'Webbed ' Tables
A 'Web look' can be imparted to your documents by using a Web formatting style. Select the Table and fro the Table menu, select Table AutoFormat. in the list of styles in the Formats box, three new Web styles have been added. Click on any of them for a 'Webby' look.

Watermark Your Documents
Creating your own watermark for professional looking documents is pretty simple in Work. First go to view > Header and Footer and click on the Show/Hide Text toolbar button located on the Header and Footer toolbar (insert icon image). This should temporarily hide the text. Now you can insert a graphics object using Clip Art, Word Art or even AutoShape. Place the graphics where you want it to be seen, and adjust the color of the watermark by right clicking on the object and choosing properties.

Convert Tables to Plain Old Text
Sometimes copying to and fro with a browser result in unwanted tables being created. this can be easily removed by converting into individual paragraphs and click on Table to Text option under Convert in the Table menu. the separation character can also be specified instead of normal column lines using the "Separate text with" option

Center Text Vertically
Text in Word can be centered horizontally as well as vertically. For the vertical centering, open File > Page Setup and click on the Layout tab. Select the Center option in the Alignment pill-down menu. Format you r document as usual and view its positioning using the print preview button.

Get Rid of Curly Quotes
Typing quotes in Word results in straight quotes being converted to small quoted automatically. This is done by Autocorrect function. Pressing Ctrl+Z (Shortcut for Undo) after typing single or double quoted will give you straight quotes. To permanently turn the feature off, click on Tools > Autocorrect > AutoFormat as you type and disable Straight quotes with smart quotes.

Collate Documents
Collating documents copies can be done automatically in Word. To collate documents while you print, click on the Print option from the File menu and click the "Collate" check box in the Copies heading. then fill the number of copies you want tin the box labeled "Number of copies". Simple click Print to get the collated multiple copes you want.

Bring Straying Lines Back Into Fold
A cool feature for your squeezers; get those extra lines on the last page of your document. Click on File > Print Preview. in the Print Preview window, click the Shrink to Fit button to fit the few overflowing lines onto the last page.

Create Email Signatures
Word allows you to create multiple signatures for your emails created in Word. To create to add a new signature, go to Tools > Options and click on the General tab, click the Email Option button. Type the signature it the text box below, type its name and click Add to add it to the set of signatures you can use. You can also set the default signatures for New and Forwarded/Replied Messages.

Take the Synonym Shortcut
Checking out synonyms of a word generally involves looking it up in the thesaurus in the Tools > Language menu. A faster way is to just select the word and right click it. In the menu, select synonyms and you will be presented with a list of synonyms to choose from. You can also click on Thesaurus to lookup more synonyms. often, Word will also present a few antonyms when you know what you don't mean to say.

Corel Quattro Pro

Hidden Data
Want to conceal unwanted data in your notebook? Hide the rows and columns you don't need to see to crease a more organized look without losing the data. Select the rows and columns that you want to hide and right click the selection. Click Hide on eh context menu.

Quattro Pro and Arrows
Create arrows in your spreadsheet to direct information flow. Arrows can also be used to highlight relations between data cells and other objects. To crease an arrow, click on the Classic Objects icon on the Application toolbar and in the flyout, select the Arrow button . you can now draw the arrow on the spreadsheet.

NetLink
Links to information on the Internet can be included within your notebook. To add a Web link, click on File > Open and type the URL of the site that you want to add the link to and click Open. An Internet file will open in your notebook. Locate the cell address where the information that you want appears. Select the cell where you want the link to be and type the formal as +[Net URL]Sheet:Cell where Sheet:Cell is the address where the information that you want is displayed and the URL is typed between square brackets. Finally, enter the cell address where you want the information to be shows in the Link to box and click OK.

Bordered
Highlight specific cells in your spreadsheet by enclosing them in a border. in Quattro Pro, you can add borders with variables styles, line thickness and colors. To create a border, select the cells that you want to add a border around and click on Format > Selection. Under the Border tab select the type and color of the border.

