Windows 7 Tip of the Month - Aero Peek for Quick Access to Your Desktop

(Editor’s Note: As more and more of our clients are running Windows 7 we thought this would be a helpful feature to add each month.)

Most of us have more and more going on on our computer screens. Sometimes you need to see your desktop quickly, and Aero Peak is a great way to do it. There is a small rectangle in the lower right hand corner of the task bar and when you click on it your desktop will appear.

The keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Space performs the same function. Clicking on it again (or using the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Space again) will return all your windows. You’ll also still have all your programs that are running visible on the task bar, so you can manually select which ones you’d like to see again if you prefer.

Note the Windows Key is usually found on the bottom left of your keyboard and looks like this:

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Viewing .tif Files

We often receive documents as .tif files – typically faxes or scanned documents. It can be confusing, because you see the first page and its not always obvious how to view the subsequent pages. There’s a small arrow at the bottom that will help you advance through the pages. You can use the other tools to zoom in, center the image, rotate the image, or close the file.

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Using Field Codes to Insert Dates in Word 2007

Word will automatically insert the date a document was created, printed or last saved (and more, but that’s all we’re getting into right now!) This can be very handy to make sure you know what version of a document you are dealing with. To do this:

Insert > Quick Parts (in the Text Group) > Field

After selecting Field, you’ll see this:

Select Date and Time as your category, and the choose the type of information that you would like to display.

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Adding Holidays to Your Calendar (all versions of Outlook) (12/09)

2. Hold down the <Ctrl> key and repeatedly click on the Application Icon. You will cycle through the open windows.

Show the TOTAL (not just unread) Item Count in Your Inbox (12/09)

Right Click on the Inbox folder and select “Properties”

You’ll see the box below – select “Show total number of items” and then close.

Note that this is set separately for each folder, so sub-folders have to be set individually.

Auto Correction – too much of a good thing? (12/09)

To stop this, click on the Office symbol in the upper left corner of your Word document. The select “Word Options” (or Excel Options, PowerPoint Options, etc.)

Then, Select “Proofing” and “AutoCorrect Options”

Scrolling down (using the scroll bar on the right), we see that Word is setup to replace “ehr” with “her”. Deleting this entry will eliminate this. (Note that Word comes with a pre-set list of autocorrections.)

We still have one more step. Word now won’t automatically make the change as we type, but when we run spell check it may try to help us out again…  so – now we click “Exceptions” and “Other Corrections” and enter “ehr” as an AutoCorrection Exception, and then select "Add". We can now finally use our acronym without being slapped on the wrist each time (electronically, of course!).

Finding Emails (11/09)

Outlook provides all sorts of ways to help find email:

1. Instant Search – this is how most of us find email on a daily basis.

We simply put a name or a few words in the search box and see what we get. Maybe we get fancy and look at the options:

Maybe we even decide which folders we want to search (see circled items below.)

There is actually much more we can do. Selecting the small symbol to the right of the Instant Search Box provides many more options:

(Note that as you add criteria the search parameters appear in the Instant Search Box.)

The “Add Criteria” option allows you to change or add criteria such as which folder the item is in, whether or not it had attachments, and much more.

You can also add ranges to your criteria. For example, rather than last week you might want to specify two days last week:

Note that the format for ranges is two periods between the dates, with no spaces. You can type this information directly into the Instant Search bar if you prefer.

Emailing Your Calendar to Help with Scheduling (11/09)

When two busy people who don't work for the same organization want to schedule a meeting, they are frequently faced with a long string of emails about when each of the parties is free. One person proposes a time; the other can't make that so proposes another, etc. Outlook 2007 allows you to insert a portion of your calendar into an email, thereby showing someone exactly when and for how long you are available. An example is shown below:

• Type in the line of text you want above your line and press <Enter>
• Type three hyphens and press the <Enter> twice
• The line will appear

BUT – if you want to delete this line be aware that it is a border, not really a line. To get rid of it, put your cursor in the paragraph and choose “No Borders” in the Borders Tool.

Searching for Special Characters (Word, all versions) (9/09)

1. Press Ctrl+F. Word displays the Find tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
    
   
2. Select “More” (above) and then “Special” or “Format” to insert special characters.
   

A few examples:

1. Sometimes you copy text that has manual line breaks that you’d like to get rid of - by searching on "^l" and replacing it with nothing, the manual line breaks go away. It often works better to replace the manual line breaks with spaces so that you don't end up with words running together – try it and see. Thank goodness for the “undo” button!
2. You might want to find all numbers in a document and modify their format. Searching on "^#" will find any digit.

