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20 May 2005

Despite initial appearances, it’s not very hard to master Windows and, once you have, you’ll find it surprisingly simple to make it work the way you want it to. The key to doing this is learning the tips and tricks that advanced users take for granted. Once you have done so, you will find that you can work – and play – faster and more efficiently than before.

In this feature, we will take a look at 30 of the most useful tips and skills that, with a bit of practice, will transform a novice into an experienced computer user. And that’s not to say that they are hard to pick up – in many cases it is just a case of digging out a feature that has been carefully hidden by the designers of Windows. Take a look and see if there are any ways in which you can polish up your PC skills. You won’t regret it.

1. Move and copy files
Once you have created or received a file (a word processing document such as a letter, for example) you can move or copy it to new places. Dragging and dropping is the easiest way – place your mouse cursor over the file and hold down the left mouse button. If you move the mouse while holding down the button, the file will move. Release the mouse button to ‘drop’ the file. Try moving some files between open windows and the Desktop. To copy a file, hold down the key and repeat the process. When you release the mouse, the original file will remain and a copy will appear in the place you dragged the file to.

2. Navigate using keyboard shortcuts
Although the mouse is the norm for controlling Windows, there are some tasks that can be performed quicker using the keyboard and of course they’re handy to know if your mouse stops working.
Press the key to move to the menu bar when you are in a window. If you see a menu name with a letter underlined, pressing that letter will take you to that menu item. Then if an item contained in that menu has an underlined letter, you can press that letter to select the item.

Press the Tab key to move between buttons, boxes or text areas, and press Enter to ‘click’ on a button. If you want to close down, Alt+F4 will close the current application, or if there are no programs open, the keys will close Windows down.

3. Use shortcuts in Word
Windows isn’t the only thing you can control using the keyboard. When you’re typing away in Word, it might be easier to use a keyboard shortcut than make a command using the mouse. As before, and the corresponding underlined letter will take you to the menu bar. Press the menu key on the keyboard (the one to the right of the space bar between Alt Gr and the right Control key) to get a menu with some formatting and thesaurus options. Use Ctrl and C to copy, Ctrl and V to paste, and Ctrl then X to cut. Hold down shift and use the cursor keys to select text, and use Ctrl and Z to undo the last thing you did.

4. Install and remove new hardware
When you plug a new piece of hardware into a PC, Windows XP should automatically recognise what it is. Simple devices such as USB keys, and even some cameras, require no software or drivers and can be used straight away. If not, a box will pop up saying Windows needs to install the device. If you are lucky, Windows will already have a driver installed and you won’t have to do anything. Otherwise you will need to insert the CD that came with the new hardware and follow the instructions. If you have no CD, XP will offer to look for the driver on the Internet if you are connected. To remove USB hardware, click the green arrow icon in the System Tray and select the hardware you want to disconnect.

5. Send image files as attachments
You can attach any file to an e-mail message by right-clicking on it in Windows Explorer and selecting ‘Send To’, then ‘Mail Recipient’. This will open a new e-mail message with your file attached. If you want to attach a picture, you can do the same thing, but you might want to edit it first – right-click on it and select ‘Open With’ then select your picture editor from the list. When you have made the changes, save it under another name using the ‘Save As’ command in the File menu, and attach the new file to your message. If the image you want to send is on a CD, copy it to your Desktop first, as XP can’t send directly from CDs.

6. Search your hard disk
There are plenty of places you might store a document, a music file or a picture on your computer. To help you find them later, Windows has a built-in search tool. Go to the Start menu, click on Search and follow the instructions.

This can take a long time, though. A better idea might be a Desktop search program such as Copernic (available from our Cover CD ROM) or Google Desktop Search (Desktop.google.com), both of which are free. Install them and they will index your hard disk, which may take a couple of hours, but you can then search for documents at lightning speed.

7. Hard disk maintenance (including Disk Cleanup and Defragmenter)
Windows comes with a couple of tools to keep your hard disk in tip-top condition. To use Disk Cleanup, click on Start, then All Programs*Accessories*System Tools, and Disk Cleanup. This will find all the old or outdated files on your PC that can be thrown away to save space. Another tool is the defragmenter, which will rearrange the files on the disk to speed up the working of the computer. Close all open programs, then click on Start, then All Programs*Accessories*System Tools and Disk Defragmenter. Choose which disk to work on, if you have more than one, and follow the prompts. Be warned, though, that this is a lengthy process.