Mistaken En Dash
When you want to enter data having an en dash symbol (-) in your spreadsheet, so that it is not interpreted as a minus sign (-), click on Insert > Symbol. change the set to Typographic Symbols and scroll down to locate the en dash. Click Insert and Close.

Fast Mail
Do you want to send your Quattro Pro notebook via email in a jiffy? Save yourself a few keystrokes by sending it directly from Quattro Pro. open the notebook and click on File > Send To > Mail. This will automatically open up the email composition window alone wit the notebook name as the subject.

Color Coded
Add color to your spreadsheet tags to help identify groups of sheers in a notebook. to color the tab, right click the tab and click on Sheer Properties. Disable Use System Color under the Tad color tab. Choose the color you want from the palette and click Ok to apply.

Print your Grids
You can print your spreadsheet along with its gridlines in Quattro Pro. to print the gridlines, click on File > Page Setup > Options. Enable the Gridlines checkbox under the Print Options selection.

Corel Presentation

Sound Idea
Make your presentations come alive with music and sounds. To add sound file, click on Format > Slide > Properties > Sounds. Locate the sound files you want to insert in your slide. If you intend to plat the presentation on another computer that might not have the sound file, enable Save Within Slide Show Document. To add this sound to all other slides, click the Apply to All Slides in Slide Show checkbox.

Smart Contours
Corel Presentations can contour text around graphics objects in your slides. this can help place text in more aesthetically pleasing way. However, this can be done only on a graphics and shapes and not on clipart, images or charts. Insert a graphics or shape on the slide and select both, the textbox and the inserted object. click on Tools > contour Text. Select the appropriate contour options and click OK.

Color Chameleon
Change colors of graphics with a fade effect. To apply a color change effect, select the graphics object and click on the Foreground fill Color tool and select the color you want from the color palette. copy and paste the object into the same slide. Select the new object and fill it with another color. click on Edit > Select > All (to select both objects), right0click the selecting and click on Object Animation. Select Animate Object in Place. In the Effects list box, select Fade.

Audience Notes
Creating audience handouts in Corel Presentations is a simple matter of adding Audience Notes to your slides and printing them. Audience Note will include thumbnail images of your slides along with a new lines of space besides each for audience to take their own noted. To crease audience notes, click on File > Print and select Audience note. Choose the number of slides to printed per page and click Print.

Animating Bullets
Catch your viewer's attention to certain points in your slide show using animated bullets. Deselect the bulleted list if it is selected. Right-click the list and click on Object Animating. Click on the Animate Object Across Screen button and from the Effects box, select the animate that you want. Once you've setup all the options for your bullets to be animated, click on OK to finished.

Quick 3D
You can extrude objects quickly to give them a 3D look. You create this effect on your text and objects, select the object click on Tools > Quick 3D. Select the correct appearance form the Rotation and Perspective tabs. Enter the depth of the extrusion in the Depth box and change the color of the object using the Color Adjustment slider.

Blender
You can 'blend' two objects for a smooth transition between the two. Select the two objects and click on Tools Blend. type the number of intermediates stats you want in the Number of Objects Between Images box and click OK.

Windows NT (Windows 2000, XP Professional)

Desktop Gone Forever
If you can do without the regular NT 4.0 desktop permanently, it's possible to start with just the Task Manager even without Command Prompt. Launch the Registry Editor and locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/ CurrentVersion/WinLogon. Double-click on value named Shell (set by default to Explorer.exe). Enter Taskmgr.exe for the NT Task Manager. For a command prompt, enter Cmd.exe. Close the Registry Editor and log off.

Using the Windows Task Manager
Windows Task Manager can aid you in finding the amount of RAM you can regain by disabling unnecessary system services. Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager from the context menu. You can view the CPU usage and memory usage under the Performance tab, To regain resources, you can kill unnecessary processes from the Processes tab.

