Jim Olsen's Intermediate Computer Hints, Tips, and Shortcuts

Computers are supposed to save time, increase productivity, and improve quality...but it is the human's job to make sure! (about)

Click here if you want the Basic Hints and Tips.

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This web site is broken up into the following seven areas:

Hints, Tips, and Shortcuts which apply to:

Most computer programs.
Windows.
Most Microsoft (MS) Office programs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
MS Word.
Internet browsers (MS Internet Explorer, Netscape).
MS PowerPoint.
MS Excel.
Handling Graphics.

1. Most Computer Programs
Keyboard Short- Cuts	Underlined letters in Menus - use Alt. For example, to access the File menu, press Alt-F.†
	Underlined letters in sub-menus - hit the letter! (No Alt is required.) For example, to open a file click the File menu then press O; or press Alt-F\|O. Example 2, to create a new folder in Windows Explorer, right click\|W\|F. For certain tasks you do frequently, memorize the keyboard keys.†

Tips


How-To's	See Full menus - Are you frustrated by programs for which you click a menu and only some of the commands show up (and you have to click a down arrow to see all the commands)? To see full menus: right click the toolbar\|Customize\|Options, then check "always show full menus."
	Print/"Get" part, or all, of the screen - Hit *Print Screen* (keyboard key). This puts the screen image "on the clipboard" (like copy). You can paste it anywhere. If you want to crop it you can use Paint (free, under Start\|Programs\|Accessories). Additional Tip: Alt+Print Screen just gets the top/current window.
	Get the microphone to record louder - Control Panel\|Sounds and Audio Devices\|Audio tab\|Volume Button\|[slide the slider up AND click Advanced button and click Microphone boost]

2. Windows
Keyboard Short- Cuts	Switch programs using Alt-Tab. Hint: Hold down Alt and you can press Tab repeatedly to move through the programs and documents you have open.	Minimize all windows = <windows key> + M
	View Properties (of the selected item) = ALT+<Enter>	Windows Explorer ("My Computer") = <windows key> + E

Tips	Use a Quick Launch toolbar. Customize the Quick Launch toolbar to house icons for frequently used programs (and remove unwanted icons). To create: Right-click the taskbar at the bottom of the screen\|toolbars\|quick launch. Shortcuts from the desktop or the start menu can be dragged to the quick launch bar. Note: Icons only need to be single-clicked.
	Use the Show Desktop icon in the Quick Launch toolbar. This minimizes all windows.

How-To's	When using a projector (usually w. a laptop), get a readable screen (larger fonts, etc.) Right-click the desktop\|Graphics Properties.	Zip and Unzip files - (This is very useful if you are e-mailing numerous attached files.) In Windows Explorer, (to zip:) select all the files, right-click\|Send to\|Compressed (zipped) file. To unzip: select the zipped file, right-click\|Extract all, and follow the wizard.
	ftp (file transfer protocol) files between your hard drive ("local" machine) and a unix server (i.e., the Internet). Use the URL ftp://ftp.wiu.edu in your browser (for W.I.U. users). Then you click File\|log in as... and login. at the run line (Start\|Run) type telnet ftp.wiu.edu (for W.I.U. users). download and install the program WS_FTP L.E. (Limited Edition ~ free) at http://www.ftpplanet.com/download.htm
	Set the permissions on your web pages. Use the URL ftp://ftp.wiu.edu in your browser. Then you click File\|log in as... and login. Then right-click the http directory\|Properties. Only the owner (that's you) should be able to Write. use GUAVA\|Web Services\|Fix Web Permissions
	How do I get letter shortcuts underlined in menus and submenus? Control Panel\|display\|Appearance\|Effects\|uncheck "hide underlined letters...."

3. Most Microsoft (MS) Office programs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
Keyboard Short- Cuts


Tips


How-To's	Paste without formatting - Since we copy and paste from many sources it is often nice to paste just the text without the formatting (font, boldface, etc. and other hidden things). Use Edit\|Paste Special\|Unformatted text (or Alt-e\|s\|\|Unformatted text.
	Copy formatting - This copies font, size, bold, italics (everything related to font). Use the Format Painter. It should appear as a paint brush.

