Changing the default settings in your Office Programs

Default simply means “Standard” – the way in which a program will work each and every time you use it and you can change/modify many of the “default” settings on computer programs that we use daily, including our browsers and office programs…

This is a personal choice – certainly you can continue to use the default settings established by the provider that are built into the program.  But, changing the way your Browser or Office Programs work can make life so much easier.

Customizing your Office programs can impact the way in which documents print, how they are saved, the way they appear on the page, margins, paper layout/orientation – such as portrait or landscape, the font you use, whether the red & green squiggle lines appear as you type indicating spelling & grammatical errors - these are just a few of the many ways in which you can “customize” the way in which your Office Programs work for you.  Decide for yourself – making each program easier for you to use can be done as often as you’d like – some compare it to adjusting the seat position and rear view mirrors when you get into a car…

In Word 97-2003:

Click TOOLS, Then Click OPTIONS

You will see various options available for you to be able to modify to your liking

Click SAVE (set at 1 minutes – doesn’t affect your work, simply saves in the background)

Click SPELL (whichever options you’d like & Auto Text Entries and many others)

In Word 2007-2010:

Click on the Office Button or File Tab

At the bottom of the dialog box/page that opens, left click on “Word Options”

This opens the Control/Dialog Box, which lists on the left various categories which allow you to “customize” the software you are using to your own liking..

Special Note for anyone using 2007-2010 Office Programs it is very important to save everything you do as “97-2003 compatible” so that you can share your documents with others who may not have the newest of these software programs.  You can do this as you save each and every document, or do it once when you are in your Options Settings, under the Save category..

How To Add a Link In Your Email To A Popular Video

Whether you are visiting “YouTube.com” or “HuLu.com” or a local media stations, there may be times that you will see a video that you think someone you know would like to see. It is easy to copy that video location and paste it into your email. Here’s how:

If you have just watched a video on Youtube, look up at the address bar. You will see something that looks like this in the “address bar” of the internet browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox) that you are u sing.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-6dQvOSYmI

• Highlight the letters in the address bar, by hovering your mouse over the highlighted area and right click.
• When the action list appears, choose “copy”
• If you email account isn’t open it, then by using your Tabbed Browsing, open another Internet connection and open your email account (Hotmail, Gmail, AOL…).
• Add the addressee and subject fields.
• Type your letter. (Something like “I thought you’d enjoy this.”) and once you have written what you’d like, be sure to come down to an empty line, then right click and when the action menu appears, Choose paste.
• The link will now be in your email. Notice it is normally a different color than your regular font because it is an active “hyperlink”
• Click send.
• Now, all the receiver has to do is “click on the link” and they will be taken to the website and see the video.

What is an IP address?

We hear the expression all the time - but maybe you aren't quite sure what it is.

The IP address is your computer “internet protocol” address. The IP address is a 4-part electronic Serial number, such as: 201.2.312.66 – and you notice that each of the four parts or sections are separated with “.” a period...

Every computer, cell phone, ipad, smartphone etc. are assigned at least one IP address and no two devices in the world have the same IP address. These IP addresses are assigned for tracking and accountability/identification purposes.

Whenever we are on the internet or using cell services and make a connection, the IP address acts very much like the tags on our cars, to enforce accountability and traceability.

What is a URL?

A URL, like so many computer related terms, is a commonly used computer acronym which means:

Uniform resource locators

URL’s are your web browsers addresses of the Internet pages and files. The URL works with your IP addresses to help locate specific pages and files for your web browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera)..

URL’s have 3 sections to address a web page or file:

1. 
   
   The protocol, which is the section ending in //:


2. 
   
   The host computer, which ends in the domain tag .com, .net, .org


3. 
   
   And of course the web page address itself:
   
   Such as: http://www.golakehavasu.com/visitors/where-to-stay/hotels.html

What is tabbed internet browsing?

What is tabbed Internet browsing that I keep hearing about?

Most Internet Browsers use TABS so you can open one connection to he Internet and then open multiple tabs vs. having to open your browser several times…

First of all if you aren’t sure what is an Internet Browser is – a Browser is the free software that allows us to search the Internet – the major ones are: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox – Safari for Apple Computers an Opera for hand held devices… Most of us have 3 or 4 browsers on our computers so different users have their choice of which to use..

Take full advantage of tabbed browsing on your Internet Browsers. While reading any web page if you come across a link you may be interested in open that link in a new tab so it can be viewed later. A new tab can be opened any of these (3) different ways:

• Going to the new tab and left clicking on it to open a new tab & type in the web address


• Hold down the Ctrl key and left click on the web address hyperlink (my favorite way t do it)


• If you have a mouse with a wheel click the link with the middle mouse button

What is the ESC Key and why is it used?