Note the option to “Find Whole Word Only” – you might have a document where you have decided to replace the word “cat” with “feline” – but you would not want to replace “application” with “applifelineion”!

To learn more about what you can do with this feature go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HP051894331033.aspx. If you really want to get fancy and work with multiple languages, try this: http://accurapid.com/journal/15msw.htm.

Delegate & Lighten Your Load! (Outlook 2003/2007) (8/09)

1. Open Outlook and Select Tools > Options > Delegates > Add
2. Select the user you want to delegate access to, click Add > Ok.
3. You will then see the Delegate Permissions dialog box as shown below:
   
   
   
   
   
4. You will see a selection of folders (Tasks, Inbox, Contacts, Notes, Journal.) For each of these you can specify a level of authority for your delegate.
   
   • Reviewer: The delegate can only view items
   • Author: The delegate can create and read all items but can edit and delete only their own items.
   • Editor: The delegate can create, read, edit, and delete all items.
     
     
5. Note that Outlook will automatically send a message to your delegate if you choose, and that you can also decide whether or not you want the delegate to see your private items.
   
   
6. Once you have selected the proper levels of authority for your delegate, Click OK to return to the Options dialog box.
   
   
7. You will also be able to decide who receives meeting notices, as in the figure below.

Entering Choices in Excel (Excel 2003/ 2007) (8/09)

Well, it can do one better! After you have entered all of your choices once, type ALT + Down Arrow and you will be shown a list of choices – use the arrow keys or your mouse to make your selection!

Delete an Address from the Outlook Auto-Complete List (7/09)

• Select the cell or range of cells you would like to name.
• Enter the name in the Name Box to the left of the Formula Bar near the top of the worksheet, then <Enter>

  

• When you need to return to the cell or range of cells, click the arrow to the right of the Name Box, and then click the name.

  

• To change or delete a name:
  Formula > Name Manager > Select name > Delete
  

Turn That Cell! (Excel 2007) (10/07)

• Select Home > Font > Alignment, then enter a number between -90 and 90 under “orientation”
• The entry in your cell will be rotated by that number of degrees.

Advanced Find & Replace With Wildcards (Word 2007) (10/07)

• Home > Find or Replace >
• Under search options select “use wildcards” (If you don’t see that option select “more”

Just a few of the things you can do with wildcards:

For a complete discussion of what wildcards can do in Word 2007 go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/word/HA012303921033.aspx.

Note that Excel also has wildcard capabilities but it does work somewhat differently. Information is available at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HP012163901033.aspx?pid=CH100648141033

“Stick” Recent Documents You Use Again and Again (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word 2007) (9/08)

The Document Inspector (Word 2007, Excel 2007) (9/08)

Once the document is final, make a copy to send out. (This is important because it is not always possible to restore the information the Document Inspector removes.) Click the Office Button and select Prepare > Inspect Document. Select the type of hidden content you would like to check for and select Inspect. You will then be given the option of removing any hidden content that is found.

Expired Email Messages Look like this! (8/08)

• On the Options tab, in the More Options group, click Message Options.
• In the Message Options dialog box, under Delivery options, select the Expires after check box, and then click a date and time.

This is what an expired message will look like once expired:

Outlook: Take a Quick Poll Using Voting Buttons (8/08)

• Approve/Reject
• Yes/No
• Yes/No/Maybe
• Custom

To send an email with Voting Buttons:

• Open a new email
• In the Tracking group select the Options tab, click Use Voting Buttons
• Select the type of response you would like. Custom responses require you to type in your responses separated by a semicolon.
• Send the email (you would typically put the question in the Subject Line.)

To review the results of the poll:

1. Open the original message with voting buttons that you sent. This message is usually located in the Sent Items folder.
2. On the Message tab, in the Show group, click Tracking.

Here is an example of the results you might receive:

Note: Tracking does not appear until at least one recipient of the e-mail message has replied with his or her vote.

Using the Fill Handle (Excel) (6/08)

The fill handle is the small black square at the lower right corner of a selected cell. Drag it to automatically fill adjacent cells.

Status Bar Statistics (Excel 2007) (6/08)

Moving and Copying Cells by Dragging Selection Borders (Excel 2007) (6/08)

Excel provides the ability to move and copy cells by dragging selection borders.

