Article 7 - Hints and Tips

Hints and Tips

Use of the TAB key

When filling in ‘forms’ online, most people use the mouse to point to the next box on the form, then wait until they can enter data into that box. An alternative is to use the ‘TAB’ key to move on to the next box, and then carry on typing. In this way, you can ‘ type ahead’ – entering data into the next box (or boxes) without waiting for the computer to actually point at the box. A note of caution – when the computer catches up with what you have typed, check to make sure that there are no typing errors, and that data is in the boxes in the way you expected.

Messages while on-line

This applies in particular to those of you using Windows XP. A common problem is that message boxes appear on the screen when you are using the Internet saying things such as "there is a virus on your computer that not even McAfee or Norton can detect". You are then directed to a web site where the supposed virus can be detected. This is totally bogus.

Windows XP contains a messaging facility which is aimed at companies with networks and enables a central administrator to send a message to all users at that company. This facility is not needed by most home users, and is being misused by people sending messages to all XP users. This facility can be switched off by going to Control panel, selecting "Performance and Maintenance", then "Administrative Tools" and from this menu "Services". You will then see a list of available services. Go down to "Messenger". A single click will show you a description of the service, and a double click will show you the "properties" of the service. Selecting "disable" as the start up type will stop these bogus messages from appearing.

Menu Keys

When using Windows applications, there is a set of pull down menus available which can be selected by clicking the mouse on the required menu item (File, for example). You may have noticed that one letter of the name of the pull down menu is underlined (usually the first letter of the menu name). Using the ALT key together with the underlined letter will select this pull down menu (ALT F in this case), and can be quicker than using the mouse. Also, there are underlined letters for each of the items on the pull down menu – just pressing this letter will select that item. In WORD, the "Save As" option can be selected by pressing "A" when the File menu has been selected.

Shortcut Keys

A general facility within Windows which is often ignored is the use of the right mouse button. In general, the left button is used to select an item from a list, or menu, of possibilities. The right mouse button will often present you with another list of possible actions. Should you not want any of the possibilities presented, move the mouse pointer to a different window and press the left mouse button. This effectively cancels the use of the right mouse button.

Internet Explorer key combinations:

ALT + left arrow - Go back to previous web page

ALT + right arrow - Go forward to next web page

CTRL + R - Reloads the current web page

CTRL + W - Closes the current web page

CTRL + D - Adds the current web page to your favourites

Windows system key combinations:

F1 - Help

CTRL + ESC - Open the Start menu

ALT + TAB - Switch between open programs

ALT + F4 - Quit the program

SHIFT + DELETE - Delete an item permanently (without moving item to recycle bin)

Windows program key combinations:

CTRL + C - Copy

CTRL + A - Select all

CTRL + X - Cut

CTRL + V - Paste

CTRL + Z - Undo

CTRL + B - Bold

CTRL + U - Underline

CTRL + I - Italic

Keyboards

There is a £ sign showing on the keyboard, but this does not show in the document being typed. How can this be corrected?
The type of keyboard is defined in Windows under Settings / Configuration Screen / Keyboard. To get the £ sign you need to have the English (United Kingdom) keyboard rather than English (United States). Add a new keyboard definition, then set this as the standard keyboard. I have a step by step instruction document should this be required.
This technique is also applicable for other discrepancies between what is shown on the keyboard and what appears on the screen.

Computer Freezing?

When your computer freezes, it is sometimes possible to bring it back to life without having to unplug the machine. Try pressing the DELETE key while holding down the ALT and CTRL keys. This gives a list of active programs and indicates any "not responding". Ending such a program can free up the computer again

Recovery Disks

When you last bought a computer, did it come complete with CDs for Windows and for the other software needed to run the machine? Having all this stuff pre-loaded is all well and good, but the CDs are needed in the case of hard disk failure, and when the hard disk has to be re-formatted to clean it of all viruses and the like. In those cases where no CDs are supplied, check the documentation supplied with the computer for instructions as to how to create such a set of CDs. Compaq (HP) charge for supplying a set of CDs (£26.00 in one case recently). A case of forewarned being forearmed.

Finally, on a lighter note, it seems that the Dixons group call centre (Dixons, PC World etc.) received some 25000 IT related calls in the period between 24^th and 28^th December 2004. Perhaps not totally surprising in itself given the number of new users of computers, games, scanners, webcams etc. sold as presents. The sting of this item is in the tail – 98% of these calls were solved when the caller plugged in the equipment and switched it on!

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