Computer Tips , Tricks & Shortcut Keys Part2: Computer Tips , Tricks & Shortcut Keys

Computer Tips , Tricks & Shortcut Keys  
Part2: Computer Tips , Tricks & Shortcut Keys

21.  Add an Excel calculator. Usually, you calculate numbers when you use Excel, so it only makes sense to add a calculator to the Excel toolbar. Here's how:

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.

22.  Most computer users know that you can move horizontally to the right in any form or table by pressing the Tab key.  However, did you know you can move horizontally to the left by pressing Shift + Tab on your keyboard?  Try it in Excel and it works great. 

23.  We love Google, and it is amazing how much information you can find in one place.  Here is how to use the Google Phonebook (remember to use lowercase letters):

phonebook=searches the entire phonebook 

rphonebook=searches residential listings only

bphonebook=searches business listings only

Type the following information into the Google search blank:

rphonebook: smith, port huron, 48060

This brings up a listing of every Smith in the city of Port Huron.  To be more specific, add a first name before the last name.  Other options include dropping the Zip code and adding an Area Code instead.  City & state are optional.  You can also type in a person’s phone number to get their Address and directions to his/her house by clicking on the Yahoo Maps or MapQuest links.

24.  One Web site tip is all it takes to get more reference material than you would find in an entire library—for FREE.  Go to www.refdesk.com and you will find a mind-boggling amount of Web links & tools to satisfy every research need you might have, from a built-in Google & AllTheWeb link to Dictionaries, Thesauri, Quotations, Weather, Newspapers, etc.  Refdesk is the best one-stop Web reference tool there is.

25.  Google Images is one of the best places to find full-color pictures on the Web.  Go to www.google.com and click on Images.  Then, type in exactly what picture(s) you want to find.  Pay close attention to the file name, file extension (JPG, GIF, BMP) and the pixel size (example: 800 x 600 pixels will be a huge picture.  200 x 196 will be much smaller and lower quality).  Then, click on the picture to bring up the Web site it came from.  Click again on the picture at the top to blow it up to its largest size.  See if the picture is copyrighted before you use it, or get permission to use it (from that particular Web site’s creator).  Then, either right-click and choose “Save Picture As” to save it to your computer, or right-click on the actual picture and choose Copy.  Then, go into your document, right-click & choose Paste.  It pastes the original full-color picture into your document. 

26.  When doing a “Google Images” search, you may end up with some pictures that are not kid-friendly.  To filter out your search results prior to searching, tweak the settings a bit.  After you click on “Images” in Google, click on the Preferences link on the right side of Google.  Next to “SafeSearch Filtering,” choose either to “Use moderate filtering (Filter explicit images only - default behavior)” or “Use strict filtering (Filter both explicit text and explicit images).”  This gives you some control over what images appear when you search Google.  In the Preferences, you can also control things like how many results are displayed per page. 

27.  You can control Word formatting simply with your keyboard keys.  Here are some examples.  Double-click on a word you want to highlight in bold.  Press Ctrl + B to make it bold.  Press Ctrl + B again to bring it back to plain text.  To highlight several more words in bold, use your Shift and your arrow keys.  Shift à highlights text to the right.  Shift ß highlights text to the left.  Ctrl + U will underline the text.  Ctrl + I will put the text in italics. 

28.  The QuickLaunch toolbar is an under-appreciated toolbar on the Windows taskbar.  To show this toolbar, right-click on your taskbar and choose ToolbarsàQuickLaunch.  This toolbar is for single-click button shortcuts, very similar to the Links Bar in Tip #3.  Similarly, you can drag any shortcut from your desktop to the QuickLaunch toolbar, and open it with a single click.  It’s also a great way to eliminate excessive icons from your desktop area.  Just drag shortcuts to this toolbar and delete them from the desktop, but remember to first drag the vertical line on the QuickLaunch toolbar to the right.  The farther you drag that vertical line, the more room you will have for shortcut buttons.  If you need more room on the taskbar, drag the taskbar up and you will have a double taskbar with plenty of room for open applications and QuickLaunch buttons. 

29.  Part 1: Application Toolbars: To add or remove a toolbar button, such as removing some of the unnecessary toolbar buttons on Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, go to ToolsàCustomize and click on the Commands tab.  Then, go up to the particular program’s toolbar and drag a button off of it and let go.  The button will disappear.  You can also choose a button from the “Commands” list and drag it onto the toolbar.  

Part 2: Internet Explorer & Folder Toolbars:  To customize exactly which buttons are displayed on your folder or Internet Explorer toolbars, use this method.  Right-click on any toolbar button and choose Customize.  You will see a split-screen with “Available Toolbar Buttons” and “Current Toolbar Buttons.”   Select the buttons you want from the left and click the Add button to add them to your toolbar.  Then, click the “Move Up” or “Move Down” buttons to position them right where you want them.  Next to Text Options, choose “Show Text Labels.”  This will allow you to see text under each toolbar button.  Next to “icon options” you can choose either small or large icons.

30.  Windows CleanUp!  This tool is so good that we demand that you download it immediately and use it at home.  Go to www.google.com and type in “Windows CleanUp!” and it should bring up the “Windows CleanUp! Utility Home Page.”  Click on this link and scroll down the page to find the download link for the CleanUp! file.  Download it and install the file.  After it is installed, go to StartàPrograms and create a shortcut to “CleanUp!” on your desktop.  Run the file weekly to clean up your computer, getting rid of Internet cookies, history, temporary Internet files, Windows temp files, and much more.  The program is extremely quick but thorough and has options where you can customize exactly what it cleans up each time.  Best of all, this program is free.

