Sometimes you don't want to print the entire page of a website but only a few paragraphs. Here is how to do that:

Select the text you want to print
Right-click the text
Click Print
By Page Range, click the Selection radio button
Click Print

Now only the selected part of the page will be printed.

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When you print a web page, by default the background will be left out. If you want to include the background in your print:

Click Tools
Click Internet Options
Click the Advanced tab
Check the box next to Print background colors and images
Click OK

Now the background of the web page will always be printed. Sometimes this can be awkward. The text may be barely legible. Also a web page with a black background will use up a lot of toner. It is recommended to disable this option by default and only enable it when you really want the background included in the printed page.

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Many users place all sorts of documents, files and shortcuts on their Window's Desktop. Did you know you can view a list of these items right from the Taskbar? Here's how to set it up:

Right-click an empty area of the Taskbar.
In the menu that appears, click Toolbars / Desktop

On the right side of the Taskbar next to the Notification area you now will see the text Desktop with two greater than symbols >>
Whenever you need to get to something from your Desktop:

Click the >> next to the text Desktop on the Taskbar

All of the items from your Desktop are neatly arranged in a list. You can now open any of your Desktop items directly from this list.

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When you are not satisfied with the formatting of your document you can remove it quite easily by using the following shortcuts:

Press CTRL + A at the same time
Now you have selected all the text

Press CTRL + SHIFT + N at the same time
All the formatting is removed. Very useful if you want to go from rich text to just plain text in the blink of an eye.

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Where is the Menu Bar?
Depending on your configuration, Internet Explorer 7 may display a toolbar with menu items "File", "Edit", "View", "Favorites", "Tools", and "Help". These menu items perform similarly to previous versions of Internet Explorer, giving you access to your Favorites, browser customization features, webpage printing options, etc.

Most of the frequently-used functions in the menu bar have been moved to other locations in Internet Explorer 7, or in some cases the functionality can be found by right-clicking certain buttons.

Would you like to see the menu bar at all times? Here's how to show (or hide) the menu bar:

Right-click an empty area in the tab bar

Check or uncheck Menu Bar as desired

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Do you find the popup text descriptions that appear when you hover your mouse pointer over a folder or file in Vista to be annoying? These may include (depending on the file type) the file size, last date modified, version, location, or other information. You can disable these pop-ups in Windows Vista like this:

Select any Explorer window to open, for example your Documents folder
Click Organize
and then choose Folder and Search Options

The Folder Options window appears:
Click the View tab
Underneath "Advanced Settings", remove the checkmark by Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
Click OK to close the dialog box.

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This tiip explains how you can sort icons by name on your desktop in Windows Vista.

Right-click on an empty area of the desktop
Click Sort By
In the sub-menu that appears, click Name

Your icons are now sorted alphabetically, by name. To invert the sort order (Z-A instead of A-Z), just repeat the procedure: choose "Sort By", and click "Name" - your icons sort order has now been inverted.

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Windows Vista allows for the ability to customize your taskbar and add as many shortcuts to your Windows environment to greatly speed up and optimize your work.

Right-click the Taskbar.
Click Toolbars
Click New Toolbar ...

This will bring you to the New Toolbar selection area. Simply navigate to the folder or file that you wish to be added to your Windows Vista taskbar:

Click Select Folder

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The sidebar in Windows Vista is a feature that allows you to have gadgets constantly open on the desktop. Things such as a clock, RSS feeds and many more can be displayed. If you want to keep your Sidebar in front of any other desktop windows, you can do the following:

First open the Sidebar, if not already opened.
Click the Start icon on the Taskbar.
Click All Programs
Click Accessories
Click Windows Sidebar

If the Sidebar is open:
Right-click the Sidebar
Click Bring Gadgets to Front

You can also use a keyboard shortcut to do the same thing: press the Windows logo key and the space bar to open the Sidebar.

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Internet Explorer has several toolbars, the menus bar, the links toolbar, and the Command bar. The Command bar is located at the top right side of the Internet Explorer window (it contains the Home icon, among others). You can customize the Command bar buttons to suit your preferences. For example, perhaps you need help remembering the functions of the buttons (icons) on the toolbar. You can set the option to display text labels. To show or hide text on Command bar buttons:

Right-click the Command bar
Click Customize Command Bar
To display a label on every button, click Show All Text Labels
To display a label on some of the buttons, click Show Selective Text
To turn off all text, click Show Only Icons

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Windows Vista has a new feature in Windows Explorer that is very useful...checkboxes! Instead of holding down the Ctrl key and clicking several different files to select them, you can just click the checkboxes ...no more accidentally copying the files or getting to the bottom and losing the selection. To enable this feature:

Open a window in Windows Explorer
Click Organize
Click Folder and Search Options

In the menu that appears:

Click the View tab
Click to checkmark Use check boxes to select items. This option can be found under Advanced Settings.

From now on you will see the check boxes next to the names of your files and folders. You can click the checkbox next to Name to select all files at once. Or use Ctrl+A.

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If you receive an e-mail in Outlook 2007 that requires an action to be done at a later time, you can create a Task that is automatically added to your To-Do-Bar. On the indicated date the Task will be seen in Task List area of the To-Do-Bar.