8. System Restore and backup
Windows XP (and Windows Me) comes with System Restore, which can help avoid nasty tangles when installing new programs. If something you install makes the computer behave oddly, you can use System Restore to reset the computer to how it was before. Go to Start, then All Programs*Accessories*System Tools, and click on System Restore.

Don’t just rely on that, though. Make sure you regularly back up all of your documents, email, favourites and important files. You can simply copy these files to a CD (see tip 12).

9. Update software online
Once you buy a piece of software, that’s not the end of it. Most software – especially Windows – now comes with online updates and it’s important to get these if you use the Internet. To turn on Automatic Updates, right-click on the My Computer icon (it’s either on the Desktop or in the Start menu) and click on the Automatic Updates tab in the dialogue box that appears.

Make sure the ‘Automatic’ setting is selected and click on OK. To do it manually, go to www.windowsupdate.com in Internet Explorer
(it won’t work in other web browsers) and follow the instructions.
To download updates for other software, such as spyware killers or virus checkers, look for a button or section marked ‘update’ or something similar. If it’s not there, try the ‘support’ section of the maker’s website.

10. Create Desktop shortcuts
If you want to open a program, you go to the Start menu and find it, then click on it, right? There’s an easier way – if you have commonly used programs that you want easy access to, make a Desktop shortcut for each of them. Just find the program in the Start menu and instead of left-clicking on it, right-click and hold down the mouse button. Drag it to the Desktop and let go, then select Copy from the menu that appears.

You can also clean up your Desktop – simply drag to the Recycle Bin any shortcuts you are not using. You won’t delete the programs themselves – they will still be available from the Start menu as before.

11. Use Internet Options tools in Internet Explorer
You can control how Internet Explorer works and make sure it cleans up after itself using Internet Options. Open Internet Explorer and click on the Tools menu, then Internet Options. Click on the Delete Files button to clear the cache – the web files stored on your computer – to save space. If you click on the Settings button, you can set how much hard disk space the cache uses by moving the slider. Back in the main options panel, use the Clear History button to remove the traces of websites you have visited – for example if you have used e-mail or online banking on a public computer.

12. Create a CD
The latest version of Windows Media Player, version 10, makes it much easier to burn a CD than previous versions. At the top of the playlist panel at the right of the window is a button marked Now Playing List. Click on it and select Burn List from the menu. Then just drag and drop files from your library, other playlists or from Windows to the Burn List. When you are done, click on the Burn tab at the top of the window and click on the Start Burn button. You will, of course, need to insert a recordable CD. You can also drag other types of file to the Burn List and we recommend doing this with valuable documents now and then to make sure you have a backup in case of accidents or hard disk errors.

13. Remove spyware
There are two main programs we recommend for spyware and adware removal – SpyBot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware. Download both from our Cover CD ROM and install both, then open Ad-Aware. The first thing to do is update it. To do this, click on the tick, then on Connect and follow the instructions. When it finishes, click on the Start button to begin the scan. When it’s done, close it and launch Spybot, then click on the Search for Updates button. Tick all of the boxes that appear and click on Download Updates, then click on the Search & Destroy button on the left and select ‘Check for problems’, then follow the instructions.

14. Adding a trusted site to a firewall
Once you have set up your firewall, you need to tweak it every so often to make sure it is working correctly.
If you have a home network, for example, you will need to add the other computers as ‘trusted hosts’ so that the PC can communicate with them. To do so, open the firewall’s control panel or dashboard, and look for a section marked ‘trusted hosts’. Choose the option to add a host, and then type in the IP address of the other computer. If you don’t know the other PC’s IP address, right-click on the network icon (the two screens) in the System Tray, and click on Status, then go to the Support tab, where the IP address will be listed.

