I Do Windows

And So it Ends

2007-01-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about if I'm going to continue the "I Do Windows" podcast into the new year. It wasn't an easy decision to make, but I have decided I can't continue. It's not that I don't enjoy it, cause I do enjoy podcasting. Time is the problem, I just can't dedicate time for recording. I even had a goal to do at least one show in December, but it didn't happen. I also thought about a resolution for the new year about doing shows more often. I have a different job since I began the podcast and I can no longer devote the time. I will keep this blog alive (just in case) and I'm going to try to post a short recording discussing this same matter.

Thank you to all who ever gave my lil' show a listen.

Brad

IDW101406

2006-10-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending October 14, 2006

Each show we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW0101406

Show Notes:

* Tech News

* Outlook Tips

1. Access Outlook From Within Internet Explorer

To open your inbox: Outlook:inbox
To open your Contact List: Outlook:contacts
To open your Calendar: Outlook:calendar
To open a specific message: Outlook:inbox/~subjectofmessage
(This is useful because it can be bookmarked!)

2. Get a Map—Need to find your way to one of your contacts. (I think most people rarely use this!)

1) You will need to be connected to the Internet.
2) Click Contacts on the Outlook Shortcuts bar.
3) Double-click the contact you need a street map for.
4) Select whether you want the home or business address of your contact by clicking the arrow underneath the Address button.
5) Select Actions, Display Map of Address.

3. Spy on Your Email Recipients—You can check when your email was read, if at all.

1) After you’ve composed your message (but before you’ve clicked the Send button), choose View, Options.
2) Select the “Request a read receipt for this message” check box and click Close.

You’ll be notified when your message has been read. If you want read receipts for all your sent messages, perform the following:

1) Choose Tools, Options.
2) On the Preferences tab, choose Email Options and then Tracking Options.

4. How to Tell If You’re Being Spied On—Here’s what you can do to find out if someone has asked for a read receipt.

1) In the Outlook Inbox, choose View, Toolbars, and Advanced.
2) On the Advanced toolbar click on the Field Chooser icon.
3) Click on the Field Chooser drop-down arrow and select All Mail Fields.
4) Scroll down a little and select Receipt Requested.
5) Drag Receipt Requested to your inbox’s column heading wherever you’d like the new column to be.
6) Close the Field Chooser box.

From now on, every time you receive an email, you’ll know whether or not the sender has placed a Receipt Request on it.

5. How to Retrieve an Email You Shouldn’t Have Sent—This will work only if your email server is Microsoft Exchange (corporate environment.) This will not work for Internet-based Email!

1) Open up your Sent Items folder.
2) Double-click the message you’d wish to retrieve.
3) Choose Actions, Recall This Message.
If you want to destroy the message, click on “delete unread copies of this message.”
If you want to change/edit the message, choose “delete unread copies and replace with a new message.”
4) Click OK.
5) Of course, you need to know if you successfully pulled your email, so be sure to click in the “tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient” check box.
6) Click OK.

6. Easy Email Attachments—There’s an easy way to send email attachments. If you already know where a file is located, why spend time browsing to find and attach it? Instead, follow these steps.

1) Open Windows Explorer or My Computer and find the file you want to attach.
2) Right-click the file, click Send To, and choose Mail Recipient.

* Add a pin to the IDW Listener Frappr map

- The Shakes - Liberty Jones (duet) - featuring Lady A

IDW091606

2006-09-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending September 16, 2006

Each show we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW091606

Show Notes:

* Tech News

PDF utility I mentioned on this episode is CutePDF

* Answers to emails

Matt wanted to know the limit for things that the Windows XP System Tray can contain and can that be raised?

You need to disable Universal Plug 'n' Play

Right-click on My Computer and select Manage
Expand 'Services and Applications'
Highlight 'Services'
Look through list of services on the right
Find Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Right-click on it and select Properties
Change startup type to 'Disabled'
Repeat with the 'SSDP discovery service'

Rob wrote that the Quick Launch items won't stay where he puts them. After a re-boot the icons return to where they were before the re-boot.

Run Regedit and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. In the right pane under Userinit, Change the key to read: C:\Windows\System32\Userinit.exe.

Nick wrote "Hi Brad, I was wondering if there is any way (cheap or free) to convert a PowerPoint presentation into a screensaver?