Fast Menus
You can change the Start menu delay in displaying sub-menus. Run Regedit adn navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Control Panel\Desktop. Change the value for MenuShowDelay to any number between 0 (fastest) and 4000 (slowest). If the above does not exist, add a string value with this name.

Launch Faster
You can change the default boot delay of 30 seconds. Open Control Panel > System > Startup/Shutdown. Under the Show List For, change the settings to the desired boot delay value. To bypass the boot menu altogether, set the delay to 0. Note: If you dual boot between the Operating Systems using the NT boot loader, do not set the boot delay value to 0.

Messing with Partitions
Before using Disk Administrator to make changes to the partitions, you may want to make sure you save your current configuration. To do this, click Start > Programs > Administrator tools > Disk Administrator > Partition > Configuration > Save. Insert a formatted floppy disk into your drive and click OK. You can restore the partition structure later by clicking on Partition > Configuration > Restore.

Performance Monitor
The Performance Monitor will not monitor disk performance unless you turn on the disk counters first. to do this, open the Command Prompt window and type diskperf -Y. r\Restart the computer. you can monitor disk activity with the Performance, you should turn them off by typing diskperd -N at the Command Prompt when you have finished testing.

Sharing Resources Secretly
To secretly share a resource, simple append a dollar sign ($) to share name. When you do so, the resource doesn't appear in Network Neighborhood, but is readily available by either mapping the drive or typing the UNC in the Run dialog box. This provides an additional degree of privacy and security to a shared resource. Further more, and access restrictions or passwords assigned to that shared resource remain in effect.

NT Protocol Analyser
NT server 4.0 includes a software-based protocol analyzer called the Network Monitor Agent. To install it open Control Panel > Network > Services and click on Add. Select Network Monitor Agent from the list. You can now start Network Monitor from the Administrative Tools. To capture network data, click on Capture > Start. Click Capture > Stop to stop monitoring.

Alerter and Messenger
If messages don't reach their destination's) when using "net send" command, turn on the Alerter and Messenger serviced in the Services applet of the Control Panel. also, make sure that the intended recipient is not logged in to multiple machines.

Adding a Command Prompt to any Folder
Open Explorer and click View > Options > File Types. Locate Folder and click Edit. Click New to open the New Action dialog box. Type Command Prompt in the Action box, and type cmd.exe in the Application Used to Perform Action box. Now you can right-click a folder and click Command Prompt to open a Command Prompt window at the folder's path.

AutoComplete
You can automatically fill in file and folder names at the command prompt, much like a UNIX terminal. Launch the Registry editor and move down to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Command Processor. Select CompletionChar and set its value of to 9. Restart the system for the changes to take effect. Now, at the Command Prompt window, type in the first few characters of the file or folders and press Tab to complete it automatically.

Saving Recent Desktop Settings
To save the Desktop settings on normal exits only. You could lose your recent Desktop modifications if NT crashes or hangs. you can save your current Desktop settings by selecting and object on the Desktop and pressing F5 key.

Key to the CD Key
The CD Key is required to reinstall the operating system. If you have lost it, you can retrieve it form the Windows registry. Open Regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT \CurrentVersion. Look at ProductId. The CD Key is digits 6 thought 15.

The Bin is Full
To change the icons used for the Recycle bin, run the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\CLSID\ {645F040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon. Edit the value labeled Full and type the path to the icon file. Similarly, edit the value labeled Empty Empty to specify the icon for the empty recycle bin.

Compressing data
Windows NT lets you compress and decompress directories and files on NTFS partition. Compression reduces storage requirements for seldom-accessed files without degrading overall drive performance. You can compress and expand files and directories form My Computer or Explore - just right-click on item, select Properties and enable Compress form the list of attributes.

