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PC hints, tips, tricks & shortcuts
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Just
a reminder:
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Update those
virus definitions monthly! Also any other programs such as
AdAware, SwatIt, The Cleaner, etc. Your
computer will thank you! |
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Word Tip:
Addressing envelopes an Easier way
We know we can go to MS Word's Tools menu and select "Envelopes and Labels", then click on the Label tab and type in the address, along with our return address and Word will create our envelope for us. We also know that we can click on the Options button in this box and specify what size envelope we want to use.
But...do you know there's a faster and easier way to enter this information?
Go back to Word's Tools menu, but this time choose "Options". When this box comes up, click on the tab at the top that says "User Information" and you will see a box in there that says "Mailing Address". Put your own address in there so Word will remember it for your envelopes.
Now, open a document and write your letter. Be sure to include the name and address at the top for the person you are writing to.
When you are done writing the letter, highlight the person's name and address before you go to Tools>Envelopes and Labels. Now, when you get there, you see their name and address are already filled into the Delivery Address box and your address is in the Return Address box. All you need to do is select your envelope size and hit "Print".
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| Think you might be infected?
If you're not sure your anti virus is working
right, or to double check it, there's several places where you can
do an online scan. Here's some of them:
Symantec
TrendMicro
Panda
You'll need to download an application to do the test.
Be warned, Panda takes a long time!
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| KLEZ
The KLEZ virus is running wild and is worth
mentioning again. Set your antivirus program to automatically
check email when you pick it up to avoid problems.
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| Email Security
Are you worried someone will read your email? You can change your password at any time to stop someone from accessing your mail box, however,
you should remember that email is not a very secure medium unless you use third party security encryption utilities.
And even with encryption, email is not totally secure. Email
can be compared to a postcard with the writing visible to everyone that handles that post card. Email may travel through any number of public or private relay servers before reaching its destination or coming to
you and can be intercepted along the way.
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Michaelangelo
The Michaelangelo virus contaminates the machine on
Michaelangelo's birthday, March 6th. Granted, this is an old
and common virus that most any virus checker will find. Just
another reminder: Update those virus definitions and use
you anti virus! Let's have a virus-free year in 2002!
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PC TIP: Internet Explorer tip.
In Internet Explorer 5.0, a list displaying the Internet addresses you have typed in the Address bar can be easily accessed by pressing F4. Quick & easy!
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PC TIP: Here's a tip for MS
Word. Close all open documents without closing Word:
Shift and click the file menu. Select "Close
All".
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PC TIP: Fewer clicks to shut down
Windows98
So you want to shut down Windows, huh? Click, click,
click, click... Sound familiar? Here's a nifty little
way to save several clicks (and hence, time) every time you shut
down Windows.
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One-Click Shutdown
Create a shortcut on the desktop by right-clicking and selecting New, then Shortcut. Then type in
or copy & paste the following path:
C:\Windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows
Name the shortcut Shut Down Windows . (You could name it
something else if you like.) Now you have a Shutdown
shortcut. A double-click instead of three, four or more
clicks!
Note: If you have a different name for your
Windows folder, you need to use the correct folder name or you'll
get an error message that it can't find the command.
Tip-in-a-Tip: Using mouse
software that enables double click on one click or putting the
shortcut onto the "Quick Launch" bar speeds things up even
more by not needing to double-click the shortcut.
Bonus Tip:
One-Click Restart
Do the same as Shutdown to create a shortcut, but type in or cut
& paste the follow path:
C:\Windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec
Name the shortcut Restart Windows (or whatever you like). Now you have a
"Restart" Shortcut too! |
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PC TIP: Nervous mouse?
Mouse kind of jumpy? The ball and rollers are probably dirty. Turn the mouse over and open the bottom up. There's usually a little disk that you turn about a 1/4 turn and it'll lift out. Take out the ball and look inside. Blow out any loose dust and look at the rollers. You can probably clean them up with a cotton swab and some alcohol. Clean the ball up too. While you're at it, might as well clean up the top of the mouse where your hand sits too. Clean off the dirt, oils and whatever. Brush or wipe off the mouse pad too but don't use cleaners on the mouse pad unless it's a non-porous top. Be very careful not to use too much pressure on the mouse rollers, as they're easily damaged. But it's worth a try if you have to replace the mouse anyway. I usually have to clean mine about every few months. I do it more as a routine maintenance. A lot depends on the conditions around the computer as to how much hair, lint, dust, pet hair, etc it's subjected to. There's a new mouse out now that doesn't use the rollers. It uses optical sensors. Several manufacturers have them and from what I've seen they're great. I've seen them as low as $10 and they go up from there.