If you don't mind losing the transitions, animations, and sound in your presentation you can:

Open your PowerPoint presentation
Choose file, Save As
In the "Save as type:" dropdown box, choose GIF, JPG or PNG
Browse to your My Pictures folder
Type in the filename and click Save
When PowerPoint asks if you want to export every slide in the presentation, click Yes. When the export completes, you'll have one large image file for each slide in your presentation in your My Pictures folder
Minimize or quit PowerPoint
Right-click the Windows dekstop and choose Properties
Click on Screen Saver tab
In the dropdown listbox under "Screen Saver" choose "My Pictures Slideshow"
Click settings if you want to fine-tune the results.

* Vote for IDW at Podcast Alley!

* KWWL Promo

- George Thorogood and The Destroyers

Podsafe-Music-2006-09-09

2006-09-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

I know a I Do Windows podcast is long overdue, and I have been preparing the next episode. I hope to have it available soon. I was able to squeeze in a music podcast for now.

Podsafe-Music-2006-09-09

* Laura Clapp - Hey Hey Sister
* Kathy Valentine - Retouch Me
* Brother Love - There She Goes
* Brother Love - Push

** KidsWifeWorkLife Promo

* bill - Sound Scientist
* RockDownBaby - Soul Connection
* Gekko 3 - Jazz Breakfast

IDW072106

2006-07-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending July 21, 2006

"The home network show"

IDW072106

Show Notes:

- Want to build a home network?
- Fixing your flaky wi-fi
- Improving your wi-fi signal
- Firewalls
- Powerline networking

- SALIENT

IDW063006

2006-07-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending June 30, 2006

Each show we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW063006

Show Notes:

* Tech News

- Buffett donates his billions to Gates foundation
- Dell looking into exploding laptop report
- Ellison reverses $115 million Harvard donation
- Verizon Wireless to cut early termination fees
- Microsoft says Vista beta testers better hurry
- More music is being ripped, not downloaded
- OfficeMax bids farewell to mail-in rebates

* Vote for IDW at Podcast Alley!

- PANIC! AT THE DISCO

Podsafe-Music-2006-04-17

2006-04-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

I know the I Do Windows podcast is bi-weekly, but I don't think I will be able to do a show this week. It appears my schedule just isn't going to permit it. I apoligize.

I hope to have one ready next week, if not, it might have to wait until the week after. In the meantime, I was able to squeeze in a music podcast.

Podsafe-Music-2006-04-17

Aspiring Angel
Bari Koral

Drive Away
Matthew Ebel

Betty
The Lascivious Biddies

Famous
The Lascivious Biddies

Truck - Live from The Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
The Lascivious Biddies

Single Mans Lament - Live at the CD Release Party
Matthew Ebel

IDW040206

2006-04-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending April 2, 2006

Each show we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW040206

Show Notes:

- Tech News

- Answers to your emails

Rich would like to be able to remotely access his computer and files at work without actually having to be at work. His boss always needs help and it would be much easier if he could do everything from home.
Take a look at GoToMyPC – it’s pricey with a monthly subscription. RealVNC – free. And Microsoft’s remote access desktop, which requires that the host computer be running Windows XP Pro.
GotoMyPC
RealVNC
LogMeIn

Paul has two user accounts with Windows XP Home. He uses Outlook 2000. Can he share his inbox between two users?
Sure. Just move the Outlook.pst file to Shared Folders then open it from Outlook in each user account. Don’t both try to use it at the same time though. For that you’ll need Exchange Server.
Or you could maintain separate mail databases but leave the mail on the server for awhile so both users could get a chance to download it.

Steve is running a home network with a mix of 2 Windows XP Pro PCs and 2 Mac OS X machines. Mail/calendar clients are Outlook 2003 and Entourage 2004, and he doesn't currently run his own mail server. How can he get everyone and everything synchronized so that everyone in the family can logon from any machine and manage email and check calendars?
Email is easy. To keep copies of mail on both systems, change the settings on your email clients to “leave mail on server” That way you can pick it up twice. Make sure to delete the mail off the server after a reasonable period – say a week. Otherwise you’ll run out of space.

Synchronizing calendars between Mac and PC is more complicated. I have used an intermediary device (Palm) but could always use a cell phone to synchronize the data between computers. You should be able to perform a sync with the phone using iSync on the Mac, then use the software that came with the phone to synchronize with Outlook on the PC.

A solution called Xchange Network claims to sync data between Outlook, Exchange, and Linux platforms. Free to try for 30 days - $60 per user thereafter.

