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Using the Windows Snipping Tool – Video Tip

One new feature that Windows Vista brought to the table is an easier way to take pictures of your screen…known as screen shots. In previous versions of Windows you had to learn how to use the Print Screen button (click here for my tip on that technique) or find a third party utility to do the same thing.Windows Vista introduced a new tool called the Snipping Tool that makes taking screen shots easier and more flexible than Print Screen. Vista users can find the Snipping Tool in the Accessories menu. The Snipping Tool will also be included in the upcoming Windows 7. To see how it works, watch my video below.

Wrap text around pictures in Microsoft Word – Video Tip

If you use Microsoft Word to create any kind of document that includes pictures, wrapping text around a picture can be frustrating. Today's tip will give you some easy to follow steps that will have you wrapping text like a pro. A bonus of using this tip is that you can also move your pictures around your document to almost any position.

As is my cardinal rule of word processing, type all your text in first then add pictures after your text is finished. To insert a photo or other image into Word:

  1. Position the cursor where you want the picture to appear
  2. Click Insert –> Picture –> From File (note that you can also scan pictures directly in at this point also)
  3. Navigate to your photo
  4. Click

Easily create labels with Microsoft Word

Printing labels can save you a lot of time and energy IF you approach the job correctly. Since Microsoft Word is still the leading word processor, I will discuss how to print labels with it. Today's tip will not discuss Mail Merge, as that is another can of worms for another day. For printing mail merge style labels, refer to this tip .

This tip will help you print a single label or a full sheet of labels with the same address or text.

Word Label dialog box
  1. Start Microsoft Word.
  2. Click Tools —> Envelopes and Labels from the menus (in the newest version of Word, you will find it in the Letters and Mailings section of the Tools menu).
  3. Click the Labels tab in the box that pops up.
  4. Type the address you want to print on the label (see #1 in the illustration).
  5. Click the Options button (see #2 in the illustration) to choose the type of label you are printing (try to purchase Avery labels or labels that have Avery compatible numbers on them).
  6. Click whether you want a full sheet of labels or just a single label (see #3 in the illustration).
    • If you are printing a single label, you can reuse a sheet of labels over and over by choosing the appropriate row and column that is next to print on your sheet.
  7. Before clicking Print, check to see if the address has spilled over onto the next line (in #1). If so, that indicates that the font size is too large for the chose label type. To correct this, highlight the entire address with your mouse, the RIGHT click it and choose font to make adjustments.
  8. Click New Document to see how the labels will look.
  9. Now print the labels on a regular sheet of paper and hold them up to a blank sheet of labels to make sure they will print appropriately. If it does, then load your labels in the printer tray (remember to load them the proper direction).

When finished printing, you can close and save the document if it is a sheet that you will use again in the future. Otherwise, just close and don't save the document.

Setting up a new computer

new computer boxPrevention is the best medicine when it comes to avoiding illness in ourselves. Prevention in the computer world is no different. And like a newborn baby, a newly purchased computer is subject to many terrible diseases and problems if not properly cared from the moment it is taken from its cardboard box. I follow these steps when setting up a new computer system for my clients, and recommend this methodology for all new computer setups:

Install a new DVD Burner – Video Tip

Regular visitors to our site and listeners to our show know that we continually talk about the importance of backing up your computer. Many computer users rely on external hard drives these days for their primary backup. And, yes, external hard drives are quick and convenient, but because they are hard drives and subject to electrical or mechanical failure, I still highly recommend that all computer users backup their most precious data (pictures, address books, documents, etc) on external media like a DVD+R.

DVD+R media prices have dropped dramatically over the past few years and dual-layer DVD burners that can read and write any CD or DVD media cost less than $75 and sometimes under $50. Do yourself a favor, install a new DVD burner in your system if you don’t already have one. The increased capacity and peace-of-mind of DVD backup puts you well ahead of computer users who have to fret if something goes wrong with their computer.

OK, the particulars are out of the way, watch this short video demonstrating how to install a DVD burner (or any optical drive).

Should I backup?

Five Days' Backup
photo credit: daryl_mitchell

Should you carry health insurance? Should you carry car insurance? Should you save for retirement? Should you eat every day? Does a bear….  Well, hopefully you get the picture. The answer is a resounding YES!!

You should backup, and depending on your computer needs and usage your backups should occur frequently (sometimes daily). Many computer users equate backing up their computers with their mother’s giving them castor oil. It’s no fun, but a necessary evil. What is castor oil any way?

Things you should backup on your computer includeRead More »Should I backup?

A quicker way to Rename folders and files in Windows

Windows XP, Vista and the upcoming version 7 continue to help us accomplish certain computer tasks more quickly.

One of my favorite features involves the renaming of files. You can still use the techniques I outlined in a previous tip, but renaming files can be even faster with the right steps. If you have the need to rename a group of files (for example a group of freshly downloaded pictures from your digital camera), you can select them and rename them in groups. Here’s how:Read More »A quicker way to Rename folders and files in Windows

Backup Outlook Express Email – Video Tip

This week’s tip also applies to Windows Vista users who use Windows Mail…which is basically Outlook Express with a new name.

I still recommend that emailers save their important pictures and documents sent to them via email to a folder on their computer for easier backup (see my video tip on how to do this by clicking here), but many people also save a great deal of email and don’t want to lose it. Outlook Express (Windows Mail) saves all email in files with a .dbx extension. The files are named for the folders you have created in your email, so you will see files like inbox.dbx, saved.dbx, family.dbx, etc. Whatever email folders you have created will have a corresponding .dbx file.

These files, unfortunately, are buried in the Windows files system. This week’s video tip demonstrates how to locate these files on your computer so you can then copy them to flash drive (best idea) or CD/DVD.

Add photos to Facebook quickly and easily – Video Tip

I helped a retired aged computer user today who was cajoled into using Facebook by his family. His Facebook friends hammered him daily about posting some pictures to his online profile. But like many computer users, he juggled time between three different photo management programs. One of them, luckily, was Google’s Picasa and I configured Picasa to locate all his… Read More »Add photos to Facebook quickly and easily – Video Tip