Do you have a favorite printer that you like to use? Is Word not choosing it for you automatically?
This weeks Word of the week video shows you how to change your default printer in Windows 7.
-- Ron Owens
[ Note to readers: I originally published this comic on my old blog on MSDN, but people seem to like it, so I'm reposting it here so new readers don't miss out. -- David ]
Suffering from inbox overload? In Outlook, you don't have to prioritize and sort your email the hard way. Outlook 2010 has three new features that do more for my sanity than six weeks of therapy: the Ignore feature (my and Crabby's favorite), Conversation view, and the Conversation Clean-up tool.
Plagued by endless nattering email threads full of silly posturing or irrelevant details? (Not that that ever happens.) Right click the subject of any of the emails and then click Ignore. Then click the Ignore Conversation button to move all those emails (including ones you haven't gotten yet) to your deleted items folder, and savor your moment of zen.
More interested in what it's about than who sent it? Use Conversation View to group all your emails by conversation as they arrive.
Want to get rid of redundant messages? Use Conversation Clean-Up.
Together these three features make managing your inbox a whole lot easier in Outlook 2010.
If you're wrestling with your inbox in Outlook 2007, watch this "Break me out of mail jail" video and break free.
--Holly Thomas
Today's "Use this!" tip is a bit of a lecture. I'm begging you, once again, to refrain from sending out rumors, jokes, links to adorable kitten videos, and hoaxes (even those that you don't yet know are hoaxes but most definitely are) without hiding the names of the 137 recipients who simply MUST know about whatever it is you're sending.
And what do I mean when I talk about hiding the addresses of all your recipients from one another? Am I telling you this to encourage you to be sneaky? Not really. What I'm doing is saving your email receivers from possible spam and computer viruses and worms (and other nasty stuff).
I recently became a beneficiary of a certain type of virus sent to me by some creepy spammer who got my email address from a certain acquaintance of mine who shall remain nameless because I like to have friends.
So! Let's talk about making use of the lonely, underused Bcc line.
How do you pull it all together--create one document out of a lot of old files or notes, complete with a table of contents?After all these posts about page numbers and headers and footers in Word 2010, I want to wrap up by returning to a few Word 2007 videos...
Ever feel stuck in a rut, using the same program over and over but not getting the results you want (or getting them but at the expense of everything, including family time and your sanity) ? If so, it's time to open your eyes to what else is out there—expand your horizons, step outside your comfort zone, think outside the box (and perhaps get some new clichés).
Listen, I know that when you get comfortable with one program, you tend to use it as much as possible. Little kids are notorious for wanting to wear the same outfit every day of the week (and this often means a Superman cape or a ballerina tutu), but people, it's time to put away childish tendencies. A tutu is made for dancing; it's not so useful for soccer. And a cape, well, I suppose one could make the case that a cape is good for just about anything, but if it were my kid, and bike riding were involved, the cape would have to go.
Yes, Office programs can be pretty flexible. But if one program could handle every task, there wouldn't be the need to offer 10+ different ones. For today's tip, I'm going to give a few examples of tasks you might have to undertake and then compare whether to use Access or Excel to accomplish them.
Sure, school is only just slowly getting back in session. And yet, before you know it, one of your teachers will spring that first pop quiz on you. Memorization drills aren't exactly a ton of fun right after summer, but did you know that you can create quick and easy flashcards using the built-in outlining features in OneNote?
Flashcards are a great way to test your knowledge when you're learning a foreign language, studying historical facts and dates, or when you need to learn and memorize anything else that can be tested in a question-and-answer format.
Read my full blog post to learn how you can create and keep all of your flashcards in OneNote, where you can easily use, reorganize, or modify them.
It's time for students to prepare for the school year--if they aren't at their desks already.Office.com has templates for pupils and their parents--lists, letters, calendars, and more...
Security is a pretty loaded word. When I was a kid, it meant my blankie—period. Now it's something totally different; it could have to do with money, relationships, my job, and my computer. I just asked my 8-year-old and she gave me a one word answer, "Safe."
"Safe." We all want to feel it, and we want others we love to feel it too. As you can imagine, safety and security are at the forefront of priorities when talking about computers. In one way or another, computing has become so widespread that whether or not you have a computer, have access to one, or have even used one, you are impacted daily by computers. A few examples: Your bank, the stores you shop at, street lights, and utilities all use computers to keep them going.
(As an aside, just this week, Intel, the chip maker ["chips" being, essentially, the tiny little engines that make computers run] is buying one of the leading security software maker companies, McAfee. I personally think this is an exciting prospect. Soon our hardware—not just the software we've chosen to install on our computers—will be the one dealing with the more and more sophisticated threats coming our way.)
But okay! Let's lighten up! Security in computers can also mean just securing a document, a spreadsheet, a Visio drawing, a presentation. You've made one and you don't want anyone changing it. Is that so wrong? No it isn't, and this week's "Dear Crabby" letter comes from someone who is thinking about just that.
At a Poynter Institute writing seminar I recently attended, the class was given writing assignments that we were to print out and read aloud for peer review. The computer lab at the institute was equipped with Macintosh computers and a printer. I had also brought my laptop, which runs Windows and Office 2010.
In the humid heat of St. Petersburg, Florida, I soon discovered I did not want to carry around a laptop. I could type up my assignment in the air-conditioned comfort of my hotel room. But how would I print it out in the morning for class? I hadn't thought to bring a thumb drive.
Then I remembered...
Some things we just can't do without in life: love, friendship, a bathroom door that locks. With Office, the same is true: Some features should not be overlooked.
One of the complaints we get around here is that some of the Office programs have so many features that you can't figure out which ones would be the most useful for you. This week I'll clue you into one of my longtime favorites: AutoCorrect.
Customers ask us: How do you change inches to centimeters--or to picas or points?
This week's Word of the week video shows you just that. Let's take a look.
-- Joannie Stangeland