Drop and Run
You can open the Run dialog box (Start > Run), then drag and drop a file or application onto it form My Computer or Explorer. The compete pathname appears in the Run dialog box. Now you could add command-line options or simple click OK to launch the file.

Re-create NT installations disks
You can re-create NT installation disks if you lose or damage your original set. Format three floppy disks and load your 4.0 CD-ROM in the drive. Form the Run dialog box, browse to the i386 folder on the CD-ROM and select winnet32.exe and click Open. Alter the Run command like to d:\i386\winnt32/ox (where the first d is the CD-ROM drive letter). Click OK and follow the prompts.

List of settings and address
For a complete list of the settings and address currently assigned to your system, open the Command Prompt form the Start button's Program menu, and type ipconfig/all. this will display all TCP/IP relates settings on the system. This is similar to winipcfg in Windows 9x.

Easy addition of users
Creating a user template makes if easy to add multiple new users with the same group and access privileges. Open User Manager for Domains. Add a new user by selecting New User form the User menu. Label this user as a template for the user level, such as Template--Worker or Template--Secretary and set the correct privileges and options for Groups, Profile, and Dial-in. the next time you need to add a user, simple select the template account, and select User > Cope from the menu. All you need to do is changed the name and password.

Maintaining a Repair disk
The Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) holds a record of the settings and boot parameters for your primary partition Boot Sector. Every time you make a change to these areas, you should also re-crease the ERD; otherwise, the repair disk will not restore your system to the most recent functioning state. To crease an updated ERD, type rdisk /s in the Run dialog box.

Documentation Books on your hard drive
Wish to avoid inserting the NT CD-ROM every time you access Books Online? Simple cope the \Support\Books form the CD-ROM to your hard drive. Next, remove the disc form the drive and attempt to launch the Books Online Shortcut. When you're prompted to insert the CD-ROM or specify an alternate route, click the Browse button, and select the directory where you copied the files.

Restoring a damaged boot sector
An up-to-date Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) can aid you in recovering from a damaged boot sector. To restore a damaged boot sector, reboot the computer using the Setup disk 1, followed by disk 2 when prompted. Select R for Repair. Form the next menu, select only Inspect boot sector (to check the boot sector for damaged). Insert disk 3 and then the ERD when prompted and follow the instructions on screen.

To Improve Processing Computer Speed

Computer Repair Tips That Never Helped Me

I’ve only had experience with Windows operated computers, so this is what I’m referring to in here. Computer repair specialists were always hard to find, and many times we had to try to figure out a solution to fix a computer which stopped working, because no specialist would come home, and to take a PC to the service company was extremely troublesome, mainly because such computer repair centers were in the center of the city, where we barely had any parking spots. So, you had to carry that heavy computer for more than 1 km, to get it fixed. You can imagine that we tried to exchange information between us, to discover tips which worked, in order to fix the bloody PC without all that hassle. If I tell you that Internet wasn’t invented yet, then you can see that information was very hard to get.

If you don’t know, Windows operated computers tend to get sluggish after a time, especially if you repeatedly install and uninstall various applications. These are a few tips which everybody told me should help me make my computer faster, which I didn’t notice to help me very much.

Computer Repair Tip 1: Defragment Often

The information on the hard disk is written in chunks called sectors. One application can spread across many such sectors, and if they are not next to each other, the head which reads the information on the hard disk has to make additional movements, thus increasing the reaction time of the computer, resulting in sluggish, slow launch of the respective application.

While I believe the reasoning behind this, from experience I can tell you that defragmentation had no effect on my computer’s speed, at least not an effect that a human can notice. Milliseconds that I might have gained by performing the defrag operation every week were not worth the actual time spent on doing the defragmentation itself.

Computer Repair Tip 2: Clean Up Disk Errors

This is easy to do: on My Computer, select the drive you wish to clean up errors on, right-click on it, then select Properties. The first option from the second tab of the menu that opens is Check Disk. It won’t run, but you can schedule it to start next time when you’ll reboot your computer.

