Computing Basics #1



*1.   WORDPAD TEASE 

January 19th, 1999 

In your spare time, you've written the great American novel, using your 
favorite word processor: WordPad. And you just received the phone call 
every budding author dreams of: An agent wants to show a chapter of your 
opus to a major publisher. 

"No problem," you say to yourself. "I'm SURE I saw an option in WordPad's 
Print dialog box that lets me print a selected portion of my anuscript." 
And so you open your novel and choose File + Print, and indeed there is 
the Selection option, right under Print What--except it's GRAYED OUT! 
What gives? 

Sorry: While the option does indeed appear in the dialog box, it is not 
available. You need to copy your chapter, paste it into a new WordPad 
document, and print it. 


*2.   MAKE A CLEAN BREAK 

January 20th, 1999 

While working in Windows Paint, have you ever been halfway through drawing 
a shape that you just know isn't going to look right? Or have you ever been 
in the middle of making a selection that turns out to be wrong from the 
start? 

Well, no need to chase good time after bad--because you can undo either 
procedure before you finish: At any point as you draw your shape or make 
your selection, continue to hold down the LEFT mouse button but click the 
RIGHT mouse button. 

Paint cancels whatever you're doing. 


*3.   START ANEW (MESSAGE) 

January 21st, 1999 

Do you use Microsoft Exchange (Inbox) for your Internet or company e-mail? 
Here's a keystroke that saves you about 20 mouse clicks per day: To create 
a new message, press Ctrl + N. 

Sometimes, the simplest tips are the most useful. 


*4.   SHUT DOWN HANG UP 

January 22nd, 1999 

Don Pressman is one of several subscribers who had trouble with our SHUT 
DOWN FAST tip (11/14/98). "I followed the instructions (except I named the 
shortcut "Time to Quit"--without the quotation marks), but when I try to 
shut down by clicking the icon, I get this error message: 

RUNDALL Error in user.exe Missing Entry 

I'd like to know how to fix this problem and would appreciate your reply." 

Our guess, Don, is that you and others having trouble with the tip mistyped 
the command line. It should be 

c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows 

Note that there IS a space after c:\windows\rundll.exe but NO SPACE after 
the comma in user.exe,exitwindows. 

If this doesn't solve the problem, please let us know. 


*5.   DESKTOP CYCLE 

January 25th, 1999 

Once your desktop gets cluttered with icons, finding the one you want can 
be a real pill. Unless you try this trick: 

1. Click anywhere--and we do mean anywhere--on the Windows 95 desktop. 
2. Press the first letter of the name of the icon you want to find. 
   Notice that Windows highlights an icon beginning with that letter. 
3. Keep pressing that letter until Windows finds the icon you seek. 

You think that's easy? Wait for tomorrow's mindblaster. 

6.   DESKTOP CYCLE, THE SEQUEL 

January 26th, 1999 

Last time, we told you how to use the keyboard to quickly find a desktop 
icon. Click somewhere on the Windows desktop and then simply press the 
first letter of the icon you're seeking. An icon beginning with that letter 
is lighlighted; keep pressing the letter until you get the icon you want. 
And because your hands are on the keyboard, why not use the keyboard to 
START or OPEN the icon after you find it? 

Press Enter. 

If you've selected a program icon, pressing Enter starts the program. 
If you've selected a folder icon, it opens the folder. 


*7.   GET SOME HELP PRINTING 

January 27th, 1999 

Having trouble with a printer--ANY printer? Windows 95 has a built-in Print 
Troubleshooter that takes you step-by-step through some of the most common 
causes of printing problems. To run it: 

1. Click Start. 
2. Choose Help. 
3. Click the Contents tab. 
4. Double-click Troubleshooting. 
5. Double-click If You Have Trouble Printing. 
6. Answer the questions that appear in the Windows Help Box and follow 
   the procedures offered. 


*8.   L'IL MORE HELP, PLEASE? 

January 28th, 1999 

Windows 95 includes an Online User's Guide--about the closest thing you get 
to a Windows manual these days. You may have run into the Online User's 
Guide screens if you clicked a Show Me button in one of the tips that 
Windows displays. The screens provide background information, pictures, 
and even animated demonstrations of techniques 
and procedures. 

Sound like something worth perusing? Pursuing? Check it out as follows: 

1. Click the Start button and choose Help. 
2. Click the Find tab. 
3. Type the word "overview" (without quotation marks). 
4. The topics listed in the Click a Topic, Then Click Display box are 
   essentially chapters of the online user's guide. Double-click any one 
   to display the topic. 

It's a cool way to find out more or brush up. 


*9.   SOMETHING FOR YOU CONTROL (PANEL) FREAKS 

January 29th, 1999 

We've offered several faster methods for getting to the Windows 95 Control 
Panel, but this one is our favorite: adding a cascading Control Panel 
command to the Windows Start menu! Here's how: 

1. Right-click the Start button. 
2. Choose Explorer from the shortcut menu. 
3. From the Explorer menu, choose File + New + Folder. 
4. Type "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" 
   (without the quotation marks). 
5. Press Enter. 
6. Close Explorer. 

Now click the Start button. At the top of the menu is the Control Panel 
command. Click the command, and the various Control Panel applications 
appear. 


*10.   FORGET-ME-NOT RESOLUTIONS 

Want to be sure you remember your New Year's resolutions? Use Paint to 
turn them into desktop wallpaper, and you've got an instant reminder (at 
least five days a week). 

Open Paint (select Start, Programs, Accessories, Paint) and select a 
wallpaper background color by right-clicking any color in the palette. 
(The default white is a little hard on the eyes.) Select Image, Clear 
Image, and the new color appears on-screen. 

Next, select Image, Attributes and set the size of your wallpaper. For 
example, assuming you plan to tile your resolutions across the desktop, 
you might set the size to 4 inches by 2 inches. (Or 4 inches by 8 inches 
if you have a big list in mind!) Click OK, and you're ready to add 
some text. 

Click the text tool (the one with the "A" on it), then click anywhere on 
the canvas to place a text box there. Hold the mouse pointer over the box's 
edge, and when it changes to a double-pointed arrow, click and drag to 
enlarge the box to the desired size. Now just start typing your resolutions. 
When you're finished, you'll probably want to change the text's font and 
point size. Select View, Text Toolbar, and use the resulting drop-down 
lists to make your changes. (Tip: Do all your typing and attribute changing 
at once. Once you deselect the text box, you can't get back inside.) 

Save your file, then select File, Set As Wallpaper (Tiled)--or (Centered), 
if that's what you prefer. You'll never forget those resolutions now!