Right-click the flag of the e-mail you want to add to the Task List.
In the menu that appears, click Custom
Selct one of the options from the Flag to list
Click the small arrow next to Start date and select a starting date
Click the small arrow next to Due date to select a due date
If desired, place a checkmark next to Reminder to set up a reminder

Choose the date and time for the Reminder
Click OK

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It is easy to change the size of a picture when using Paint:

Open the desired image in Paint
Click Image
Click Resize/Skew

A new window will appear, into which you can type the new width and height, as a percentage of the current size.

In the boxes next to Horizontal and Vertical type the percentage with which you want do decrease or increase the image.

Type a smaller number than 100 if you want to reduce the size and a larger number than 100 if you want to increase the size.

Keep in mind that the values should be the same, otherwise you will disform the picture. If that is the effect you are looking for you can experiment with the horizontal and vertical boxes by the Skew section below.

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The Quick Access Toolbar located in the upper-left portion of the Word window, is a customizable toolbar into which you can place buttons for your frequently used commands or macros. To add a button:

Right-click the Quick Access Toolbar
Click Customize Quick Access Toolbar
From the pull-down menu labeled Choose commands from, select All Commands
Choose a command
Click OK

Repeat these steps to add additional buttons. You can remove the button at any time by right-clicking the newly added icon that appears in the Quick Access Toolbar and then selecting Remove from Quick Access Toolbar..

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In Windows Vista, you can place the same address bar that is in Internet Explorer directly in the taskbar. To do this:

Right-click the taskbar
Click Toolbars
Click Address

The address bar has been added to your taskbar. Now you can go to a website straight from this address bar instead of opening Internet Explorer to go to the website. Just type in the web address and press Enter.

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If you prevent files from being saved to the desktop and instead save them in your Documents folder, you can improve your computer's performance and you will be able to find a file more easily.

If you still prefer to open a file from your desktop, it is best to make a shortcut to that file. If you delete a shortcut, the shortcut is removed from your desktop, but the file, program, or location that the shortcut links to is not deleted. You can identify shortcuts by the arrow on their icon.

To create a shortcut:

Right-click the name of the file
In the menu that appears, click Send to, and then select Desktop (create shortcut) from the options shown

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You can alter the resolution settings in Vista for your monitor in order to optimize your desktop space. Higher resolutions allow you to fit more items on your screen while lower resolutions make items larger and easier to see. The instructions that follow are the same for Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate.

Right-click anywhere on your desktop
In the window that appears, click Display Settings
Move the slider under Resolution. The resolution changes as you move the slider.
Click Apply

Your screen will go black for a few seconds while the monitor adjusts to the new setting. Then a new window appears and will ask if you are happy with the new appearance. If you are satisfied:

Click Yes

If you are not satisfied with the new appearance:

The monitor will then revert back to the original resolution

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From time to time you might want to save some space in Outlook by emptying your deleted items folder. If you are running Outlook 2003 and 2007, this can be easily automated, by doing the following:

Open Outlook
Click Tools and select Options
Check the option Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting.
Click the Advanced Options button.
Check or uncheck the Warn before permanently deleting items box. If you leave this box checked, Outlook will prompt you to confirm the deletion every time you close Outlook
Click OK

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You might not know it, but if you've deleted a mail message in Outlook, it's not necessarily gone from your computer. Indeed, the message is still taking up space in your "Deleted Items" folder. Over time, your "Deleted Items" folder may become very large, unless you empty it regularly. Here's how to empty this folder in Outlook.

Open Outlook. On the left hand side, there will be an area titled Mail with a list of folders.
Right-click on the Deleted Items folder
In the menu that appears, select Empty Deleted Items folder

You will be prompted to confirm that you want to permanently delete all the items in your Deleted Items folder.

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Flagged e-mail messages help you better manage your mail. You can flag an e-mail message you receive to remind yourself to follow-up or take action at a later time. To flag a received message:

Open Outlook
In the message list, right-click the message you want to flag
From the pull-down list, select Follow Up

A menu appears with a number of choices for adding a due dates or a reminder.

After you click OK, the InfoBar displays the option that you choose. Your flagged message will appear in the To-Do Bar, in Tasks, and in the Daily Task List in Calendar.

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Do you frequently insert a chunk of boilerplate text into e-mails? Create a Quick Part to simplify the process. To create a Quick Part:

Open Outlook
Start a new message
Add the content you will re-use to the e-mail.
Select Quick Parts Under the Insert, Text tab of the Ribbon

To use a Quick Part: Select Quick Parts from the Ribbon again, but this time, select the instant preview of the content you previously saved.

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Create signatures that will automatically or manually be appended to the bottom of your email messages.

Open Outlook
From the Tools menu, choose Options.
Click the Mail Format tab.
Click Signatures to open the Create Signature Picker dialog box.
Click New to open the Create New Signature dialog box.
In the Enter a name for your new signature box, enter a name for your signature file.
Click Next to open the Edit Signature dialog box.
Under Signature text, in the text box, enter the text to be included.
Click Finish

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If you send e-mail to the same group of people all the time and find yourself getting tired of manually typing in their e-mail address each time, look no further. Creating a distribution list will let you send e-mail to multiple people without having to type in each and every persons address.