For instance, to move Rio de Janeiro to below Auckland (you might want to put all the cities in the Southern Hemisphere together) drag the selection border while holding down the Shift key in order to insert it in its new position. If you drag the border without holding down the Shift key, the selected cells will instead replace the cells you drop them on. Conversely, if you hold down Ctrl while dragging a selection border, the selected cells are copied to their new location.

Bookmarks (Word 2003 and 2007) (5/08)

First, insert a bookmark:

Word 2007	Word 2003
Select the text or item to which you want to assign a bookmark, or click where you want to insert a bookmark. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Bookmark. Under Bookmark name, type or select a name. Click Add.	Select an item to which you want to assign a bookmark, or click where you want to insert a bookmark. On the Insert menu, click Bookmark. Under Bookmark name, type or select a name. Click Add.

Note: Bookmark names must begin with a letter and can contain numbers. You can't include spaces in a bookmark name. However, you can use the underscore character to separate words — for example, "First_heading."

Then, to create a link to a bookmark:

Excel – Counting Occurrences of Data (COUNTIF) (4/08)

Type the following statement in a cell:

=COUNTIF(Range,Criteria), where Range = the set of data to be considered and Criteria is the number or word you'd like to count. (Note that words must be enclosed in quotes.) To use a simple example, if we were working with the data on the right and wanted to know how many times Mary’s name appears, we would use the following formula: =COUNTIF(A1:A10,”Mary”) (returns the value 3)

This can get much more complicated (and useful!), using wildcards - (? (question mark) is used to find any single character and * (asterisk) is used to find any string of characters). Note that numbers do not have to be enclosed in quotes.

A similar function can be used to count the blanks in a range:

=Countblank(range) would return the number of blank cells in the given range

Word – Fit It All on One Page! (4/08)

Word: Generating Random Text (3/08)

=Lorem(X,Y) and then pressing <enter> will give you x paragraphs of y sentences each of the classic “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…”

=Rand(X,Y) and then pressing <enter> will give you x paragraphs of y sentences each of English words that make sense together

Tabbing in a Table (2/08)

Excel - Would You Like Your Spreadsheet with Letters or Numbers?

Excel 2003: Tools > Options > General Tab > R1C1 Reference style(this toggles between letters and numbers)

Excel 2007: Office Button > Excel Options > Formulas > Working with formulas > R1C1 Reference style (this toggles between letters and numbers)

Excel – First Cell, Last Cell – Both are Important

Separate Text into Columns – Word & Excel 2007 (12/07)

Have you ever been faced with a list of names or other text that you’d like to separate into individual columns (first and last names?) In the past, you could either commit to cutting and pasting, or go through a lengthy process to use Word and/or Excel to move the text around. Office 2007 makes this process much easier:

Excel 2007:

• Select the text you’d like to convert
• Data > Text to Columns
• Delimited
• Select the delimiter used (often a space, tab or comma)
• Next
• Select the way you would like this data formatted
• Select Finish

Word 2007:

• Insert >Table > Convert Text to Table
• Select the number of columns, the column width (Autofit behavior) and the character that separates the text (again, often a space, tab or comma)
• Select OK
  

Table Tips in Word 2007 (11/07)

Cell Margins – every cell in a table is setup with margins around your information – basically a buffer between the information and the edge of the cell. Sometimes you want to increase or decrease the cell margin:

To change the cell margins in the entire table:

• Right click anywhere within the table
• Select Table Properties > Table > Options
• Insert the cell margins you’d like to use

To change the cell margins for an individual cell or group of cells:

• Highlight the cells you’d like to change and right click
• Select Table Properties > Cell > Options
• Deselect “Same as the whole table”
• Insert the cell margins you’d like to use
• Note that you can also specify wrapping the text on multiple lines or fitting the text (shrinking or expanding) within the cell.

Cell Spacing: cells within a table are also separated by spacing between the cells – think of this as space between the lines of a cell. To change this:

• Right click anywhere within the table
• Select Table Properties > Table > Options
• Select “Allow spacing between cells”

Text Wrapping: text can be formatted to wrap around a table if the table does not take up the entire width of a page, or to simply run over and under the table.

