To use Print Screen
Find the Print Screen and Alt buttons on your keyboard and you'll be all set. The PrtScn button is located on the right hand side of your keyboard right next to the Scroll Lock key. (It's also right beside the F12 key on most keyboards). If you hit the Alt and PrtScn keys at the same time, your computer will take a "snapshot" of the active window (which would be the error message). Now, if you want to get a shot of the whole screen, push the Shift key along with the PrtScn key and that's what you'll get.
Once you have the image captured, you can go and paste it in another program and then send it to your "computer expert" for advice. You can put it in MS Word, Notepad, Wordpad or even in an e-mail. It's up to you! Once you have the program you want to put it in open, just hit Ctrl + V to paste the screenshot (or you may have to go to Edit, Paste). Along with the image, you can type out a description of what you were doing when the problem occurred. That will especially help if you're sending it to someone else to look at. With both the screenshot and the description, they should be able to lead you in the right direction to get things fixed. Having all of that information documented helps if you ever have to call tech support as well.
Paste and AutoCorrect Options: The Keyboard Way
Do you love the Paste and AutoCorrect Options found throughout the newer versions of the MS Office Suite? (You know, the ones with the little menus that pop up when you complete certain tasks. For example, when a copy/paste or an AutoCorrect is completed).
If you've ever taken a quick moment to look through the various options that show up in the menus, you know some of them can be pretty useful.
The problem for some arises when they have to move their fingers from the keyboard to the mouse to access the choices. For many people, time spent using the mouse is considered time wasted during the day.
Have you ever thought to yourself, "I'd use those things a lot more if it didn't require the mouse all the time?"
I bet some of you have had that exact thought, so today, I'm giving you the solution you've been waiting for!
To access a Paste or AutoCorrect Options menu, you first need to move the cursor back into the word or phrase to which it is attached. (You'll know you're there when the little blue rectangle appears below the word, notifying you of the menu's presence).
Now, it's just a matter of Alt + Shift + F10.
Once you've completed the key combination, the menu opens, allowing you to move within it using the arrow keys.
When you've highlighted your selection, hit the Enter key. (If you wish to exit the menu without making any changes, try the Esc key).
Vista Privacy and Security
Take a look at some of the privacy and security options in Windows Vista?
Privacy
As a convenience, by default, Windows Vista saves and displays a list of recently opened files and programs on your Start menu. It's supposed to make it easier to find a file or program, but in reality, many users would prefer that information to remain hidden. So, here's how you can turn that feature off:
1.) Right click on your taskbar and choose Properties.
2.) Click on the Start Menu tab.
3.) Uncheck all of the checkboxes under the Privacy section.
4.) Click OK and you're all done!
Security
One of the most often criticized levels of Windows is its lack of security. To overcome that perception, Microsoft programmed Vista to make you well aware when your firewall, spyware or virus software is off key or requires maintenance. However, for many users, the constant badgering to update your virus definitions is more annoying than effective. So, to calm Vista down a bit, you can change the way you're notified of potential security risks.
To do that, go to Start, Control Panel and click on the Windows Security Center option.
Next, click on the link that says "Change the way Security Center alerts me" to get to the dialogue window shown below:
Then just choose your preferences for notification and click OK.
That's all there is to it. Here's to your privacy and security in Windows Vista!
With all the gadgets you have, you sometimes need help getting them hooked up so that they all work together. But with Wirewize, I'll never be confused again. Wirewize is a Web site devoted to helping you sort out your wires to get everything connected properly.
To begin, click on the Get Started button. That will take you to the registration page. All you need to do is supply a working e-mail address and create a password. That will then take you to the page where you can start putting in the components you have by clicking on the Start Setting Up My System button.
Now, what you do is select the components you have from the drop down box. For example, Television, A/V Receiver, DVD, Game Console or Other.
Next, select the make and model. (You can usually find the model number on the bottom of the unit). It will show you the component and if it's the right one, you can click on the link just below it. That will take you on to the next page where you can select Add Another Component or if you're finished, you can see Your Cable Recommendations. I added two game consoles, a television and two DVD players.
Once you have all your components added, it will show you a listing of cables you'll need to set up. Now, I have all my cables, because they came with the components and I didn't need anything special to get it all together. So, if you have all your cables, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the I've Got My Cables button.
That will take you to the setup instructions. The instructions are step by step, with images to help you along. The images are nice and big and they tell you exactly what everything is. It's much better than a manual!
Twenty-four steps later and I'm all set up and everything is running smoothly. The thing I like the most about this site is it saves your configuration, so you can log in the next time you have something to add and just update your information.