Open Outlook 2007
In the standard tool bar, click the drop-down arrow next to New
Click Distribution List
A blank Distribution List will appear. Type a name for your distribution list.
Go to the Ribbon and in the Members section, click Select Members (The Select Members: Contacts window will appear)
Double-Click each contact you want to add to the list. (They will now appear in the Members box)
When you are finished selecting all the members desired for this list, click OK
In the Distribution List window, go to the Ribbon and in the Actions section, click Save & Close

The distribution list you just created will now appear in your contacts. Maybe you have several groups of people that you e-mail at work, or a group of friends that you frequently send messages to. Once you get the lists set-up, they can be a huge time-saver for you.

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When you download images from your digital camera to your computer, the file names of the images have nothing to do with the events or scenes in the pictures. Renaming each file manually is time-consuming, but using this Windows XP technique, you can quickly rename a folder of digital photos all at once.

Click the Start icon on the Taskbar.
Open a folder of digital photo files whose names you want to change, for example in your My Pictures folder.
Click Edit.
Click Select All
Right-click on the first digital photo file in the list
Click Rename.
Type the name you want to use to identify all the digital photo files in the folder followed by a dot and the extension jpg (.jpg), the most common format used by digital cameras. Example: trip to washington.jpg
Press Enter on your keyboard to rename all the digital photo files in the folder and add sequential numbering to the file names.

If you take a little time and go through your My Pictures folder and apply this technique to all your photos, the next time you try to find a specific photo you'll be glad that you did.

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Because email messages lack tone of voice and gestures that communicate so much during face-to-face and telephone conversations, some email writers include emoticons or smileys to indicate humor, sarcasm, excitement, and other emotions.

:-) or :) - happiness, sarcasm, or joke		;-) - wink of an eye
:-( or :( - frowning		:-p - sticking tongue out
:-D - jovial happiness, laughing outloud		:-c or :-< - really unhappy
>:-< - angry		:-x - being silent
|-O - yawn		{:-@ - angry, screaming
:-* - kiss		:,-( - crying
:-| - indifference		:-o - surprise, yelling or realization of an error

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Auto-signature can contain information such as your return e-mail address, job title, phone number or address. Ro add an auto-signature to a message:

In Outlook Express, click Tools.
Click Options
Click the Signatures tab
Click New, to create an auto-signature
Type the text of your auto-signature in the Edit Signature box. You can choose whether to add the signature to all outgoing messages.
Click OK

If you do not apply your auto-signature to all outgoing messages, you can manually add the auto-signature to particular messages:

In the message window, click Insert - Signature

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Windows stamps the time and date on every file you save. It is important that you keep these settings accurate. If you need to make adjustments, you can go to the Date and Time control panel. Just follow these steps:

Click the Start icon on the Taskbar.
Click Control Panel
Click Clock, Language and Region
Click Date and Time, if prompted, click Continue to authorize this change.
In the Date and Time window, click the Date and Time tab and then click Change Date and Time
Double-click the hour. Click the up or down arrows to set the correct hour, or type it manually.
Double-click the minutes. Use the up or down arrows to set the correct number of minutes after the hour, or type it manually.
Select the correct month from the dropdown menu on the calendar to the left of the clock.
Click the correct date on the calendar.
Set the correct year by using the up or down arrows next to the box with a year in it.
When you are finished, click OK

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We search for files and folders in our computers using Windows search. Did you know that you can customize windows search interface the way you like it? You can change the animated character or turn it off. Here is how to do that.

Click Start
Select Search
Double click on the animated character shown at the bottom left of the window
Click Choose a different animated character
Click the Back and Next buttons to change the animated character.
When you have selected a new one, click OK

If you want to get rid of the animated character completely:

In the search window, double click on the character and choose Turn off the animated character.
Click OK

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Windows Mail includes a built-in Instant Search field. For instance, you can scan the contents of an entire folder for a particular word. Here is how to do that.

Click the folder you want to search in
Click the search-box in the upper right corner.
Type your search term.

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Microsoft Windows XP automatically chooses how to display folders based on the types of files they contain. You can change your folder settings for individual folders or for all the folders on your computer. Here is how to do that.

Changing the view for a single folder
If you want to display Thumbnails for a single folder:
Click the View button on the toolbar
In the list that appears, select Thumbnails

This only changes the view for the folder you currently have open.

Changing the view for all folders
Click Start
Click the View button
Click the view you want to apply to all folders, for example Thumbnails
Click Tools
Click Folder Options
Click the View tab, and then click Apply to All Folders.
Click Yes
Click OK

The next time you open a folder, it will be displayed using the view you chose. To restore your original folder settings, repeat the steps above. Then, instead of selecting the Apply to ALL folders button, click the Reset All Folders button.

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You don't always need to keep the Taskbar down at the bottom of your screen. You can position it anywhere you want. But first you need to "unlock" it. Here is how to do that.