• Right click anywhere within the table
• Select Table Properties > Table > Options
• Under “Text Wrapping” select None or Around

Data Validation in Excel 2007 (10/07)

To setup data validation:

• Select the cell you would like to validate (or where you would like the dropdown list.)
• Select Data > Data Validation (in the Data Tools Group) > Settings
• Below “Allow” select the criteria you would like to use (decimal, date, time, list, text length, etc.)
• Determine your criteria
• If you want to allow blanks, select the “Ignore blank” check box
• You can also specify an input message and an error alert to help your users know what you to do and when they make a mistake

• Enter the values you would like to allow in a single column or row somewhere in your spreadsheet (these values can also be in another spreadsheet but we won’t get into that here…)
• Select Data > Data Validation (in the Data Tools Group) > Settings > Allow > List
• Select the spreadsheet icon to the right of the source field and then highlight your data selections
• Select OK
• You should now see a drop-down arrow when you select that field

Using Watermarks in Your Documents - Word 2003 & 2007

Watermarks are used to clarify the purpose of a document (draft, final, etc.) or for decorative purposes. They can be a simple word or a graphic image. To insert a Watermark

Word 2003
Format > Background > Printed Watermark

Word 2007
Page Layout> Watermark

You can then select either a picture (inserting a graphic image from a file) or a text watermark. The watermark can be any color you choose, and an option is provided to make it semi-transparent, letting the watermark fade into the background of your document.

Office 2003 & 2007 – Tricks for Selecting Text (7/07)

Word provides many ways of selecting text that helps you work more efficiently. Here are a few of our favorites:

Select Paragraph Attributes

When you select text in a paragraph, by default you also copy paragraph attributes such as alignment and spacing. To turn this on or off:

Word 2003 - Tools > Options > Edit, Select or clear the “Use smart paragraph selection” check box.

Word 2007 - Microsoft Office Button > Word Options > Advanced > Editing, Select or clear the “Use smart paragraph selection” check box.

Select Whole Words

You can either select entire words on individual letters when selecting text. To turn this on or off:

Word 2003 - Tools > Options > Edit, Select or clear the “When selecting, automatically select entire word” check box.

Word 2007 - Microsoft Office Button > Word Options > Advanced > Editing, Select or clear the “When selecting, automatically select entire word” check box.

Select Multiple Sections of Text (Word and Excel, all version)

Selecting more than one section of text at the same time is as simple as holding down the Ctrl key while continuing to select. This is of great help when you need to change formatting for more than one piece of text or cell at a time.

How Many “Recent Documents”? (6/07)

In Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2003

• Tools > Options > General
• Set “Recently Used File List” to between 1 and 9 files

• Start with the Windows Button and select Word Options > Advanced > Display
• Set “Show this number of Recent Documents” to a number between 1 and 50 documents

Using the Format Painter - Outlook 2003 (5/07)

• To copy both paragraph attributes (such as alignment, indentation, and so on) and character attributes (such as font and font effects), select the text whose formatting you want to copy plus the paragraph mark that follows the text. (To show paragraph marks select the small paragraph mark icon on the standard toolbar.)
• To copy only character attributes, select the text without selecting the paragraph mark.
• After you have selected the desired amount of text click the Format Painter on the standard toolbar (looks like a paint brush.)
• Now select the new text you would like to format and it will be magically transformed!
• If you want to apply the same formatting to more than one item, select the formatting you want, double-click Format Painter, and then select each piece of text you want to apply formatting to. When you're finished, press ESC.

Conditional Formatting - Excel 2007 (5/07)

• Select the relevant range of cells
• On the Home tab, in the Styles Group, click the arrow next to Conditional Formatting
• Choose a rule and the relevant parameters (for example, “Top Bottom Rules”, “Top 10%” will highlight all data that is in the top 10% in specified color. Or, using the 3-color scale lets you quickly identify data that fits in various ranges.)

• Select the relevant range of cells
• On the Home tab, in the Styles Group, click the arrow next to Conditional Formatting
• Select “New Rule”
• Develop the rule based on your specific criteria.

Send Files the Easy Way - Outlook 2003 (4/07)

• In Windows Explorer, right-click on the file you want to send
• Select "Send To" and then "Mail Recipient"
• An email will pop open – some text is included but you can delete or modify it as you see fit.

Simplify Scheduling with Calendar Overlay - Outlook 2007 (4/07)

• Open the calendars for everyone that you are trying to coordinate by clicking on File>Open>Other User's Folder… in your Calendar window (note that you can only do this for people who are part of your domain, and you must be using Exchange.) You should now have multiple calendars open next to each other.
• Click the small arrow that appears to the left of the person's name in the calendars you want to overlay. The calendars will slide to the left (one at a time, as you select them) and appear in different colors as overlays to your calendar. Now you will very easily be able to see open slots on any date.
• To remove a calendar from the overlay stack select the arrow that appears next to its name – that calendar will slide to the right and be seen by itself.
• To go back to seeing just your calendar select the Calendar Icon in your Folder List.