Computer Repair Tip 3: Remove Temporary Files

This is called the Disk Cleanup and you can find it in the same menu as in Computer Repair Tip no 2. It will free up some space on your hard drive, which is good, but the speed gain won’t be noticeable for human senses.

The only computer repair tip that worked perfectly each time, and offered me a fast system, at least for a couple of months was to reinstall Windows. I’m seriously considering switching to Mac at the next computer upgrade I’m going to get.

Do you have any more computer repair tips that never helped you improve your computer’s performance?

Microsoft Office Tips

Remove All Formatting in Two Easy Steps

Here's a great way to remove all of the formatting from a Word document or just a selected portion of the document:

1. Select the whole document by pressing CTRL+A or just select the portion of the document you wish to change.

2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+N.

Presto! All of your formatting is removed from the document or selection.

Navigate Word Documents by Using the Table of Contents

When writing long documents in Microsoft Word, you'll find the table of contents (TOC) is an indispensable tool—even if you don't include the TOC in your final draft! Why? The TOC creates internal links (similar to the ones you find on a Web page) that you can use to quickly navigate a document as you work. And, if you're already using styles, adding a TOC is easy.

First, be sure that you've applied either built-in (for example, Heading 1 and Heading 2) or custom styles to all headings and subheadings in your document.

Once you have done that, you can insert a TOC at the beginning or end of your document. To do so:

1. Click where you want to insert the TOC.

2. On the Insert menu, point to Reference, and click Index and Tables.

3. Click the Table of Contents tab.

4. Click Options and make sure a TOC level number appears next to every heading you want to include in your TOC.

5. Select any other TOC options you want.

Now, to go to a specific section in your document, click the corresponding page number in the TOC while holding down the CTRL key. To return to the TOC, click the Go to TOC button on the Outlining toolbar.

Editor's Note: To make the Outlining toolbar visible, open the View menu, point to Toolbars, and click Outlining.

Find Shortcuts to Useful Word Features on the Status Bar

Did you know that the status bar, that area at the bottom of Word documents where the page number appears, also provides shortcuts to a number of very useful features? Here are a few you may want to use:

§ To open the Find and Replace dialog box, double-click any location indicator on the status bar, such as the page number or section number.

§ To turn the macro recorder on or off, double-click REC.

§ To turn the Track Changes feature on or off, double-click TRK.

§ To turn extend selection mode on or off, double-click EXT.

§ To turn overtype mode on or off, double-click OVR.

§ To change the language format of selected text, double-click Language.

§ To resolve errors in grammar or spelling, double-click the Spelling and Grammar Status icon. Note: When the previous features are turned off, their labels appear dimmed.

Editor's Note: If your status bar is not visible, go to the Tools menu, click Options, click the View tab, and then select the Status bar check box under Show.

View or Modify Formatting with the Task Pane

You can use the new Reveal Formatting task pane in Word 2002 to view a detailed description of any text in your document. You can also use it to modify or clear the formatting; compare the formatting of different selections, or to find blocks of text with similar formatting. Here's how to use it:

1. Select the text you want to examine or reformat.

2. From the Format menu, select Reveal Formatting.

3. Do any of the following:

§ To change any formatting properties, click one of the underlined commands from within the task pane, and then change any options you want in the dialog box that appears.

§ To determine the formatting source, such as whether the formatting comes from a style, select the Distinguish style source check box.

§ To show formatting marks, such as paragraph marks and tabs, select the Show all formatting marks check box.

§ To format a text selection like the text that surrounds it, select the text. In the Selected text box, click the arrow, and then click Apply Formatting of Surrounding Text.

§ To view a feature-by-feature comparison of your text selection with another block of text, select the Compare to another section check box and then select another block of text.

Editor's Note: You can also open the Reveal Formatting task pane by choosing What's This? on the Help menu or selecting text within your document and pressing SHIFT+F1.