Right-click an empty portion of the taskbar
In the menu that appears, click to remove the checkmark by Lock the Taskbar
Move the mouse pointer to some empty spot on the taskbar (not on a button or icon).
Hold down the left mouse button, drag the taskbar to any edge of the screen - left, top, right or back at the bottom. Then release the mouse button.

It's best to keep the taskbar locked when you're not intentionally trying to move or size it. To relock the taskbar:

Right-click the current time in the lower right corner of your screen
In the menu that appears, click to checkmark the option Lock the Taskbar

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In Windows XP, an event is any significant occurrence in the system or in a program that requires users to be notified, or an entry added to a log. The Event Log Service records application, security, and system events in Event Viewer. With the event logs in Event Viewer, you can obtain information about your hardware, software, and system components, and monitor security events. Event logs can help you identify and diagnose the source of current system problems. To open Event Viewer:

Click Start
Click Performance and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double-click Computer Management
Double-click Event Viewer

The Application, Security, and System logs are displayed in the Event Viewer window.

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In order to view or alter small details of a picture, it helps to be able to zoom in on a photo in Paint:

Click the magnifying glass icon
Move the cursor over the photo. When you enter the workspace, the cursor will automatically create a rectangle. Place the rectangle over the area you wish to enlarge.
Click the photo with the left mouse button. It will automatically zoom in on the section inside the rectangle.

If desired, make your changes to the enlarged picture area. When finished, select the magnifying glass icon once more. Click on the picture and it will return to it's original size.

Note: Keep in mind that your photo does not actually change size when you use the zoom tool, only the viewing area is altered.

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The old Alt-Tab method of switching among windows in Windows XP has been replaced by the far more useful Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D in Windows Vista. You can activate Flip 3d as follows:
In the Quick Launch toolbar bottom left of the Start button:

Click the icon

You then will see all opened programs and windows stacked in three dimensions on your desktop.
Switch among them using the mouse's scroll wheel or by using the arrow keys. You can also switch among windows by holding down the Windows logo key while you press the Tab key.

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Unlike Help in previous versions of Windows, Vista Help does not have a visible Index. Instead, you can use the Search box to look for articles that include your keywords. This box appears at the top of all Help windows. The results will be ONLY Help pages. You can choose whether to include online help as well as articles that are on your hard disk (i.e. offline).

Keywords are the words or phrases that you tell Windows to look for. If you want to know what a widget is, you should type in widget, not what is a widget. Search programs will ignore common words like a and is. Most search programs, including Search Help, will search for an exact phrase if you type quotes around the phrase, like "what is a widget". Just remember that Search does not look for the answer to the question but for that exact text.

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Here is how to enable viewing file extensions. First you need to know where to find the file and folder options in Windows Vista.

Open up Windows Explorer by selecting Documents, Music, Pictures or any folder ...

Select Organize and then Folder and Search Options from the drop-down list.
Select the View tab and then remove the check mark from the box labeled Hide extensions for known file types

Now the file extensions will be displayed.

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Each text box or image you add to a PowerPoint slide is neatly aligned to a grid. It can be quite difficult to place an object outside the grid, because PowerPoint keeps trying to snap the objects to the grid. To be able to more accurately place an object, adjust the Snap objects to Grid setting. You can do that like this:

In PowerPoint 2007:

Click the Format tab
Click Align
Click Grid Settings
Click to remove the check mark beside Snap objects to grid
Click OK

In earlier versions of PowerPoint:

Click View / Grid and Guides
Click Click to remove the check mark beside Snap objects to grid
Click OK

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Sometimes when you try to play a PowerPoint presentation on another PC, the sound is missing. In that case the sound files that you added to the presentation have not been copied. PowerPoint only embeds small sound files in the presentation. Larger sound files are loaded from the hard drive of your computer. The presentation only contains links to these large sound files. You can solve this problem like this:

Open the presentation on the PC where it was originally created

In PowerPoint 2007

Click the embedded sound icon
Click the Options tab
Set the value next to Max Sound File Size (KB) that you need. If your sound file is 200KB you need to set this value to least 201KB. The maximum file size is 50 MB.

In earlier versions of PowerPoint:

Add the sound file again
Save the presentation

The size of the presentation has increased because of the added sound file. Changes made to this setting do not have a retroactive effect. This means that sound files that were linked to the presentation before changes were made to the maximum file size settings, are no longer automatically embedded in the presentation. If you want these files to be embedded in your presentation, they have to be removed and added to the presentation again.

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Word contains a useful feature called Protect Document. You can turn this feature on in an opened document like this:

In Word 2007:

Click the Review tab
Click Protect Document

In Word 2003:

Click Tools / Protect Document

Now you see a window where you can restrict the possibilities for formatting and editing in this document.

Click to check mark the options you want to use
Click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection

This is how to prevent others from making changes to your document.

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Some people use the option to request a read receipt for each e-mail they send. By default, Outlook will respond to these requests by asking if you want to send the read receipt. If you want to change this setting in Outlook, do the following:

Click Tools / Options
Click the Preferences tab
Click E-mail Options
Click Tracking Options

A window appears where you can select your preferred response to a read receipt request: "Always send a response", "Never send a response", or "Ask me before sending a response".

