PLEASE NOTE:
The software tips and shortcuts shown below may also work if you’re using
the Office 2007 version.
Tips concerning keyboard shortcuts may still work in 2007; in
addition, tips that involve using the lower Office version’s ‘menu’ options
may have an equivalent function in 2007 using the new Ribbon and OFFICE
button (that replaces the previous menu/toolbars). We will be revising our
Software Tips pages as part of our upcoming web redesign and we’ll make
necessary additions at that time.
TIP #1:
ONLINE COMPUTER USER DICTIONARY
If you have someone that uses a computer term
that you don't know, you can go up to these two online computer user
dictionaries that are really helpful in finding computer terminology
definitions:
-
http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionaries/
-
http://whatis.techtarget.com/Whatis Home Page/0,4324,,00.html
Just put in the term
you're looking for (EX: IMAP), and get the definition and/or what
the abbreviation stands for.
TIP #2: ADD 'HELP' PAGES TO YOUR FAVORITES TO FIND
LATER
If you use
On-Line HELP (HELP from the menu) and you want to refer to the page again,
you can add the page to the Favorites for easier reference later.
Within
HELP in Windows 2000:
-
Go to the Help page that you want to keep
- Click the
'Favorites' Tab in the HELP window
- Click [ADD]
<the page is now added
to the Favorites and you can go to the page again at any time>
TIP #3: GET RID OF THE LAST USED FILES
NT/Win2000
[Get rid of Last Used Files Reference Listing on START menu from
Taskbar Properties]
Windows remembers
the most recently used documents, Web pages, and other programs that you've
accessed. This is a useful feature, but the storage of these extra files
can take up extra space.
To get rid of these references, you can do this
quickly and easily from the Taskbar:
- Right-click on
the Taskbar
- Select
'Properties'
- Click the
'Advanced' tab and click on the [Clear] button.
TIP #4: MINIMIZE ALL OPEN WINDOWS
SHORTCUT -
Minimize ALL your open windows
There are many times
when you want to get to your DESKTOP when you have windows
open and can’t see the desktop - you’d need to minimize or close the windows
with your mouse.
Here’s a shortcut
that will minimize ALL your open windows and takes you to the
DESKTOP in one quick step.
WINDOW/m
ALL your open
windows are automatically minimized!!
- hold the
WINDOW key down while touching the m key on the keyboard]
[The ‘WINDOW’
key is the key between the CTRL key and the ALT key on your
keyboard]
TIP #5: FILE-NAME EXTENSIONS - WHAT ARE THEY?
Did you ever get a
file with a filename extension that you don’t know? You can get information
about the file extension by visiting the following Website and click on the
first letter of the file extension (e.g., click on E if the file extension
is .exe – it will give you a list of all the filename extensions that begin
with ‘e’!!
http://webopedia.internet.com/quick_ref/fileextensions.html
TIP #6: QUICKLY LOCK YOUR COMPUTER
You can create a
shortcut and move it to your Taskbar or Quick Launch Bar to quickly lock
your PC:
- Right click
on the desktop and point to New and then click Shortcut.
- In the "Type the
location of the item" box, type %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe
user32.dll,LockWorkStation (has to be typed in exactly and it is case
sensitive).
- In the "Type a
name for this shortcut" box, type a name such as Lock PC
- Drag the
new shortcut to the Quick Launch bar (next to the Start button).
TIP #7: OPEN THE CONTROL PANEL FAST
If you want to get
to your Control Panel fast, here’s a way you can do it through the START
button:
Touch the
‘Windows’ key (to the right of the left CTRL key on your keyboard), then
touch R (on the keyboard)
<at this point the ‘Run’ window appears>
Type: control
Then touch the [ENTER] key
<The Control Panel opens up>
TIP #8: USING THE WINDOWS 'MAGNIFIER' ACCESSIBILITY
FEATURE
The visually impaired
can now make a screen more readable by using Windows "Magnifier" capability
(under Accessories). The magnifier creates a separate window that will
display the magnified image of a portion of your screen.
To set/change the
magnification:
Click START button
Select PROGRAMS, select Accessories, select Accessibility,
select Magnifier
<the 'Magnifier' dialog box appears where you can determine the necessary
degree of magnification - you also turn the feature on and off in this
window>
The magnifier creates a
separate window that will display the magnified image of a portion of
your screen.
You can click EXIT
to exit the Magnifier
Tip #9 -
Redirecting Documents from Default 'My Documents' Folder
You don’t need to put your
data in the ‘My Documents’ folder that Microsoft identifies as the default
within Windows.
To redirect the My Documents folder:
- Right click the My Documents icon and select ‘Properties’
- With the ‘Target’ tab in front, click the Target box
and type the path to the drive and folder where you want to store you
files.
NOTE: In Win98, you can click [Browse], select the folder,
then [OK] If the folder doesn’t exist Windows will create one for you.
- Recent versions of Windows will also offer to move the contents of the
existing My Documents folder to the new location. If you don’t want
to do this, click NO.
You can redirect My Music, My Pictures, My Videos, and other built-in
Windows folders also:
- Use the rightmouse button to drag each folder’s shortcut to a
new location and then choose ‘Move Here’
Finally, to change the name of any of these folders:
- Select its icon, click its name (or touch [F2]),
type a new name, and touch [ENTER]
TIP #10 - Move, But Don’t Remove Excess Fonts
If your computer is slowing down during the boot process because of too many
fonts, you may want to MOVE your fonts to another location (not
remove them)—in that way you can easily get them back, if needed.
Steps to moving fonts to another location:
1. Create a folder on your hard drive called ‘Excess Fonts’
2. Open the folder using Windows Explorer
3. Click the START button, select ‘Run’
4. Type: fonts
5. Then touch [ENTER] to bring up your fonts folder in another window
6. Select the fonts to remove (doubleclick a font to see how it
looks), but be sure to KEEP
- Arial
- Courier
- Courier New
- Modern
- MS Sans Serif [two may appear as MS Reference]
- MS Serif
- Symbol
- Tahoma
- Times Roman
- Wingdings
7. When you move a font, bring along its bold and italic variation as
well.
8. Drag unwanted fonts to the Excess Fonts folder you created
9. If you ever need one of the fonts, simply open the folders again and drag
the font back to the original Fonts folder.
TIP #11 - Setting a Default Folder ‘View’
You can set a default folder view so that when you open a window, the
folders will show exactly in the view you choose (Example: viewing all
folders/files in a ‘details’ view.
To set a folder default of your choice, you can:
1. Go into MY COMPUTER or WINDOWS EXPLORER
2. Set the VIEW of the folder to something that you prefer
3. Using the menu, select VIEW/select option (Example: Details)
4. Then, from the menu, select VIEW/Folder Options
5. The Folder Options window appears and you can set the default for all
your folders
6. Click on the View tab, and then click on the [Like Current
Folder] button
NOTE: You can always return to the Windows default by
going into the View tab again and selecting the [Reset All
Folders] button
Tip #12 -
Computer Not
Responding?
When nothing on-screen
moves except the mouse pointer, the computer is frozen up solid. Try the
following to correct this problem:
1. Press Esc twice.
2. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete. If the Windows Task Manager appears,
look at the list of running programs for one that is listed as "not
responding". Click the name of the program and then click the
End Program button.
3. If MS Windows is still
not responding, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to reopen the Windows Task
Manager and click the 'Shut Down' button. Your computer should
shut down and restart.
4. If the preceding approaches don't work, push the computer's Reset
button and when the 'Turn Off Computer' box appears, choose 'Restart'.
5. If not even the reset button works, use the power button to turn Off
the computer, wait a few seconds, and then turn it back on.
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