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Week four of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series.  This week we have Excel Shortcut Keys.  We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful!  Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Excel 2007.

Microsoft Excel Shortcut Keys:

F2 - Edit the selected cell
F5 - Go to a specific cell
F7 - Spell check selected text and/or document
F11 - Create Chart
Ctrl + Shift + ; - Enter current time
Ctrl + ; - Enter current date
Alt + Shift + F1 - Insert new worksheet
Shift + F3 - Open the Excel formula window
Shift + F5 - Bring up search box
Ctrl + A - Select all contents of worksheet
Ctrl + B - Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + I - Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + C - Copy selected text
Ctrl + V - Paste
Ctrl + D - Fill
Ctrl + K - Insert Link
Ctrl + F - Open find and replace options
Ctrl + U - Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + Y - Underline selected text
Ctrl + O - Open options
Ctrl + N - Open new document
Ctrl + P - Open print dialog box
Ctrl + S - Save
Ctrl + Z - Undo last action
Ctrl + F9 - Minimize current window
Ctrl + F10 - Maximize currently selected window
Ctrl + F6 - Switch between open workbooks/windows
Ctrl + Page Up + Page Down - Move between excel worksheets in the same document
Ctrl + ‘ - Insert value of above cell into current cell
Ctrl + Space - Select entire column
Shift + Space - Select entire row
Ctrl + W - Close Document

Next week our topic is Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

This tutorial will show you how run/schedule a Defragmentation on your Vista machine.

What is a Defrag?

If you use this analogy, your computer is like a filing cabinet, it starts all neat and tidy but over time it becomes messy and disorganised.  Defrag simply tidies things up which makes it easier for the computer to locate the information it requires therefore improving the performance of the machine.

Tip:

We suggest that you don’t have any programs running whilst running a Defrag.

How to run a Defrag

1. First of all click on the Start orb
   
2. Then select ‘Computer’
   
3. Right-Click on the drive which has the Label (C:) and select ‘Properties’.
   
4. Select the ‘Tools’ tab and then Defragment Now (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
5. Select Defragment Now (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
6. Select which disks you wish to be defragmented (we recommend that you Defragment all Disks).  Once you’ve selected click OK.
   
7. Your computer will now be running a Defragmentation.  This may take up to a few hours.  (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
8. You will be informed when the Defrag is complete.  At that point you can close the Defrag Window and continue using your computer as you normally would.

How to Schedule a Defrag:

On Vista, Defragmentation is set on a default schedule.  However, that schedule may not fit to your work style.  So here is how to change the Scheduled date and time.

1. Follow steps 1-4 from ‘How to run a Defrag’
2. Select ‘Modify Schedule’  (Click to enlarge Image)
   
3. Decide when you would like the Defrag to be Scheduled for by using the drop down menus (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
4. Click OK

Have you found this helpful?  What would you like pctoolbox to do next?!

This week it week three of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series.  The topic for this week is Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys.  We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful!  Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Word 2007.

Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys:

Ctrl + A - Select all contents of the page
Ctrl + B - Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + C - Copy selected text
Ctrl + X - Cut selected text
Ctrl + N - Open new/blank document.
Ctrl + O - Open options
Ctrl + P - Open the print window
Ctrl + F - Open find box
Ctrl + I - Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + K - Insert Link
Ctrl + U - Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + V - Paste
Ctrl + Y - Redo the last action performed
Ctrl + Z - Undo last action
Ctrl + J - Justify paragraph alignment
Ctrl + L - Align selected text to the left
Ctrl + Q - Align selected paragraph to the left
Ctrl + E - Align selected text or line to the center
Ctrl + R - Align selected text or line to the right
Ctrl + M - Indent paragraph
Ctrl + T - Hanging indent
Ctrl + D - Font options
Ctrl + Shift + F - Change Font
Ctrl + Shift + * - View or hide non printing characters
Ctrl + <– (Arrow Left) - Move one word to the left
Ctrl + –> (Arrow Right) - Move one word to the right
Ctrl + Arrow Up - Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph
Ctrl + Arrow Down - Move to the end of the paragraph
Ctrl + Del - Delete word to right of cursor
Ctrl + Backspace - Delete word left of cursor
Ctrl + End - Move cursor to end of document
Ctrl + Home - Move cursor to beginning of document
Ctrl + Space - Reset highlighted text to default font
Ctrl + Alt + 1 - Change text to heading 1
Ctrl + Alt + 2 - Change text to heading 2
Ctrl + Alt + 3 - Change text to heading 3
F1 - Open help
Shift + F3 - Change case of selected text
Shift + Insert - Paste
F7 - Spell check selected text and/or document
Shift + F7 - Activate the thesaurus
F12 - Save As
Ctrl + S - Save
Shift + F12 - Save
Alt + Shift + D - Insert current date
Alt + Shift + T - Insert current time
Ctrl + W - Close document

Next week is Shortcuts for Microsoft Excel!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

SU2C (Stand Up To Cancer) is a new project which has really begun to take effect in America.  SU2C’s belief is that scientist’s knowledge of the science of Cancer is now good enough for them to fully focus on practical research.  Which will rapidly lead to more new and more effective treatments.