Click OK three times to close all windows

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In Microsoft Word you can quickly increase the font size for a selected word or text fragment using this key combination:

Press Ctrl + Shift + > at the same time

To decrease the font size:

Press Ctrl + Shift + < at the same time

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You can let Outlook display a notification on your desktop each time you receive a new e-mail message. Here is how to do that.

In the Outlook window:

Click Tools / Options
Click the tab Preferences / E-mail Options
Click Advanced E-mail Options
Click to check mark Display a New Mail Desktop Alert
Click OK three times to close all windows

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If you regularly use an existing Word document as a basis for a new document, you run the risk of accidentally saving the changes and overwriting the original document. To prevent this from happening, you can do the following:

In Word 2007:

Click Office button / Open

In older versions of Word:

Click File / Open

Now you see the Open window.

Select the desired file
Click the arrow next to the Open button

A menu appears.

Click Open as Copy

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In Microsoft Word you can quickly copy a selection by dragging it to another part of the document while at the same time holding down the CTRL button. This is known as drag-and-drop editing. Move the Mouse pointer to the right spot, release the Mouse button and voilá, the selection is copied. Use this same method to copy a selection to another Word document:

Open the source document
Open the target document
Place both windows side by side on your desktop

Select the desired part of the source document
Hold the CTRL button down
Drag the selection to the location where you want to copy (drop) it.
Release the mouse button to "drop" the selection.
Release the CTRL button

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To be able to print only a part of a larger Excel sheet, you can do the following

Select the portion of the spreadsheet you want to print

In Excel 2007:

Click Office button / Print

In Excel 2003 and earlier

Click File / Print

Now you see the Print window.

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When you copy a picture straight from a web page to a Word document, most likely a hyperlink connected to the image is copied as well. If that is the case, a small pop-up window appears every time you place the mouse pointer on the image in the Word document.

You can remove a hyperlink from your Word document like this:

Right-click the image. A menu will then appear.

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When you use Excel to create an address list, you use separate columns for each item. For example: Name, Address, City, State, Zip Code. If you change your mind about this setup and decide that you would prefer to combine columns, for example, the state and the zip code in one separate column, you can use the following trick.
In this example cell D2 contains the state and cell E2 contains the zip code. You can enter both in cell F2, separated by a space:

Type the equal = sign in cell F2
Click cell D2
Type the ampersand & sign
Type the double quotes " sign
Type two spaces
Type the double quotes " sign
Type the ampersand & sign
Click cell E2
Press Enter.

Cell F2 now contains the formula =D2&" "&E2
In normal language this formula means: enter the value from cell D2, add two spaces and then enter the value from cell E2. In cell F2 the state and the zip code appear, separated by two spaces.
If you like real formulas, you can also enter this formula in cell F2:
=CONCATENATE(D2;" ";E2)
You can copy this formula to the rest of column using this Excel trick:

Click cell F2
Place the mouse pointer on the small black square in the bottom right corner of the cell

The mouse pointer changes into a black + sign.

Drag the mouse pointer down over the rest of the column.

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In Word it is very easy to copy the formatting from a selection of text and apply it to another. You can do this by using the Format Painter. This is usually much faster than going through several menus to apply different formatting options to a section of text:

In this picture you can see the Format Painter icon on the Home tab in Word 2007.

In this picture you can see the Format Painter icon in Word 2003.

Place the cursor in the section of text with the formatting you wish to copy.

Single-click the Format Painter icon.
Drag over the selection of text once to copy the formatting. Your cursor will change back to normal and you can continue working.

If you want to apply the formatting to more than one section:

Double-click the Format Painter icon.
Copy the formatting to as many selections of text as you like. To stop using the Format Painter after double-clicking it, just click the icon again (or press escape).

Tip:
If you're using Word 2007 and find yourself using this feature frequently, right click the Format Painter icon and select "Add to Quick Access Toolbar". Now it will be available regardless of what part of the ribbon you're in:

This feature is also available in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint

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If you want text to break to a new line in a cell you can use the key combination Alt + Enter to insert a line break. Excel moves to the next line—but not the next cell—adjusting the height of the cell as needed to include your text. You can also adjust the column width to display the entire text. But if you want to preserve the same column width across multiple cells, you can try the following:

Select the desired cell(s) containing the text

In Excel 2007:

Click the Wrap Text icon Right-click in the group Alignment on the Home tab

In older versions of Excel:

Excel now automatically wraps the text and resizes the row height as needed.

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You can add moving pictures (animations) to e-mails you create in Outlook Express or Windows Mail. As a service to our newsletter subscribers, we offer a collection of free animations on our website. The website is updated regularly and all of the images are small in bandwidth.

Download any of these free animated images from www.visualsteps.com/animations.
Start a new message in Outlook Express or Windows Mail

Click in the text box area of the message
Click Insert / Picture
Go to the folder where you saved the animated image. For example in Windows Vista, in your Pictures folder, or in Windows XP in your My Pictures folder.
Click the animated picture
Click Open

Now you see that the animated picture has been added to your message. Add any additional text and press Send. You can also add the animated picture to your website or blog.

