
Basic Computing Tips for Windows 3.1 - Page 3



*1.   FONTS AT A GLANCE 

February 17th, 1999 

Looking for that perfect font? The Control Panel offers a sneak preview
 of every font on your system. 

1. Open the Control Panel (double-click its icon inside Program Manager's
 Main group). 
2. Double-click Fonts. 
3. Under Installed Fonts, select a font. It appears in the Sample box. 

(Tip-in-a-tip: For a quick preview of all fonts, select the first font
 in the list and then use the down cursor key to scroll through the rest.) 


*2.   PLAY PEEK-A-BOO WITH FILE MANAGER COLUMNS 

February 18th, 1999 

When you select a subdirectory in File Manager's left pane, all the files
 and folders inside--as well as lots of other information--appear in list
 form to the right. Do you find all these columns of information more
 in the way than anything else (especially if you tend to use a small
 File Manager window)? If so, then hide the columns you don't use: 

1. Open File Manager, if it isn't already (double-click its icon in
 Program Manager's Main group). 
2. Choose View + Partial Details. 
3. Under Details, deselect any columns you want to hide from view. 
4. Click OK. 

Those unwanted columns disappear! To go back to displaying all columns
 of information, choose View + All File Details. 


*3.   HOW VERY REFRESHING! 

February 19th, 1999 

Need to view the contents of multiple floppy disks? File Manager makes
 switching from one floppy to the next easy. Every time you pop a new
 disk into your floppy drive, press F5 on your keyboard. Presto! The
 contents of the new disk replace those of the last. 


*4.   LIKE A BUTTON, ONLY BIGGER          
          
March 1st, 1999          
          
Tired of trying to grab hold of that tiny little button (in the upper-right
 corner of your window) every time you want to maximize or shrink a window?
 Believe it or not, the title bar performs the same function. Best part is,
 it gives you a whole lot more area to grab onto! 

To maximize a window that currently takes up only a portion of the screen,
 double-click its title bar. To size the window down again--you guessed
 it--double-click the title bar. Who knew? 


*5.   GOING UP?          
          
March 2nd, 1999          
          
Need to back up a directory or two in your File Manager window? Before you
 reach for that mouse, try this: Press the Backspace key on your keyboard.
 Windows immediately takes you up one level to the parent of the current
 directory. (If the current directory is C:\mydata\pictures, for example,
 pressing the Backspace key once takes you to C:\mydata; pressing it a
 second time takes you to C:\.) 


*6.   CAN WE HAVE A LITTLE PEACE AND QUIET HERE?          
          
March 3rd, 1999          
          
Feeling a little overloaded? Wish the rest of the office would keep it
 down? Unfortunately, you can't control anyone else's behavior (at least,
 not if you want to have friends), but you can control your Windows system.
 When it's peace and quiet you need, tell your system to put a muzzle on it: 

1. Open the Control Panel (it's inside Program Manager's Main group). 
2. Double-click Sound. 
3. Deselect Enable System Sounds. 
4. Click OK. 

You could also try bending down really close to your monitor and yelling,
 "SHUT UP!" but we can't make any guarantees.


*7.   KEY IN TO FILE SELECTIONS          
          
March 4th, 1999          
          
If you need to perform an operation on more than one file in a File Manager
 window--for example, if you're moving several files from one folder to
 another--don't waste your time following the same steps for each and
 every file. You can move (or copy or delete or whatever) multiple files
 at one time by first selecting all the files. 

To select more than one file in a File Manager window: 

- If the files are contiguous (that's geek speak for next to each other),
 select the first file and then hold down the Shift key as you click
 the last file. The first and last files and everything in between appear
 highlighted. 

- If the files are not contiguous, hold down the Ctrl key as you click
 each file. (Tip-in-a-tip: Hold down the Ctrl key throughout the
 selection and be sure not to click anywhere on-screen once you let go
 of Ctrl. Doing so deselects all the files.) 

When all the files are selected, go ahead with your copy, move, or delete
 operation, just as you would if you had selected only a single file.
 Choose File + Move (or Copy or Delete).


*8.   AN WE HAVE A LITTLE PEACE AND QUIET HERE?          
          
March 31st, 1999          
          
Feeling a little overloaded? Wish the rest of the office would keep it
 down? Unfortunately, you can't control anyone else's behavior (at least,
 not if you want to have friends), but you can control your Windows system.
 When it's peace and quiet you need, tell your system to put a muzzle on it: 

1. Open the Control Panel (it's inside Program Manager's Main group). 
2. Double-click Sound. 
3. Deselect Enable System Sounds. 
4. Click OK. 

You could also try bending down really close to your monitor and yelling,
 "SHUT UP!" but we can't make any guarantees.


*9.   SEND OUT THE SEARCH PARTY--ONCE          
          
April 1st, 1999          
          
Just finish a File Manager search? Before you close that window, think for
 a minute. Is there a chance you'll need to look at those results again?
 If so, keep that window (and File Manager) open. Now go ahead and open
 a new File Manager window--or another application--and do whatever you
 want. Those search results won't go anywhere until you physically close
 that search's window. 

When you do need to look at the search results again, just select that
 window in File Manager's Window menu. A lot easier than going through
 the whole search again, eh?


*10.   THE DOCUMENT, AND NOTHING BUT THE DOCUMENT          
          
March 26th, 1999          
          
Wish Notepad would stop adding all that fancy stuff to the top and bottom
 of every document you print? Filenames, pages. . . if I wanted fancy
 formatting, I wouldn't be using Notepad! 

To eliminate the filename and page number from a Notepad document: 

1. Open Notepad (double-click its icon in Program Manager's
 Accessories group). 
2. Open any document. 
3. Choose File + Page Setup. 
4. To stop Notepad from printing the filename at the top of the page,
 delete the symbols (&f) that appear in the Header box. To stop Notepad
 from printing page numbers at the bottom of the page, delete Page &p
 from the Footer box. 
5. Click OK. 

Now try printing a file. Those headers and footers are clean as a whistle!
 (Note: Page setup changes are global, which means that changes you make
 affect every Notepad document.)