Jeff has accidentally hit the “always open the type” selection box when downloading ZIP from the IE6. Now when he downloads a ZIP file, the file opens in WinZIP instead of asking him where he'd like to save the file. How do I change it back to go to the default property?
That’s easy enough. Windows maintains a database of file extensions and the associated application. When you double-click a file, it looks up the name of the associated application in the database and opens the file in that application. To change the file association in Windows XP:
1. Select a file of the type you want to change
2. Right click it and select Open With…from the pop-up menu
3. Select Other application…
4. Pick the application you want to use to open that type of file
5. Check the “Always open this type of file with this application” box
6. Click OK
That’s all it takes to change the file association permanently!

Chris reported his mouse keeps randomly jumping to the bottom left hand corner of the screen. He has tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver. He is running Windows XP Pro and wants to avoid reformatting and reinstalling if he can. Any suggestions?
Sometimes mice move because they’re dirty. Have you tried a different mouse on that system?

Each time Jerry restarts his computer, a popup for login shows up, asking for username and password. He has no password and has tried to set the computer so it won’t ask for this each time, but to no avail.
In order to avoid the login screen in Windows XP, you have to use the secret userpasswords2 control panel. Click Start, Run, enter “control userpasswords2 then Uncheck the box that says “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer” When you click OK you’ll be prompted for the username and password of the user you want to automatically login as each time.

- David Ippolito

IDW031906

2006-03-18T23:24:00.000-08:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending March 19, 2006

Each show we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW031906

Show Notes:

- Tech News

- Answers to your emails

Ben was wondering what I would recommend as a good “cheap” software package to copy home movies on VHS and copy them to DVDs.
Getting the VHS tape into your computer requires a video capture device. An ATI All-In-Wonder will do, as will the Dazzle, Pinnacle's Movie Box DV, and many others. Once you've got the video into the computer, edit it (I like Adobe's Premiere Elements for editing software) then burn it to DVD. Your DVD burner very likely came with software of some sort. Sonic's MyDVD is a common option. Ulead's DVD Studio is very good, too.
You have a couple of good choices. If you need a DV camera anyway, buying one with analog inputs will, indeed, work. It's not the most efficient way to do it because you'll have to record the signal to a DV tape then move it to your computer, but it will deliver equally good quality.
I recommend a Firewire based analog to digital video converter. USB isn't fast enough to do a good job. Formac makes an excellent converter. Pinnacle System's Movie Box DV also works,

Alan wrote "Hi Brad, I was wondering about Firefox and why it's so much better than IE. I have been thinking about making the move".
Firefox is better because it's less powerful. The problem with Internet Explorer is that it's too powerful. The ActiveX and Activescripting capabilites of IE mean that a web site can do a lot. That's good for a good site, but not so good if the site is malicious. Firefox lacks ActiveX and Activescript, so sites can't do as much. The good news is that you don't have to switch. I recommend Firefox for day to day browsing, but when you get to a site that requires IE, use it. Just make sure it's a safe site.

Randy wrote that the Microsoft Money 2005 that he uses only backs-up to floppies. Is there a way that I can get it to back up to CDs, or even to a flash drive?
Money just looks like it can't back up to anything but floppies. In fact, it can back up your file to any medium, including CD-ROM and flash drive.

Chris - A couple of months ago, for no apparent reason, the autoplay on my CD-RW and DVD-RW quit. The DVD-RW is aftermarket, but the Autoplay still worked until about a month later. What can I do?
Open My Computer.. right click the device (your CD or DVD) and select Properties. Click the Autoplay tab and choose the content type you want it to auto play. Then select the appropriate action. If that doesn't fix it, open Services from the Administrative tools. Make sure shell hardware detection is set on automatic. Still not working? You may need to make some changes to the Windows registry. Check this site for the keys to modify: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/reg/Enable_CD_autorun.reg

IDW030506

2006-03-05T22:30:00.000-08:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending March 5, 2006

Each show we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW030506

Show Notes:

- Request for submitting image appropriate for IDW logo

- Answers to Questions

Andrew recently found that the 'Search Assistant' toolbar from 180search had been installed on his computer. How can he easily remove it? Andrew feels the only way involves editing the registry.
180SearchAssistant is a very common piece of adware. It's usually easy to remove, though. Start with the Add/Remove Programs. There should be an entry for 180search Assistant. Remove it. You may want to run an anti-spyware program and remove any additional traces of the program, as well.
www.lavasoftusa.com
www.safer-networking.org
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software

Jerry prints a webpage and the right side of the printed page is missing approximately one half inch of text.
This is a common complaint with Internet Explorer. Two workarounds: print in landscape mode or use Mozilla or Firefox. These program offer the option to fit the webpage onto a single page.