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Microsoft Office users have a large amount of readymade templates at their disposal, for example business cards, calendars, schedules, greeting cards, etcetera. You can download these templates for free from this web page.

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Here is how to place two tables next to each other in a Word document:

Create two tables with the same size below each other.
Make sure the table width does not exceed half the page
Select both tables

In Word 2007:

Click the Page Layout tab
Click Columns / Two

In older versions of Word:

Click Format / Columns
Click Two below Presets in the Columns window
Click OK

Now the two tables are displayed next to each other.

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When you copy text from another document or from a web page to a Word document, you often carry along the formatting as well. Sometimes that's exactly what you want, but more often it's incompatible with the formatting of the document you're working on. You can prevent this from happening by using the option Paste Special:

Open both the target document and the source you want to copy from
Select and copy the desired text from the document or web page
Click the desired location in the target document

In Word 2007:

Click the Home tab
Click Paste / Paste Special

In older versions of Word:

Click Edit / Paste Special

In the window that appears:

Click Unformatted Text
Click OK

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The mouse pointer on your screen is shaped like an arrow. If you are having problems following this arrow you can enlarge it or even give it a tail.

Click the Start button
Click Control Panel
Click Printers and Other Hardware (XP) or Mouse (Vista)
Click Mouse (XP)

Now you see the Mouse Properties window.
On the Pointers tab you can adjust the size of the arrow:

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When you click the Windows XP Start button a list appears containing the programs installed on your computer. You can display these programs in alphabetical order. This will make it easier to find a specific program.

Right-click a random item in the Start menu

A menu appears.

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Having multiple tab capabilities also means that you can have multiple home pages in Internet Explorer 7.

Start Internet Explorer. Open two of your favorite homepages in separate tabs.

Go to Internet Explorer Tools/Internet Options
Click the General tab
Click Use current

Internet Explorer will now open your home pages when you start Internet Explorer, or when you click on the Home button on the toolbar.

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Here are some handy keyboard shortcuts to use with Tabbed Browsing in Internet Explorer 7:
Press CTRL + Click - Open links in a new tab in the background
Press CTRL + Shift + Click - Open links in a new tab in the foreground
Press CTRL + T - Open a new tab in the foreground
Press CTRL + Tab/CTRL + Shift + Click - Switch between tabs
Press CTRL + W - Close current tab (or current window when there are no open tabs)

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Select the cells you wish to fill with the same data.
Type the formula, value or text to be repeated.
Press CTRL + ENTER.

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Many users find it helpful to color-code the sheet tabs to make it easier to identify specific sheets.

If you use Excel 2002-2003 or Excel 2007:

right-click on the sheet tab
Choose Tab Color, and then select the color for the tab.

If you're using a previous version of Excel, you cannot change the tab colors

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Sometimes when working in Excel, you may want to get a full screen view, so you can see as much of your worksheet as possible. This will remove all of Excel's screen elements except for the main toolbar.

In Excel 97/2003:

Click on the View menu in the toolbar
Click Full Screen

To go back to normal view, just repeat the same steps.

In Excel 2007

Click the View tab in the Ribbon
Click the Full Screen icon, located top left, in the Workbook views section of the Ribbon

To go back to normal view, simply right-click anywhere in the worksheet, and select Close Full Screen.
You can't access the main menus (File, Edit, etc.) the way you can in Office 2003 apps, nor is the mini-Full Screen toolbar visible for accessing other toolbars, though you can view standard formatting options by right-clicking anywhere in the worksheet.

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How do I tell the Office Assistant to go away?

Click on the Office Assistant
Click to remove the checkmark by Use Office Assistant

You can also customize the behavior of the Office Assistant by checking or clearing the checkboxes on the Options tab. If you want to learn how to customize the Office Assistant, but it's not currently visible, choose Show the Office Assistant from the Help menu.

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There is actually a separate toolbar that will display all the available shortcut keys in Word 2003.

Click Tools button
Select Customize. In the Customize window, select the Toolbars tab
Tick the Function Key Display item from the list of toolbars, and then click Close.

This will display an additional toolbar that will indicate the basic function key commands and will adjust accordingly when you press the Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys.

Display and use KeyTips in Word 2007

KeyTips provide you with a display of the keys you can press if you want to navigate through Word using the keyboard instead of the mouse.

Press Alt to display KeyTips on the Ribbon.

You will see small boxed characters appear on the major tabs and Quick Access tools in the Word window. When you press one of the characters (for example, pressing I selects the Insert tab), you will see that all commands on the Ribbon have their own KeyTips. KeyTips will remain on the display until you press Alt a second time to hide them.

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It is possible to obtain a list of all the shortcut keys from within Word itself.

In word 2002-2003

Click the Tools button
Click Macro and then select Macros from the drop-down list.
In the new window near the bottom you will see the heading: "Macros in", click the option Word commands
In the choices presented under the heading "Macro name", select ListCommands
Click Run
In the new List Commands dialog window, select Current Menus and keyboard settings

The list is displayed, the full document should contain about 9 pages of Word keyboard shortcut keys!

