http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips This section contains tips about how to make your computer more secure, easier to use, perform faster and better. en-us Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:15:17 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/wintips.xml http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/88111302.asp Taskbar Preview Thumbnails are those annoying huge windows that popup over your document when your mouse pointer drifts over the taskbar while you're trying to work. If they annoy you as much as they annoy me, here's how to get rid of them. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:15:17 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89012602.asp If you're a writer, or do a lot of keyboard typing (like I do), you might be able so save yourself a lot of work by using Windows 7's built-in speech recognition. The question is, will speech recognition save you some work? Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:44:45 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89032401.asp When you double-click on a file name on your PC's desktop or in Windows Explorer, a specific application opens to handle that file. These are the default programs for those file types. Windows determines which application to open for each specific file by its "file association". Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:28:49 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89040101.asp A computer might have a default name provided by the individual who built it, or you may have inherited the computer from a family member or from another employee who changed positions or left the company. The computer's name may no longer apply. Fortunately, it's very easy to change a computer's name. Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:35:46 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89051003.asp Windows 7 WLAN AutoConfig Service discovers and allows you to connect to and disconnect from wireless networks. If you have a wireless adapter that requires a special driver you need to disable WLAN AutoConfig. Or if your computer is connected to a Cabled LAN, you may want to disable WLAN AutoConfig for security reasons. Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:18:16 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89051602.asp Windows 7 automatically re-sizes, re-arranges and docks windows when they are moved to the edge of the screen. If you want to re-size re-arrange and dock two or three windows on the desktop, all you have to do is right-click on the taskbar and in the menu that appears, select one of the options. Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:04:41 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89051701.asp Clicking on the time/date on the right side of the Windows 7 taskbar brings up an image of a clock showing the local time. What if you would like to send a message to a relative in another time zone and would like to know if it's too early/late to contact them? It's extremely easy to add an additional clock. Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:25:06 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89051904.asp In previous versions of Windows, you had only two choices: to autoplay or not to autoplay. Windows 7 lets you configure settings for each media type; whether to autoplay and which application to use to play. Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:37:26 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89051903.asp One of the most annoying things about Windows is the tooltips popup in Explorer. Generally, the reason I'm using explorer is to locate a file, but the annoying tooltips popup keeps covering up filenames. The popup itself doesn't display any useful information. Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:05:16 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89061501.asp A quicker way to access Control Panel utilities is to configure the Start menu so that the individual Control Panel utilities appear in a sub-menu to the Start menu Control Panel menu item. Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:22:40 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89080204.asp With the Recycle Bin, you can easily restore a file that you deleted. So you might agree that the Recycle Bin is an important utility to have on your desktop. But the Recycle Bin has been known to disappear from the desktop on occasion. Here's how to restore the Recycle Bin icon to the desktop. Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:32:25 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89080804.asp When you download with Internet Explorer, it pops up a "Save" dialog box to ask you where you want to save the downloaded file. But when you download with Firefox, it simply displays the message "Download complete". Wonderful, but where did it put the downloaded file? Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:36:41 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/89111002.asp Whenever you add or remove software or hardware on your computer theres a posibilty of something going wrong. It's very wise to create a restore point before you make any major changes to your PC. Why not put a link to the create a restore point button right on your desk top? Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:05:20 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90001402.asp The primary advantage of a laptop PC is portability, but it's a bit cumbersome if you try to carry one with the display open. Wouldn't it be nice if the laptop PC wouldn't shut off when you close the display? This is actually an easy feature to configure. Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:10:48 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90002301.asp Maybe you're visually impaired, or maybe you're just tired of reading so much. Adobe's free Acrobat PDF Reader version 6 or higher has an accessibility feature for the visually impaired. Wed, 8 Dec 2010 22:15:21 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90032003.asp In Windows XP and Vista you could put a shortcut to a folder on the Taskbar by dragging the folder to the Quick Launch toolbar. By default, Windows 7 doesn't have a Quick Launch toolbar. However, you can still put a shortcut to a folder on the Taskbar. Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:44:15 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90041803.asp USB drives operate slower than the PC's hard disk drive. One reason for this is because many people remove their USB drive by simply unplugging it. This makes it unwise to use a write cashe with a USB drive. However in Windows 7 you can configure a write cashe for your USB drive. Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:41:40 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90050401.asp Windows 7 is fast, stable and has a lot of very cool new features. I have a few tips and tricks to help me get the most from Windows 7, and I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:07:10 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90052202.asp Windows Live Messenger is part of Windows Live Essentials, which includes other Windows Live applications such as Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. Windows Live Essentials has an uninstaller which lets you remove individual components of Windows Live Essentials. Fri, 9 Jul 2010 18:06:35 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90060101.asp Along with Windows 95, keyboards a Windows key were introduced. The Windows key is the key with the logo on it just to the left of the [Alt] key. The Windows key adds some functionality that can speed up your access the Windows Desktop and give you quick access to some useful utilities. Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:12:09 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90070601.asp Hibernation is a feature that saves an image of all open documents and then powers down your computer. There are two main problems with hibernation. First, it's one of the most problem plagued technologies ever created. Second, it takes up a lot of hard disk space. Tue, 25 May 2010 16:20:25 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90071202.asp By default a Windows 7 notification message appears for 5 seconds and then slowly fades away. It requires more than 5 seconds for me to fetch a cup of coffee and return to my PC. I may well have missed a notification message while I was gone. Fortunately it's very easy to increase the notification display time. Wed, 19 May 2010 17:32:46 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90072001.asp Double-clicking requires just the right timing (as configured in Control Panel) between clicks to be successful. Double-clicking has never worked well with Windows. Fortunately it's very easy to configure Windows to work with single-clicks. Tue, 11 May 2010 15:27:55 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90072401.asp ReadyBoost is a feature of Windows 7 that allows you to use a USB flash drive or a secure digital (SD) memory card as cache memory. When a removable memory device is inserted, Windows checks to see if it's fast enough to work with ReadyBoost. If so, you're asked if you want to use the device to speed up system performance. Fri, 7 May 2010 15:16:24 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90082402.asp With a little effort, you can set up an FTP server on Windows XP Professional that your friends can grab files off of. Start by retrieving your Windows XP CD. Tue, 6 Apr 2010 16:28:05 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90090501.asp Gadgets are little applications that you can place on your PC desktop. Some of them are gadgets that get information from your Internet connection, like stock quotes, news headlines, or whether information. Other gadgets get information from your computer, like the time, CPU utilization, or memory utilization. Many are just games. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:35:21 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90090801.asp Metadata is information attached to a file such as the author, the date it was created, the copyright notice etc. Why would yo want to remove the metadata? Maybe the information is something you want to keep private, or you might want to use a photograph to which someone has erroneously attached a copyright. Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:03:38 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90091202.asp If you have files on your Windows 7 PC that you don't want anyone to see, you can easily hide them. You simply set the files hidden attribute. But first make sure your PC's Folder Options is set to "Don't show hidden files, folders, or drives". Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:01:22 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90091201.asp In this video Dave Andrews shows you how to download videos from YouTube to your PC using a free program called YouTube Downloader. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:21:52 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90091302.asp Knowing whether you have a 32 bit or 64 bit operating system is important because 64 bit drivers will not work with a 32 bit operating system and if you have a 64 bit operating system, your computers performance will improve greatly if you use 64 bit applications and drivers. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:28:52 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90101301.asp Something stopped working? Could the problem have been caused by a Windows update? Every day thousands of Windows PC's stop working because of Windows updates. Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:03:47 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90110201.asp You've made a bunch of changes to a file, but now you feel it's all wrong. You may be able to go back to a previous version. Depending upon how it's configured, Window's System Restore feture may have, without you knowing, saved a previous version of your file. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:38:16 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90111102.asp If you need to type the same character many times in a row, wouldn't it be convenient if, rather than repeatedly pressing the same key, you could just hold the key down and it would automatically repeat the character? That's exactly what a typomatic key does. Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:40:34 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/90111101.asp At its core, the PC is a device for working with and storing files. Two common things done with files is to move them or to copy them. Did you know that Windows provides at least five different ways to copy or move a file or folder? Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:43:31 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91000102.asp You know you can rename a file directly in Windows Explorer by clicking on the file's name to select it, and then clicking on the file's name again (not double-clicking, but clicking twice). But did you know that you can rename a group of files simultaneously? Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:59:04 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91001401.asp One of the most popular things for people to do when they get a new PC is to get rid of the PC manufacture's, or Microsoft's desktop background. Windows provides dozens of beautiful images that you can select as replacement for your current image. Or you can choose an image that you found on the Internet or shot with your own digital camera. Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:07:35 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91070403.asp Often many users see the message "Windows cannot open file, needs to know which program created it" when trying to open an e-mail attachment. This error message is because someone has sent you a type of file that your software does not recognise. To find out what program is needed you must look at the file extension. Wed, 27 May 2009 14:44:17 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91070902.asp Being without a mouse can be frustrating. That's when knowing some basic keyboard shortcuts comes in handy. Here are some common keyboard shortcuts that you will want to keep taped to the back of your keyboard or laptop. Fri, 22 May 2009 15:57:31 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91072302.asp The way to get quick access to objects is to place shortcuts to them on the desktop. But the desktop is usually covered by open applications and files. The Show Desktop icon on the Quick Launch toolbar allows you to minimize all open windows with one click. Fri, 8 May 2009 16:16:05 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91082101.asp Hard Drive Space, where does it go? The best solution is of course to buy a more roomy hard drive. But if you want a momentary and critical solution to free your hard drive space, you can try some of these tips. Thu, 9 Apr 2009 13:41:06 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91082402.asp Here's a list of software for five different categories that you can download and use for free. These software can help your activities and enhance your system capabilities. You might also be surprised on how deep all of these software really are considering they're free of charge status. Check it out: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 19:26:04 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/91111602.asp Windows has a GUI which allows you to use a graphical input device to be far more productive than having to use combinations and sequences of keys to do things. However, in the situations described in this article, using the keyboard shortcuts can greatly increase your productivity. Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:33:09 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92032301.asp Has your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive eaten a CD/DVD, and you can't get it out? If you want to take that CD/DVD out of your CD-ROM, and the Eject button isn't working, follow the steps below to get the disc of your drive. Mon, 8 Sep 2008 17:34:32 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92032603.asp You're working away at your computer and you decide to send a message to a friend or family member in another city. What time is it where they are? When will they actually find the message? Windows Vista has a feature called Gadgets, and one of those gadgets is a clock. Fri, 5 Sep 2008 19:15:00 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92040702.asp If you accidentally or purposely deleted the Recycle Bin icon from your desktop, or if it disappeared for unknown reasons, you can easily get it back. To restore the Recycle Bin icon to your desktop, follow these steps. Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:23:06 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92042501.asp Have you ever wanted to keep a picture of your computer's screen or an application's window to show to someone else? This is amazingly simple to do. On the top row of keyboard keys, near the right side, you'll find a key labeled Print Screen. Wed, 6 Aug 2008 14:28:19 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92061801.asp Unfortunately, it's very common for a Windows application to fail to respond or start hogging your computers resources. You usually can't shut it down by normal means. You can use Task Manager to force the offending application to shut down. I believe Windows applications misbehave so frequently that a shortcut to Task Manger would be very useful. Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:23:21 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92062002.asp Have you ever had the problem where you inadvertently moved a window outside the boundaries of the screen? Or your display was stuck in a very low resolution because the Display Settings dialog box was bigger than the screen at that resolution? There's an easy way to regain control of the window. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:48:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92062104.asp Much of my work is with text files, and after many hours at the computer, my eyes get tired of searching for the blinking insertion point cursor. If you have the same problem, it's very easy to increase the thickness of the insertion point cursor so that you can find it with ease. Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:14:35 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92080101.asp Although the User Account Control protects your system from hackers, there are situations where it's just an annoyance, for example if you're not connected to the Internet, or if you're trying to troubleshoot your computer. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:16:13 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92080602.asp Regardless of which version of Windows you use, it requires several steps to shut the system down. It's like this frustrating system won't let you go without one final bit of frustration. Well, you can reduce shut down to one step by placing a Shut Down shortcut on your desktop. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:43:51 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92080701.asp Have you ever had difficulty finding a window because its taskbar button was grouped with other window's taskbar buttons? You can easily prevent this annoyance. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:36:29 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92082801.asp Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service allows Media Player to share media with other computers on the network. Even if Windows Media Player isn't open on your computer, it could be running in the background. Here's how to disable this service. Wed, 2 Apr 2008 13:55:50 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92100302.asp Your computer keeps it's internal clock updated with a clock circuit and crystal oscillator on its motherboard. Crystal oscillators, although incredibly accurate, do tend to drift over time. For this reason, you may want to occasionally synchronize your computer's clock With an Internet Time Server. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/92100702.asp Write protecting a file prevents anyone, including you, from editing or accidentally deleting the file. Follow the steps below to write protect a file. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93021601.asp In Internet Explorer version 7, Microsoft makes it real inconvenient to change to a different default search engine. In fact, to do it, you are required to go to a Microsoft webpage. Here's How to Change Internet Explorer Default Search Engine. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93030902.asp Because of Unmitigated price gouging, printer ink is very expensive. An ink cartridge for a low end HP printer, containing only one tiny ounce of ink, costs a mind boggling $30.00! However, most printers provide a mode that uses less ink to use when you don't need a high quality print. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93032501.asp Unfortunately the Internet is riddled with complaints from people that their system doesn't work when they "wake" it, or it doesn't wake at all. Fortunately it's easy change Vista's default Start menu Shutdown to actually "Shutdown". Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93040401.asp It's important to let left-handed people be as productive as possible because, on average, left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people. Fortunately, Windows lets you swap the functions of the mouse buttons. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93041001.asp I purchased a non-proprietary PC recently, and the technician who set it up gave it the name "happycustomerPC", a big presumption, and a poor name for a PC. In this article, I show you how to can change your computer's name. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93060301.asp Whenever you use Internet Explorer it leaves a track of your activities which someone else using your computer can easily follow. This information is stored in the history list, cookies folder, and browser cache. When you delete a file, it's not really gone, someone else using your computer can easily restore it. Use the information in this article to cover your tracks in Internet Explorer. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93062402.asp If you're a heavy computer user, you have many different folders for your documents, spread sheets, pictures, music and other things. one thing that can slow you down is that they all use the same beige-colored icon. Fortunately, it's easy to change a folder's icon. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93070701.asp Your mouse dies while you're in the middle of working with several windows open. Press LEFT SHIFT + LEFT ALT + NUM LOCK to activate the emergency keystrokes for mouse function. Once Mousekeys is active you can use the following keys to duplicate the mouse functions. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93071602.asp When you open the Start menu, it provides a menu item to display a list of all the files that you have recently opened. Although this can be handy if you want to work on those files again, it can also allow others who use your computer to trace your activities. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93071702.asp If you're not already viewing thumbnails in Windows Explorer, Right-click in an open area inside Windows Explorer and, in the popup menu that appears, select View | Thumbnails. If you're not happy with the size or quality of the thumbnails, you can use Tweak UI to reconfigure those properties. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93072102.asp Sometimes when you install a storage device on your PC, Windows seems to assign it an arbitrary drive letter. Windows assigns different a drive letter for each PC that I plug the flash drive into. This plays havoc with applications that run directly from the flash drive. Fortunately it's very easy to change a drive letter. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93072402.asp when you delete a file, the Operating System removes the file name from the directory, but the file itself remains intact on the storage device. Use one of the many secure delete utilities available for free on the Internet to make sure your file data is gone forever. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93080704.asp Modern CRT and LCD displays don't have an image burn-in problem, but people still use screen savers because they're fun - especially when you can use Windows built-in Slideshow screen saver to display your own personal photographs. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93081403.asp By default, Windows xp is configured to spin down the hard drive after a short period of inactivity. It takes very little energy to keep a hard disk spinning. However, after you turn the disk off and let it spin down, it requires quite a bit of energy to rapidly bring it back up to 7,200 rpm. Conserve energy, improve Windows XP performance, and make your physics professor proud by disabling hard disk turn off. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93091205.asp While working on MS Office, there may be situations when you click and try to open up an office file, it does not open. After this you try the "Open With" option to open the required file and the file gets opened in other program rather than its respective program. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93100602.asp OpenOffice is a multiplatform and multilingual office productivity suite that is quickly becoming the main competitor of Microsoft Office. OpenOffice consists of the key desktop applications you can find in other office automation suites: a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation manager, a drawing program and a database. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93100604.asp Internet Explorer provides many options that you can configure to customize your browsing security. IE divides security into four zones: Internet, Local Intranet, Trusted Sites, and Restricted Sites. You can configure the security for each zone individually. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93100701.asp For the home or the small office environment, connecting computers and resources like printers in a client-sever network configuration might be a little more hassle than you want to deal with. A "peer-to-peer", or "workgroup" configuration, might provide all the security and functionality you need with less expense and less expertise to administrator. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93101501.asp When you start your computer in the morning you are greeted with the Windows default startup music. In this article, I show you how easy it is to replace the default startup sound with your own personal greeting. This is something you might do to start your day on a more cheerful basis, or something you might setup for a special friend or relative. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93101604.asp Excel worksheets can get corrupt or damaged at any point of time. Just imagine working on important financial figures and power goes off. And when power comes back, you cannot access your worksheet or the excel file fails to open. Now what to do? Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93102202.asp Wouldn't be nice to get more information in a file listing than just the default information? With Windows XP, you can. In the file's Properties dialog box, select the Summary tab in the file's Properties dialog box. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93110202.asp Creating your own custom Taskbar toolbar is so quick and easy that you can easily create one to hold related shortcuts for a specific task and when the task is complete you can quickly remove the the toolbar, keeping the shortcuts folder for when you need to perform the same task again. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93110603.asp Have you ever looked up at the computer screen and said "where the heck is the mouse pointer?" Sometimes the default mouse pointer is difficult to locate on the screen. You can change and add effects to the mouse pointer that will make it easier to find on the screen. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93110703.asp Windows XP's built-in Help and Support Center provides troubleshooters. There's a troubleshooter for the Display, Hardware, Input Devices, Network, Printer, Sound, System Startup, and Shutdown and many more. Wouldn't it be handy to have a Help and Support shortcut right on your desktop? Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93112006.asp If you are trying to get ahead in you career today, you will know that the computer skills you have under your belt are what will make the difference between you moving up the ladder or down. When it comes to trying to prove your computer competency in using office applications there is no other certification path that stands out like the Microsoft Office Specialist program. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93112007.asp One of the really cool parts aspects of Microsoft Excel is the functions Microsoft has created for you to use. This means that rather than have to develop a function from scratch you can use pre-built ones to do a plethora of tasks like building your own Mortgage Calculator. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/93112008.asp There are many different types of databases available such as Microsoft Access Databases, Oracle Databases, MySQL databases and so on but Microsoft Excel also has a form of a database known as a database list. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94031501.asp screensavers were originally designed to protect the computer monitor from phosphor burn-in. Now screensavers are used for entertainment, advertisement, and security purposes. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94031502.asp What if you can fax documents without having to cough up big bucks to purchase a fax machine. If you have a computer with Windows XP, internet access, and a printer, you already have a fax machine. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94031601.asp Customizing your desktop is easy and fun to do. You can change everything from the sounds that your computer makes, to the screensaver that shows up during inactivity. But that's not all that you can customize. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94031702.asp Windows degrades over time and eventually you will be required to reinstall Windows XP. When you try to reactivate Windows XP, you will receive the message "Our records show that this product has already been activated" and you'll be required to call Microsoft. This article shows you how to backup your activation files to avoid this annoyance. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94040303.asp Windows Media Player 10 has been full of bugs from Microsoft since they offered it as a download from their site. Windows Media Player 9 was nice and simple. Windows Media Player 10 is way too complex and feature-rich that it has taken away from the simpleness of version 9 and ruined itself. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94040601.asp Windows themes are used to change the way your computer's standard sounds, icons, pointer, desktop wallpaper and screensaver appear with a customized look and feel. They can be implemented as a whole package that represents a certain concept or idea or created piece by piece by changing items such as your icons and pointers individually. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94041701.asp To customize your Windows sound scheme you need to go to Control Panel and then double click the Sounds and Multimedia icon. Next make sure you are on the Sounds tab and it will display the Sounds and Multimedia Properties Dialog Box. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94042301.asp While compact discs (CDs) are remarkably durable, it's nearly impossible to prevent scratches and scuffs from occurring. The resulting damage can be either a skip in a track or the loss of data. Don't despair, you may be able to repair the damage on your own with products you already have. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94052405.asp To configure Windows Start Menu for optimal performance, select Start | Settings | Taskbar & Start Menu settings. In the Taskbar & Start Menu settings dialog box, on the General tab, check and uncheck boxes as recommended here. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94052503.asp Web style does provide thumbnail previews of files in a folder. If this is what you need, stick with Web style. But understand that creating these thumbnail previews really slows down your computer. For higher productivity, configure your computer for "Classic style". Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94060401.asp The standard method to access applications and folders in Windows is through the Start menu. Using the Start menu is slow because you have to open cascading menus to find the entry for the application you want. Desktop shortcuts give you quicker access because you only have to double-click on an icon to launch the application or open the folder. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94060801.asp The Taskbar is that bar at the bottom your screen. It's your control center for application windows on the desktop. When you start a program, a button appears on the Taskbar that lets you control that program. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94060802.asp The standard method to access applications and folders in Windows is through the Start menu. However, there are two other methods that give you quicker access, the Quick Launch toolbar and Desktop icons. The quickest access is provided by the Quick Launch toolbar. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/94100701.asp Want to save a picture of your computer's screen? Just press the [Print Screen] key located in the upper-right corner of your keyboard. The Print Screen key sends an image of the screen to the Clipboard. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/95012201.asp When you insert a CD/DVD disc into the drive, it begins playing music, running an application, or installing software automatically. This action id provided by a feature called AutoPlay. Some experienced Windows users find Autoplay annoying. For example, sometimes I don't know what's on a cd/dvd and I don't want programs executing without my express permission. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT http://bucarotechelp.com/computers/wintips/95052002.asp You need to decide whether you want to be entertained by Microsoft’s dog and pony show, or if you want to be productive. If you choose the latter, disable all the animations, slides, fades, shadows, and translucent effects that hog system resources. Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:25:37 GMT