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| Bonus tip!
If you're having trouble with Windows98 locking up when you shutdown, go
to the Microsoft site and do a search for "Windows98 Shutdown
Supplement". Download and install the supplement and you should
notice an improvement.
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| PC TIP: Temporarily disable AutoPlay
Sometimes you may not want AutoPlay to do its thing. For example, if you insert an audio CD you don't want to play until later.
To prevent AutoPlay from kicking in, simply hold down the <Shift> key after inserting the CD.
Hold the <Shift> key for as long as it normally takes for the CD to start
playing. You'll generally hear the CD stop spinning. Later, to play the CD, open any Explorer window, right-click your CD-ROM drive, and select
Play for an audio rom or AutoPlay for a data ROM with AutoPlay on it.
This would also be useful when you have to get a piece of clip art or when
Windows needs to add a file, etc.
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PC TIP: Protecting your computer
There's no better tip that I can give than to get
and USE a good anti-virus program. There's a lot of good
programs out there. Be sure that you can get regular updates to the
virus definitions. The updates should also be free. Other things to remember:
• Scan your computer every month or two with updated
definitions!
The more critical your data, the more often
you should scan.
• Scan ALL attachments that come to you via email!
No matter the source.
The following will increase your virus risk:
• Downloading files from the internet
• Sharing disks between machines (yes, even trusted
machines!)
• Opening email attachments of any kind
• Email attachments with .exe or .doc extensions are a
higher risk
• Using outdated virus programs (you get a false sense of
security)
To name a few good programs, in NO particular
order of preference: Norton Anti-Virus, InnoculateIT, PC-Cillin, AntiVirus Pro, McAfee,
etc.
When there's several good programs to choose from, I'd prefer
not to endorse any particular one. Like I said most all
do a very good job.
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Scandisk & Defrag
Every few months (or even monthly) run Scandisk or other disk scanning program, such as Nuts & Bolts or SpeedDisk. Be sure to defragment the drive too. It helps locate hard drive problems and improve the performance of your machine. (hint: do it overnight or when you won't need the computer for a while. If you haven't defragged in a long time it can take many hours, depending on the size of your drive and amount of data.) Be sure to back up your system first!
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Question: Why does a Microsoft
Word document open in Excel? |
Great question, it happens more often that one
would think. What probably happened is that a file
association was changed or corrupted. File associations are what Windows uses to
know how to open what types of files. Word uses .doc and Excel uses .xls
extensions on their newer programs. For instance what probably happened here is that the file association in the Registry
was set to open
files with .doc extension with the Excel program. So, how
do I fix it? Here's the easiest and probably the safest of several
ways: After you highlight the file, Hold down the <shift> key and
right click on
the document you want to open (then let off the <shift> key). It should
now
give you the "Open with" option on the menu, and will probably be
the top
item. Click on "Open with". You'll get the Open With dialog
box that lists
all the programs on your computer. Select Winword (that's Microsoft Word).
There's a little checkbox toward the bottom of the Open With dialog box that
says "Always use this program to open this type of file". Check that
box and
click OK. It should now open the file in Word and it should also open
anything with the same (.doc) extension in Word every time you double click
on a .doc document from now on. There could be some corruption on your
computer and if you continue to have trouble, I'd suggest reloading Microsoft
Word. They'll re-associate it as it reloads. But I'd try this first. It
could be
this simple.
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PC TIP:
Copy and paste |
There's several ways to copy and paste. I'll
outline the most
popular:
• Click the mouse at the starting point where
you want to copy.
• Hold down the left mouse button and
drag your mouse over the area you want.
• Let off the mouse button and it'll be
highlighted.
• Click on "Edit" then "Copy"
• Click where you want to insert the copied data
• Click on "Edit" then "Paste"
• Voila! You just copied and pasted!
