Skip to content

Computer Tips

Copy Shortcut for a program to other Windows’ Users

Caller, Marvin, needed to have a program he installed in his user account be available to his wife and daughter. Here's the solution:

1. Make sure that when installing a program if the program gives you the option to install to just you or all users, choose All Users.

2.  IF, that doesn't bring up the icon to the other users, RIGHT click and choose Copy on the program's icon, then Click My Computer, double-click "Shared Documents", Click Edit –> Paste. Now you can log into each of the other users, and copy that shortcut to the desktops of the other users who need access to the program. 

Sorting the Mail – Video Tip

Sort MailWouldn't it be nice if you could sort your email by the date it was received or by the name of the sender?

If you use Microsoft Outlook Express (or Outlook), Mozilla Thurnderbird, or most other email systems), you can quickly sort all of your mail. AOL finally added this feature for its members just last year. As an added bonus, this tip will work with any computer or operating system.

 

To sort the mail:

  1. Click ONE time on the desired heading of your email list. For example, to sort your messages chronologically, click once on the date heading to sort from oldest to newest.
  2. Click again to sort from newest to oldest.
  3. To sort your mail by the sender, simply click on the "From" heading at the top of the email list.
  4. To sort by the subject of the email, click one time on the "Subject" heading at the top of the email list.
  5. As in Step 1, if you click a second time on a column heading, the sort direction will reverse.
  6. You can even click on the "paper clip " at the top of the email list to quickly find messages that have attachments.

That's it! Simple, clean and useful…give it a try!! Watch the video below to see this tip in action.

Don’t back up a shortcut

I've mentioned this before many times, but it bears repeating often especially since I saw it at least three times this week. First, I want to commend the computer users out there for backing up and thinking of backing up! However, it is imperative to know what you are backing up. 

Folder shortcutA shortcut is indicated by a little arrow in the lower left hand corner of a folder or file. If your backup media has any of these types of icons on it, your backup is worthless. A shortcut is simply a "pointer" to where the actual data is saved. Backing up shortcuts is extremely fast because there is not data in a shortcut. I too often see computer users dragging a program icon (shortcut) or a shortcut to My Documents or My Pictures to their CD drives, external hard drives, or flash drives then wonder why they have no backup should they need it.

Dial-up users: Are you tired of waiting for email with large attachments?

I have been utilizing this tip much more lately as dial-up users get pummeled with email containing pictures that haven't been resized and an endless parade of forward spam with large attachments from friends and family with high speed connections. For every one megabyte of space an attachment contains, it takes 5-8 minutes for a dial-up user to download it. Many joke emails, slide shows or movies being passed around today can be 5mb or larger…tying up the dial-up users phone line for an hour or more!  If you don't want to tell the offending parties to take you off their list, you can do one or both of the following procedures to gain some control over you email again.

Microsoft Word Features You Might Have Overlooked

Most computer users (myself included) never get close to using everything a piece of software has to offer. Microsoft Word is a great example of this theory. You could work with Word for years and never know all the power that it is possible of yielding. This week, I'm going to point out what I think are some of the features you are likely to use if you knew about them. Thesaurus

Sure you know how to use Word's spell check, but did you know you have access to a pretty good thesaurus as well. Here's how:

1. Highlight a word
2. RIGHT Click on the word
3. Click Synonyms from the menu
4. If you like one of the suggestions, click on it and it will replace the original word for you.

Delete only one entry from Internet Explorer Address Bar (history)- Video Tip

The address bar in Internet Explorer (or any web browser) allows you to type in known web sites and visit them quickly. Sometimes you might want to clean out individual entries from the address bar or history, but this isn't possible in Internet Explorer unless you edit the registry. Watch the video below to learn how to perform this delicate Windows tweak. The video has a surprise ending to make this process a whole lot easier!

Here are the registry steps for Internet Explorer to delete an individual entry from the address bar:

  1. Close any open windows or programs
  2. Click Start
  3. Click Run
  4. Type: regedit
  5. WARNING: Registry editing is for experienced computer users only.

Email Preview Button in Outlook Express – Video Tip

This tip evaded me for many years, but now you can benefit from its use. The tip works in any versions of Windows including Windows Vista's Windows Mail.

When asked how to delete a message without opening it in Microsoft Outlook Express, I traditionally answered by directing the computer user to the View menu (See Tip #156). This works, but if you want to turn the Preview back on you have to go through the same number of steps.

Why would you want to delete emails without opening them? A couple of reasons include not wanting to open an email that advertises how to enlarge certain private parts or see an ad of Jolene's sorority web site and you may not want to open a potentially dangerous email that might have a virus.

Solving some sound problems

I helped a client over the phone today who had a sound problem. She could hear the Windows startup and shut down sounds, but could not listen to a CD or any Internet audio/video. After confirming that the Window's sounds did work (by going to the Control Panel, then Sounds, Speeches, and Audio Devices), I had her insert a music CD. A few seconds later, Windows Media Player appeared and she said the picture was moving and the time line was also moving, but no sound. I had her double-click the little speaker by the clock and ensured that all volume levels were up and nothing was muted. 

The only culprit left was the sound adjustment in Media Player itself. Like all media players, Windows Media Player has its own volume adjustment and mute setting. Turns out that Media Player itself was muted. The moral of the story? If system sounds are working through your speakers, but CD's or other audio content does not play; check the volume and mute settings in the plaer.

Change Windows Vista’s Theme

Windows Vista is here and we can't change that so let's learn how to work with it. Much of the new Windows is visual eye candy. The new visual layout will intimidate many users and certainly get in the way of using the computer as we once did. To get around the initial shock of this different looking Windows, I recommend changing the theme to make it look a little more familiar.

  1. RIGHT Click the Desktop
  2. Click Personalize
  3. Click Themes
  4. Click the theme choices pull down menu and choose "Classic"
  5. Click Apply and OK

To make the Start menu work in Classic mode:

  1. RIGHT Click the Start button
  2. Click Properties
  3. Choose Classic Start menu
  4. Click Apply and OK

To watch these steps, watch the video below. (if the video doesn't start right away, be sure to click "Read More")

Avoid losing precious Quicken information

This quick tip coincides with a tip I wrote last year called the Magical Title Bar (click here to read it…and it is a MUST read tip) . However, since I run into many Quicken users who "lose" data, I thought it was time to give Quicken users a tip of their own to help decrease anxiety and increase productivity with this truly legendary program.

When I get the frantic call or show up and see the disgruntled facial expressions, I smile inside knowing that I will almost always be able able to pull their data from their perceived digital hell. And I don't do anything magic, I simply employ the use of the Title Bar and Quicken's "recently used document list". My first question, is "When did you last backup?", followed by "When did you notice that your data was different?"