
Windows 3.1 Tips #8



*1. TAKE YOUR BUTTONS OVER THE RAINBOW--PART 2 OF 2          
          
June 1st, 1999          
          
In our last tip, we showed you how to change the color of your buttons:
 Inside the Control Panel, double-click Color; click the Color Palette
 button; select Button Face under Screen Element and select a new color;
 repeat these steps for Button Text; then click OK. 

After making this change, your buttons take on a whole new look. But
 here's the catch: If you now select a new scheme in the Color dialog
 box--even if you then switch back to the scheme that was current when
 you changed the button color--your buttons go back to that boring shade
 of gray. If you want that new button look to be part of a color scheme,
 you need to follow these steps: 

1. Make your changes to the Button Face and Button Text elements, as
 described above. 
2. Click the Save Scheme button. 
3. Assuming you want to save the changes as part of the currently
 selected scheme, click OK. If, on the other hand, you want to save the
 changes (and the rest of the current scheme) under a new name, type
 this name in the Save This Color Scheme As text box and THEN click OK. 
4. Click OK to close the Color dialog box. 

-From now on, selecting that scheme colors your buttons, too!


*2. ONE FOR THE PICTURE STRAIGHTENERS          
          
June 2nd, 1999          
          
Do you have a whole bunch of icons minimized on your desktop? Does it bug
 you--even just a little bit--that these icons aren't lined up in a neat
 little row? (It's like seeing a crooked picture on the wall.) Don't worry.
 We aren't going to suggest that you click and drag them, one by one,
 into place (unless you're REALLY bored). You can make these icons
 line up with one simple command: 

1. Press Ctrl + Esc to open the Task List dialog box. 
2. Click the Arrange Icons button. 

Much better.


*3. BUTTONS, BUTTONS, WHO'S GOT THE BUTTONS?--PART 3 OF 3          
          
June 7th, 1999          
          
In our last two tips, we showed you how to add icons to and remove them
 from your File Manager toolbar. Staring at what you think is the perfect
 toolbar? If you're aiming for the ultimate in perfection, there's one
 more step you may want to take: Rearrange the icons into any order
 you'd like. 

1. Choose Options + Customize Toolbar. 
2. Select any item under Toolbar Buttons. 
3. Continuously click the Move Up or Move Down button until the button
 is exactly where you want it. 
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each button you'd like to move. 
5. Click Close. 

Now THAT'S a toolbar! 

(Tip-in-a-tip: If you can spare the space [very punny], you may want to
 insert a space on your toolbar, to separate the icons into groups. To
 insert a space, select the Separator item in the Available Buttons list
 and click Add. From there, just use the Move Up or Move Down button to
 move the space to the desired location.)


*4. BUTTONS, BUTTONS, WHO'S GOT THE BUTTONS?--PART 1 OF 3          
          
June 3rd, 1999          
          
Wish File Manager's toolbar had a few more buttons packed into it? (Face
 it--clicking a button is a lot easier than selecting a menu command.)
 Don't use half of the buttons that are there to begin with? Then what
 are you waiting for? Take a few minutes to create the perfect toolbar.
 Over the next few tips, we show you how to add buttons to and remove them
 from the File Manager toolbar. We also show you how to rearrange your
 final button selection. In today's tip, adding your favorite buttons: 

1. Open File Manager, if it isn't already. (It's in Program Manager's
 Main group.) 
2. Choose Options + Customize Toolbar. 
3. Under Available Buttons, select a command you'd like to add to the
 current toolbar. 
4. Click the Add button. 
5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for each command you want on your toolbar. 
6. Click Close. 

It's a button-lover's paradise! In our next tip, what to do with the
 buttons you never use.


*5. BUTTONS, BUTTONS, WHO'S GOT THE BUTTONS?--PART 2 OF 3          
          
June 4th, 1999          
          
In our last tip, we showed you how to add icons to your File Manager
 toolbar: Choose Options + Customize Toolbar; then one at a time,
 select a command under Available Buttons and click Add; then click Close. 

Back in your File Manager window, you see all the new toolbar buttons--that
 is, assuming you haven't added so many that they run off the screen.
 If that's the case, remove a few of the buttons you never use to make
 room for those you do. 

1. Choose Options + Customize Toolbar. 
2. Select a command under Toolbar Buttons. 
3. Click Remove to remove that command from the current toolbar. 
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each icon you want to remove. 
5. Click Close. 

For our next and final toolbar tip, rearranging those icons.


*6. FORCED TO MOVE          
          
June 8th, 1999          
          
Have you ever clicked and dragged a file from a directory over to your
 floppy drive button, expecting to move that file only to discover that
 Windows simply COPIED that file? Windows isn't being obstinate; it's
 just trying to protect you. Windows assumes that you would never
 actually want to remove a file from a drive (otherwise, you'd go
 through the steps necessary to delete it). 

Don't want no stinking operating system deciding what's best for your
 files? Then override this default: 

1. Hold down the Shift key. 
2. Click and drag the file over to your floppy drive. 

Windows moves the file.


*7. QUEUE-D IN          
          
June 9th, 1999          
          
Just send a letter off to the network printer? Keep in mind that maybe
 everyone in your office just did the same thing, in which case you'll
 be waiting an awfully long time for your document. Before leaving the
 comfort of your own desk, check the queue to make sure you won't
 have a long wait: 

1. Switch to the Print Manager window. (It's already open but minimized
 because you've started a print job.) 
2. Check out the list of documents below the name of your network printer.
 (The one at the top of the list is currently printing.) 

No one in front of you? Then by all means, go grab your stuff. But if Mr.
 Spreadsheets has 8 or 9 files in front of yours, you just saved yourself a
 boatload of waiting-at-the-printer small talk!


*8. SAVE A TREE          
          
June 10th, 1999          
          
Just send a very long document to the printer by mistake? (That Print icon
 can be too easy to hit, especially when it sits right next to the Save
 button.) Don't worry; you won't have to waste 22 pages of that
 fancy-schmancy paper you just loaded into the printer. If you act
 quickly, you can probably stop the printing before it starts: 

1. Open Print Manager. (It's inside Program Manager's Main group.) 
2. Highlight the print job (document) you want to cancel. 
3. Click the Delete Document icon (it looks like a page with an X on it)
 or select Document + Delete Document. 
4. Click Yes to confirm. 

Way to stop the press!


*9. LIGHT A FIRE UNDER YOUR PRINTER          
          
June 11th, 1999          
          
Wish your documents would print a little faster? As long as you don't
 mind giving up performance in other applications while documents are
 printing, you can speed things up a bit. Just allocate more of your
 system resources to the printer: 

1. Open Print Manager. (It's inside Program Manager's Main group.) 
2. Choose Options + Background Printing. 
3. Under Printing Priority, select High. 
4. Click OK. 

Tip-in-a-tip: To get just the opposite--maximum application performance
 while printing--follow these same steps, except select Low in Step 3.


*10. PRIORITIZE YOUR PRINT JOBS          
          
June 14th, 1999          
          
Just send a whole bunch of long documents to the printer, only to realize
 that you're running low on paper? Better prioritize--quick! Using the
 Print Manager, move the least important documents to the bottom of
 the printer queue: 

1. Open Print Manager. (It's inside Program Manager's Main group.) 
2. Choose Printer + Pause Printer. 
3. Select the least important document waiting to be printed. 
4. Click the Move Document Down icon until the document is at the bottom
 of the list. 
5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for each document you'd like to move to the end
 of the list. 
6. Choose Printer + Resume Printer. 

Now if you DO run out of paper, you'll already have the most important
 documents in hand.