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PC TIP: Keyboard shortcuts |
I use keyboard shortcuts all the time. It saves a lot
of time. Most people know about the <page up> and <page
down> keys, even though we often forget about them. But here's some
other common keyboard shortcuts that work in many programs:
• <ctrl> <s> = Save
• <ctrl> <x> = Cut
• <ctrl> <c> = Copy
• <ctrl> <v> = Paste
• <ctrl> <b> = Bold
type
• <ctrl> <i> = Italic
type
• <ctrl> <u> =
Underline type
• <ctrl> <n> =
New file
• <ctrl> <e> = Center
the text
• <ctrl> <L> = left
justify
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• <F11> =
Full Screen (Internet Explorer 4 & higher)
• <ctrl> <r> =
right justify
• <alt> <left arrow> =
back (in your browser)
• <alt> <right arrow>
= forward
• hitting the space bar in your
browser = page down
• <shift><space bar> = page up
• <alt> <tab> will
switch to another open window. Hold down the <alt> key and
you'll be able to tab through all of the open windows!
• <F5> Will refresh
the current window (works in Explorer, Internet Explorer, My Computer
and others. |
Tip-In-A-Tip: In Internet Explorer 5.0, a list displaying the Internet addresses you have typed in the Address bar can be easily accessed by pressing F4. Quick & easy!
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What does that "Windows" key do? |
In my book, this is one of the best additions
to a keyboard and when I use a keyboard without one, I really miss it. If you have a "Windows" key on your keyboard
(with the Windows logo on it - there's two of them located between the <ctrl> and <alt>
keys on each side of the keyboard), there are some handy shortcuts for you. Press the Windows key along with the
indicated letter gives you the following:
<Windows><D> Jump to the desktop (minimize all open windows)
<Windows><E> Open Windows Explorer
<Windows><F> Open Find: All Files box
<Windows><L> Log off Windows
<Windows><M> Minimize all open windows
<Shift><Windows><M> Undo the Minimize all open windows
command
<Windows><Tab> Tabs through the items on the
task bar (Hit enter to select)
<Windows><pause/break> opens the System Properties
dialog box
<Windows><F1> Opens the Help window
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What about that
second Windows key - next to the right <ctrl> key?
This key is the comparable of a right-click. Go out to the desktop and try it if you have one.
Note that if you have a file highlighted, it will give you the same menu as
if you right click on the file. If you don't have anything
highlighted, it's the same as right clicking on the desktop. Compare
it and see for yourself! |
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PC TIP: Storm Season - Unplug it! |
With the storm season here, the lightning is nice to look
at, but can raise havoc with your computer. If at all possible during a
lightning storm, unplug the computer and especially the telephone line
from your computer. I see more damage done to computers through the
telephone line (and modem) than through a/c power lines. Surge
protectors can help, but a hit on a phone line nearby can go through a surge
protector. And many phone line surge protectors are not very
good.
BTW, if something is new to
the site, you'll see  by it for about 1
month and then the will be removed to
eliminate confusion. The  tag
will be on for a limited period of time following the upday.
 Not endorsed by ISI-USA.com, but
recommended by your Webmaster is ShortURL.com. They ask you to put a link
on the page and they provide you with a free redirecting service. If you
arrived at this page by entering the address: puter.2ya.com, then you
arrived here via ShortURL's redirection. It's an easier way to remember
how to get to a location.
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A
note
from
the
Webmaster: |
Greetings!
I want to take a moment to thank everyone for the feedback on the
website. Don keeps me informed of your input. It's very
encouraging and I thank you for the compliments. I hope you like
the new look of the site and find it useful. My goal was to make
it easier to maneuver. Lots of ideas to add to the site and I'll
be working on them as I have time. Feel free to contact
me if you have any suggestions on ways to improve the site.
Even constructive criticism is welcome! --Ken |
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USE
CAUTION!
Please be sure to back up your system when you make modifications of
any kind. If you are planning to change the registry, back up
the registry. It's the blueprint to your computer. And
speaking of backups, please back up your system, or at least critical
data, often.
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Got
a PC question or tip?
Send
it to kenhelp@usa.com,
and I'll will try to include it.
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This page was
last updated on: 08/09/03 02:06 PM
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