Click & Drag? Not the only way...

Many people may know that if you're using a word processor program such as Microsoft Word, you need to select the text first before you can change the look of it. And many of those people have only been taught to select text using the Click & Drag method which can be frustrating especially if you text extends across multiple pages.




Here are some tips and tricks for selecting text using two different mouse pointers, the Selection Bar Pointer and the Text Pointer.



Selecting Text with the Selection Bar Pointer



In Word, place your mouse pointer in the left margin. Your mouse pointer should change to a white arrow and it points toward the right corner of your screen.



1. Single click- selects the entire line.



2. Single click and drag straight down-selects multiple lines



3. Double click-selects the paragraph



4. Triple click-selects the entire document



Selecting Text with the Text Pointer



In Word, when you float your mouse pointer in between the characters of any word in any paragraph in your document your mouse pointer displays the Text Pointer which resembles a capital letter I.



1. Single click-cursor flashes so you can type text



2. Click and drag-selects any amount of text



3. Double click-selects a word



4. Ctrl and click-selects the sentence



5. Triple click-selects the paragraph


As always,
Happy Clicking,

Betsy
The PC Teacher
http://www.thepcteacher.com/
bcoyne@thepcteacher.com

Keep Your PC Up To Date

 

On of the time consuming tasks about Windows computers is updating software. While Microsoft does a good job keeping the operating system updated, other software inevitably falls through the cracks. If you look on your Windows screen down in the bottom right corner, called the system tray, where the clock is located, you may see some of the icons shown here.

 

 For example, the orange icon with the cup of coffee represents a program called Java which works in the background when you are browsing internet pages. Many people are not keeping their Java software up to date. As a result, bugs in the older versions are a very popular way for malicious software to install itself. If you are prompted that there is a Java update available, take it but read each message and make sure as you install the upate it doesn't give you any new programs (such as Open Office) or tooblars if you don't want them.

To keep your operating system up to date, there's an easy, free way to help keep your PC safer and running smoothly. It's called Windows Update. All you have to do is turn it on, and you'll get the latest security and other important updates from Microsoft automatically.

Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Update or go to http://update.microsoft.com

Windows Update helps keep your PC safer—and your software current—by fetching the latest security and feature updates from Microsoft via the Internet.

In Windows 7, Windows Update is now part of Action Center, which makes updating your PC even more convenient. To check for updates, just click the Action Center icon (resembles a tiny white flag on a pole) on the taskbar.

To watch a video about the Action Center in Windows 7, Click here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/action-center

Sending a Vacation Reply Email from Outlook

It's great sending and receiving emails, but when you leave for vacation and you may not have access to your email account wouldn't it be great if you could have an automatic reply sent for you?

In Outlook you set rules and using a template can have an Out of Office reply or "I'm on vacation" reply sent for you.

Create an an email which is used as the reply template

1. Open a new Outlook message.
2. In the message body, type whatever information you'd like to appear in your custom reply.
3. On the Office menu, click Save As.
4. In the File name box, enter a name for your reply template.
5. In the Save as type box, click Outlook template, and then click Save.
6. Make note of where your template is saved.
7. Close, the email, and when prompted to save, click No.

Create a rule to send an automatic reply

• Click on the Tools menu, select Rules and Alerts.
• In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click the New Rule button.
• In the Rules Wizard under Start from a blank rule, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
• Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, click to select the Sent Only To Me check box or any other check box that you want, and then click Next.
• Under What do you want to do with the message, click to select the Reply using a specific template check box.
• Edit the Rule Description, click the underlined phrase a specific template.
• In the Select A Reply Template dialog box, click the template that you saved previously and then click Open.
• Complete the Rules Wizard instructions, click Finish, and then click OK
• Give the rule a name (for example, vacation reply)
• Check off that the rule is in use when you go on vacation and anyone who sends you an email will be sent your automatic reply.

Happy clicking,

Betsy
The PC Teacher
www.thepcteacher.com