Ben has difficulty when creating MS Word Table of Content (he is not alone, another common complaint)
Creating a table of contents in a Microsoft Word document is a two-step process. First, identify the text that you want to appear in the Table of Contents. Second, tell Word to insert the Table of Contents. Having created your Table of Contents, you can then customize it in several ways, to suit your needs.

Step 1: Identify the text that you want to appear in the Table of Contents
In your document, click within the first major heading that you want to appear in the Table of Contents. Apply the Heading 1 style to that paragraph. The easiest way to apply the Heading 1 style is to click the Style box on the Formatting toolbar and choose Heading 1. If clicking the Style box doesn't appeal to you, there are several other ways to apply a style.
In the same way, apply the Heading 1 style to other major headings in your document. Apply the Heading 2 style to sub-headings, Heading 3 style to sub-sub-headings etc.
If you don't like the way the heading styles look (eg, you want a different font or font size or colour), don't format the text directly. Instead, modify the heading styles.

Step 2: Create the Table of Contents
Click where you want your Table of Contents to appear.
In Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003, choose Insert > Reference > Index and Tables. Click on the Table of Contents tab. (Elsewhere on this page, this is called the Table of Contents dialog.) Click OK.
In earlier versions of Word, choose Insert > Index and Tables. Click on the Table of Contents tab. (Elsewhere on this page, this is called the Table of Contents dialog.) Click OK.

Step 3: Customize the Table of Contents (if you need to)
If you don't like the way your headings look (eg you want a different font, font size, colour, more or less spacing before or after the heading), don't choose Format > Paragraph or Format > Font. And don't use the font size or bold buttons on the toolbar. Instead, modify the Heading style.
To change the font, font size, colour etc used to create the Table of Contents itself, you need to do two things in the Table of Contents dialog.

First, make sure that, in the Formats box, you have chosen "From Template".

Second, click Modify and modify the relevant TOC style.

Word uses style TOC 1 for the top level of contents, TOC 2 for the next level etc.
By default, Word shows three levels in your Table of Contents. That is, it puts the text from Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3 in the Table of Contents. If you want to show more or fewer levels, in the Table of Contents dialog, change the number in the Show levels box.
There are very good reasons for using the built-in Heading styles. But if you really need to use other styles (other built-in styles, or custom styles), you can put them in your Table of Contents. In the Table of Contents dialog, click Options, and allocate your style(s) to the appropriate level(s).

Other tips about Tables of Contents
If you have Word 2003, Microsoft has some great online training about Tables of Contents available for free.
Microsoft TOC Training Course: Part 1
Microsoft TOC Training Course: Part 2
A Table of Contents is a field, not ordinary text. To see fields in your document, do Tools > Options > View. Set the Field Shading box to Always. This will show the ToC with a grey background. The grey doesn't print, but it reminds you that this is a field, not ordinary text.
Tables of Contents don't update automatically when you add a new heading to your document. This is because a ToC is a field. To update a Table of Contents, put your cursor in the Table of Contents and press F9 to update it. Or ctrl-a F9 to update all fields in the document.
When you update your Table of Contents, always choose to update the Entire Table

- Hints and tips - MS Word Tips

1. Add Fancy Lines—If you want to separate portions of a document with fancy horizontal lines, use one of these methods.

1) Create a thin continuous line, type three hyphens and press Enter (---).
2) Create a thicker, bolder line, use underscores (___).
3) Create a dotted line, use asterisks (***).
4) Create a double line, use equal signs (===).
5) Create a wavy line, use tildes (~~~).
6) Create a triple fat line, use pound signs (###).

2. Quickly Create a Table—To add a table to a Word document, use plus (+) and minus (-) signs.

1) Start with a plus sign, type minus signs until you reach the desired width of your table cell.
2) Then type another plus sign.
3) Press Enter.

3. Insert Current Date and Time—You can insert the current date into a Word document by typing ALT + Shift + D. You can insert the current time by typing ALT + Shift + T. Caution: Every time you open or print the document, the date and time will be updated, so don’t use this method if you’re adding a date that must remain the same!

4. Save All Documents in One Fell Swoop—One of my Excel tips also works in Word!

To save all of your open documents at once, hold down the Shift key and open the File menu. The File menu will give you two new options.