15. Use the Google Advanced Search tool
Using Google isn’t just a case of typing in words and clicking on Search. Well, it is, but it can do other things that will make your searches much more useful and effective. Open the Google home page and click the Advanced Search link to the right of the search box. Here you have several options for narrowing down your search – you can choose which words to include or exclude, choose a language in which to search, search by date and search one particular site.

16. Download and install drivers
Everything you connect to your computer – printer, scanner, camera, and so on – needs a driver to make it work. The driver tells the PC how to talk to the device. Manufacturers often release updated drivers on the web, so check the support section of the maker’s website every few weeks.

Alternatively, Windows will check for driver updates for you. Select Control Panel from the Start menu and double-click on System. Select Hardware, then Device Manager, right-click on the component you wish to check for drivers and select Update Driver. The Hardware Update wizard will guide you through the process.

17. Change default applications
When you double-click on a file, Windows will automatically launch the application associated with that item – double-clicking on an MP3 track will launch Windows Media Player and clicking on a web address will fire up Internet Explorer, for example. To change these default applications select Start*Control Panel*Add or Remove Programs and then choose Set Program Access and Defaults from the options on the left of the pane. Select Custom and click on the downward arrow button. Now select the programs you wish to set as defaults by checking the circles next to them. Click on OK to finish.

18. Crop digital images in Paint
One of the most simple and most effective things you can do to improve a picture is to crop it – trim away the edges to shift the focus of the image or to remove unwanted background items from the image. Open the Start menu and choose All Applications then Accessories, then click on Paint. Open your image and click the select tool (the dotted rectangle). Drag a rectangle around the area you want to keep, then click on Edit, and then Copy. Go to the File menu, click on New and click on No when you are asked to save the old file. Click on Edit, then Paste to put the new image in, and save it by going to File, then Save.

19. Get to grips with ways of displaying the contents of folders
Changing the way in which the content of folders is displayed needn’t stop at tinkering with icons. For more advanced options, such as showing hidden files or hiding recognised file extensions, select Folder Options from the Tools menu and click on the View tab. Check or uncheck the boxes in the Advanced settings menu and when you are happy with your choices, click on Apply to All Folders to save the changes.

20. Get to grips with file names
To rename a file, just click on it once to select it, wait a couple of seconds, then click on the name part of it. A cursor will appear, allowing you to change the name. If your fingers aren’t so nimble, an alternative way of doing this is to click on the file once, then press the F2 key to rename it.

21. Compress and uncompress files
If you want to send files to someone else, it might be a good idea to save space by compressing them and placing them in a single compressed folder (called a zip file). Windows XP lets you do this automatically. Select the files you want to send (hold down Control and click on each file in turn) then right-click on one of them. Click on ‘Send To’ and ‘Compressed (zipped) Folder’, then follow the instructions that appear. To access files that have been compressed, right-click on the folder and select Extract, then follow the instructions.

22. Create templates in Microsoft Word and Excel
If you have a particular document or type of document that you use on a regular basis, you can make a template, which contains all the basic parts of the document so that you can just fill in the blanks for each time you need to use it. To do so, create a document in Word or Excel, including all the aspects that you want to include in the template. Then go to the File menu and click on Save. In the ‘Save as type’ box, select Template, and save the file. Next time, just open the template and you will get a new document, which you can fill in. This is really handy for writing letters.
 
23. Use a Pop-up blocker
Windows XP now includes its own pop-up blocker, which is included with Service Pack 2. If Internet Explorer encounters a pop-up window it will display a message in the Information Bar – the new yellow bar that appears at the top of the window, below the address bar. This will include details of what has been blocked. Of course, it sometimes blocks things you want to see – in that case, click on the yellow bar and click ‘Temporarily Allow Pop-ups’.
To turn it off entirely, click on the Tools menu, then Options, and go to the Privacy tab, then untick Block pop-ups.

24. Save favourite websites
Some websites have long and unwieldy names – to save yourself the trouble of typing it in every time, right-click anywhere on the web page and select
Add to Favourites. You can organise the list by opening Windows Explorer. Right-click on the Start button and click on Explore. A window will appear – select the Favorites folder in the left-hand pane, and your favourites will appear in the right-hand pane. From here you can organise them just like other files.