31.  Right-dragging is a good way to move files from folder to folder.  People love to drag icons to move them from place to place, but sometimes this results in a shortcut being moved instead of the actual file.  To make sure you are moving or copying your files correctly, right-drag instead of left-dragging.  When you right-drag an icon into a folder, it gives you these options: Move Here, Copy Here or Create Shortcut Here.  Take your pick and never worry about whether you copied the original file, or a shortcut instead.     

32.  Cut, copy & paste all have keyboard shortcuts. Ctrl+X=Cut   Ctrl+C=Copy and Ctrl+V=Paste.

33.  You can add icons to your Start Menu (just above the Start button) by right-clicking on the Start button and choosing Explore.  This opens Windows Explorer.  Copy any shortcut you want from the desktop or from the Programs folder and paste it into the “Start Menu” folder.  This is the folder that comes up first by default when you open Windows Explorer. 

*By the way, right-click the Start button and choose Explore any time you want to quickly open Windows Explorer.  If you haven’t used it, it’s a great way to navigate through your folders. 

34.  There is a “Thumbnail” view for pictures in Windows Me, 2000 and XP listed under View, but not in Windows 95 or 98.  However, you can add this view to Windows 98 by right-clicking on any folder that has pictures inside and choosing Properties.  Put a check-mark in the little box that says “Enable Thumbnail View.”  Click OK and then re-open the folder.  Go to ViewàThumbnails and you will see all of your little thumbnail pictures. 

35.  View your pictures as a SlideShow in Windows XP by going into a folder such as “My Pictures.”  To the left, under “Picture Tasks,” choose “View as a slide show.” 

36.  Using the Format Painter is very helpful.  It is found on your Word, Excel and PowerPoint toolbar.  Here’s how it works:

1.  Highlight some text in a document that has the formatting you’d like copied.  (example below)

2.  Click on the Format Painter button in your toolbar at the top. 

3.  Single-click the format painter if you want to copy the formatting from this location to only one word.  If you want to copy the formatting to several words or locations in a document, then double-click the format painter.

4.  Your cursor changes into a small paint brush. 

5.  Position the paint brush over the word or words from which you would like to change the formatting.

6.  The text that you clicked with your paint brush (format painter) transforms into the text you had highlighted earlier.  In other words, it clones the formatting from one location to another. 

37.  There is no need to type in the long www.website.com address for any www.com site.  All you need is a simple keyboard shortcut.  For example, www.amazon.com can be inserted into your Web browser address bar by typing Amazon and then pressing Ctrl + Enter on your keyboard.  The www and .com will automatically be inserted.  Then press the Enter key and you’re at Amazon.  This works with any site that begins with www. and ends with .com

38.  Tired of sending Email messages where the list of recipients is longer than the actual message?  Three words: Blind Carbon Copy.  Tell your friends about it.  When you address a message to multiple people, there is no need for them to see the names of everyone who will receive it.  Simply insert the addresses of the recipients into the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) box instead of the To box.  You can type your own name into the To box.  The rest will be in the BCC.  This eliminates the long list of recipients when people receive your email message. 

39.  Would you like to Print Row and Column Headings or Labels on Every Page in Excel?

Row headings are the row numbers to the left of the worksheet; column headings are the letters or numbers that appear at the top of the columns on a worksheet.

1. Click the worksheet.

2. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Sheet tab.

3. Do one of the following:

• To print row and column headings:

          Select the Row and column headings check box, and click Print. Print row and column labels on every page

• To print column labels on every page:

          Under Print titles in the Rows to repeat at top box, enter the rows that contain the column labels, and then click Print.

• To print row labels on every page, under Print titles in the Columns to repeat at left box, enter the columns that contain the row labels, and then click Print.

40.  Advanced Word Tip.  Have you ever had trouble positioning an AutoShape directly on top of some text?  Maybe you're trying to draw a circle around a letter or number.  It is difficult to position the circle directly over the number pefectly, unless you use this keyboard shortcut:

1.  Select the shape, and then press Ctrl+Alt on your keyboard while you drag the shape.  You will see a tiny +

2.  Drag the plus sign and the shape will move wherever you want it to go. 

3.  Let go of the mouse, and drop the shape exactly where you want it. 

4.  Also, if you drag the shape and do not let go of the mouse, you can duplicate or copy the shape as many times as you wish. 

This is a quick way to make multiple copies of the same shape to be used in an art project.

41.  Pop-up blockers are very helpful, but sometimes you may want to turn the blocker off.  For example, maybe you want to open a PDF document or a Java applet that will need to "pop up" in order for you to see it.  Use a keyboard shortcut to turn it off temporarily.  While you click the Web link, hold down the Ctrl key.  This turns off most pop-up blockers just long enough to open the document.  If you are using the Google Toolbar, for example, you can click on the toolbar where it says "Site Popups Allowed."  This will allow popups just for that particular Web site.
*Tips compiled from the following sources:  Microsoft, TechTV, PC World, Smart Computing, obs.org, Ron McKinney, Patrick Crispen, Jim Cowden and Jamie Yielding