· Save All
· Close All

5. Create Document Scraps—A scrap is a file that saves any selected portions of your document immediately to the desktop. It’s great for saving a few quick sentences for future reference or removing the important stuff from a longer document.

1) Highlight the passage you want to save.
2) Click and hold on the highlighted portion. Drag it to a blank space on the desktop, and release the button.
3) A saved document will have been instantly created on your desktop starting with the phrase “Document scrap”, and the first few words of your selected passage.

6. Add Filler Text—There are times when I want to enter nonsense text to experiment with a new font, formatting, line spacing, and so on. (This is how I discovered my “favorite” font.)

Choose a font and type =rand(4,5) i.e. =rand(4,5) and press Enter, here’s what you get:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

7. Squint a Bit and Save a Tree—This is the perfect feature for environmentalists with good vision. You can print multiple pages of text on a single page. To do this, File, Print as you normally would when printing a document. But before actually pressing the print button, go into the Zoom section of the print dialog box and select how many pages of text you want crammed onto one sheet.

IDW022506

2006-02-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending February 25, 2006

Each show we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW022506

Show Notes:

- Answers to Questions

Clara's quick launch toolbar is now on the right side of the taskbar, next to the clock. She would like to move it back to the default locatiton on the left side, next to the Start button.
You can grab this toolbar and drag it to different locations. This toolbar can even be moved right to the desktop. It's a little tricky to do sometimes, but you can grab the quick launch toolbar and push it over to the left next to the Start button. Just keep pushing the quick launch toolbar to the left and this should work.

Jeff keeps getting pop-up ads on his computer, even when his web browser is off. How can he stop this?
Chances are there is spyware installed on the computer. Spyware can be tricky to remove. I suggest using Ad-aware or Spybot Search & Destroy. It's free software that scans your PC and removes spyware.
www.lavasoftusa.com
www.safer-networking.org
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software
One catch: If the spyware has made changes to your Registry, these programs can detect it but it may not be able to remove it.

Aaron has a Pocket PC PDA. He also has a desktop computer and a laptop computer. He wants to able to sync MS Outlook between his laptop and desktop PC just like he does between his PDA and desktop computer. Outlook won't sync to itself. What you can do is use your PDA to sync both the laptop and the desktop computer. First, sync between your desktop PC and your PDA. Then sync your PDA with your laptop. You can also use Yahoo Calendar's Intellisync feature to perform a similiar function, if you don't want to use a PDA to act as an intermediary.

- Hints and Tips - Internet Explorer Tips

Save Seven Whole Keystrokes - Type the name of an address in Address box, say, Google. Type 'google', hit CTRL+ENTER and the http://www/ and .com are added for you! Sorry, you'll have to type out .org and .net addresses yourself.

Full Screen View--Do you need to see a web page without the Internet Explorer border of toolbars and shades of gray? If you're like me, and sometimes find you want to see the full web page, use this trick.
Press the F11 Key in Internet Explorer and view your browser window with full screen. Press F11 to return to the normal IE browser window.

Go Back - Pressing down the backspace key does the same thing as hitting the 'back' button!

Increase Your Fonts With the Scroll Wheel - Hold down the CTRL key and roll the wheel around a bit. Your font size will increase or decrease, depending on which way you roll. This is great for those who set their resolution high and can't read tiny text.

I Can't Find It On the Menu--This one's not for the browser, but you need IE 5 to make it work.
You can organize your Start Menu alphabetically by right clicking on any program in the Programs menu and choosing 'Sort by Name'.

Print Your Bookmarks--Have you ever wanted to print a list of your favorite sites for someone or just to keep a paper copy in your files? This task can be accomplished if you follow these simple steps.

1) Open Internet Explorer.
2) Choose Import and Export in your File menu.
3) Once the Import and Export Wizard opens, click Next, highlight Export Favorites, and click Next again.
4) Choose the Favorites folder.
5) Click Export to a File or Address, save your bookmark.html file, and click Next.
6) Click Finish and OK.
7) Open your new HTML file by choosing File and Open in Internet Explorer or double-clicking on the file in the location you saved it.
8) Choose File and Print. Check the Print Table of Links box at the bottom of your print menu if you want to print a list of URLs as well as the names of your links.

IE Keyboard Shortcuts
I use these three keyboard shortcuts with Internet Explorer.

F4: Selects the Address box and moved down the entries.
F5: Refresh page. F6: Highlights contents in the Address box.