SU2C’s main fund raiser was a TV show earlier this month.  It was a star studded show and televised on 3 leading US TV Channels in unison.  You can still view the show online and with a line-up like they had I cannot see why you wouldn’t want to.

Do you know of any other exciting projects similar to SU2C?

Continuing the Quick Tip Shortcut Series, this week we have tips for Microsoft Windows.  We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful!

Microsoft Windows Shortcut Keys:

Alt + Tab - Switch between applications
Alt + Shift + Tab - Switch backwards between open applications
Alt + Print Screen - Create a screen shot of the current program
F2 - Rename selected icon
F3 - Start find from desktop
F5 - Refresh contents
Alt + F4 - Close current open program
Ctrl + F4 - Close Window in Program
Ctrl + Plus Key - Automatically adjusts the width of selected icon or program
Alt + Enter - Open properties window of selected icon or program
Shift + F10 - Simulate right-click on selected item
Shift + Del - Delete programs/files permanently
Holding Shift During Bootup - Boot safe mode or bypass system files

Next week is week 3 and Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys.

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

We have decided to do a six week series on useful shortcuts for your computer.  It’s worthwhile learning some of these as it will increase your speed and efficiency whilst using a computer.

Our topic this week is….

Basic Shortcut Keys:

Alt + F - Open file menu in current program
F1 - Universal Help (for all programs)
Ctrl + A - Select all text
Ctrl + X - Cut selected item
Shift + Del - Cut selected item
Ctrl + C - Copy selected item
Ctrl + Ins - Copy selected item
Ctrl + V - Paste
Shift + Ins - Paste
Home - Go to beginning of current line
Ctrl + Home - Go to beginning of current document
End - Go to end of current line
Ctrl + End - Go to end of current document
Shift + Home - Highlight from current position to beginning of line
Shift + End - Highlight from current position to end of line
Ctrl + <– (Arrow Left) - Move one word to the left at a time
Ctrl + –> (Arrow Right) - Move one word to the right at a time

Next week it will be Microsoft Windows Shortcut Keys!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Apple have released the latest version of the music software iTunes.  iTunes isn’t something we give much time to but credit has to be given to Apple really because it is a brilliant bit of kit and if you have an iPod it works seemlessly. Allowing you to fully manage your music, videos and podcasts!

Their latests version I have to say I am very impressed with, which is why I thought it warrented a mention in today’s tip!  I haven’t played with it properly but iTunes Genius claims it can create great playlists based on the song you are listening to! So far I have been impressed but let me know what experiences you have had!

The other thing they have done is changed the way we browse our music, implementing a grid view which is far more graphical that the old big long list!

But this is a quick tip…head over to the Apple iTunes Site and download it for yourself, or just read about it

Enjoy!

Acrobat.com is a brand spanking new site with some breakthrough and exciting features!  Acrobat.com is from Adobe and it provides a variety of online services such as; Word Processing, PDF Converting, File Sharing, Instant Messaging, Online Conferencing, File Managing and much more!  The five main features that Acrobat.com provides are:

• Buzzword
• Share
• ConnectNow
• Create PDF
• My Files

To use the website’s services you need to Create an Acrobat Account which is completely free!  To do this just go to the Acrobat Website then select the services you would like to use then click ‘Begin’ and then select ‘Sign Up’.

Read the rest of this entry »

So we have had Firefox 3, Google Chrome and on the horizon is Internet Explorer 8! At the moment there is a beta version out which we have been playing with. We would like to remind users that beta versions are really only for designers and developers or those more competent computer users. This is because it is not a final version and there is a possibility of some stability issues!

If you think you are one of those users then take a look at the IE8 Beta download, otherwise it is best to wait for it to be properly released, but if you want to read about what is different then take a look at the office IE8 site.

We have been playing with the beta and like it very much, which means a lot considering we are BIG Firefox fans! Some pages which don’t work too well in IE7 now work properly in IE8 which is brilliant! In our eyes they have fixed the CSS layout issues, we also think it is quicker than IE7 which can’t be bad, there are a number of nice new features which we could talk about but read properly about them all here, a couple that stand out to us are the InPrivate browsing and also the SmartScreen Filter.

This is just a short post highlighting this new release of Internet Explorer so we won’t be reviewing it properly until it has been released, but well worth keeping an eye on we think!

Tuesday of this week saw Google release their own web browser! Arguably the best search engine on the web has produced a very nice browser. I have only been using it for a few days now but I am loving it. Most noticably two things visually that stand out to me are

• There is not a big toolbar at the top, so more of my screen is filled with the web page, therefore less scrolling so that is great!
• When opening the browser you get your most recent websites shown to you with little scrrenshots!