4. MS Word
Keyboard Short- Cuts


Tips


How-To's	Make Booklets Uses regular 8.5"x11" paper. This is really slick. Word figures out where to print things (i.e., everything is automatically done for you). You definitely want to use a printer that prints front and back. Access this with File\|Page Setup..\|Margins tab\|Multiple pages drop down. Try it, it's not hard.
	Rotate Text You can change the text orientation in table cells and text boxes (and other drawing objects) so that the text is displayed vertically or horizontally. Select (by clicking) the table cell (or box or object) that contains the text you want to change. Format\|Text Direction.
	Rotate Graphics To rotate an AutoShape, picture, or WordArt, select it with left-click, then (1) there is a rotate handle you can drag; or (2) right-click it, then Format AutoShape, Size, then there is a place you can rotate by a number of degrees; or (3) Use Rotate or Flip in the Draw menu. To rotate ClipArt you may have to select all then group, then you can rotate as stated.
	Keep Text Together on the Same Page For example, you don't want one line of a paragraph (or list) at the bottom of a page. Select the text in question, Format\|Paragraph\|Line and Page breaks. (Most of the check boxes are self-explanatory. If not, experiment. E.g., widow/orphan.)

5. Internet browsers (MS Internet Explorer, Netscape).
Keyboard Short- Cuts


Tips


How-To's	Force Refresh - Control+Refresh. Even though a web page has been updated (on the server), often the browser will refuse to go out and get it. the Force Refresh usually will actually get it to refresh.

6. MS PowerPoint
Keyboard Short- Cuts


Tips


How-To's	Show the show on the (external) projector and see my speaker notes on my laptop (Word document) - this is the modern way of doing things and has a number of benefits.

7. MS Excel
Keyboard Short- Cuts


Tips


How-To's	Use Excel as a Database - In a row type your "field names" (e.g., name, e-mail, school, zip). Highlight the row. Click Data\|Form. (You may have to click OK.) This brings up a data entry form. Done, easy! To add more data "the next day," select the entire data set, then click Data\|Form\|New.
	Merge Cells - Select the cells, right-click\|format cells\|Alignment\|Merge cells.

8. Handling Graphics
Keyboard Short- Cuts


Tips


How-To's	To make GIF's transparent (so the background color shows through). Go to TransWeb (http://www.mit.edu:8001/tweb/map.html) (or use http://www.mit.edu:8001/transweb.html). It's quite easy! In the form paste in the actual URL of the graphic (the graphic must already exist on the Internet). When you submit the form, TransWeb will present you with an imagemap. You should click on the spot on the imagemap you'd like to make transparent. TransWeb will return to you a transparentized version of the image you specified. Right click the image and Save As... (note you'll put it to your HD and you'll have to ftp it later).

How to make GIF's transparent. see http://www.mit.edu:8001/tweb/map.html http://www.mit.edu:8001/transweb.html

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About This Web page/site

The purpose of this web site is to give hints, tips, and shortcuts that I (and others) have found helpful to help me make sure that computers save time, increase productivity, and improve quality. This is not intended to be introductory. These are "intermediate" tips for users who have some familiarity with computers and said software. That is, I will not list elementary ideas (e.g., that New document and Print can be found under the File menu).

Click here to go to Jim Olsen's Basic Computer Hints, Tips, and Shortcuts.

Note on Keyboard Short-cuts: For operations that you do frequently (e.g., saving and using bold face) it is faster if you can keep your hands on the keyboard (versus moving your hand to the mouse, then going up to a menu, clicking, and going down to the menu item). For most programs, control+S is save and control+B is bold face. I recommend learning keyboard short-cuts as the need/desire presents itself. Usually you can just look at the menu to learn the short-cut. Next to each menu item that has a short-cut is the short-cut (e.g., under File, next to Save is Ctrl+S).

If you have suggestions for hints, tips, or shortcuts that you think would be helpful for others, please e-mail me your ideas (including ideas for the Mac).

Back to Jim Olsen's homepage

Page URL: http://www.wiu.edu/users/mfjro1/wiu/stu/comphints/intermediate.htm
James R. Olsen, Western Illinois University
E-mail: jr-olsen@wiu.edu
updated January 5, 2009 1:01 PM

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Keyboard Short- Cuts


Tips


How-To's