The ESC Key (normally in the upper left hand corner of a standard QWERTY keyboard and on many laptops) is a Microsoft Windows shortcut in dialog boxes for these actions:

• No
• Quit
• Exit
• Cancel
• Abort

The ESC Key is also a common shortcut key for the Stop button in many Internet web browsers

Working With Bookmarks/Favorites In Chrome by Google

FOR THOSE OF US WHO USE “CHROME" GOOGLE'S WEB BROWSER, use the bookmark manager to organize your bookmarks and folders. Remember "Website Favorites" are called "Bookmarks" in Chrome & other browsers.. To open the manager, follow these steps:

1. Click the wrench icon (in the upper right hand corner of your chrome web page screen) on the browser toolbar. Mac users: If you don't see the wrench icon, go to the menu bar at the top of your screen and click Bookmarks.
2. Select Bookmark manager.

Here are a few tips for using the manager:

• Move bookmarks or folders around
  Simply click the item you want to move and drag it to its new destination within the folder list on the left.
• Edit the name or web address of a bookmark, or a folder name
  Select the item you'd like to edit, click the Organize menu, then select Edit. You can also easily edit bookmarks and folders from the bookmarks bar by right-clicking the item in question and selecting Rename.
• Search bookmarks
  Use the search box at the top to quickly find a bookmark within the manager.
• Add a new bookmark folder
  In the folder list on the left, right-click the location where you want the new folder to reside and select Add folder
• Delete a bookmark or folder
  Right-click the item and select Delete.

What are Internet Cookies?

Cookies are helpful, because they make it easier for us to “move around” when we revisit a website again in the future..

Cookies are pieces of information that actually create a very small “text file” which is placed in a folder on the hard drive of our computer - they are generated/created when we visit a website, by the server that the web page is on. Some people say it’s like “our id card” so that when we go back and revisit a website, it tells that website that we are back – not us really, but that the computer we are using is back visiting the website again!!!

We can delete or change the way in which cookies and/or temporary Internet files are saved by changing our Internet settings. The way we change our Internet settings varies depending on the Internet Browser and level of Browser that we use…Remember there are different browsers (all of which are free) and different members of a family might use different browsers..

Some of us might use Internet Explorer 7, 8 or even 9 (Microsoft products); some might use Chrome by Google; others might use FireFox by Mozilla, while others who have an Apple Mac might use Safari.. and the list goes on…

If you aren’t sure how to change your Internet settings, for your specific browser software and level, you might want to visit this website and save it in your favorites…

http://www.aboutcookies.org/

Internet Browsers

Browser software is free and you can have multiple browsers on your computer – just like you might have different types of salad dressings in your refrigerator; they all have the same purpose but are different… Check these websites out that help you compare the most popular browsers, their differences & features…

And as our Tech Support Guru, Kevin Bachelder, pointed out: Another reason to use a browser such as Google Chrome is because it uses less system resources so sometimes it works better than other browsers on older computers.

Although Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was #1, Mozilla’s Firefox & Google’s Chrome are considered by some to be the best… Try them and decide for yourself..

http://internet-browser-review.toptenreviews.com/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365692,00.asp

Internet Explorer 9 does not & will not run on Windows XP

Although you will see lots of advertisements asking you to ‘try out” the new Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 9 (which is still being Beta tested) please know that it does not now – nor will it ever – run on computers with Windows XP – so don’t even try to download it.

The following is an excerpt from an article confirming this which was published Sept. 16th, 2010 on http://www.geek.com/:

While Microsoft has tried to move on from Windows XP many times, millions of users refuse to budge, even with Windows 7 repairing a lot of the damage Vista caused.

XP users are in for a surprise though, when it comes to the next major upgrade they try to apply to their browser. Microsoft has confirmed that Internet Explorer 9 will not work with Windows XP. So all those nice new features such as hardware acceleration will not be available on the old operating system

To read the full article-click on the following link:: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/internet-explorer-9-wont-run-on-windows-xp-20100916/

What are Internet Cookies?

Internet Cookies are preference files that store data/information sent to your computer by a Web server that you visit that then records your actions for that specific website…

Cookies are helpful, because they make it easier for you to “move around” when you revisit that same website again in the future

You can delete or change the way in which cookies and or temporary Internet files are saved by changing your Internet settings. In most web browsers (Internet Explorer for example) when your browser is open/meaning you are on the Internet, go to the menu bar, choose tools, then choose Internet options. You will now see a category for Temporary Internet Files – which contains both cookies and temporary Internet file addresses – this allows you to quickly and easily erase them…