I hope this Web site will make setting up your home theater system (even if it's just a television and DVD player) a breeze. I know it made things a lot easier for me!
How you can create a shutdown shortcut for Windows Vista.
If you would like to create a shutdown shortcut for your Vista computer, here's what you need to do. First, right click on your desktop and choose New. Click on the Shortcut option and then wait for the New Shortcut wizard to come up on your screen. Once it does, it will ask you for the location of your new shortcut. In the box, type "shutdown -s -t 01" (without the quotes). Then click on the Next button to finish out the process.
Yep, that's all you have to do. Once your shortcut is created, you'll see a new icon on your desktop and you can just click on it every time you want to shut your computer down. That's right, you now have the power to turn your computer off with just one click! Note: Just to make sure you get the location right, it's best to copy and paste it from the above paragraph. That way, you're sure to get the spacing and everything correct.
Google Tips
here are five little tutorials to help you effectively unleash the power of Google!1.) Use Double Quotation Marks for an Exact Phrase Search
You want to search for a Web page with the exact phrase "women who love football," but when you perform the search on Google, it brings up too many results. Most of them don't even contain all the words in the same page.
Here's the trick: when you want to search for an exact phrase in a Web page, you have to put it within quotes. Google searches the exact keywords in the order that you put them.
For example:
Women who love football – 34,600,000 results. Not all of them are relevant.
"Women who love football" – 45,500 results. As you can see here, the quotes help us eliminate a lot of unnecessary results.
2.) Wildcard Search With the Asterisk
The asterisk ( * ) can be used as a wildcard in your phrase search. The asterisk denotes the placeholder for a single word, meaning that an asterisk in a search query is like a blank slot that will accept any word. This is extremely helpful if you want to search for a phrase, but have forgotten one of the words in it.
For example, you know about the "the bridge on the river xx, " but no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to find the name of the actual river! In this case, you can just go and search like this:
"the bridge on the river *"
There you go, it's the river, Kwai.
You can also use multiple asterisks for multiple wildcard words. The query given below searches for pages that have "wine" and "monks," with two words between them. "Wine ** monks"
3.) Specify to Include or Exclude the Site
The "site:" operator tells Google to search only within a particular site, or within sites with a certain domain suffix. For example, you want to search for Kobe Bryant at ESPN.com. You can use "Kobe Bryant" site:ESPN.com for better results.
Similarly, if you want to exclude a particular site from the search results, that's also possible. All you have to do is add a " - " (minus sign) sign before the "site:" operator. For example, you'd like to download the Yahoo! messenger from a non-Yahoo! Web site. For this, you can use "Yahoo messenger" -site:yahoo.com.
The minus sign tells Google to omit the search results from the site of yahoo.com. Now, if you wanted to search an "essay on American history," but you only wanted to search on .edu Web sites, you would use "Essay on American history" site:.edu.
4.) Including Synonyms in Your Search
By placing the "~" (called a tilde) right in front of a word, with no space in between, you can instruct Google to search for the word following the tilde, as well as, its synonyms. For example, if you wanted to search for a bass fishing tutorial, you could type in "Bass fishing" tutorial.
However, if you added a "~" in front of the word tutorial, Google will search, not only for tutorials, but also for words such as basics, hints, guide, etc. for even more information.
5.) Find Definitions
Google's "define" operator can help you look up word definitions. You simply need to include this operator in your search phrase to access definitions with just a click.
For example, to find out the definition of bass fishing, you would type define: bass fishing.
Another way to find out about something is to use "what is" in the search phrase. Using this, not only yields the definition of the phrase, but it also performs a regular Google search using the same search phrase.
To search for bass fishing, you would type What is bass fishing?
t's very important to think of secure passwords these days, especially with identity theft at an all time high. Luckily, Password Chart is here to help. It's very easy to use and it will help you generate some of the strongest passwords you've ever used!
To create a personalized chart, you need to type in a phrase, a few words, numbers, etc. that mean something to you. Your chart will be generated from those words. For example, I put in "I like cheese."
Now, you need to put in a password for the chart to convert. For example, "qwerty."
Between the two, it generates this password: tttR3JW94gq
For more information on how it works, check out the How It Works link at the bottom of the page. It's simply an easy way to convert a weak password into something much stronger.
You can also print out your chart if you want. To do that, right click on the image and choose Print. That will enable you to use it offline as well. At the very least, this is a fun way to generate a secure password, so be sure to check it out today!
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