Skip to content

folders

Solution to strange folders synchronizing error in Outlook 2007

I ran into a problem with Microsoft Outlook 2007 that I never seen. When Outlook was running, a small icon in the system tray was working like crazy on synchronizing folders. Synchronizing folders in Outlook 2007 is usually reserved for large office environments where users share calendars, contacts, etc. This particular computer user was on a standalone system.

The little icon itself wasn’t the problem, but the fact that it was trying to synchronize folders to nowhere ate up large chunks of computer power slowing down the system to almost unusable. After some web searching and poking around some of the tech web forums (nothing was found on Microsoft’s support site), I found that many other people were having the same problem, but no real solution was found.

Managing your digital photos

Organizing your digital photos is so important. Too often I see people who have major computer problems and think that everything is backed up only to find that their digital photos were so spread out on their computer that the only had a portion of them backed up.

Many people simply copy their digital photos onto their computer wherever a given piece of software puts them and they have no idea where that is. These notes will help you setup a system for managing your digital photos so they will be easy to find and backup even without programs like Picasa.

Here are a few links that will help you:

Rick Castellini’s file management PowerPoint presentation

Gmail convertee

Three weeks ago, I switched from using Microsoft Outlook (which I had used since 1998) to Gmail.

What is Gmail?

Gmail is the fast, free web based email from search giant Google. Gmail offers free POP3 access (if you want to download your email into Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc), 6.5 GB of storage (and the number continually grows), and the best web based spam filter I’ve seen so far.

Missing file names under documents or photos in thumbnail view

Lately, more than a few people have had trouble with missing file names in the thumbnail view of some of their folders. It isn’t entirely apparent why this happens, but fortunately the cure is pretty simple. If you are one of the poor souls who happens to be missing their file names, follow these steps:

  1. Open the offending folder to see the thumbnails
  2. Click View from the menus (or the view button on the toolbar), and click Details
  3. Hold the SHIFT key down on your keyboard and Click View from the menus (or the view button on the toolbar), and click Thumbnails


You should now see thumbnails with file names under them.

Any Gmail users out there?

As I move more and more of my computing away from my desktop computer to the Internet and Ubuntu, my computing life becomes less complicated and quite mobile. I can access documents, calendar information, contact information, and more from my phone (Treo 755p at the moment) and any Internet connected computer any where I happen to be.

Using Check boxes to Select Files and Folders – Video Tip

Some computer users have trouble remembering or using the keyboard and mouse shortcuts to select multiple files and folders. Windows Vista offers an option to allow users to check boxes instead of using the keyboard/mouse combos to select multiple files. To enable this option, again in Windows Vista only, follow these steps:

  1. Open in folder (My Computer, Documents, Windows Explorer, etc)
  2. Click Organize from the menus
  3. Click Folder and Search Options
  4. Click the View tab
  5. Scroll through the Advanced settings and check the Use check boxes to select items option
  6. Click Apply
  7. Click OK 

Watch the short 2 minute video below to see a demonstration of this feature and how to enable it.

Re-name your files and folders the easy way – Video Tip

Renaming files and folders can be a tricky task with the mouse. However, using your keyboard, renaming your files or folders is simple!

1. Click ONE time on the file or folder that you want to rename
2. Press the F2 key on your keyboard
3. Type the new name (remember that you can use up to 255 characters…but no slashes)
4. Press Enter on your keyboard

There you have four easy steps to organizing your files. Also, remember that you can perform this same function from within the OPEN or SAVE dialog boxes in many programs.

The only time that you cannot use this techniques is when the file is open.

Don’t add any extra mouse clicks or keyboard strokes to this tip and you should find instant success with this technique.

To rename multiple files at the same time, try this:

1. Select the files to be renamed
2. RIGHT Click on any ONE of the files
3. Type the new name for the file
4. Press Enter on your keyboard

The computer then renames the file you RIGHT clicked on and proceeds to rename all of the other selected files with the same name followed by a number in parenthesis.

Watch the video below to see this tip demonstrated.

Print Folder Contents

The ability to print out the contents of a folder (directory) on your computer does not exist in Windows.

“Why would I need to print out a list of what is in my folders?”, you ask. A couple of reasons actually; 1) it can serve as a quick glance reference to your computer’s contents and 2) you might want to print a copy of file names that you backed up.

Thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of programmers everywhere, you can print out those folders’ contents. One such program is called Folder Print 3. It is a FREE utility that you can download and install to satisfy this need.

Desktop Shortcuts Make Computing Easier – Video Tip

Learning to make Windows work for you instead of you working for it can yield many more happy and productive hours using your computer. One highly under utilized feature of Windows is the shortcut icon. Learning to use and manage shortcuts will give you a huge advantage with your computer.