IDW021106

2006-02-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

I Do Windows for Week Ending February 11, 2006

Each week we help listeners improve their computer knowledge and participate more fully in the digital age. We introduce ways that computer can help listeners at work and at home.

IDW021106

Show Notes:

- Answers to Questions

Bruce has broadband. His ISP wants to switch him from using a static IP address to a dynamic IP address. The ISP says he'll get faster performance. Should he make the switch?
A static IP address means you have an IP address assigned to you. This great for hosting servers. A dynamic IP address is an IP address that changes every time you connect to the internet. The ISP pulls an IP address from a pool. This means your IP address is different all the time. Its a bit more difficult to host servers using a dynamic IP address. Don't believe the ISP about dynamic IP speeding up your connection. It has nothing to do with your connection speed.

Joe wants to know more about the little key that appears at the bottom bar of a Web browser. How can he activate it?
This key is an indicator used on sites that allow commerce or data entry. The key lets you know that the data that is being sent is encrypted to insure its security on the Internet. When you send data on the Internet, the path of delivery isn't a straight shot. The data actually hops from server to server. If it's not encrypted, it's possible for someone to read the data from the server. The security has to be activated by the site that is requesting the data. You can't turn it on. when you're shopping on the Internet, keep your eyes open for that key. If a site doesn't have it, take your business elsewhere.

name unknown – Why is it that when I have a problem and Windows prepares a problem readout to Microsoft and I send it, I never get an answer?
Just think for a minute how many copies of Windows XP are out there. There's no way Microsoft could possibly respond to them all. Error reporting may not be a complete waste of time though. According to Microsoft, these error messages are recorded and catalogued automatically. Vendors can get information about how often their software crashes and what the common error screnarios are. So I guess it's useful. You can disable error reporting in Windows XP by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting Properties, clicking the Advanced tab then the Error Reporting button.

name unknown – My father needs an easy program for creating web photo albums of his digital pictures easily.
The answer depends on what he wants to do after he creates the albums. If he would like the capability of ordering prints and other photo products from them there are several sites that offer free album capabilities including Ofoto, Shutterfly and Snapfish. All three offer free storage, album sharing, and similiar print quality and pricing. Yahoo and AOL also offer photo albums. I think Ofoto is probably easiest to use, the software is free, and it offers some additional nice features like red-eye removal.

http://www.ofoto.com
http://www.shutterfly.com
http://www.snapfish.com
http://photos.yahoo.com
http://www.flickr.com
(How could I forget to mention Flickr during the show! I don't know I forgot that! )

Keith gets strange noise from his computer when he moves his mouse. It sounds a little like bad radio transmission. What can he do to fix this?
What you are hearing is radio interference. You hear stuff when you move your mouse because that's the mouse transmitting signals to your computer. Try moving the sound card to a different slot. Also, move cables away from the sound card and speakers. This should help.

- Hints and Tips - Excel tricks

Add a Calculator to Excel toolbar
1) Choose View, Toolbars, Customize.
2) Click on the Commands tab.
3) In the Categories list, choose Tools.
4) In the Commands list, choose Custom (you’ll see a little gray calculator icon next to it).
5) Drag the calculator icon to the toolbar, letting it drop wherever you’d like it to reside.

Paste into Another Application
1) Select the cells you want to transfer.
2) Hold down the Shift key and choose Edit, Copy Picture.
3) Make certain that both “As shown on screen” and “Picture” are checked.
4) Click in the non-Excel file where you want the Excel info to appear.
5) Choose Edit, Paste.

Create Vertical Titles
1) Select the cell that contains your title and the cells you want the title to span.
2) Choose Format, Cells (or use CTL+1) and click on the Alignment tab.
3) In the degrees box, type 90.
4) Under Text Control, check Merge Cells.
5) Click on OK.

Add Art to Spreadsheets
1) Click the cell you want your fancy text to appear in. You could skip this step and drag the text to where you want it later. (WordArt doesn’t exist within cells, but rather over cells.)
2) Select View, Toolbars and click on Drawing. This invokes the Drawing toolbar.
3) Click on the WordArt icon to bring up the WordArt Gallery.
4) Choose the fancy text that appeals to you, click it, and press OK.
5) Enter the text you want displayed as WordArt.
6) Using the text handles, shrink or enlarge your WordArt to the appropriate size.

Save All Spreadsheets in One Fell Swoop
To save all of your spreadsheets at once, hold down the Shift key and open the File menu. The File menu will give you two new options:

Save All
Close All

Where to Get More Information

2006-02-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

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