Click File, Print to display the print options available.

in Word 2007

Click the tab View
Click Macros and select View Macros from the drop-down list
In the new window near the bottom you will see the heading: "Macros in", click the option Word commands
In the choices presented under "Macro name", select ListCommands
Click Run
In the List Commands dialog window, select: Current Menus and keyboard settings
Click OK

The list is displayed, the full document should contain about 10 pages of Word keyboard shortcut keys!

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Quickly add a new slide in PowerPoint with the following keyboard combination:

Press the following keys: Ctrl + M

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Keyboard shortcuts are a necessary building block for anyone who wants to work faster and more efficiently with their computer. Use these handy keyboard combinations to style your text in Word. The keys to press are separated by a plus sign (+).

Ctrl + B Bold - Formats selected text; make text bold, or remove bold formatting
Ctrl + I Italic - Formats selected text; make text italic or remove italic
Ctrl + U Underline - Formats selected text; make text underlined or remove underline
Ctrl + Shift + D Double underline text
Ctrl + Shift + + Apply superscript formatting
Ctrl + = Apply subscript formatting
Shift + F3 Change case of the letters

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Use these handy keyboard combinations to save you time composing your documents in Word. Many people don't realize the amount of time consumed by moving back and forth between the keyboard and mouse, but it really does add up. By learning and making it a point to use a few basic keyboard shortcuts, you'll quickly realize how much faster you can get through a Word document when your hands are dedicated to the keyboard. The keys to press are separated by a plus sign (+).

Ctrl + N Open a new Word document quickly
Ctrl + O Opens a previously saved document
Ctrl + W Closes the active window, but does not Exit Word
Ctrl + S Saves the active document with its current file name, location and format
Ctrl + P Prints the active file, also gives the opportunity to change print options
Ctrl + Z Undo the last action. This selection can be repeated several times
Ctrl + Y Redo - After an action has been undone, it can be reinstated in the document
Ctrl + C Copies the selection to the clipboard
Ctrl + V Paste - Inserts the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point (cursor) or whatever is selected
Ctrl + X Cut- Removes the selection from the active document and places it on the clipboard
Ctrl + A Selects all text and graphics in the active window
Alt + F4 Exit - Closes Microsoft Word

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Did you know that you can also use keyboard shortcuts to quickly align your paragraphs in Word?

Ctrl + L Left align a paragraph
Ctrl + R Right align a paragraph
Ctrl + E Center a paragraph
Ctrl + M Indent a paragraph from the left

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If you want to move the cursor in Word, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:

Pressing the —>(Right-arrow key), will move the cursor one character to the right
Pressing the <—(Left-arrow key), will move the cursor one character to the leftt
Pressing Ctrl + —>(Right-arrow key) moves the cursor one word to the right
Pressing Ctrl + <—(Left-arrow key) moves the cursor one word to the left
Pressing Ctrl + End moves the cursor to the end of the document
Pressing Ctrl + Home moves the cursor to the beginning of the document

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If text is already selected and you want to extend the selection area, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:

Shift + <—(Left-arrow key) Extends selection one character to the left
Ctrl + Shift + —>(Right-arrow key) Extends selection to the end of a word
Shift + —>(Right-arrow key) Extends selection one character to the right
Ctrl + Shift + <—(Left-arrow key) Extends selection to the beginning of a word

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Quickly add the current date and time in a cell with the following shortcut:

Ctrl + Shift + ; - enters the current time
Ctrl + ; enters the current date.

This works in Microsoft Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003 and Excel 2007. The same shortcut keys work for Microsoft Access also.

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Did you know you can add double underlining in Word just as easy as regular underlining? Just use this keyboard shortcut:

Select the text where you want the underlining to appear
Press the following keys: Ctrl + Shift + D

To remove the double underlining, repeat the same key combination.

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We have covered keyboard shortcuts before, but they are so essential that the topic never gets old. Quickly give your document a new name by using this Save as shortcut:

Press the F12 key

Save the document in your normal manner.

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In most other Office programs, to move the cursor to the next line, you press the ENTER key. However, in Excel, you end up in the cell below when you press ENTER. When you are editing text in a cell, and you need to make a line break.

To insert a line break in a cell:

Press the Alt key + the Enter key

A new line is inserted in the cell.

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You can add the Euro and Sterling Pound Symbols to your Word documents even when your keyboard lacks special keys for them. Just use the numeric keypad (do not use the normal number keys) to type a 4-digit code while holding down the Alt key.

Click to set the cursor at the place where you want to add the symbol.

To insert the € Symbol:

Press the Alt key + 0128

To insert the £ Symbol:

Press the Alt key + 0163

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You can quickly remove any undesired styles in Word with a keyboard shortcut. This will return the selected text to the “Normal” (the default in Word) style.

Select the text
Hold down the Ctrl key, then press the Shift key and the N key.

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Word's automatic spell-checking feature monitors the characters you type, and marks words not found in its dictionary with red wavy lines. If you are working on a document that contains many special characters, such as those found in other languages, these red lines may become annoying. Here is how to temporarily disable the spell-checking feature.