Find Related Messages - Outlook 2003 (3/06)

New Help for Scheduling Meetings - Outlook 2007 (3/06)

Absolute References in Microsoft Excel (2/07)

Using formulas in Microsoft Excel can be greatly simplified by Absolute References. Absolute References are best explained by contrasting them with Relative References.

• Relative Reference: The most common reference. In a formula, the Relative Address of a cell is based on the relationship of the cell that contains the formula and the cell that is referred to. If the position of the cell that contains the formula changes, the cell that is referred to changes. This is very handy because if you copy the formula, the reference automatically adjusts. BUT - sometimes you don't want it to, so....
• Absolute Reference: An Absolute Reference always refers to the same cell (or row of column, but we'll get into that in a minute.) "$" is used to indicate absolute references – so $A$1 will always indicate A1, regardless of how it is moved or copied. An example of using this would be a spreadsheet with a cell that contains an interest rate. This cell is referred to multiple times, and you always want to refer to the same cell.
• Mixed References: A mixed reference has either an absolute column and relative row, or absolute row and relative column. An absolute column reference takes the form $A1, $B1, and so on. An absolute row reference takes the form A$1, B$1, and so on. If the position of the cell that contains the formula changes, the relative reference is changed, and the absolute reference does not change. If you copy the formula across rows or down columns, the relative reference automatically adjusts, and the absolute reference does not adjust. For example, if you copy a mixed reference from cell A2 to B3, it adjusts from =A$1 to =B$1.

Shortcut: Tired of Typing http://?? (1/07)

Five Vista Features We Love

Gadgets – Gadgets are mini applications that sit on your desktop. From news feeds to clocks to calculators to sticky notes and much more, gadgets are fun and helpful. Take a look at http://gallery.microsoft.com/ for more information about Gadgets.

Navigating around your PC - Using the Navigation pane you can visually see the folder hierarchy and quickly find your destination.

Aero Glass – Windows are transparent (degree of transparency can be customized) enabling you to see more of what is going on all over your desktop.

Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D – Flip gives you a live thumbnail of each file. Flip 3D lets you use the scroll wheel to flip through the windows and select the one you want.

Change the Subject Line (so we know what you're talking about!) (11/06)

There are two great reasons to change the subject line of an email:

• When you reply but are changing the topic it is nice to let people know about the new subject (this may even help to get them to read it!)
• When you file an email (whose subject line does not match the email topic) and would like to be able to find it later.

Changing the subject is easy to do – when replying just insert your new topic. When saving email, open the email, type in the new subject, and save or close the email. When asked if you want to save changes click "yes".

Email Etiquette (11/06)

Email Etiquette:

• Stand up straight and mind your e-mail manners
• More e-mail etiquette tips from Crabby

General Crabby Office Lady:

• Crabby Office Lady Column Archives

Using Bookmarks in Word 2003 (10/06)

To see your bookmarks:
1. Tools, Options, View
2. Select Bookmarks

To insert/define a bookmark:
1. Select the item or location where you want to insert a bookmark.
2. Insert, Bookmark.
3. Type or select a name (name must begin with a letter and can contain numbers but no spaces)
4. Add

To insert a link to a bookmark:
1. Highlight the location you would like to set as the link
2. Right click and select Hyperlink
3. Select Bookmarks and select the bookmark you have predefined. (Note you must define the bookmarks before attempting to insert them.)

Change Your Default Address Book (Outlook 2003)(9/06)

• Tools > Address Book
• Tools > Options

Now select the following:

• Which address book would you like to appear first?
• Where would you like to keep your personal email addresses?
• Outlook will check email addresses from your address books in a specific order. You can specify that order here.

Using Smart Tags in Microsoft Word (7/06)

By now we're all used to seeing Microsoft Word text underlined by a series of small purple dots. When your mouse hovers over that text a small box with an "i" inside the box appears. Selecting this "i" allows you to perform various actions that are appropriate for the specific type of text. For example, if the text is a name, you can send an email, schedule a meeting, open the Contact, add the name to your Contacts or insert the Contact's address. If it is a date, you can schedule a meeting or show your Calendar.

To enable Smart Tags: Tools > AutoCorrect Options > Smart Tags. Select Label text with smart tags, and then select the Recognizers that you'd like to use.

How to Get the Most from Outlook's Reading Pane (6/06)

Outlook's Reading Pane lets you preview messages without opening them. It helps you work with your messages quickly and efficiently, and can be setup to use the "real estate" on your desktop to make sense for the way you work.

