the appropriate buttons on the taskbar. But now suppose you want the best of BOTH: You want to use the keyboard to switch among applications, but you want to SEE all the applications you're switching among, the way the taskbar lets you. Try this:
1. Hold down the Alt key.
2. Press Tab once. The task switch panel appears.
3. Press Tab until the application task you want to switch to is selected. (A description of the selected task appears below the icons.)
4. When the appropriate task is selected, release all the keys. |
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Tech Tip
#12 - Start with a Folder
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Yes, the Windows Start menu is a
fine and fast way to get to your
Windows programs. But it can be just as fine a way to get to certain oft-used folders, too--if you just drag those folders to the Start menu, as follows:
1. In Windows Explorer or any Folder window, find the folder you'd like to have on your Start menu.
2. Drag the folder to the Start button. Next time you'd like to open that folder: Click Start then Select the folder from the Start menu.
HINT: The Start menu is a GREAT place for your My Documents folder. |
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Tech Tip
#11 - Tables Front and Center
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By default, Word aligns tables with your left margin. For the most part, that looks just fine. But sometimes you can get your table a little more
attention if you center it on the page. Here's how:
1. Position your cursor anywhere within the table.
2. Choose Table + Select Table.
3. Press Ctrl + E.
Word centers the table between the left and right margins. Note that it does NOT center the table text within the table's cells--because that's not what we wanted it to do. |
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Tech Tip
#10 - Scan Disk and Defrag
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For your health and well-being as well as that of your computer you should establish a routine of running Scan Disk and Defrag on your computer regularly. Once every week or two is usually a good rule. But if you are having small problems with your computer operations run these two utilities daily for a week. There are a few things you must do before running Scan Disk...
1. Shut down all programs that are running.
2. Turn off your screen saver.
3. Turn off or close the Office Shortcut Bar and/or the Corel DAD bar (down near the clock in the right hand corner of your screen). |
Now you are ready to run Scan Disk... you should always run ScanDisk first followed by Defrag. It will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to complete these utilities, so make sure your computer is not going to be needed during that time.
1. Click on "Start" - "Programs" - "Accessories" - "System Tools" - "Scan Disk."
2. Make sure Drive C: is highlighted
3. Make sure "Thorough" and "Automatically Fix Errors" are both checked.
4. Click "Start"
5. Click "OK" and "Finish" when completed. |
1. Click on "Start" - "Programs" - "Accessories" - "System Tools" - "Disk Defragmenter".
2.When asked "Which drive do you want to Defrag?" Highlight Drive C:
3. Click "OK" and if you are asked do you want to continue make sure you click "Yes"
4. Click "OK" and "Finish" when completed. |
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Tech Tip #8 - Smiles
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Want to add a little personality to your Windows 95 documents? One of the easiest ways is to use the Wingdings font included in the operating system. Instead of letters, the Wingdings font has PICTURES, which you can "type" into your text the same way you type letters. For example, suppose you'd like to add a "smiley face" at the end of a line of text. You only have to do the following:
1. Position the cursor where you'd like the smiley face to appear.
2. Switch to the Wingdings font ( how you do this varies by application.
3. Press Shift + J.
Following are some other useful Wingding characters and their corresponding keystrokes. Experiment with Wingdings to find other possibilities.
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To Get... |
In Wingdings type... |
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Smiley face |
Shift + J |
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Serious face |
Shift + K |
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Sad face |
Shift + L |
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Peace sign |
Shift + A |
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A-OK |
Shift + B |
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Thumbs up |
Shift + C |
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Thumbs down |
Shift + D |
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Skull & crossbones |
Shift + N |
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Tech Tip #7 - Printer Pointers
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Suppose that you buy a new printer but keep the old one around just in case. Should you delete the printer driver from your system to free up hard disk space for something else?
My advice is NO, DON'T DELETE THE DRIVER. That way, should you need or want to use your old printer again, you can just attach it to the printer cable, select it from the Print dialog box, and print--- without reinstalling the printer driver. This convenience is well worth the small amount of disk space most printer drivers require. |
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Tech Tip
#6 - "Blind Mice"
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Here's a great technique for quietly assigning computer access with your students. Collect "dead mice" from a computer store and snip the cord to about six inches. Students then use the "Blind Mouse" to indicate computer access. They lay it on the desk of the next student in line to indicate that it is his turn. If you have more than one computer in your classroom, have the students name the mouse after the computer that he lives with. Some students may even get creative and decorate the Blind Mice in art class.
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Tech Tip
#5 - Minimizing
Windows in a flash
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Do you want to get to the desktop in a flash? Hold down the Windows Key ( next to the Ctrl and Alt key on most keyboards) and press M. This immediately minimizes all windows you have open and brings you to the desktop. |
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Tech Tip
#3 - Clean Your Mouse
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If you still have a
mouse that has a
mouseball then it will
need to be cleaned
regularly. To do that
follow these steps:
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Turn your mouse over and loosen the ring holding the mouse ball in place.
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Take the ring off and remove the mouse ball. Use
Windex, alcohol, or a cleaning solution of one drop of dish washing liquid to a quart of water, and clean the ball.
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Use your fingernail, or the tip of a Bic Pen cap, and easily scrap the "gook" off of the hard plastic rollers inside the mouse itself.
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Blow out the loosened dirt and replace the ball and retaining ring.
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HAPPY CLICKING !
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Tech Tip #2 - Keyboard Shortcuts
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Control A - highlights or selects the entire document so
that you can change things easily. -
Control C - copy
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Control X - cut
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Control V - paste
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Control L - Left-aligned text
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Control E - Centered text
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Control J - Fully justified text
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Control U - Underline
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Control B - Bold
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Control S - Save
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Control P - Print
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Control N - New File
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Control F12 - Open a file
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Control 2 - Double space
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Control 1 - Single Space
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Control End - takes you to the very last space of a document
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Control Home - takes you to the very first space of a document
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Control + Click on the Sentence - This selects or highlights and entire sentence.
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Alt + F4 = Exit
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Control R - Right-aligned text
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Tech Tips #1 - Clear Your History
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The History list is a file, and therefore it begins to take up space as it grows larger. This is particularly true if you set a fairly long expiration time. It makes sense to clear the list every now and again. To do this, open
Internet Explorer and click
"Tools / Internet Options / Click Clear History in the History section and you're all set. Before you do this, however, make sure that you make note of any sites that are important (like ones that you have forgotten to bookmark).
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This page was last updated on
Sunday, June 17, 2024.
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