In Word 2002-2003

Right-click the Spelling and Grammar icon on the status bar
Click to check mark Hide Spelling Errors

In Word 2007

In the Ribbon, click the tab Review
Click Spelling & Grammar
Click Options (button in bottom left corner)
Click to check mark Hide spelling errors in this document only
Click OK

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Quickly show a Print Preview of your Word document by using the following keyboard combination:

Hold down the Ctrl key, then press the F2 key.

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Quickly add a comment to your Word document:

Hold down the Ctrl key, then press the Alt key and the M key.

To remove the comment:

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Normally, when you enter a web address in Microsoft Word, such as an URL (http://www.visualsteps.com), Word automatically turns the address into a clickable hyperlink (the letters are blue and underlined). If you'd rather this not happen, do the following:

In Word 2002-2003:

Click Tools
Select AutoCorrect Options
Click the AutoFormat tab.
Uncheck Internet and network paths with hyperlinks
Select the AutoFormat As You Type tab
Uncheck Internet and network paths with hyperlinks
Click OK

In Word 2007:

Click the Microsoft Office Button
Click Word Options
Click Proofing
Under AutoCorrect Options, click the button AutoCorrect Options
Select the AutoFormat As You Type tab
Uncheck Internet and network paths with hyperlinks
Click OK

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BCC or Blind Carbon Copy allows you to send an email to a number of recipients in Outlook Express or Windows Mail without revealing all the email addresses to everyone who receives the email. Just enter thae addtional addresses in this field. If the field is not present:

Click View
Click All Headers

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Prevent other users from making changes to your PowerPoint presentation by password protecting it. If you use passwords, you have two different options. You can require a password to open the presentation or you can require a password to make any changes to the presentation. Here is how to set a password to avoid changes being made.

In PowerPoint 2003:

Click Tools
Click Options
Click the Security tab
Type a password by Password to modify
Click OK
Type the same password again
Click OK

In PowerPoint 2007:

Click the Microsoft Office Button
Click Save as
Click the Tools menu at the bottom of the window
Click General options
Type a password by Password to modify
Click OK
Type the same password again by Reenter password to modify
Click OK

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You can quicky start a PowerPoint slideshow presentation by using the following function key:

Press the F5-key

The F keys are programmed to do different things within each specific program. They are usually found in a row at the top of your keyboard.

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You can quicky add today's date in your Word document by using the following keyboard combination:

Hold down the Shift key, then press the Alt key and the D key.

Shift + Alt + D - to add the date

The Windows system date is immediately added to your document.

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To open a dialog box where you can search for files or folders:

Hold down the Windows-logo key and press the F key

In Windows Vista, it opens the integrated desktop search window; in XP, the built-in search feature is launched.

The Windows-logo key is usually located in the lower left portion of your keyboard.

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View your Desktop quickly by using this keyboard shortcut:

Hold down the Windows-logo key and press the D key

To go back to where you were working:

Use the same key combination once more: the Windows-logo key + the D key

The Windows-logo key is usually located in the lower left portion of your keyboard.

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There is a fast way to see your RSS feeds in Internet Explorer 7:

Hold down the Ctrl key and press the J key. A list of all the feeds for which you have subscribed will display immediately in your Favorites Center.

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You can quickly forward an e-mail you received in Outlook Express and Windows Mail to someone else:

Click to select the e-mail you want to forward.

Hold down the Ctrl key and press the F key. The compose window opens immediately. Just enter the recipient's e-mail address in the to field and click send.

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You can easily pause your PowerPoint slideshow presentation by using the following key:

Press the B-key when you want to interrupt the presentation
Press the B-key again when you want to restart the presentation

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Save time while surfing by using keyboard shortcut keys:
Press CTRL + H - to open the History box
Press CTRL + I - to open the Favorites box
Press CTRL + E - to open the Search box

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Use a simple keyboard shortcut to move forward or back when you browse web pages in Internet Explorer:

Hold down the ALT key and press either the Left-arrow key to go back or the Right-arrow key to go forward.

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If you do not want to send an e-mail message right away or you are writing a lengthy message and want to finish it later, you can save it in the Drafts folder:

Click File
Click Save

A window appears letting you know the message has been stored in the Drafts folder.

Click OK
Close the message.

Later when you want to continue working on the message or when you wish to send the message:

Click the folder Drafts
Double-click the specific message
Continue typing in the usual manner.

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You already know how to open an e-mail message received in Outlook Express or Windows Mail by double-clicking it. You can also do this with a keyboard shortcut:

Click to select the e-mail message you want to open
Press CTRL + O

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Quickly move the cursor in a long web address in Internet Explorer:

Hold down the Ctrl key, press either the right or left arrow key

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In Internet Explorer you can quickly add a website you are viewing to your Favorites list by using a simple keyboard shortcut:

Hold down the CTRL key and press the D key

The Add a Favorite window appears. Click Add

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When you create a new e-mail message, you can easily move the cursor (the blinking vertical line) to the next field, for example from To, to CC, to Subject, etc:

Press the Tab key

The cursor moves to the next field.

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When you receive more than one attachment in an e-mail using Outlook Express or Windows Mail, you do not have to save each one separately:

Open the e-mail that contains the attachments

Click File
Select the option Save Attachments

Browse to the desired location where you want to save the attachments and select a folder of your choice.

Click OK

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