• Turn Reading Pane On & Off
• View > Reading Pane > On/Off
• Position Reading Pane on Bottom or Right of Screen
• View > Reading Pane > Bottom/Right
• Note: studies show that viewing the Reading Pane on the right results in more information on the screen
• Hide Message Header - The Message Header is essentially the same information that is listed in your Inbox. By hiding it you gain more space in your Reading Pane, making it easier to effectively read the message while it is there.
• View > Arrange by > Custom > Other Settings
• Reading Pane > Hide Header Information
• Resize Message Header - Point to the border of the Reading Pane and when the pointer becomes a double-sided arrow, drag the border to where you want it.

Using Distribution Lists in Outlook (5/06)

To use names in your address book to develop a distribution list:

• File > New > Distribution List
• In the Name box, type a name for the list
• Select Members (or Add New if they are not already in your Contacts)
• Select the address book that contains the e-mail addresses you want in your distribution list – you can use more than one if you need to
• In the Type Name or Select from List box, type a name you want to include. In the list below, select the name, and then select Members. Do this for each person you want to add to the distribution list, and then select OK

To take a distribution list from names in an email:

• In the e-mail message you want to copy the names from, select the names in the To or Cc
• Edit > Copy File > New > Distribution List
• In the Name box, type a name for the distribution list
• Select Select Members In Add to Distribution List, right-click, and then select Paste on the shortcut menu

To send to only part of a distribution list:

• You'll notice that after you have selected the distribution list the list will show up with a small "plus" sign just to the right of the name
• Selecting the plus sign will expand the list so that all the names are shown.
• Delete the names you don't want, and you are all set
• Note: once you have expanded a distribution list you can not undo this action

Use Flags to Organize Your Inbox (4/06)

To make the flag column visible:

• On the VIEW menu, select ARRANGE BY, the CURRENT VIEW, and then click CUSTOMIZE CURRENT VIEW.
• Select OTHER SETTINGS.
• Under OTHER OPTIONS, select the SHOW QUICK FLAG column check box.
• Once your emails are coded with flags, you can use search folders to easily view all the emails in a given category.

For details on search folders, see an article in our June '05 Newsletter http://www.beinetworks.com/pubs/beinetworks/Tech_Tips_for_End_.cfm#EU6.05.

Compare Documents Side-by-Side (Word 2003)(3/06)

Sometimes when you have several people providing input on a document the various versions and comments can become very confusing. One method is to use "Track Changes" and let people edit the document consecutively. Alternatively, you can let users edit their own version of a document and then compare them side-by-side to view each person's input.

• Open the documents you want to compare side-by-side:
• Window > Compare side-by-side with… (Note: the Window command will change depending on the name of the file that is open. If you have more than two documents open, a menu will display with a list of the open documents.)
• Both documents will open, side-by-side.
• A small toolbar Compare Side will appear.
• Selecting Synchronous Scrolling will let you scroll through both documents simultaneously.
• Selecting Reset Window Position will reset the windows to the position they were in before you started the comparison (basically it will line the documents up again.)

Selecting and Moving Individual Words, Lines and Paragraphs in Word 2003 (2/06)

Many of us have mastered double clicking on an individual word to select the entire word – we can go a step beyond and select entire lines or paragraphs:

• To select an entire line:
• Position your cursor to the left of the margin and click once.
• The entire line will now be highlighted.
• To select an entire paragraph:
• Position your cursor to the left of the margin and click twice.
• The entire paragraph will now be highlighted.
• To select an entire document:
• Position your cursor to the left of the margin and click three times.
• The entire document will now be highlighted.
• To move highlighted sections:
• Once the desired section is highlighted, move the cursor back over the highlight section and drag it to the new desired location.
• You can also cut and paste the section, but sometimes it is easier just to drag it there.

Using AutoCorrect to Save Time (Word 2003) (1/06)

Did you know that you can add words that you would like Word to fix? This can either be words you often misspell, or words you'd like to type abbreviations for and have Word put in the entire text. For example, if you frequently use the phrase "Table of Contents" you can have Word substitute "Table of Contents" every time you type "TOC."

Adding to Your AutoCorrect List:

• Type TOOLS>AUTOCORRECT OPTIONS
• Select AUTOCORRECT Type 'TOC' in the Replace box, and "Table of Contents" in the With box
• Note: if you follow this process with the text selected, that text will automatically appear in the With box

There are also a few ways to use the spell-checker to add words to your autocorrect list.

