Tips &

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Faster Scrolling in Word

Do you have an MS Word document that's completely full of graphics? Hate the extra time it takes to scroll through a document like that? Would you like Word to work a little faster with the document for you?

If you've answered, "Yes, yes and yes," here's a quick trick to help with the slowdown that all the extra pictures tend to cause.

Word has the ability to use something called a Picture Placeholder in your documents, displaying only an empty box where the picture belongs. When you use the Print Preview feature, you'll see the pictures. When you print your document, you'll see the pictures. But, when you edit your document, you'll only see an empty frame where your picture will be.

By doing that, your system doesn't have to use the memory and time to load up the pictures. It's only working with an empty frame, so the scrolling speed during your editing will increase, saving you time and frustration!

Ready to learn the "how to" of this? I thought you might be, so let's get to it!

In older versions of MS Word, Picture Placeholders can be found on the Tools menu, Options choice, View tab.

In Word 2007, you'll need to use the Office Button to get to the Word Options button.

Once you're in the Options dialogue window, you need to go to Advanced options and scroll down to the Show document content section.

In any version, you need to locate and check the option for Picture Placeholders and then click OK.

Paint.NET

From time to time, I have found myself needing a program for making graphics and pictures. I used to try and use the Paint program that comes with Windows, but I almost always find it to be lacking in features. Because of that, I have been looking for a paint program that has a lot more options and features. After looking for awhile, I came across a free program called Paint.NET. And let me tell you, this program has everything I could ever want! It's easy to use, it's easy to install and did I mention it's free? Let's check it out!

Paint.NET has support for layers, unlimited undos, special effects and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials and plug-ins as well. You just can't beat it! From their site:

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.

You can download Paint.NET for yourself right here.

how the search engines I use can track a lot of what I do when I'm on my computer. six tips for you today and if you follow them all, you'll be way ahead in keeping your search history private from any intruders, etc. Okay, here we go!

1.) Do not log into the search engine or any of their extra tools. If you go to your favorite search engine and log in right away, it makes it very easy for it to create a profile about you. Once you log in, they know your identity right away and after that, there's no turning back in what they can figure out next.

Now, you may think that you don't log into your search engine, but you actually may without even knowing it. For example, if you use Google as your main search engine (which a lot of us do), you are probably signed up for some of Google's other tools, such as Gmail, Google Talk, Google Groups, etc. If you're logged into any of those extra programs while you're performing a search, Google will be able to track down all of your information. So, just be sure that you log out of any other programs before you start searching. It may be hard to remember at first, but for your own safety, make sure you do it. Write yourself a note if you need to, because it's really easy to forget to log out of some of the programs you probably use on a very regular basis. You'll get the hang of it though! Again, make sure you do this for any search engine that you use that may have extra programs included.

2.) This next one has to do completely with keeping yourself safe from Google. As I said above, many of us use Google as our primary search engine, but in all actuality, Google can be one of the most risky to deal with. Google does things a little differently. It uses cookies to track your history from your search sessions. You may think that if you just delete your cookies, you'll be all set, but that's not really the best way to handle it. Cookies can be very helpful sometimes and if you deleted them, your Web surfing experience wouldn't always be as easy. So, the best thing to do is block only Google's cookies. Here's how.

In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options and click on the Privacy tab. Next, click on the Sites button and in the "Address of Web site" box, type in Google's address (www.google.com). When you're finished, click on the Block button. In Firefox, go to Tools, Options and click on the Privacy tab as well. Choose Exceptions and type in Google's Web address. Click Block when you're done. If you do this, Google will no longer be able to place cookies on your hard disk, which will keep them from gathering up all of your information.

3.) Change your IP address on a regular basis. Search engines actually get the most information about you from your IP address, so it's best to change it every once in awhile. This will keep the search engines from learning so much about you so easily. If you use a cable or DSL modem, the easiest way to get a new IP address is to turn your modem off and leave it off for a few minutes. Then, turn it back on. This method will clear out your old IP address and you'll automatically be assigned a new one. If you use another type of Internet connection (dial-up, etc.), you may want to contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and ask them about getting a new address. Either way, it's an easy way to keep your information safe.

4.) Don't ever include any personal information in your searches. You may have searched for your own name before, which can be kind of fun, but it's really not all that safe. Every time you put any of your personal data into the search (your name, address, social security number, etc.), you're putting yourself in danger. Doing that makes it very easy for search engines to collect your information and then keep it forever. It could also sometimes lead to identity theft, depending on what you search for. Your information could land in the wrong hands and it could be very bad news.

5.) Always try to perform extra sensitive searches on a public computer. If you ever absolutely need to search for your personal information or any other extremely private data, don't do it on your home or office computer. That may not make much sense, but if you use your personal computer, it's more likely that you'll be logged into another program that could compromise your information. If you go to a computer that you've never used before, you won't have the tendency to log in and your information will be safer. Also, when you do this, make sure you don't log in on the computer you're using. If you accidentally do that, your information will be at risk all over again.

6.) The last one for today is to try and avoid using the search engine that your ISP provides. Your ISP already knows your IP address (and they'll know any new one that you get), so that means they can obtain your information even easier. Then, once you use their search engine, they will be able to collect even more information about you and it will just be bad. Most ISPs do have their own search engine (for example, search.comcast.net), so just steer clear of those. It's nice to think that we can trust our ISPs (and I mean, most the time, we can), but you really have to worry about protecting yourself first.

There you have it. Six tips you can follow to keep all of your search information as private as possible. Now, I know that some of you may not think it's necessary to do all this, but I wanted to give you options just in case you thought it was worth while.

Passwords Should Be...

According to security experts, there are six rules you should follow when making up your passwords. First of all, they should be random. By that, I mean you should choose a series of characters that are completely random to everyone else, but make complete sense to you. The second rule follows up with that by saying passwords should be unique. Again, just try to create a password that no one else will be able to easily guess. The third rule states that a password should be, at the very least, eight characters long, but the longer it is, the better. If you can come up with a password that's 14 characters or more, go for it!

The next rule says that a password should be a combination of upper and lowercase letters and there should be at least one number or symbol included in there somewhere. The more variety you add to your password, the better it will be. The fifth rule simply states that you should change your password regularly and frequently. The longer you leave the same password in place, the easier it will be for a hacker to grab it. And lastly, you should type your password out manually each and every time you're asked for it. Yes, the "Remember Password" feature is nice, but it's really best to enter it in each time. If you follow these six simple rules, you will have the most secure and perfect passwords in town.

Is there an easy way to monitor my CPU usage?

CPU usage it's basically the percentage of your computer system (programs, other applications, etc.) that's being used at any given time.

If you use several programs on your computer at once, your usage may be a little higher than when you're not doing anything. Either way though, there's usually some part of your system that's filled up. Even when you're not using any programs, there will still be a small percentage gone due to the antivirus, firewall, spyware, etc. programs you have running in the background. It's nothing to worry about, but it's good to keep all of that in mind just in case.

To see how much of your CPU is being used at any given time, you just need to open the Task Manager. The easiest way to do that is to hit Ctrl + Alt + Del (all at the same time). It will then pop right up on your screen. Now, the percentage number is under the Processes tab and it's located toward the bottom, labeled CPU Usage. You can watch it fluctuate back and forth between the percentages if you want as well. That way, you know exactly how much is being used at all times.