25. Use Print Preview
Several applications let you see what you are printing before you print it, to make sure that what you see on screen is what you will see on the page. Look in the File menu for a Preview or Print Preview option. Click on it and you will see the page as it will appear when printed. If anything looks wrong, you can close the preview, go back to the document and correct it.

26. Create and manage Playlists in Windows Media Player
In Windows Media Player 10, you can easily create playlists of your favourite tracks. Click on the button marked Now Playing List on the right of the screen, and select New List, then Playlist from the menu. Drag the files from the library or from Windows, then select Save Playlist, and save it in a file.

27. Use fields in e-mails
There’s more than one way to send an e-mail. You will probably have noticed the To and CC (Carbon Copy) boxes when you are composing an e-mail. In practice, there is little difference between these. When a recipient hits Reply, the reply will go only to those people in the To field. To reply to those in the To and CC fields, the recipient would have to select ‘Reply to all’. If you put an address in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field, it will send the message to that person, but no one else will be able to see that.

28. Join an online forum and post a question
Online forums are useful for solving technical problems, or even just for a chat.

29. Manage downloads
When you download something using Internet Explorer by clicking on a link, you will be asked where to save the file. Using another program to download the file can make your life easier, though. The Firefox and Opera browsers both have a built-in download manager that tracks your downloads and keeps them in a list for ease of use. Alternatively, Star Downloader and FlashGet do a similar job if you would prefer to stick with Internet Explorer.

30. Send e-mails straight to folders in Outlook Express
Sometimes it’s easier to keep certain e-mails in themed folders. To set e-mails from specific senders to be sent straight to the right folder, select Message Rules from the Tools menu and then Mail. Check the ‘Where the From line contains’ box then the ‘Move it to the specified folder’ box. In the Rule Description click on the ‘Contains people’ link and enter the e-mail address in the box or click on the Address book button to select entries from there. Click on OK. Now click on the ‘specified’ link and click on the folder you want the e-mails copied to or create a new folder using the New Folder. Now click on OK. Type a name for your rule in the last box and click on OK to save your changes.

Service Pack 2
All of the tips in this feature apply to Windows XP, with Service Pack 2 installed. Microsoft and PC Live! recommends that all users of Windows XP should install Service Pack 2 if they have not already done so. To find out whether it is installed, right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties. Under the System heading, you will see the version of Windows installed, which should say Service Pack 2 at the end. If it doesn’t, go to www.windowsupdate.com and follow the prompts to install it. If you don’t have broadband, go to www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/
cdorder/en_us/default.mspx to order a CD.


Fitting a PCI card

PCI cards add new features to a PC, such as extra USB 2 sockets or wireless networking. Some features can be added by plugging in an external device, but adding new hardware inside the PC is almost always cheaper. There’s no need to be afraid of opening the PC to add new kit. Just follow these simple steps. In these days of USB and FireWire, when you can add hardware to your computer by plugging it in to a socket on the front or back, why bother with opening up your computer to put anything in it? To add more USB ports, might be the first answer.

There are several add-on cards available, from network and wireless network adapters and FireWire cards to SCSI cards and TV tuners. To fit one, switch the PC off, unplug it and open the case. Use an earthing strap to protect components from static electricity. Locate a spare PCI slot in the case and remove the screw from the blanking plate. Remove the blanking plate and insert the card so the pins at the bottom line up with the slot. Firmly push it in but don’t force it. Then screw it into place, replace the cover and switch the PC on. Windows will then ask you to install any drivers that are required.

Set up a monitor
There are two ways to connect a monitor to a PC – analogue (VGA) and digital (DVI). These come with two different plugs – VGA plugs have 15 pins and are generally blue sockets, while DVI sockets are white. DVI is a more recent standard and gives better quality but is only available on new monitors. If your monitor and PC can take both, use DVI as a matter of course. Obviously, if you are buying a new screen, you should make sure your PC or graphics card has the appropriate socket.

Once the screen is attached, you can start up the computer and Windows will load. It will show up on the new screen, but may not look quite right. Once Windows has loaded, insert any CDs that came with the screen and follow the instructions to install the monitor software. You can then adjust the screen settings by right-clicking on the Desktop, selecting Properties and clicking on the Settings tab.

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