While you are spell checking a document:

• Tools>Spelling & Grammar:
• Select AutoCorrect instead of Change when an incorrect spelling is found
• The word will now be automatically corrected as you type

Or - while you are viewing a document and you see the wavy red line under a word:

• Right-click on the word Select AutoCorrect
• Select the correct spelling of the word if it appears on the list shown
• The word will now be automatically corrected as you type

Use Your Mouse's Scroll Wheel to Zoom (12/05)

Focus In on Your Outlook Calendar Where You Need To (12/05)

• Click on Calendar on your folder list to display the thumbnail calendar at the upper left of your screen. Use your mouse to click and drag over the range of dates that you would like to see displayed.
• To display a non-contiguous set of days select the first group, then hold down the CTRL key and select the next set. You can repeat this process until you've selected all the dates you need to see.

Does Your Office Work in Multiple Time Zones?(12/05)

• While you are viewing your calendar, put your cursor over the list of times to the left of your detailed calendar.
• Right-click and select "Change Time Zones".
• Select "Show additional time zone", give your new time zone a label (could be HQ, or Paris, or whatever works for you) and select their time zone.
• Select OK and Exit. You will now see both time zones listed. Note that if you would like to swap the appearance of the time zones, you can select "swap time zones".

Let Excel Talk to You (12/05)

• Select Tools > Speech > Show Text to Speech Toolbar To review data that has been previously entered:
• Select the cells that you would like read. Select "Read Cells" (note that you can select read by columns or read by rows)
• To review data as you enter it select "Speak on Enter"
• To stop this at any time Select "Stop Speaking".

PowerPoint Delivery Tips (12/05)

While viewing a Slideshow.

• The "w" key will make the screen go white; the "b" key will make it go black. Repeating this will restore the slide show. This is useful during question periods or breaks where you would prefer the audience not focus on the screen or at the beginning of a presentation when you'd like to be all setup but not give away your first slide!
• CTRL P gives you an on screen pen that you can use to make notes or focus the audience on a particular portion of the screen. Pressing the "e" key will erase what you have written on that page (known as ink annotations).
• While you have the pen and are in slide show mode, right clicking will bring up an option screen that allows you to select among several different pens (Pointer Options > ballpoint, felt tip, highlighter). You can save your presentation with the annotations if you like – the annotations are a graphic that is placed on top of the individual slides.

Microsoft Outlook's Out-of-Office Assistant (11/05)

• On the Tools menu, select Out of Office Assistant. Select whether you're In or Out of the office right now. (You can always change this later.)
• In the first blank box, type the message you want to go out. A typical message includes how long you'll be away and whom to contact with urgent requests.
• Click OK. This is the simplest way to use this feature.

• Select Tools > Out of Office Assistant > Add Rule
• Fill in the relevant criteria on the top of the window (from, to, subject, etc.)
• Select the action you'd like performed when the criteria are met
• Select OK

• Enter the customer's name in the Sender, Subject and Message Body fields
• Select Forward, and enter your assistant's email address in the field marked To
• Select OK , then OK

Using Tables in Microsoft Word (10/05)

• To merge table cells to make a table title, select the cells, and then click MERGE CELLS on the TABLE menu.
• To add a row at the end of a table, click the last cell, and then press TAB.
• To insert a tab character in a table cell, press CTRL+TAB.
• To number rows in a table, select the left column, and then click the NUMBERING button.
• To number columns in a table, select the top row, and then click the NUMBERING button.
• To move a table row up or down, select the row, and then press ALT+SHIFT+UP ARROW or ALT+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW.
• Word automatically creates margins within each cell to ensure space around your data.  There may be times that you want to eliminate or change the margins.  To do this select TABLE>TABLE PROPERTIES>CELL>OPTIONS.  You can alter the margins of the cells you have selected, and you can select either wrapping the text or fitting the text to the cell.
• Nested tables provide a great deal of flexibility when formatting Word documents.  They are the easiest and most flexible way to format a table with text next to the table.  To create a nested table, simply insert a table into a cell in an existing table.
• Sizing rows and columns: By default, new Word tables are set to automatically fit between the margins — that setting is called AUTOFIT TO WINDOW. To access this setting, select TABLE>AUTOFIT. When a table has this setting, the size of the columns will automatically adjust to accommodate any content you add to the table, in order to keep the table within the margins. Other options include DISTRIBUTE ROWS/COLUMNS EVENLY or FIXED COLUMN WIDTH.

Microsoft Excel: Nifty Tricks that Save Time & Other Cool Stuff (9/05)

How to Transpose Data

• Select the row or column you want to change
• Press Ctrl+C to copy it and then put your cursor in the top/left most cell where you want the column/row to end up.
• On the Edit menu click Paste Special and then click Transpose.

Select Only Blank Cells

• Select the range containing the blank cells
• Click Go To on the Edit menu, click Special, and then click Blanks
• You can now tab through or format only the selected blank cells

Copying Info into a Spreadsheet

Outlook: Save Time & Create More Informative Tasks, Emails, etc. (8/05)

To create a task from an email

To create an email from a calendar item

Play around with the various possibilities – once you develop the habit of using this process you’ll save time and have more information where you want it!

Microsoft Office Clipboard – Helpful or Annoying? (7/05)

Office 2000 introduced a clipboard that can hold more than one item (now up to 24) as well as copy and paste among different programs.  This can be very useful but and also intrude when you don’t really need it.

Take a look at the Office Clipboard by going to EDIT>Office Clipboard.  The Clipboard will pop up on the right-hand side of your screen.  Click on Options at the bottom and decide what you’d like to clipboard to do.  The choices you will see are:

• Show Office Clipboard Automatically
• Show Office Clipboard When CTRL+C Pressed Twice
• Collect Without Showing Office Clipboard
• Show Office Clipboard Icon on Taskbar
• Show Status Near Taskbar When Copying

We’d recommend selecting “Collect Without Showing Office Clipboard” – this lets Office go ahead and collect information as you work, but doesn’t intrude unless you need it.  You can also select “Show Office Clipboard When CTRL+C Pressed Twice” – this is just a shortcut to displaying the clipboard. Any settings you select for the Office Clipboard will determine its behavior in all the programs that support it.

Find, Read & Organize Your Email with Search Folders (6/05)

• For Followup (any email with a flag)
• Large Mail (any mail larger than 100 KB)
• Unread Mail

  You may be familiar with Outlook rules (for example a rule might specify that all mail from a certain user is automatically moved from your Inbox to a certain folder). Search Folders are similar except that while rules have permanent consequences, Search Folders simply organize and point to mail that STILL EXISTS in its original location. The really powerful part of Search Folders is that you can create and customize them according to criteria that you setup. Some examples – a search folder could contain all mail from a certain person, all mail regarding a specific subject, or all mail sent to a specific person.

To create a customized Search Folder:

• Right Click on SEARCH FOLDERS in your Outlook Folder List
• Select NEW SEARCH FOLDER
• Either select one of the pre-configured SEARCH FOLDERS or scroll to the bottom and select “CREATE A CUSTOM SEARCH FOLDER”
• If you select one of the pre-configured SEARCH FOLDERS then click OK and the folder will be created
• If you select CREATE A CUSTOM SEARCH FOLDER, then select CHOOSE to specify your criteria, then select OK.

One important point: Deleting a Search Folder does not delete the emails in the search folder – remember, it is just a virtual folder. However, if you delete a message within a search folder, you are deleting the email.

For more in depth information and a tutorial on Search Folders, go to http://office.microsoft.com/training/Training.aspx?AssetID=RP010778661033&CTT=6&Origin=RC010778621033

Control How Text is Pasted (Word XP/2002, 2003) (5/05)

• Keep Source Formatting
• Match Destination Formatting
• Keep Text Only
• Apply Style or Formatting…

You will typically “MATCH DESTINATION FORMATTING”, which will result in the pasted text looking like it was meant to be a part of your document. If that doesn’t yield the result you were looking for, try “KEEP TEXT ONLY” which will usually match the font and point size of your pasted text with that of your target document, but will lose formatting such as bullets, bolding, italics, etc.

Save Time Using “My Places” to Open & Save Files (Office 2003, Office XP) (4/05)

Here’s how it works (you need to be in an application such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.):

Add a Shortcut to the My Places Bar:
1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. In the Open dialog box, click the item that you want to add to the My Places bar.
3. Click Tools, then click Add to “My Places”.  Your shortcut will now appear at the bottom of the My Places bar.

Remove a Shortcut from the My Places Bar:
1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. On the My Places bar, right-click the shortcut that you want to remove, and then click Remove on the shortcut menu.
Note: you cannot remove the default shortcuts such as My Documents without editing the Windows registry which is beyond the scope of this article.  Microsoft Knowledgebase article 282087 has more information.

Sorting Email Messages by Multiple Columns in Outlook 2003 & Outlook XP (3/05)

Automatically Add Holidays to Your Outlook Calendar (all versions of Outlook) (3/05)